A/N: Thanks for reading. Enjoy!
C POV
"Leila, it's me.", I say as I stand outside the room at the Fairmont, the hotel I arranged for Leila to stay in last night. She opens the door, wearing a white terry cloth robe.
"Ana's not with you?", she asks as she scans the hallway, only to see Taylor.
"No. She's gone to work." Leila smiles briefly until both Taylor and I walk into the hotel room. Taylor stands by the door while Leila and I move into the room. She sits on the sofa against the left wall, but I remain standing.
"I'm sorry for the robe. It's all I had other than the clothes I had on last night. I had those sent to be laundered, but I plan on paying for the room so you shouldn't worry about the extra expenses on the bill." I initially had every intention of paying for the room so she wouldn't ask to stay at my place, but my doubts of her story are making me change my mind.
"Ok.", I say. "How did you sleep?"
"Like crap. I've always had trouble sleeping in hotel rooms, and what happened last night only made it worse."
"Maybe you should try to go home. Sleeping in your own bed could be good." She shakes her head .
"I don't know when or if I'll ever feel safe to go back to my place.", she murmurs. "I asked about Ana being with you because I wanted to apologize to both of you for showing up last night. It was clear the two of you wanted a night to yourselves." I'm doubtful she wanted to apologize to Ana about last night.
"We ended up having a nice evening.", I say, not missing the disappointment on Leila's face. "Leila, what bar where you are at when you met that Mark guy?"
"Um...Frank's Pub. Why do you ask?"
"Because I want to find the guy. He shouldn't be walking around, free to repeat what he did to you. The next woman might not be so lucky."
"I appreciate you wanting to find him, but I want to try and put last night behind me. I don't want to dredge up something I'd rather forget." Taylor's eyes meet mine briefly. He's not buying her story any more than I am.
"Even if that means saving someone from the trauma you went through?", I scoff with a raised voice. One lone tear rolls down her face.
"You're right. You're absolutely right. I don't want another woman to feel the way I felt last night. He needs to be found and stopped from hurting someone else."
"I'll see what I can do. For now though, I've got to get to work." Taylor opens the door, and I walk towards him while Leila stands and follows me.
"Christian, thank you for everything." She quickly wraps her arms around me. The embrace ends when I step back. "I hope one day I can repay your for your help."
"There's no need to thank me. I'll be in contact."
"How's the Leila mystery going?", Ana asks me. I was pleasantly surprised when she arrived at my office with a bag of tacos. Although the food is delicious, it's seeing her that I'm happiest about.
"I had one of my guys go to Frank's Pub, the bar Leila said she was at last night. The bartender working wasn't the same one who tending bar last night. There was a waitress who was working last night, but she said they were so busy last night the faces blended together. Leila's initial reaction to me wanting to find the guy was the mirror image of the one she had last night when I suggested she go to a hotel."
"I suppose it's difficult finding someone who doesn't exist.", Ana shrugs, biting into her taco. "I no longer believe a damn word that comes out of her mouth."
"Speaking of lies...", I murmur. "When she opened the door, she asked if you were with me. She claimed the reason she asked was because she wanted to apologize to you for showing up last night." Ana drops her taco and starts laughing. "That's what I was doing on the inside. She also seemed upset that Taylor was with me."
"I'm sure she was. She probably thought she'd shed some crocodile tears, and you'd feel bad and comfort her. That comfort would then lead to the two of you having sex in the hotel room."
"I would never let that happen." I take a napkin and wipe some of the taco sauce from the corner of Ana's mouth.
"I trust you, but I have zero trust for Leila." My phone buzzes with a text.
"Leila's apartment building has cameras installed in the downstairs lobby, and I had all the footage from last night pulled. The bar might not have panned out, but hopefully we'll be able to get somewhere with the camera footage." Ana takes the last bite of her food and places her empty wrapper in the bag.
"I've got to get back to work.", she sighs. I growl and stand with her.
"Thank you for bringing me lunch.", I tell her as my arms snake around her waist. "Are we still on for dinner tonight?"
"We are although dinner is the only thing we're on for. I got my montly visitor this morning. I'm sorry."
"Ana, there's no need to apologize for something that's natural. Besides, I like being with you no matter what." Gazing into her eyes, I get a sensation that's almost overwelming. I'm falling in love with her. Scratch that, I've already fallen and am in the process of falling deeper in love. Never have I been in fall, yet I'm one hundred and ten percent without a doubt certain it's how I feel. Ana and I have expressed that we care about each other, yet I'm not sure Ana's at the same place as me.
"I like being with you too.", she whispers.
A POV
"What do you guys have planned for tonight?", I ask Kate and Elliot who are cuddled up on the sofa.
"We're going to head out in a bit to grab some dinner, and then we're going to come back here to watch some tv.", Kate answers. "What about the two of you?" She looks at me and then Christian.
"We having dinner at Fernando's. It's a new place downtown.", Christian answers.
"I drove by there the other day.", Elliot says. "Let me know how it is."
"Will do." Christian helps me into my coat, and I grab my purse. "Kate, Ana told me your brother and his wife are supposed to be in town this week."
"They're coming in on Friday. That night we're having dinner with my parents, but I'd like for the four of us to have dinner with them on Saturday night."
"I'd like that.", I reply.
"Ethan sounds like a nice guy, but I'm worried he won't like me.", Elliot says. "Kate said he's always been a protective brother."
"Well that's something the two of you have in common.", Kate giggles. She rubs Elliot's shoulder. "Ethan's the same as you when it comes to his sister. He wants me to be happy which I am with you. He'll see that happiness and love you."
