APOV
"Ana, are you ok. Wait."
"I'm sorry Hannah," I spoke, turning to face my friend as I emerged in the parking garage, having run down the stairs. I ignored the tears that wet my cheeks, there would just be more of them anyway.
"Don't apologise to me, I'm just hoping you didn't hurt your knee when you hit him in the balls."
I laughed, a sound that should be so foreign to me with what I'd just witnessed upstairs.
"How could he do that," I asked, more to myself than to her. "He went straight to him" I whispered, rubbing my fingers over my sore arm.
"I know, I saw that and so did everyone there. I think he just blew his image of a family man right out of the water with just that one act."
"He's never been a family man Hannah, it's all just for show. I wouldn't be surprised if I was a mistake and they just kept me to save face."
"Ana, I'm sure should your mother have wanted an abortion they could've easily gotten one on the quiet."
"Maybe, or he was hoping for a boy and got stuck with me. Well looks like he has his son even though he's not blood or the son in law he hoped he would be. I'm just the spare."
"Do you want all this?" she asked as I ignored my phone that rang in my purse.
There was no one I wanted to speak to. No, that's not true. There is one, I'm just too ashamed to speak to him after what my father had done.
"No, I don't" I admitted truthfully. "It's time for me to walk away."
It will please my father, no doubt to think that he's won and I will become just like my mother, spending my days doing nothing or spending his money. With me gone though, he's in for a shock with some of the companies he's looking into buying, some I wouldn't touch with a bargepole because I can guarantee besides Barney, no one will be as thorough as me with the work that needs doing. Let Jack explain how the plans came together with no paperwork coming his way. I'd like to be a fly on the wall for that.
We both turned then, when we heard the elevator move, coming down to the parking garage. I hugged my friend, telling her that I would speak to her soon and quickly moved over to my car.
I loved this car, my parents hated it. They had been so shocked when they had sent me out to choose a car with one of their staff and I had returned with it, refusing to send it back. It was old when I got it, but my beetle Wanda had never let me down.
I'd had no choice but to drive her today because thanks to my father, Luke was no longer my CPO. I think by leaving me with no driver or security around, my father thought I would be a good girl and stay at home, how wrong was he.
I'd had a long talk with Luke yesterday and told him how I felt. He was honest with me, telling me he only relayed details back that affects my security, not every move I make. Having Christian's face and mine plastered over the front covers of every newspaper in Seattle, there was no way he could deny that I had been out. As far as my father knew, Luke was with me yesterday, keeping his distance but the outcome was still the same. I was photographed with a man I liked, not the one he wanted me to be with and Luke had paid for that.
I will make it up to him because despite him being thrust upon me in the first place, I trusted Luke and would take no other. I would ask him to be my CPO again, once he had taken a break and was back from visiting his family. This time though the only person he would answer to was me.
Leaving the parking garage behind, I headed away from the streets that would take me home and towards Golden Gardens Park. It was a place my grandfather used to bring me as a child to escape the madness of home, a life and lifestyle he disapproved of his daughter, my mother of having. I was distraught the day they told me he had died, to them that conversation was as if they were speaking of something as unimportant as the weather, not the death of the only family I felt I'd had.
I was ten at the time, I was paraded into the chapel at the crematorium while my mother faked her tears for those who came. I never got to meet my grandmother on my mother's side, but my grandfather said she would have been just as disgusted as he was at the way they treated me.
My grandparents on my father's side, well what can I say except they're just as bad as him.
Leaving the car behind, I smiled for the first time this afternoon as it looked so at home with those around it. No sports cars in sight, no SUVs filled with security, no the people out here today I felt were just as normal as me.
As I took my heels off, not caring that the stockings I wore were getting full of sand, I started to walk along the beach. Yes, now that I think of it, I did look out of place with what I was wearing, more dressed for the boardroom, than a walk along the sands but no one said anything, I was left alone. Alone, something I felt all the time.
Pulling my phone from my purse when it rang for what felt like the thousandth time, I turned it off after ignoring Jack's call. How dare that man ring me after touching me again when I'd explicitly told him not to do so. I laughed then, seeing the image in my mind of him writhing in pain on the floor.
"What am I going to do Granddad," I asked, looking to the sky above.
Follow your heart are the words that filled my mind, words Granddad had said many times before.
I must have walked up and down that beach for over an hour, getting my thoughts together before I got back in the car. My stockings were damp underfoot now my feet were back in my heels and although I could easily take them off, my focus was on something other than damp feet but on where I needed to be.
I turned my phone back on and looked up the address for Grey Construction. Yes, I could speak to Christian on the phone but what I needed to say had to be said face to face.
Following the directions on my satnav, I soon found myself driving into a lumber yard which by the looks of it had closed up for the day.
"Of course, it has Ana, it's seven o'clock" I grumbled, before getting out of the car.
The gates hadn't been locked so there had to be someone around somewhere, I hoped. My prayers were quickly answered when a man emerged from a large workshop at the back of the lot.
"Good evening," he said, approaching me. He too had a familiar smile on his face. "Do I need to bail him out?"
"I'm sorry" I replied.
