by Kaci Hart
The car told her exactly why people who had the money for luxury chose to treat themselves. Her eyes darted around the area taking in all of her surroundings, from the drink area to the docking station that was stocked with several tablets right at her fingertips. Low, relaxing lighting set in the roof and under the seats made it just bright enough to create a very cool ambiance. Almost romantic – if this were a date. She loved it. A normal person could probably live in there but for him it was simply transportation. A place that he probably spent less than an hour in each day.
By the time she’d done her self-guided tour of the limo, the door had been closed and he’d turned his head to her, his eyes not moving from her face. Normally the rich guys were the last ones she would like simply because of that I’m-better-than-you-and-we-both-know-it attitude that the few she knew were all guilty of having but this guy was different. Every action he took dripped with confidence but not the annoying kind. More like he knew who he was and he lived as such.
“Now where will we be dropping you again?” He asked.
She was so fascinated by this man that she’d just met that she barely managed to squeak out her destination. She hoped she didn’t look as silly as she felt when she heard her own voice. She sounded more like a nervous thirteen-year-old talking to her lifelong crush for the first time than a woman in her early twenties who talked to guys on a daily basis. Lots of them actually.
Way to go Chelsea. Guy invites you in his limo and you sound like an idiot.
He pressed a button beside his chair and the partition that separated them from the driver changed from transparent to dark black. He pressed another button and the driver responded, asking where he should take them. He gave the man the address and moments later they were on their way. Based on where they were and the traffic at this time of day, she figured it would be about ten minutes to the school.
Ten more minutes of him.
She tried not to stare but found herself sizing him up. He had to be at least six feet tall and even though he was dressed like someone that was quite a few years her senior, she didn’t think that was the case. His smooth, wrinkle free skin told the story of a man that was probably her age or maybe a year older. Truth be told, he didn’t look too shabby wearing a business suit over one of those form fitting slim suits. To her he looked better than the gazillion guys she saw on the red carpet wearing them.
In the middle of her internal evaluation of his looks she was nudged from her thoughts by a soft tap on her shoulder. Apparently he had been working to get her attention.
“Hello. Are you still with me? Don’t tell me the effects of the fall are finally kicking in.”
She wondered just how long he had been smiling at her. How long he was trying to get into her head with his mesmerizing voice that was like a truth serum. She almost blurted out exactly what she had been wondering but was lucky she had enough wits about her to hold her tongue. She looked away before he broke her down even more.
“Sorry. I was somewhere else for a second. What were you saying?”
His smile curled up even more.
“Well I’d been trying to find out who I was lucky enough to enjoy this brief ride with today.”
“Oh me. My name is Chelsea.”
“You know I have always loved that name. It sounds so . . . I don’t know. Fun and beautiful at the same time. Quite fitting if I may be allowed to say.”
Flattery normally didn’t work on her but his hit the spot. More than that though, she was surprised he was flirting with her. With the way her day had been going, that was the last thing she had expected. She certainly wasn’t complaining though. A little positive attention never hurt.
“Thanks. You know because of my age a lot of people think I was named after Chelsea Clinton but I wasn’t.”
“Really? I wouldn’t assume that but I guess I can understand the idea. You were probably born when Bill was in the White House.”
“Yep. First year in office actually but she doesn’t get the distinction. My dad actually gave me the name. He is probably one of the biggest soccer fans of all time and the story goes that he begged my mother to name me after his favorite soccer club, Chelsea FC. She said no like a gazillion times but apparently one day she gave in and thus, a star was born.”
“Watch out world huh?”
“Not so much but I’m enjoying life still.”
“That’s what matters after all.”
He leaned forward to the drink area and grabbed one of four glass coffee cups siting there.
“Well I’m Ryder. Chocolate?”
“Your name is Ryder Chocolate?” She responded playfully.
A smile played at the corners of his lips.
“Actually its Chatham. Ryder Chatham.”
“Well Ryder, how did you know I was a chocolate girl?”
“I didn’t really. Just a hunch.”
“Well I would love that but I don’t think I’ll be in the car long enough to enjoy it and I don’t want to waste it.”
He reached further down to open a lower compartment and pulled out a very nice looking traveling mug that she assumed was made out of stainless steel.
“Don’t worry about that. If you don’t finish it, just take it with you.”
“Oh no Ryder, I can’t take that from you. It’s looks expensive.”
“Chelsea, I don’t want to sound full of myself but look around. I won’t miss the mug. In fact, I’ve got several more in here just like it.” He opened the drawer wide enough where she could see at least five or six more. “In the winter I tend to drink lots of warming beverages – coffee, tea, cider, cocoa. Depending on the day of course. Either way, I’m always taking it with me because most of the meetings I go to only have the generic packet stuff and I like them with actual real natural ingredients in them.”
