Playing for Rya

43. Discovery II

Song: Sign of the times by Harry Styles; cover by Macy Kate.

'Ma'am, you'll need to come with me.'

Paul's presence at their booth and the quiet words he spoke gave Kris pause from her rambling litany.

Rya stood and picked up her purse causing her friend to follow suit. There was an urgency to Paul's voice that spurred her into action first and made her hold off on the questions that bore asking.

She studied Paul face as he held open the door of the back seat of the vehicle for her to get in.

'What's going on?' Kris asked her the moment he shut the door after Rya leaving them alone for just a few seconds as he rounded the vehicle to the driver's side.

'I don't know yet.' Rya responded honestly. It was a question she intended to pose to Paul the moment he joined them in the vehicle.

To his credit, he didn't wait for her to ask. Getting into the vehicle, he pressed the ignition button, and as the car idled, he turned to Rya.

'Ma'am,' he began, 'I've just been made aware that the media will be running a story this afternoon about Mr. Black...and you.'

Kris' gasp filled the quiet interior of the vehicle they were cocooned within, correctly expressing the state of shock Rya also felt as she stared back at Paul, frozen in place.

'What do you mean?' She asked, hoping his words meant something else even though she knew exactly what they meant. A day hadn't even gone by since Derek had asked for time to sort things out with Beverly. He wasn't ready for the world to know, hell, she wasn't ready. 'How...?' she breathed, unable to complete the question. Her chest felt tight as she thought about the scrutiny and speculation the media would undoubtedly engage in. She took slow, deep breaths as she shook her head in denial. She wasn't ready.

'We were followed to your apartment last night,' Paul responded. He paused for a moment giving her time to digest the news before continuing ruefully; 'I apologize for this Ma'am, I was under the impression that we had shaken off all our tails.'

From his carefully masked expression, Rya took in both the things he was saying and the things he was not saying. It was now clear that it had been a risk to come to her the night before, but Derek had chosen to take that risk anyway.

'Does Derek know about this?' She asked softly.

'His plane touches down in a couple of hours,' Paul responded, ' he'll be informed then.'

She nodded quietly and frowned when he hesitated. It was clear there was something he wanted to say still.

'Paul?' She said.

'Ma'am I have to advise that you avoid both your apartment and the hospital for a few days...'

Her eyes widened with surprise, and she cut him off before he could finish, 'you want me to leave home and stay away from work?'

He nodded, 'hopefully it will be just enough time to allow the frenzy surrounding this new bit of information to settle.'

Rya released a sigh as she shook her head. She understood what his concern was, but avoiding work seemed to be a step too far. With Paul's help, she could effectively avoid the press camped on the streets at the main entrance of the hospital and to her, that appeared to be an effective way to deal with the situation without staying home. 'I'm not going to miss work over this Paul.' She said.

'Ma'am...' He tried again, 'considering the news is just about to break, you will most likely be forced to deal with the brunt of the fallout from this if you insist on keeping your regular schedule.' Again, his tone was brisk and candid, with no inflections to suggest what he was thinking other than what he was telling her.