A/N: Thanks for reading. Enjoy!
"You've been quiet since we left the restaurant. Of course I already know why, but I wish you wouldn't give me the silent treatment.", Christian sighs while the elevator makes it way to my floor.
"I'm sorry. I guess I'm still processing the fact that you got Rachel fired." He pushes off the wall that he's been leaning against and eases towards me.
"Although I played a part in getting her fired, it was actually Rachel who got herself fired. She's the one who chose to use her work as an excuse to harass you. It's no secret that I'll do whatever it takes to protect those I care about and love. You know that."
"Christian, I understand your wanting to take care of me, but you need to understand that going behind my back isn't the way to handle things. How many times are we going to have the honesty conversation? You agree to be honest but always end up going against your word. It's a never-ending thing."
"I get it. I do. I should have told you what I was planning, but I wasn't sure if you would go for it."
"You're right. I'm not sure if I would have. Rachel's not exactly my favorite person, but I also don't want to be known as the girl who has to have her boyfriend fight her battles for her.", I sigh as we arrive on my floor. I move past him and start heading to the apartment with him right at my side.
"I'm not fighting your battles for you.", he says. "I'm fighting them alongside you." Part of me wants to stop and pull his lips on to mine with such a swoon worthy comment, but I need to be resilient.
"As if worrying about Elena wasn't enough, I now have to wonder how Rachel's going to retaliate because she will. She's not going to let things go."
"If she tries something, we'll be ready for her."
Once we're at the apartment door, I reach into my purse for my key while feeling his eyes on me. I begin unlocking the door, ony to find it already unlocked. Kate's out with Elliot tonight so that means that Ethan's probably inside.
"I know that you were probably planning on staying the night.", I murmur.
"And why would you think that?", he asks with amusement. "Something tells me that you're going to veto that idea."
"I just think maybe we should take the night off and sleep in our own beds." His eyes fall to the floor briefly before coming back to meet mine. "Ok?"
"I don't like it one bit, but I'll respect your wishes and go home. I've got some paperwork that'll hopefully keep me occupied during the time that I would otherwise be using to worship your body." Tingles run throughout my body at his verbal seduction. Be strong Ana. You can do it. "Of course you'll still be on my mind which will make my pants very tight if you know what I mean."
"I know exactly what you mean and what you're trying to do. You're hoping that you'll get me to change my mind by working your sex mind games on me, but it's not going to work. This night apart will be good for us. Please don't be mad."
"I'm not mad." He pulls me into his arms, pressing a kiss on the top of my head. "I love you Ana."
"I love you too.", I whisper as I move away.
"I'm going to go.", he sighs before walking away.
After closing the door, I toss my purse on to the sofa and decide that it's an ice cream kind of night. I tread into the kitchen where Ethan and Max are playing checkers at the table. They halt in the middle of the game when they see me.
"Hey.", I mutter. I grab a spoon from the drawer and then take out a carton of chocolate ice cream from the freezer. I'm about to reach for a bowl when Ethan waves one in front of me. "Thanks."
"No problem although I wasn't sure if you were going to need a bowl or if you were just planning to eat straight from the carton. You look like you had a bad night. Want to talk about it?"
"I don't want to put my stuff on you. I'm just going to take my ice cream and go to my room." Max jumps from his chair and blocks the doorway. "What are you doing?"
"Being a friend. Now sit down and eat your ice cream while you tell us what happened." Although Ethan and Max haven't been seeing each other long, Max has become a good friend to all of us. I give up and plop down in the chair next to Ethan who pushes the checker board to the side.
"Christian had Rachel fired.", I tell them.
"Whore Rachel?", Ethan asks.
"The very one. I told you about her showing up at the magazine last Friday, right?" Max grabs two more bowls and spoons and begins scooping out the ice cream. "Thanks but you'd better make mine two scoops."
"You told me that she had some papers to drop off but ended up cornering you in the lobby."