“Ok then, if you insist.”
“That’s it? If I insist? Are you telling me all this time all I had to do was insist that you do something and you would? I’ve wasted too much time being courteous. Now I wish we could start the car ride all over.”
She laughed.
“I didn’t mean it like that. My ease of agreement only applies to warm drinks on a cold day.”
“Well that’s good. To be honest, I much prefer life with a bit of a challenge to it. Now, back to your namesake. Have you ever had a chance to go over and see them play? I bet your dad tried to fly you there the first time you were old enough to get on a plane.”
She took the chocolate he had finished dutifully preparing for her and took a sip from the most flavor filled, tasty hot chocolate she’d ever tasted.
“Wow. Before I can respond . . . this is delicious. Okay, I just had to say that. On to my dad. No we’ve never had the chance. As big of a fan as my dad is, he’s never been able to afford to fly to England.”
“Aww. That’s unfortunate. You’ve got to go one day if you can. I mean, you are named after the team. I bet your dad would be completely surprised if you took him to watch them play a match one day.”
“I don’t know who’d be more surprised, him when he goes or me when I win a trip there on The Price is Right. Either that or the lottery otherwise dear old dad better just be happy with a nice steak dinner. Actually, with the way things get sometimes, any steak dinner might be more like it.”
People with money always seemed to think that it was just as easy for those without as much of it to get up and do whatever they wanted in life. It was amazing to her how someone that seemed so down to earth one minute could just as quickly seem out of touch with reality. Or maybe he wasn’t. He was very in touch with reality but it was his own, not hers. The things he did in his reality were fairy tales and fantasies. In hers she was a struggling dance student.
Ryder spoke up again.
“That might be true but still it’d probably be nice. I like the sport too but I’ve never been out of the states to see a game. I mean I have been to London before. My mother is actually from England but I’ve never been to a sporting e
vent there. The closest was that I went to a match down in Florida one time. One of my newer clients just got ownership in a team so after talking stocks and bonds for a bit, he insisted that my buddy and I join him for one of the matches. Needless to say, you don’t say no to big, new business.”
Ryder leaned back in his seat as he spoke. His movement caused him to get close enough to her that she could smell his cologne tickle her nose once again. It was crisp, energizing, and fit him perfectly. When she looked into his eyes now that he was into what he was saying, she could see just how excited he was. The way he sat back and spoke, he could have been talking about working at a fast food restaurant and it would have sounded like the most interesting job in the world. Of course if she was right, then she thought his job was anything but exciting.
“So you trade financials?”
“I wouldn’t say that really. It’s a part of what I do but to just call it that wouldn’t quite encompass it all. I guess the best way to explain is that I handle a variety of investment and cash flow options for firms, large and small. Mainly larger ones though. I work with them to diversify capital, locate investment opportunities and . . .”
The playful roll of her eyes worked as he stopped and smiled at her before finally asking.
“What?”
She couldn’t help but pour on the sarcasm.
“Huh? Nothing at all. Keep going. That always happens to me when I hear something this exciting.” She covered her mouth and pretended to release an exaggerated yawn as she talked through it. “No seriously, I’m listening.”
“Right. I’m completely boring you aren’t I.”
“I wouldn’t say boring. It’s just that . . . I mean come on. Stocks and bonds? I’m sorry, you seem so excited about it but-”
“Don’t apologize. There is no need to. In fact, I prefer when people are honest. In my position, you can probably imagine that people tell me whatever they think I want to hear a lot so what you just said was refreshing to say the least. To tell you the truth, I think that what I do is rather boring as well at times. I mean I am proud of what I do and I guess that’s the only thing that makes me enjoy it so much. What about you? What’s the passion that keeps you up at night?”
“I’m a dance student. I don’t know if I’d call it a passion but it’s definitely something that I really enjoy doing. As a matter of fact, as we speak, a handsome former stranger is dropping me off at a very important audition.”
“Thanks for the compliment.”
“Not you! I was talking about your driver, but you’ll pass.”
“Funny. I’ll pass the message along to him for sure. Dance is nice though. I’ve never been coordinated enough to be able to dance too well. Maybe I can get you to give me a lesson some time.”
She was no fool. She’d gotten that line from many of guys before but none of them were him at all. He certainly had the build to be a good dancer so she wouldn’t be surprised if he was much better than he let on. Of course, if he was serious then his timing couldn’t be better.
