Chapter 33: Digging Graves

Author's Note!

Happy Chinese New Year everyone ;) yes! I'm Chinese. But not mainland. I'm from Singapore! This week's episode of PLL was like... :0

Time was finite and running out.

Christian flared at me, it was not as if I was oblivious to his hatred for Jack. He had made his distaste apparent right from the beginning.

Jack's smile was still set in, though it did not quite reach his eyes. He seemed disturbed that Christian was here in my office and looked close to hauling me out of the place.

My time was slipping away quickly and I needed a solution to balance this problem on both sides. I wanted to obtain the information from Jack, yet, I wanted to maintain this steadily improving relations Christian and I had begun to create. But Christian could not know about the problem at hand, he was a psychological worrier and he would never let me explore this. Instead, he would probably trap me in the apartment under the care of Luke. However, I knew that going through Jack was the best way to bring this mystery to a conclusion. Something none of Christian's security team could do.

Instead, his security team may end up frightening John Doe and not catching him. This would leave him the chance to strike again in the future. But I could find out who John Doe really was and then let Christian vaporize him. That seemed like a more sound approach, more viable for everyone.

Both men cleared their throats, indicating that my time was officially up. I steadied myself and gathered my thoughts the best they could. "Christian," I said in a tone dripping with caution. "I'm going out for lunch with Jack."

Jack seemed to relax momentarily, but then rearmed himself when Christian clenched his fists at his sides, shaking with anger. I had to reassure Christian. Gently, I placed my hand on his bicep and tried to calm him down with the only explanation I had for all this. "Christian, we talked about time."

"Time doesn't include you freelancing as other people's dates." He growled, flicking a glare in Jack's direction.

"We're just having lunch." I clarified, raising my eyebrow at the man.

"Alone." It was not even a question.

"It's just lunch, we only have an hour break anyway." I shrugged it off, stroking his arm.

Jack glanced at his watch, "Speaking of which, I think it would be wise for us to leave now to make the lunch appointment."

Christian was not pleased. Shoving Jack away, he slammed the door at his face and locked it. Cross, he place his hands on his hip on silent question to what possibly excuse I could have.

It made me break out into cold sweat. "It's just lunch, Christian."

"Just lunch?" He said sourly. "Don't think I don't know what you and Ethan did last night." Jack's face popped up at the glass and he threw me worried glances. I tried to ignore him.

Christian's words only made me clam up even more. What did he know? The image of Ethan and I locking tongues did little to calm my raging sea. "We didn't do anything."

Christian laughed sardonically. "Trust me, I have a little sister who feels that her boyfriend is more in love with you than he is with her after last night." Mia had gone to Christian, she had ran to her protective elder brother to come to her aid. "I'm not happy with the fact that you ran away from me and immediately into his arms."

"That's not fair, Christian. I returned to my apartment and Ethan was there with Mia."

"You returned because you knew he would be there!" Christian accused.

That just put me on the defensive. "NO, I RETURNED BECAUSE YOU CHEATED ON ME AND I COULDN'T JUST WALTZ BACK INTO ESCALA WITH YOU."

His jaw clenched and I knew he was pissed. By the look on his face, I knew he knew that I truly did not believe his little explanation. There would always be doubts at the back of my mind. "Escala. Is. Your. Home." He said firmly, through his teeth.

"I'm going to stay in my apartment, Christian." My voice had leveled once more and Jack was waving at me through the glass, two burly big security men flanking him. That only seemed to tick Christian off even more, he tapped his foot against the ground, giving me time to reconsider my words. "I'm serious, Grey."

Before he could protest, I shook my head at him. "I highly doubt Ethan would come back to stay, Mia wouldn't allow it."

"Neither would I." Christian pointed out.

"Okay, look. Can we just put this on hold, Jack's got his panties in a bunch already." I gestured towards qqJack, who was having a heated discussion with the security men. A
"I DON'T GIVE A F*** ABOUT HYDE." Christian snapped.

I had to stay rooted. "Alright, then I'll see you some other time, I'm off for lunch." I unlocked the door.

Just as I did, two things happened at the same time. Christian grabbed my wrist to stop me and the security men barged into the room. "Stop right there!" They both shouted.

Christian turned with dramatic slowness to glare at the trio, "I am the owner of this company and the employer of your jobs. So GET THE FU** OUT!"

This sent a spark of confusion amongst the men, especially Jack, who was stunned. Before Christian could beat up the poor men, I reached for Jack's wrist, "Lets go, come on." And before anybody could react, I jerked him towards me and led us both out of the suffocating atmosphere.

