Love Unscripted (52 page)

His eyes narrowed. “I meant every word, every time I’ve said it. I
love
you
.”

“
Then it’s you and me against the world, and we don’t deviate from that course. That’s our story, remember?”

He tossed his blue papers onto the coffee table and reached for me, hugging me tightly.

Pete and Tammy arrived fifteen minutes later. Pete had his toolbox in one hand and was wearing his tape measure as an attachment to his belt.

Ryan greeted them when he slipped into the kitchen. We talked about how we could seal off the original door that opened into the pub and relocate the door to open into the kitchen. It was the quickest fix.

“
But that means if I ever try to rent the apartment out, the tenant would have to still come through the kitchen to get in. Ahh, I’m not so sure I like this. What would keep them from going right out into the bar?” I said, pushing the kitchen swing door with my fingers.

“
That certainly is a problem,” Pete added. “These old buildings were never meant to be businesses; they were all homes. And if we seal off the kitchen then you’ll have safety violations for not having an emergency exit.”

I looked around the kitchen. There was just no good way of relocating the stairwell. Pete and Ryan ran back upstairs to deliberate. I could hear them tapping on the inside of the stairwell wall.

“
I spoke to my brother,” Tammy whispered. “Does Ryan know about the restraining order?”

“
No.” I shook my head. “I’d like to keep it that way for now.” I didn’t want to add any more stress to Ryan’s life. “What did you find out?”

“
He said you could get one if you feel she is stalking you. But you’d have to go to the police and then file papers at the courthouse. You’d also have to appear in court. It didn’t sound simple.”

“
Nothing’s ever simple. But I did get her name today though,” I said proudly. “She came into the bar earlier and I carded her.”

“
No way!” Tammy said in surprise.

“
On Monday she slipped a card for him through my mail slot and she signed it ‘Angel’ but when I carded her, her license said her name was Angelica. Angelica Staunton, all the way from Brooklyn.”

“
Write her name down for me. I’ll see if Tony can run a background check on her.”

I had just slipped the paper with her name on it to Tammy when Pete and Ryan came back into the kitchen.

“
Tar, I think we’ve solved your problem,” Pete boomed happily. “Here, look at this.”

Pete was smiling at Ryan, like they just solved world hunger.

“
What’s this line?” I asked, looking at their drawing.

“
That’s a new wall. Ryan, let’s measure it. What you got?”

“
Thirty two and a half,” Ryan said.

“
That’s going to be a long-ass wall! It’s going to go straight to the back wall there.” Pete pointed. “You’ll have a separate outside entrance from the alley and then we can cut a door here in the middle so you don’t have to go outside to get up to your apartment. One day if you decide you want to block it off, it’s an easy fix.”

Pete tapped his finger on the drawing. “The stairs would stop there and then I’ll put in two steps to reach the floor. You’ll only end up losing four feet. That counter there would have to go.

“
Ryan, hold the tape measure again. See, you were right. We wouldn’t even have to move the back door; it’s fine where it is. The new wall will come here – six inches away from the frame.”

Pete’s metal tape measure snapped back in the casing. “Taking out the brick wall will be a pain, but it’s doable. You’ll need a new steel door… and a construction permit.”

“
This is brilliant!” I was quite excited. “Pete, you’re so freaking smart!”

“
Don’t look at me - it’s his design.” He pointed a thumb at Ryan.

“
At least my two years at Pitt weren’t a total waste,” Ryan said confidently, twitching his head like it was no big deal.

I secretly added one more trait that I loved about him to my list.

“
Ryan, can I get you to re-draw this rough sketch? Then I can attach it to the construction permit application,” Pete asked.

“
Yeah, sure. No problem. Tammy, how big of an oven would you need back here? I guess this stove has to go too; it looks like a fire hazard.”

“
Ryan, I can’t get a permit for that until I update the fire suppression system for over the stoves,” I muttered privately. “All the water lines need to be replaced. That alone was over twenty grand.”

He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and whispered in my ear. “Let’s figure out what it will cost and we’ll talk about it.”

It sort of bothered me that he was so willing to part with his money. He reminded me of some kid who had twenty dollars burning a hole in his pocket.

Pete and Tammy left shortly after Ryan gave him a new sketch of the construction, and Cory and Marie were well in control of the bar, so I stayed in my apartment with Ryan.

“
So Ms. Mitchell, since we’ve come to new agreements, are you ready to renegotiate the terms of your contract?” Ryan raised a questioning brow, smirking hopefully on our way to the bedroom.

