A/N: Thanks for reading. Enjoy!
A POV
"Ana, I'm sorry about Donovan. I know how excited you were when you got assigned his advertising.", Kate says. I was already in bed last night when she got home so I waited until this morning to tell her about Donovan putting the moves on me. She's just finished listening to the recording of Donovan saying suggestive things and also threatening me.
"I was excited, but that was when I thought he actually wanted me to do his ads. Now that I know what he really wanted, I couldn't care less about the guy." I pour milk over my cereal and join her at the kitchen table. "First thing this morning I'm going to Mr. Nelson's office to let him listen to the recording."
"Mr. Nelson would have to be out of his mind to not tell Donovan to take his business elsewhere. By the way, recording that was genius.", she grins as she spreads a small amount of butter on her toast.
"Thanks. I had a gut feeling that recording him would be what was needed to prove his assholery. The night didn't start off as planned, but it did end on a good note." Kate bites into her toast and raises a brow. "I called and left Christian a message about what happened and that he was right. He then showed up here to check on me."
"Aww.", Kate sighs. "Wait. You didn't slam the door in his face, did you?"
"No. I let him in, and we talked a little before I invited him to stay for pizza. Last night was definitely a turning point for us. He's still arrogant and cocky, but he's also caring and attentive. Enough about my night. How was your date with Elliot?"
"It was great. We went to dinner and then drove around and talked. It wasn't too late when he brought me back here, but we made out in his truck for a while. I really like him."
"I'm glad you had a nice time on your date." I get up and take my bowl to the sink.
"Since you and Christian had pizza last night, does that mean you've now had your first date?"
"No. Both of us felt like last night shouldn't been deemed the first date. It was a pre-date. Our first date is happening tonight though. Christian said he's going to arrange it all. It's been a long time since I've been on a date, but I'm not the least bit nervous."
When I arrive at work, I head to my cubicle and put my things away. I scan my surroundings for any sign of Mr. Nelson. I decide to go ahead and go to his office. I pass by Julia and Kate's areas and get a thumbs up from both. Upon arriving at work, Kate and I were met in the parking lot by Julia who asked how last night's work dinner went. I told her a summarized version of the night and naturally received her support. I get to the door, and it opens before I knock. Mr. Nelson is standing before me with a serious expression.
"Ana, I was just about to call you into my office. Please come in.", Mr. Nelson says. One of the things I like most about working here is how Mr. Nelson is fair to everyone. If there's a disagreement of any kind, he listens to all parties. I walk into the office and close the door. Turning around, I see Samual Donovan who's smirking.
"Hello.", Donovan grins although I refuse to greet him. I sit down in a chair on the other side of the room, as far away from Donovan as possible. "Ana, Mr. Donovan was telling me how you were nothing but disrespectful last night. I'm shocked.", Mr. Nelson says. "It doesn't sound anything like you."
"Because I didn't act like he said I did. The only one who was disrespectful last nigth was Mr. Donovan. He came on to me.", I hiss as Donovan sits with amusement splashed on his face. "He only wanted me to do his advertising so he could sleep with me."
"I'm appalled at such an accusation.", Donvovan scoffs. "I was pleased by your past work, and that's why I hired you." He glances to Mr. Nelson. "The only one who made advances is Ms. Steele. She practically threw herself at me. I told her it wasn't going to happen, yet she wouldn't stop her flirting. The final straw came when she slapped me." Mr. Nelson's mouth falls open.
"If there's any part that's true, it's that. I did slap him, but he deserved it. Mr. Nelson, I can see you're shocked by what you've heard, but I can help solve the mystery of what happened." I reach into my bag and pull out my phone. "I recorded the exchange." Donovan's smirk drops. I press play on the recording and observe Donovan who seems as if he's ready to bolt from the room. Once the recording ends, Mr. Nelson shakes his head.
"Ana, I believe I owe you an apology. I shouldn't have doubted you.", Mr. Nelson says.
"What about me?", Donovan exasperatedly demands.
"As for you, I want you to leave this office. Now." I've never seen Mr. Nelson so angry. "You can take your business elsewhere." Donovan stands but remains planted in the middle of the floor.
"Do you realize how much money you're throwing away because of some stupid little bitch?" Mr. Nelson bolts to his feet and rushes at Donovan.
"I won't allow you to talk about her in such a manner. You've got two choices. You can either leave on your own or be thrown out on your ass. Which is it going to be?" Donovan glares at me briefly before finally leaving the room. "Ana, I'm sorry. I honestly thought he wanted you to handle his ads because of your past work."
"It's ok. Thank you for standing up for me."
"I protect my employees."
