A/N: Thanks for reading. Enjoy!
A POV
"My security?", I scoff, glaring at Christian and then Luke Sawyer who's apparently my security guard.
"I felt it was best that you had someone watching you.", Christian replies.
"So you've been working as my security tonight?", I ask Sawyer.
"No. My grandmother was on the Botanical Society's board for many years before she passed away, and my parents and I have continued to attend the annual fundraiser. I'm here tonight on a personal level.", Sawyer answers while sitting down in a vacant chair at our table.
"He's telling the truth.", Christian adds. "His parents are seated over there." He nods towards the left side of the garden where a couple in their fifties is seated. The woman looks up and waves in our direction. "As I said, I wasn't planning on introducing you until later tonight or tomorrow."
"I don't want someone watching my every move.", I counter before taking a drink of my champagne.
"I assure you that I won't be a hinderance to your daily life.", Sawyer tells me. "You won't know I'm even there." I set my glass down and shake my head. "Maybe it would be best if I were to let the two of you continue this discussion. I'm going to head over to my parents."
"I'll call you tomorrow, and we'll go over the details.", Christian says. Sawyer smiles at me and then scurries away. "Ana, I didn't expect you to initially be ok with having security."
"And yet you went ahead and hired someone?", I snap.
"Technically he was already working for me.", he smirks, but I'm not letting him off the hook. "I'm a very public figure who conducts many big deals. Those deals don't always make people happy. While I've never had someone actually try something, I refuse to take chances, and that's why I have my security detail."
"I guess I've been too caught up in the bliss of our new relationship that I was blind to the fact that your life is so high profile."
"It comes with the territory. Unfortunately, you dating me is also going to be high profile. People aren't used to seeing me with a girlfriend so the tabloids are undoubtedly going to be after us." I rub my eyes and imagine what it's going to be like out in the public eye. "Ana?"
"I'm ok.", I murmur even though I'm not ok. All of the events of tonight are catching up with me and giving me a headache. "I've just got a headache." Closing my eyes, I feel his hand on mine.
"How about I take you home?"
"I don't want you to leave on account of me."
"It's fine. The event doesn't have much longer to go."
After saying goodbye to the Greys, Taylor drives Christian and me back to my apartment. I rest my head on the back of the seat while Christian holds my hand. A steady rain begins falling as we draw closer to my building.
"I didn't think an umbrella would match my dress.", I sigh when we arrive at the building. Taylor reaches beside him and holds up an umbrella which he hands to Christian. "Thank you."
"You're welcome.", Taylor replies. Christian gets out first and opens the umbrella before hovering over me as I get out of the car. We make a run for the door and into the building. We get to my door, and I open it. I wave Christian inside, but he's reluctant.
"I should probably not go inside so you can get some rest and relief from your headache, yet I also feel like we should go ahead and talk about the major issue that was brought up earlier." He debates for a few seconds and then pads inside. "You had a sort of freaked out look on your face when I was talking about us being in the public eye." I slip off my heels and go into the kitchen for some aspirin and water. Returning to the living room, I sit down on the sofa while he sits in the chair next to me. "Ana, does that make you have doubts about us?"
"No. I want to be with you. I know it's going to be different from many relationships. People are going to be watching our every move, but that doesn't mean I don't want to date you."
"Good. Are you now ok with having Sawyer as your security?", he asks with hopeful eyes.
"Does Samual Donovan play a part in you wanting me to have security?" I swallow my aspirin and wait for his answer.
"The plan was already in motion for you to have security although Samual Donovan does validate my reason. I need to know you're safe at all times."
"I wish you had told me about beforehand instead of me finding out the way I did. Communication and trust are important."
"You're right, and I'm sorry. I should've discussed it with you. Are we ok?"
"We're ok." He smiles and gets to his feet. "You're leaving?"
"It's getting late, and you really do need some rest."
"You don't have to go yet. You want to know one of my favorite things to do when it's raining? Watch movies. I can make some popcorn while you pick out a movie."
"I could use some more Ana time.", he laughs. "I'll text Taylor and let him know that I'm going to stay a while longer. What movie do you want to watch?"
"I'm leaving it up to you."
"I should get a marker and draw on his face.", I hear. I slowly open my eyes and see Elliot and Kate standing by the sofa. Cuddled up behind me on the sofa is Christian who's sound asleep. Before we started watching The Goonies, I suggested that Christian text Taylor that he was going to stay at my place since we were going to watch both The Goonies and Gremlins. The plan was for Christian to sleep on the sofa while I slept in my bed, but both of us fell asleep sometime during the latter part of The Goonies.
