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Chapter 9: Surprises

Anna finally regained her composure and sternly answered him.

"There is nothing to talk about Kevin or is it Ben because I am a bit confused" she said pointing out his lie.

"Listen, I really am sorry I lied to you, I am sorry for everything I did. I really did not mean to hurt you. I - " Ben tried to continue but she cut him off.

"I don't need an explanation; you can save it and do me a favor, don't try to make anything up to me. You made your choice clear years ago and I understand what we meant to you" she said and she left him in the middle of the room as she left to join her friends.

"What happen?" Alex asked as Anna walked towards them and they left the house.

"I know I said I am not going to let it bother me but he just has some nerve coming into my room and telling me that we need to talk. No we don't need to talk, you lied and you are a coward it's plain and simple" Anna said frustrated.

"Wow" Alex said as they got into a car, "You tell him girl".

"Ugh, whatever. He can say anything I don't believe him now"

The driver took the girls to the town center. It was bustling with people and tourists. The fresh markets and stores added many colors blending with the Mediterranean.

"This is so beautiful" Anna said.

"It really is" Alex said, "I am going to go check out this jewelry store".

"Okay have fun" Ariadne said, "hey I am going to call John because I have not talked to him in a while".

"Okay, I am going to the bookstore" Anna said before she left.

Ariadne pulled out her phone and dialed John's number.

"Hello" he said.

"Hey babe" she said.

"Hey, I got your message about Nice; sorry I did not call you back I have been very busy with this new project at work".

"It's okay, I wish you could be here though, it's beautiful"

"I know, I can only imagine but I am so caught up at work but I can try and make it"

"No it's fine; I don't want you to get behind at work. We can come together another time" she said.

"Okay well I am going into a meeting now so can we talk later?"

"Yeah sounds good"

"All right, have fun. Love you" he said.

"Me too, bye" Ariadne said before she hung up and sat down at a bench close to the water.

Anna walked into the bookstore and she looked at the new books on the table closest to the open door. After looking around the store she picked up a few books she liked and she turned to go to the register however she bumped into somebody and she dropped all her books.

"Oh my God I am so sorry" she said looking up at the guy she had just bumped into and was pleasantly surprised to see a handsome guy looking back at her.

"Really its fine" he said smiling, "Here let me help you" he reached down and picked up her books and handed them to her.

"Thank you" she said smiling back at him.

"Well my name is Daniel and I think you owe me a favor" he said teasingly.

"I am Anna and may I ask what you mean" she said laughing.

"Seeing as you bumped into me and could have hurt me, you owe me something"

"Oh is that right" she said smiling.

"Yep"

"So what do I owe you?" she asked.

"Well I think dinner tonight at 8 would suffice" he said smiling.

"Sounds fair enough" Anna said, "You can pick me up at the following address" she finished as she wrote the address on a piece of paper and handed it to him.

"Wow, President's house. Are you a secret daughter of his or something?" Daniel asked teasingly.

She laughed and said, "No, my friend is his architect and he invited us to his yearly Nice vacation since he loved being around people or something along those lines"

"I am sure he likes to be around gorgeous women, who doesn't?" he said.

She blushed and smiled at him.

"Well thank you" she said. Anna bought her books and Daniel and she walked out of the shop together talking and laughing.

"Hello" Ariadne met them outside.

"Oh hey, Ariadne this is Daniel and Daniel this is my architect friend Ariadne" Anna introduced them.

"Pleased to meet you Ariadne, what a beautiful name" he said kissing her hand.

"Thank you" she said.

"Well I really must get going" he said, "See you tonight at eight Anna and nice to meet you Ariadne" Daniel said.

"Okay, see you tonight" Anna said before he left.

"Look at you" Ariadne said.

"Well you know nothing is going to happen if I just sit around sulking about Ben, like I said he made his choice clear" Anna said.

"Yeah, well good for you" Ariadne said, "That's romantic, you met in a bookstore. Awww. Even though I don't know why he seemed so familiar, like I had seen him before."

"Yeah I know" Anna said.

"What are we talking about?" Alex asked as she joined her friends.

"Anna has a hot date tonight" Ariadne said.

"What?" Alex said, "Why do I always miss the juicy stuff?"

"They all laughed and continued shopping for a bit and they finally returned to the house just in time for lunch. As soon as they entered the house the President greeted them.

"Girls, how was the town?" he asked.

"It was fabulous, we got a few things and Anna got a dinner date tonight" Alex answered cheerfully.

"Alex" Anna said feeling that last part was unnecessary.

"It's okay Anna. I hope you enjoy your time tonight with your date" the President said.

"Thank you' she said blushing.

"Okay, now we are having lunch in an half an hour out on the back deck so get ready girls" he said before he took off to get ready and make sure lunch was ready.

"Well I am going to go take a quick shower and change for lunch" Ariadne said walking towards her room.

"Yeah same here" Anna said.

"Okay see soon" Alex added.

….

