A/N: Sorry for the delay. I wanted to get this up on the weekend, but going to my son's basketball games proved more challenging for me than originally thought.

Not gonna make this long. There is a small cliffy at the end, but the next chapter is half written so you shouldn't have to wait past next week to get the answers. Don't worry, for your patience, I'll have an amazing surprise for you later.

Remember to favorite and follow to get update notifications. I love hearing from you all in the reviews. Its been awhile since GV was updated, so I'm not going to respond to each of the last ones, but I'll try and respond to a few of you in next week's update.

Submissive Beginning is halfway to being done. I think I'll have the final chapters up just in time for the Freed premiere. That's my goal anyway. Also working on a lemony one-shot and my newest plot bunny Unavowed.

I don't own FSOG, but I love doing this. Mistakes are mine, this is completely unbeta-ed.

Laters

Grey Vitals

Chapter 10:Shit, dinner with my mother again

Ana's POV

August 2017

Three months. It has been three months since I met Dr. Christian Grey. Three months since I started my internship at Seattle General. It has been exhilarating and dramatic at the same time. Dr. Bailey was very astute that day she told me I was back in high school. I am most definitely the nerd girl and Christian is the quarterback. We've upset the status quo at the hospital. None of the cheerleaders approve of the quarterback and the geek being together and they've spent nearly two months trying to make my life hell.

Let's start with the cheer squad's high flyer, Olivia Blandino. Nearly two weeks after our amazing first date, Christian had to attend a dinner with a couple of politicians trying to garner favor for his brain mapping program he's working on. I was going to attend with him, but Dr. Matteo assigned me to watch a critical patient all night and required vitals updates every half hour.

Olivia's father was one of the gentlemen at the dinner. Bailey had warned me that he was part of the key to Christian getting the governmental funding he needed. I don't think that either of us expected him to try and pimp his daughter out in exchange for the funding either. When Christian came back to the hospital after the dinner you could see the frustration written across his face.

Little miss Blandino was there in the skimpiest dress possible without crossing into stripper territory according the photo Christian managed to sneak on his phone. He's paranoid the Blandinos will make trouble for him and his project now. While Christian tried to explain the project to the four men at the table, Olivia tried to touch his thigh. The senator tried to get Christian to agree to dinner with just him the next night.

Thankfully one of the other guys at the table spoke up for Christian at that point. He was some senator from Vermont and was actually a doctor himself. He exchanged cards with Christian at the end of the dinner, promising to speak up on his behalf if the dinner came back and bit him in the ass. Olivia tried to coax Christian into a nightcap and threw a fit and promised to make him pay if he declined a third time. Oh yeah, she's tried to ask him out twice before that dinner.

Christian was thankfully on the phone with the hospital answering service, which is always recorded, and she was heard by the nurse he was talking to. He'd called to see if his mother and I were still in the hospital before he went home looking for either one of us. Olivia waited three days before filing a complaint against Christian for harrassment. The picture Christian took of her outfit as she was leaving him at the restaurant, and the call with the nurse's line helped Christian. HR placed Olivia on a two-week suspension and she's been denied the privilege of working with the great Dr. Grey for three months.

Next on my list of cheer bitches, Bethany Walker. I think most people consider the Dragon Lady, AKA Dr. Gia Matteo, to the queen bitch of Seattle Gen, but I guarantee you, Bethany Walker is worse. The woman tried to get me thrown off the one OB/GYN case I've been assigned to since starting my internship. I could deal with her just saying no, I won't work with you. That wasn't the case with Dr. Walker though. I had to involve HR with this case. I was informed by my patient, during an ultrasound I was conducting to measure her baby, that I was a dirty adulterous whore. The woman screamed for security to remove me from her room. When Dr. Bailey showed up, we discovered that Dr. Walker led the patient to believe that she was married to Christian and he was leaving her for me. The patient ended up transferring to Seattle Presbyterian and Dr. Walker has left her fellowship. I guess there's an open spot on the cheer squad.

Next, we have the captain of the squad, The Dragon Lady, Dr. Gia Matteo. This woman is doing everything possible to make my life hell. She hates that as an intern I'm already able to declare my field of focus. She's constantly trying to override Grace and pull me onto her cases. I've spent so many of my days off covering her labs and after hours vital checks. She likes to relegate me to nurses' work, when she does let me in an OR she grills me about my father, my relationship with the Grey family and generally alludes to me sleeping my way into the program.

