DISCLAIMER: Fifty shades of Grey or its' characters do NOT belong to me. I own the plot and more than a few characters though. I would like to remind you that this is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real people or places is accidental.
UPLOADING EDITED!
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*Information:*
Ana and her friends = 24 years old
Christian = 28 years old
Mia = 22 years old
Elliot = 30 years old
Stephen = 28 years old [I'm casting Stephen Amell as Stephen of my story ;)]
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Chapter - 17:
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Ana awoke sometime later to see Christian kneeling beside her, fully dressed. "Hey." he said greeting her softly.
"Hey, what time is it?" She mumbled, reaching over to gaze blearily at her phone.
"Not quite 4:00 am," he said quietly, "I didn't want to leave without talking to you first." he added.
"Oh. Okay?" She blinked her eyes, confused as she turned on the lamp and the whole room became visible. She pulled the blankets towards her chest for warmth and ran hand over her hair, "You are heading out? Why so early though?" she asked.
"Um..." he muttered, straightening up so he could sit on the edge of the bed. Ana scooted up to lean against the headboard to give him room. He reached out to tuck a curl behind her ear gently. He then placed her leg that was outside the tangle of covers on his lap and ran his palm over her calf before settling his hand on her knee and squeezing it in an intimate gesture.
She reached out, placing her hand over his with a contented, if bleary, smile, "I can't believe you chose me. I'm sorry for Stephen, but I'm really happy that I still have you. You're going for jogging, right? Are you coming later? You know, I would love it if you bring a change of clothes with you," she suggested quietly. "Not that I'm pressuring you or anything. I mean, I know we just got serious and I don't want to seem pushy, but..." she rumbled on nervously.
"Ana," Christian interrupted, running his thumb across the back of her hand. He looked at her, his expression grim, "I won't be coming back,"
Ana froze instantly. For a second Ana thought she couldn't have heard right. She even had to blink her eyes a couple of times just to make sure she wasn't still asleep, but then she looked at his expression and knew that this was not going to be a good. She removed her hand from his light grasp. "What?! But you said..." and that's when she finally understood why he looked so guilty, "You don't mean just tonight, do you?" she asked softly with a sinking feeling in her chest.
"No," he confirmed tearing their hearts apart.
"You said I come first. You said you chose me," she said, her voice trembling, "I repeatedly asked you last night and you told me you would choose me... every time."
"I did choose you," he told her, shutting his eyes as if it pained him to admit it. "I wanted to be selfish, but I can't hurt my family and Stephen is also my family. On top of that... I don't want to put my family in risk. I can't trust their safety with your uncle around,"
"You're breaking up with me, aren't you?" Ana sniffed once tilting her head slightly to the side. She felt numb but not surprised. Hadn't she expected this all along?! "It's too dangerous for your family, huh?" she mumbled despondently.
Christian nodded and they sat in silence for a long moment. While Christian was affixing his best 'let her down easy' face all Ana could think was 'Why is this happening to me?' as she tried to get her emotions under control.
"Ana, I didn't want this for us. If I could... if it was possible for both families to be okay with each other then I would've tried, but… I'm sorry. I can't do this. We can't do this. We can't be THAT selfish,"
By then, Ana had her emotions under control. Now, she was not sad or heartbroken. She was angry. She counted to five in her head because, well, frankly she didn't feel like losing her phone by hurling it at his head. "Just so I'm clear... the reason we can't be together is because of you don't want to risk your friend and family's safety and for no other reason, right?" she asked.
"Exactly," Christian said grimly. "Sooner or later they're going to get hurt. Be it physically or emotionally. So, we should do what we can before it reached that stage,"
Ana narrowed her eyes as she glared at the love of her life. "Which is something you knew about before we had sex," she said, deadpanned.
"What?!"Christian felt confused by her tone. His hand left her knee.
"I said, you knew that Jacob Williams is my uncle and Stephen hates him before we had sex,"
"What are you trying to say?" He asked angrily.
