Ryder Cane: This is me

Chapter 2

The sun was still pretty low when my body decided it had enough rest for the night and mostly because the empty walls, made me feel extremely lonely. I forgot how it feels to be at my house and not be surrounded by my coach or manager at all times. I gave a sigh when I opened my fridge and realize that I didn't really buy food yesterday like I was supposed to. I closed the fridge door when I heard my phone ringing. "Morning, pops." I greeted, answering. "Morning, son. I thought you might want to join me at Bernie's diner. My guess is that you haven't gone shopping for food yet." I can really say that my dad knew me quite well.

   "Sounds good to me, pops. I'll see you in a few." I said before hanging up. I dropped the call and jogged upstairs to take a quick shower. I walked over to my garage, unlocked the doors remotely, and walked over to the bike that I bought months ago. I looked everything over, making sure the oil was still fine, assessed every part making sure there are no leaks, and that it was good to go. I grabbed my helmet, a cap, and a pair of sunglasses, just in case I need them. I pushed my bike out of the garage before getting on and driving off to the diner where my dad asked me to meet him.

   My dad's old chevy pick up was already parked in front of the diner when I got there. I headed inside the diner once I parked my bike. The diner hasn't changed much over the years, my dad used to bring me here almost every day. Either for ice-cream or just because he wanted to.

Bernie and his wife, Elaine became like family. And I feel kind of bad that I haven't seen them in a couple of years because of my travels since I was crowned as the champion. Bernie smiled at me brightly when I walked through the doors. "Well, if it isn't our lucky day! Look who came to visit." Bernie greeted coming around the counter to shake hands with me. "Nice to see you again, Bernie." I greeted shaking his hand. "I didn't think that we are still good enough for you, champ." Bernie joked.

    "I'm still the same man, Bernie. Just got an extra accessory to add to my collection." I joked back. "Yeah, a golden belt with the letters "champion" on them." He muttered making me chuckle. I found my dad seated at his usual spot and joined him. "I thought I was going to have to go fetch you." My dad said pushing a cup of coffee over to me.

"I decided to take the bike for a drive since it was all cooped up while I was away," I explained lifting the cup to my lips and taking a sip. "Hmm, still the best I've tasted," I said. "So, what can I get the two of you?" Bernie asked, refilling my dad's cup. "Two of your specials, Ryder is on a break for a while so he won't mind the carbs for today." Bernie chuckled at my dad.

     "Two specials coming right up," Bernie said. "So, you want me to join you for your shopping for food this afternoon?" My dad teased me. "So much has changed over these few years. I haven't really gotten a chance to spend time at my house since I got it built." I said to him.

"Everyone needs a home to return to after years of traveling." My dad said. "To regain your strength, to take a break from the world and just spend time fixing you." He carried on. "Yeah, and make sure the fridge is stocked when returning home." My dad chuckled.

  "So, any girls you want to introduce to us, boy?" Elaine asked walking up to our table after helping the other customers. "You mean one who stays longer than six months?" I said and I saw the way my dad looked at me. I had girlfriends in the past but none of them stayed longer than six months. It was all about fortune and fame to them. We thought Erika was the one for me who was going to stay but just like the others, she broke up with me because I didn't share her with the world. It's been two years since I dated or cared about dating or even girls.

      I looked out the window when I heard the voices of a group of people, my eyes narrowed when I saw it was the paparazzi. "Dammit," I growled. Even Elaine and my dad looked annoyed. "How did they even find out?" My dad asked. I looked around the diner and noticed a few people looking at us. "Fans, media, and technology," I grumbled dropping my head. Just one day with my dad and this is what happens. "You can sneak out at the back door," Elaine suggested. I wanted to reject the idea but my dad gave me a reassuring nod. "I know how much you hate them. Go, I'll grab us some takeaways and meet you back at your place."

"Dad..." I started to say but he shook his head. "I understand, son. Who doesn't want to be seen with you?" He said, jokingly. I got up from the table, slipped on my cap and sunglasses before following Elaine to the back of the diner where she let me sneak out at the back door. I muttered a string of curse words when one of the paparazzi spotted me. I started to jog and picked up the pace before they could catch up. I noticed a wedding dress boutique and decided to lay low inside the shop as nobody will try and look for me there.

   At least nobody was behind the counter when I entered, I glanced over my shoulder when I heard woman's voices and took my chance to hid in a dressing room. Hopefully, they will get tired of looking for me and I can make my escape back to the diner to get to my bike. The muscles in my shoulders jumped when I heard footsteps advancing towards the dressing room. I looked around and noticed I was in someone's dressing room. "s**t," I muttered. The curtain opened and before the person can scream or alert everyone else in the shop, I grabbed them and placed my hand over their mouth feeling like a criminal.

Before I could say anything; the person jammed their foot into my knee, quite hard making me release them. She turned around and threw a solid punch to my ribs, I tumbled over from surprise. She grabbed me at the back of my neck and brought her leg up connecting her knee with my chest, knocking me back and making me stumble on my feet.

      She threw a punch to my face when I tried to advance towards her, I blocked her punch grabbing her by her arm and lifted her up, throwing her softly against the wall. I caged her in with my body, pressing her further into the wall but she didn't back away as she tried to throw a kick.

I caught her leg between my legs but then she surprised me with a cross-jab to my jaw and elbowed me on the nose.

Shit, that hurts

The impact from her punch and movements knocked my sunglasses and cap off. I watched it fall to the ground before lifting my head to face her when I found her looking at me with big round eyes.