Today I am on Dr. Morgan's service, which means I am on Christian's service. I've been banned from the OR by Dr. Morgan and can only observe their brain tumor removal today. This patient is a 54 year old woman that had always been a faithful, loving, and kind wife and mother. She had been an active member in her community. Then four months ago, she started acting erratically. She had an affair with her neighbor's 19-year-old son, and actually slapped her daughter for perceived disrespect. She was verbally abusive to everyone around her. Her husband sent her to the doctor thinking it might just be menopause, but they discovered three tumors almost the size of a dime on her frontal lobe.

It's amazing to watch the doctors work so effectively. Doctor Morgan is using the mechanical surgical arm to perform the surgery for the first time. I laughed because she had to ask me about the equipment's programing to prepare today. Dr. Morgan is an okay doctor. She has her moments, but I haven't learned much from her the few times I've worked with her. She always tries to find a way to keep me out of the OR. I spend more time updating her charts than anything.

The last member of the cheer squad, Nurse Hannah, or as Jose loves to refer to her, Luke's skanky syph nurse. I avoid her at all costs. She a nurse, so I have more power than her here. I stay out of her way and she stays out of mine. Doesn't stop her from giving me the death glare every time she sees me.

Since I've logged enough hours to get a four-day weekend, I'm being summoned to dinner with my mother tomorrow night. I've managed to avoid Carla Steele since the Kate debacle and it's been so peaceful. I don't want to make waves and I just feel like this dinner is going to bring a Tsunami our way. Christian has been with me the whole way. We've only spent a hand full of nights away from each other since the date that ended at his trailer on the cliff high above the sound. When I have nights off but rounds early the next morning, we stay at my place. When I get to skip morning rounds, we go to his trailer. He no longer keeps clothes at Denny's apartment either. When he needs to stay close to the hospital, he stays with me.

Jose was okay with the arrangement for the most part, till about three weeks ago. He and Dr. Fox broke up, and Jose had told us he would be out with Barney and a couple of other people from the hospital for the night. However, Jose picked up some random guy and came home just before midnight, founding Christian and I naked in front of my fireplace. His date lost interest in Jose immediately and started trying to get in with us because he "wanted to eat the monster that was tearing me apart" as he put it. Christian and Jose were both equally mortified and I couldn't help but laugh.

When I managed to get control of myself, my sides hurt, and my eyes were watering. The poor guy was just standing there. Jose couldn't look at me because I hadn't bothered to cover myself. I walked over the interloper and showed him the door and then walked up to my room. It took Christian all of three minutes to get a clue and meet me in my room. The next day at breakfast, Jose demanded we put a sock on the front door handle after that or to stay confined to my bedroom.

I'm brought out of my inner musings by the shrill of a code blue announcement. Running to the patient's room, I enter and find Luke starting on the patient.

"Dr. Steele, I need you to grab a 12 gage, we've got to insert a central line. Can you do it?" Luke and I have managed to find a way to work with each other. I try not to be left alone with him, because then he starts in with his apologies. I don't want to hear them. I told Christian last week I wouldn't mind knowing what happened that night I thought he would propose, but it wasn't something I needed.

Grabbing the needle and the necessary supplies, I follow Dr. Sawyer's instructions and get the line inserted. Just as we do the patient's heart rate starts to stabilize. It's a rush when your adrenaline starts pumping and you're racing against a clock to save a patient.

"Good Job, Steele." I step back and watch the nurses adjust meds on the patient and step out with Luke to talk to the patient's family. She's one of Grace's patients that has been here for two weeks. Samantha is a twelve-year-old girl in need of a kidney. She's diabetic and has been on dialysis for a year. Her kidneys have totally shut down and now her heart is getting weak.

After talking to Samantha's mother, Luke instructs me to contact UNOS and get her moved to the top of the list. He heads off to see Grace and update her. Just as I get off the phone with UNOS my pager goes off.

"Shit." DR. Morgan's brain tumor lady is crashing. Racing to the opposite end of the floor, I run into the room to start CPR procedures. Dr. Morgan is already there with the defibrillator to shock her heart. Morgan hollars for someone to page Christian and Jason. The portable ultrasound is showing a clot near her heart. She has to go back into surgery.

"Steele, you need to scrub in. We need all hands on deck." Yes, finally. This is the first time I've been in the OR in days.

