Ana

Elliot drove me back home after breakfast and I had a quick chat with my mom, who is really upset about what Ethan did to Anya. She actually told me after thinking about it, she is glad I've beat him. We talked some more about some charity things she needs my help with and back in my room I decide to change in to my bikini and go to the basement to swim for a while. We have an indoor pool and I like to use it at least four times a week. I guess after moving out I will still come back home at least three times a week to take a swim.

Another reason why I decided to take a swim is that my mom is having her monthly ladies brunch today. She wanted to cancel it, but there was no time to do so. I like most of her friends, but Elena will be there too and I have no desire to see her anytime soon or I might lose it with her too. Fuck, if I ever overcome these panic attacks I might as well start a therapy for anger management.

After swimming laps for about 45 minutes I have enough. I take the last lap under water, but as I'm about to come up for air I feel a hand on my head which is holding me under water. I try to get away but who ever is pushing me down has his fingers fisted in my hair and just when I think I have to drown, the hand is gone and I come up gasping for air. I look up and my blood starts to boil when I see none other than Elena Lincoln standing at the edge of the pool.

"What the fuck, Elena? Have you lost your mind?" I hiss and get out of the pool.

"Consider this a warning Anastasia. Leave Christian and I alone." she hisses back.

"Oh really, did he come running to you? You know what, you are disgusting, Elena! A woman your age should have more class than to fuck the son of her best friend."

"Christian and I are just friends, and even if we had an intimate relationship it would be none of your business! You are just jealous that a man like Christian would never even look your way."

"Oh really it didn't seem like he wouldn't want to look my way when he kissed me the day I came back from Europe. In fact, he seemed rather excited to see me if you get what I'm trying to say" I tell her sweetly and her mouth pops open.

"He kissed you?" she shrieks.

"Oh, he didn't tell you? Too bad, but you know maybe you have just gotten to old and saggy for him. Actually, I'm shocked how old you look, what happened? Did your doctor ran out of Botox or are you out of money and to old and disgusting to find a new sugar daddy?"

"You better watch yourself you little bitch, because if you think you can drive a wedge between Christian and I you are sadly mistaken. He is mine and he will always pick me. I made him, everything he has, who he is today, he owes it to me. He ..." I can not listen to her any longer and push her right into the pool. As she tries to come up for air I quickly stoop down and push her under the water again, giving her the same treatment she has given me before, and just for good measure I let her come up for air and do it a second time.

When she comes up again she is staring at me completely horrified.

"Got your attention now, bitch? Good! Do not ever mistake me for some naïve little girl, Elena because if you piss me off one more time, I'm going to ruin you. I will ruin your business, your reputation, I will do what ever it takes to ensure that every day of your miserable existence is hell on earth. Don't try to fuck with me Elena, because you have no idea what you are getting yourself into." With that I straighten myself and start walking toward the changing room, but I can't resist to turn around and say one more thing.

"Oh, and Elena, when you change out of those wet clothes, take a good look at your old body and think about me in this tiny bikini, and then I want you to ask yourself which one of us Christian would like to fuck more." I give her a sweet smile, hurry into the changing room where I put my robe on and get upstairs into my room.

Once I have locked the door I lean against it. Holy fuck, did I really just do that? I guess it was the adrenaline when she tried to drown me or something like that, because usually this would have been a situation where I would have had a major panic attack. For a second I think about calling the police, but then again I have no witnesses and I gave her the same treatment, so I decide against it and call Carrick again.

"Ana, is everything alright, have you talked to Christian?"

"Yes, I told him that I am sorry, he knows I won't tell Grace, though I'm no longer talking to him. He wanted me to sign an NDA. Well, so much for being friends. Anyway, you won't believe what just happened."

"Tell me."

"I was swimming in the pool and Elena tried to drown me. I wanted to come up for air and she pushed me under water, holding me down for a couple of seconds. She let go and then threatened me to leave Christian and her alone. She is crazy, Carrick!"

"Dear god, have you called the cops?"

"No, we got into an argument and she talked about Christian like he is her puppet, so I pushed her in the pool and returned the favor. I told her not to mess with me or I would ruin her."

"I see, well I am not sure what to say. You have to be careful, Anastasia. Elena seems to be dangerous and I don't want you to end up getting hurt. I've already contacted the private investigator and he will stop by later today. Try to avoid running into Elena. Once we have enough evidence I will figure out a way to get Elena behind bars without having Christian's name tangled up in this mess."

