AN: Sorry for the delay faithful readers. School has begun and I am knee deep in senior preparations. Pray that I stay disciplined in sticking to all my obligations (including my fanfiction).


Ricky ran a hand through his hair as the taxi stopped and went through the heavy traffic. He was heading toward Boykewich Butchers' New York office and becoming increasingly impatient in how long it was taking. His mother, Nora, had had a meeting across town and wouldn't be coming into the office until much later, but Ricky was supposed to sit in on a meeting at 9:30am so she couldn't take him and he had to take the driver his father had hired to escort Nora on special events. He never really liked getting driven around by a diver, but there wasn't much he could do. "Hey Philip? How much farther are we?" he asked, leaning forward to press his hand just beneath the barrier window.

"We gots 'bout three blocks Mr. Underwood, don't worry. Traffic startin' to lighten up." Ricky nodded and leaned back in his chair, resting an ankle on his knee as he looked out the window. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and pulled it out, glancing down at the caller ID before sighing heavily. He hesitated; debating on whether the headache that would result from the call was really worth it, before flipping open the phone.

"Hey Adrian." If he didn't pick up she wouldn't stop calling and he decided it would be better to get their long overdue conversation done with.

"I can't believe you left without saying goodbye!"

Ricky sighed and leaned his head back in the seat, "I didn't think I owed you one since I was very clear on us being over and done with when I spoke to you the last week of school."

"Oh shut up," she said, the image of her rolling her eyes coming to the forefront of his mind. "That's what you always say and you always forgive me. So just do it already and I'll call you back tonight to make it up to you." Her voice turned deep and velvety, rich with innuendo and implication.

It was his turn to roll his eyes, "You can't make up for this Adrian. I don't want you to make anything up to me because what I want is for you to leave me alone. I can't do this anymore all right? We tried to make it work, but the truth is we had issues from the beginning. I don't want to be with someone that can't be faithful to me or someone that I can't be faithful to. I stand by what I said when we broke it off: you and I are not right for each other."

"Why would you say that?" she cried back, angry and with a twinge of brokenness in her voice. "After everything we've been together don't you know I love you?"

He sighed, "Apparently not enough since you cheated on me with Zoe Camden's boyfriend."

"That's only because YOU slept with Zoe Camden!"

"No," he said firmly, sitting up straighter. "No I didn't. Zoe Camden kissed me while drunk and you over-reacted. But that just proves my point Adrian. You and I never trusted each other enough to have a real relationship and I'm sick and tired of trying to change that. So stop calling, stop texting, stop emailing me and just move on Adrian. I already have."

"What?" Her voice was biting and he felt his body tense at how upset she sounded. "What do you mean you already have? You already have some whore over there?"

Ricky sighed and shook his head, "No. I don't. But even if I did it would be none of your business. Goodbye Adrian," and he hung up, slamming the phone down and shoving it back in his pocket. He could feel eyes on him and glanced up to meet Philip's gaze.

"Problem with the Mrs., Mr. Underwood?"

Ricky shook his head and sighed, "Just get me to work Phil."

The Brooklyn-accented man chuckled and nodded, "You's got it, kid." Ricky's phone rang again and he sighed deeply bringing a hand up to rub his eyes. He picked it up with an agitated, "What?" only to hear a whistle and a stutter of words.

"Uh, sorry. Bad time?"

'Ben,' He thought. "Hey, no. Sorry. I thought you were…someone else."

He heard his brother chuckle on the other end and could almost picture him slipping a hand into his pocket as he questioned, "Trouble in the Big Apple?"

Ricky scoffed, "More like trouble calling the Big Apple from home."

"Ah," Ben replied, "Adrian?"

Ricky nodded, "Yeah. Adrian." He let his gaze fall to the passing buildings, traffic easing up enough for the car to begin driving again at a steady speed. The streets were covered with cars and the sidewalk with people, but no matter how deeply he wanted to just get lost in the bustle of the city he felt like home would always find a way to reach him.

"Hey, I'm sorry buddy," Ben said, "She's been hounding me too for an explanation as to why you haven't called her yet. I should have known that she would get impatient enough to call you sooner or later."

