The Lonely Hearts Club
Page 37

"What?"
"Nothing. I just started to remind myself of my parents, and it was very, very scary."
"Aw, come on!' Ryan took my chin and lifted it away from my hands. "I think it's cute."
"Yeah, cute in a demented way. Like a drunk puppy."
He shook his head, but kept his hand on my chin. "No, I mean cute in a completely irresistible way." the smile on his face diminished as he started to slowly lean forward..
"Which one of you ordered the salad?"
Ryan sat back up as our food was delivered. I looked down at the food and tried to collect myself. I could practically feel Ryan's eyes on me.
He wasn't going to .. .
Last Saturday night with Rosanna flashed in my head. if he . * . the Lonely Hearts Club would be ruined.
But I was being silly. Ryan was just leaning in. He was just being friendly. He had always been friendly. I was clearly misinterpreting him.
I started to pick at my fries, wishing that I could escape to call Rita on my cell phone.
This was a major emergency.
"You can't be serious!"
Ryan rolled his eyes at me. "Just drop it already."
He handed me my ticket as we went through the entrance of the Civic Center. I noticed that the envelope from the ticket agent was addressed to Ryan, not his mom or stepdad, although they were supposedly the ones who'd gotten the tickets.
A shiver rippled through me as Ryan put his hand on the small of my back to guide us to our seats.
"Okay, then, be difficult." I sat down and crossed my arms.
Ryan laughed. "Oh, I'm the one being difficult, huh? Seriously, Penny, I didn't know you were the stubborn type."
"Oh, yeah, I totally am." I tried to keep my face straight. "Besides, I'm not the one being completely unreasonable."
Ryan put his arm around the back of my chair and leaned in. "Oh, really?" His voice was filled with amusement. "I don't think there's a single person here who'd take your side in this argument."
I slouched down in my seat and sighed exaggeratedly.
"Okay, don't believe me." He smirked at me. He started surveying the crowd of older people in the audience. "Excuse me, miss?" Ryan tapped the woman in front of us on her shoulder.
"What are you doing?" I asked in shock.
He turned back to me. "I'm proving a point,"
A woman in her fifties -- with a Beatles T-shirt on, no less -- turned around and looked surprised to see someonelike Ryan here among the Baby Boomers.
"Sorry to bother you, ma'am." Ryan flashed his best smile to the woman, who didn't seem bothered by him one bit. "I'm hoping you could help me with a small disagreement I'm having with my date."
Did he just say date.?
He continued, "You see, I like to think that chivalry is indeed not dead, so I'm trying to do the gentlemanly thing this evening." the woman nodded excitedly at Ryan. I could already tell that he was going to win this one. "Now, I've seemed to upset this beautiful woman that I'm seated next to, who just happens to be named after a Beatles song." Ryan motioned toward me, and I did my best to smile and wave at the nice woman instead of hit my gentleman companion. "to be honest, I think she is being unfair. I invited her out this evening, so it's only fair that I pay, but she isn't cooperating."
Ryan looked back at me and winked. I moved my foot over so my heel could dig into his left foot.
"Owl" He moved his foot over and cleared his throat. "in your opinion, don't you think she should just say thank you instead of trying to throw money at me?" the woman patted Ryan's knee. "Of course, it's very sweet of you. I can tell that you're an excellent boyfriend."
I opened my mouth to protest, but Ryan looked up, beaming at the woman. "Why, thank you, miss!" the woman blushed slightly, enjoying the attention from Ryan. She leaned in. "First date?"
I held my breath.
He smiled. "Yes, and what chance do you think I'd have with a second date if I made her pay?"
Blackness swallowed me. For a quick moment I hoped that I was having some sort of seizure, I kept blinking, but the darkness wouldn't go away. then my ears were filled with screams and my pulse was quickening, A fitting punishment for going on a date.
Light burst a few hundred feet away as four guys dressed in black suits took the stage. the concert, I shook my head as I got back to the present. Ryan stood up with the rest of the crowd as the Faux Four began with "I Want to Hold Your Hand." I needed to use the support of the armrest to stand up -- there was too much confusion swirling around in my head.
I looked over at Ryan, who smiled at me and put his arms gently around my waist.
I am on a date with Ryan Bauer.
My stomach did a somersault and I tried to catch my breath. Crap, I'm on a date with Ryan Bauer. I'm not supposed to be on a date! Not only that, I'd declared in front of the entire Lonely Hearts Club that I wasn't going on a date.
I focused on the music. The words to every song flowed through me like memories -- good and bad -- as the set list continued.
Okay, Penny -- you can handle this.
The lights dimmed as a guitar started to play, and my heart dropped. I could feel the tears begin to well up in my eyes, and I fought them back with every ounce of strength I had. I tried to block the words out of my head, but I couldn't. I wasn't going to be okay; this whole situation was wrong. And of course, leave it up to John, Paul, George, and Ringo -- even fake ones -- to put things in perspective.