Ariadne went into her room and fell on her bed laying there for a minute before getting up and jumping in the shower and 10 minutes later she was getting ready for lunch. She put on a red cotton summer dress garnished with sparkling ruffles across the low neckline. She did her make up and threw her hair up in a loose bun with curls coming out from the sides. Before she left her room she wore black heels and closed her door. Ariadne knocked on Anna's and waited.

"Hey" Anna said, "you ready?"

"Yep, you look nice." Ariadne said looking at Anna wearing a green summer dress with silver heels and her jet black hair curly fell loosely on her shoulders and back.

"Well thank you. You should be talking. Look at you missy, pulling out the red dress" Anna said.

"Just like Alex said, make them crazy" Ariadne laughed as they walked to Alex's door.

They knocked and Alex answered right away wearing a vibrant green dress and gold heels. Her fiery red hair in a half up do complimented her fair skin. She stepped out, closed her door and said, "Let's give them hell".

Everybody was already at lunch when the girls got there and they all looked and Ben, Arthur and Nik kept looking when they walked out and sat down for lunch. Alex sat next to Nik, Anna sat next to Ben being the only seat open and Ariadne sat next to Arthur.

"Well you girls look amazing" the President said.

"Yes, indeed" Camille said now seeming in a good mood, "I love those dresses".

"Thanks" they all said.

"You look beautiful" Nik whispered in Alex's ear and she smiled and blushed in response.

"So how is everybody enjoying Nice?" the President asked as the food came out.

"It is really beautiful here. I have lived in France for years" Anna said "but I have never seen the south like this"

"You never took a vacation with your family?" Camille asked.

"Not really, my parents were always trying to save for my university and even though they saved a lot it still was not enough so I had to take out loans and I am still paying them back now."

"Oh we see" the President said, "So how about study abroad? Did you go anywhere?" As soon as the President finished his question Anna tensed up and Ben shifted in his chair, uneasy.

"Yeah" Anna said after what seemed like forever, "I studied abroad in London".

"Wow, what a small world it is. Didn't you two study abroad in London?" the President asked Nik and Ben.

"Yeah we did" Nik answered first.

"Yep" Ben said.

"Well London is a big city and I don't remember meeting the son of the President of France" Anna said taking a jab at Ben.

"Excuse my son's silence" the President said, "He had some girl issues while he studied abroad there"

"Dad please, that's enough" Ben quickly said.

"Oh come on Ben" he said, "All you could talk about was this girl. For months all you did was lock yourself in your room and did not talk to anybody. I could not even take you anywhere at the time of my election because the press would think you had gone through some sort of weird crisis or depression."

"Well is not like you missed me because you had your perfect Sophie to go everywhere with you" Ben said sharply.

"Not a time for fighting boys" Camille said, "Maybe the girl was special"

"She was amazing but I messed up and no matter what I do, I can't express to her how sorry I am because I betrayed her, lied to her so I don't blame her" Ben said occasionally looking at Anna.

"Okay enough about this topic, clearly you are going to regret this your whole life and you are never going to get over it even though you should because Elizabeth is a very nice girl" the President said.

"Really dad?" Ben said.

"If you don't mind me asking, who is Elizabeth?" Alex asked.

"It's this lovely girl he dated for a short time a year after he studied abroad and we think they should get back together" Camille said.

"You mean to say the one you set me up with because it would look good for your political campaign and the relationship lasted one month and I was never up for it from the beginning" Ben said to his parents.

"Oh hush" his mother said.

"Speaking of relationships" the President said, "Anna do you have a boyfriend?"

"Well at the moment, no I don't" Anna said.

"But she has a hot date tonight" Alex said finishing off what Anna wanted to say.

Ben instantly looked at her in disbelief and grinded his teeth together out of frustration.

"Well who is the lucky guy?" Camille asked.

"I met him today at the bookstore and we got to talking and he asked me to dinner tonight so here we are now" Anna said.

"Well isn't that great" Camille said, "Now we are all getting into relationships and rekindling old flames".

"What do you mean?" Nik asked curiously and all of a sudden people walked out on the porch and joined them.

"Well aren't you fashionably late" the President said standing up to greet them.

"Oh shit" Nik said under his breath.

"Hello old friend" the elder man said.

"Everybody this is Pierre, a great friend of mine. We have know each other to long" he said laughing, "And Pierre you know everybody except my new architect Ariadne and her two friends Alexandra and Anna".

"Well I am pleased to meet you three lovely ladies" Pierre said, "This is Michelle, my amazing wife and my daughter Elizabeth and my son Gabriel"

They all said hello politely and smiled.

"Join us won't you" the President said ordering the staff to make room in the huge table for four more.

Can this lunch get any more awkward? Ariadne thought. Everybody got to talking and soon the table was buzzing with chatter. Elizabeth sat on Ben's other side and was trying to make conversation with him while he was ignoring her and tried to talk to Anna. Arthur was looking at everybody's reaction and studying them carefully because he had to figure out a way around this recent job. He was particularly interested in Camille and Alex. Camille was making conversation with Pierre and Michelle the most, everything seemed normal with her but not with Alex. She seemed tense, looking over her shoulder ever since the new family had walked into the lunch.

