Two Quarterbacks Part II

Summer gets up from her seat and hugs and kisses her husband. They kiss and hug for a moment and then they pull away from each other a bit. Summer looks at her husband admiringly. "Linc, I thought you weren't coming home until two days from now." Summer says in a surprised but excited manner.

"I finished up some business early and decided to come home a couple of days early. I missed my girl." They smile at each other and he kisses her again. Summer then turns away from him and looks at Ana.

"Ana this is my husband Lincoln Lattimore. Lincoln this is my friend Ana Hamilton." Lincoln and Ana smile at each other and Lincoln reaches out to shake her hand. "Pleasure to meet you Ana." He says smiling at her.

"Pleasure meeting you too." Ana says returning his smile. "Summer's been telling me about you." Ana tells him.

"I hope it's all good stuff." He says laughing. Summer and Ana look at each other and smile.

Lincoln grins. "I will take that as a yes." He tells the ladies jokingly.

"Ana, Lincoln has a commercial real estate business, that he started with some friends a few years ago. They work with various companies including some major ones in doing things like developing, overseeing properties, selling… Things of that nature." Summer informs Ana.

"It's different from what I did prior to that, but I enjoy it." Lincoln states in a content manner.

"It can keep him away from home at times, but he loves doing it and I support that." Summer says looking at her husband and smiling.

"I do remember watching you some years back playing in the NFL. I remember you being quite good." Ana tells him warmly. "And your brother was a very good player as well." She adds.

"Thanks." Lincoln says graciously. "I enjoyed that career as well, but unfortunately it was cut short. I'm glad I found something else to lean on. And…" His voice trails off for a moment and he looks at Summer and put his arm around her. "I wouldn't have never met my wife, were it not for the career change."

Summer looks up at him and beams. "Lucky me."

Summer, Lincoln and Ana chat a bit more, and then Phyllis arrives. She greets her son in law with a hug and her, Lincoln and Summer decide to have dinner together. Ana looks at her watch and realizes she should be heading home. She says good-bye to them and heads home. She has dinner and unwinds thinking a bit more about the day. Her phone then rings. It's Kyle. They talk for a bit, and the discussion turns to them attending the album release party together.

"I'm so excited for this party, Kyle." Ana tells him excitedly on the phone.

"I know this is supposed to be a big moment for you. Showcasing the hard work, you have put into producing both Xavier and Fen's albums. And Fen being the first artist's album you've ever produced." Kyle tell her. "No doubt you have a lot riding on this release party." He assumes.

Ana smiles on the other end of the phone. "I do. I really hope it goes well." Ana says to him.

"I think it will. I believe you will handle that party like a champ." Kyle tells her encouragingly. "Xavier's a pro and I'm sure he will do well, and Fen… well let's hope he keeps up his end of the bargain. And doesn't mess things up."

Ana frowns when she hears Kyle's last sentence. "Oh, Kyle, Fen has been working hard. I believe he is going to do well. I have faith in him." Ana states to Kyle.

Kyle makes a face on the other end. "He's so lucky to have you believe in him. Especially given his behavior in the past. I hope he realizes that. He's fortunate to have you on his side."

Ana smiles. "Well, it's my job to believe in him and he is my friend." She tells Kyle.

"Un-huh." Kyle says. "Well, like I said he's lucky to have you in his corner."

"Thank you." Ana says in an appreciative manner.

"And I'm lucky to have you too in my life." Kyle expresses to her.

Ana feels her face grow warm. "And thank you for that, too Kyle." She says bashfully.

"I really have been enjoying spending time with you and getting to know you better." Kyle confesses to her.

"I have too, Kyle it's been wonderful." Ana admits to him happily.

"And… I'm looking forward to seeing where it may lead." He says hopeful.

Ana smiles. "Me too Kyle."

"Good." Kyle states. "So, we will definitely attend this party together."

"Oh, definitely. I have a new dress to wear and everything." Ana informs him.

"I can't wait to see it. I'm sure you will look great." Kyle says smiling.

