“On Monday she slipped a card for him through my mail slot and she signed it ‘Angel’ but when I carded her, her license said her name was Angelica. Angelica Staunton, all the way from Brooklyn.”

“Write her name down for me. I’ll see if Tony can run a background check on her.”

I had just slipped the paper with her name on it to Tammy when Pete and Ryan came back into the kitchen.

“Tar, I think we’ve solved your problem,” Pete boomed happily. “Here, look at this.”

Pete was smiling at Ryan, like they just solved world hunger.

“What’s this line?” I asked, looking at their drawing.

“That’s a new wall. Ryan, let’s measure it. What you got?”

“Thirty two and a half,” Ryan said.

“That’s going to be a long-ass wall! It’s going to go straight to the back wall there.” Pete pointed. “You’ll have a separate outside entrance from the alley and then we can cut a door here in the middle so you don’t have to go outside to get up to your apartment. One day if you decide you want to block it off, it’s an easy fix.”

Pete tapped his finger on the drawing. “The stairs would stop there and then I’ll put in two steps to reach the floor. You’ll only end up losing four feet. That counter there would have to go.

“Ryan, hold the tape measure again. See, you were right. We wouldn’t even have to move the back door; it’s fine where it is. The new wall will come here – six inches away from the frame.”

Pete’s metal tape measure snapped back in the casing. “Taking out the brick wall will be a pain, but it’s doable. You’ll need a new steel door… and a construction permit.”

“This is brilliant!” I was quite excited. “Pete, you’re so freaking smart!”

“Don’t look at me - it’s his design.” He pointed a thumb at Ryan.

“At least my two years at Pitt weren’t a total waste,” Ryan said confidently, twitching his head like it was no big deal.

I secretly added one more trait that I loved about him to my list.

“Ryan, can I get you to re-draw this rough sketch? Then I can attach it to the construction permit application,” Pete asked.

“Yeah, sure. No problem. Tammy, how big of an oven would you need back here? I guess this stove has to go too; it looks like a fire hazard.”

“Ryan, I can’t get a permit for that until I update the fire suppression system for over the stoves,” I muttered privately. “All the water lines need to be replaced. That alone was over twenty grand.”

He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and whispered in my ear. “Let’s figure out what it will cost and we’ll talk about it.”

It sort of bothered me that he was so willing to part with his money. He reminded me of some kid who had twenty dollars burning a hole in his pocket.

Pete and Tammy left shortly after Ryan gave him a new sketch of the construction, and Cory and Marie were well in control of the bar, so I stayed in my apartment with Ryan.

“So Ms. Mitchell, since we’ve come to new agreements, are you ready to renegotiate the terms of your contract?” Ryan raised a questioning brow, smirking hopefully on our way to the bedroom.

“That all depends on what you’re offering.”

“How about two for the price of one on Tuesdays?” he snickered, pushing the door closed with his fingers.

Ryan was so sound asleep he didn’t even budge the first time the alarm clock chimed. He was lying flat on his back, spread out on the bed in the same position he was after our incredible night. I figured I’d give him a few more minutes, so I went out to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee.

“Ouch,” I muttered walking to the door with a slight limp; my hip was hurting from how he maneuvered me last night. I smiled inside, remembering how I got in this much pain.

“Babe, time to wake up.” I rubbed my hand across his chest.

Our morning felt like it could quickly become routine. While he showered, I made his coffee – poured in one of those Styrofoam to-go cups that looks like you got it at the convenience store, and then brushed my teeth while he informed me of his schedule.

We were just like any other normal couple getting ready to go to work. I set out a new pack of gum next to his keys and organized his blue papers so he wouldn’t forget them. His cell phone was plugged into the charger so I readied that for him too.

“You are the best assistant I could have ever hoped for!” He wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed me goodbye at the back door. “I

love you. I’ll call you later.”

I trudged up my steps, now wide-awake in the wee hours of the morning. Bored, I turned my computer on with the original excuse of checking on my bank statements, but instead I searched his name.

After I checked his one fan-made blog site, I returned to the news results.

Today’s news headlines showed the following:

Ryan Christensen autograph signing Fans make Ryan’s new love jealous!

“What the?” I clicked on the link that referred to my jealousy.

Beware ladies! Fans make Ryan’s new girlfriend see Red!

Fans lined up inside his new hangout, the rustic Mitchell’s Pub in Seaport, RI to see their favorite star as he held an impromptu meet and greet Tuesday night. A few lucky ladies who happened to be at the right place at the right time got to meet the sexy actor as he posed for pictures and signed autographs for his die-hard fans.

A few ladies who happened to be there when he arrived shortly before 7:00 p.m. said that he was happy and friendly as he greeted his fans.

“We only had to wait for twenty minutes, so it wasn’t too bad. It was worth every second!” one lady reported. Other women who waited over an hour reported that Ryan’s supposed new love, bar owner Taryn Mitchell, was furious as she watched him sign autographs. “She told women to get out and then she yelled at everyone inside – we just laughed.”

But a friend of the actor isn’t surprised, reporting that Ryan’s new girlfriend seems like the jealous, controlling type. It won’t take him long to get tired of her. She even tells him who he can hang out with. He has cut off most of his friends from the set and is only allowed to socialize with her friends. Ryan doesn’t stay on set any longer than he has to. He’s always sneaking off to check in with her when he is there. It’s like he has to tell her everything he’s doing.

Another insider reports that Ryan has been completely controlled by Taryn. She’s even insisting that he move in with her, pushing the relationship into fast-forward. “His luggage was removed from the hotel on Monday.”