When I make it into the OR, I see Dr. Morgan and Dr. Jason Taylor, the head of Cardiology. We work quickly and efficiently as they find the clot and remove it before it can cause real damage by travelling to the brain and causing a stroke. I was ecstatic when they let me close the patient. It's one thing to do sutures in the ER, it's another when we get to practice in the OR.

"Great work today Steele." Dr. Morgan's praise is actually nice. I spend the rest of the evening flying high on pride and completing charts and checking labs on patients.

Midnight hits and I log out of the automated and electronic filing system. I run to the locker room and strip out of my scrubs, wash my hands, and grab my purse. Jose should already be at the house, so I'm on my own. I practically skip as I exit the interns' locker room.

"Going somewhere Dr. Steele?" Oh, shit. I've managed to avoid this man since I started work. The rumors about him and the leer he sends my way when he's in the cafeteria at the same time I am gives me the creeps. His voice alone sends a chill up my spine.

"Dr. Hyde, I'm heading out. I've logged to many hours the last month and my resident is sending me home." I don't want to give the man anymore info than that. He's an attending, he can log into the system himself and see the number of hours I've logged.

"Oh, is that so?" He starts to run a finger up my arm, and I take a step back. Hyde drops his hand but places the other one on the wall, effectively blocking my path. "What do you say to dinner tomorrow night? A little wine, some dancing. We could have fun."

This man's breath smells like dog vomit. "Sorry, Dr. Hyde, I already have plans to have dinner with my mother and boyfriend." I hope the mention of my boyfriend will deter him, but I'm not sure he'll take the hint.

"Next week maybe?" He arches an eyebrow. I really wish Christian was here. I hope he's at the house, I told him to meet me there when I got off. I don't want to be without him nor do I want to try and get a ferry ride this late at night.

"I'm exclusive in my relationship. So the answer will be no." Before he can say much more, I race around him and take the stairs. I'm not stopping to wait for the elevator.

Five minutes later, I'm walking into the parking lot toward my car when I see a figure leaning against my car. I start to reach into my bag for my pepper spray when I notice the shine to the copper curls on the head of the man waiting for me.

Letting the smile spread across my face, I race to my car and jump when Christian holds his arms out for me. Wrapping my legs around his torso, he plants one of the most passionate hello kisses ever on me. The tango back and forth as he turns us and presses my body into the side of my car, both palms cupping my rear, becomes heated and within moments we're in need of breath.

"Happy to see me?" Christian is by far the most passionate and caring man I've ever met. I'm so happy I went to that bar and took him home. He likes to think even if we hadn't gotten together that night, it would have happened eventually. He's too persistent he says. He's certain he would have worn me down, I agree he might have when we were forty and I was too saggy to pick up men from the bar anymore.

"Always. What are you doing here though?" He finally lets me slide down his body as he takes my key from me and guides me toward the passenger side. This is our new thing. No matter whose car we're in anymore, he's always driving. Christian's got more than a few control issues.

"I had dinner and a few beers with Elliot. When I saw what time it was, I just had him drop me off here. I've only been out here about fifteen minutes." Christian starts the car and backs out. The minute the car is in drive, his right hand is holding mine and we're headed toward my house.

"I'm sorry. I'd have been out here sooner, but I got cornered by Hyde. The man asked me to dinner tomorrow. I mean seriously, everyone in that hospital knows that we're together. How did he think I would answer? When I said no the first time, he asked about next week. I had to tell him I didn't two time and duck around him and take the stairs to get out of there." Christian's grip on the steering wheel looks to become a little tighter.

"You be careful around that man, Anastasia. I know you've heard the rumors and you should hear the things he says in the attendings' lounge. He wants in your panties and I don't share." Christian looks furious, like I've done something wrong.

"I know about Hyde's reputation. I also know what I want and it's not him. Frankly I'm surprised I've managed this long without a run in with him. He's the only attending I've not worked with so far. And after that I'm glad I get to work the next two weeks in the trauma pit when I go back to work." Trauma. If I can't go in pediatrics, I'd want to be a trauma surgeon. The constant adrenalin rush and the race to save a patient's life. I can't wait till we get to do our EMT ride-alongs in two months.

"I'm sorry Ana." That's all he says and we're quiet the rest of the way home.

Entering the house, I notice the place is pitch dark, which means that Jose isn't home. "Come on baby let's go to bed. You've had a long day, and we need to rest to do battle with your mother at dinner tomorrow." He's absolutely right.