Ana and Kyle talk for a bit more, and then they bid each other good night and hang up. Ana puts her phone down and gets ready to prepare to go to sleep. While she is doing that, the phone rings again. She picks it up and wonders who it is. She wonders if it's Kyle again. She looks down and sees that it's Fen.

"Hello?" She asks picking up the phone.

"Hi, Ana." Fen says on the other line.

"Hi, Fen." She says greeting him. "What's up? Did you need something?" She asks.

"Well I know it's late..." Fen begins. "But I just wanted to talk to you…."

A surprised look comes across Ana's face. "Okay, what did you want to talk about?" She asks curiously.

"Ana, I wanted to talk about today." Fen says. He pauses for a moment, gathering his thoughts. The events of the day were weighing heavily on his mind. Him and Ana had an intense discussion and he wondered if she was still upset with him. He didn't like the thought of her being angry with him and wanted to try to clear the air a bit. He had pondered whether he should call or wait to talk to her in person. He opted to call her.

"Oh-Okay, did you have some more things you wanted to go over for the party." Ana asks. "I know it's only a few days away now…"

"Um, No Ana, I wanted to talk to you about our uh... discussion today. And about the incident with Kyle." Fen states.

Ana makes a face. "Oh, Fen, well, uh we talked about that and…"

"And I agreed to do better. And I'm going to try Ana." Fen tells her. "I will try for you. I mean I don't like the guy, but I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable. And I don't like the thought of you being mad at me." He admits to her honestly.

Ana sighs and gives a small smile. "Oh, Fen I'm not mad at you…."

"You were today, Ana. The only other time we've argued like that was when I messed up and was late for my LP showcase, before I was sent on tour." Fen reminds her.

"Okay, so it was intense between us today, but we did talk about it some." Ana points out.

"I still felt some tension in the air after when were working and I thought maybe you left work still upset with me. I wanted to call you to clear that up. I didn't want to go to sleep with the thought of you mad at me." Fen states directly.

"Oh, okay, well I'm not mad at you anymore. I just really want you and Kyle to be less antagonistic towards each other." Summer words flashes through Ana's mind and she considers Summer's theory about both men wanting her.

"Well, like I said I don't like him, but I will try and act better. Because of you. I care about you and our relationship. You're very important to me Ana, and I don't want to mess things up with you." Fen finds himself blurting out.

A surprised look comes across Ana's face as Fen says that. "It's okay. I mean I know we had an argument today, but that happens at times. You're still my best friend Fen." Ana assures him. She smiles.

He smiles at the other end of the line when she says this. "Glad to hear." He says. "I didn't want to lose that spot at least." He says jokingly.

"Uh-huh." Ana says laughing. "Summer kind of wanted to challenge me in the role of being your best friend, but I told her we could share the role of being it." Ana tells him teasingly.

Fen makes a face and laughs. "Oh, okay, that's cool." He says. "Though, it would be nice if you'd want me for yourself… " He teases. He then closes his eyes for a moment thinking about what he just said. "I mean… in the role of being my best friend." He decides to add. He was letting his feelings for her start to affect the things he was saying again.

"Well, I know Summer's known you for longer, but I feel like I have caught up to her, in that role." Ana smiles. They both smile at the other end of the line and are both quiet for a moment. Then Ana continues talking.

"And you're also a good artist and I believe that you will do well during your joint album release party." She tells him encouragingly, reflecting on Kyle's words about him possibly messing up.

"I appreciate that, and I will do my best to make you proud." Fen promises her. "I'm feeling pretty good about the party and I hope things go well."

"Good." Ana says. "I'm glad to hear that you feel good about your songs. And I can't wait to hear your original song." She pauses for a moment thinking. "That you want to hide from me for now." She says in a halfway joking manner.

"It's not that I want to hide it from you…" Fen begins, attempting to explain himself without giving too much information away.

"Oh, you want to hide it from me." Ana says in a knowing but lighthearted manner. "But… that's okay. I know that artists have their reasons for doing things and expressing themselves. And you don't have to be any different from that... I get it." She assures him.

"Thanks." Fen says at the other end of the line relieved that she was still okay with not hearing the song until the party.

