She Said I Do (But She Don't) ✔

Chapter 12

Owen shut down his computer and stuffed his iPad into his briefcase along with a few paperwork. In the past days, he had promised himself to finish up at work earlier than usual. He wanted to prove to Alice, and maybe even to himself, that work wasn't his only priority. If someone asked him then what is, he wouldn't really have a concrete answer. He merely wanted to show Alice that he could be there for her.

As he locked up the main door of the office building, he was wondering whether Alice would agree to change her lifestyle of partying if he vowed to spend much time with her after work. As a husband would do. He was debating how to persuade her when he stopped at the edge of the pavement waiting for his cue to cross and noticed a familiar face sitting on a door step close by.

"Ryan?"

The bleached blonde haired teenager lifted his head at the call removing his earbuds. What was he still doing here? Owen was sure Ryan had left the building an hour ago with the others. And that thin hoodie he wore surely wasn't protecting him from this chill.

Owen offered him the coat he held folded in the crook of his arm. "Here. Take this."

"I'm fine."

Knowing how stubborn a teenager can be, Owen wrapped the coat around Ryan's shoulders.

"Thank you." The boy smiled politely but it never reached his eyes. Owen couldn't see the teasing, funny and cocky Ryan he saw at the office.

"You need a ride?"

Ryan nodded as he pulled the jacket more around him. He really was freezing. Owen beckoned his head towards his car.

Once inside the car and Ryan had handed back the coat to Owen saying the car was warm enough, Owen was unsure if it was right to question Ryan. "You want to talk?"

Ryan shrugged like nothing happened. "What's there to talk about? My mum was supposed to pick me up instead of my mates today because they got ball practice. She forgot me. As usual."

"Don't you have a car?"

A sarcastic laugh escaped his throat. "I got to have money to get my license first."

Owen began to see behind the thick skin of Ryan, why he hides his emotions. He wanted to ask more but he fear he'd turn the wrong way with Ryan. But he couldn't just wonder and not know. "Do you parents treat you well?"

"Depends for what, when, how..."

"Are you any like them?"

"Absolutely not. Not even my nose."

"Are they good people like you?"

"I'm not as good as you think." Ryan muttered as he looked away from Owen's inquisitive gaze.

Owen knew he might be pressing on him but he didn't care. He knew what it meant to be lost without a family. He knew how much he wished someone cared. And his impulse told him to care for Ryan. "Well, are they?"

Ryan refused to waver his eyes from the side window. "My parents, if I should even call them that, are those people who care about nothing and no one but the whiskey and their meth."

"Meth?" Abruptly, Owen halted the car on the curb and turned to Ryan with wide, worried eyes. "Ryan, did you ever touch that stuff?"

Ryan flinched at the rare heavy tone coming from Owen. "No, boss, I never took drugs. I swear on whoever-you-want's grave that I never did. Not even when my dad said he'll kick me out if I didn't join the family."

"Kick you out? Are your parents that much cruel?" Owen couldn't help but despise the involved adults and had to refrain himself from insulting them.