"Okay, so call me if the private investigator can find anything." I hang up and after a long hot shower I change into black pants, a white tank top, black flats and a gray cardigan. I take my dogs out again and when I'm back I have lunch with my mom.

"Oh my gosh, Ana. I know I shouldn't laugh about this, but Elena fell into the pool" my mom giggles as we are sitting down for lunch.

"What?" I decide to play dumb, because obviously Elena lied about what happened.

"Yes, she went to the indoor pool, because she wanted to say hello to you, after I've told her that you are here and probably in the pool. You must have missed her, anyway, she wanted to look for you, slipped and fell into the pool. She looked like a drowned rat, oh my gosh, I'm a terrible friend to say that, am I?" my mom says still not able to stop giggling. Well, at least this explains where I get the giggling from.

"No mom, you are not a terrible friend. Actually, I would laugh, too if something like that would happen to Mia or Kate. And they would probably laugh if I would fall into the pool fully dressed."

"Good, so your brother called, he wanted to take Anya to Dr. Greene this afternoon, but I told him I'm taking her. I think it would embarrass her to take her brother to go see Dr. Greene." Oh shit!

"Um ... Mom, I can take her, I can get another appointment to sign the contract for my apartment."

"No, you go meet your Dad to buy that apartment. I will take Anya." she says smiling and I cringe inwardly.

"Mom, just please don't embarrass, Anya."

"Embarrass her? Why would I embarrass her, darling?"

"Mom, do you remember when you took me to see Dr. Greene the first time?"

"Of course, you were 15 and had those terrible cramps every time you got your period, but it's good since you are taking the pill, right?"

"Yes, but that is not the point, mom. I was lying on the exam table with my feet in stir ups and you looked over Dr. Greene's shoulder under the blanket and started to discuss in front of her why I am shaving my vagina. I wanted to die, mom!"

"Oh please, Ana, you were 15. I was embarrassed that my 15-year-old daughter went to see a doctor with her vagina shaved like those porn stars do." I stare at my mom, is she for real? I decide not to argue, I love my mom with all my heart, but sometimes she can be so embarrassing and she doesn't even notice it.

"Okay, let's change the subject. I'm meeting with the party planner for your anniversary next monday."

"Good. I'm so happy that you decided to take over the planning. This will be the first party in this house in a long while where I can just enjoy the day and not run around all day hoping that everything goes well."

"That's the plan mom, the invitations are already out, so by the end of next week we should know who is coming. Most of the details are already planned and what I couldn't decide via Skype will be decided next week. So, all is looking good."

"Good, just don't pick a menu with very spicy food or your dad has to spend most of the night in the bathroom and keep in mind that there will be some vegetarians at the party and two of our guests are allergic to seafood."

"I know mom, it's all on my list, so don't worry."

After some more talking about the party my mom has to leave to meet with some other women from the board of one of her charities and I decide to just relax a little and make some more notes for the party. My main reason to volunteer to arrange everything was my surprise for them. Because while I'm playing the song for them I want to have set up some video walls around the tent to show pictures of my parents. I already talked to the party planner and it will be no problem to hide them behind white drapery. Once I'm on stage the drapery will be let down to reveal the video walls. Now all I have to do is follow through with it ... I hope I can do this.

Later this afternoon I'm leaving the office of the real estate agent with my Dad and I'm shocked. I thought it would take a while until the deal is sealed, but my Dad being my Dad, he wanted it done today, so now not only am I the proud owner of a 2 bedroom apartment at Escala, but it cost me nothing. When I wanted to talk about the financial part, my Dad took over and surprised me by paying for my apartment.

"You know Annie, you could just say thank you, daddy" he chuckles looking at my still shocked face.

"I ... yes... thank you, daddy. But you didn't have to do this. I could have paid for my apartment."

"I know that you could have paid yourself, Annie. But you are grown up now, I guess in a week or two you will move out and soon there won't be much occasions for me to buy something for you. It makes me happy to buy things for my kids, so let me do this for you." he says and I hug him.

"I love you, daddy. Thank you."

"You are very welcome, darling. So, now let's go to Escala so I can see where my baby girl is going to live. Good thing Christian lives there, too. So you have someone close by if you need help."