"You're Ana" he stated, seeing the nod of my head. "I'm Elliot, Christians big brother. He went to speak to your father about a cheque he sent, he's not come back yet."
"He's not here," I asked, panic filling my voice.
"No, have you not seen him" he replied, pulling his phone from his pocket.
"For just a moment before…" before the day turned to hell. I finished the sentence in my mind before brushing a tear away.
I saw Elliot make a call, the look of fun on his face turning to anger as he listened to whatever Christian was telling him. My phone, I turned back on and although it started to ring immediately, I continued to ignore the calls because the only person I wanted to speak to was already on the line.
"Ana, Christian wants to talk to you" Elliot stated, holding his phone out for me. "It seems he's outside your building, waiting for you to arrive there."
As I took Elliot's phone from him, he took mine from me and upon answering the call told whoever it was to fuck off and stop ringing.
"Hello," I said, concentrating on my call and not Elliot.
"Ana, shit Ana, where have you been, are you ok."
"Not really... I went to talk to my grandfather" I stated, knowing from the conversations we'd had when we were sat on the jetty he'd know exactly where I'd been. "I'm sorry."
"No, don't say that... Stay there please, don't leave. I'm on my way."
"Ok," I whispered, ending the call.
I held the phone out for Elliot to take and was thankful that he didn't quickly offer mine back. He was holding it hostage, answering the calls that came through and telling them all the same thing.
"FUCK OFF AND STAY AWAY."
Elliot showed me into the site office, turning on the lights on the way. Here, while we waited for his brother to arrive, he offered me some tea.
"Please… Can I ask you something?"
"Of course," he replied.
"How did Christian get that cheque; I mean how did my father know where to send it."
"Our name is on the side of his truck" he nodded to Christian's truck on the other side of the yard. "Someone must have seen it when he dropped you at your apartment."
"Luke" I stated, knowing that must have been one of the few times he had no choice but to report back to him.
"He turned up here this morning, your father, telling Christian to stay away from you."
"He what" I whispered, shock filling my voice. "I thought the cheque and note were bad enough but to turn up here threatening Christian... He saved me."
"Hence, his reward of the cheque. Christian, despite how he's built, like a brick shithouse, easily able to knock someone down, it takes a lot for him to lose his temper. Your father's visit was one thing but thinking he could pay him to stay away from you is another so he thought he would repay your father's visit with one of his own."
I was quiet, trying to get my head around what my father had done so the noise of a car engine startled me, driving into the now dark lumber yard, its lights illuminating all that was outside.
Putting my tea down, I headed for the door emerging outside only for it to go dark again as Christian turned off his car. Elliot had followed me out with a smile upon his face, turning on the outside lights on the way.
"Thanks, Elliot" Christian spoke approaching us, his focus though was on me.
"I did nothing. I don't think Ana here was going to run away, I make such good tea."
I smiled at him turning away from Christian for just a second before I came face to face with the man, I'd wanted to see all day.
"I'm sorry" I apologised again before his finger came to my lips.
"You have nothing to be sorry for Ana. Are you alright? When he touched you, did he hurt you?"
"Another bruise to add to my collection, but I think I hurt him more" I smiled, seeing his own as he nodded. "Those men, the security, I saw them all come for you. Did they hurt you" I asked, looking him over to see if he had any marks on him as I knew what my father's security was like.
"No, not a scratch. Four against one to some is not a good combination but for me, I was fine."
"I'm glad" I replied, closing the gap between us.
"You look beautiful" he spoke, his hand coming to my cheek. "You look too good, too clean, to be in a dusty lumber yard."
"Well, I have sand in my shoes and on the bottom of my damp stockings, would that help me fit in here more."
"Ana" he groaned, "Don't mention you're wearing stockings, please. I'm trying to be a gentleman here especially after what you went through earlier when in truth all I want to do is take your hair down, muss it up a bit and kiss those gorgeous lips."
"I'd like that" I whispered, before pressing my lips gently against his. A gentle kiss it was until Christian took charge.
I'd been kissed before, I'd even been kissed by that horrible man when we were together but my god, no other kiss had felt like this. Christian had his arms wrapped around me; my body crushed against his as he devoured my mouth.
My fingers had found themselves in his hair, locking on tightly so he couldn't pull away. Christian's groan when I pulled, sent tingles through my body to all the right places.
"You're mine Ana" he mumbled when his kisses moved to my neck. "All mine and I won't let anyone take you away from me."
I should've been shocked at the way he had spoken those words of possession especially having been with a possessive man before. I wasn't though. In his arms I felt safe, not afraid, I felt cherished, not abused and I wanted so much more.
"Yours" I replied, a statement I had wanted to be true ever since those perfect hours we'd spent in his truck.
Smiling as he cradled my face gently in his hands, Christian's lips once again met mine.
…..
We'd moved from view of anyone that passed the entrance to the lumber yard and into the trailer Christian called home. I knew what my father would've thought upon seeing it here but what he thought wasn't important because he didn't know the man who lived inside.
In here, we sat on the couch talking, my head on Christian's chest, his arms wrapped around me. Despite the passion that had flowed between us outside with our kiss, there was no pressure for things to go further once we were in his trailer.
