Release (15 page)

A few hours
later, Ryann was taking the cab ride back to the Institute from her wax
appointment during her lunch hour.  She sat there in the back of the taxi,
smelling sweet, and feeling smooth and silky, thinking of her evening with
Jeremy.  The thought aroused her, and she squirmed in her seat.  She
couldn’t wait.

It hit her at
that moment, that she hadn’t filled in Ayanna on what her plans were for the
evening.  She grabbed her phone and texted her.

RT: 
Hey. 
Just got waxed.  :)

While she waited
for Ayanna’s response, Ryann began thinking about all of the information she
had gathered in the last few hours.  Paul had gone over some of her
responsibilities, and they talked about the students who would be coming in the
next day.  Then there was the unforgettable introduction of MG, Ryann
thought with an eyeroll.  But the coolest thing out of everything that she
had learned, she thought, was what Paul had done in his previous life before
working at the Institute.  He had been a hypnotherapist!

AS: 
Nice! 
Slick, smooth, and ready to go!

She smiled and
responded, imagining Ayanna screaming on the other end after she would read it.

RT: 
Tonight’s
the night, btw.

She watched her
phone to see how long it would take her to respond.  Pause. 
Ping!  Ryann chuckled.  About 25 seconds.

AS: 
WTF!
 
ahhh! 

Ryann felt the
giddiness of the moment spill over her.  She hugged herself, and
responded.

RT: 
Can’t
talk now, just getting back to work.  Will call tmrw.  Going out to
dinner aft work, then back to his place....for the night. :)

Ryann watched
outside the window, as the cab pulled up to the Institute.  She paid the
driver, and got out, running up the steps so she wasn’t late.

As she was
entering the lobby, she noticed a tall dark haired man in a suit walking away
from Jennifer, who turned and saw Ryann.  She clenched her jaw, and walked
over to intercept her. 

Here we go,
Ryann thought, as she slowed, and said, “I’m sorry, Jennifer.  I have a
meeting with Paul that I’m on my way to, so I can’t talk.”  She could hear
her phone
pinging
a couple of times in her purse.  Yan was
apparently responding with a long text.

Jennifer put her
hand out to stop her.  With her arms crossed over her chest, she tilted
her head to examine her.  “You really need to make sure you make it back
from your lunch hour on time, Ryann.”

“Thanks for the
advice.  I really need to go.”  Ryann started to walk away.

“Teaching little
teeny boppers is a little different than instructing artists practicing to be
professionals in their field,” she said condescendingly.

Ryann stopped
and turned back to her.  “Not necessarily.  It’s the same skill set,
whether you’re instructing teenagers in how to understand Shakespeare, or
commenting on an artist’s technique.”

MG walked
forward.  “I disagree.  Don’t be disappointed if you discover this
isn’t the job for you.  It can be very demanding, and you may find it to
be too difficult,” she said, patronizing her.  MG smirked, then began to
walk away.

Ryann rolled her
eyes, and left with the parting shot.  “It was great to talk to you,
Jennifer.”

Jennifer turned
and glared at her, and Ryann smiled one of her best smiles and walked away.

She made her way
to Paul’s second floor office, and saw him there finishing up a phone
call.  He waved her in.  “Okay, baby.  I’ll see you
tonight.  I’ll pick up some Chinese on the way home, ok? 
Alright...bye, baby...love you too.”  He hung up, and turned to
Ryann.  “How was your lunch?”

“Great...thanks,”
she smiled.

“Good. 
Ok,” he rubbed his hands together, “let’s take a look at these rosters, and
talk about what tomorrow will look like.”

The two hours
passed quickly, and it was fast approaching three o’clock.  The faculty
had their final meeting of the day down in Quinn Hall, and it was supposed to
be over by four.  She hadn’t had a chance in those two hours to even check
her texts, so she decided to at that moment while Paul was using the restroom.

She had
two.  One from Ayanna, and one from....Jeremy.  She smiled while the
butterflies took flight once more.

She checked
Yanna’s first.

AS: 
For
the night?!  Woo hoo!  U go girl.  Can’t wait to hear about
it!  And abt work, too.  Have an AWESOME time tonite!  love u!!!

Ryann smiled,
then nervously pulled up the one from Jeremy.

JM: 
I’ve
been thinking abt u all day.  I’ll be at Institute for mtng at 4. 
Should be done by 5.  Then ur mine.  Be ready.

