Dallying with Ryder

Oh Snap!

At the beginning of this destination wedding , I was amped to the max . I wanted to , not only , share in my brother' s big day but also take in the beautiful sites of Italy and experience it in the short time I was here . Of course , I could visit again easily but I knew the time after this would not allow it so easily .

Yet the moment my eyes had opened this morning and the happenings of yesterday flooded through , I had found myself dreading getting on to a jet and coming here to begin with it . Refusing to sit under the covers and reminisce over my misfortune , I immediately got out of my bed and headed straight in for a shower .

Any thing to keep my mind occupied and forget the gravity of the situation . As I cranked up the faucet to make the water hotter than it already has been , I could only hope that all of this drama would be left behind on Italy . The guests were esteemed , honorable people and knew better but , even then , scandalous gossip was prized by all . I wanted no reminder of any of it . No reminder of how stupid I was in tolerating Louis for all this time . I wanted to forget that it had been Ryder that I had kissed but more so that he had kissed me back . I wanted to forget the kiss all together because each time I thought about , my finger tips itched to reach for my lips like I would find traces of him there that would make it difficult to breath .

I was highly surprised that Ryder had not sought me out after the party when all the guests had retired for the evening . Not because I wanted to converse with him but because I was fully expecting to rub it in my face . I knew he played along solely because Chase had been his closest friend and nothing more but I knew Ryder . He would not give up the chance to laugh at me and the fact that he hadn' t already appeared to do so had come as somewhat of a shocker .

My only hope now would be that he leaves to whichever part of the world he chooses to hide on and hop around from just as long as he was not coming back to New York . It was a strong likelihood granted that Ryder did not reside in New York since he left after college .

Hauling my hard shell gloss black luggage on to the bed , I quickly packed the last of my clothing in to the bag in anticipation of finally , after what felt like the longest weekend , I could leave this place after the fiasco that took place last night . Of course , Camilla and Louis , as well as his parents , had departed early for obvious reasons . No longer being able to bear the brunt of their children' s actions against the child of their hosts , as well as , the many people who have attended and witnessed their disgrace .

I left immediately after the situation had calmed down but not before pulling Chase and Casey aside to express my deepest and more sincere apology for causing such a scene . Casey had laughed and said that it was no problem at all . Although Chase congratulated be for building up the nerve to leave Louis . With the bridal party happy and taken care of , I did not care much for anyone else .

When I got back to my room last night , I filled the bath up with hot , steamy water and bubbles before I got in . The water was too hot but that distracted me from going back to thoughts and replaying certain occurances that may very well be forgotten for good . Yet , even now as I thought about it , I caught my lower lip between my teeth .

Kissing Ryder was something that I would regret for a decade and then some . It was supposed to be a normal , mediocre kiss just like it always had been with Louis . It would only have made sense for it to have been more empty and disappointing than it had been with Louis and not the complete opposite . Surely there wasn' t much when it came to kissing . Something as simple as placing your lips against another person's should not have been so electric . . so consuming . Perhaps it had been the lingering , years worth of anger that had made it different . Yes , it had to be that and nothing else . No other explanation would and could possibly make any sense .

I packed my vanity bag and zipped it up along with my suitcase and the thrill of finally departing had me in relief . I knew by now that majority of the guests would have left by now so I could walk out freely with no pressing glares and gazes or harsh whispers .

There was one last week of rest and relaxation before I began working at my new job . However , once I had returned to my condo in New York , I found nothing relaxing at all . Least of all with the numerous headlines swirling about and causing a complete stir about things . I guess I forgot to factor in the paparazzi and news headlines before kissing Ryder . Of course , someone in attendance spilled the tea and I could not think of anyone else but the two nut jobs themselves .

' Lana Sinclair admits to affair with the infamous Ryder Huxley . "

' Most anticipated power couple breaks up because of Ryder Huxley . '

' Lana' s New Ryde . " My eyes widened in mortification at all the headlines and twisted perspectives being thrown out and in to the feasting ears of society .

I chose to ignore it regardless of how much it had irked me . Besides , give all of this another week and it will be forgotten . . hopefully . It was usually how normal gossip fizzled out . After a few days or weeks , in some cases , it simply becomes old news , and people have no choice but to move on from there .

