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Chapter 10

As Mary had walked up the stairs toward Anna's flat, she had told herself she was going to remain calm. Then she would ask Anna if her assumptions were correct. However, by the time she made it to her door, she was fuming. She had knocked on the door and the moment Anna opened it, she just went off.

"What the hell, Anna?! Your secret man is John Bates?!"

Anna stood in front of her in leggings and an oversized shirt, with her hair tied up into a messy bun. At Mary's question she just let out a loud sigh and nodded.

"Seriously!?" Mary couldn't believe it. Anna stepped aside to allow Mary to come inside and then walked over to her couch, where it was obvious Anna had spent the past two days. There were several blankets and bags of food sitting out. Anna didn't even attempt to clean any of it up. She just sat back within her pile of blankets and pulled a pillow into her lap.

Mary took in the mess and stepped forward in her heels, sitting down at the edge of one of Anna's seats.

"How long?"

"Hum?" Anna asked, barely engaging.

"How long have you two been…?"

"About a year." Mary gasped, before Anna went on to explain. "Well, we first hooked up about a year ago. Then we avoided each other like the plague for several months, with a few setbacks in between, and then it became a regular thing after that."

"Why….Anna, what…" Mary couldn't get all of the questions out. She was furious and it was only making her angrier that Anna didn't seem to care.

"It's done," Anna simply said a moment later.

"But why do it? Why risk your job? His job? Your clients…"

"I know," Anna broke in. "We knew. We never discussed anything. It was…it was just sex." Anna's eyes fell to her hands and she let out a shaky breath.

"It was," she murmured.

"I don't understand, Anna. You hated him. Right? Was it really that good?"

Anna's head moved to the side and she made a pleased face and then replied, "It was better than good."

"Good god," Mary muttered. "Well, at least you risked everything for amazing sex," she slightly bit. She was softening slightly and she didn't like it. But Anna was dear to her and she was finding it hard to stay mad at her without her fighting back. Anna took in a shuddering breath and Mary noticed there were tears swimming within her friend's eyes. "Anna, was it more than that to you?"

"I…" Anna brought her hands over her face and she shook her head. Peeking out between her hands, she met Mary's eyes. "I don't know. I thought maybe…I was confused, you know? But then…he broke it off with me. So obviously he doesn't feel that way about me. But….Mary…" Anna cried, "I…I'm pregnant."

Mary's jaw dropped. That was the last thing she expected to hear. Her brows furrowed.

"And he ended it because he knew you were pregnant?" Anna's head shook.

"No, he…he doesn't know, I'm pregnant."

"Are you planning on telling him?"

"Of course, I am," Anna defended herself. "I…I was going to tell him when I met up with him the other day, but then he ended it with me. What…what am I going to do?"

Anna then broke down, covering her face with her hands. Mary quickly jumped up from her chair and walked over to sit next to Anna, pushing some of the blankets out of the way. She wrapped her arms around Anna's shaky frame.

"It's going to be alright, Anna. We'll figure this all out. It's going to be alright."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

A disapproving sound left John's lips, as he read through the information for his next case. He was exhausted by the amount of paperwork he had lately. There were cases and cases piling up. He couldn't hire another lawyer to help take on any of the load. It was becoming overwhelming.

His hand reached over for his phone and he checked it for the hundredth time that day. Disappointed, he set it back down. Then he got back to focusing on his paperwork.

"You're about to lose your law firm," Mary said, making John glance up. He groaned. What was she doing at his law firm?

"What? And what are you doing here? Leave, please."

Mary just crossed her arms across her chest and stood taller.

"Your law firm had a lawsuit a year ago and you were sued for a decent amount of money. Despite letting lawyers go and taking on extra cases, you've been struggling to keep afloat."

"How…" John paused, frustrated. When he and Vera had ended their divorce last year, she had gone after her 'half', as she claimed it, of the firm. She had won. "That was my ex-wife."

"Oh yes, I know," Mary said with a slight smile. "But I'm right, you're about to lose your firm, everything."

"I don't know what you want me to say, Mary," John finally said.

"Let my firm buy you out," Mary suggested. At that, John had to laugh.

