One Man's Trash (7 page)

TWELVE
Diamond’s feet pounded the pavement. She loved running in the early morning.
Just her and nature, well that’s if you didn’t count the never-ending thoughts
of Ryder that kept barging their way into her head. She ran her third lap
around the track. Her feelings for Ryder had come back as if they’d never left.
She’d just gotten to the place where she didn’t think about him every day. She
was just being able to date someone without comparing every single gesture,
word, or action to Ryder. Well to her ‘Fantasy Ryder’. Considering that she’d
never dated him she just assumed that he would do everything perfectly.
She laughed at herself for her foolish girlish thoughts. Only a teenager would
think a guy is perfect. Even though she hadn’t dated many guys, she learned
quickly that no one was perfect. Her fantasy of the perfect life with Ryder was
something that she revisited often when she wanted to escape her reality.
Sometimes fantasy was a lot better than reality. It was easy to pretend that
they were together living happily ever after with their two point five kids, a
little dog and the white picket fence. Fantasy Ryder thought she was the most
beautiful woman in the world. He brought her flowers every day when he got home
from work, just because.
Fantasy Ryder was happy and content being with her and only her. She never felt
like she was competing for his attention.
She was enough.
But now Ryder was actually back in her life. And it scared her. What if her
lifelong dream finally came true and she ended up being Mrs. Ryder Gillian and
he was completely different from Fantasy Ryder. She realized that she’d only
known
of
him. They never had any deep meaningful, get-to-know-you
conversations before. By the time she was old enough to date, he was being
hauled off to prison.
She’d only saw two sides of Ryder growing up. The loving brother to her best-friend
side and the lead singer in the band side. Who was Ryder the boyfriend? She’d
never heard any bad things about his relationship with Erica, but that doesn’t
mean anything. You never know what’s really going on in someone’s relationship.
You’re just on the outside looking in. What if he was so far from what she’d
created in her mind? What if he was a jerk like JT?
She ran harder at the thought of JT. Ryder could never be a JT even on his
worst day and she didn’t need to have a deep meaningful, get-to-know-you
conversation to know that about him.
She didn’t know why she was even entertaining these thoughts. Ryder hadn’t even
said anything to her to give her the
idea
that there was even a
possibility
that she would ever be more to him than just his brother’s best-friend.
Diamond put the Brita water pitcher back into the fridge. “Hello.”  She grabbed
her cup off the counter and took a sip.
“Diamond, it’s Ryder.”
Water spewed out of her mouth. She coughed. Ryder? She placed the cup onto the
counter near the sink, yanked off a piece of paper towel and wiped off the
water from her chin. “Ryder. Hey. Hi, how’s it going?”
“Are you okay?”
“Oh, yeah.” She wiped up the small puddle of water on the floor. “I just came
back from a run and was dying of thirst, so I was drinking a little too fast.”
She
did
just come from a run. She
was
dying of thirst. But it was
the sound of his name that choked her up. “What’s up? Any good news?”
“Unfortunately, no. Ryan checked the attic. Nothing. We found out that my
parents put a lot of my stuff in storage too, so we spent all day yesterday and
this morning going through everything. Nothing.”
Diamond sighed. “Is there any where else it could possibly be? Did you only listen
to it in your room? Did you stash it somewhere secretly?” She was grasping for
straws.
Ryder remained silent for a minute. “You know what. I do remember packing up a
box of my best-friend, Daniel’s things and taking it over to his family. You
remember Daniel, right?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Yea, well, maybe I accidentally put the CD in that box.”
“Can you call them? Do you think they still have it?”
“I can call them to see if I can come over to look through his things. It’s
been five years since he died, so I’m not sure if they even kept his things.
Some people can’t handle having constant reminders around.”
“I can go with you. I mean, if you want me to.”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Yeah?” She realized she sounded a little too excited. “I mean, okay, cool.”
 A little laugh came through the phone. “I’ll come by and scoop you up in about
fifteen minutes.
Diamond hung up the phone and raced upstairs to get out of her running clothes.
She needed to take a shower. She had to cut the shower down to five minutes,
tops. She hopped in, let the warm water run all over her body and washed under
her arms, her cooch, and her butt. The important parts.
Five minutes later she was out and slipping into a pair of black shorts, an
army print tank top and black flip flops. She sprayed her hair with a refresher
and pulled it back into a messy bun. Earrings. Lip gloss. Eyeliner. Mascara.
