Ray of Hope

Goodbye

Nick settled into his seat, he kept looking around, hoping to see Raidyn somewhere, but there was no sign of her. He let out a frustrated sigh, he had been dying to run out and find her, but with his mom, giving him her evil look, he had opted to stay in his seat.

"You are something else...I can not believe that you let mom do that to Ray." Leslie sat next to her older brother. They were the only ones left at the round table, she quickly picked up her glass of champagne and took a long drink.

He rolled his eyes, and took a handful of confetti in his hands. He stared down at the tiny hearts and cupids in his hand. He knew what he had done, there was no need to remind him "Thanks, I think I know that I'm a jerk already Leslie, you don't have to remind me."

"Well why didn't you go out and look for her?" she rolled her eyes, it still surprised her, how much power her mother had over him. "Mom is all talk Nick, you should know that by now. I think there is more to your actions..."

Looking up at his sister, he nodded and twisted his lips into a disapproving frown. "Well you're wrong, look mom said that she would...do the tabloid thing. Ray has enough issues with her image, to add having some picture of her plastered on a gossip magazine with ugly headlines."

"Mom would not do that, because it would affect her, just as much as Raidyn...I think...and this is only my opinion. That you're seeing someone else...or you don't love her anymore."

Nick's breath got stuck in his throat as he turned to look at his sister in shock, he didn't understand what had made her come to such conclusions. So, their relationship was a little rocky at the time, but it was mostly her insecurities that had them constantly going at it. She didn't even know that he had a small...minimal attraction to Angela and that they had long conversations over health drinks or coffee, almost everyday. That didn't count as seeing someone else or not loving Raidyn anymore.

Did it?

She had been sitting on the bench for the past half hour, hoping that every time the damn door opened, Nick would walk out and take her home, but he never showed up. The tears had finally stopped. Anger and disappointment had now settled in. Lifting herself up from the bench, she looked over at the main entrance. There were people still arriving, but they didn't seem as important. It had settled in her mind that heading home would be the best thing to do.

There wasn't a taxi in sight, so she decided to ask the valet guy if he knew where she could call one. "Excuse me, do you know where I can get a taxi?" she let out a sigh, as she felt his eyes look her over.

"Oh, a little early to head home." he commented, but she ignored him "Um...if you give me a second, I can call for you. Why don't you take a seat and I'll help you out ma'am." he gave her a warm smile and made way towards the bright colored sports car that drove up.

Well this can be at the top of the list of humiliations in my life. I want to cry...no, I want to laugh...no, I want to kill him for being such a jerk. She had taken her seat back on the bench and was mumbling to herself.

"Ray? Is that you?"

That voice was recognizable anywhere and it made her even more angry. How in the hell was it that he kept appearing everywhere? "What are you doing here? I know, I'm not a knockout, but I'm starting to think you're stalking me. Shit, as if I don't have enough issues in my stupid life." she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Well it's nice to see you too, Mrs. Gonzalez. What the hell are you doing out here? Where is Nick?" Adam couldn't help his eyes that were scanning, Raidyn in her red gown.

Why did he have to say the name? The lump had lodged back into her throat and the tears threatened to spill. "He's inside" she almost whispered, the embarrassment apparent on her cheeks.