"Hey, you okay?" Nik asked Alex seeing the tension in her.

"Yeah, I am fine" Alex answered with a small smile but still uneasy.

Finally the lunch was over and Alex thought she was home free however the dessert was next and she knew, dessert sometimes was longer than lunch.

Alex stood up and said, "It was a pleasure meeting all of you but I don't feel so great so I guess I will see you later".

"Okay, rest up" the President said.

"The pleasure was all ours Alexandra" Pierre said.

Alex walked into the house and went upstairs to her room unable to believe what had just happen. She got to her room and fell into her bed and curled up, holding a pillow.

Downstairs the lunch continued but one by one everybody was starting to leave feeling exhausted. Ariadne made her way to her room and pushed the door behind her to close it but it was caught by somebody. She turned around to find Arthur standing at her door. She let out a sign and her shoulders dropped. He come into the room and closed the door behind him.

"Can I help you?" she said taking out her shoes and placing them in the closet once again becoming short next to him.

"Listen, I want to apologize for the way I have been behaving around you lately. It has been unacceptable and unprofessional".

"Okay, that's okay" Ariadne said take back by his formal and usual behavior, "So can I ask you a question?" she finished.

"Yeah, go ahead" he said.

"I know it's none of my business but do you love Sophie?"

He froze at her question not sure how to answer, "Yes I do" he finally said.

"So are you going to marry her soon?" she asked biting the bottom corner of her lips.

He hated when she did that because she distracted him and he lost his train of thought.

"You know if things go well when we start living together because I cannot rush into things. I need to be sure something is thought all the way through before I take such a huge step".

"Of course" she said, "the perfect point man, you have to think a plan all the way through. So if you get married who are you going to invite? Parents? Siblings?"

"My dad left when we were younger and it's just my mom."

"Who is we?" she asked.

"What?" he was caught off guard.

"You said my dad left when we were younger" she said.

"Oh yeah my brother and I, we were never really that close but I still tried to protect him. He resented me for stepping in and becoming the man of the house, for maintaining the order you see my father and Henry never got along so he thought my dad leaving left him in heavy amounts of freedom but I guess I stopped that and since then we had numerous arguments. Finally when we were going to do what seemed like a very simple job for Cobb, we got into an argument about a girl he had been seeing before we preformed the job. During the job something happen and Henry got shot and woken up before anybody else and when we woke up he was no longer in the warehouse. I don't know if he got taken or if he just left or what but I felt like it was my fault because I was suppose to have it all under control but I didn't and I have been trying to find him since but no such luck". Arthur finished and sat on her bed letting out a sigh.

She joined him, sitting next to him on her bed.

"Arthur I am really sorry, but listen it's not your fault about him leaving or whatever and you were only trying to help bring order where it was lacking because your dad left. You had good intentions for your family, you were looking out for him that's all" she reassured him.

"I now but it still does not take away my guilt, the thought that I failed my mother. What was I suppose to tell her that I lost Henry in a mission which may I add is illegal".

"So what did you tell your mother about Henry?" she asked.

"Nothing, I had gotten my own place at that time and Henry was still in college, his senior year so he was still living at home and when he did not get home my mom called me and I had to pretend like I had no idea what was going on and after not finding him my mom lost her mind blaming the whole thing on me and how I was pushing him to hard. After everything I did for him and my mother she still took his side when it came down to it. I tried to see her but I stopped we she told me that I she wished I had left the house instead of my father because if I had left her little boy would still be with her" he said his voice breaking at the end and Ariadne noticed his eyes were filled with tears but he would not let them go.

"Oh Arthur, I really am sorry" she said moving closer and giving him a tight hug. He turned he way and hugged her back and they stayed like that for a while until he pulled away. He stood up and straightened his black polo.

"Thanks for listening to me" he said, "And again I am sorry for the confusion I have been causing you lately"

"It's okay, I am always going to be here if you need me" she said smiling and pulled him in for another hug. He was so tall she rested her head on his chest and he wrapped his arms around her waist. She looked up at him and kissed him on the cheek.

"See you later" she said.

"Definitely" he said and left her room closing the door behind him.

A few doors down Alexandra was still in the same position she was in an hour ago when somebody knocked on the door it startled her silence.

"Who is it?" she asked.

"Hey, it's me, Nik. Are you okay?" he asked from outside. There was no answer and then a few minutes later Alex opened her door looking at the ground.

"Hey, look at me. Are you okay?" Nik asked.

Alex finally looked up and her eyes were bright red with tears still flowing down.

"Alex, Alex what is the matter?" he asked coming into her room and closing the door. As soon as he was in the room she wrapped her arms around him and he held her small figure against his body.

"I , I - " Alex made out between tears.