"No."

"We'll buy you out and then merge our firms into one."

"No, thank you," John stated, rolling his eyes. Just what Mary Crawley would want. She would gloat over this for the rest of his life.

"I'm trying to help you out, Bates."

"How? By stealing my firm from me?"

"No," Mary said, now it was her turn to roll her eyes. "You'd merge with us. Your entire company. No more jobs would need to be lost and you wouldn't be up to your eyeballs in debt. But if that's not what you want, then very well." Mary unlocked her arms and dropped them to her side, before beginning to turn.

"Wait," John sighed. Mary turned back to face him and smiled. "Would Anna even want this?"

"I'm the main owner of our firm and so I get to make these types of decisions," Mary answered. That was not what John was asking.

"You wouldn't even discuss it with her?"

"Of course, I will, but I wanted to know if you were on board first."

"She won't want me to join."

"And why not?" Mary eyed him carefully, making him uncomfortable. He could feel the heat rising up his neck and he had to pull slightly on his collar to give himself more space to breathe. At that, Mary chuckled. "I know your little secret, the one with Anna."

"Oh?" He squeaked.

"I figured it out and Anna confirmed it," Mary simply stated.

"Oh, and what did she…?" John's words faded.

"She says it's over. Is that true?"

"Yes," John regretfully replied. "We ended things. And you still want us to join firms? Even with that knowledge?"

"I do. Perhaps you should go and speak to Anna about our firms merging together and get her take on it."

"Right."

"We'll talk more about this soon. I'll begin writing up contract. Goodbye, John."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

He had gotten Anna's address from Mary. After Mary's meeting, he had messaged her for Anna's address. And now, here he stood right outside her door. What was he going to say to her? How, exactly, did he even bring up the idea of merging their law firms?

He had to admit that it was a good idea. They were all strong lawyers and his was going under. Vera really had destroyed him by going after the law firm. He tried to make her take a percentage as the years went forward, which would have benefited her long term. But she hadn't cared about that, she had only wanted to hurt him. And she had. Now he was left between choosing to let it die or merging with Anna and Mary.

Before knocking on the door, John wondered if he shouldn't have called Anna first to see about meeting him somewhere. Wasn't this a little invasive to come right to her home? He stepped back slightly and pondered this. The door opened, however, before he could decide.

Anna eyed him and stepped back slightly. She looked dressed up, like she might be going out on a date.

"John?" She asked, confused. "What are you doing here?"

"Mary gave me your address. We need to talk."

Anna's lips pursed together, but she stepped back and allowed him inside her apartment. She only stood right inside the doorway, not offering him a place to sit. Her brows rose.

"Why are you here?"

"Right," John said. "Can we sit down and speak for a moment?"

He could see that Anna was debating this question, but she nodded. She pointed to her small kitchen island that had chairs around it. The two of them sat down.

"You have a nice place," John stated.

"What do you want, John?" Anna said, not wanting to do small talk.

"Mary came by my firm today to have a chat with me," John began.

"So, she told you? She told me; she wasn't going to tell you," Anna shook her head, upset.

"Told me what? She asked me to merge our firms," John replied, cocking his head slightly. Anna's face fell slightly and then her lips twisted.

"What?"

"My ex-wife, Vera, sued my firm after we divorced. She won and now my firm is barely afloat. Mary thinks we should merge firms so that mine doesn't go under."

"Oh."

"But before I said yes, or began to negotiate with her, I…we both thought it might be best, if you and I spoke about it first with our history."

"Right," Anna said. She stood from her chair. "I'm going to get myself some tea. Would you like some tea?"

John nodded.

As Anna stood to make them some tea, John's eyes began to scan Anna's small flat. It was strange to him, seeing where she lived. For so long, their personal lives had been such a secret to one another. He almost felt like he was spying on her. But as his eyes fell to her refrigerator, his heart stopped in his chest. He stood.

"What?" Anna said. Her eyes followed John as he walked to her refrigerator and pulled the black and white photo off. Anna blanched.

"You're pregnant?"

To be continued...

John finally knows. More soon! :)