She was ready to go.
She took the stairs two at a time. She looked out the window to see Ryder’s Range
Rover pulling up. She didn’t want to seem anxious so she waited for him to honk
the horn. He didn’t honk. He got out the car and headed toward her front door. She
swung open the door. “Hey, Ryder. You didn’t have to get out the car.”
They stood in the middle of the driveway. “I didn’t want to honk. My mom always
told me that it was rude to honk your horn when you are going to pick up a lady
for a date. I guess it just stuck with me.” His mouth turned up into a sexy
grin.
“Well this is not a date, so you could’ve honked.”
“You are a lady, so no, I couldn’t have.” He bit down on his bottom lip and
scanned her from head to toe unapologetically. His gaze finally made it back to
her face. “I guess we should get going.”
She guessed so too. He didn’t move until she started walking in front of him.
She swayed a little harder just in case he was admiring her walk. She laughed
at herself. Sexy women swayed. She reached for the door handle.
“I got that.” He opened the passenger’s side door.
“Thanks.” Once she was settled in he closed the door gently and hurried around
to the driver’s side. She was in Ryder Gillian’s car. Countless times she had
dreamed of riding in the front seat of his car. As his girlfriend, of course.
The few times that she had ridden in the car with him she was always in the
backseat because Ryan always called shotgun.
He started the ignition and adjusted the air. “If it gets too cold in here for
you, let me know.”
“Thanks.”
His green eyes squinted as his face lit up into a smile. “I watched you grow
up. Literally.” He pulled out into the street. “You really grew up.”
Diamond smoothed her hair back. “Well that’s normally what kids do. Grow up.”
Ryder laughed. “True. True. I guess what I’m trying to say is that you
blossomed.”
Blossomed? He thought she’d blossomed. Like from ugly duckling to a beautiful
swan type blossomed. Or from a caterpillar to a beautiful butterfly type
blossomed. Many people don’t use the term
blossomed
unless they are
trying to call you beautiful. Right? She hoped she was right.
“Thank you Ryder, that’s nice of you to say.”  She looked straight ahead but could
see him staring at her out the corner of her eye. She glanced over to catch him
but he was looking at the road. She turned her attention to the road ahead.
Blossomed. She bit down into a smile.
They arrived at Daniel’s parents’ house. A young lady opened the door. “Ryder,
so nice to see you.” They hugged.
“Pamela, this is Diamond Anderson, she’s my brother’s best-friend. The one I
mentioned to you on the phone.”
“Yes, of course. Nice to meet you, Diamond.” They shook hands.
They followed Pamela into the living room. Her parents weren’t home. She
mentioned that they were on vacation. “Ryder, his room is still the same. My
parents won’t touch it. You can go in there and look around to see if you can find
what you’re looking for.”
He touched Diamond’s shoulder. “I’ll be back. And don’t worry Pamela doesn’t
bite.”
“Not hard anyway,” Pamela teased.
Ryder walked down the hallway.
“Have a seat, Diamond.”
Diamond sat on the couch adjacent to Pamela. She looked at the family photo on
the table. Pamela, Daniel, their mom and dad and a small white dog. Pamela
noticed her staring.
“That was taken a year before Daniel died.” She picked up the frame. “Him and
Ryder were inseparable. He took it hard when Daniel was killed. Extremely
hard.” She placed the picture frame back in its place. “After Daniel’s death,
Ryder spiraled. No one could talk to him. Next thing you know, he was going to
jail.”
Pamela looked at Diamond. Hurt from the past lived in her eyes. “He’s like a
brother to me. A son to my parents. It was like they had lost Daniel all over
again when Ryder went to jail. They’re going to be happy to know he’s out now.”
She managed a smile. “I’m sorry. I just get emotional sometimes thinking about
my brother.”
“Pamela, please, you don’t have to apologize. I understand.”
“Did you ever meet him? Daniel?”
Diamond laughed at the memory. “I used to sneak into the garage and listen to
them play. They rarely let Ryan and me in there since we were younger. They
always told us, ‘this is for big kids.’ But we snuck in. They were awesome.
They inspired Ryan and me to start performing. The things that Daniel did with
that guitar. Nothing short of amazing.”
Pamela wiped a tear away. “My brother.” She let out a shaky breath and tried to
smile away her tears.
Diamond stood. “Can I please give you a hug?”