Ryann’s face
split into a huge grin, and she could feel her face burning with a combination
of excitement and embarrassment.  Just then, Paul walked in.

“Well, look at
you.  That musta been some text!” he said with a chuckle.

Ryann cleared
her throat.  She put her hand to her cheek, and looked down.  “Are
you ready to go down?”

“Yeah, but I
want details first, honey!” he guffawed.

Ryann wasn’t
ready to confide in Paul.  Or should she?  She was torn, because
obviously people would see her talking with Jeremy, or maybe even leave
together.  But she wanted to get a plan in place with him first before
their...whatever this was... was made known to people.

“No details to
report, Paul...Besides, a lady doesn’t kiss and tell.  Now let’s
go.”  She got up, and grabbed his arm playfully.

“She
doesn’t?  Well shit, that’s no fun.  All the ladies
I
know
do.  Then again, most of the ‘ladies’ I know aren’t of the female
persuasion.”

They both
laughed and headed down to Quinn Hall.

They found their
seats quickly, and made sure to sit far away from MG.  Earlier, Ryann had
shared with Paul the little altercation she’d had with Jennifer.  

“Fuck it,” he
had said, “Don’t even pay her any mind, Ryann.  There are so many things
worth thinkin’ about in this world, and she isn’t one of ’em.  The only
time ya should think about her is when you’re thinking about how to respond to
her asinine comments.  Otherwise, just give her a wide berth.”  She
agreed.

They sat through
the talk from the Dean, and at about 3:45, he brought up the man who had been
talking to Jennifer when she had returned from her wax.  He was introduced
as Armand DiCarlo, the art dealer who arranged for the Mackenzie Renault
painting to be shown for the fundraising gala scheduled for the following
Friday evening.

Paul was
right.  He was strikingly handsome, with olive toned skin and dark good
looks.  He had on expensively cut navy blue pinstripe slacks, with a
starched and stylish white button down shirt.  His Italian heritage, and
European style made him stand out in the midst of all of the casual artist
types in the room.

When the meeting
was over, people began to mill out, some going over to talk to Armand, some
deciding to leave the hall.  She noticed Jennifer leaving the hall, and
when Ryann looked at her watch and noticed it was 3:50, she had a pretty good
idea who she was in such a big hurry to see.

She followed her
out of the hall a moment later, and sure enough, Jennifer was on the other side
of the lobby...talking to Jeremy.

…..

Ryann watched as
Jennifer threw her head back and laughed like a giddy school girl.  She
had her hand on Jeremy’s arm, while her other pushed her hair back.

Oh, brother.

Jeremy was
standing there looking gorgeous as ever, his wavy dark hair, his sexy scruff on
his face, and a black lightweight cashmere sweater with gray slacks hugging his
to die for six feet three inch frame.  He was looking at Jennifer with a
polite smile, but that all changed when he looked up...and saw Ryann.

Their eyes
locked, and her heartbeat began to speed up.

His eyes perused
her body slowly, all while MG was jabbering away.  But he paid her no
mind.  His eyes were only for Ryann.  And didn’t
that
just
make her feel like the most desirable woman in the world.

Paul came up
behind her at that moment and noticed the direction of her heated look, and the
equally heated returned gaze from Jeremy.

“Well, well,
well,” Paul said with a smile.  “I have a feelin’ things are about to get
interesting.”

Ryann turned to
him with a panicked look.  “Paul -”

“Why don’t we go
over and say hi,” and with that, he grabbed her elbow and led her to where
Jeremy and MG were standing.

Jeremy left
Jennifer’s side and began walking toward them before Jennifer even knew what
was happening.  When she realized why Jeremy left her, her bright smile
fell and turned into a scowl.  She slowly followed him over.

Jeremy reached
them first, and leaned down to kiss Ryann on the cheek.  “Hey,” he
whispered, then placed his hand around her elbow. 

Surprised at his
PDA, she smiled up at him nervously, clearing her throat.  “Hey,” she
croaked back.

Jeremy turned to
Paul.  “How are you, Paul?  Great to see you again,” he said with a
genuine smile on his face.

“Same
here.  I hear you’re the new VC?”  Paul put out his hand to shake
Jeremy’s.

“Yup.  I’m
headed into a meeting right now.”

“Good,” Paul
said with a smile.  “It’ll be nice to see ya around this place more
often.”  Paul’s eyes were twinkling.

