Chapter 9: Ryder

Simon POV:

After going into Ariel's room, I decided to go to my office and do some work. I couldn't sleep at all.

The whole time I had a huge smile on my face. Everything about today was just perfect. Also a big load was lifted off my shoulders.

Ariel finally got to know the truth on why I had to leave and she just hugged me. I know that I didn't get her full trust yet but I'm getting there.

Opening a drawer in my desk I saw the letters that I wrote to Laura. All of them were sent back to me unopened.

Once in a while I would stay in my office and re-read all the letters I sent to her. What hurts the most is that she opened the last letter I sent to her and she sent it back to me with her wedding ring in it.

Almost everyday I would stare at her wedding ring and a picture of her for hours. Wishing that I could make everything right or how I could have done it differently.

Ever since I left, nothing has been the same. My life was miserable without her and my daughter. I felt empty and numb. There was never a day of me not thinking about her.

I miss her smile, her corny jokes, and just everything about her. There were times when I was really depressed and wish I could end it all. End my pain and misery. But I couldn't because I know one day Ariel was going to need her father. Also I promised myself that I would fix my family.

Ariel reminds me so much of Laura. She has her smile, the way she acts is just like her mother and she also has her eyes.

I swear on Laura's grave that I will protect my daughter and become the father that I never was. I regret missing 18 years of my daughter's life and I am definitely not planning on missing anymore. Everything is going to change for the better. I will make sure of it.

Ariel POV:

I wake up with the sun shining through the window. Ugh I hate the sun. Turning to the left, I grab my phone to check the time. It was already one in the afternoon.

Deciding to get up, I grab a set of fresh clothes and went straight to the bathroom to take a shower. After changing, I decided to skype Aunt Karen.

"Finally you decided to call me." Aunt Karen says with a smile on her face as she appears on the screen.

"Hey Aunt Karen. How have you been?" I ask her.

"Oh you know me just shopping, working extra shifts , been waiting for your calls for 2 days, and missing you." She tells me with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"I miss you too Aunt Karen. I wish you were here. England is great and beautiful."

"Great to see that your having fun sweetie. How is Simon treating you? I swear if he does anything to you he will never see daylight again." Aunt Karen threatens with a scowl on her face.

"Don't worry he's been treating me okay. He decided to take me out for a father and daughter day. We went to the beach and had a little picnic lunch there." A small smile forms on my face.

"It's good that your having  a bonding time with your father. But remember if for any reason you want to come back here. Just give me a call and I will arrange a flight. Don't forget I will be visiting there a couple of times over there." She reminds me.

"I will keep that in mind Aunt Karen."

"Okay I got to go. It's late over here and I have an early shift tomorrow. I love you sweetie." She waves to me.

"Love you too." I wave goodbye to her before ending the call.

I went to go downstairs to make some food. By the time I reached the kitchen, the aroma of something delicious hit my nostrils. Simon was cooking and I decided to check it out.

"The sleeping beauty has finally woke up." Simon jokes.

"Hey Simon. Whatcha cookin?" I ask him.

"Making some chili and corn bread. I used to cook this for your mother all the time and I taught her the recipe."

"That is my favorite. She used to cook that for me all the time." I excitedly tell him going through the memories in my head.

"That's great to hear. Then you will love this. While this is just cooking for a few minutes can you please wake up the boys? They're gonna sleep the whole day away if somebody doesn't wake them up." Simon sighs.

" I'm on it ." I head straight to the elevator.

I had a perfect plan to wake up all the boys. I'm not a big prankster like my mother but this will do.

I grab an air horn that I kept under the bed and went to the hallway. I press the air horn button for a few seconds and hear all the boys scream. Running straight to the elevator to go down, I laugh my butt off.

"So did you wake the boys up?" Simon asks me when I entered the kitchen.

"Oh for sure they're awake." I start laughing. Simon looks straight at me with a questioned look on his face.

"What did you do?' He narrows his eyes with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Okay... maybe I decided to wake them up by making noises with an air horn." I explain to him still giggling.

"You are just like your mother." Simon says with an amused expression worn on his face.

"As I said before.Learned from the best." I state proudly.

After a few minutes the boys came down with grumpy faces.

"Good morning sunshines." I sang out with a smile on my face . While the rest of them just groaned.

"Thanks for waking us up with an air horn" Zayn tells me all cranky.

"Your welcome. If you ever need a wake up call. Just tell me." I say with a smile on my face as I give him his food. I grab my plate and sat with the boys.

"So what is everyone's plans today?" Uncle Si asks looking at all of us.

"Well I'm gonna help Harry write new lyrics for our new album." Niall says smiling.

"Liam and I are gonna go play some football after we finish eating." Louis tells Uncle Si.

" I'm gonna go visit my family and see how they're doing. I haven't seen them since our last tour." Zayn says all excited to see his family.

"How about you Ariel?" Uncle Si asks looking at me.

"Well today I'm gonna have a little day to myself. I always wanted to go to the little cafe in the town and also just gonna walk around the shops" I tell Simon as I shove more chili into my mouth.

"Are you sure you don't need me or any of the boys to go with you?" Uncle Si asks me.

"No I'm fine going by myself and I just need time to think. By the way can I borrow your car? I know how to drive and I have my license." I ask him doing a little puppy dog face.

