CHAPTER TWO

…One year and twenty pounds later, I found myself back in Seattle with Kate. While Kate had finally achieved her dream of becoming a journalist, I was now just taking classes to begin the path down as an English lit major.

Kate had been generous enough to allow me to reside in her apartment.

"God, he is so hot and sexy!" exclaimed my best friend, Kate, as she drooled over some hot guy that she had discovered on a site. She had been addicted to that strange "dating section" on Craigslist for weeks, hunting down hot guys like a predator.

It was a hot summer night in August, but Kate and I (and a bottle of merlot) had decided to hang-out at her cozy two- bedroom apartment, browsing through the internet for some hot guys while lying around on her bed. Being a Saturday night, nothing sounded better than checking out guys and gossiping with red wine.

It was all innocent fun, honestly! I couldn't imagine myself meeting up with a stranger. Instead, I was a voyager to Kate's online dating adventure, just along for the ride. I admired the way she went at everything with total confidence in herself. I sometimes even envied it.

As I took a closer look at the picture, I nodded in agreement. He definitely was a cute one.

She grabbed the laptop away, venturing on down the list of desperate men until she came across an ad.

SEEKING SUBMISSIVE

"Seeking submissive?" I nearly choked on the words.

Curious, Kate clicked on the ad for further details and it read:

I'm seeking a submissive. You be clean, fit, and obedient. I will be clean, fit, and your dominate. I can make this worth your while. If you're serious, respond back with a picture and in the subject write: "Your submissive"

The ad did not show a picture of the man or anything else that hinted his identity. The only thing shown were those texts and a random picture of a woman being spank, possibly taken from a porn website to demonstrate what he was looking for.

"Ohh, kinky," Kate said mischievously. I couldn't refrain from biting down on my bottom lip as I was reading it.

Kate snuck in more red wine into my glass as I was distracted with the post. Holy crap! How many women out there would respond to such an ad?

"Are you going to respond to that ad?" I asked her, intrigued if she would be insane enough to.

"No," she protested, shaking her head while I eyed her. It was when she turned to me with a sheepish smile that got me thinking uh-oh!

"But you should!" she squealed.

"Are you serious? Oh, my god! I would never!" I cried, totally freaking out.

Kate shrugged and her movement was careless. She took possession of the laptop and turned it away from me while I focused on the notes of my wine- bittersweet with a hint of…vanilla? I wasn't sure; I was not a wine expert.

I returned my attention back to Kate. "What are you doing?" I demanded.

She peeked up from her laptop with an expression that told me she was up to no good. "I just responded to that ad with a photo of you."

Oh, my gosh! I was mortified.

My stomach squeezed and my heart knocked hard against my chest, pumping boiling blood straight to my face.

"Are you mad?" she asked me when she noticed the changes in my facial expression. I did not hear the concern in her voice, instead she muffled her laughter.

"A little bit," I answered and downed my glass of wine, tasting it acutely- bitter and sweet.

YOU GOT MAIL!, her computer chimed.

"Oh, my god! He just responded to the e-mail. He said he is going to call you!" she shrieked.

"Exactly what photo did you send him?" I asked. "-And, oh, my god! You gave a total stranger my phone number? What if this guy is a wacko? I know nothing about him! I don't even know what he looks like! Now, he knows what I look like!"

"Oh, be spontaneous for once!" She turned the screen to show me a picture of us on the beach in our bikini, only she had cropped herself out of it.

"I was spontaneous! I was spontaneous when I decided to leave my life behind and adventure off to New York City where it blew up in my face."

"Pick up when he calls you!" She suggested as if she had not heard my answer. So obvious, the wine was consuming her.

"I'm not going to pick up when he calls me! I don't know what to say," I protested, shaking my head furiously.

"Oh, come on! It'll be so fun!" She egged me on. "Have another glass of wine if you are so nervous."

I began with a cautious tone, "Kate, I really don't think it's a great idea."

"Life is short, Ana. Just give it a shot! Besides, when was the last time you went on a date with a guy?" she countered.

