Chpt. 7: Ana's POV:
After a rough night of no sleep riding buses and sitting in the bus station, I find myself back at the college letting the shower cascade over my body. It's a Sunday morning so the campus is extra quiet today; most students are nursing a hangover at this hour of the morning. I spend a little extra time in the shower this morning letting the water hit my back which is pretty sore from dozing off in crappy positions on the bus. After my shower, I quickly dress throwing on comfortable sweatpants and an oversized sweatshirt before heading to the student union for breakfast. After the night I had I just want to be comfortable and eat a real meal as I realize I never did get a chance to eat dinner last night during the private event at the restaurant.
After ordering eggs and bacon at the student union, I find a quiet table overlooking the quad. I pull out my books to start reading the next chapters before the school week starts. As I pull out my books, I see a card drop out of my bag. I had completely forgotten that Mrs. Grey gave me a holiday card last night; she was so sweet to think of the wait staff at the restaurant while hosting her own events. I open the card and gasp. In the card is $500 in cash with a note which read: Anastasia, thank you making our holiday celebration a successful and memorable event. Enjoy the holidays, The Greys. Never in a million years would I have expected this to be anything other than a holiday card. I'm ecstatic because with this on top of the tip money that Antonio gave me last night I have enough money to start looking for a room to rent! I thought money would be tight but this extra $500 gives me more wiggle room and allows me to possibly even purchase a small microwave to replace the one I had to leave behind.
I go back to the register and grab a copy of the local paper so I can begin looking for rooms to rent. Just as I'm about to open the classified section of the paper I see Kate walking into the student union. I quickly put the paper away; I don't want to explain that I'm looking for a room to rent because then Kate will suggest I live with her and there is no way I can afford it.
"Kate!" I call out.
"What are you doing here?" Kate asks, putting her breakfast down on my table.
"Just trying to get ahead on school work before winter break; the apartment was too loud to study" I say making excuses. "What about you? This is early for you on a Sunday."
"Ugh I know! My computer stopped working this morning and I have a big article due to the paper tomorrow. So I'm stuck using the computer lab but I needed breakfast first" Kate explains.
"How was your private event last night at the restaurant?" Kate asks.
"Oh Kate, it was wonderful. The hosts gave me a holiday card with five hundred dollars in cash in it! That's on top of the tip they left with Antonio for me! Can you believe it?" I say excitedly. I am still in shock that the Grey's gave me that much money.
"That's wonderful! It's because you are so good at what you do and taking care of others Ana!" Kate exclaims.
"Oh and to top it all off I think I saw him" I say.
"Who? Him who?" She asks.
"My mystery stranger from a few weeks ago. Remember the guy I bumped into on the sidewalk walking to the restaurant awhile back?" I ask
"Oh him, of course I remember. The first guy you have shown interest in! So, what's his name? What did you say? Are you going to see him again?" Kate fires off her questions in true journalism style.
"Calm down Kate. I didn't even speak to him," I explain and tell her about our brief encounter.
"Oh, I bet you will see him again. Fate has brought you together twice now; I bet next time you find out who he really is!" Kate exclaims happily.
"We will see," I respond trying not to be hopeful.
The next week slowly passes by; the school semester is quickly coming to an end as we wrap up finals and submit our final papers of the semester. I have contacted a couple rooms that I found in the classified section of the paper but none of worked out so far. I'm trying to get a little closer to campus but I'm quickly realizing the closer I go the more expensive the room is. Honestly the one room I called about was $950 a month and it was only for the room! Unfortunately I was stuck looking further out again and have appointments to look at a couple places over the next two weeks. I really want to have my own room by New Years. I feel what better way to start of the new year then having my own personal space again?
"Ana!" Kate calls as I walk out of my last class for the semester.
"Kate! Can you believe it? Another semester is over!" I exclaim hugging Kate.
"One more semester and then we graduate! What do you say after your lease is up you move in with me?" Kate asks.
"Sure we will see," I respond. If I have a full time job by that time I will consider moving in with Kate. We get along very well and with a full time job I will be able to contribute to the rent, bills and food for the apartment.
"I'm so excited! We are still going out tomorrow right?" Kate asks looking at me out of the corner of her eye. I can tell she is waiting for me to back out again at the last minute.
"Of course we are Kate! Can I come over and raid your closet before we go?" I ask. Kate has the best clothes and loves to play dress up with me before we go out to a club. If it was up to me I would probably go in comfortable jeans and an old T-shirt.
"Yes! I have the perfect outfit for you already picked out from the last time we were supposed to go out and you ended up bailing on me! Come over early and we can try on clothes and I will do your hair," Kate says.
"Sounds good. I have to run I need to speak with one of my professors before he leaves for the day about my spring schedule. See you tomorrow Kate!" I say before walking towards the other end of campus to meet with my professor.
