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A POV
"Thanks for asking me to lunch Ana. It's just what I needed to help me get over what's his name.", Spencer mumbles as we finish placing our lunch orders with the waitress at Tap House Grill. Even though the tears from yesterday have dried up, I know that she's still upset that Elliot ended things with her.
"You've been there for me countless times so now it's my turn to be here for you. Besides, I knew that you liked the food here." Asking Spencer to lunch is beneficial for me too since I'm hoping that it keeps my mind off the fact that the building across the street from the diner caught on fire. Carol overheard some of the firemen say there's a strong possibility that it was arson which opens an entire new can of questions.
"Yeah, I do. Remember when we came here a few months ago and that one waiter was flirting with me? He looked liked he had just stepped out of a magazine. I wonder if he still works here." She turns around in her chair and begins scanning the room for the guy who flirted non stop the last time we ate here.
"Spencer, I know that Elliot hurt you, but are you ready to move on so soon?", I ask while twirling my straw around in my water glass.
"I'm not moving on. I just want to have some fun. That's probably where I went wrong with Elliot. He was just going to be a one night stand, but I had to start feeling something for him. Next time I'll listen to my body and not my heart." The waitress, Juliet, comes and places our food on the table, but Spencer stops her before she walks away. "Excuse me, a few months ago I was in here and there was this guy who was gorgeous with dark hair and a great body. I can't remember his exact name, but I think it may have been Bryant or Brian. Do you know if he still works here?"
"Bryant was his name, and no he doesn't work here anymore.", Juliet answers.
"Damn it. The guy was so good looking, and he was kind of flirting with me while I was here."
"Flirting was his strategy." Spencer ponders Juliet's words for a second.
"He flirted for tips. Perfect. Thanks." Juliet nods and walks away from the table. "Maybe I'll just become a nun.", she sighs.
"I wouldn't do something that extreme yet. Just focus on yourself for a while."
"At least you're in a happy relationship. How's the living situation with Christian going?"
"It's going good.", I answer.
"What are you planning on doing with the furniture in your apartment? I'm only asking because I may want to buy your sofa and chairs."
"My bedroom set was given to me by parents when I graduated high school so I'm going to keep that in storage, but I'm getting rid of the other things. If you want the sofa and living room chairs, you can have them.", I shrug. "It's not like I'm going to use them."
"Yeah, it's not like you and Christian are going to break up or anything." Looking up from my plate, I nod my head. "I didn't mean to sound sarcastic. I honestly meant that your relationship with Christian is strong so there's no way it's going to end." I can see that he really loves you." Christian's love for me is something that I don't doubt, but a tiny part of me wonders if that love could have caused the fire. Don't go there Ana!
"I love him too. Since meeting him, I've become an entirely new person. I feel more confident in myself and in life."
"I've noticed. You have this take no crap attitude.", Spencer laughs. "Your mom would be happy to see where you are now. I know she'd be proud of you" Even though my dad and I went to the cemetery, I still have moments where I feel like I could cry all day. I think that's something that will never go away.
"I like to think that she'd be proud."
C POV
"Welch, what have you go on the fire investigation?", I ask Welch as we sit in my study. I can think of a lot more things that I'd rather be doing on a Saturday, but I need to know what happened with the building that Elena bought across from Ana's work. Ana's co-worker Carol said that the word arson had been brought up.
"According to my sources, there wasn't any electrical issues with the building during the inspection that was conducted before Mrs. Lincoln bought the place. The fire was believed to have been started in the back room where dogs sniffed an accelerant. They took some samples and are running tests. Another possible break is a pair of footprints that was found near the back."
"Are they running tests?"
"Yes sir. The tread looks like it was made by a sneaker, but they're still analyzing.", he says. "Police talked to people who were at the diner at the time of the fire, but no one saw anything. I'll let you know when they find out more." Standing from my seat, I reach over and shake his hand before he leaves. Elena Lincoln is far from being Miss Popularity so I know there's going to be a long list of suspects. One of the possible names that I don't want to consider is Ana's. She was just getting home when I got here last night, but she was at Spencer's, wasn't she? Snap out of it Grey!
As I walk into the living room, I hear the sound of the elevator arriving on the floor. Maybe Ana's back from her day out with Spencer. I'm practically bouncing around waiting to see if it's her. Yes, I have it bad. The butterflies in my stomach go away when I see that it's Elliot instead.