"It turns out that she was lying about being the papers. It was nothing more than a cover story so she'd have an excuse for being on the property. Christian met with and told her boss, Kurt McGregor, about her antics. McGregor wasn't very happy to learn that she was using his company as a front for her personal vendetta. So, she's going to be fired."
"I knew Christian had connection but damn. The guy is badass.", Max laughs. "You don't seem very enthused that he took such a step."
"After Bryant and I broke up, I learned how to take care of myself and not have to depend on a guy. I feel like Rachel's going to see me as this weakling that runs crying to her boyfriend when things go wrong."
"Is Rachel going to be pissed? Yes.", Ethan shrugs after taking a bite of his ice cream. "But I think part of her is going to be jealous that you have a boyfriend who's willing to move heaven and earth for his girlfriend. It's admirable." Ethan's word are similar to those Olivia said in regards to Christian hiring Sawyer for me. "I would have someone fired for Max."
"And I would do the same for Ethan.", Max adds.
"I just wish he would have told me what he was going to do before he did it. Is it too much to ask for him to be upfront with me?"
"I see your point there. Keeping things from each other isn't good. He should have given you a heads up."
"He said that he wasn't sure if I would be ok with it. When we got back here, I told him that we needed to take the rest of the night off. I feel like I did the right thing but also think maybe I was too harsh."
"You were trying to prove a point by sending him away, but what good is it if you're miserable?", Ethan says. "Actually when you think about it, Rachel's the one to blame for everything, and now she's making your relationship suffer."
"Don't let that skank win!", Max shouts.
"You're right. I'm going to go and call Christian. Thanks guys."
"You're welcome."
"Hi.", Christian answers hoarsely once I'm in my room. "I was hoping to hear your voice one more time tonight." I sit down at my desk and begin fiddling with the pens in the holder while getting the nerve to speak. "Ana, are you there?"
"I'm here.", I stammer. "I had every intention of not calling you, but after thinking and talking to Ethan and Max, I realized that I needed to bridge the gap between us. You were only expressing your love."
"I went over it in my head and had this crazy vision where things would be better afterwards. Rachel would learn not to mess with you while Bryant would see that he's wasting his time as well. I should have given it more thought though. You said my dishonesty is never ending, but so is my ability to keep messing things up. I disappoint you over and over, and you deserve better than that."
"Christian, while I want you to be start telling me things, I also know that you're still learning. I'm sorry also. I've been unappreciative of what you've done for me. I'm telling you now that I'm grateful for each thing you've done. I should have let you stay the night."
"I've got an idea. Walk to your window."
I keep the phone to my ear and walk over to the window. As I pull back the curtain, my heartbeat races at the sight of Christian standing outside my window. Light from the street lamp is reflecting in his eyes while I wave while I send him a tiny wave.
"I see you.", I giggle.
"I see you too Miss Steele. Would it be ok if I came upstairs?"
"No." Even from the window, I'm able to see his brows furrow in questioning. "I'll meet you halfway." I drop the phone on the bed in my rush out of the room. Ethan and Max have moved on to the sofa and are grinning from ear to ear as I sprint out of the apartment. I almost run into Ms. Herron on my way to the elevator. "Sorry Ms. Herron." With the elevator taking unusually longer, I decide taking the stairs might be faster, but just as I'm about to go, a surge of electricity courses through my body. I spin around and find Christian panting while the elevator closes behind him.
"Hi.", he murmurs through his ragged breathing. I thread my fingers through his belt loop and yank him closer to me, careening our lips together.
"For a guy who used to be all about privacy, you my dear brother seem to enjoy making out in public places.", Elliot laughs from behind us. Christian's lips remain on mine while he pushes Elliot away. "Fine. We're going."
"Did you hear something?", I ask after Elliot and Kate have gone into the apartment.
"Nope.", Christian answers.
"Me either."
