The Players (TP4)

3 - Banished

Ryan

With his BMW loaded up the night before, Ryan left before the sun was up. He had a long drive ahead of him which he hadn't done in years. Typically, he only went home for a day or two, so it was easier to fly. Suddenly he regretted that he hadn't called his parents or his brother to tell them he was coming. He would need to, but then he'd need to explain.

The last thing Ryan wanted was to disappoint his mother. The ironic thing was that his only crime was being stupid. It was a small crime to find himself cast out of the society he'd been a part of for over a decade.

Ryan had chosen a few key charities to support, but one was his favorite and they had even invited him to sit on the board. It started at one of the annual fundraising events for that charitable foundation. When Isobel and Everett went through their bitter divorce, he kept Everett as a client and often listened to him complain about the money that Isobel was fighting him for. Everett was a bastard toward his ex-wife and Ryan felt sorry for her. In his mind, Everett owed her the minute he said 'I do'.

It was his sympathy for her that led him to talk to Isobel at the event. She was funny and smart and didn't appear bitter even though she deserved more from her ex-husband. Ryan enjoyed her company enough that he asked for her number. Before he called her to invite her to dinner, he contacted Everett for his blessing.

"Hold on to your wallet, she's a thief. Still, she'll make you hum."

Hum, Ryan did more than hum and broke his own rule by leaving his toothbrush and razor in her bathroom. They weren't living together, but they were with each other most every night. He was happy with their pseudo commitment. His mistake came when he offered to buy her a dress for a black-tie event. He didn't think twice about sending her off with his credit card. They had been together for more than a few months. Occasionally he had even had the niggling to mention to his mother he was seeing someone. That was something that he hadn't done since college. As soon as that memory surfaced he quickly tucked it away.

He was busy keeping his clients happy by day and Isobel happy at night instead of watching his own finances. It took him two weeks to realize she had charged twenty thousand dollars, including helping herself to a second card from his wallet.

He was a fool and ended it quietly, ignoring her theft. The problem was he had let himself care too much for her, which was something he hadn't done in a long time. She took advantage of him because he allowed himself to be weak and so he took the blame.

Never again, he repeated in his head.

Why did she tell her ex-husband and friends? Was she bragging because he let her get away unscathed? Why did she steal from him and then humiliate him? Had she even cared about him? Jesus, Everett was right - she was a bitch. For Ryan, it was never about the money and that was why it hurt.

He couldn't tell his mother, they had run him out of town because he screwed the wrong woman or the real truth that he cared for a thief. He couldn't admit that she stole from him and smeared his reputation. He needed a better story like Heidi's house was available and he was nostalgic for a summer on The Point. Kelly Harris was too smart to buy it, but it might keep her from prying.

Jack was a different story and wouldn't buy Ryan's flimsy excuse. The brothers hadn't really gotten along in years. Ryan sealed his own fate when he wasn't sympathetic enough after Nicole died. He had no good excuse for his attitude. Jack was always the perfect one, the favored son. For years during Ryan's calls home, he had listened to his mother gush about Nicole, who she loved like a daughter and Rory, Nicole's daughter, who saint Jack adopted. Then there was the pregnancy that every conversation centered on. Ryan always felt like the disappointing child.