Hello Lovelies! Another update. I wish I could write faster for you guys but the complexity of it takes time. I was asked about Jordan and Tristan. You have to wait for it but read the chapter again. Tristan didn't say how he had insider information he just says he did. Happy reading.
For the next few weeks Hanna received flowers from Jordan weekly. She understood he was sorry but how many times did he plan to tell her.
"Isn't it flower day." Cecile asks while raising her eyebrows suggestively. Hanna shakes her head as a customer walks through the door.
"I hope not" Hanna says as she fixes her belt around her waist. Hanna walks towards the new customer and begins introductions. She signals for Cecile who immediately comes and begins finding what the customer needs. She needed to make sure the girls would be fine with Lucas since Cecile and Morgan would be the one's helping customers. Hanna looks in the mirror and tilts her head as she fixes her belt again. Although the belt was irritating her the belt with the teal tassel dress was a perfect combination. The door dings again as Hanna begins her monologue. She stops when she sees Miranda.
"It's been a while Hanna." Miranda says as she walks towards her. If Hanna didn't know her face she wouldn't believe she was the same person. It was like Hanna was, almost, looking at a brunette version of herself.
"So this is the real Miranda Collins. I should have known from your dress and lingerie choices. Nice bag" Hanna says.
"Nice shoes." Miranda says. Actually Miranda had to admit Hanna's belt and dress were nice too. Hanna looks at Miranda waiting for her to say why she came to the boutique. Miranda screamed money and Hanna understood why she dressed down to get Caleb. He wouldn't have gone for the princess. Spencer came from money but Spence didn't scream princess. Miranda definitely did.
"What do you need Miranda?" Hanna asks as she realized they were staring at each other for too long. Miranda looks at Hanna. This was definitely against her boss' wishes but she didn't care. She actually liked Hanna.
"I wanted to pick up a few pieces and then I wanted to take you to lunch so you can get to know the real Miranda Collins." Hanna knew Caleb wouldn't like this. Frankly Hanna knew Caleb would be pissed at Hanna for going to lunch with Miranda. But maybe, maybe she could find out some information on who Miranda is working for and why Caleb was targeted.
"Let's do the pieces first and then I can do lunch, or rather dinner, but I only have an hour." Hanna says.
"I can work with an hour." Miranda says as Hanna asks what she was looking for and their time begins.
Cecile watched Hanna leave with Miranda for "lunch" even though it was five. It was one of the boutiques slow days but Hanna told Cecile she needed her help with shipments.
For a little over an hour Cecile was in the boutique by herself helping customers. She saw the delivery guy and smirked as he entered with a new bouquet. This time roses, lilies and carnations.
"Where should I put these Cecile."
"Honestly David I have no idea where she would want them but I guess you can put it on the table beside the couch." Cecile says.
"You need two more places Cecile." David says as he walks to the truck and comes back with another bouquet. Cecile directs and David places. "I don't know what this guy did but tell him to do it again. He really helped my mom's business these last four and a half weeks." David says as he walks to the door and then stops. He turns to look at Cecile.
"Will you go out with me . . . on a date." David asks. Cecile smiles as she thinks about Hanna who definitely told her David would ask her out soon.
"Yes, I will." Cecile writes her number on a piece of paper before handing it to David. He takes it and smiles before leaving the boutique. Best decision Cecile made was finally dumping Darren. She was a lot happier, she had no more bruises and her daughter's father let Sammy spend the night more often. They were truly co-parenting again. Cecile starts cleaning up when the bell rings. She looks at the door. She saw him before but couldn't remember when
"Hey, is Hanna here?" Caleb asks.
"No she isn't but she should be back any minute." Cecile says. Caleb nods and walks towards the couch. He looks at the flowers on both ends.
"What's the occasion?" Caleb asks. Cecile laughs.
"No occasion. She's been getting flowers for weeks since she came back from California." Cecile says as the bell dings again. Cecile helps a new customer while Caleb looks at the card on the flowers. His eyes narrow as he sees Jordan's name and an apology that wasn't making sense to him. Hanna didn't say anything happened in California between her and Jordan that would warrant an apology. Caleb hated when Hanna did that. She left out just the right amount of detail to not be lying but not be telling the full truth either. Which means whatever happened Hanna knew he would be pissed.
Hanna walks into her boutique and walked to the back. She had to ask Caleb if he knew a guy named Tristan. That was Miranda's boss. And the reason why he was targeted also had to deal with Allentown.
"Do you need to tell me something?" Caleb says making Hanna jump and hold her heart,
"Can you not do that?" Hanna says as she calms down enough to ask him what he's talking about. "Regarding what Caleb." Hanna asks.
"Regarding Jordan sending you apology flowers. What the hell happened after I left California?" Caleb asks.