“
That all depends on what you’re offering.”

“
How about two for the price of one on Tuesdays?” he snickered, pushing the door closed with his fingers.

Ryan was so sound asleep he didn’t even budge the first time the alarm clock chimed. He was lying flat on his back, spread out on the bed in the same position he was after our incredible night. I figured I’d give him a few more minutes, so I went out to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee.

“
Ouch,” I muttered walking to the door with a slight limp; my hip was hurting from how he maneuvered me last night. I smiled inside, remembering how I got in this much pain.

“
Babe, time to wake up.” I rubbed my hand across his chest.

Our morning felt like it could quickly become routine. While he showered, I made his coffee – poured in one of those Styrofoam to-go cups that looks like you got it at the convenience store, and then brushed my teeth while he informed me of his schedule.

We were just like any other normal couple getting ready to go to work. I set out a new pack of gum next to his keys and organized his blue papers so he wouldn’t forget them. His cell phone was plugged into the charger so I readied that for him too.

“
You are the best assistant I could have ever hoped for!” He wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed me goodbye at the back door. “I love you. I’ll call you later.”

I trudged up my steps, now wide-awake in the wee hours of the morning. Bored, I turned my computer on with the original excuse of checking on my bank statements, but instead I searched his name.

After I checked his one fan-made blog site, I returned to the news results.

Today’s news headlines showed the following:

Ryan Christensen autograph signing

Fans make Ryan’s new love jealous!

“
What the?” I clicked on the link that referred to my jealousy.

I felt like I could pass out. This report took everything out of context, and now the entire world thinks I’m a controlling hell-bitch!

Would he ever get tired of me like the story said? Does he want someone tending to his needs or will he think I’m crowding him one day? I remembered what happened when I dated Dean. He didn’t want someone to take care of him. Every time I tried to be a doting girlfriend, he pulled further and further away.

Am I already ruining this relationship? Have I stepped onto the wrong path and didn’t even know it? I don’t think I’m controlling him. Am I? Would he think that I was trying to smother/mother him by setting out his phone, keys, and a pack of gum? Maybe I shouldn’t do that anymore.

Ten minutes ago I was blissfully happy and now I was a complete and utter mess inside. I curled up under my quilt on the couch and tried to distract myself with television. It didn’t help; my mind raced and a few tears of uncertainty and insecurity dripped down onto the pillow.

Why do I hear music playing?
I pondered in my dream. I suddenly woke, hearing my cell phone play in the kitchen. I was a little disoriented. How long had I been sleeping? I looked at the clock on the DVD player – it was a few minutes before ten.

I tossed the quilt off my legs and plodded to the kitchen. My cell phone showed two missed calls – both from Ryan.

I called him back immediately.

“
Are you okay?” he asked loudly.

“
Yeah, I’m fine. I fell asleep on the couch. I’m sorry, I didn’t hear the phone ring.”

He breathed out a heavy sigh. “I got worried when you didn’t answer.”

“
I’m fine,” I repeated, rubbing my eyes. “How’s your day going?”

“
It’s tolerable. We just took a break. Hey, I was wondering if you could do me a favor? Remember the other day we talked about taking my mom out for her birthday but we never looked up restaurants. Cal told me about a restaurant someplace outside of Providence called Sabatinis or Salatinis, something like that. I tried to find it on the net but I can’t locate it.”

“
Let me look.” I bumped the mouse on my computer to get the screen saver to clear. The cause of my mental breakdown earlier was still on the screen. “I’m searching for Italian restaurants Providence,” I informed. I paged through the results.

“
La Scalatini’s? Does that sound like it?” I asked. “It’s located in Wyndham which
is
outside the city.” I clicked on the link to their website.

“
Cal, can you come…La Scalatini, was that it? Excellent! Honey, is there a phone number?” I read the number to him.

“
Great! I’m going to make a reservation for Friday. What time do you think? Eight-thirty or nine?”

“
What time are you getting off of set Friday?”

“
Seven. What do you think?”

“
Let’s shoot for nine, then we have extra time in case we need it,” I replied.

“
Sounds good. Are you going out today?”

“
No. I have things I want to do around here.” I thought about cleaning the apartment and finishing the laundry. “I have to wash our dirty bed sheets,” I snickered.

“
Yeah, you did make a mess of things last night!” he teased.

“
I had help,” I giggled.

“
I actually think I sprained my hip!”