An Unforeseen Turn of Events

Chapter Forty-Nine

 "Lunch is ready to be served!" Christine's boss spoke behind the door in a cheery voice.

"Please give us a minute! We're signing some papers!" Ryan tried to keep his voice even but he sounded hoarse.

"Oh, of course! Take your time! Take your time, please!"

Christine glanced from the door to Ryan and back again, her face turning pale.

"We've got to play it cool. We're in a business meeting. We have to look professional," he told her.

She couldn't help noticing that he was quicker to recover from the surprise than she was. She closed her eyes, lifted her shoulders, and breathed, determined to regain her composure.

"Do you want some water?" he asked, leaning toward her solicitously.

She nodded again, apparently not finding her voice to speak.

He stared around and she pointed to the Poland Spring water cooler in the corner.

Handing her the water, he whispered, "Despite what you may think, I'm not here to ruin your life. I'm going to have them bring in the food and then I'm not going to stay long. I didn't mean to upset you, but we have to talk... .about the future... .come to some agreement that's right for both of us. This isn't the time to reopen old wounds. We both have to continue living our lives."

Christine took a long sip and said, "I agree. Is my color back?"

"Yeah, it's coming back."

"Have 'em bring in the food," she said, waving her hand. "Let's get this over with or they're going to be listening at the door."

"Yeah," he nodded and opened the door an inch. "Uh, we're ready for the food. Thank you very much. Sorry for the delay."

"No problem! How did the signing go?" Sophie asked, her eyes dancing.

Christine had a perplexed look on her face, but Ryan interceded immediately. "Actually, I'm confused about dates, so we've decided to wait before we draw anything up. Afraid I'm suffering from jet lag...I just came back from vacationing in Indonesia and am a little confused about when I'll need the models for my next movie set."

"No problem! No problem at all!" She and Linda brought in the food and set it up on Christine's office desk. Sophie faced Ryan with magnanimous eyes and said, "Is there anything else you need?"

"No, we're fine now, thank you," Ryan said quickly. Christine smiled and shook her head.

Sophie fumbled, "Then I'll leave you two alone to eat and commence with your work."

"Great!" they both answered.

"I wish I could sit in this lunch with you, you lucky girl," Linda whispered to her Christine, stifling a giggle.

As soon as they closed the door, Ryan collapsed in his chair.

"Would you mind telling me what contract we're supposed to be working on?" Christine asked as she unwrapped both sandwiches. "And what movie set are we talking about?" she continued as she bit into her sandwich.

"All right, all right. I'll have to figure something out," he said. "Let me eat my sandwich and then I'll be on my way."

"And I remember you telling me that you never had a problem with jet lag." Christine's eyes were sparkling as she teased him.

Ryan smiled. "I'm happy to see you got your sense of humor back."

Despite forcing herself to regain her composure rather quickly, Christine felt famished. Eating heartily reminded her she was still alive and all hope was not lost. Ryan had promised to be reasonable.