"Hey little bro.", Elliot says while entering the room.
"Elliot, I didn't know you were stopping by."
"I'm sorry. I know I should have called, but I didn't think. If you have something going on, I can leave."
"No, stay. I tried calling you last night, but you didn't answer." I told Ana that I would call him and try to find out why he suddenly broke things off with Spencer.
"I know, and I have a feeling I know why you called. Spencer, right? You wanted to ask why I made the dick move of breaking up with her." I motion for him to sit down on the sofa so he can hopefully explain what happened. This is a bit awkward and new for me though since I've never cared about his relationships in the past, but this time it's different. For one, I'm different in that I actually care about what's going on with my brother. Secondly, Spencer is Ana's best friend and a nice girl who deserves more of an explanation than he gave her.
"I could sit here and beat around the bush, but I'm just going to come out and ask. What in the hell happened? I thought you liked Spencer. You said that she was different from the other girls that you've been with."
"She is. Fuck, she is so much different. I've been with a lot of girls Christian, but none of them compare to her. The girl makes me laugh more than anyone I know. She does these impersonations that are spot on. Last week, she started doing an impersonation of Lady Gaga." As I sit down in the seat across from him, I try and picture that image, but it doesn't come to me. "It was good, trust me."
"I'll take your word on it. So, if she's so wonderful, why did you end it?"
"I was at a job site the other day when she showed up with lunch. I thought it was a nice gesture, but some of the guys from work told me that she was out of my league. They know how I've been around the block. This one guy, Todd, said that I would only end up screwing things up with her, and that he hoped to be there to pick up the pieces."
"What the fuck Elliot! Please don't tell me that you stood there and let him say that to you."
"No, I told him to fuck off and mind his own business, but afterwards I started thinking what if he has a point. The last thing I want to do is hurt Spencer."
"Says the guy who ended things without a telling her why.", I sigh. "Look, I know that I'm still fairly new to this relationship thing, but you can't move forward if you keep looking in the rear view mirror." Damn, when did I become so deep?
"Were you scared at first?", he asks.
"Was I scared? Does Mia talk too much?"
"I take that a big yes. How did you get over it?"
"One word, Ana. I didn't think I was deserving of her, but she saw a part of me that I didn't know that I possessed. She helped me see that chances are meant to be be taken. The other night I was dealing with a situation that made me question things, but Ana was right there with me. She refused to let me give up. Elliot, you need to go to Spencer and talk to her. I have a feeling that she'll listen to you.", I say.
"You're right. I need to get over myself and man up. Thanks for this." I stand and walk over to where he's stood up, and I then I hug him. "You know since meeting Ana, you've ever hugged me more than ever before?"
"Is that bad?"
"Not at all. Laters.", he grins.
"Laters."
After Elliot leaves, I start heading back to the study, but once again I hear someone approaching. The butterflies make a reappearance at the sight of Ana coming into the room. She has one shopping bag in her hand, but I rush over to take it for her.
"Thanks.", she smiles. I move in closer to her and kiss her briefly. "I stopped by the shoe store after dropping Spencer off at her place." I follow her into the bedroom where she takes off her black tank, leaving her only in her black lace bra. "What are you looking at?"
"Your beautiful breasts.", I answer while placing feather kisses on them.
"Is that the only part of me interest you?", she teases.
"No, every single inch of you interests me." Our lips join together in one more kiss before she picks up her bag and pulls out what appears to be a running shoe box. "New running shoes?"
"Yeah. I needed some new ones so I bought a new pair." I recall Welch telling me that the police found what appeared to be footprints from a sneaker at the building. "So last night before you got here, you were at Spencer's the entire time?", I ask. The sound of the deep breath coming from her body tells me that she's not happy about my question.
"Yeah. I told you when I left your office that I was going over there to comfort her after your jackass of a brother dumped her. I sat there and listened to her cry over him. Why are you asking?"
"I wasn't sure if you had stopped somewhere else."
"No, I didn't, but I also didn't know that I had to check in with you about where I go.", she snaps while walking towards the closet, but she turns around before she gets inside. "Oh my god."
"What?"
A POV
"You think I set that building on your fire don't you?" I can't believe that he thinks I could have caused the fire. Weren't you wondering if he did it?