"Nothing" Hanna says as she walks out of the back with Caleb following her.
"Han, we've stopped lying to each other right? So why are you starting up again." Caleb says. Hanna looks up at him.
"I can't talk about this now."
"Hanna, I'm staying right here until you tell me what you've been keeping secret from me for weeks. We agreed that we wouldn't have any more secrets between us." Caleb says as Hanna sighs.
"I'm closing soon; can I just meet you at your apartment?" Hanna asks. Caleb looks at her. Anytime Hanna couldn't maintain eye contact he knew it dealt with attention she didn't want.
"Fine, I'll cook." Caleb says. Hanna pulls his chin slightly so their lips could meet. Hanna moves her lips from Caleb's as their eyes search each other's.
"How about we cook together." Hanna says. Caleb nods and leaves. Hanna walks to the front and looks at the time. An hour and a half before they close. Hanna begins tidying up the boutique as Cecile continues helping her customer. Hanna put her head back and looked at the ceiling.
"Now I have to tell him about the kiss too and how much skin Jordan actually touched in that massage he gave me. Great." Hanna says as she shakes her head and spends the next hour and a half cleaning, organizing and restocking.
Caleb returns to his apartment. He knew Hanna had another hour before her store closed and an additional hour to get here after she gets clothes and all that she needs for tomorrow. Unless she planned to go home tonight. Then again Caleb knew she left out a lot about her trip to California before he arrived and when he left, regarding Jordan. He saw it in her eyes when they agreed to meet at his apartment. So he knew she wasn't leaving tonight. Caleb looked at his calendar marking off the weeks Hanna would be gone.
"Next week." Caleb says. He shakes his head as he grabs a beer from the fridge and walks outside to the balcony. Caleb moves the somewhat melted snow off the ledge before he rests his arms on it. January was a little warmer than February if Caleb was honest but he also wasn't going inside to grab a heavier coat. Caleb looks at his phone after it lights up and rings. Mom. Shit. He never did tell Claudia he wasn't with Miranda anymore. He didn't bring it up when they talked for Christmas.
"Hey mom"
"Hello Caleb. So your brother's are having a birthday lazer tag thing and they want you and Miranda to attend." Claudia says in excitement. Caleb knew Claudia wanted Miranda there so she could ask to plan the wedding that was no longer happening. Caleb walks to the calendar and flips it to March. March 5th was James and Clay's birthday. The same day Hanna was coming back home.
"I should be able to make it mom."
"What about Miranda?"
"We ended things before Christmas. I forgot to tell you." Claudia is quiet.
"Then tell me now Caleb and anything else you forgot to mention when we talked on Christmas." Claudia says sternly with a side shot of hurt. Claudia made a lot of mistakes in her life and one of them was leaving Caleb and not looking for him until she was married and somewhat established. She regretted the time lost with her son. Even though she understood why he didn't share every detail of his life Claudia still craved that information because she missed so much. Caleb spent the next hour telling Claudia what she needed to know, no more and no less.
Hanna turned on the alarm and locked the door.
"See you later Hanna." Cecile says.
"Later Cecile and good job today." Hanna says as Cecile smiles. Hanna waits for Cecile to get into her car before she opens her door. It locks behind her before she swipes the key pad and enters the second door. Hanna presses the button for the lift, steps on when it arrives and immediately goes to her bedroom to pack a bag. She looks at the suitcases on the floor. Two for Liz and Jordan and a large one for herself. Liz and Jordan's suitcases were set minus the essentials and street clothes they were carrying. Hanna's bags weren't set yet and she didn't have much time. She was leaving next week. The same day Lucas arrived. They would see each other barely. The buzzer goes off and Hanna goes downstairs to look at the screen.
"I swore the buzzer went off." Hanna says as she narrows her eyes at the screen. Hanna goes back upstairs before the buzzer goes off again. Hanna runs downstairs to look at the screen. "What the fuck? Wilden? How the hell does he know where I live?" Hanna says as she presses the intercom ready to speak but decides against it. He didn't need to confirm how correct his assumption really is. Hanna quickly packs a bag to take with her to Caleb's before grabbing her keys and phone. Hanna takes the lift down to the first floor and walks to the back exit. Before she left she saw Wilden waiting so the front door was out of the question.
Hanna hears the back door lock behind her as she exits and walks to her car. Hanna puts the bags inside, checks the back seat before sitting in the driver's side and slowly turning on her car. She looks forward before looking behind her. If Hanna reverses and goes down the alley it would take her father down the street making her able to pull up beside Wilden. Or she could go forward and go directly to Caleb leaving Wilden standing like there like the stupid psychopath he became.
"No guts, no glory" Hanna says as she reverses out of the alley and onto the side street. She turns onto her street and pulls up in front of Wilden. "Looking for someone Darren." Wilden's eyes narrow as he looks at Hanna.