"Busted.", Kate murmurs. "Morning." I glance at the clock on the tv and see that it's seven. Christian begins stirring next to me.
"What's going on?", he asks with his eyes barely open.
"Nothing's going on.", Elliot replies as he points to the blanket covering Christian and me. "Or is it?" Christian and I raise up.
"We fell alseep The Goonies. I should be asking the two of you the same since you're showing up at seven in the morning."
"We might've been doing the same as you guys.", Kate shrugs. "Elliot and I could've also fallen asleep watching a movie." I raise a brow. "We didn't, but we could've." An awkward silence falls over the room until Kate finally speaks. "Elliot, I've been meaning to flip my mattress over but haven't since it's a difficult task. Do you think you might help me?"
"I would love nothing more than to flip your mattress.", Elliot answers. The two of them race off to Kate's room.
"I can't believe we fell asleep like that.", I sigh. I stretch my arms and yawn. "I just realized that I'm still wearing my dress."
"I'm still in my tux, minus the tie.', Christian counters.
"Yes, but you still look pretty damn good." I feel a blush creep across my face while he smirks.
"Baby, you look so fucking hot." I swat at him and roll my eyes. "It's true. My parents usually do Sunday brunch, but they cancelled this week due to the anticipation of everyone being tired from last night. With the exception of meeting with Sawyer, I've got the entire day clear."
"When will Sawyer be starting his job of guarding me?"
"I'm thinking tomorrow since it's the first of the week. Ana, I promise he'll stay out of your way."
"I'm going to trust you on that. Back to you having the day clear. Were you telling me that as a hint?", I tease.
"You know I was. Do you have plans?", he asks.
"I do." My answer deflates the smile on his face. "I'm spending time with my boyfriend." His smile reemerges.
C POV
"I'm glad the rain cleared up.", Ana says. I settle my hand on the small of her back as we arrive at the Fremont Sunday Market, a street market Ana suggested we go to.
"Me too. There appears to be a lot of going on here."
"You have no idea. This place has everything. It has crafts, antiques, fresh fruits and vegetable. You name it, and it has it. There's also all kinds of foods throughout. I can't believe you've never been here."
"My parents usually do the Sunday brunch, and afterwards I normally go home and do some work.", I say.
"Would you rather be doing work today?", she asks.
"No way." We come upon a tent where an older man is selling items. Ana picks up a pair of earrings that are in the shape of hearts.
"Those will look great on you.", the man tells her. She turns to me.
"He's right. We'll take them."
"Five dollars." I give him ten dollars before Ana can get her money out.
"I was going to buy those myself.", she says when we walk away.
"Can't a guy buy his girlfriend something?", I tease. Our next stop is an art display. We browse the prints for a bit until I find one that interests me. It's a black and white print of The Three Stooges. "This is cool." Just as I did with her, Ana grabs the print from me. "Ana, what are you doing?"
"I'm buying this." She walks over to the woman who's in charge of the display. "I'll take this."
"I see someone's a fan of The Three Stooges.", the woman laughs. "My dad used to say their comedy could cure any kind of bad day. That'll be fifteen dollars." Ana pays and links her arm with mine to lead us further on our exploring.
"Thank you, but you didn't have to buy that for me.", I say.
"Can't a girl buy her boyfriend something?", she giggles, turning my words against me. She continues giggling, and I can no longer fight the urge to kiss her. I pull her into me and kiss her tenderly, not caring that we're not alone. "That was some thank you."
"It was also a thank you for last night. I enjoyed falling asleep and waking up with you in my arms.." Last night was the first night I've ever fallen asleep with a woman. In the past, it's always been nothing more than sex. However, I felt a sense of euphoria snuggled up to Ana.
"I liked it too." Her eyes land on something behind me. "I see cotton candy!" She sprints off as I try to keep up with her. "Since we're still learning things about each other, you should know that I love cotton candy. It's one of my favorites." I buy her a large stick of the sweet treat, and she immediately pulls off a piece. "Have some." I'm about to pull some off when she puts a little on her fingers, holding it out for me. I take my time and bite it off. I swear I hear a moan from her. "Good?"
"Very.", I grin.
"Leave me alone!", a woman screams nearby. Ana and I along with others quickly turn our heads to one of the exits. A young guy is pulling a woman by her arm. "I said we're finished!"
"We're not finished until I say we're finished!", he yells. Another woman runs over to the couple and tries to pry the guy's hand off the first woman's.
"Jake, leave her alone!", the second woman screams. "Lisa doesn't want to be with you."
"Cassie, that's not for you to decide so why don't you take you ass somewhere else!" Seeing that things aren't getting better, I rush over to try and help. He spots me and shakes his head.