"Just what I said," Ana told him in a disgusted tone, "After yesterday morning... none of this was news to either of us and yet you came to my house last night, took me to my bedroom, seduced me, and had sex with me, gave me this heartfelt speech about how you will choose me and all the stuff you're saying now was not going to be said... while planning out your break up speech. What? You wanted one last fuck before you break up with me, did you?" she taunted bitterly as tears rolled down her cheek.
"Whoa! I did not set out to seduce you just so I could get laid one last time and then break up with you afterwards!" He said in disbelieve. Angrily, he got up from the bed and faced her. "If that's all it was, I wouldn't have even bothered to try to have this conversation with you to begin with! Do you have ANY idea how hard it is for me?! Our relationship was NOT a joke, Ana! You are not my FUCK toy. I love you. I wanted to marry you!" he spat out harshly.
"I'm not accusing you of anything. I'm merely telling you how you're making me feel. Last night I asked you again and again if you're sure and you said you will ALWAYS choose me. So, tell me Christian, what else am I supposed to think?" Ana asked sniffing.
"But that's not how it is!" He yelled. "Look, if you want to yell and scream at me then you can, I don't blame you, but I'm just trying to do what's right! Nothing you say will change my decision," he said sternly.
"I'm not yelling... you are. Which, when you think about it, is pretty shitty of you to do right now because I'm the one who's being dumped," she told him wiping away her tears.
"Goddamn it, Ana! I did not set out to hurt you; that's not what I wanted to do and you know that! At least you should know that!" He said, pacing around the room angrily.
"Once again, just to be clear... you're breaking up with me and you don't want us to be together in a romantic or sexual way ever again," she said dryly as more tears rolled down her face. "How is that not the same thing as being dumped?" she asked confused.
"It just… isn't!" Christian exclaimed, completely frustrated. He pulled on his hair mercilessly, "Dumping someone implies that your feelings about that person have changed, but that's not what's happening here. Nothing that's happening right now is something I wanted to happen! But Ana…" he paused with a grimace; his hands balled up at his sides angrily.
"But?" she prompted.
He shook his head once then looked at her, his eyes filled with regret, "But, I can't hurt my best friend. The friend I consider my brother, nor can I risk my family's safety. I'm sorry. "
Ana swung her legs out of the bed and put on her robe that had fallen to the floor then stood up. "You're sacrificing our love for your best friend and family," she stated calmly before nodding her head. "Christian, I just want to remind you ONE important thing. THIS is real life; not an Indian serial where the hero or heroine sacrifices their happiness for the family's happiness," she said air quoting before she headed towards her bathroom.
"Where are you going?" he asked confused.
"To the bathroom."
"Why?" Christian asked, trailing after her like a lost puppy. He didn't understand why she was going to the bathroom mid conversation.
"The same reason everyone else goes to the bathroom when they first wake up. I have to pee," she said, shutting the door in his face and locking it behind her. "By the way, you didn't become a millionaire by self-sacrificing," she said through the door.
Frowning, Christian tried the knob. "Open the door, Ana. Let's talk face to face. Talking through the door feels childish," he said in an aggrieved tone.
"You're such a sadist, Christian. You're insulting me while tearing my heart out. Way to go," Ana said sniffing as she sat on the toilet seat and cried silently.
She could hear him as he leaned heavily against the door, "Please, just… open the door. I'm not doing this to upset you; the last thing I wanted to do was cause you pain, but I don't see any other choice. The last thing I had intended to do when I came over here last night was to make love to you but it happened. I forget everything when you're with me. You're my the one, Ana. and..." he sighed, "Just… just don't cry, baby. This is hard enough for me as it is." he paused, "Ana?" he tried the door again. "Are you okay?"
"Please go away," she said from inside.
"Ana, baby, please hear me out," he begged.
"Go, Christian! Go to your family and your friend! I'll be alright. I... just need some time... to pull myself together. I won't be able to do that... if you're still here when I come out. Please... leave," she sobbed out.
Christian rest his head on the bathroom door as his hidden tears finally made an appearance. "I love you, Ana. I'm sorry," he whispered.