I find myself day dreaming on the way to student commuter lounge to pick up everything I will need for the next few days. The commuter lounge has limited hours during winter break so before I leave I jot down the hours; luckily it's only a few weeks and by then the plan is to have my own room somewhere. I make mental notes of things I want to do during the day during winter break as even the computer lab and library have limited hours. The shelters kick you out first thing in the morning and then they close their doors until 7pm when you are allowed back in if they have beds available. That leaves pretty much the entire day that I have to find things to do before I can return to the shelter. I decide to look up a community library to visit during the break; I'm positive I could spend a few hours each day getting lost in a book. I used to have dozens of books when I was a child; my dad would bring me one home almost every week. We started reading books together at night before bed and my love for reading developed from there. Unfortunately between all the moving around I did with my mother after dad died I lost the majority of the books he had bought me. What I didn't lose during moves I had to leave when I ran away from home when I was 16. When I left I only took a small book bag filled with some clothes and my school supplies; I couldn't carry anything else.
I finally reach the office building and find my professor's office, but the office is locked and it seems like he has already left for the break. I start walking back to the student union when for an unknown reason I turn to look back at the building I just left. I swear I see the gorgeous stranger with cooper hair walking into the building I just left. What would he be doing on campus? I don't know much about him but after my two encounters with him I'm pretty confident he is not a college student. I must be losing my mind; too much studying and not enough sleep is obviously catching up with me.
I'm off of work the next few days however next week Antonio has me scheduled for several shifts as I told him I was available for additional work during the holidays. I grab dinner at the student union then head to the library to check out their hours on break. As I feared, the library is only open on weekends during the break which means I definitely need to find a community library to visit during the week. I had back to the shelter which thankfully still has a few beds available and settle in for the night.
"You Bitch!" He screams at me, slapping me across the face. "You stole my fucking money again! I work hard for that money and you come into my bedroom and steal it?"
"No, I swear I didn't take it!" I scream back at him which I immediately regretted as his hand slaps my cheek again. I try to run towards my room but he grabs my pony tail and pulls me back against his chest.
"Don't fight me, you bitch! It will only make it worse" He hisses into my ear. I look around trying to find my mom but as which is usually the case she is passed out in her room.
He pushes me down face first on the couch and pulls my skirt up above my waist. I hear him taking off his belt and I brace myself.
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I scream as the belt bites into my flesh the first time.
"Shut up! Maybe next time you will remember this and think twice before stealing my fucking money you bitch!" Slap "You ungrateful piece of shit!" Slap "You need to be taught a lesson" Slap "You do not get everything you want" Slap "You father spoiled you rotten and now I'm stuck dealing with your lousy ass" Slap.
I lose count of the number of times he has hit me with the belt. I feel it across my butt, lower back and even my upper thighs; I'm pretty sure he broke skin in a few spots again. The room starts going black just as he stops hitting me and storms out of the room. I quickly get up and run to my room before he can come back to beat me again. Quickly locking my door, I run to the corner of the room and hide. I don't know if he is done or if he is getting something else to beat me with like he has done before. An hour passes and I realize he likely isn't coming back. I get up, take off my clothes and look at the damage he did in the mirror. As I thought, I see blood in several spots along my back and thighs. All because he couldn't remember that he blew his money at the casino last night before coming home drunk off his ass. He always blames me; one of these days I'm going to leave. I keep hoping that someone will come and rescue me from this horrible situation but no one ever comes.
"Anastasia open this door" I hear my mom yell.
"Now!" She yells again after I don't answer quick enough for her. "Why did you have to take his money? You know how he gets! Can't you just be good and leave him the fuck alone?"
"Misss….excuse me Miss?" I hear and feel someone shaking my arm. I quickly sit up and look around. A young child is standing next to me and I realize I had a nightmare.
"It's okay, I'm fine. Go back to sleep," I say trying to give her a reassuring smile.
"Did you have a bad dream?" She asks.
"Yes I did," I answer; it's not like I can lie about what she just saw. "But it's over now and I'm fine. Thank you for waking me; I'm sorry I woke you."
"That's okay, I'm glad I ended your bad dream" she says before climbing back onto the cot next to her mother.
I look at the clock on my phone and see that it's only three in the morning, looking around everyone else is sound asleep. Either I wasn't very loud while having my nightmare or most people tuned it out. Unfortunately it's not unusual to hear people in the shelter having nightmares or yelling at themselves even when they are awake. I lay back down and try to go back to sleep but quickly realize it's pointless. I am too worked up from my nightmare to go back to sleep. I gather my belongings up as quietly as I can head towards the manager's office. I inform the staff person that I am leaving and she reminds me that I cannot return until 7pm tonight. I open the door and the cold brisk early morning air hits me like a ton of bricks. It's exactly what I need to feel after the nightmare which left my adrenaline racing. I look up and down the street only to find it empty. I sigh realizing not even the buses are running yet so I begin walking towards campus which should take me a couple hours to get to by foot. The gym and pool at the college are open daily during winter break as usually some of the athletes still need to use the facilities which works to my advantage because it gives me a place to shower. After walking for a couple hours I finally reach the campus and take a long cool shower. I walk around campus for a while but quickly realize everything is closed even the student union which means I have to go somewhere off campus for breakfast.