"Ready?", Christian asks me.
"Yep."
"The sauce on this pasta is incredible.", Christian says. "Here. Try it." He scoops some of his chicken fettuccine onto his fork and reaches across the table. I open my mouth and accept the bite. "Good, huh?"
"Delicious.", I nod. "This place is nice."
"It is although the woman sitting across from me is what makes it amazing."
"I..." Before I can finish my sentence, a leggy, blonde haired woman waltzes towards our table. Her eyes are only on Christian.
"Christian, hi.", she says. Christian snaps his eyes from me and looks at the woman.
"Um...Erin, hello." His apologetic eyes bounce back to me.
"It's been a while."
"It has.", he replies. "Erin, this is Ana, my girlfriend."
"Hi.", I say.
"Girlfriend...wow.", she laughs. "I'm a little shocked that Christian Grey has a girlfriend, but I'm happy that he does. I hoped someone would end up taming the beast one day, and you my dear have done it. Congrats."
"I didn't tame him. He does things on his own."
"Still, it's good to see that he's no longer just hooking up with women." She looks towards the front of the restaurant. "I see my boyfriend is out of the restroom so I should be going. Have a good evening."
"You too.", Christian tells her before she walks away. He goes back to eating his food as if nothing happened.
"You and Erin had a thing.", I say. He stops eating and blows out a breath. "It's ok. You've got a past just like I have a past."
"It wasn't much of a thing. She and I met one night at a bar, and we hooked up."
"You met at bar just like you and I met at a bar.", I murmur, raising my glass to my lips.
"The setting of where we met might be the same, but that's where the similarities end. The way I felt for her was no where near the same as I how I feel for you. Ana, I..." Just as I was interrupted, he is also stopped by the ringing of his phone.
"It's ok if you need to answer it." He answers the call as I go back to my dinner. I eat and watch him as he talks on the phone. I shouldn't be upset with seeing one of his former flames. He handled meeting Owen well, yet I feel a little upset. Ending the call, he sets his phone down.
"That was Barney, my tech guy. He's been looking through the footage from Leila's apartment building. At seven last night Leila and a guy arrived downstairs. They then took the elevator to presumably Leila's apartment. There aren't cameras on each floor so he didn't see anything else until eight when Leila was seen leaving the building."
"He saw the guy leaving, right?"
"Nope. Adding to the mystery is the fact that the guy isn't seen again. It's like he just disappeared."
"Maybe he left through another entrance.", I say.
"There's a door at the back of the building, but there's not a camera there. He could've taken off through that door." Christian motions to my plate which I've pushed away from me. "Are you finished?"
"Yeah. My stomach isn't feeling the best." I'm not entirely lying. My stomach is hurting, but seeing an old hookup and dealing with the Leila issue is only adding to my loss of appetite.
"Your little visitor?", he asks as I nod. "Do you want to head out and maybe go back to my place for a while? I can take home later."
"I think I'd like to just go home if that's ok?"
"Sure.", he mutters.
"You're ok with me going home, aren't you?", I ask Christian. He ignores me and continues driving. In the mirror I see Taylor trailing behind us in his vehicle. "I guess your silence answers my question." He quickly turns off the street and pulls into the parking lot of an abandoned building while Taylor parks on the curb. "What are you doing?"
"I'm going to get answers from you is what I'm doing.", he snarls. He gets out and paces in front of the car. I roll my eyes and jump from my seat and onto the pavement. "You've been acting off since dinner."
"I told you my stomach isn't feeling well.", I hiss. "Excuse me for having a fucking period!"
"That's not the only thing going on with you. I saw your attitude change when Erin came to our table. Ana, there's no reason to be jealous. I'm with you."
"For now.", I mumble.
"What the fuck does that mean?!", he shouts. I shake my head and start back to the car, but he runs and stands in front of me, preventing me from opening the car door. "We're not leaving until you answer me."
"Just forget it."
"Oh, no can do. You've opened up a can of worms that needs to be addressed. I really hope you're not questioning my feelings for you." He runs his hands through his hair. "Damn it, Ana. What has suddenly caused you to doubt how I feel?"
"I know you care me about me now, but I guess I wonder how you're going to feel tomorrow or the next day. You've admitted the dating thing is new to you. You might wake up tomorrow and decide it was only a phase."
"A phase? Do you hear yourself right now?"
"When we first met I was determined to not fall for you, and yet my emotions betrayed me, making me fall. My feelings for you grow with each passing day, and it scares me because that also sets up the risk of heartbreak even more." His eyes soften, and he trails his index finger along the side of my face.
"I'm not going to break your heart, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared of you breaking mine. You're not the only one with fears. I'm afraid it's going to dawn on you that you're better off without me. Another thing is I hate what's happening with Leila, and I wonder if you possibly might get so tired of it that you'll want to walk away. Even though being in a relationship is new to me, I'm fairly certain I'll know the pain of losing the woman I love." I gasp at his admission, and he appears just as shocked. "About the last part of what I said..."
"You didn't mean it. It's ok.", I shrug.
"Except I did mean it.", he says. "Ana, I not only love you, but I'm in love with you." The impact of his words have rendered me speechless. "You probably don't feel the same, and that's fine. I just needed to get my feelings out there." I cup his face in my hand and capture his lips with mine.
"I feel the same, but I haven't said anything because I didn't want to freak you out." He lets out a chuckle.
"We've been making it a point of being honest with each other, but we couldn't express something so great."
"We're in love.", I say.