10 Chap 10: Memory
Ryan
When she realized a whole three-floor building was mine, she looked impressed. I parked the car in the parking lot and from there we took the lift to the third floor, where I stayed. The moment we entered Max ran towards us with his wagged tail and jumped on me and Mia. I knew Mia always loved animals and to see Max she instantly looked relaxed. I called out for AO, Aunt Olivia, who stayed with me but on the 2nd floor of the building. She has been with me since I was 15. She was married but had no kids so she put all her motherly love on me and dotted me like her own. She had the most amazing taste in everything and made delicious food. She was like a family to me and Chloe.
"AO this is Mia and she will be staying with us for some time," I said and AO eyed her from top to bottom with a surprise smile plastered on her face,
"Hello Mia, nice to meet you" she extended her hand towards Mia,
"Good evening Aunt Olivia, it's a pleasure meeting you as well." She took AO's hand smiled at her,
"I am really happy that Ryan has finally got a girl in this house," she said with a huge smile.
"AO she is my friend"
Mia
After a few minutes, AO got some snacks for us and Ryan left us to attend a business call that he couldn't miss,
"How did you guys meet?" She looked curious,
"I met him through John and Ariel"
"Oh! They are good kids" she said with a smile,
"Yeah, I am with Ariel in business admin class,"
"Ohh. Well, I am glad Ryan has found you" she said with so much enthusiasm. "I am sure Ryan likes you a lot, this is the first time I have seen a girl in his home" she looked at me with content and happiness,
"I am just an intern in his company. A fire broke out in the electricity room of my hostel Ryan just helped me out"
"He sure likes you. I am confident" She said with a full beam of a smile And looked relived
"I am dating someone," I said and the colors on her face drained, she looked like she saw a ghost
"Does Ryan know?" After a long pause, she asked,
"Yeah, he does," I said,
"Is he with you in your course?" She inquired and looked interested
"No, I am from Eash, my country. But I plan to marry my boyfriend after the course." I said and her eyes went huge in shock,
"Oh dear," she said to herself and looked like she had a heart attack. She looked lost and depressed and soon got up from her place.
"I will just go and prepare dinner," she said and went to the kitchen. She looked startled and unhappy about what Ryan did, and it made me worry. I shouldn't have agreed to come with Ryan and stay with him. I felt things with him that I never felt with Noah and to stay with him could ruin my relationship with Ariel and Noah. Ryan walked towards me and took a seat next to me,
"You must be starving?" He asked
"Yeah"
"Will have dinner asap but first let me show you your room," he said and he got up,
He stayed on the 3rd, AO stayed on the 2nd. We took the lift for the first floor and walked towards the door, Ryan unlocked it and revealed a huge room which had a kitchen and dining hall on the left and a drawing hall on the right, a replica of his house. At the end right corner of the drawing-room, there was a spiral staircase that led to another hall with 4 rooms. He showed me each room and each of them had a bathroom and had a different display of the background. 2 rooms had the city traffic display and the other 2 rooms had a mountain display. I took the mountain display room cause it felt nice and peaceful.
"Hope you like staying here and if you need anything just call me," he said while he looked around the room I chose,
"And I think it will be better if we had breakfast and dinner together," he announced, I immediately expressed my disbelief
"No, that's ok, I can cook. I don't want to bother you and AO" I said, I didn't want to cause trouble to AO
"I will see you at 8:30 for dinner" he ignored what I said and left the room.
I had 30 mins so I decided to unpack and take a bath. At 8:30 when I reached Ryan's door, it was unlocked so I just went in and I saw AO with Ryan in the dining hall. She looked angry at him and he didn't like what she said. I didn't want to interfere so I purposely coughed. Both looked at me, AO calmed herself and smiled at me and for Ryan, he gave me a stare that looked he was afraid of loosing something, AO took Ryan's hand and they both went inside the kitchen. After a few minutes, He came out with the dishes and sat opposite to me in a 4 seater rectangle table and began to serve food to me.
"What about Aunt Olivia?" I asked and looked inside the kitchen.
"She has gone home," he said while he put a chicken piece on my plate,
"There's a way outside?"
"Yeah, we designed it that way. From the kitchen back door to her house. She will come tomorrow morning to make breakfast. Is there anything you would like to have, I will let her know?" He looked miserable and exhausted.
"I can cook you know," I stated, while he served dishes to himself. I wondered what resulted in a sudden change of mood. He put the bowl on the table and looked at me like he wanted to make me understand what he was about to say,
"Mia, I know you can cook but since you are getting someone who is paid to cook and makes excellent food I see no harm in eating here. Also, you will have the extra time to sleep and do your activities" he said tenderly and I couldn't deny that he was right. We ate in silence and after we finished he dropped me back to my house.
"Hope you liked the dinner" he stood at the entrance door.
