Hey Readers, here is the next chapter in the story as promised before Christmas. Thank you to everyone who continues to read this story and comment. I don't own FSOG. Happy Reading!

Chapter 20: Dinner Date

I'm emotionally exhausted walking into work that night from Jose's temper tantrum. I stumble into the locker room, wanting to dump my empty lunch bag into my locker before the beginning of my shift. My eyes catch my appearance in a mirror on the wall. I look like hell. I have bags under my eyes like I haven't slept in days. Roughly, I pull open the blue locker door, a note tumbles to the floor, it's in Christian's loopy handwriting. Will you meet me in the cafe on your dinner break tonight, princess?

My mind plays with the idea of tossing the note away, of standing him up as he did to me. He told me he was going to walk me home from work, but never showed up! My curiosity gets the better of me. Looking at the note again, my mind recalls all the different times, Christian has ever called me princess since we first met, the memories make my cold heart melt.

The first half of my night at work flies. Before I realize it, I am speaking to Grace, "I'm leaving the floor for a break. All my people are good for now. If you need me, page me." She smirks at me, waving me away, sending me out the door. My feet feel light, bouncy, walking to the cafeteria. Walking into the darkened cafe, Christian is nowhere to be seen. My heart drops in my chest, he forgot again. I need to stop letting him get my hopes up. Jose probably called him away, again. Turning around, my stomach rumbles loudly, having not eaten anything since yesterday. Suddenly, Christian steps out from behind the shadows, he whispers, "I didn't realize your hospital cafeteria wasn't open twenty-four hours a day." I shrug my shoulders, smiling, "I didn't either, I don't come down here much."

He smirks, walking closer to me, "It's a good thing, I came prepared then," he reaches for my hand, continuing, "Will you follow me?" I murmur, crossing my arms, "Why should I? You broke your promise to walk me home!" He blows out a breath, "Let me explain, Ana, I didn't do that on purpose." I tentatively take his fingertips, he squeezes them, I reply, "I guess, but your excuse better be a good one."

He leads me toward a set of doors, pushing the doors open, he pulls me into another darkened room, my eyes are drawn toward a corner booth, sitting on the table, two flame-less candles, I reply, breathlessly, "You didn't need to do this," glancing at him, he smirks, "I did, you deserve it, Ana, I was a complete jerk to you. I stood you up, in the real world, I would never have done that. I would never have acted as I did on our first date, well I would have, but I wouldn't have made you feel like my dirty little secret. I would never have tried to have my cake and eat it too. Jose, I think he might be onto us. I was trying to protect you, to throw him off the scent, so to speak, that is why I didn't get to pick you up the other day. During our separation, you were all I thought about, I broke up with Lelia as soon as I got back from the hotel. It wasn't Lelia, I wanted to kiss anymore, It is you. It wasn't Lelia's eyes I wanted to look into every morning when I opened my eyes, it was yours, I was longing to see."

Confusion fills me, I ask, "Let me get this straight, when you were with Lelia, you wished you were with me?" hoping he isn't playing with my emotions. Christian's eyes meet mine, he whispers, "Yes." I change the subject, pointing at the flame-less candles, giggling, "You are smart for not using real ones."

He grins, "I didn't want to set off any smoke detectors, be responsible for the evacuation of the whole hospital, nor did I want to end up on TV for it."

"Smart guy, that would have surely gotten us caught, especially since Jose is getting suspicious." I giggle, sliding into the booth. Christian pulls out a take-out bag from beside him, he asks, eyeing me, unsure, "You still like pizza, right?"

"Of course, I love it!" I laugh, my stomach grumbles loudly, Christian laughs, "Good because we are having pizza and salad for dinner." My stomach grumbles loudly once again as he talks of the food he brought, he narrows his eyes, he asks, "When was the last time you ate?" I answer, "Yesterday," I don't tell him it was breakfast yesterday since Jose has restricted my food intake at the house, placing me on a crazy diet, telling me I am overweight. It is after midnight already.

"Why?" Christian asks, pushing the entire box of pizza in front of me. "Why, What?" I ask, wondering where he is going with this. He stares me down, asking, "Why aren't you eating, Ana? What makes you believe Jose is suspicious?"

I gulp, Christian, narrows his eyes at me more, he asks, again, raising his voice slightly, "Ana?" I jump in my seat, answering, "Jose told me I am overweight, that's why I'm not eating. I had an apple for breakfast. It is after midnight, you know. Anyways, He put me on a diet, I can only eat once a day for two hours and only drink water. He called it intermittent fasting or something like that."

Christian angrily snaps, "Ana, he is starving you to death! You are not overweight, you are beautiful, the way you are!" Biting the pizza, I explain to Christina, Jose's tantrum in my bedroom this morning, how he tried to call an unknown number in my phone and Mason. He sighs, "It's a good thing, I disconnected that phone. Lelia was becoming a pain in the ass, she was calling me on it for non-work related things, she doesn't want to accept I broke things off with her." Christian stares at me with an intensity in his eyes, I have never seen, "Ana, we need to remove you from this situation! I don't care if it will risk all the months of work I have done to get evident to take down Jose's ring, I'm not about to have Jose kill you through starvation or something worse before I can finally be with you. I-," his voice drops off, he stares at me with longing eyes. "I, what, Christian, finish your sentence." I prod him.

He takes a deep breath, taking my hands into his, he whispers, "I love you, Ana."

"You do?" I ask, completely surprised he is admitting his feelings to me.

"Yes, I do, more than I could ever love Lelia or anyone. If anything our separation has taught me, it is, I love you, Ana with all of my heart and soul, and I don't want to spend another day without you. I want to take you away from Jose and away from this life. Will you let me save you?"

"Yes," I whisper, his lips crash into mine. His eyes are dream-like from the kiss, he whispers, "We are going to come up with a plan, and you are going to leave him this week." His voice commanding. Christian pulls out a piece of paper and a pen, together we figure out a plan, for my final escape from Jose's house. "I will meet you Friday, here at the hospital after your shift, and we will get you somewhere safe." Christian whispers, pulling me close to his chest. He smells good, like lemongrass and something distinctly Christian. His eyes stare into mine as he leans down, his lips briefly touch mine when suddenly, "Code Blue, ER," is announced over the loudspeaker. "Sorry, I need to go," I mutter, making a run for the ER to the coding person, Christian, smirks, waving his hand at me, "Go save a life, Wonderwoman! I will see you on Friday for your escape to a new life."

Thoughts? Opinions? Please review and let me know what you thought of this chapter. Do you think Ana's plan to escape is going to go smoothly? Also thoughts on Christian's confession of love? The next chapter will be up sometime in January. I hope everyone has a Happy New Year and a great Christmas for those that celebrate it!