"Sure. You can borrow the Audi R8 in the garage." Uncle Si gives  me the keys.

"Unfair Uncle Si. How come Ariel gets to drive the Audi? When I asked to borrow the Audi last time you said no." Louis pouts.

"Hmmm... Let me think. Oh yes. The reason why I didn't let you borrow it is because you scratched my sports car even though you promised me that you will take good care of it." Simon says giving Louis a pointed look.

"Fair point." Louis says scratching the back of his head with a guilty expression written all over his face.

After breakfast, I took a quick shower and got all dressed getting ready to head out. I put the keys, cellphone, and wallet in my purse and left the room. I went down to the elevator and saw Simon working on something on his laptop.

"Okay Simon I'm gonna be heading out. I'll be back in a few hours." I tell him.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you? I really don't mind at all." Simon tries to change my mind one last time.

"Simon I'm not 4 years old. I'm 18 years old now and I can take care of myself. I will be fine. Plus you seem really busy." I reassured him.

"Okay. Just be careful and always have your cell phone on ." Simon says to me.

I nod and give him a hug. We said our goodbyes and I head to the garage.

I got into the car and left the house. A few minutes later I parked at a cute little cafe in the part of town that I always had my eye on.

Just as I got in the cafe ,the inside smelled delightful. The smell of fresh brewed coffee was in the air and so were the smell of delicious baked goods.

"One medium mocha cappuccino and a chocolate muffin please." I order looking at the menu board.

"That will be £7 please." The cashier says to me.

I pay the cashier and she gave my order. I decided to sit on a booth and started to eat my muffin while looking at my phone.

"Hello. Never seen you here before. I'm Ryder." I look up from my phone and saw a guy with blonde hair and brown eyes wearing a leather jacket, extending his hand with a smile.

"Oh hello. My name is Ariel." I shake his hand smiling back.

"So tell me what is a pretty girl like you doing here all by herself? You don't mind if I sit with you right?" He asks sitting on the other side of the table.

"It's not a problem at all and I decided to have a little me time but that just got ruined until you came along." I pretend to give him a glare.

"Oh come on. Who wouldn't want to be around me? Just look at me I'm gorgeous." He pretends  to flip his invisible long hair. Ryder and I laughed so hard.

After we died down from laughing, Ryder asked me if I wanted to walk with him around the shop. I nodded and we left the cafe.

"So I've never seen you here before and you definitely don't have an English accent." He states to me the obvious .

"I moved here a week ago actually. I used to live in California." I explain to him as we enter to one of the stores.

" Do you mind me asking why you moved all the way here to England? " Ryder curiously asks me.

"My mom died a month ago from stage 4 cancer. She wrote a letter to my dad a few months ago, a person that I haven't seen in my entire life to let me live with him. So now I'm here." Trying to not let the death of my mother get to me.

Next thing I know I was engulfed in a hug. "I'm so sorry to hear about that but I know how you feel to lose somebody very important to you. I had a younger brother named Derrick and he died in a car accident. My family and I were going to a party that night and one of the drivers cut us off. We lost control with our car and hit a tree. Our car was wrecked we were all unconscious. When I woke up I was in the hospital. My parents were fine just minor cuts and bruises but when I asked the doctor about Derrick ...he told me he didn't make it." Ryder says with hurt in his voice.

I can see the pain written all over his face. I knew he was thinking back to that day. The only thing I could think of was giving him a hug and try to comfort him.

"Thanks for telling me this Ryder. I know my mom and your brother is in a better place now. If you need anybody to talk to or even need a friend I'm right here for you." I say trying to comfort him.

"Thank you Ariel." Ryder smiles back.

"Well enough of this emotional stuff back to having fun." I try to cheer him up.

We walked around a few more stores and of course Ryder was goofing around. He told me he was 19 years old but he acts as if he was 5. We got kicked out in one of the stores because the manager said that Ryder was too disruptive.

It was already 5 o'clock pm and we were in an ice cream shop getting sundaes. I got chocolate ice cream with Oreo crumbles, brownies and chocolate syrup (I'm such a chocolate addict).

Ryder got mint ice cream with Oreo crumbles, caramel syrup, whip cream and a cherry on top. We went to go sit in a booth and started to devour our sundaes.

"I had a fun time with you today Ariel." Ryder tells me with a smile.

"Same here." I reply back to him.

"We should do this again sometime " He suggests in a hopeful voice.

"I would love to. Give me your phone." He hands me his phone and I put my number in. He did the same to me.

"You can call me anytime." I say to him. My phone beeps and saw it was a message from Simon.

Simon: Where are you at?

Ariel: At an ice cream shop but I'll be going home in a few minutes.

Simon: okay be careful and drive safe.

Ariel: I will :)

"Your dad wants you home?" Ryder asks me.

"Yah he was wondering where I was." I tell Ryder.

"Well let me escort you to your car pretty lady" Ryder says in a posh voice.

We walk out of the ice cream shop and head to the direction of my car.

"Wow sweet ride." He stares. Amazed with my car.

"Haha its not mine. It's my dad's car." I giggled.

"Well your dad has a nice taste in cars." Ryder says still staring at it.

"I will tell him that." I say to him. I give Ryder one more hug.

"See you soon?" He asks me. I nod and hop into my car. I give him one last wave and left the parking lot.