C POV
I'm alternating between working and looking at my phone, waiting for it to ring with a call from Ana. She said she'd call and let me know how her meeting with her boss went. Just when I'm about to scan over a new stack of paperwork, my waiting ends.
"Hello.", I answer.
"Hi. I'm not disturbing you, am I?"
"No. I've been waiting for your call. How did it go?"
"It's better now that I've met with my boss. I went into his office first thing, wanting to let him listen to the recording so he could go ahead and know what kind of man Donovan really is. Only when I went into his office he wasn't alone. Donovan was in there and had already told Mr. Nelson his side of the story."
"You mean his lies." I feel my blood boiling over the fact that Donovan was in the same room as Ana after what happened last night.
"He was definitely telling lies. He went as far as to say I was the one making moves on him. I then knocked the wind out of him when I played the recording. Needless to say that made Mr. Nelson know who was telling the truth. He told Donovan to get lost. Donovan, being the ass that he is, said a few unkind things before finally leaving. It's over now." I'm not about to let Donovan off the hook so easy. Ana doesn't know, but I'm plannning on making that son a bitch wish he were never born. "Are you still there?"
"I'm here. I was just thinking about how I'm looking forward to our date tonight. We're still on, right?"
"We're still on although I wish I knew what you had planned so I could know what to wear.", she sighs.
"Anything you wear will be fine. You'll be beautiful no matter what." This time it's Ana who goes quiet. "Ana?"
"I...I'm...uh...trying to find the right response to your compliment. I'll go with thank you, and you're sweet which I never thought I'd be using in a sentence about you.", she giggles. Fuck that giggle!
"I've got a question for you, and I want you to be honest. If tonight goes well, do you think we might possibly...hold hands again?" Her giggling grows louder as does my smile. In the past I would look forward to fucking. It's not that I don't want to want to have sex with her because I do very much. Last night's simple act of holding hands felt like so much more.
"That might be arranged. I'm going to head out to lunch with Kate and Julia, but I'll see you tonight."
"Yes you will.", I reply.
"Christian, come in.", Kate says when I arrive at her and Ana's apartment. I follow her into the living room and remain standing. "Ana's in her room but should be out soon." She folds her arms and stares at me. "I've been telling Ana from the start that she should give you a chance. I think you two could have something really good."
"I do too."
"Just because I'm rooting for you doesn't mean I won't cut your balls off if you hurt her. I'm fiercely protective of my best friend and would do anything for her."
"Ana's lucky to have such a great friend. Kate, I haven't really done much along the lines of dating, but I can promise you that I'm going to treat Ana with respect and be good to her." Kate's mouth curves into a smile at something behind me. I turn around and see Ana standing there. She's wearing a dress which is white and lace at the top while the skirt part is a soft pink. A tan belt is wrapped around her waist. Her hair is down with loose curls. In a nutshell, Ana's stunning. "Wow. You're gorgeous."
"Thanks. I'm sorry for keeping you waiting.", she says softly.
"Not a problem at all." I feel Kate's eyes on Ana and me. "Shall we go?"
"Ok."
"I hope you two have fun.", Kate says as Ana and I walk out the door.
"We will.", I nod.
Outside, I lead Ana to my black Audi R8. Parked behind me is Taylor who's stationed in his SUV. Ana spots him and crinkles her nose.
"Taylor's my security and will be following us tonight. He'll keep his distance, and we won't know he's there." I open her door and help her inside the vehicle, making a motion to buckle her seat belt. She's smiling from ear to ear when I get in.
"Something amusing?", I ask.
"I was just thinking how I like this car.", she grins.
"It's one of many I own."
"That doesn't surprise me. Will you go ahead and tell me where we're going?" I start the car and shake my head. "Please."
"You'll find out soon enough. Just enjoy the ride.", I wink as we start towards our destination. "Besides seeing Donovan at work, did you have a good day?"
"For the most part. How about you?"
"Yeah. I managed to get through a staff meeting and two conference calls. Knowing our date was tonight was what helped me trudge through." We continue going down the highway, nearing the northern part of Seattle.
"Are you planning on driving us cross country?", she asks.
"No.", I chuckles as we arrive at Fremont Peak Park, the location for our date. "We're here." Ana's eyes light up when she sees the twinkling lights that are strewn from tree to tree. I get out and hurry around to her side of the car, opening the door and holding my hand out for her. I've been longing for her touch all night. She smiles and slides her hand in mine. Sparks!
"This is beautiful.", she says.
"I like coming here sometimes. It's a good place to clear my head. The view is amazing." One of the great things about the park is how it has unobstructed views of both Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains.