“Well Mr. Chatham, it’s funny you say that. I was actually hoping to start giving dance lessons as a way to help cover some of the costs of school anyway. Schools that focus on the arts can actually be as expensive as a regular college you know, so I’ve got a lot of lessons to give. We will just have to set something up in the future.”
“In that case, I am going to need your number.”
I can’t believe this. If he isn’t serious about the dance lessons, then he likes me and if he is serious about the dance lessons, then I can start making some extra money. Win-win for me!
She was ready to rattle her number off for him when he reached into his pocket and before he could do anything, it started to ring. Chelsea saw him frown when he looked at her.
“I have to take this call. One second.”
Chelsea watched as he spoke to the person on the other end of the line.
“Hello . . . Yes I know that I’m late. Things happened this morning but tell my father that I’m not more than five minutes away. Thanks. Oh, before you go, did you get the overseas account profile for Mr. Lemarius? . . . I understand. Keep trying then and when you get through to him call me and let me know. It’s paramount that we have it . . . Uh huh . . . Exactly . . .”
Chelsea already knew that they had reached her stop right before he got the phone call. She had to go and soon. She looked down at the time on her phone, hoping he would get the hint. Apparently he did but couldn’t stop what he was doing as he looked up from his phone and put up his index finger asking her to wait one more minute. Unfortunately for her, it was a minute she didn’t have to spare. It was a miracle that she’d made it just in time but if she didn’t run inside right now, it would all be for naught.
She was already almost certain that Denard was probably freaking out right now as it was. She might not always care about her chances at the school but for Denard, it was something that he was in love with and she couldn’t let him down if she could avoid it. She was a junior but it was his last chance to make an impression before he graduated. She didn’t have a choice in the matter. Maybe she’d regret it later but she took a deep breath, pulled her bag onto her shoulder, and opened the limo door to reintroduce herself to the outside elements again. Seconds later she jumped out of the limo, turning back to the car as she hurried towards the building.
“Thank you so much for the lift Ryder. You’re a life saver but I really have to go.”
She could barely hear him shouting to her from the car.
“. . . your number!”
I know. Maybe that’s good. A guy doesn’t get driven around in a limo on a regular unless phone calls like that are how his life always is. He wouldn’t have had time for me anyway.
That was what she was telling herself but in the pit of her stomach, she could feel the uneasiness. All she could think was that it was less about the showcase and more about the idea that she might have just run away from something very good.
Chapter 2
Chelsea took the empty glass off of the table and replaced it with another drink that she knew would be gone in minutes. One of the things she hated most about waiting tables was serving liquor. She understood it was a person’s right to drink but that didn’t mean she had to like being the one that gave it to them. The most surprising thing she found out since working as a waitress was how much people drank. Not everybody actually. Just the heavy drinkers. Even then most of them weren’t so bad. She’d served many guys something on the rocks with their dinner and most of them were fine. They could handle their liquor and knew when they needed to call it quits.
They were ok.
It was the lightweights that she could barely stand. Guys that would get drunk and then do everything that their quasi intelligent, sober mind would shout at them not to do. That same restraint was gone when they crossed that line from being sober to being a prime candidate for an internet video shaming their drunken actions. She remembered dozens of occasions where she was seconds away from recording them when they were drunk. Then they’d see the kind of person they really were when drunk.
Yeah, they were the ones who got her to the end of her rope and she was currently dealing with the worst of the worst.
“Anything else I can get you Jason or are you done for the night?”
“I can think of plenty you can give me tonight but I don’t know if you can do it on the clock. How ‘bout you meet me after your shift?”
He wasn’t half bad looking and was pretty decent when he wasn’t incapable of putting together an intelligent sentence. He was a prime example of a person that should not drink for any reason. Ever.
Yeah, keep on smiling buddy. I know you well enough and I’m glad the one thing that doesn’t get worse when you drink is your tipping. It gets better the drunker you are. Still, I probably need to cut you off and get you a cab. I’ll let you sober some first. It’s still early.
She couldn’t say she was pleased with letting him get t
hat wasted, but a good tip had an ability to help ease her conscience. Besides, she always stopped serving him when it was just too much and made sure he got home safe. He was smart enough to never drive himself there so taking a cab home was always fine.
He was the kind of guy she actually felt bad for. The kind that made her want to work at a place where she didn’t have to even serve the stuff. Of course, hers was a life where she didn’t always get what she wanted. In truth, most of the times things didn’t seem to go her way.
Waitressing was a good example. When she started doing it, she didn’t expect it to be her main source of income a year later. It was supposed to be a stop gap. She thought she’d make a little extra money on the side while she waited for some dance company to scoop her up. She didn’t care about actually finishing school back then. Now it was almost two years later and she was still serving Italian food and fine wine.