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She didn't know how long she had been in the bathroom. But when she came out, Christian was nowhere to be seen neither were his things. Tyson was lying in the middle of her bed. He perked up as soon as he saw her. Giving her dog a sad smile, she headed downstairs. Her eyes fell on the couch and the memories from that day when Christian first came to her apartment flashed through her mind. She smiled sadly as she recalled how mad he was about the ferret prank. Shaking her head, she went to her freezer and pulled out a tub of ice-cream. She stared at her freezer, a little puzzled. "When did I buy THAT much ice-cream?" she asked herself. Then she recalled that every time she goes for grocery shopping, she has a habit to buy 2 tubs of ice-cream each time. "Huh? I guess I'm an ice-cream hoarder," she muttered before pulling out 2 more tubs of ice-cream. She sat on the couch and started eating the ice-cream silently. She saw Tyson running down the stairs and heading for her. It seemed her dog was worried for her. He sat in front of the couch and rested his head on her lap as she continued eating ice-cream. With a deep sigh, she turned her TV on and started watching her favorite show 'Lucifer' from the 1st season. Soon, she was lost in the world of a charming Devil.
She took a break early in the morning and hung a paper outside her door saying she didn't want to be disturbed for the next few days. She made a large dish of lasagna and sat in front of the TV again to continue binge watching. Mid-morning, she took a break and took Tyson out for a long walk. Returning home, she sat back down in front of the TV and continued binge watching while packing away her living room. Her two-bedroom roof top apartment was finished. The next few days, that's what Ana did. She packed her apartment, run around her loft apartment with Tyson to burn the extra calories she had been eating. She wanted to empty her freeze before moving to her new place. She knew she was just trying to forget that the love of her life tore her hearts out so she kept herself busy. She avoided her friends and family saying that she was busy. None of them knew yet that Christian and Ana had broken up.
Once she had everything in her apartment packed up, Ana sat on the couch of her living room. She felt like a coward. She had hoped their break up was just some awful dream. When that didn't turn out to be true, she decided to keep herself busy and distracted. She didn't want to remember. She had been hiding from her family and friends like a coward. Shaking her head, she told herself to be brave as she dialed the familiar number.
"Hey, Honey bunch! How are you?" Ana was greeted with a loving voice.
"Since when do you call me 'Honey bunch', mom?" Ana asked, chuckling.
"I wanted to try something new. So... will you mind telling me why you vanished for a whole week with the instruction that you didn't want to be disturbed?" Carla asked bluntly.
"I-I just... " Ana stuttered as tear gathered in her eyes.
"The truth, Anastasia," Carla demanded sternly.
"He broke up with me, mom. He said... I'm his 'the one', but he can't risk his family or upset his friend constantly," Ana informed through her tears.
"Oh, baby girl! I'm so sorry,"
"Mom, don't tell uncle Jake. He will blame himself," Ana requested sadly.
"I won't tell him," Carla assured, "but I AM telling your friends. You should NOT be alone," she added sternly. She was worried Ana might go into depression or harm herself.
"I'm not going to harm myself, mom," Ana sighed recognizing her mother's fear, "but if telling them makes you feel relieved, then go ahead,"
"Alright then," Carla sighed in relief.
"Did you take uncle to the funeral home? I'm sorry I left it on you,"
"Yes, I showed him. He already started working there. I also got him a cell phone and texted you the number. I don't mind spending time with the man I claimed as my brother. It's been refreshing to spend time with him out of the prison," Carla gushed excitedly.
Ana laughed. her heart lightening at her mother's happiness. "We should do something together," Ana suggested.
"Sounds like a lovely idea, dear, but how about we do that a few weeks later when you feel better?"
"Yeah, sure. Thanks, mom. I love you,"
"I love you too, sweetie. Talk to you later then. Bye,"
"Bye, mom," with that Ana hung up. She felt guilty that she didn't go to visit her uncle since that first day he got out. She saved Jacob's number and then called.
"Annie? Is that you?" greeted Jacob from the other end of the phone.
Ana smiled. "Hey, uncle. Yes, it's me, your favorite niece," she said cheerfully.
"You're my ONLY niece," Jacob snarked.
"That's why I'm your favorite," Ana pointed out.
"Are you though? Are you?" Jacob asked, smirking.
"Rude," Ana giggled like a little girl.