Ricky shook his head once more, "No, I should have expected it. I knew she wouldn't take our break up lying down."

"So you're really broken up?" Ben asked, sounding skeptical himself. "You're not just saying that like you've said it the past two years?"

"Yes Ben, we're really broken up. Didn't you hear what I said?"

"Yeah," Ben reasoned, "But you've also said that a few hundred times before when you and Adrian had a falling out only to get back together soon after. I was just wondering if this is going to be like all those other times or if you really mean it."

Ricky groaned with a roll of his eyes, "No Ben," he asserted, his hand clenching to a fist as his irritation grew. "This isn't like all those other times. Adrian and I are really done. And I'll tell you, like I told her, I'm sick and tired of trying to make a broken relationship work. We never really cared about each other. We sure as hell never trusted each other, as apparent to the number of times we've cheated on one another. And, quite frankly, the way I see it, this last year is going to be all about enjoying senior year and not having a repeat of the shove and take crap Adrian and I had last year. We obviously keep hooking up with other people so we might as well just break it off and do so without any baggage."

"Alright, alright" Ben surrendered, his voice pausing to give way to his lecture tone and Ricky tensed as he pictured Ben crossing his arms in front of him ad taking on a pensive face. "I just hope that you're doing this because you really feel this way and not because mom never liked Adrian."

"What?" Ricky scoffed. "No. This has nothing to do with mom." He sighed once again and massaged his temples in a syncopated rhythm to his heart rate. "Like I said, I just want senior year to be fun and not a repeat of last year's drama. So that's why, starting this summer, I'm putting Adrian behind me, and moving on. Taking every day to enjoy my youth before graduation and I have to focus on my degree. This is the only time to do it, Ben and I'm not gonna let Adrian take that away from me."

He could almost feel the supportive head nod from Ben's side of the conversation and couldn't help but smile. If there was one thing that his brother was it was supportive. Ever since they were little he had always been on Ricky's side and that was one of the comforting facts of having Ben Boykewich as family. "Well, I'm glad to hear it. I mean, I like Adrian, I do, but you guys were like an episode of 90210 every week and it'll be a nice break from all the fighting."

Ricky scoffed, though his smile never left, "I'm glad that my break up could make life easier for you. That's really what I had in mind when I ended it. How can I make Ben's life easier?"

He heard Ben laugh and sigh to himself, "Look, I'm just saying that I back you up on this man. And if you want I can try to keep her from calling. I'll talk to her if you want."

"No," Ricky said, just as the car pulled up to the towering Boykewich Head Quarters. "Just ignore her. That's what I'm going to do. If she asks about me just tell her to back off, but other than that don't engage. Adrian can be crazy, especially now when I somewhat eluded to having moved on already."

At this he imagined Ben surprised. "Really?" he asked, his tone just as Ricky knew it would be. "And have you? Have you met someone else?"

Philip opened the door and Ricky slid himself out of the car, buttoning his jacket and straightening his tie with a salute to Philip. "Maybe," he replied, Amy flashing to his mind and the way she looked when she agreed to dinner with him. "I'm not sure yet, I'll let you know how it pans out."

"Ricky, don't you think it's a little soon to be messing with another girl? I mean, you just said that Adrian would be a little crazy. Do you really think it's fair to drag this girl into the mix?"

Ricky entered the building and strode toward the elevator doors, waving to Gene, the security guard at the front desk. "I'm not bringing her into anything," Ricky said, pushing the button to go up. "Adrian and I are over and, besides, I don't even know where it's going with her yet, we're just having dinner. She hasn't actually agreed to date me, we're just…testing each other out."

"Woah," Ben said, in a more shocked than surprised tone. "Are you saying this girl didn't fall at your feet? She hasn't said yes to you?"

"She hasn't said yes yet." He insisted, entering the elevator and pressing for the top floor. "And no she didn't fall at my feet or whatever. She's…different. Worth getting to know different, but I'll tell you about her later man, I just got into the elevator, I'm about to head up for the Board Meeting."