"Yeah, I did. Thank you Ryan" and thankfully he smiled. The whole dinner he looked tensed and afraid, I wonder what they spoke?
"I will see you at 8:30 for breakfast." he said " and if you need anything I am just a call away" he looked at my eyes and then at my lips,
"Thank you" I repeated,
"Goodnight," he said
"Goodnight," I said with a smile and he left.
Ryan
After I told her to come over for dinner, I went to my room and took a bath. After 10 mins I went down to the kitchen to help AO. Our kitchen and the dining hall were separated by a wall. In the kitchen, I saw she had already made dinner and was about to put the dishes in a bowl. I decided to help her to put the dishes and lay the table.
"Never expected you to get a girl," she said when she saw me enter the kitchen
"Really?" I smiled at her.
"Not even in your college prom you had a girl" She smiled and so did I,
"That's because I didn't want one," I said and it was true, there wasn't any girl that made me feel what Mia could,
"That's why I am saying," she said and I laughed. I stood next to her and took 2 plates from the rack,
"She is lovely," while she cut the carrots for the salad.
"She is beautiful and genuine," I grinned cheerfully. I sensed AO's stare at me
"What?" I returned her look. She gave a flabbergasted look.
"Do you like her?" she said and I stopped thinking. I went still. I didn't know how to react.
"Ryan" she called out in pain
"What?" I looked at her unaware of what caused the sudden change in her demeanor.
"You shouldn't," she said and sounded scared. "She has a bf and plans to marry him?" I looked at her dumbstruck, how did she know all this? And Mia planned to marry him?
"When you attended your business call at that time Mia told me about herself," she said, Oh great! I looked away and walked away from the kitchen and towards the dining table not eager to hear what came next,
"The more time you spend with her the more you will fall for her!" she said while followed me to the dining hall. She of course saw my attraction towards Mia. My mood could easily be sensed by people who knew me and the one person who started to affect me the most was Mia and AO knew it.
"What you are doing is wrong, are you trying to make her fall in love with you?"
"WHAT?! No!!" I looked at her in the eye,
"Then what is it?"
"To be honest I haven't tried making her fall for me and I won't. I don't know what I am doing but all I know is I want to be with her. I don't know what's in store for us but I like her AO and I am crazy about her." I spoke the truth and AO's face changed into sadness "she is becoming my priority, my happiness and I can't understand why"
"I am fine with her getting married to her boyfriend. As long as she is happy I am happy" thought it was difficult to accept but it was the truth, if he could keep her happy then I didn't have any problem with them being married.
"Ryan, then why have you got her here?"
"As I told you AO, I will be there for her no matter what. I can't relax knowing that she is in some shitty hotel working day-night and not having good food and proper security." I spoke harshly at AO,
"Ryan, she has a boyfriend to worry for that" She tried to make me understand,
"AO, I am not doing this for anyone but me. I know she will be safe and healthy at my place rather than in a hotel. Also, I am not fighting for her or even trying to make her fall for me. I just want to give her the best of everything and I will continue to do so no matter what may come" I looked her in the eye and tried to make her understand
"Ryan, I hope you realize it soon that what you are doing is wrong. The better you stay away from her the better it's for you both. Don't ruin her relationship" she said.
"I am not ruining her relationship" I yelled,
"You think she staying with you while you crush on her won't cause problems with her boyfriend?" she yelled,
"I won't let that happen" I muttered,
"Ryan I hope you know that feelings can't be wrapped forever, eventually they do come out. Don't take this lightly, the feeling you have for her can't be compared to anything but I know it will destroy you so don't ruin things for yourself and her" she came closer to me and looked me in the eye with seriousness.
*Cough, cough* I heard it and we both saw her standing just 10 feet away. Thankfully AO spoke the last sentence curtly and in a whisper. I just hoped that Mia didn't hear anything. She looked beautiful, her hair was wet from the shower and she wore a cute Daffy Duck maroon nightdress. Gosh, she was going to be the death of me.
"Mia, come sit," AO said. Mia gave a smile but there was an apprehensive look on her face, she could tell that the atmosphere wasn't good. Even though I was hurt with what AO said but I couldn't control my emotions for Mia. I felt alive with her than not being with her. AO went to the kitchen, grabbed my hand, and took me with her.
"I care for you Ryan. I just want you to be happy, that's all" she said when we were in the kitchen,
"Thank you," I said and looked at her,
"Goodnight," she said and kissed my forehead,
"Goodnight," I said and she took off to her house from the exit door of the kitchen. After I came back we sat down for the dinner and I couldn't afford to look at her. The whole time I replayed what AO had told. I was already aware of the fact that I had to let Mia go and I knew for sure that there wasn't any girl who would have this effect on me. So I decided to spend as much time as I could with her until she went back home and I would make our moments a memory of my life with no regrets.