"But… if you do change your mind and want to play it for me, before the party, I will listen to it for you. And give you some advice and encouragement. Whatever you need." Ana tells him warmly.

"You still have a little time to do that, though the window is closing, because the party is only a few days away now." She pauses and continues. "You can debut it to me at Hamilton-Winters and it can just be us in the studio, if you don't want anyone else around. Or you could invite Xavier, since he will be assisting you with this song." She tells him.

"Or… you could even come over some time before the party and debut it here in the penthouse." Ana suggests. "It can just be me and you, and maybe Xavier. We do have the piano here. It can be us and you can sing your song and get your feelings out about it. I mean… if you want." Ana offers wondering if Fen will take her up on her offer.

Fen listens and thinks about her offer. He decides that he still wanted to debut it at the party for her. He felt like that would be more romantic.

"Ummm… Thank you for the offer, Ana but I still want to do it my way." He expresses to her.

"Okay, stubborn." Ana says jokingly. "But I can't wait to hear it." She tells him excitedly.

"And I can't wait for you to hear it and Ana…" Fen begins.

"Yes, Fen?" She asks.

"You will be the first person that I really want to talk with after I debut my song." He informs her in a serious tone. "I really want to hear your feedback about the song." He emphasizes. "Especially… how it makes you feel." He says to her.

Ana smiles. "Okay, yeah I would love to talk with you about the song." She remarks. "But I don't know much we can go into detail over it at the party, because we are going to have several people from the industry there and will be mingling with different types of people. It's going to be an eventual night, with a lot of different people there." She informs him.

"Yeah, I know." Fen states.

"Yeah, and we may not get a lot of time to really be able to discuss your song in detail. But I will give you some feedback on it and we can go into greater discussion on it another day after the party." Ana smiles on the other end of the line. "Maybe quite a bit of productive discussion if it sounds like it's going to be a hit." She comments optimistically.

"Yeah, but like I told you, Ana. I'm not going to try and convince you to produce it or anything. I really just want to know how you feel about it." Fen states.

Ana raises her eyebrows on the other end of the line. "Okay, well I will let you know." She tells him.

"You're really are going to be the first person that I come to talk about it with, when I'm done." Fen tells her again. "I hope you will make time for me." He asks hopeful.

Ana smiles. "Oh, Fen… yeah I know it will be busy at the party, but I will make time for you and we will talk about the song to some degree." She promises him.

"Good." He says satisfied with that answer.

"Good." She says. "I really am excited about this party and the opportunity it will present for Hamilton-Winters and you and Xavier. I'm proud to be a part of something like this." She states happily. "I think it should be a special night, I bought a new dress for it and everything." She tells him.

"Which I'm sure you will look amazing in." Fen finds himself saying bluntly.

Ana feels her face get warm and she laughs. "Oh, Fen you haven't seen it yet."

"I don't have to; you will look amazing. I know." Fen states firmly.

Ana feels her face get warmer. "Oh, Fen, uh… Well, I can't wait for you to see you me in it." She blurts out and then closes her eyes regretting that she said that. I shouldn't have said that to him. She thinks to herself.

Fen grins on the other end. "I look forward to seeing you in it." He states. "And I know that my prediction of how you look in it will be confirmed."

They become quiet again for a moment. Ana then looks at the clock. "Oh, it's getting late…." She says. "I uh... should probably end up finish getting ready to go to sleep."

"Right." Fen says understandingly on the other line. "You have to get your beauty rest and I have probably kept you up late long enough." He says lightheartedly. He pauses.

"Okay, then I will let you go. But thank you for listening to me Ana. I can sleep a bit better knowing that we talked. And I look forward to hearing your thoughts on my song during the party."

"Okay." Ana says. "Well, uh good night, Fen."

"Good night, Ana." He says and hangs up.

After he does that he smiles thinking about their conversation and is even more optimistic about debuting his song for her at the party. Ana also smiles about their conversation and reflects on some of the things they said to each other. Summer's words about both men wanting her also runs through her mind again. She looks at the clock and seeing once again how late it is getting, decides to try and push those thoughts aside for a moment and get some rest. She finishes getting ready for bed and then goes to sleep.