I leave campus and head to a coffee shop that's not far from the restaurant that has the best freshly made croissants. I pass several coffee shops on my walk but none of them are known for their home made baked goods like this one is. The others are more known for their fast service and decent coffee often favored by the college students. I don't drink coffee though so those places don't appeal to me as much as this one does. I open the door to and start to go in, taking a deep breath to smell the croissants that smell as if they just came out of the oven. I walk right into someone which was easy to do since my eyes were closed having been lost in the delicious smell when I walked in.
"I am so sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going," I say realizing I spilled the strangers drink all over the floor and both of our shoes.
"It's okay, I'll grab another one," he says kindly.
"It's you!" I say having glanced up and found my gorgeous stranger looking down at me.
"We have to stop meeting like this," he says laughing.
"Please let me buy you another coffee, it's the least I could do seeing as I probably ruined your shoes," I say.
"Ah, it's fine. I didn't like these shoes anyway," he says as we wait in line to place an order.
He orders a coffee while I order a hot cup of tea and a croissant. I suggest he try a croissant but he declines saying he ate breakfast not long ago and just needed another cup of coffee. I purchase the breakfast and walk over to a nearby table to have breakfast.
"Would you like to join me?" I bravely ask. I'm normally so shy around men; I can't believe that I just asked him to sit with me without even thinking.
"I would love to but I have a conference call that I am late for," he says looking apologetic. "I'm the only one in the office today and didn't want to make a pot of coffee just for me."
"Of course, I'm sorry," I say.
"For what?" he asks.
"I'm probably the reason you are late for your call this morning," I say glancing at his shoes to make a point.
"It's a boring call anyway. Thank you for the coffee, enjoy your breakfast," he says laughing as he turns towards the door.
"Wait" I call, standing up to meet him halfway. "My name is Ana."
"Christian" he says extending his hand. "It's nice to officially meet you."
"Likewise," I say continuing to just stand there looking at him.
"Here's my card, my cell phone number is on the back," He says handing me a business card. "Call me and I'll buy you tea next time."
"Give me another card," I say. He looks at me confused but hands me a second business card. I take his pen and jot down my cell phone number on the back and return both to him. "My cell phone number," I say smiling.
I return to my table with a smile permanently on my face. I laugh to myself thinking that I run into this man at the strangest places and times. I eat my croissant and drink my tea while watching people enter and exit the coffee shop. It's pretty busy for a Sunday morning, I assume it's because of how well known this place is. It's pretty pricey which is why I only bought a croissant for breakfast but it is well worth the cost. I realize I don't have much to do right now since the semester has ended; it's too early to go to Kate's who is probably still sound asleep. I don't know how I would explain why I was at her door at 7am on a Sunday morning anyway. I grab a newspaper and call a few places that have rooms to rent, surprisingly a couple are available to view today. My first appointment is an hour so I leave the coffee shop and head to the bus stop.
The first room I look at is a dump; really the building should have been condemned. There were holes in the walls everywhere and the place smelled of urine. I maybe homeless but I would take staying in shelters over sleeping in a place like this. The second room was better but was on the ground floor of a very busy street. Anyone would be able to look into my room from the sidewalk and there were no bars on the window. I asked the owner if he would put bars up and he laughed at me. The third place was much better even though the room was smaller. The room was located on the second floor of the house and the owner had a strict no smoking policy which I appreciated. The rent was slightly higher than the last room I rented but was a few blocks closer to campus which would eliminate one bus transfer. I signed the paperwork for a month to month lease and provide the owner with a security deposit. She agreed to contact me in a couple days as soon as the check cleared her bank at which point I would be allowed to move in.
Could this day get any better? I think as I board the bus to head to Kate's apartment. First I run into my stranger whose name I now know is Christian then I find a place to rent! I'm still on cloud nine as I get off the bus and walk the couple blocks to Kate's. I decide to stop at a little café and crab a couple breakfast sandwiches for me and Kate. Although I already had the croissant for breakfast I'm sure Kate hasn't eaten yet and really I ate hours ago since I was awake so early.
"Good Morning Kate!" I exclaim happily as she opens the door still in her pajamas.
"Morning," she says yawning.
"Here I bought breakfast and coffee," I say handing her a cup and a sandwich.
"Coffee…you're the best Ana!" she answers.
"Late night?" I ask.
"You have no idea Ana!" she responds. "I went out to a club and ended up drinking a lot more than I should have. But I met a guy!"
"Oh yeah?" I ask. Kate always meets a guy; wonder what this one's deal is.
"Yes! And I know what you're thinking, but this guy is different! Elliot is such a gentleman! He drove me home last night, walked me to the door and kissed me goodbye. He didn't even try to get invited inside – not that I would have denied him," she says giggling.
"Wow, he is quite different from the usual guys you meet. Are you seeing him again?" I ask.
"He's coming to the club with us tonight," she answers. "Please say you don't mind Ana! I swear you won't feel like a third wheel. He is bringing his bother along as well."
"Why do I get the feeling you're trying to set me up Kate?" I ask giving her a suspicious look.
"Of course not!" she exclaims smiling before eating her breakfast.