"I am rude!? You're rude! Where have you been this whole week?" Jacob demanded.
"Sorry, uncle. I suddenly had to deal with two of my authors. They hate each other and Liam had mixed up their timings. It was a huge mess to clean up. I'll come to meet you in a few days. Oh! I'm also moving into a bigger apartment today. So, my schedule is a little hectic,"
"As long as everything is okay with you, I don't have any problem. Take care of yourself, kiddo. I love you,"
"I love you too, uncle. I heard you started your job at the funeral home. How are you liking it so far? If you don't like it, we can look for something else," Ana offered.
"Ana, it's a good job. I don't mind. I also have a nice TV, courtesy of my lovely niece, that I can binge watch the shows I missed,"
"That's a relief. I was worried," Ana said softly.
"How's your boy doing? Did he say anything about me?" Jacob asked suddenly.
"Christian is... was a little troubled, but we talked and we're good now," Ana lied.
"That's good to hear. I was worried my presence will create trouble for you," Jacob confessed.
Ana's apartment door burst open and all of her friends poured in with panicked looks on their faces. Ana stared at them in confusion. "Uncle, I have to do. I'll talk to you later, okay," she said in the phone as she watched her friends starting to look at each other sheepishly.
"Is everything okay? I heard a loud sound," Jacob asked agitated. He considered Ana his daughter. The thought of any harm coming to her filled him with rage.
"Everything is fine, uncle. It's just my friends... super eager to help me move," she replied dryly raising her eyebrow at her friends.
"Okay then. Bye,"
"Bye, uncle Jake," she said before hanging up. "Is there any specific reason you guys burst into here like that? I know for a fact that Bill has a key of this apartment. Was breaking the door really necessary?" she asked her friends with a sigh.
"Sorry. When Carla told us about your break up, we were worried and forgot about the key," Caleb said apologetically.
"That's okay. Thanks guys," Ana smiled at her friends.
"So, what happened?" Kate asked taking a sit beside Ana while others gathered around them. With a deep sigh and tear-filled eyes, Ana started telling them what happened. Ana thought some of her friends might agree with Christian, but she couldn't have been more wrong. She could see all of them siding with her. She was thankful to have such loyal friends.
Two hours later, Ana and her friends started moving her things to the new apartment on the top floor. It took them more than 8 hours to move all the boxes upstairs and unpack them in specific rooms. Tyson was super excited as he ran from room to room. This apartment had one large master bedroom, one guest room, open plan living, dining, and kitchen. The kitchen was large with an isle in the middle. There also two full baths. One is the en-suit of the master bedroom and the other one was for the guestroom and rest of the apartment. Ana was pleased with how this apartment had turned out. Once everything was unpacked, they sat around Ana's new living room with pizza and beer. She noticed her friends were doing their best to keep her distracted. She loved them for their efforts.
"Okay, guys. I just need another few days to settle in. After that I'm coming back to work," she announced.
"That would be ideal. The Customers and Clients had been asking for you," Nicolas said nodding his head.
"See you all in a few days then," Ana smiled.
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He stared out the window, lost in thought. His hand was resting on one hand while his other hand held the neck of an expensive bottle of brandy. There were at least a dozen other empty brandy bottles scattered around the office room/ Ever since that night when he broke up with Ana, Christian had been camping in the office of his penthouse. He didn't bother to shower or eat. He only worked through emails and drank Brandy like his life depended on it. Taylor and Stephen had tried to get him to open the door, but Christian just hollered at them to leave him alone. Even Gail had tried to get him to open the door and eat something, but he didn't bother. Defeated, Stephen called for reinforcement on the 3rd day. Grace and Mia came as soon as they could and tried to get him out of his office. When that didn't work, Carrick and Elliot came. Even their efforts were wasted. At last, Elliot and Stephen threatened to break the door. Christian countered it with one of his own threats. He promised to sue them both for destruction of private property.
"Why is he acting like this? Do you have any idea what happened?" Carrick asked Taylor.