There was no doubt that Christian would not be happy. But on one hand, I desired to believe his innocence, but on the other, I had a slight doubt if his story could be true. That kind of confusion should be avoided at all costs and besides, having lunch with Jack was for Christian's benefit, not mine.

I dived into the lift as it closed, pulling Jack in after me. I heaved a sigh of relief as I watched the lift begin to descend. Now it was time to fix the damage Christian had done. I could not allow Jack to believe that Christian and I were back together, or something horrid would befall Christian.

"Did he hurt you?" Jack interrupted my line of argument.

"Of course not, no." I shook my hands at him, trying to sway his tainted lens of Christian.

"You're not getting back together with him, are you?" There it was. The question that could make or break Christian.

"I highly doubt so." Saved the day.

"Good." He said with a nod, leading me out of the lift and into the lobby.

"Hey!" Hannah had on a mask of frustration when she saw me. "I'm so sorry. I called your line and then your phone, but Christian wouldn't wait for you to respond."

Oh, I did not want either of them to think that I had been slacking off. "I was buried under heaps of work," I giggled and gave Jack a knowing lock, "and I don't have my phone on me anymore." In order to banish her panic, I added, "Don't worry about it Hannah."

She pressed her lips together and nodded at me, "Off to lunch?"

"Yeah, taking this lady out for a good meal after all the great work she's been submitting." Jack hi-fived me as he turned towards the exit.

Hannah looked shock. As I was leaving, she mouthed to me : You're with Jack?

I shook my head and followed after Jack. Was that what it seemed like?

Yes, you crazy ignorant bitch. My inner goddess reprimanded, heading my lack of awareness.

Was that why Christian was so annoyed? I sighed. I needed to drop him a text to tell him that I love him. My hands felt down my pencil skirt and came up empty. Of course. I had left my blackberry in Christian's office. I halted in my footsteps and waited for Jack to walk into the distance before turning back to call Hannah. "Hannah." She had been watching me retreat. "Tell Grey that I love him to the end of the world and back."

A sweet smile played across her face in place of the confusion and she nodded at me, faith restored in my faithfulness to Christian. I never said I did not love the man, he was probably the only other male I loved besides Ray.

Jack had stopped by his car, completely out of earshot, waiting for me to catch up. He opened the passenger door to his BMW and helped me in before closing it for me and jogging to the other side. "Thanks." I told him as we began to drive away.

"No problem, it's good that you get treated as a princess once in awhile." He stated with a beam on his face. Of course, I knew full well that he was referring to my supposedly abusive relationship with Christian.

"Yeah." I said, defeatedly, putting on a front to try and get him to talk about Christian.

"Christian... How did he happen anyway? One minute you had arrived in Seattle and the next, you were attached." Jack tapped his fingers against the steering wheel.

So his knowledge was limited to what was given to him. I had thought that he would know the basics. "Pure luck, I suppose. Coincidence meeting."

Jack accepted my vague response, but there was something on his mind. "Ah, what is it about Christian that draws you in?"

He was probably under the impression that I was a sadomasochist of some sort. "His passion..." I steered him away from such an opinion. "For what he does."

A quirky look filled Jack's face. "What does he do?"

I gave him a casual shrug. "Feed the hungry, I suppose."

That was definitely not the answer Jack was looking for, so he started to focalize his questions. "There's a bruise on your forehead, you know." Jack pointed out and I looked into the mirror in surprise. Where did that come from? "How did you get it?"

So Jack thought that Christian was still abusing me and wanted to lead me to spilling my guts out about Christian. I thought about it long and hard. When had I hit myself on the head? "I ran into a lift." I told Jack and then giggled. "When it was closed, walked right into it head first."

But Jack was serious, "Doesn't seem like you."

Which was wrong on so many different levels because I was accident prone to a huge extent but Jack would not know that as he barely even knew me. "You don't hang around me long enough."

"I suppose so." Jack sounded tentative and the car came to a halt at the front of a beautiful hotel. The valet got my door and assisted me out carefully.

"You're taking me to a hotel?" I shot, surprised that he would do so.

Jack shrugged, "I've been coming here quite often and the food's good. So I was having a special craving for it the entire last week and decided to satisfy it with your company."

"Um... Thanks." I stutter, knowing that he was softening me up for the impending flirtation. Jack guided me towards a Japanese restaurant and waved at the staff, evidence to the fact that he was a familiar in this place.

It's a clue, Ana! My inner goddess waved her arms in my face, trying to get me to realize it.

Gathering my wits just as the waiter led us to a quiet single table, I piped up. "Who do you usually come here with?"

That seemed to throw him off his game a little. As if he was not completely sure what he could or could not say, he deliberated a while before answering with a firm, "It's rather personal."

"Personal how?" I questioned, trying to probe.