"I always did applaud your knack for, sometimes, knowing exactly what to do." Darren says as Hanna drives off. She sees Darren in her rearview mirror before focusing on getting to Caleb.
"Great another thing I never mentioned. I should have just written a list." Hanna grumbles to herself as she continues driving.
Caleb opens the door for Hanna as she walks in with a bag. She drops the bag by the door and immediately takes off her heels before carrying her bag into Caleb's room. Hanna strips and puts on pajama's before kissing Caleb and walking into the kitchen. Hanna grabs a beer, opens it and takes a sip before sitting down on the couch and crossing her legs.
"Must be serious." Caleb says as he leans against the kitchen counter.
"What do you mean?" Hanna asks as she takes a sip of beer and continues to look out the window.
"You only drink beer when you haven't told me something that I should know so spill Han."
"Cecile was dating Wilden and now he's stalking me." Hanna says as she looks at Caleb and takes another sip.
"Woah. How long has this been going on?" Caleb asks as he walks towards her.
"Long enough for him to now know where I live." Hanna says as Caleb sits beside her.
"Why didn't you tell me as soon as you knew who Cecile was dating?" Caleb asked.
"You were still with Miranda and we said bye to each other Caleb. I wasn't going to be selfish and bring you back into my life because of Darren Wilden." Hanna says.
"But he's freaking you out or at least more than he did in Rosewood. Why?" Caleb says and asks as Hanna looks at him and takes another sip. Her eyes narrow as she thinks about Wilden.
"It's the way he looks at me. He looked at me the same way when I was younger but now that look has gotten worse. Almost like if we were ever left alone he would try something and that makes me nervous." Hanna says.
"Han, you are stronger and smarter. Now that you're older you can protect yourself because you have the ability to. You need to hire someone." Caleb says as he walks to his laptop and starts typing. Hanna gets up.
"Caleb, what are you doing?" Hanna asks as she tries to look over his shoulder but with being so much shorter than him there was no use. Caleb's fingers fly over the screen before he closes his laptop and turns to look at Hanna.
"Telling Lucas your situation and seeing what we can put together to keep Wilden away from you." Caleb says.
"What, like a Darren alarm that zaps his ass every time he comes near me." Hanna says in all seriousness. Caleb looks at her before he smiles and shakes his head.
"Not quite Han but we'll figure something out." Caleb says. Hanna finishes her beer and puts the empty bottle in the recycle bin. "Next topic." Caleb says as he watches Hanna who suddenly started to fidget.
"Can you promise not to get mad." Hanna says as she stops moving and looks at Caleb. Caleb's arms cross in front of his chest as his eyebrow raises. Caleb waits for Hanna to speak while Hanna changes her mind twenty times in her head.
"I had lunner with Miranda and I know who she's working for and I know it's about Allentown and whatever illegal activity you stopped when you were in California clearing your name." Hanna says. Caleb's arms drop from in front of him as he looks at Hanna trying to figure out where to begin his questions.
"What the hell is a lunner?" Caleb asks. With a straight face Hanna looks at him.
"Lunch and dinner. I mean breakfast and lunch have something, Brunch, so why not Lunch and dinner. Lunner." Hanna says. Caleb looks at her amazed before he shakes his head and smiles again. Only Hanna. Caleb says to himself as he laughs lightly before focusing on the rest of Hanna's sentence.
"I don't know a Tristan but obviously whatever I stopped in Allentown stopped Tristan's revenue. That's why he used Miranda to try and ruin my business which in extension ruins me." Caleb says as he begins pacing.
"Did you ever know who hired you?" Hanna asks softly as Caleb shakes his head.
"I knew Hector and Lee weren't the brains behind any of the operations but I also knew they weren't high enough on the bad guy hierarchy to slip up and say who the ultimate boss was." Caleb says.
"What are you going to do?" Hanna asks as she walks towards Caleb. Caleb rests his hands on Hanna's jaw as she rests her hands on his ribs.
"Nothing. The only way they can hurt me is by hurting you and whoever this Tristan guy is doesn't know who you are so I won't be hurt." Caleb says as he kisses Hanna. Hanna breaths him in as their kiss becomes more heated. Caleb releases her and walks away.
"Keep talking Han. Next subject is Jordan and I'm not going to let you distract me from what I need to know." Caleb says as he sits on the sofa. Hanna puts her head back before she starts pacing.
"Ok now you really, really, really have to promise me you won't get mad." Hanna says as Caleb looks at her.
"What Hanna." Caleb says as Hanna shakes her head.
"You have to promise first Caleb." Hanna says. Caleb sighs.
"Promising that would be lying to you Hanna and we said no more lying." Caleb says as Hanna sighs.
"Fine but you aren't going to like it." Hanna says as she divulges.