"As far as I know, he had gone to Ms. Steele's for their date night. He was planning on sleeping over, but instead of staying there... he came back in the middle of the night, clearly upset. He then told me to take care of Dodger, his ferret, and after taking the case of expensive Brandy to his office, he locked himself there. He hadn't come out once since then," Taylor shared. He was really worried for the young man he called his boss.
"Do you think something happened between Christian and Ana?" Grace asked, clutching her husband's arm in worry.
"What are guys STILL doing here?" asked Christian Glaring at his family drunkenly. No one noticed that he had come out of his office carrying an empty case.
"Christian, you came out of there!" Mia grinned excitedly.
"It's my home. Where I go... when I go... and for how long I stay there is really NONE of your business," Christian snapped in a cold tone.
Mia's smile fell at her brother's tone. Frowning, Stephen scolded his friend, "She was just happy you're not locked in a room. Why are you being so rude?"
"The apartment downstairs have been ready for some time now. Why didn't you move in there yet?" Christian asked Stephen raising his eyebrow.
"I told you I will get my own place," Stephen frowned at the sudden topic change.
"Then do it. For how long are you going to stay here like a parasite?" Christian sneered.
Stephen was stunted into silence. Christian had always treated him like a brother. The comment was so unlike him. Christian had never talked to him like this.
Greys were also horrified at Christian comment. "Christian! Apologize right now! That's no way to talk to your friend," Grace scolded.
"Son, what's going on? Why are you behaving like this?" Carrick asked.
"It's Ana, isn't it? She made you choose between her and us, your family, didn't she?" Stephen spit out with a nasty scowl.
"She didn't make me do it," Christian said, his face void of any emotion, "My love and concern for this family made me choose... and I chose this family. I broke up with Ana," he said staring his family in the eye, "But that doesn't mean I love her any less. It just means that from now on... whenever I look at any of you, I'll be reminded what a spineless fool I am, and how much I've hurt the love of my life in the name of this family," he added bitterly.
Christian's family was shocked at the revelation. None of them missed that he said 'this' family, instead of 'my' family. They had never expected him to take such drastic measures. Yes, they were wary, but they didn't want Christian and Ana to separate. "You didn't have to break up with her," Elliot said, mildly.
"Yeah? And make her endure Stephen's insulting comments and our family's wary looks while I worry for all of your safety?! Are you crazy? This was the only way," Christian snarled coldly.
"Oh Christian!" Grace had started crying. Her heart was bleeding for both kids.
"Christian? Did you learn how is she related to Jacob?" Carrick inquired.
"From what Ana said... the day Carla started having labor pains, she got stranded in the middle of some deserted road. Mr. Williams was passing by. He stopped and helped her deliver Ana as her contractions were too close to head to hospital. Then, he drove Carla and a newborn Ana to the hospital. It seems Carla found out that he was a Serial Killer from the news when he surrendered..." Christian trailed off with a confused look on his face. He still found the whole incident bizarre. Carla and Ana could've easily been Jacob's next victims, but instead, he saved their lives.
"When Ana's mom found out about him, she didn't get disgusted? How did she end up considering him her brother? Did he hypnotize her or something?" Stephen asked in disbelieve.
"I don't know," Christian shrugged, "Now if the Q&A part is over, I'd like to be alone. Taylor, after everyone is gone, please change the password of the elevator and don't give it to anyone until further notice. Gail, make a week's worth of food to keep in the freezer and then you are to go to your sisters for a 7 day vacation. Taylor, Help Stephen find a place and move him there. I don't want to be disturbed the rest of the week... by anyone," he instructed before heading to the cellar to get another case of liquor.
Every one of them stared at him in shock. They were unsure if they should leave him alone like he said or anger him more by staying. In the end, they left as Christian was an adult and they weren't welcome in his home at the moment.
"He had never been this way before?" Elliot commented sadly.
"He's in a lot of pain right now," Carrick said sighing, "That's why he's lashing out,"
"My poor baby! He didn't have to sacrifice his love for us. He'd finally found someone to open his heart to," Grace sobbed resting her head against her husband's chest.
"At least, we won't have to worry about meeting Ana's murderous uncle," Mia chimed in. She was more sympathetic to Stephen than her brother. Rest of the Grey family stared at her in disbelieve to which she just shrugged.
