Chapter 05

APOV

The past few weeks have gone by quickly. Luckily, I haven't had to see or talk to Christian since the day we planned the bachelorette weekend. I don't know what I ever did to him but that cocky asshole has no reason to treat me like that regardless of how good looking he is. It rings true that beauty is only skin deep. Kate, Mia, and I have gotten together a few times to work on the wedding stuff. There wasn't much for us to do since Kate has one of the best and most exclusive wedding planners in the state. I have been helping her pack her things in the apartment in preparation for her move to Elliot's place. It's going to be weird being in the apartment by myself. We've lived together for five years and in two apartments.

My bags are packed and I'm just waiting for Kate to finish getting ready so we can meet everyone else at the airport. The plane is scheduled to leave at 9 am so we should land in L.A. at about 11:30 am. We'll have practically the whole day left. I still don't know where we are staying since Mr. Wonderful Billionaire made all the plans; or more like had one of his staff make the plans.

Kate, Ethan, and I pull up to the tarmac and you can't miss the gigantic plane with the GEH logo emblazoned on the side. "Holy shit, Kate. That's his plane?"

"Yeah, his bank account is just as big as his ego." Kate giggles next to me. At least I'm not the only person who thinks that. We get out of the car and Ethan goes to the trunk to take out our bags.

"Here, Ethan, I can take some of those." I hold my hand out to grab some of the bags.

"Ah, well, I wouldn't want you to hurt your little arm." Ethan teases me.

"Hey!" I laugh and smack his arm. He hands me a small bag to carry. We walk closer to the plane and meet up with Elliot, Mia, and Christian.

"Hey, baby." Elliot gives Kate a kiss and takes her bags from Ethan. "Our stuff is already loaded on the plane. Hey, Ethan. Hello, Anastasia." When Elliot says my name, he wiggles his eyebrows at me making me laugh.

"Kate! Ana! It's so good to see you again!" Mia gives us each a big hug. She is such a sweetheart.

"If you are all done with your salutations, we have a plane that needs to take off." Kate looks at me and rolls her eyes. I have a feeling this weekend is not going to be as fun and easy going as I hoped. Ethan takes his bags and mine to load with the others while I board. Elliot and Kate are sitting with each other already and Christian is already seated. To avoid sitting with him, I sit across the aisle. Luckily, Ethan sits next to me so I can pretend Christian isn't even here. I just need to get through this for Kate and then I don't have to worry about seeing him again.

CPOV

As much as she annoys me, I have to admit Ana looks pretty good. She's wearing short jean cut-offs and underneath her zip up sweatshirt, she has on a black sleeveless flowy top with crochet detailing. I never realized how sexy and long her legs are. And, when she bends over in front me, I have to adjust myself in the seat.

I know my brother said Ethan and Ana aren't a thing but he is kind of handsy and his looks at her linger longer than necessary. He may just be a friend to her but he wants in her pants.

This is going to be a long weekend.

Mia is sitting next to me. "Christian, play Would You Rather with me!"

"Play what?"

"Would You Rather. Come on, it'll be fun!"

"I'd rather not," I answer her dryly. I love my sister dearly but it's so easy to get her riled up, I can't help it.

"We can all play and take turns. Who wants to go first?" My sister is the quintessential social butterfly. It's why she did so well as president of her sorority.

"I'll go first." Kate offers as she turns in her seat to face Mia. "Mia, would you rather your shirts be always two sizes too big or one size too small?"

"Hmmm… that's a good one. Let me think…" Mia pauses actually giving thought to the pointless question. "One size too small, that way my boobs would still look good." Both Mia and Kate giggle.

"Jesus Christ, Mia." Elliot has his face scrunched. "We don't need to hear about that from our baby sister."

"Well, Elliot. I'm not a baby and I am almost the same age as your soon-to-be wife. OK, Christian, your turn."

"No thanks, Mia. I don't want to play."

Mia pouts at me. "Fine, Ana? Would you rather live in the wilderness far from civilization or live on the streets of a city as a homeless person?"

"In the wilderness for sure."

"Ana, you would probably pick that even without a choice, as long as you had your books." Kate laughs and Ana blushes. I never noticed but she blushes quite often.

"Ana, now you have to ask a question," Mia tells Ana.

"OK, Elliot, would you rather have a horrible short term memory or a horrible long-term memory?"

"I would answer the question but I don't remember what it was!" Mia looks at Elliot and rolls her eyes.

"Come on, guys. We need to do something fun during the flight."

"Mia, just ask normal questions then. They don't have to be Would You Rather." Elliot chides her.

"Then you ask one, smarty pants." Elliot gives her a big smile. Mia annoys him like only a little sister can but he loves her just the same.

"OK, Ethan, What is your favorite book?"

"The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud."

"Leave it to my brother to make this boring," Kate interjects.

"What? I am a psychology student. You wouldn't think anything of it if Ana said hers was a Jane Austen book."

Ana looks over to Ethan, "Actually, my favorite author is Thomas Hardy." She smiles at him. She's a bit of a smartass but I like that.

Mia looks at me again. "OK, Christian. What is a pet peeve of yours?"

"Playing dumb games like this one."

"Christian, you really are a party pooper."

"Mia, have you ever played Two Truths and a Lie? I remember playing it at summer camp." Kate suggests.

"I've never heard of it. What do you do?"

"OK, so you say three statements. Two of them are true and one is false. Everyone has to guess which one is the false statement."

"That sounds like fun. You go first, Ana."

She thinks for a little while. "OK, I never went to my senior prom. I played field hockey in high school. And, I don't know how to swim."

"So, I have to pick the false statement, right?"

"Yup."

"I think the lie is that you never went to your senior prom." Mia sounds very sure of herself.

"Nope. The lie is I played field hockey in high school." Kate starts to laugh.

"Ana playing a sport is pretty funny. No offense Ana, but you are the least coordinated person I have ever met."

Ana laughs at Kate's statement. "So, you never went to your prom? Why?" Mia asks Ana. Mia would have never missed her prom. She loves that sort of thing.

Ana shrugs. "Well, there was really no one to go with me and all that pomp and circumstance really isn't my thing." It strikes me odd that Ana didn't go to her prom. Now that I look at her, she is a lovely girl. I don't see what teenaged boy wouldn't want to take her on a date.

For the rest of the flight, everyone just makes small talk about movies and music while I sit back and read my NY Times and try to find some solitude.