RC.

Ch10 .................... T

I spoke so much about my impressions on the show to Ryan once back in the car that I'm afraid I bored him.

I love all the great classics! So attending a classic opera in the most beautiful setting in the world, I'm more than won over!

My head's so full of stars that I don't immediately notice the restaurant that Ryan has brought me to.

The waiter shows us to a beautifully decorated table. Two flutes of champagne are already served and a candle is lit.

(It's perfect!)

Ryan and his concern for perfection.

T:"Ryan... "

My voice is murmur. Nothing's done by half with Ryan in bad times as in good times. One can fall very low but you can also go soaring back up so high that you almost go into orbit.

The panoramic view of the twinkling city and of the illuminated Eiffel Tower fill me with happiness.

I feel so emotional that my eyes are moist.

R:"Do you like it?"

(It's wonderful!)

T:"If I like it? You're kidding, right? ... It's just amazing!"

In a novel, I would have found it all too much, too" fairy tale" like, yet now that I'm the heroine of the story, I just want to scream my happiness!

The waiter pulls my chair out inviting me to sit down.

I don't know how to act. I'm almost intimidated in such a place. I lay my hands on my knees, timidly looking around.

R:"So, it's more fun than a picnic on the beach, right?"

Ryan's amused tone snaps me out of my admiration.

T:"This place is something else..."

I don't tire of twisting my head in all directions to analyse everything.

R:"This is one of the best gastronomic restaurants in the city, I couldn't bring you to Paris without inviting you to a place like this."

(I wasn't expecting anything less coming from you.)

T:"To tell the truth, I knew it. When you said Paris, I immediately thought gastronomy."

(Even if the trip was already perfect.)

T:"Honestly I think you've spoiled me as it is, jusy spending time with you in this city." I smile at him.

R:"The night's not over yet, I may surprise you still..."

I giggle. I can't wait to discover the rest of the evening.

R:"As for that matter ..."

He runs a hand through his hair and fixes his glass of champagne for a moment.

When his eyes set on me again, they have a deeper glow, more magnetic than ever.

R:"I think now's the time for me to say it. You can't imagine how terrified I am."

Terrified, him?

I fiddle with my flute of champagne without ceasing to look at him. I wonder what is making him so nervous.

(I tease him.)

T:"You? The great Ryan Carter? Terrified?"

He grins his usual grin at me, but this time I feel that there's something different, something more which causes me to stop teasing.

R:"Everything we've been through, you and I, in such a short time ... It was so intense, so strong..."

He takes a deep breath. I'm hanging on to his every word. He's stuttering. Which is very unlike him.

R:"You know, you came into my life like a tornado. You've taken down all the barriers that I'd patiently erected."

R:"Never get attached, creat a neutral zone, never open up, never confide..."

R:"And God knows I made you suffer, because I'm not good at it, and because I behaved like an idiot."

I can't see myself contradicting him. The bachelor pad incident, is still very painful, even if I know he feels bad about it.

It's something that has marked our relationship forever. But we got through it.  Changed, and that can be the making of a beautiful story.

T:"Ryan ... It's all, behind us now ..."

R:"Wait. Let me finish."

I nod and look at him tenderly. His sudden embarrassment is touching.

R:"Put me in a room with dozen reluctant associates and they'll leave captivated, that's because I know how to do it, that's what I do."

R:"Give me a young start-up that's in difficulty, presenting a challenge, or looking for a vision and I'll find the solution, the direction to take."

R:"But in front of you, in front of your way defying me, of bringing out my weaknesses, I felt like a beginner."

R:"A young idiot who has everything to learn, because he hadn't really understood the meaning of anything ..."

(What's he getting at?)

I don't quite understand what he's driving at ... Am I too complicated for him? Or is he trying to tell me...

(I think I understand...)

This time I hold my breath. I
understand what he's getting at. If he doesn't hurry up and get it out, I think I'll faint!

R:"Shit Tayla, reality hit me right in the face! And believe me, I'm not used to being overwhelmed by my emotions."

And that's our biggest difference. Him a control freak, and me a pack of nervous sensitivity.

R:"OK..."

It looks like he's cheering himself on internally. I think I'm on the brink of asphyxiation.

R:"I've got you under my skin. You've been obsessing me since the first day I tasted your skin, your lips, your warmth... That day you almost gave yourself to me in that elevator."

R:"I never would have indulged in that kind of game with an employee before! But there was this tension. At first, I believed it was something purely physical, at least that's what I said to reassure myself."

R:"But I couldn't stop thinking of you. Of the craving, that insatiable desire that you had insinuated into me."

R:"I was like a lion in a cage, when you showed up with that file in your hands and I met your innocent and unconcerned look, I understood that I was done for."

R:"Something had just happened,
something stronger than anything I had ever known, something that was beyond me, beyond my control. Something that was going to have the better of me!"

(I felt the same way.)

T:"Ryan ..."

He puts his hand on mine and his eyes are lost in mine. There is nothing but the two of us. Just the call of our two tormented hearts.

R:"I love you Tayla."

Words that are so simple, but that spread throughout my heart and soul, like the sweetest of caresses.

T:"I love you too Ryan ..."

We remain like this for a few delicious seconds. Simply measuring the importance of our declaration.

I also struggled with my feelings. Because I was afraid of stepping over that boundary of no return If I owned up to it.

Telling him is like plunging into the void. Terrifying, but at the same time so liberating!

Suddenly, Ryan lets go of my hand and gets up from his chair, putting one knee down on the floor.