That's how one week later, Christian found himself sitting alone in his office.
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Two days before Ana was due to return to her work, she decided to spend time with Uncle. She took Tyson, 6-pack beer and drove to Jacob's apartment building. She walked Tyson in the park opposite Jacob's building as he hadn't returned from his work. After 25 minutes, Ana was crossing to Jacob's building when he drove in. He greeted her with a large smile before parking his bike in the basement. He had opted to buy a bike instead of a car.
"HEY KIDDO!" he shouted excitedly climbing down from the bike.
"HEY UNCLE! NICE RIDE! I LIKE IT," Ana eyed the bike appreciatively.
"Your dad took me to buy this," Jacob informed smirking as he approached his niece. Ana snickered. "Oh! I missed you, Annie," he said hugging the young girl. He knew he would always see her as that teenager that came to meet him first time in jail. For him, she'll always be a young girl that he needed to protect.
"I'm sorry, I didn't come earlier. That's why I brought beer and ordered pizza today. We're going to hang out. You're going to be sick of me by the time I go back," Ana announced with a teasing smile.
"I'm already sick of you," Jacob joked.
Ana snickered. "This is Tyson, my baby boy. I wanted introduce you two," she said gesturing to the dog standing by her side calmly while keeping his eyes on the stranger in front of him. Ana handed Jacob some treats and showed him how to do the sit command.
Jacob copied the motion. When Tyson sat down, he was given the treat by Jacob. Ana smiled happily at them. Then Jacob crouched a little and immediately Tyson approached him to sniff him. Jacob rubbed Tyson behind the neck like Ana showed him and he found himself smiling at the dog. "Is he a good guard dog?" Jacob asked as they headed upstairs.
"Yeah. I noticed that he reacts to my expressions. If I grimace while greeting someone, Tyson would growl and that person. If I greet someone excitedly, he would stay by my side calmly to see if I need help. If I introduce him to someone, then he knows they are friend," Ana explained.
"Good," Jacob nodded, satisfied. He liked that his niece had a large dog to protect herself. "Didn't you say you have pizza too? I only see the beer," he asked suddenly noticed Ana's empty hand.
Ana snickered. "The pizza should be here in a few minutes,"
"Great. I'll have time to shower then," Jacob nodded.
"Did you go up to the roof of this building? It's really nice. It was one of the plus points,"
"No, I didn't. I would've liked to see that," he said thoughtfully. It had been a while since he saw the open sky.
"Why don't you shower and change while I wait for the pizza? Then we can take these to the roof. We can hang out there," Ana suggested.
"Sounds like plan," Jacob replied opening the door of his studio apartment. He headed to the bathroom while Ana turned the TV on, waiting for the pizza delivery guy.
Pizza arrived a few minutes later. Ana got the blankets, pizza and beer ready and was bouncing on her feet when Jacob came out of the bathroom fully dress. He gave her a confused look and said, "Do you have to pee?"
"What? NO!"
"Then why are doing the pee-pee dance?" he asked hanging the towel.
"I was waiting for you, Uncle," Ana huffed, "Come on! Hurry up! I'm hungry," she whined.
"Yes, I'm ready. Let's go," he said smirking.
They went up the roof. Ana and Jacob sat on the railing looking out at the city view as they chatted, ate and drank. Tyson was running around the roof playing with the toy Ana had handed him. "So, how's work going?" Ana asked.
"My boss is a nice guy. He showed me what to do, how to do it. He was very patient with me," Jacob replied sipping from his beer.
"If he's so nice, then why does it look like you're eating something sour?" Ana asked raising her eyebrow.
"There's another worker there... that's been getting on my nerves. I really want to start my life fresh. I don't want to kill anymore, but damn! He makes it hard," Jacob exhaled angrily.
"What does he do?"
"The other day he tripped me and I fell in the casket with her face in the dead girl's boobs. Before I could get up, the family members of that girl came in the room and they were super pissed. They thought..." he trailed off.
"That you were trying necrophilia?" Ana giggled.
"Yeah. The dad almost strangled me. They didn't believe me that I tripped and fell. All while that fucking asshole was in hysterics," Jacob rolled his eye.