Ryder was of in God knows which part of the world minding his business but there was not a damn chance that he was unaware of this at all . Louis would be in another country persuing his career and away from me and I would begin a job that would take me to new heights of success .

My phone had buzzed and I picked up without evening checking the caller I . D . " Lana , have you seen the damn headlines ? " Chase concerned voice crackled against my ear . He didn' t sound alarmed or concerned for the gossip but more so worried about me .

" You are on your honeymoon , Chase . " I pointed out failing to see why something like this got his attention but I knew that I was trying to down play the severity of the issue .

" Lana , this is not going to be easy to clean up . Not when our family is pretty well known and Ryder certainly isn' t nearly as close to being a nobody . " I knew that he was right and I tripped my head back feeling the jet lag and exhaustion hit .

I groaned . " I did not expect it to get so out of hand . I thought what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas applied to Italy , too . " I tried to joke but Chase did not find much humor in it because all he let out was a dry scoff .

" Clearly , the rule does not apply . " He said then proceeded to sigh . " Has Ryder called you up ? " I frowned at such an odd question .

" He has not . I do not see the need for him to do so anyways . " I said in a matter of fact tone . As far as I knew , Ryder would not even have any way of contacting me .

" I' m assuming he will soon . I can' t imagine how they must be swarming him . " Chase said heavily . " You guys need to clean this up . Make a public statement saying that no such a thing had taken place and you and Ryder are only close friends . " I rolled my eyes at that as if Ryder and I were even civil aquaintances let alone close friends .

" I despise the man and you know it . " Chase laughed this time .

" It certainly did not seem that way at the reception . " Chase teased tightly like he did not approve yet couldn' t resist making the come back . " I' m kidding . I know that you dislike him and it' s a good thing , too . But , for now , you two need to clean this up . " He said again and I heard Casey call for him in the background .

" Okay , Liana , I got to go . I will check in with you later . Love ya . " He said in a rush and hung up before I was even done returning his love .

I let out a huge breath and , when I inhaled deeply , the familiar smell of my condominium had felt welcoming and reminscinent of happier , more relaxed times . However , there was a sense of freedom that I felt knowing that I was free of Louis completely .

Like every normal person , I decided not to go through the monotonous process of unpacking my clothes and decided to just use the items from my bag until it was empty . Except for , of course , my vanity bag .

Once I was done with that , my phone buzzed again and my heart did a dreadful somersault . Was it Ryder ? Has he finally called to laugh in my face at how my relationship in an even more disastrous way than he even said it would . He was going to rub my face in it as much as he could and that was the last thing I needed . I dragged my body downstairs to retrieve my phone that I had deposited on the T . V cabinet .

I sighed in relief when I saw that it was just my mother . I didn' t even manage a word out before she went of .

" Your father and I haven' t even got to see you much during this weekend . " She said sounding disappointed with me . It wasn' t like I was avoiding them but they were pretty occupied playing hosts this weekend .

" I know , I guess it was all so crazy with Chase and Casey' s nuptials . " My mother made a 'hmph' sound that she always did when she disagreed .

" What ? "

" You mean you were too caught up with Ryder Huxley to think about anything else . " She teased and I sighed .

" No , Mum , it really isn' t like that at all . " I tried to explain yet she made a tsk sound cutting me off from saying anything further .

" I knew that you two never truly hated each other . Although , I can' t imagine your brother being too thrilled about this union but Ryder is a much better catch than Portia' s boy . " I nearly choked from trying not to laugh .

Just like everyone else , my own parents refused to see Ryder for the monster that he is .

" It is a good thing , then , that Chase will not approve because there is nothing to be approved of anyways . " I said quite frankly but she was determined to believe what she wanted . Well , I guess everyone in attendance believed the same narrative as she had .

My mother laughed . The women actually laughed . " Oh , please , you can lie to every but not your mother . " She said slyly and I rolled my eyes .

" Mama , there is nothing going on . I had to get back at Louis . It was just a ploy with someone higher in status to pack a punch . " I explained utterly worked up about this .