"Alright," Ben replied, the hesitation and curiosity thick in his voice. "But I'll expect a detailed report later," he said, his tone now teasing Ricky to another eye roll.

"I thought as much. Hey, just tell dad I said hi alright?"

"Will do," Ben promised. "Talk to you later."

"Yeah," Ricky responded, "Later." He hung up the phone just as the elevator doors opened up to the 28th floor and he breathed in deep, his eyes scanning the deep maroon carpet and the wall's crown molding. "Showtime." And he stepped out, coming face to face with the old, experienced, and slightly intimidating Board Members of Boykewich Head Quarters, New York. He left all his anxiety in the elevator and smirked: confident, cool, and collected.

"Mr. Underwood!" A voice rose out over the shuffle of the Board Room. "Good to see you son," Mr. Wilson, a jolly old man with a hearty laugh approached him and reached out a hand. "I just played golf with your father last month. Still doing well? Your brother too?"

Ricky met the man by the table, nodded and gripped his hand back. "Mr. Wilson, good to see you too. And yes, my dad is doing well, keeping busy, as is Ben. He's preparing to run for Junior Class President."

"Ah," Wilson laughed again, "good, good. You boys were always good boys."

Ricky nodded, "Thank you sir." A slap on his shoulder pulled his attention behind him and he smiled. "Mr. Molina, good morning, we missed you yesterday at the picnic."

Marc Molina was Leo Boykewich's point man in New York and Ricky's liaison to the company. He was a young gun in the business, driven more by loyalty to the Boykewich family, to whom he owed his career to, than the numbers like many of the Board were, and so for that Ricky liked him; even more so when he got to see him work. He was charismatic and firm as a businessman, approachable as well, which made him a definite front man for the New York office. But he was also a force in the Board Room; constantly reminding Ricky that, when it was his and Ben's time to take over, he couldn't let the dinosaur suits bully them because of their youth. "This is your family's legacy, so you have more at stake than any of these old farts will ever have."

"Mr. Underwood," Marc greeted. "Good to see you and yes, I couldn't get a flight out of Italy early enough to make it back for the event. But your mother said it was a huge success."

A flash of Amy's face came to Ricky's mind and he smiled just a bit wider, "I'd say." He stood beside his father's seat at the head of the table and leaned against it. "The kids really enjoyed it and, the last I checked, we made out with a profit through donations."

Mr. Molina nodded, pulling out the portfolio from underneath his arm and opened it up. "We did, and I know your father was thrilled to hear it." He sighed and looked out at the expanse of the boardroom, just as Benjamin Giuseppe entered.

"Alright, let's get to work gentlemen. I'd rather not spend all day here." Ricky, Marc, and the rest of the Board Members took their seats immediately, watching Benjamin's secretary trail in behind him with his portfolio and documents. He took his place at the opposite end of Ricky and nodded to the young man, his lack of verbal greeting typical of his behavior. Giuseppe was all business in and out of the office. He was a hard-ass with a no-nonsense demeanor and wasn't one to let anyone see him sweat or with any kind of emotion. Of course Ricky was privy to a different side to him, as he was Leo's best friend and Ben's godfather. But in the professional world he was the boss; the commanding leader to both his father and Mr. Molina's charisma.

As he demanded the attention of the room, jumping right into the opening of the meeting, Ricky couldn't help the buzz in the pit of his stomach. He always enjoyed watching Giuseppe work and leaned back in his seat as the man deferred to Mr. Molina. The meeting began with Mr. Molina bringing up a powerpoint of the previous day's charity event and Ricky sighed into his seat, noting that this was where he wanted to get to in life. This seat. Unbuttoning his jacket, he leaned back and could almost see the future.


AN: So, I really wanted to highlight the ambitious side of Ricky, the side that has the potential and the determination to be everything he can be. They show bits and pieces in the show, more so than before, but I thought it would be great to see just how capable he is in letting Adrian go AND going for his business dreams. Anyway, never fear, the Amy/Ricky fluff will again be here. =] keep an eye out.