"Poor you! So how did they calm down?"
"Finally, my boss showed them the CCTV footage and they believed me,"
"Was that worker scolded?"
"Yeah, but he continued his antics,"
"Maybe he's just tried to be your friend," Ana teased. She felt him tensing beside her. Ana didn't look at his face but she knew the glare directed towards her must have been icy. She couldn't contain her laughter and once he understood that she was joking his eyes were even colder. "I'm sorry I had too. You are just too perfect for me to miss a chance to joke," she said between her giggles.
"You do know that one pat on the back from me and you will be flying down the unknown?" he asked seriously, but Ana could hear the hint of a joke in his voice.
"Aww... you wouldn't. You'll miss me," Ana winked at him playfully causing him to rolled his eyes hard.
"If all you're going to do is make fun of me, then I won't talk to you," Jacob announced.
"Come on, Uncle! I was just teasing you," Ana pouted up at him prettily.
"Nope, I'm angry," he said.
"Okay... how about... let's set the world on fire and watch from very high above how everything and everyone burns in agony," Ana suggested in very serious voice earning a strange look from her uncle.
"That was dark," he murmured.
"Your co-worker will be the first one to burn," she said raising her eyebrow waiting for him to say something.
As expected, Jacob smiled darkly. "I like how that sounds,"
"Of course, you do," Ana smirked shaking her head and took a sip from the beer.
"We're not REALLY burning everything... right?" Jacob asked a few moments later.
"Nope," Ana replied sipping her beer.
"Good," Jacob nodded taking a sip from his beer.
"Uncle... how long has it been since you got laid?" Ana asked suddenly causing Jacob to choke on his beer.
"What?" he coughed.
"I mean you've been in jail for 25 years. Shouldn't you want to get laid or something?"
"Kid, I'm not talking to you about this," Jacob shuddered.
"I could've helped you; you know? I'm a good wing-man," Ana insisted.
"No thanks," he replied dryly.
"I really am a good wing-man. I swear I could get you laid," Ana continued insisting.
"For fuck's sake, Ana. DROP IT!" Jacob growled.
"But.."
"DROP IT!" he hissed. They continued this argument till late at night.
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The next day Ana did her grocery shopping, walked Tyson, went to the beauty salon and finished all her chores so that upcoming next few days she could concentrate on her work. She was walking out of the salon when someone called her from behind. Turning around, she found an old woman squinting at her. Ana felt like she had seen this woman somewhere, but she couldn't remember.
"I see you're alone today. Where's your boyfriend that took you to a cemetery on a date?" the old woman sneered.
"Cemetery..." Ana trailed off as she realized who this woman was. This was the woman that had ran Christian and her off of the cemetery that day. Tear gathered in her eyes as she opened and closed her mouth. She had tried hard in the last 10 days to not think about the man; not to even say his name. In that one moment, her every effort went down the drain.
"Why are you mimicking a gold fish now!? Ugh! No manners in today's youth!" the old woman grumbled.
Ana couldn't find it in herself to say anything to her. With a shaky 'Excuse me'she turned around and ran. She didn't know how long she had been running. She could feel the burn in her muscles, her accelerated heartbeat, her eyes blurred from her tear. At one point, she just collapsed in the middle of road, sobbing. "Christian!" she wailed clutching her chest. "I can't... please..." she continued. She only felt the pain in chest as memories after memories of Christian tore through her brain. She didn't feel the rain that soaked her nor did she feel the cold as the temperature dropped.
Ana didn't know how long she had laid in the middle of the road, getting rained on, but when she finally calmed down to nice her surroundings, she saw that a homeless man had removed her from the road and put her under a shelter beside him.
"How did he die?" the man asked when he noticed her looking around, confused.
"He didn't die. Just... fate was cruel to us," Ana replied leaning her head against the wall behind her.
"Fate does have a cruel nature," the man sighed.
"Thank you for bringing me under the shelter,"
"No problem," he shrugged.
"How did you become... like this?" Ana asked hesitantly.
