Something To Talk About

"Okay, okay...I've got one," Ryan announced from his stool, "Your last road trip?"

"Honestly?" I giggled, "I've never been on a good old fashioned road trip."

Ryan and I had watched my movie choice, Elizabethtown after dinner, but the film had long since ended. We never got around to watching his pick because we'd begun talking while the credits rolled and hadn't stopped since.

The two of us had eventually moved back to the kitchen and were now perched atop stools at the bar counter, eating leftover fettuccine right out of the pot and asking each other arbitrary questions, to be answered with complete sincerity.

"Are you kidding?" He gawked at me, "Never?"

I shook my head, "Never. I mean, I've been places but I always fly. I don't know..."

"Okay, we have to go on a road trip one day," He decided, "I mean, it wont be as cute and planned out as the one Orlando Bloom took in the living room a couple hours ago, but still..."

I laughed, "Our road trips soundtrack will definitely rival his, though."

"Obviously," He smiled and rested his chin on his hand, "So, where are we going on this road trip of ours?"

"California," I replied dreamily, "I want to drive over the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco in a convertible and sing the theme song from Full House. And I want to stand in the ocean, see if its really all its cracked up to be."

He raised his eyebrows, "You've never seen the ocean?"

I shook my head again.

His mouth almost fell open, "I... That's almost enough to make me drive you there right now."

"That wont be necessary," I patted his knee, and giggled, "If I've gone this long without seeing it, I think I'll survive."

"The ocean is only one state away, why haven't you just made the trip out there?" He wondered, "It's not that far..."

"Oh, I know... But I haven't actually lived here for that long," I explained, "I grew up in Montana."

"Montana?"

I nodded with mock pride, "Lame Dear, Montana. Population: 2000. I grew up on the corner of Dull Knife Drive and Little Coyote Road. Not even kidding, because you cant make that shit up."

"Wow," He studied me, probably wondering if I was lying, "Big shock when you got to Vegas then?"

"Yeah, kind of," I nodded, "But my mom had a friend here who owned a daycare and needed some help, so I packed up and moved to the desert."

"And do you like it here?" He wondered, "Will you be staying?"

"I think so," I nodded again, looking past him at the view of Las Vegas from his windows,
"Not that Lame Dear wasn't spectacular in an innumerable amount of ways... But this is definitely home now."

"Well, I'm personally very pleased to hear that," He assured me and swore, "And I'm serious about that road trip. One day I'll take you to see the ocean, and we'll drive over the Golden Gate Bridge in my convertible."

I smiled, unable to hide my joy at the mere thought of if it, even though my realism was kicking in and reminding me that it would more than likely never happen and Ryan was spouting empty promises.

The pessimistic thoughts eventually wrestled the smile from my lips and I sighed to myself looking over at the clock.

"It's two in the morning, Ryan," I informed him, "I think I should probably get going."

He glanced over at the clock as well and turned back to me sullen faced, nodding slowly in agreement.

"I guess so..." He mumbled, "If you have to."

"I really should," I bit my lip, "But I had a great time tonight."

"Me too," He stood up, stretching, "Thanks for teaching me how to cook. Our next lesson will be how to do dishes."

I laughed, reaching for my purse, "Doing the Dishes 101?"

He was mid laugh when a yawn slipped out.

"Tired?" I smirked, gathering my belongings, "Did I keep you up too late?"

"Two nights in a row," He nodded, rubbing his eyes, "Are you doing anything tomorrow?"

"Why, trying to make it three?"

"Nah, I want you to meet Jon," He reminded me, "Maybe just coffee or something?"

"Right, Jon..." I bobbed my head slowly and felt my heart fall just the teeniest bit, "Well, I guess I'm free tomorrow - though its my full intention to sleep away the morning in its entirety."

"I wish I could do the same."

"Why don't you just tell Keltie to catch a cab from the airport," I chuckled, "And eat some bread on the way."

He tried to hide a smirk at the thought, but responded steadily, "I'm sure that would go over just swimmingly."

"Oh yeah," I sighed and noted that we'd made it to the door, "Well, I guess I'll talk to you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'll call you and let you know whats up," He nodded, and we just stood at his door for a minute in a weird sort of goodbye-limbo, "I'm going to hug you goodbye..."

"I think I can allow that," I grinned and stepped forward, letting my arms slide around his torso.

His long arms engulfed me and pulled right into him for several moments.

"Thanks for coming, Danya," He said as he slowly let me go again, "I'll see you soon."

"Okay, bye Ryan..."

He leaned in and placed a less than brief kiss on my cheek and pulled back again. He blushed when I looked up at him, but played it off, saying goodbye and opening the door for me.

As I walked away that night replaying everything in my mind, all I was left with was a peculiar feeling that I didn't even recognize.