Heaven // Ryan Tedder

Chapter Seventeen; One Day

That night, as Janelle laid in bed beside her sleeping boyfriend, her mind swirled with thoughts, and try as she might, she couldn't get them to stop.

She was still shocked over today; she assumed that Ryan had forgotten about her completely, yet he showed up to bring her coffee and talked with her for almost fifteen minutes. Part of her began to wish she could be with him, but she had Joshua, so thinking that made her feel incredibly guilty. She was only being selfish. She had a perfect man right beside her, and here she wanted to be with a man whom she hardly knew? Sure, he was kind to her, but in a friend way.

She could consider him her friend, right? She was sure he really wouldn't mind that, considering how he had been so kind to her, like he wanted to be friends. Clearly it wasn't just pity for her like she had first thought.

She sighed to herself, looking over as Joshua, who was snoring a little as he slept deeply. She turned on her side, facing away from him as she saw another pair of eyes. The green ones that belonged to Ryan, that seemed so soft, just like his features.

She shut her eyes tightly, trying to quit thinking of him. Joshua was the only man she needed to be thinking about, he had told her himself.

Yet, there was something that tugged at her heart every time she thought of Ryan, and though she wished it wouldn't, she couldn't make it stop.

The next afternoon, Ryan stood in the coffee shop, using his phone to text Abby as he waited for them to finish making Janelle's coffee. The two had been talking about what they'd do in the coming days; only, at the time the only thing they could think of was just getting Ryan as close to Janelle as possible, which, honestly didn't bother Ryan at all; He had wanted to become friends with her, anyway,

He only hoped that when he would tell her to leave Joshua, she wouldn't completely hate him and cut him out of her life.

Which was exactly what he was talking to Abby about.

He had asked her what Janelle's reaction might be to him encouraging her to leave Joshua, and she answered him rather indefinitely. Of course, all that mattered to him was getting Janelle away from Joshua, not if she was angry at him. If it came to her shutting him out of her life, he'd just have to break her walls down again. Not that he already had; If he was tearing down her walls, he was doing it slowly and treacherously. One wrong move, and he could break her. He had to do it as slowly as possible, so, hopefully and eventually, she would have to let him in.

"Caramel macchiato for Ryan." Someone from the front called, causing Ryan to look up from his phone. He slid it into the pocket of his leather jacket, before walking over to the counter, picking up the coffee cup with his initials on it.

With the coffee in his hand, he made his way out of the coffee shop, beginning to walk to the restaurant. He pulled out his phone again, quickly typing out a message to Janelle to let her know he was coming.

Daily Coffee delivery on its way :)

He smiled a little as he sent the text, staring at the screen for a moment as he waited for a response. In about a minute, that's just what he got.

On my break. I'll be outside :)

His smile grew a bit wider as he shut his cellphone off, slipping it back in the pocket of his jacket. He found himself picking up his pace a little as he grew closer to the restaurant. He was eager to talk to her again, and of course, eager to become closer to her. If this all worked out, he'd be relieved that she was away from some jerk that didn't really care about her.

When he made it to the restaurant, he spotted Janelle sitting outside at one of the tables, in a black T-shirt and a pair of light denim jeans. He guessed that she had taken off her uniform, since she was no longer wearing the slightly dirty apron he had seen her wear every day. As his eyes scanned her, he was surprised to realise that she was completely barefoot.

He felt a pang of sadness when he saw how bruised and blistered her feet were. It was unfair that she had to wear high heels all day as a waitress.

As he approached, she looked up at him, a small smile on her face. "Hi, Ryan."

"Hi, Janelle," He Replied, smiling back. He held the coffee out. "Here's your coffee."

She chuckled a little, taking it from him. "Thank you," She Said. "Will you sit with me for a while?"

"Do you want me to?" He asked, and she nodded.

"If you're not busy," She Said. "I'd love for you to keep me company while I'm on my break."

"I'm not busy at all." He nodded, before pulling out a chair, sitting down in front of her.

He watched her as she took a sip of her coffee, trying to think of something to talk about. He remembered how he had told Janelle the story of how he became a musician yesterday, so perhaps she could tell him why she came to LA.

"So," he said, tapping his finger on the glass tabletop. "I told you my story yesterday, you tell me yours."

She look at him curiously, and he ran his hand through his hair, which was slightly disheveled from the light wind.

"How'd you get here, In LA?" He asked, and she chuckled a little.

"Well," she thought for a moment. "It's a long story."

"I have time." He shrugged.

"I don't," She Said. "But, I guess I'll tell you as much as I can in fifteen minutes." She took a sip of her coffee, before sighing a little. "So, when I was in Minnesota, I went to college for photography. Gosh, it was my passion. I took pictures of everything, everywhere I went. I really wanted to make a career out of it, so I decided I'd move to LA.

"When I got here, it seemed like the future was wide open. I could live my dream, and get to live in a beautiful city. But..." she trailed off, and Ryan studied her face, his smile fading.

"But..?" He Asked, causing her to let out a small sigh.

"There was no way I could support myself on photography alone. It just didn't pay enough. I tried looking for jobs, but the only place that really wanted me was the restaurant. I tried doing both waitressing and photography, but over time, it got to be too much.

"I dropped photography, and before I knew it, I was stuck waitressing just to pay my rent. Then Joshua came along.." she shook her head. "I mean, my boyfriend...he helps me pay the rent."

Ryan decided to bite his tongue. Right now, he could tell her to leave that cheating bastard, but then, she would know that Abby told him. It would ruin everything, so he'd have to keep his mouth shut.

"Joshua?" He asked, and she nodded.

"He's my boyfriend. And a realtor. He of course makes way more money than I ever will." She Said, before chuckling lightly. "We're living together and splitting the rent, so I'm hoping I can maybe save up some money."

"For what?" Ryan Asked. He didn't want to pry, he was only curious.

"Well...if I can save up enough, I can quit." She shrugged. "Maybe I can go off and follow my dream. The reason I came here in the first place."

But what if he cheats again? He wanted to ask. He didn't trust Joshua at all, not after what Abby had told him. If Janelle left him, he would even help pay her rent if he needed to, heaven knows he could afford it. Anything to get her away from a man who didn't truly care about her.

"So, is Joshua good to you?" He let the question slip out, looking at her seriously. He mentally facepalmed. Why would he even ask a question like that?

She seemed to hesitate a bit, but she bit her lip, smiling a little. "He's great to me." She looked up at Ryan with her blue eyes. "I really love him."

Ryan suppressed a sigh.

Oh, Janelle, he thought to himself.