Hold Your Breath

Out of all the places he could have picked to meet at he chose Spritz. It was probably the most laughable choice that Ryan could have chosen. You tilt your head and ask why? Well, my friend, Spritz is the cheesiest 'lovey-dovey'/'romantic-esque' restaurant in Lemon Grove. Even Michael had mentioned that as much as he loved me, he would never take me to Spritz. The restaurant was a joke to begin with. It was styled after an old western restaurant where the lights were low and close to the booth's tables and smelled terribly of harlot juice. I swear they spray bottles of that atrocious perfume in the air not to set the mood but to suffocate anyone who had half the brain to realize there are toxic fumes in the atmosphere. Don't get me started on the food or music choices...But honestly, Spritz? It wasn't like we were going on a date or anything.

I was here for one thing and one thing only; Operation: Retrieve Phone.

The lady at the door asked if I had a reservation. If a red cloth wrapped around breasts and a butt, exposing every other area of skin, is considered a uniform then I might as well been magically moving snowman, er, woman.

"Oh, Vic, over here!" called a voice.

The woman and I looked over her shoulder to see Ryan waving at me several tables or booths a way. The blonde girl looked at me with wide eyes and whispered, "You're here with him?"

I frowned, "I just need to get my ph-"

"Oh my gosh, you're sooo lucky! I'd kill to be on a date with Ryan Ross," she said taking a menu and leading me to his table.

"We're not on a dat-"

"Hey Vic, take a seat," Ryan interrupted when I got to the table.

The girl looked at me with a 'you're-so-lucky' expression and then left us alone. I glared at Ryan and did not take the seat like he suggested.

"My phone?" I inquired.

"Hey now, slow down," He said smiling, "Take a seat and we'll talk about it."

"There's nothing to talk about," I said stubbornly, "Please give me my phone."

"Oh what, this?"

I watched as Ryan took my cellphone out of his jean pocket. He admired it for awhile with a smirk then looked back at me. I narrowed my eyes at Ryan. He laughed and held it out for me to reach. But something went wrong.

I was not half way to grasping my phone when all of a sudden it 'slipped' out of Ryan's hand and into the glass of water on the table. I gasped and stared at it in disbelief. My phone... I... I had paid for that phone. I snapped my attention back to Ryan who wore a smirk on his face and crossed his arms over his chest.

"YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE"!

"No, I didn't."

"YES YOU D-"

"Just sit."

In frustration, I pulled my chair out and sat across from. No one spoke. I was busy being furious about my phone, which was still swimming in Ryan's glass of water, and he was busy being... Ryan.

A waiter came up to us with a note pad, "Hi, I'm Josh. I'll be serving you today. What could I get for you guys to eat?"

Ryan looked at me waiting for my order, so did Josh. But I didn't say a word. I sat angered, gazing off somewhere to the right most wall. Josh blinked.

"Oh, first date huh?"

That's when I snapped.

"We're not on a-"

"She'll have the yam and potatoe dish and I'll have the French dish."

"Alright, guy. Be back in a few."

The nerve of this guy. I had just come out here for a phone and now he was making me sit at this stupid table to eat a stupid lunch with him. Josh arrived several minutes later, like he promised, and placed our food before us. Both Ryan and I started eating without saying a word. I didn't and couldn't say anything. Emotions were just too overwhelming for me at the moment.

We finished our food in silence and just stared at the table blankly. Ryan was the first to speak, "So, care for a walk?"

I sighed, "Do I really have a choice?"

"Nope," he said smiling as he offered me his arm.

The walk with Ryan around Lemon Grove actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would have been. I did have some qualms about it because I was very upset about my phone. I had right to be. I was now phoneless. But Ryan was also a very good conversationalist. He posed very thought provoking questions that I had never thought about. For a while, I even forgot that I didn't have a phone anymore.

"So you're saying that forgiving someone is impossible?" I asked still puzzled.

Ryan looked at the invisible thought cloud forming over his head, "No, not necessarily. It's hard to just to forgive someone like that." He snapped his fingers together for emphasis, "I mean, you've got to wonder, why are they asking forgiveness in the first place? Is it to ease their own mind or because they want to change to benefit others? Unfortunately, it usually is just to ease their own mind. I don't know. We should stop talking about this, because I could go on for days."

I nodded and noticed that we had stopped. Looking at Ryan, I said to him, "How'd you know I lived here?"

"Your phone."

I glared at him upon the mention of the now unusable phone, "Right. I'm going to go now."

And with that I turned and slammed the door behind me. Ryan did not even as so much say a word to me. In a fury, I stomped to my room and threw my jacket against the wall. A large thud resounded to my room. That's weird, I thought to myself, I didn't bring anything with me when I went to Spritz.

Crossing the room, I picked up my jacket and sat on the edge of my bed. The jacket seemed to be heavier than it orginally had been. Reaching into the pocket of my jacket, I felt something solid and smooth. I pulled it out and my mouth dropped to the floor.

A brand new Sidekick III sat wrapped in a red ribbon. I sat there for minutes trying to comprehend and it buzzed lightly in my hand. I frowned and looked at the phone.

1 Unread Text Message

It was from Ryan.

I never really said sorry about dropping your phone into the water. Sorry about that. But then this gift would have been random. added bonus, I gots your number! XD

-Ryn

I fell over laughing.