Pamela laughed. “Yes. Yes you can.” They squeezed each other tightly as if they
were long lost friends being reunited. Just as they broke away Ryder waltzed
into the room.
“Bingo!” He held a plastic case in his hands.
Diamond eyes grew wide. She rushed over to Ryder, snatched the CD from his
hand. She needed to touch it to know it was real.
To Ryder From Diamond aka
DeeAye Undeniable Love
stared back at her. She swung her arms around his
neck. “Oh my gosh! You have no idea what this means to me!” She pulled back and
looked into his eyes. “Thank you, Ryder. Wow.”
“I’m glad I could help.” He touched her lightly on the arm. “So now you have
the proof that you need to keep that asshole from stealing your song.”
“Yep.” She opened the case and read over the lyrics. She met Ryder’s gaze.
Moments of silence passed between them. No one looked away.
“Well, glad you found your CD, Diamond.” Pamela broke the silence. “Ryder, it
was so great seeing you.” She hugged him tight. “Make sure you come back to
visit when mom and dad are back in town, ya hear?”
“Most definitely, sis. I’ll be back. And thanks again.” He kissed her goodbye
and escorted Diamond to the car.
She couldn’t stop staring at the CD. Ryder pulled his seatbelt on. “You know
what. I think we need to celebrate.”
She looked over. “Yeah we should! I’ll call Ryan.” She reached into her purse
for her phone.
Ryder put his hand over hers. “We.” He pointed at the two of them. “As in you
and me.
We
should celebrate.”
Diamond dropped her purse back onto the floor between her feet. We? Us? “How do
you want to celebrate?” she asked.
“I don’t know. Dinner. Drinks. You down?”
Hells yeah! “Sure.” She shrugged. “Why not?”
Ryder smiled and pulled off. Diamond stared out her window. Was this considered
a date? Her and Ryder Gillian eating and drinking together. Alone. In a
restaurant. In public. She happy danced inside.
Diamond scooted into the booth a Tango’s Steakhouse. Ryder sat across from her.
“Sorry I couldn’t take you somewhere more classy. I’m a little tight on money
since I had to quit my job.”
Just being in his company was good enough for her. They could’ve been eating in
a cave full of bats right now and she wouldn’t have mind. Well maybe she would
have since she’s deathly afraid of bats. But anywhere
with
Ryder was
better than anywhere without him.
She scanned the menu. It was her first time eating at Tango’s but she’d heard
great things about it. It had been on her ‘Yelp To Try’ list for a few months
but she hadn’t had the chance to go before moving to New York. “I’m actually
glad you chose this spot. I’ve been meaning to try it out.”
“Well good. I’m glad I didn’t disappoint.”
“You could never disappoint.” The words slid out before she had time to filter
them.
He wore a crooked grin. “Well it’s good to know there’s at least one person I
can’t disappoint.”
“You feel that you disappointed your parents, huh?”
“I know I did. I let them down. I let myself down.” He stared off into space.
“I had a lot going for myself before I went to jail. But I’m determined to get
my life back on track. It’s never too late, you know.”
“No, it’s not.” She accidentally kicked his foot under the table. “I’m sorry.
Didn’t mean to hit your foot. I wasn’t trying to play footsies with you.” She
giggled.
“I wouldn’t mind.” His lips parted showing his beautiful smile.
His dazzling smile.
“So…you said that you quit your job? Why was that?
He lowered his eyes to the menu. “Long story. Maybe one day I’ll fill you in.”
She smiled. So he planned on seeing her again? “Fair enough.”
The waitress arrived. Diamond watched Ryder’s lips as he ordered his steak
dinner. So yummy. Perfect.
“Ma’am?”
Busted.
Ryder chuckled.
“Sorry. I’ll have the same, thanks.” They handed the waitress their menus.
“So, Miss
DeeAye
, what made you move to New York?” he asked.
“Music. I’ve always wanted to be this famous songwriter. I was working down at
Steel Blue café, and that didn’t pan out so I hopped the next thing smoking to
the Big Apple. Not so sure that was the best decision now.”
“Bob still runs Steel Blue?”
“Yep. He promised me another position there and at the last minute decided to
keep his wife off his tail by hiring her nephew. So I basically had to go with
Plan B.”
“Steel Blue. Bittersweet memories. So why do you say you may not have made the
right decision to move to New York?
“The issue with the song. I never expected something like this to happen. I got
involved with the wrong dude and he took advantage of me."