Best Laid Plans Ch. 09

Dinner with the Devil

Helen hurried to open the door. She didn't even bother checking the peephole; she knew that it was Ryan. He had called her on his way from his office and she was ready for him. She had taken great pains to prepare herself for his visit. She had showered and dried her hair and put on her makeup and was dressed exactly as he had commanded. She wore only her makeup and jewelry.

Ryan stepped into her apartment and moved directly to her closet. He sorted through her dresses and chose one, which buttoned all the way in the front. He chose a garter belt and seamed stockings and a pair of high heels to match the dress. He watched as Helen dressed herself and shook his head as she buttoned all the buttons on the dress. He unbuttoned the top button and the bottom three. "In the car, you will unbutton this dress up to the waist and part the skirt so that I can see your garters and stocking tops. At your parents house, this is how you will wear this dress."

Helen shook her head in agreement. She looked into his eyes and smiled at him. She longed for a kiss from this man who had so completely claimed her, but she dared not ask.

Ryan stared into Helen's eyes and found that he could no longer withhold what he so deeply wanted to share with her. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her long and hard on the lips. He began kissing her neck and cheeks as she swooned from his passionate embrace. If they had not been committed to this dinner, she would have begged him to take her then and there.

Helen grabbed her coat and keys and headed for the door. She waited outside her apartment for Ryan to close the door and then took his arm as they walked down the hallway to the elevator. She leaned into his shoulder on the elevator ride down to the garage and he would occasionally kiss her forehead but neither of them spoke a word.

Helen tossed her coat into the back seat of Ryan's Mercedes and sat down in the passenger seat. She unbuttoned her dress as instructed before fastening her seatbelt.

Ryan smiled, pleased that she had remembered his wishes without being reminded. "Joshua has trained her well," he thought as he started the car and pulled out of his space.

Helen sat in the car thinking about how she would greet her father when they arrived. She had no warm feelings for the man but her mother would expect her to show some. She decided that a quick hug might appease her mother enough. Helen was also worried that her mother wouldn't approve of Ryan. She didn't care what her father thought of him, but her mother's approval meant a great deal to her.

Ryan let Helen stew in her thoughts as he drove them to her mother's house. He hoped that he was doing the right thing by forcing Helen to deal with her father's reappearance in her life. He wanted to make her stronger, to help her grow. Ryan was impressed by her potential from the moment he first laid eyes on her.

It had been months earlier, at a party held by his business rival, that Ryan had first noticed Helen. She looked so lost from being handed over to another against her wishes, that he wanted to rescue her. He knew that Holiday toys was hurting and decided to take advantage of the situation. His brother, Michael, was more than willing to join in the game.

Helen began to button her dress as they pulled into the driveway behind her mother's townhouse. She unfastened her seatbelt and finished buttoning her dress. While she was retrieving her coat from the back seat, she felt a hard smack on her ass.

"You forgot to ask," Ryan chided. Helen frowned back at him. He grabbed the back of her neck, drew her close and then kissed her passionately. "I'll forgive you, this time, just don't let it happen again!"

As Helen pulled on her coat, Ryan said, "You can button it all the way up. I don't want to have your parents think badly of me."

Helen smiled and buttoned up her dress before buttoning her coat. She was glad that Ryan had changed his mind. "He really does care for me," she thought as she stepped from his car.

Her mother answered the door and hastened them inside. "It's cold out! Don't want you two to come down with something. I'm glad that you could make it tonight." She leaned close to Helen and whispered, "He's cute, where'd you find him?"

"Oh, mom!" Helen whispered back. Helen stared at the tall man who stood in the doorway to the living room. She had heard the man's voice over the phone but she had not had a face to put with it. His striking good looks and his beaming smile surprised her. "Hello, Dad," she said smiling back at him.

"Come here and let me look at you," he commanded. Helen moved closer to him, letting him take her hands. "Your pictures don't do you justice. You have grown into a beautiful woman." He drew her close and wrapped his arms around her, "I love you," he whispered into her ear. Helen hugged him back.

Helen's mother started towards the kitchen; "Dinner's almost ready, I've got a few things to do in the kitchen still."

"Mind if I help?" Ryan volunteered. "I know my way around a kitchen pretty well."

"A man who cooks? Helen you'd better grab this one quick!" she said as she winked at Helen.

"That's what I've been telling her!" Ryan laughed and winked at Mrs. Parker.

"He seems nice," her father commented as the two left the foyer.

"He is," Helen replied as she walked past her father into the living room. "He wants to marry me." She sat down on the couch near the fireplace.

Her father sat in a chair facing her. "Do you want to marry him?" he bluntly asked.

"I don't know. I'm afraid that if I marry him, he'll leave me. I've been left by so many..." she trailed off. She stared into his face, "I'm sorry, Dad, but it hurts me too!"

"Don't lose out on a great guy just because your father was a real jerk," he scolded her. "If he makes you happy, if he wants to make you happy, then marry him and don't ever let him off easy! Your mother let me off easy and I ended up hurting the two people that I love most in the world."

Helen moved to the edge of the couch, but she couldn't bring herself to reach out and forgive him.

"Your mother has given me a second chance. I don't expect you to forgive me for abandoning you, but I do expect you to give me a chance to prove myself. I really do love your mother and I really do love you. That's why I don't want you to pass on a chance at happiness because of my stupidity."

The lecture came as a surprise to Helen. She had expected him to plead for her forgiveness and to make a lot of empty promises. Instead he was showing concern for her future happiness. She reached out with her hands and took his, "Thank you for caring, Dad. I'll give you a chance to prove yourself." "But if you ever hurt Mom again..." she thought.

"Dinner's ready!" her mother called from the dining room.

Helen was all smiles as she hugged her mother. Dinner had gone well, the conversation had been mostly harmless, except for her mother's constant prodding about how she had met Ryan. "I stalked him, Mom. And then I spilled his coffee and ripped his newspaper as I fell into his lap." Her mother thought that she was avoiding the question. "Bye, Mom. We'll have to do this again sometime."

Helen's mother beamed back at her, "Yes, we most certainly will. Maybe next time we can talk about wedding plans!"

"I thought that you and dad weren't going to have a wedding?" Helen asked.

"I meant you and Ryan," she answered grinning. Helen blushed. Marriage was not something Helen had ever seriously considered.

Ryan helped her put on her coat and said his "goodbyes" to her parents as Helen opened the door to leave. Her father stood nearby and grabbed her before she left. He kissed her on the forehead and said, "I'm glad that we had a chance to talk. Don't be a stranger. Your mother really misses you sometimes."

"I won't, Dad," she muttered back at him. Helen quickly stepped out the door and waited for Ryan to walk her to the car.

As they reached the car, Ryan grabbed her and kissed her hard on the lips. "You didn't tell me you had such nice parents," he scolded. Helen resisted the urge to correct him.

Ryan helped her into his car. He smiled as she slipped off her coat and unbuttoned her dress for him. He would have to reward her for that, after he took her to what would be her new home.

Ryan had already made arrangements to move Helen's things into the house that he had bought for them. He had no doubt that she would eventually come around and marry him. He had never wanted anyone so completely before.