"I don't remember…" I trailed off to memory lane, trying to recollect my dating life.

"Exactly."

It was true. The last guy I dated was Bryan. He was my first boyfriend, my ex-fiancé. He had won me over with his pathetic poems that I had found romantic at the time. Looking back at his poems, they were nothing but cheap words scribbled on cheap notebook paper.

I could never forgive Bryan, but it was clear that he was never ready to let me go. He had stalked me from New York and continually pestered my friends and family for information about where I was staying. He had eventually hunted me down, arriving at my doorstep out of the blue, begging me to come back or at least remained his friend. I had granted him "friendship", but never did I answer his phone calls or e-mails.

"Oh, don't be mad! I'm only trying to help you get back into the game. Once he calls, you are going to pick up."

"No!" I protested. "Kate, this man is into spanking!"

Kate burst out laughing, her face disoriented by the wine. "Come on! Have some fun! A little spanking is not going to hurt anyone," She said, almost slurring on a few of her words. She poured some more wine into my glass then to hers, emptying what's left of it. "I love drinking expensive, luxurious wine," she said, holding up her glass.

"Kate, we picked this wine bottle up from Wal-Mart for five dollars," I reminded her. "Expensive luxurious is how you would describe it?"

"I don't care. I love drinking wine. Period. It makes me feel sophisticated and classy."

It was my turn to burst out in laughter, "Sophisticated?" I snorted as a wine fueled smile spread across my face.

"Yeah! I feel like an elegant woman when I have a nice glass of wine in my hand!" Kate stated as she waved her glass in the air, causing the red liquid to swirl around. "Look at us! We are classy!"

The wine was beginning to faze me, but not as much as it did Kate. She had taken her voice up a notch and her face was fuming from our cheap wine.

We both laughed for a while, not sure of what we were laughing about. It was Kate who had finally broken the laughter when she noticed that my cellphone was vibrating from the inside of my purse.

She launched herself at my cellphone and beamed at the screen, "It's from a private number! It must be him!" she announced enthusiastically.

I didn't stop her, instead, I found myself willing to take a chance on internet dating. It might have been the alcohol that caused me to have a change of heart. Maybe it was even the fact that I had been lonely for so long.

Kate shoved me the phone as soon as she answered it, literally shoving it hard against my ear. Ouch! She had such a mischievous look on her face when I held on to my cell.

Anxiety coursed through my body, it grew stronger with each passing second.

"Say something," Kate whispered.

"Uh…" I was sobering up quick, hitting me that I was about to talk to a stranger.

I placed my lips on my wine glass to take another sip, only to find that it was empty.

"Hello?" answered a male voice and the silent that lingered after that was awkward at best.

Holy Shit! I mentally cussed and hung up the phone. What was I doing?

"OMG! That was so lame, Ana!" slurred Kate.

"This whole thing is dumb!" I retorted.

"What did he say?" she demanded.

"Nothing. He just said 'Hello' and I hung up."

She palmed her face and began laughing. Finally, she decided to change topic, which I was grateful for, "You know who I think is hot? Mr. Grey."

"Yes, he is," I concurred.

"Would you marry him if he asked you to?" She impulsively asked through her drunken haze. "I know I would."

I couldn't help but to laugh, "Sure," I shrugged carelessly, "I think every girl would. But, why would someone like him ask my hand in marriage. I'd be lucky to just get a phone call from him."

Yes, I would be lucky if I got a phone call from him or was even fortunate enough to be within view of him. I yearn to have a man like Mr. Grey. He seemed so neat and oh-so manly. And I needed a man in my life, not a boy who can't control his hormones like Bryan….Well, a girl can only hope to one day meet the one.

Kate and I continued our conversation into the night, gossiping about celebrities and girls from Kate's work that she thought were mean bitches.

A/N: HELLO! And thank you for reviewing Christian618 and emi17. OMG, yes, good for Ana for leaving. But if I was a woman and I caught my man in bed with another woman, I would tackle that bitch down like a jerry springer show! Oh, my gosh. But, Ana will be ladylike. THANK YOU ALL AGAIN for taking the time to read!