I don't even think as the brain fog of exhaustion starts to settle in. I strip once I hit my room and walk to the bathroom to brush my teeth. I can hear the beep of the alarm being set downstairs and after a moment he's joining me in the en suite. Standing behind me, Christian brushes the hair back from one side of my neck and trails a finger down my spine. Placing a kiss to the side of my neck, he locks eyes with me in the mirror. "I love you Ana." With that he walks out the bathroom and pulls the covers back before climbing into my bed.

Shit that felt monumental. We've said I love you to each other before, I think, but there was so much emotion behind what he just did. I try not to think anymore. I quickly rinse my toothbrush and drop it in the holder. I walk to my side of the bed and join Christian under the covers. Within moments, I'm snuggled into my man's side, and fall fast asleep.

Christian's POV

Today with Ana is one I don't get to experience often. Neither of us are due at the hospital till Tuesday. I handed off my patients so that I could spend the time with her. We have to leave in an hour for dinner with her mother and Mrs. Steele's new boyfriend. Tomorrow we're going to a concert in the park with Jason and Gail. Sunday we're spending the day at my parents' house for a backyard barbeque and swim party. Mother has invited my entire family. Ana is going to get to finally meet my grandfather. I wish my grandmother would be there to meet her, but if she were I wouldn't have chosen the field that I did.

"Ana! You better get a move on. Your mother will kill us if we're late." I'm wearing a dark blue suit, with a crisp white shirt and silver tie. I'm putting a splash of cologne on when I see Ana come out of her closet in a dark blue wrap dress. She's in the process of putting in an earring and has her shoes tucked under her arm.

"You look great baby." I place a kiss to Ana's head as she passes me to sit on the edge of the bed. Her snort in response makes me look over my shoulder in wonder though. "What?"

"Carla Steele is up to something. I just don't know what it is. I mean this is my mother we're talking about. If I'd grown up in the south she'd have entered me in every small town carnival beauty pageant and forced me to go to cotillion. She likes to think she's Seattle's Unsouthern Debutante. She'll have something to complain about. Either this dress is too tight for my figure, I've gained five pounds she'll claim. My hair won't be shiny enough, or I chose the wrong jewelry or shoes. I've spent my entire life hearing what I was doing wrong. She'll have plenty to say tonight. I'll barely eat, because too much food in front of a man makes you look like a glutton. I'll barely speak for fear of saying something I can never take back. When we come home, I'm going straight to the freezer and taking a shot of tequila. Then I'm going to call Mr. Chang's and get double our usual order. While I wait for the food to get here, I'm coming upstairs to shower and change into my worn Harvard sweats. When I'm done eating, I'm going to need you to ignore the ugly sweats and fuck my brains out and tell me everything she said was wrong. Can you do that for me?" Shit, I'm hard as stone thinking about the end of my night.

"I can do that Ana." I watch her put on the black strappy heals that she claims her mother will hate. "Ready to go?" I hold out a hand to help her up and she saunters to me and pressing the length of her body close to me before placing a chaste kiss to my lips.

"I'm ready. And in case I don't remember to say it again tonight, I love you." A smile the size of the Grand Canyon spreads across my face.

"You know you've never said that to me before, you know?" She looks perplexed and I can tell she didn't realize the importance of what I said last night.

"Really? I thought we'd said it already. So last night…" You can see the question in her eyes and I just simply nod my head.

"Shit Christian, I'm sorry. I could have sworn we had said it already. Hell, I gushed to Gail the other day about how much I love you. I thought we'd said it. I'm sorry. Seriously, I suck at this girlfriend thing." I chuckle a little and place a kiss to the corner of her mouth and offer her my arm.

"It's okay Ana. I've known we're both lacking in the relationship department. We've been comfortable. We have to evolve though or we'll grow apart. I've known that I love you for awhile. I don't know why I chose to say it like I did last night, it just felt right." We get to the front door and I let her open the door while I set the alarm.

The drive to Canlis, isn't a long one, but it's a quiet one. I know she's upset with herself and I'll have to make sure that she understands there is nothing to be upset about. Parking in front of the restaurant, I exit the vehicle and run to the passenger side to help her out, handing the keys to the valet. "We've got ten minutes. Do you think that she's already here?" Ana ask me nervously.

