Playing for Rya

42. Discovery

Song: In the air by Phil Collins. Cover by Kelly Sweet.

The loud buzzing coming from Ryas phone woke her up. She shut off the alarm, stretching slowly, drowsily, as she turned, unconsciously searching for Derek's warmth. She opened her eyes when all she encountered next to her was her cold, empty, bed.

It came back to her then. Him informing her, during their brief discussion the night before, about the trip he would be leaving for early that morning. To Prague, he'd said. A business trip. Other than that, she couldn't quite remember the rest of the details about the trip. His hands had been busy at the time and her mind had been more focused on the things he had been doing to her rather than the words that had been coming out of his mouth.

She remembered him waking her up before dawn to say goodbye, and what a farewell it had been! One that neither she nor her body would quickly forget. He'd made sure of that. Actually, they'd both made sure of it during the many times they'd reached for each other during the night. And judging by the sweet ache between her legs and the soreness in her thighs, it would be a while before every movement she made wasn't a reminder of the night they'd just spent together.

She buried her face in the pillow he'd slept on, feeling a contentment settle over her as she breathed in his scent that had mixed in with hers.

The night they'd shared had marked a turning point for them. She'd felt it in the way he'd held her, had seen it in the depths of his golden brown gaze, had heard it in every word he'd spoken to her. But her joy had also been bittersweet, dimmed by the sadness she had seen in his eyes, a sadness he hadn't been able to hide from her.

She had understood it. Respected that he cared deeply for the woman that he'd spent the better part of the past several years with and that he was now worried about her and the situation she was in. It was one of the reasons she didn't begrudge him his request about wanting to make things right with Bev. If anything, she loved him more for it.

The other reason was the guilt she felt for a part she believed she had inadvertently played in the entire circumstance surrounding Bev's injury. Perhaps if she hadn't attempted to break things off with Derek that afternoon Bev wouldn't now be in the position she was currently in.

The contentment she'd felt waking up just minutes before soured, and she felt the sadness begin to seep in. Thankfully, her thoughts and the unpleasant path they were beginning to take were interrupted a moment later by the insistent buzzing from her phone.

It rang at the same time she heard the distinct sounds of a raised voice coming from her front door. A very familiar voice. Kris's voice.

And it only took one glance at her phone to further convince her that her friend was indeed the barbarian making a ruckus at her front door.

She rolled her eyes as she picked the call.

'Kris, it's barely 8 am. Please tell me you're not the crazy person making all that noise at my front door.'
She bit back a smile as she heard her friend give a huff of annoyance over the phone.

'Rya!' Kris began, her tone belligerent as usual, except, this time, rya detected a hint of alarm in the girl's voice. 'Why is there a man standing outside your door, insisting I get you on the phone before he'll let me have access to your front door?'

'What?!' Rya sat up with a frown, wide awake now as she scrambled to get out of bed. 'Who is he?' She asked as she hurriedly located and put on her attire from the previous evening which she had ended up not wearing to bed after all.

'I don't fucking know Ry.' The exasperation in Kris' tone was apparent. 'Why don't you come out here and maybe ask him yourself!'

Rya kept the phone glued to her ear, barely paying attention to Kris' continuous ramble as she hurried to her front door and pulled it open.