The Personal Affair

F I V E

The silence in the car was setting my nerves on edge and I almost started regretting my decision to come to this dinner with Ryder. He sat quietly beside me, his attention on the iPad in his hands as he replied to some emails.

Letting out a low sigh, I turned to stare outside the window at the beautiful city as the Rolls Royce Phantom glided smoothly along the streets of Seattle.

Overcome by my discomfort at this whole thing, I blurted out, "Did you not want me to accept your father's request?"

Ryder paused in his actions, not turning to me. "If I didn't, then you wouldn't be here."

Fair enough. He had always been very blunt with his take on things and I believed that he'd have said something earlier if he was uncomfortable with my presence.

"So, why are you so quiet?" I found myself asking just to keep the conversation, which wasn't much of a conversation anyway, going.

He looked up at me this time, his back straightening in his seat. "Have you ever known me to be a talker?"

Suddenly, I felt stupid. Of course, he wasn't. Here I was trying to make small talk with this man, allowing my nerves to make me forget exactly who he was—my asshole boss.

Resigned, I turned to look outside the tinted window of the car, silently regretting the fact that I had turned down drinks with my best friends for this.

Ryder released a long breath before saying, "My...family is a touchy subject for me."My mind registered his words as an apology the best way he knew how because I doubt Ryder stone ever had to actually utter the word 'sorry' to anyone.

A smile almost came to my face at that but I reeled it in as I faced him once more. "Why?"

"We don't have the best relationship." Was his curt response. I was very curious to know more but I refrained from asking because like he said, they are a touchy subject for him.

I could understand the sentiment, however. I can't say I have the best relationship with my parents because that would be a lie. I don't have any relationship with my parents. I was thankful to them for bringing me into this world but that was as far as my sentiment towards them went, as far as I allowed it to go.

I had come to realize early on that the best way to avoid getting hurt, was to not feel, so they had become a topic that I was highly impassive about.

"I can understand that." I told him.

His eyes took on a look of mild interest. "Do you have a good relationship with your parents? You look like someone who does."

I laughed at that, a small sound that sounded loud in the confined space. "What? How?"

"I don't know." He shrugged noncommittally. "You look like someone who grew up in a family of two loving parents, a dog perhaps, white picket fence, maybe a few siblings too; all that jazz."

"That can't be any farther from my reality." I divulged with a small smile that he looked like he didn't know what to make of as he stared at me.

Ryder parted his lips to say something but then the car slowed down, causing his words to die on his lips as he turned to look outside the window. "We're here."

"Any words of warning before we walk in there?" I asked playfully.

He paused as he seemed to consider my words before saying, "I may not have a good relationship with them, but my family is not that bad. You may even have fun tonight."

His words intrigued me. If they weren't 'that bad', why didn't he relate with them well. I didn't have time to ponder over that as his door was then pulled open by his driver, Mikhal.