"Look," he lowered his voice as his eyes scanned the place cautiously, "There's a reason why I know about you and Grey."

My inner goddess brought her hands together into a round of applause. We both knew that Jack was about to cave.

"Anastasia," he started, "I got a tip off about it, so don't look so surprised that I know Grey's secret."

We were on the right track, but I just needed to extort the necessary information. I made sure that my jaw hung for dramatic effect, "From who?"

Which bastard would interfere with Christian's businesses in order to help break us up? This was a question that needed prompt answers.

Jack's eyes shifted nervously, trying to calculate and rationalize his next words, no doubt. "I can't say, Ana. But I'm glad she came to me for help."

She?! My inner goddess and I screeched in unison. OUR JOHN DOE WAS ACTUALLY A JANE DOE?! This just made me feel lost, as if my life had been an entire lie. How had I even concluded that it was a male in the first place?

"What's wrong, Ana?" Jack turned concerned, reaching for my hand which I snatched back and hid under the table. "Is there something I should know?"

"I need to know who this source of yours is!"

Jack looked conflicted. "Come on, I can't say."

"Why? Does she have a hold on you?" It could be a possibility.

"No, but just know that she's the good guy, Ana." Unfortunately, he was so sure of himself. If only he knew.

"Jack, the truth is that you've been conned." I did not wait for him to absorb the information. "Whatever you've been told is false, Christian has never hurt me... Not like what you think. Whoever she is, she's just trying to harm Christian and I."

Jack shook his head, staring at me like I was the one in denial. "Anastasia, you don't have to hide anymore, she and I have freed you."

"You're not listening!" I snapped. "She's tricked you into believing her. Trust me, Jack. You're fighting for the wrong side."

He watched me wearily, his eyes reflecting the confusion within his soul. Until now, Jack had believed that he was doing good only to find out that he had been doing the direct opposite.

"Jack, I have to know her identity." I tried my luck, knowing he was in the midst of his moral battle. Jack was a good man. He would know how to do the right thing now.

"Ana, I can't." His voice tortured and he placed his head in between his palms.

I decided to give him some space to think over that again. "Give me a sec, I need to use the washroom." He muffled and okay, distressed to the point of losing his gentlemanly manners.

Getting up from my seat, I caught a glimpse of someone familiar stride past the glass windows. Quickening my steps, I headed for the exit of the restaurant. It was her. She was here. I hid behind a pillar as she walked into the hotel and waited for her to pass the restaurant before I snuck out to observe her.

What was Elena Robinson doing here?

She was dressed in a gorgeous red cocktail dress, her luscious her bunned up with tendrils framing her face. Even at her age, she was stunning. I tried to recall everything Christian had once told me and I knew she was single. Maybe she was here for a tryst.

Elena, towering in her red Jimmy Choos, disappeared down the lift. My eyes watched the numbers change until it stopped and I made a mental note. She had gone down and not up, so that would mean she did not have a room here. I got a few curious glares as I sprinted to call the lift, then leaped into an empty lift and pressed for the basement.

Elena could not be heading down to the car park. She had clearly just come into the hotel and her car would have been taken over by the valet system. What did the basement have to draw her there?

The lift doors open and I was smacked face first by the scent of overwhelming perfume and then the dim lights. I climbed out to face a reception in spotlight, the man was dressed in a tuxedo and looked grand. Beside him was a wide set door and the name "Electro."

"Hi," I said shyly. "What's this place?"

The man broke into a welcoming grin and he waved towards the doors. "Electro is our famous day time club!"

"A club?"

"Yes, I presume you're over eighteen, please." The man stepped forward to open the metal doors. "Have a drink on the house."

The doors opened to exactly a club, the entire scene dim and drizzled with multiple coloured lights paired with upbeat music. To my surprise, there was a crowd. My social life was really horrid.

Focus. My inner goddess poked me.

Right. I sharpened my vision and scanned the place. The place was fogged up with smoke and a sick beat, swaying bodies hindering my hopes of finding Elena. I moved deeper into the club, maneuvering around the bodies and almost losing my footing when I missed the step.

My hands caught the high table and I steadied myself, looking up, I saw the unmistakable red fabric of her expensive dress at the bar. Her back was turned to me and I tried to shift to get a better look but failed to, there were just too many people.

"Hello miss, can I get you a drink?" Asked a flirty male dressed up like he was rich.

"Not now." I said without even looking at his face, stepping around him and walking closer to the table.

Elena was talking to someone. I did not know why it mattered so much to me, but it did. I stopped short a little way from the bar, my mouth hanging for real this time as my eyes connected to my brain and helped me process who she was talking to.

Sorry about the cliiffhangers, it's a habit of mine. REVIEW PLEASE!

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