I decide not to say anything about Christian. My Dad is so over protective he would probably punch Christian right in the face if he knew what was going on. So, we drive over to Escala and I show my Dad my new apartment.

"Nice place, Annie."

"I know, but I want to change the furniture and have a painting crew over to give the place some color, it's too white for my liking."

"Well, as far as the furnishing goes you know where to get what you want." he says and sure, as the owner of nearly 1000 furnishing stores all over north america and europe my Dad knows all about furniture and I don't have to pay for anything I want for my apartment.

Since my mom wants to take Anya out for dinner, my dad and I decide to have dinner in the city. We are just about to leave the lobby of Escala when his phone rings.

"A minute Annie" he mutters and takes the call. I nod and point to the door letting him know that I will wait outside.

I'm just about to answer a text from Mia when someone grabs my arm so hard it hurts.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, Anastasia? You tried to drown Elena, are you out of your mind?" I don't even need to look up when I hear those angry words.

"Christian, let go of my arm, you are hurting me!" I snap and try to yank my arm free, but his grip only tightens to the point where it really hurts.

"Answer my question! Do you know that Elena could press charges against you?"

"So could I Christian, because she started this, I was on my last lap in the pool when she grabbed my hair and pushed me under the water. I just returned the favor."

"And you think I believe you? My god you are not only a slut, you are a liar as well. I can't ..."

"Take your hands of my daughter, now!" my dads voice is like a thunderstorm and Christian let's go of me immediately.

"What the hell possessed you to grab her arm like that and don't think for a second that I haven't heard the names you just called her!" my dad hisses and from Christian's stance I can see that he has gone into full defence mode.

"I'm sorry Ray, but it's the truth. And believe me, there is no one who would wish things were different more than I do." he says turns around and heads into the building, but I have a bigger problem and before my Dad can even turn back around to look at me I take off and run around the corner where I have to throw up into the bushes.

I hear my Dad call out my name and wait for a couple of more seconds to catch my breath before I walk back to him, thankful that he hasn't seen me thrown up.

"Annie, what is wrong?"

"Sorry, I just needed a moment alone."

"I see, so what has gotten into Christian?"

"Can we find a restaurant and sit down first?" I ask and my dad agrees. So we go to a nearby restaurant called Le Pichet and sit down at a table.

"So, what has gotten into Christian?"

"He thinks I'm a slut. He had security on me while I was in Europe and has gotten the wrong impression." I whisper while staring at my hands.

"Because of those music teachers who came to your suites?" hearing my dad say this my head shoots up and he chuckles.

"Annie, you should have known that I am way to over protective to let you go to Europe without any protection. I had someone watching you the entire time."

"You too?" I shriek and he laughs.

"Sure, but obviously I'm not as stupid as Christian."

"How did you know they were music teachers?"

"First, they came to your room, you didn't pick them up at a club or bar. So that meant you had an appointment with them. When my security guy send me the first pictures of men who came to your room, I had him talk to one of the guys when he left your room. He told him he is a vocal coach and the fact that you insisted that every suite you stayed in must have a piano even though you can't play the piano made me sure those guys were telling the truth. So, why did you take singing and piano lessons?"

"It's a surprise, you'll see." I answer with a smile. At least my Dad doesn't believe Christian and though I should be mad that he had me followed, too, I am not. I know this is just his way of making sure that I am fine and of course, I can never stay mad at my daddy for more than 30 seconds.

"Good, but one more question. Why didn't you just tell Christian the truth?"

"I had every intension to do so, but at first I was too mad to tell him the truth and when I did he didn't believe me. He even convinced Cooper that I had sex with all those men."

"Oh those two idiots. It's always the same with them, once they think they know the truth there is no way to convince them otherwise. Do you want me to talk to them?"

"No, it's okay Daddy. They will find out the truth soon enough and right now, I don't even care. I have enough other things to deal with, if they want to behave like that, so be it."

My dad looks at me and smirks. "You know Annie, I think you should try to talk to Christian. I do not appreciate the way he talked to you or the way he grabbed your arm, but it is pretty clear that he is so jealous he can't see straight."

"What, why would Christian be jealous?"

