Our Agreement

Thanks Dad

I open my eyes to sun shining through my bedroom window. What time is it? I check my phone. Great, I have fifteen minutes to get up and call my dad or I'll have to reschedule. Pretty sad when you can't just up and call one of your parents. Instead, I have to schedule an appointment with his receptionist.

I feel like death. The wine from last night has turned into exhaustion and a headache that won't go away. I jump into the shower so I can feel somewhat alert when I call. When I get out I have five minutes to spare. I make my way downstairs and make a cup of coffee. I'm in the middle of mixing in my creamer and sugar when I hit dial.

"Thank you for calling Miller Enterprises. This is Alyssa. Whom do I have the pleasure of assisting today?"

"This is Sydney Miller. Please transfer me to my father."

"One moment."

At exactly nine thirty he answers. "Hey Syd. How are you?"

"I'm good." I respond and I jump right to the point. "You forgot to mention I'd be having company. Would've been nice to know." I stated. It takes him a minute to respond. He's probably thinking of an excuse. I hear him let out a deep sigh.

"I'm sorry. He's a good kid. Chrissy didn't like him much because he came from a rough past. You'll like him, Syd. I promise. Just let him stay for a few months and he should have enough saved for a house, okay? I have to talk later. I have another appointment. Just give him a chance." Before I could say anything the phone disconnected. Great. Thanks dad.

I grab my cup of coffee and take a seat by the window in the living room. It's one of my favorite spots. The suns already up but it's still a phenomenal view.  I admire the beauty of the nature in front of me for a moment before I hear Ryan's door open. We decided last night he could have the biggest of the two spare bedrooms. It sits right beside the kitchen and has easy access to the guest bathroom.

I hear his footsteps make their way to the living room. He sighs and mumbles good morning. "Good morning." I respond as I take a sip of my coffee. I turn around to ask him his plans but the sight of him causes my jaw to drop. He's has on pajama pants and socks. That's it. His chest is bare and he is definitely well built. I can see the outline of every muscle in his body. His hair is pulled back into a messy bun and he's so gentle at stirring his coffee. As soon as I pick my jaw up off the floor, he looks at me. I freeze.

"Do you have any plans today?" He asks.

I shake my head. What the hell is wrong with me? Get it together Sydney!

"I was thinking about getting a fire going later. If you don't mind?"

I take a sip of my water and look back up at him. He's about twenty feet away from me but he definitely has some kind of affect on me. He's making it hard to breathe and he's in a completely different room. " I don't mind. I'll just be here reading my book."

He nods. "Okay. Well you're more than welcome to join me." And with that he takes his coffee and makes his way back to his room. Once he's down the hallway l fill my lungs back up with air and tilt my head back on the chair. How the hell does he have this affect on me?

Around six o clock I'm on the sofa watching one of my favorite movies, Shrek, when Ryan comes out of his room and enters the kitchen, thank God he has actual clothes on this time. He pulls out steak and chicken and throws them on the counter. He starts cutting up the steak first. "Are you hungry?" He asks without even looking up. "A little" I lie. I haven't eaten anything today other than a muffin this morning for breakfast. My stomach is pretty pissed at me.

I watch him for a moment while he continues to cut up decent size pieces of steak. He is pretty hot. I'm definitely curious about his past and where he came from. He just hasn't given me much room for conversation the last 24 hours. He's been pretty distant, actually. Im not sure what his deal is, why not get to know your new roommate for who knows how long? He looks up and his eyes meet mine. I quickly turn my glance back towards the tv. I can feel his eyes on me for a moment before I hear the chopping continue.

"What're you making?" I ask without taking my eyes off the tv. "Kabobs" he answers. What the hell is a Kabob? He must notice my confusion because he asks "you've never had a kabob?" I glance over in the kitchen and his eyes are burning a hole through me. I shake my head. "Nope sure haven't. Only the weirdest people eat steak AND chicken for dinner." I respond pointing at the tray of cut up meat and chicken in front of him. 

"It's not weird. You can chose either one. I'm about to put these on and start a fire. Care to join me?"

He doesn't even wait for my response before he's out the door with a tray of chicken and steak on sticks. I grab my coat and head out behind him. I walk out just as he's starting to put the sticks on the grill. I sit in a chair I bought last week for my back porch. I bought a complete patio set, actually. I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it and I just knew I had to get it. It has a glass table with a bright blue umbrella. It also came with two matching patio chairs that are SO comfortable.

It's pretty cool because the way the house is, my back deck is a good 15 feet off the ground. You walk out my back door and it wraps around the side and back of the house. There's steps at one end that go to the bottom and it's blocked off at the other side. My grandma left a grill here. I'm surprised it still works but it comes in handy. Especially on nights like this.

The sun is starting to set and the sky is a beautiful shade of pink. You can definitely tell winter is on the way. It's only the middle of September but its cold in the mountains compared to the year round warm weather in Atlanta. I cuddle up to my blanket and watch the sun fall as Ryan makes whatever concoction he's making for dinner.

"It sure is pretty up here. I've never seen anything like it." He says as he looks over the mountains. I nod. "That's the first thing I noticed when I got here. It's breathe-taking." He looks over at me and then back at the food, without responding. I look back over the mountain and take a deep breathe of the cool air.

He closes the lid to the grill and looks over at me. "You look cold. Imma go start the fire." He walks down the steps and I follow a few feet behind. We make our way to the middle of the backyard where a tall metal can sits. Ryan makes his way to the wood line and starts to pickup branches and toss them in the metal bin. It only takes him a few minutes to gather wood and start the fire. It feels so warm. I take off my blanket and lay it on the ground and take a seat.

I put my hands up to feel the heat of the fire in-between my fingers. I look up at Ryan and he's staring at me. Once my eyes meet his he quickly takes his glance off me and starts focusing on the fire. Without looking up he says "I'm gonna go check on the food" and starts heading back towards the grill. I admire the sunset while Ryan finishes up dinner. It's seriously beautiful.

Once he's finished he brings a tray of kabobs over and takes a seat next to me on the blanket. He states as he picks up a kabob. They actually look pretty good. All the kabobs have the same sides on them, green peppers, mushrooms and onions. The only difference is the chicken ones have tomatoes, too. There's also a few on the side with shrimp.

The smell makes my stomach growl. I grab one of the chicken sticks and admire it for a minute. How do you eat it? Do I bite into it with it still on the stick or do I take the food off piece by piece? I look up at Ryan to see how he's eating it and he looks at me with a mouth full of food. I look back down, not sure what to do.

"Is it okay?" He asks. I look back up at him.

"I, uhh..." I look back down at the stick of food in my hand and make the decision to just grab a piece off. I grab a mushroom and slide it off the stick. I pop it in my mouth and oh, good lord. It is mouth watering. I don't know what he seasoned these with but it came together perfectly. I look back up at Ryan, who's still looking at me.

"It is delicious. Seriously." I state. He smiles "good" and takes a piece of steak and slides it off of his stick. Well, at least I ate it the right way.