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“Smith,” Glen said.
Ryan finished writing the check, tore it out, and held it out over Glen’s desk.
Glen grabbed for it –
But Ryan jerked it back, just out of reach.
“I trust this concludes all our business?” Ryan asked coldly.
Glen blinked at him. “Business?”
“From this point onward, if you take this check, Kaitlyn owes you nothing.”
Glen looked over at me with smoldering hatred. “She owes me a story – ”
“You didn’t pay her, she’s working off the books, Rolling Stone has no idea she even exists, and we’re reimbursing you for any expenses you covered. If you take this check, she’s free and clear from this point onward. She
might
supply you with a story, but that’s at her discretion. She’ll call you, not the other way around. Deal?”
Glen whined, “But she was
supposed
to deliver the story.”
Ryan fluttered the check. “Deal or no deal?”
Glen stared at the check like a starving dog eyeing a morsel of meat. Then he snatched it away from Ryan. “Deal.”
Ryan stood up and took my hand. “Then that concludes our business. Good day.”
Glen just hunkered down behind his desk, holding the check like Gollum would his ring. I almost expected him to croak out,
The preciousssssss.
Then we were out of his office and gone.
“You didn’t have to do that,” I said.
“I know,” Ryan said.
“I could have handled it.”
“I know.”
“You basically just bribed him to leave me alone.”
“I know.”
“That doesn’t feel very good.”
He looked over at me as we reached the elevator.
“I’m sorry,” he said, in all sincerity.
I sighed, and we got in the elevator alone. Nobody else entered. It was just the two of us.
As the doors slid shut, I leaned my head against his arm.
“Thank you,” I said.
He found my hand, gave it a little squeeze, and then let go.
“You’re welcome.”
11
I didn’t find out Ryan had booked first class until the desk person came over the loudspeaker and announced that boarding the plane was about to begin.
Ryan stood up and held out his hand to me. “Come on, that’s us.”
I stared at him. “First class?! Ryan – !”
“Hey, I’m a rock star,” he joked. “I have to keep up appearances.”
“I’ll… I’ll pay you back. For this, and for Glen – ”
“Kaitlyn, if I were in bad shape, would you give me fifty dollars?”
“What?”
“If I were starving, or hurt, would you give me fifty dollars? What you make in a couple of hours, say.”
He was being overly generous with that ‘what you make in a couple of hours.’ That was more like what I averaged over a
day.
But I went with it. “Of course.”
“And would you expect me to pay you back?”
“No, of course not.”
“Well, I basically gave you the equivalent of what I make in a couple of hours. So don’t worry about it, okay?”
First: my mind was blown. That level of generosity was just staggering to me.
Second: math. I was trying to add it all up in my head, and the closest thing I could think of was,
He’s making 50 grand a day?!
Third: it didn’t matter how much he was making a day.
“Ryan, it’s still twelve thousand dollars. And whatever this plane ticket cost. I can’t accept that much money. I appreciate it, but – ”
“Kaitlyn, I’ve been really, really lucky in my life. I’m more fortunate than 99.9% of the rest of the world. I have the best job there is, I love what I do, and I get paid well for it. Let me do something nice for somebody I care about, okay?”
I started crying again. Right there on the boarding ramp to the airplane.
“Hey… hey,” he murmured, and put his arm around me. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
“It’s okay,” I whispered. “It’s… it’s a good cry.”
And it was.
“If you say so.”
“I say so. Ryan?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
He smiled. “You’re very welcome.”