Just then, Jennifer
reached them, her arms crossed over her chest.  She cocked her head. 
“You two know each other?” looking at Jeremy, then to Ryann.

Ryann looked up
at Jeremy, trying to appear strong, but nervous as hell.  She gave him a
look that said
You started this thing, buddy.  I’m gonna let you take
this one.

Jeremy smiled
and looked down at her, squeezing her elbow.  “Yes, actually.  We met
before either of us knew the other’s connection to the Institute, and became
very
good friends,” he purred.

Ryann cleared
her throat again, and could feel the heat creeping up into her face.

“Really,”
Jennifer said.  “When I said your name earlier, Ryann neglected to mention
that she knew you.”  Her voice took on a dark tone.

“Put your claws
back in, MG.  No one owes you any explanation.”

Through gritted
teeth, and a fake smile, “Of course they don’t.  I was just commenting on
the fact that Ryann apparently didn’t want anyone to know of her
connection
to the new VC.  I find that interesting, that’s all.”

Jeremy calmly
intervened.  “Who I’m friends with isn’t your concern, Jennifer...or
anyone else’s for that matter.  Ryann’s talents as a teacher, and skills
as an artist, speak for themselves.  Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been
accepted into the internship program here...long before I ever met her, I might
add.”

Ryann, she knew,
was red in the face, and was mortified at the discussion of their situation so
openly there in the lobby.

He turned back
to Ryann, and looked her in the eye, willing her to not let this become an issue. 
He looked at her, challenging her to contradict anything he’d said.  “I’ll
see you after my meeting?”

She
paused.   I guess Jeremy’s idea of a best defense, was a good
offense, she thought.  So much for talking to him about their strategy.

Jeremy was still
waiting, his eyes drilling into her.  She replayed the last comments he
had said to her the night before. 
I don’t care what excuse you come up
with.  You
will
be coming back to my place tonight.

No more excuses,
Ryann.  She took a deep breath, and cleared her throat.  “Yes. 
Where do you want to meet?”

Letting go of a
breath, he said, “I’ll text you when I’m done.”

“Great,” she
said with a smile.

He smiled at
her, letting his hand coast from her elbow to her hand, and squeezed. 
Then he looked at Paul and Jennifer.

“I gotta run,
guys.”  Then he turned to Ryann, and said in a low voice, “I’ll see you
soon.”

Ryann cleared
her throat and nodded, her eyes darting around anxiously, with a small smile on
her face.  Then he walked away.

“Well, isn’t
your little protege just full of surprises,” Jennifer said in her best MG
voice.

“True to your
nature, MG, you always like to find the drama where there is none.  It’s
unfortunate that you can’t seem to get through a day without it whether it’s
there or not,” Paul said with a sigh.

Jennifer looked
Ryann right in the eye and said, “Whatever it is that you have going on with
Jeremy won’t last long, sweetheart.  He might be enamored with your little
miss innocent act for now, but he’ll discover soon that you’re not the kind of
woman he wants or needs.  And when that happens, we’ll see how long you
last here.”

She turned to
walk away, only to be stopped by Ryann’s words. 

“I feel so
incredibly sorry for you, Jennifer.” 

Jennifer turned
back and glared at her. 

Ryann continued,
“I don’t know what happened in your life to turn you into such a bitter, angry,
ugly person, but treating people like shit seems to somehow make you
think
you’ll feel better.  When really, it just feeds your anger, and makes you
look more pitiful.  Quite frankly, I would prefer it if you didn’t speak
to me.  And if you do, know that unless it’s work related, I’ll just be
walking away.”

Paul’s eyebrows
were raised in surprise with a huge smile on his face.

Jennifer
sputtered, “Who the hell do you think you are?  You think just because
you’re fucking the new VC that you can talk to an instructor like that? 
You’re an
intern
.  A nothing!”

Ryann didn’t
know where she found her courage, but she said in her best teacher voice,
“Well, as far as I know this is still America, where I can choose who to talk
to, or who
not
to talk to.  And I figure when someone blatantly
speaks to me in a disrespectful manner, regardless of whether she’s an
instructor or not, I can choose to speak to them, or not.  If you need to
talk to me about work related things, then that’s fine, but you’ll do it
respectfully, Jennifer, or you won’t do it at all.  And for the record, my
personal life is off limits to you.”