At my pace, Christian had told me before kissing the bruise on my arm.
Would I have slept with Christian if he had thrown me over his shoulder, carrying me into the trailer and ripped the clothes from my body, you bet I would have? He didn't do that though, he had guided me in here, his hand tightly in mine, letting me choose where things go from here.
"How do you fancy a trip," he asked, taking the empty cup from my hand.
"In your truck" I replied.
"Not tonight. I was thinking about a trip into the forest, I can show you my Lego house."
"Come on then" I laughed. "Will we be able to see it?"
"Yes, I do my best work in the dark" he stated.
"After the way you kissed me outside, I bet you do."
"Minx" he laughed, leading me from the trailer and over to his car.
"I've just realised, Elliot didn't give me my phone back."
"I have a feeling there is a reason for that" he replied.
"Which is."
"Knowing your father, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a chip inside so he would know your location. That's why they probably panicked when I picked you up because with him having your purse, they couldn't trace you."
"Why didn't someone turn up when we were out yesterday then," I asked, knowing putting a tracker on me was the sort of thing my father would do.
"I suppose it's a case of bothering to look. I bet that's why Luke was waiting for you when we arrived back though."
"He knew I was out but didn't track me…. He was giving me space" I said, more to myself than to Christian.
"Yes, maybe he was."
"My father fired him" I stated. "When Luke gets back from visiting his family, I'll ask him to come and work for me. The first thing I need to do tomorrow though is to buy a new phone because for my safety or not, I'm not being chipped like a dog."
"That's something easily sorted, My Lady" he announced with a flourish as he opened the door for me.
"Thank you" I laughed, before getting comfortable in his car.
We left the yard and Wanda behind, locking the gates as we went. While we drove out of the city, Christian spoke about a trip he was taking at the end of the week.
"Where are you going," I asked.
"Nebraska. Ell and I built an echo home for the client out on Bainbridge Island a few years ago and now he's relocating and because he loved his house here so much, he's asked us to build one there too. I'm taking the final pieces this Friday and should be back late next week."
I felt a pang of pain in my chest to think he would be gone again so soon after we had just met. So, it took me a second or two to take in his next few words.
"Come with me, come with me, Ana."
"What."
"I know it's crazy, we've only just met and I'm asking you to drive halfway across the country with me. There's something great that's started between us Ana and I don't want to stop getting to know you even if it's just for a few days."
"Ok" I replied, more shocked myself with the answer that I gave him than he was. Shocked because there was no hesitancy in my voice, no worry in my mind or my heart.
Some would say to even think of going away with a man I'd just met was crazy but I felt safer with Christian, more comfortable than with anyone I had met before. I had nothing to keep me here, I can write if need be on the road. I think a break away would do me some good and it would give me a chance to spend some time and get to know more about the man I had fallen for.
We continued to drive until the only thing that surrounded us was trees. I could tell the road was rising as the city lights in the distance felt like they were getting lower and soon the road forked off and we took the highest of the two.
"Elliot's home is below us now, you can probably just make out the lights through the trees" Christian spoke, pointing in the direction I needed to look.
I nodded, smiling as I could just make out the chimney top as the road continued to climb.
Having only seen the back of Elliot's home through the trees, I had no clue if it had as good a view as what I was seeing now.
An area had been cleared, the foundations laid, a wooden frame was up although some of the roof tiles were missing and it was open to the elements, showing the stars up above. There was a large area in front of the house that had been cleared as well and a garden would one day be in its place. The remaining trees that had been left in front were framing the view.
"Christian, this is beautiful" I whispered, getting out of the car. With nature all around going about their business, I didn't want to speak too loud so as not to disturb them.
"I love it up here" he declared. "One day, I'll get to spend more than just a few hours at a time up here but for now, a bit of time here and there is all I have."
"This house you're taking to Nebraska, do you have to put it up as well."
"No, Elliott is flying down next weekend to handle the build with a team of ours. Because of other ongoing projects, one of us needs to be here to manage them. Come on" he spoke, taking my hand and led me towards the structure that would one day become his home.
I walked with Christian as he led me around, switching lights on which had been hung from the beams on the way. He had a generator here which lived in the shed, the only complete building to keep his tools dry. He could put that on but not wanting the noise to scare the wildlife, it was battery powered we dealt with instead.
"You need solar lights," I told him, cuddling into his side as he wrapped both arms around me.
"I did have them once but they were on all night when I'm not here disturbing the wildlife and attracting the bugs as well. Nothing worse than having a home full of spiders and bugs."
"Scared of spiders" I teased.
"Hardly" he laughed, placing a kiss on my forehead. "The flies in summer can be nothing more than a pest though."
"You will have to have it finished by next summer then, have fly screens in place."
"Maybe I will," he said, placing a kiss upon my lips this time. "Then you could come and stay."
I'd like nothing more than to spend time with him up here, it would be like a home above the clouds. A real, home made just like the cups he created, with love.
Kissing Christian in what will be his home one day, for the first time in my life, I could say I was happy.
Thank you for reading and reviewing.
Until next time, take care.
Caroline.