"I was in foster care all my life," the man started with a wry smile, "I joined army after I turned 18. I was in there for 10 years before I was forced to retire due to some wounds. When I came back, I fell in love and got married. We were happy... then my wife was diagnosed with Cancer. We tried everything, but at the end, I lost her. I had taken loans to pay the medical bills. I was so stressed that I was distracted on work, so they fired me. To pay the loans, I had to sell our house, everything inside of it, leaving me and my son with nothing. I had to send my three-year-old son to live with his aunt, my wife's sister, while I tried to get jobs and failed. That's how I turned into a homeless person," he shared sadly.
"I'm sorry about your lost. I'm Ana. What's your name?"
"I'm Jonathan,"
"Jonathan, if I offer you a job, will you be willing to accept it?" Ana asked. She wanted to help the man as she had also helped her.
"What?! You don't need to pity me," Jonathan scowled.
"I'm not pitying you," Ana rolled her eyes, "I want to repay you for your kindness. You didn't have to bring me under the shelter, but you did. That's why I'm offering,"
"What's the job? I won't do anything illegal,"
Ana nodded. "That's good to know. I own bookstore' Library, a restaurant, and a shoe retail store. I'm offering you a job as a waiter, shoe sales man, or a library helper. You can choose which one you want to do," she explained.
"Are you serious?"
"Yeah,"
"Oh my god! YES! Any of them will do!" he exclaimed beaming at Ana. He hadn't expected anything when he helped that crying girl.
"Cool! You should go then. Hey... did you see my phone? I think we should call a cab,"
"Oh! Do you mean... that phone?" Jonathan asked sheepishly pointing at the water drenched mess beside Ana.
"Oh no!" Ana moaned in distress, "We'll have to wait for the rain to stop now," she pouted.
"That's okay,"
Two hours later, the rain stopped. Ana managed to hail a cab and they went to Steele Tower. Caleb took Jonathan to the restaurant. Nicolas interviewed Jonathan while William, Ana's hacker friend, did a background check on the man. When everything he said turned out true, Jonathan was hired. Ana rented him her previous loft apartment as he had no home. She had wanted to give him the apartment for free like she did with all of her friends, but Jonathan had insisted on paying rent. Over the next few days, he got his son back from his wife's sister's and was really happy with the change in his life.
..
Another week went by. Ana returned to her work. Her days had been busy so she rarely thought about Christian, but the nights were awful. She had turned to drinking excessively. Knowing that her friends were keeping an eye on her, she had been visiting different bars every night and getting drunk until she was so numb that she didn't feel or remember a thing. She knew she was being careless, but she couldn't bring herself to care. But in her drunken state, she had failed to notice that someone had been following her around like a shadow. It started that very first day she decided to get drunk in a bar.
Jack Hyde had taken his date to that same bar where Ana had gone. He was looking around the bar one hour into the club when his eyes fell on Ana. He felt like it was fate. He had been following her ever since. He made sure to call a cab for her each time and then followed the cab in his car to make sure that she reached home safely.
It was on the eighth day when he finally approached her at the bar of a club. That night Ana had worn a pair of slim-fit black jeans, black deep v top, black leather jacket, black high heeled ankle boots, and black choker. Jack had felt his pants tightening at the very sight of her. He just couldn't wait any more.
"Ms. Steele? What a pleasant surprise!" he greeted like he just saw her.
Ana was already drunk. Her vision was blurry. She recognized the man but didn't quite remember where she knew him from. "HEyyy.." she greeted, squinting and blinking rapidly at him.
"Wow you're so drunk that you don't even remember my name!" Jack exclaimed, laughing.
"I 'member..." Ana mumbled, pouting.
"Okay, stop drinking. I'll take you home. Come," he said pulling her from the stool.
"Bu... I wanna dink more," Ana hiccupped.
"Be a good girl. Let me take you home now. You can drink again later," he promised dropping a kiss on her forehead.
Ana felt like something wrong was happening, but her brain wasn't cooperating. She went along with the familiar man without any protest. Seeing that she wasn't protesting, people around her thoughts nothing of it. So, they went on with their lives, as Jack took away Ana from that club.
.
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A/N: Psst... I like reading reviews a lot *whispers from a dark corner*