"Ana, please. I'm just covering all bases."
"Since we're covering all bases, were you actually at a meeting last night?" His shocked look mirrors the one that I had a few minutes ago when he questioned me about my whereabouts.
"Yes, I was at a meeting." Neither of us say anything for several minutes, but we keep looking at each other, trying to read the other's mind. Suddenly, his face changes as if a realization comes to him. "Fuck, I should have known that this would happen."
"What?", I ask. He sits down on the bed and pulls me down into his lap while running his fingers through my hair. My body begins relaxing with his touch.
"I shouldn't have even considered the idea of you causing that fire. I know that you don't have a mean bone in your body."
"Maybe I do. Grrr", I playfully growl making him laugh. "I was wrong to even think that you would do such a thing."
"Baby, I've been thinking about ways that I could stop Elena, but I'm not going to do anything that would cause me to go to jail. That bitch isn't worth me being behind bars."
"You're thinking the same thing I'm thinking, aren't you?"
"Elena knows that we want her out of our lives so she probably knows that we're trying to find a way to make that happen. Someone else started that fire, but I believe she was hoping we would blame each other.", he says.
"To drive a wedge between us."
"Exactly, but I'm not going to let that happen. I'm so sorry for thinking that..."
"I'm sorry too. I know you wouldn't do something to jeopardize us. We love each other too much."
"You're right about that. Yes, there are conjugal visits in prison, but I've never been a fan of orange.", he laughs.
"What now?"
"I don't know, but we'll think of something."
After I change clothes, I walk out of the bedroom and into the living room where I hear Christian talking to someone on the phone.
"All right. I'll see you then.", he says before hanging up. "My mom is going to stop by on her way home from the hospital. She said that she had something for you."
"For me? I wonder what it could be."
"Oh, while you were out with Spencer, Elliot stopped by and we talked about things."
"Did he say why he ended things?"
"Yeah. My brother reminds me of myself when it comes to relationships. He's never been in a relationship before, and he's terrified that he'll mess things up, hurting Spencer in the process."
"But you're not afraid."
"Not anymore, and that's thanks to you. I told him that he needs to stop worrying about "what if" and start embracing "what could be."
"I get the being scared thing. Maybe they can sit down and talk about things. I happen to know in my short relationship experience that communication is everything.", I say.
"True." My hands move up his chest and around his neck. Before I know what's happening, our tongues are thrashing together. Our bodies begin moving towards the sofa. We're brought back to reality when we the sound of someone clearing their throat.
"Hi.", Grace says. Christian and I hurriedly compose ourselves. Once we adjusted, both of us greet her in hugs. This is only the second time that I've seen her, but I feel like I've known her forever.
"How was work?", he asks.
"It wasn't too bad. Ana, I remembered this morning that I was going to give you the recipe for that roast that we had during our dinner." Grace reaches into her pocket and hands me a folded piece of paper with her roast recipe.
"Thanks. I'll have to cook this for Christian one night."
"Are you all moved in?", she asks.
"Pretty much."
"I have to say that I'm thrilled for the two of you. When I told Elena about the two of you living together, she started rambling about how it was too soon, but I told her that there's no time stamp on love."
"Mom, I love you, but I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't talk about me and Ana with Elena.", Christian says in a frustrated voice.
"I didn't mean to upset you. I was just so happy for you that I needed to tell someone, and Elena has always been a part of our lives."
"Don't remind me." Have you ever noticed it's calm right before a storm? I feel like a storm is on the horizon.
"Christian, I'm sorry that I talked to Elena about you and Ana living together, but I don't think that gives you a right to be rude."
"Rude? Trust me Mom, me being rude about Elena is nothing compared to her antics as of late. You have no idea what you "friend" is capable of."
"Christian.", I say.
"No Ana, I've been thinking about things. Last night, my meeting wasn't at work. I met with my therapist John Flynn for the first time in over a month. We talked, and he helped me realize some things."
"What kind of things are you talking about?", Grace asks in confusion.
"Even though Ana and I are in love, our relationship has been put through hell thanks to Elena Lincoln. It's time that you knew the truth."
"Ana, do you know what he's talking about?" I nod my head and brace for the storm.
"Elena seduced me when I was fifteen."
Photos from the chapter are on the pinterest board. Search: sherrybabie/Need You Now