"Annie, come on. Now you are being obtuse. That boy has it bad for you, your mom and I could see it months before you went to europe. And I wasn't going to tell you this, because I didn't want to rain on his parade. But the day you went to europe, he stopped by late in the evening wanting to see you. He had a huge bouquet of red roses with him and looked like a beaten dog when I had to tell him that you left a couple of days early. Now imagine how a guy who has it bad for a girl has to wait while she in europe and he gets pictures of her with different men in each town she stays in."

I look at my Dad. This can't be true. Christian stopping by with red roses for me? No way!

"Are you sure the roses were for me?"

"Well, they better not have been for your mother or little sister" he says making me laugh.

"Okay, even if they would have been for me, he could have listened to me before he started to go all asshole on me."

"Annie, be real, we are talking about Christian, when have patience and listening to other people has even been one of his strong sides."

"But still, even if it was true and I had slept with those men, he has no right to judge me. I wouldn't judge him no matter how many women he has been with."

"Annie, I know you won't like what I am going to say next, but no guy wants to date the village whore. It's different with guys, a guy should be experienced, but a girl well the less guys she has been with before the better."

I can't help it, I groan in frustration. "That's so stupid, daddy. I hate double standards, I mean not that I want to have sex with many different men, but it seems very hypocritically that men are allowed to have sex with who ever they want, while women either have to wait for Mister Right or they end up being called a slut."

My dad leans over the table and kisses my forehead. "I get where you are coming from Annie, but that's a thing that is routed so deep even in today's society that I don't think you can do anything about it. And Annie, if Christian finds out how wrong he was, let him grovel, you deserve to be treated like a princess and he better learn that pretty fast or I end up kicking his ass."

On our way home I remain silent. Why would Christian show up to see me with red roses? I don't even dare to think for one second that he might have wanted to confess his feelings for me ... but what if that is the reason why he showed up? Could he really be jealous? And what's more important would I still consider starting a relationship with him after the way he has treated me for the last couple of days? My next appointment with Flynn can't come soon enough. There is so much I need to talk about, Elena, Ethan and now the possibility that Christian has feelings for me.

At home I decide to check on Anya and find her pouting in her room.

"Hey what happened?"

"Oh my gosh Ana! Mom embarrassed me so much, I was changing into the disposable gown and she came in to look if I needed help tying it in the back and I was like totally naked and she started to debate the size of my boobs and that they are way to big. I wanted to die! Honestly, we have to do something, like buy a book with the title 'How not to embarrass your daughter in public'" she says and I have to giggle.

"Believe me, if there was a book like that, I would have bought it for mom years ago."

"Has she embarrassed you, too?" Anya asks and I flop down next to her on the bed.

"More than once. One time I went to the drug store with her and there was this one guy from my middle school that I really liked and we started to talk at the register while our moms were shopping in there. When mom came to get me she handed me a package of tampons with super plus absorbency, telling me that our housekeeper told her there was blood in all my jeans and panties last time I had my period, so clearly the normal absorbency wasn't enough for me. I wanted to die and of course that boy never looked at me again."

"Wow, that's so embarrassing, I would have never talked to her again, like ever!" Anya says wide-eyed.

"That's what I thought, too. But in the end that's how mom is, sometimes she has no filter whatsoever."

"Yeah, maybe I should make a list with topics I do not want her to discuss in public with me" she says just when the door to her room opens and Kate and Mia come in with a gift basket.

"Hi, umm this is for you, Anya. You know my asshead of a brother would never apologize, but I felt like I had to do something. It's just some make up, chocolate, some gift cards for the mall." Kate says and hands Anya the gift basket.

"Thanks, but you didn't have to buy something for me."

"Yes, I had to, I knew he was taking you to clubs you weren't old enough to get into, but I thought you know, you are like a little sister to all of us and what he did, maybe if I had opened my eyes to how Ethan really is before ... anyways it's just a little something."

"Okay, thanks and umm ... Mia, please don't hate me" Anya whispers not daring to look at Mia.

"If I hate anyone then it's Ethan, he used me and he used you, if the two of us end up not talking now, then he won. So, I thought instead of feeling sorry for myself, let's have some fun. There is this ice cream shop called Bottega Italiana near Pike Market and I thought we could all go there now, have tons of ice cream and forget all about Ethan for good." Mia says with a big smile and so we all agree and drive to town together. This is just what I need right now, hanging out with my sister and friends and trying not to think about Christian at all, well at least for a little while ...