I'm a little nervous myself now. I've met Carla Steele a handful of times and she can be scary. Carla's not scary like my mother, in that she will silently show her disappointment and disapproval and shame you into her way of thinking and doing things. No, Carla Steele is very vocal. She finds ways to make digs at you while trying to disguise them as complements. She makes suggestions, but really, they're orders not to be defied. Carla Steele is a prime example of a Seattle society woman bitch. Her displeasure could mean the ruin of your reputation. "We'll find out soon enough baby."

Opening the door to the restaurant, I wait to follow Ana inside. She walks to the hostess stand and lets them know who we're here for. "I'm not sure if our party is here yet, Steele."

The hostess looks and then snaps her fingers. Another woman, a small blonde, meets her at the stand. I'm not sure what they are whispering about, but it's making me even more nervous. The blonde finally nods her head and then looks at Ana and I. "Right this way Ms. Steele, Mr. Grey." She motions for us to follow her and before long I realize she's walking us to the back of the dining area to where the private dining rooms are.

We're led to a table and I can see the back of a gentleman's head and Carla sitting on his right. I walk to the side of the table and go to pull the chair out of Ana when the gentleman next to me stands and I take notice of who he is. Ana immediately stops in her tracks as well. This dinner is not starting out on the best foot. "Dr. Peters. What a surprise to see you here."

Dr. Evan Peters is the Chief of Surgery at Seattle General. He was an attending during my resident year. He and I don't see eye to eye on much, probably due to the fact that we know him being a 38-year-old chief of surgery will be the peak of his career. It also doesn't help that the only reason he got the job was because Dr. Raymond Steele died before he could become chief.

"Dr. Grey, Dr. Steele. It's nice to see you outside the hospital walls. I think that for tonight we'll dispense with the formalities. I'm Evan. I hope you don't mind me calling you Christian and Ana tonight." Dr. Peter's is a slimy one in my book. He'll do anything and step over anyone to get ahead. He tried to block me from my research on my serum, but when the hospital's board saw the potential they told him to shove it.

"Of course. Mother, it's great to see you." Ana is wearing a smile I've only seen a few times. It's her society smile and completely faked. It's a good one though, I don't think anyone but me and maybe Jose could tell it wasn't genuine.

"Anastasia. You look lovely in that dress; too bad you didn't have a So Kate pump to match." Ana was right. Carla zeroed in on the shoes.

"I liked these for tonight." Ana finally slides into her chair. I take the seat next to her and position myself on Evan's right and across from Carla. Ana is going to spend the entire evening guarded and I don't blame her. Once again, I feel like Carla is probably up to something, I just haven't figured out what it is yet.

Taking note of the table, we're all spaciously spread around the table. You could easily fit two or three more people at the large round table we're sitting at. I purposely scoot my chair closer to Ana's not wanting to have to spend the night without the ability to touch her. When she sees what I'm doing, I finally get a genuine smile from her as I take her hand in mine. I smile back as I rest our joined hands on my thigh.

"So Ana, I've not talked to you in weeks. How is everything?" Carla speaks to Ana before taking a sip of the white wine that was poured for us before Ana and I arrived.

"Everything is good. Christian and I have the weekend off together. I've logged too many hours in the last month and have to take the time off. We have plans all weekend, but Monday I'm going to get a jump start on studying for my intern exams." The pride radiates off Ana. She doesn't really need to study, but she's determined not to let anyone in her intern class fail. Well, she might let Dr. Blandino fail.

"Working too much huh? Maybe you should cut back. There are several functions I would love for you to attend. Honestly, I don't know why you're working at all. You've gotten your inheritance from your father's estate. You're even dating the richest doctor in the country. You need to be focusing on your station, not your career." And there it is ladies and gentlemen; the Carla Steele Ana knows and hates to love, but can't help it she's her mother.

"I've worked very hard here mother. I was accepted to all of the top ten surgical programs in the country. The Mayo Clinic and Seattle General went into a war of perks upon completion of my residency over me. I could be forever stuck in the snow in Minnesota, but I chose to come home. I came to where Daddy was. I'm not going to stop, I think I can do amazing things for the children of Seattle." Ana's confidence is shaky, but I'm proud of her for standing up to her mother.

"I think we should place our orders." Evan tried to break the tension that is building between mother and daughter, and I appreciate it.

Lifting Ana's hand to my mouth I gently kiss the back of her knuckles. "Do you want your usual?" We like Canlis take out. I try to call in an order at least once a week. We've even eaten from their expensive takeaway containers in an empty patient's room once because she was stuck over night between surgeries with critical post op care.