"The lady said to let her go, and I suggest you do it.", I tell the guy who I now know is named Jake.
"And who's going to stop me?", he scoffs.
"I will if I have to.", I snarl, trying my best to not punch the bastard.
"Me too.", Ana says from beside me.
"Some guy you are if you have to have your woman helping you.", Jake laughs. More people are now standing beside and behind me. He lets Lisa go and holds up his hands. "You know? You can go. I've got no use for a whore like you." He stomps through the exit.
"Thank you so much.", Lisa tells me and the others. Everyone but Ana and I disperse.
"Thanks.", her friend adds. "Jake's a loser who I hope doesn't come around again."
"I don't know the situation entirely, but I do know that no man should talk to a woman like that nor should he ever lay a hand on her." Lisa slowly nods her head.
"I hope you don't go back to him.", Ana tells her.
"I won't.", Lisa replies as Cassie puts her arm around her.
"How about we go and get you some food?", Cassie asks.
"I'd like that. Thank you all again." The two women walk away.
"That poor things.", Ana murmurs.
"Yeah. Unfortunately, what we saw might not be anything compared to what goes on behind closed doors." The tone of my voice must make Ana suspicious because she starts looking at me with quizzical eyes. My good mood is now gone. I reach into my pocket and pull out my phone, pretending to read something. "Damn. I was supposed to call a client and forgot all about it."
"Do you want to find a private place to make the call?"
"Uh..I've got to some paperwork that I need to read to the client, but it's back at my place." Lying to Ana is the worst, but I need some time to myself.
"Ok.", she says. "I guess you just take me home then."
"I'm sorry for cutting our day short."
"Sir, are you ok?", Taylor asks as I pick up the bottle of wine and refill it.
"I'm fine." I'm lying through my teeth. "You can go ahead and call it a day if you'd like. I plan on staying home the rest of the night." Being home alone is what I deserve after lying to Ana earlier. She said she was ok with me taking her home early, but I could see a hint of hurt on her face.
"Have a good evening."
"You too.", I say. Taylor pads out of the living room as I decide I've had enough to drink. I stand and grab the bottle. The sound of approaching footsteps stops me before I get to the kitchen. I figure Taylor forgot something, but it's Ana that I see. "Ana. What are you doing here?"
"Taylor saw me and let me in. I'm sorry for just showing up like this, but I needed answers. We were having a good time today, and then that incident happened. It was terrible, yet your attitude changed completely afterwards. I thought I was ok with letting you take me home early, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized I wasn't ok."
"I'm sorry about today. I really wanted to spend the entire day with you, but I needed to make that call." More lying.
"Bullshit.", she sneers. "There wasn't a call. You made it up. I've suspected you've been holding things back from me, and I've been ok with you not telling me. That doesn't mean you have to make up lies." She yanks the wine bottle from my hand and takes a drink straight from the bottle. "I've said what I needed to say. Have you got anything you want to add?" I want to open up to her. Then do it! When I don't respond, she shoves the bottle back into my hand. "Fine." She turns on her heels and starts walking away.
"What do you want me to say? You want me to tell that my birth father was an abusive drunk? He might've hit me a few times, but he saved the brunt of his anger for my birth mother." My anger for him spills out into my voice as Ana gasps and turns around. "He'd beat her for no reason."
"Christian.", Ana whispers. "I'm so sorry."
"You wanted to know what I've been holding back from you. Well, now you know.", I shrug. "Actually, you don't know all of it. You see one night he came home and wasted as usual, and as usual he started in on my mom. He ended up pushing her down the stairs. The fall caused her to break her neck and die. The fucking coward took off in his truck and ended up crashing. He died on the spot." Ana's eyes well with tears. "I was adopted by Carrick and Grace who've been amazing, but that darkness is still there. I detest anyone who's violent against women." I set the wine bottle down and sit down on the sofa while Ana eases next to me. "Today was going great until I saw that guy being an aggressive. Even when it was over, I found it difficult to have a good time."
"That's understandable." Ana rests her hand on mine.
"I made up the lie about having a phone call because I didn't want to subject you any further to my bad mood."
"I wouldn't have minded.", she says. "I'm sorry for pushing you into telling me."
"Don't apologize. I've been wanting to tell you, but I haven't been able to do it. You gave me the push I needed. I want you to know me, all of me. I want you to know the good and the bad." A tear falls onto my hand, but it's mine, not Ana's. She raises my hand up and kisses it, making the tear disappear. "Ana, I'm falling so hard for you." The lack of expression on her face makes me wonder if I've gone too far.
"I guess we can catch each other because I'm falling hard for you too.", she smiles.