I walked through Diedrich's door. 'This can't be happening. This can't be happening.' I breathed. I pinched myself 3 times.
"Ow." I muttered. I could see blue marks coming up.
'Oh great. That's what I need. A bruise.' I said to myself. I
couldn't believe what was happening. And the thing was, Ryan looked
sort of sad when Diedrich asked me. It seemed like Ryan wanted
to ask me first. I smiled to myself. But I really wanted to meet
Ryan and his kids Not to mention Pat, his wife. It was like Ryan
really did want me to go with him. For a minute, I felt bad I
went with Diedrich. Then I did something dumb. I slapped myself
in the face. Not hard, just a little reality smack.
"Ow." I muttered.
Diedrich showed me around his house.
"This is a really nice
place." I said to him.
"What were you expecting?"
Diedrich asked me.
"I don't know... I've been
watching too much Drew Carey, so I expected you to lead me to
a bar." I joked. Diedrich and I laughed. That eased my guiltiness
a lot.
***At the diner place***
Ryan fumbled with his fork.
It was something to do. Everyone was still laughing about the
"You're not wearing your pants" line back when the show
was on. Ryan smiled at that.
"Liv is pretty attractive."
Jeff said.
"Hey! You're 27. She's
almost 14. See the age difference?" Emma said, joking.
"Yeah, but I'm single."
Jeff joked. Everyone laughed. Ryan did, also. Ryan seemed a bit
down in the dumps.
"Ryan, what's wrong?"
Sandy asked him.
"Uh... nothing." Ryan
said. 'Yeah. Nothing's wrong. It's just that I wanted to get to
know Liv better. As friends. Only Diedrich had to ask her to his
place before me.' Ryan said to himself.
"You're upset that Diedrich
asked her to his house aren't you?" Ruth said.
"How'd you know that?"
Ryan said, shortly. Everyone raised their eyebrows.
"I mean... no!" Ryan said. He was backed in a corner.
"Ryan, it's ok. I could
tell that you were tense when Liv accepted. It's all right."
Sandy told him. Ryan nodded.
***Back at Diedrich's****
I was starting to feel more
relaxed. Diedrich let me watch TV. I looked at all the tapes.
"What are these?" I asked him.
"Um... Drew Carey Show
Tapes." Diedrich said.
"Did Dulcy tape these?"
I asked. Diedrich nodded. I slipped one in.
"No! Not that one!" Diedrich asked.
It was too late. "Oh! The Dog and Pony show!" I teased. Diedrich was caught. We laughed, and we watched the show. When the show was over, Dulcy walked through the door.
"Dulcy, this is Liv." Diedrich introduced.
"Hi, Dulcy. I'm a big fan of Diedrich's. He invited me over to stay. I had no place to go." I told her.
Dulcy smiled. "I know. Diedrich told me about it on his cell phone." She said.
I turned to Diedrich. "That
was Dulcy?! You said that was your agent!" I said. Diedrich
blushed. But I laughed. I couldn't get mad at him. Diedrich pulled
out the bed, and it was time for me to rest and go to sleep.