"Yes please." Ana's voice is barely a whisper only meant for me to hear. Something I've learned in the last few months, when we're at the hospital, Ana can be very dominate. She is a go getter and takes charge of the other interns a lot. When it's just the two of us, she becomes a natural submissive. She lets me make most of the decisions about what we do, where we eat, when we go to bed and what bed we're in. She loves for me to take care of her, especially when we bathe together. I think Ana is her most relaxed and content when I am washing her hair.

The waiter shows up quickly and we all place our orders while Ana sips from her wine quietly. Evan starts to tell us about a grant he's trying to get for the hospital to buy some new scanner for the trauma center and Ana starts to perk up.

"You should really just hold a gala for donors. They spend more money when you ply them with appetizers and good champagne and scotch. Make a night of it, dinner and dancing. Charge an arm and a leg for a seat. Get local businesses to donate packages people can bid on and hold an auction." Ana takes another sip of her wine before sitting a little straighter and making her suggestions to Evan. "Mayo purchased one of those scanners last year while I did my summer internship. They're a little over $500,000. If you hold an event for 250 people, which you can easily do in this town, sell seats at the tables for $2500, which is cheaper than most campaign dinners, you can raise $625,000 alone on the seats. Then get the auction items. Ask the attendee to make personal donations, you could easily get a million for the hospital. As an employee I can't make a donation to the hospital, it'll look like I'm buying my way into the program, but I can buy seats at an entire table and attend with my intern friends, who most likely can't afford a seat right now anyway. Make sure you get everyone of your department heads there as well and make them talk about their upcoming research projects and innovative procedures. A guest speaker on the importance of up to date technology in a trauma center would be a good idea as well. Hire a good band, and make sure the alcohol is good. Free champagne during the cocktail hour, wine with dinner. Make the rest a cash bar."

Ana finishes her speech and I think Carla is stunned with her suggestion. Evan looks contemplative. I wonder which will speak first. I look at Ana and I hope that she can see the pride I'm feeling for her. This is going better than I thought.

"Ana, honey, that's a wonderful idea. Evan, I could easily get several of the other doctor's spouses to help organize this. We can even make it like a masquerade theme. What do you think?" Carla has a glean in her eye. Maybe this dinner won't be so bad after all.

"I think it sounds marvelous. I know someone at the Fairmont that would let us use the ballroom, so we won't have to worry about the weather. It's August, maybe we can shoot for six weeks. That gives plenty of time to find donors for an auction and secure decorations, and food. Oh, Ana this was a marvelous idea." Evan smiles softly at Ana, but I can see how happy he is. "Even if we get the grant before then for the scanner, we can always find other areas to improve within the department with the money."

"I'll be your first donor Carla. I own a house in Aspen. I'll donate the use of the home for a week to the auction." I feel it's the least I can do. Ana is right, we as doctors can't make cash donations to the hospital, but things like this I can do.

"You own a home in Aspen?" Ana looks at me quizzically. I forgot about it in earnest.

"Yeah, I've had it about two years. Elliot arranged to have it built on some land I bought. We used to go to Aspen every year as a family growing up and always rented on of those timeshare condos at the resorts. I wanted to have a place of our own. We still go each year as a family. In fact, that's where my family will spend Thanksgiving this year. You'll have to join us." I let hope shine through my expression and implore her to say yes.

"Okay. Mom, I know a concierge in New York who can put together a Broadway package for me with a cache of tickets and playbills, maybe even a meet and greet, if we can donate a weekend for the use of the Park Avenue place." I forgot that Ana use to live in New York with her parents, but I had assumed they sold their place when they moved back to Seattle.

"That's a great idea sweetie." I look at Carla and she looks like she's about to say something else before the hostess from earlier returns.

"Mrs. Steele, your other guests have arrived. Would you like for us to set their places now?" I'm confused. What other guests? I thought this was a get to know you dinner so Ana and Carla could officially introduce their boyfriends one another, not that we needed introductions apparently.

"Certainly Brigit. Thank you." I watch Carla stand and get up to move her chair closer to Evan when I hear the door to the dining room opening again. Ana and I both look up to see who is entering, and I immediately hear her gasp of surprise.

Well fuck. I shouldn't have said this was going good earlier. I jinxed it. Why the hell would Carla invite the two of them here. Shit, I, shit. Ana said she was up to something. Looks like she was right. Now to figure out what it is. I need to find the waiter. Ana and I are going to need stronger drinks.