"There you two are. I was wondering where you were.", Mia says while practically bouncing towards Ana and me. She found out the date when she dropped by my office this afternoon. I already had the location and menu but needed help getting everything set up. Mia, always ready to help with any sort of special event, volunteered to pick up the food once. "Ana, it's so good to see you again."
"It's good to see you too. Did you help set this up?"
"Christian did the lights, table, and a few other things earlier, and I got the food." Mia shows no sign of moving until I clear my throat. "I should let you get to your date which I hope is the first of many." My sweet sister hugs Ana and then me. She leans closer to me and whispers, "Just be yourself."
"Thank you for your help.", I tell her before she heads to her car which she parked behind a row of bushes. I focus my attention back on Ana. "Shall we eat?"
"We shall." I help her into one of the wooden chairs. "You're such a gentleman."
"I try.", I smirk while taking my place at the table. "I hope you like what we're having." I lift the lid off her covered plate and then my own. "I did a little recon work and found out your favorite food of all time."
"Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.", she replies, pointing to the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before us. "I only eat grape jelly and crunchy peanut butter. I also have to have the crust off which probably sounds crazy considering I can have the crust on when it comes to other sandwiches."
"We can leave and get some other food. I just wanted you to be comfortable by having your favorite food which Kate said was peanut butter and jelly sandwiches."
"I don't want to leave. I want to stay here and eat our sandwiches. Kate was right. I could eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every day."
"I like them too." I pick up half of her sandwich and bring it to her lips. She bites into the sandwich and moans. Fuck that delicious sound! "Good?"
"Very good." She finally sees the other portion of our dinner. "Kate told you I like barbecue flavored chips?"
"You do? I added those because I like them."
"One more thing we have in common since they're my favorite." We start eating, glancing at each other every few seconds. "Question. If you could have one super power, what would it be?"
"Hmm. You'll be shocked to know it's not the ability to fly or have x-ray vision although I wouldn't mind having that latter right now." She blushes and motions for me to continue. "I guess I'd want to have some sort of ability that would magically make the world a better place at the snap of a finger. There wouldn't be any wars, hunger, violence." I can barely get that last part out. Ana sees the sudden shift in my attitude. "I'm sorry. I want tonight to be positive."
"I feel like you're holding back from me. I'm not sure what it is, and I won't pressure you to tell me. If and when you're ready, I'm a good listener." Opening up to people is something I've always had trouble doing, yet Ana's aleady changed me in several ways.
"I'll keep that in mind. What sort of super power would you want?", I ask, crunching into a chip.
"Easy. I'd like to be able to parallel park with ease.", she shrugs nonchalantly. My laughter almost makes me choke on my food. "Laugh all you want, but it's a real issue for me. I can do it, but it's a pain."
"You're adorable."
"Two nights in a row with you, and it's been nice.", Ana says once we've finished our meal.
"That means our first date was a success?"
"It was a success." I get out of my chair and walk over to her. "What?"
"I remember you saying at the bar you're not much of a dancer, but I'd really like to dance with you." I hold my hand out. "I'm no Fred Astaire myself." She bites her lips in debate until relenting and getting up. I press play on the cd player Mia left behind. I asked her to find some music as a backdrop for tonight. I'm almost afraid to hear what songs she chose. A slow song I've never heard begins playing although Ana appears to have heard it.
"I like this song. It's from Sia and is called "Salted Wound." I settle my hands around her waist as we start moving to the song.
Lonely float got in the way
You are the feel, and knew it anyway
Take a chance, it wasn't what you know
Take my hand, and don't let go.
Oh, ooh ooooh
You can do it,
Don't break
Yeah, you'll pull through it,
You're safe
Yes, you can do it
Don't break
Yeah, you'll pull through it,
You're safe.
Tell her on how you feel,
Give her every say she needs to hear
Give your heart, and say come take it
And she will see you're a good man.
The feel of Ana in my arms is beyond incredible. She raises her head up and meet my eyes.
"I haven't stepped on your toes yet. Score one for me.", she giggles. I join in on the laughing, stopping only when she does. The electricity between us is crackling. Her chest rises in sync with her ragged breathing.
"Ana?", I whisper.
"Yes?"
"I'd really like to kiss you right now."
"I'd like for you to kiss me.", she says.
I inch my lips closer to hers until they're locked together. The kiss starts off slow, growing deeper with intensity with each stroke of my tongue against hers. Time once again resumes, and we break apart.
"So that just happened.", I say.
"It sure did."
A/N Part Two: The song featured in the chapter is Sia's "Salted Wound" which appears on the Fifty Shades of Grey Movie Soundtrack.