" Well , even if that is so , let your aging mother have her hopes , okay ? " She concluded and closed the topic and I let it be . " Anyways , Chase and Casey will be back home in a two weeks time . We' re planning a small welcome back party for them . Make sure you free your Saturday evening for it . " She said firmly almost daring me to not pitch up but it was Chase and Casey . I had to be there to see them again before life got busy for everyone .

" They have only left less than twenty - four hours ago and you have already planned a whole return party for them . That' s some real speed . " But this was ways here needing to be on step ahead and organised .

I wouldn' t have been surprised if she planned it all to detail before Chase even proposed to Casey to begin with granted that it was too short of a time for her to have planned it all now .

" And I will do the same for you when you decide to marry Ryder . " She threw at me lightly with so much of amusement in her voice that I knew she was merely jesting with me so I laughed , too . My God , that would be worse than marrying Louis . " Do not forget ! " She said again and I nodded but realised that she could not see me do so .

" Fine , fine , I will be there . Anyways , let me get back to unpacking . " I lied and she snorted .

" Liana , you have never unpacked a bag a day in your life . You can' t fool me . You just want to run away from speaking to you aging mama ! You horrible child . " She caught me out but was still very amused and I couldn' t help but grin at that .

We spoke for a little bit longer before she hung up and I had collapsed on the couch from exhaustion only to wake up the next morning still in my stale clothes . After a shower and a cup of coffee , I made the biggest mistake of turning the television on and I was glad to have held of taking a sip of hot coffee because I would have definitely sputtered all over the light coloured carpet that covered the length of my drawing room .

Ryder had been on his way to , what looked like , an enterprise of his when paparazzi and reporters had swarmed all around him , flocking like sheep to be the first to report back any sort of tid bit they got from him .

He wore a dark suit with even darker shades covering his eyes . His face had been set in tight expression and his mouth had a stern hardness to it like he was not pleased with all of this fuss especially when it began interfering with his basic day - to - day living .

" Mr Huxley , what do you have to say about the headline circulation as of late ? " Asked a blonde report holding a tape recorder in her hand and she moved it closer to him .

" How did the two of you meet ? " Another reporter blurted out causing Ryder to lift his chin and look at whoever it had been .

Even though his glasses covered his green eyes , I could almost guarantee that he would be looking at them with the most deadly glare chilling enough to freeze hell over .

" Did you truly have an affair with another man's girlfriend ? " I had gasped at that seeing as how the narrative was being painted about us . . about me .

All of these types of questions had been thrown at Ryder who was visibly annoyed by it . Nevertheless , he remained silent whilst his bodyguards pushed the crowd aside from reaching him . Ryder disappeared into the doors of his glass enterprise in London and I switched the T . V off .

Damn it !

This had been worse than I had thought it would be . I never saw this leaving Italy ! The mishaps had took place was not supposed to make it out and in to the open but , surely , Louis and his family sought to get their narrative thrown in to the media before anyone could grasp the real reason as to why matters ended up where it did .

There was no way a man like Ryder would put up with this for far too long . It became evidently clear with each passing headline why Chase told me to expect a call from Ryder so we could clear this all up and make our own public statement regarding the matter .

Whatever Ryder intended to do or say , I was happy that he was holding it off because I had not gotten a call at all later that day .

My mind told me to stop thinking about , forget it even happened , pretend it away but I knew better . It was proving to be an inconvenience and I knew better than to be blinded by the reality . Sure , room still existed for all of this to die down but there was also the possibility that all of this could get blown even further out of proportion .

I would have still liked to believe that with each passing day , it would die down . I know it was naive of me but the alternative possibility was worse . I did not want it to get to the extent that Ryder actually reaches out to me as Chase had said he would soon do and decided to take the fact that he had not indicating all was well and manageable .

Sitting at home was going to drive me insane but I decided that it would be much safer for me to stay inside for now . The last thing I wanted at this moment would be to head out and dally about only to be swarmed just as harshly as Ryder was already being harrassed . That would only add to my stress and I was determined to avoid it at all costs .

I could only imagine the god awful questions they would hurl at me if they had not held back from being this frank with Ryder himself . Would they assume that I was the one who cheated on Louis ? I could only think that possible granted that it was clear the story was given from their end . Louis looked wounded and wronged when it was the other way around . Sure I was not wounded by it all but I was wronged !