"Thanks for coming with me to get a new lamp for my bedroom.", Kate says as we walk into Bed Bath & Beyond during our lunch break the next day. "I promise I won't take long."
"How exactly did you break your other lamp?" She looks over her shoulder at Sawyer who's keeping a reasonable distance from us. "I don't think he can hear you."
"I accidentally kicked it off the nightstand while Elliot and I were...you know."
"I got it.", I sigh, picking up a mint green lamp. "This one is cute."
"I kind of like it. We'll put it on the maybe list." I should have known shopping for a lamp with Kate would be almost as bad as clothes shopping. "I think this is going to be more difficult than I thought."
I start to reach for a beige lamp when Bryant steps into my line of sight. Sawyer, no doubt having been briefed about my ex, steps in front of me as Kate turns around with fire in her eyes.
"If you're smart, you'll march your ass away.", Kate hisses.
"I will in a minute. Before you ask if I'm following you, I'll assure you that I'm not. I'm in here shopping for a new bedding."
"The bedding is on the other side of the store.", I counter.
"That's where I was going when I saw you. Ana, I'm not here to cause trouble. I just want to apologize for Rachel's actions. I didn't know until yesterday that she showed up at your work last Friday. Mr. McGregor called both me and her into his office before we went home. He told her that he didn't appreciate what she had done and that she was fired. I'm on probation for taking advantage of company time as well."
"Hopefully you both learned your lesson, but I doubt it."
"I have, ok? While trying to convince you that I'm not a monster is still on my list of things to do, I'm not going to put my career in jeopardy by doing so."
"And Rachel?", I ask, raising my brow.
"She's pissed about losing her job as well as other things. Mr. McGregor made the comment that last Friday had been brought to his attention by someone. Rachel's convinced that it was you who told him. I don't think it was though. I think it was your billionaire boyfriend. He must be really threatened by me to go to such lengths.", Bryant sneers. Even though I didn't plan on telling Bryant that it was Christian who told McGregor, I'm not about to stand here and listen to him put Christian down.
"You're right. It was Christian, but you're wrong about why he did it. He did it because he loves me and wants our lives to be free of pests like you and Rachel."
"So it was a gesture of his love?"
"You could say that. Last night, I was upset with him for his role in Rachel being fired and your probation, but now, I'm thrilled about what he did. It might not have been flowers or candy, but it showed how much he loves me."
"Right."
"Some guys actually know how lucky they are.", Kate spits at him.
"You know what Kate, I've kept my mouth shut about certain things, but I'm tired of you walking around like you're better than me when in reality, your betrayal is much worse.", Bryant fires back.
"What kind of a betrayal are you talking about?", I ask him, seeing Kate's face drop. "Kate, what's going on?"
"Nothing.", she mutters.
"If it's nothing then you won't mind me telling Ana that you, her best friend, knew that about Rachel before Ana found me with her."
"Bryant, all you're doing is trying to stir up trouble, but it won't work so leave or I'll have Sawyer physically make you." He looks at Sawyer who has his arms crossed over his broad chest.
"I'll go." He glares one last time at Kate before walking away. I don't want to believe what Bryant just told me, but I need to know for sure.
"Kate, was he telling the truth? Did you know that Bryant was seeing Rachel before the day I found them?" The tears in her eyes answer my question. "You did."
"I'm sorry Ana. I never meant to keep it from you."
"Then why did you?", I demand.
"Why don't we go outside so we don't do this in front of strangers?" I nod and follow her out of the store and to a bench. She motions for me to sit down next to her, but I refuse. "Two days before you found them, you had stayed over at work so I stopped by Blue Moon Burgers for dinner. I had heard people raving about it so I thought that I'd give it a try. When I walked, I saw a couple kissing at a table near the back. I was shocked when I saw that it was Bryant. I marched over to find out why he would cheat on you. He asked if we could talk privately so I agreed. When we got outside, he told me that me that he and Rachel had been working but had stopped for dinner. He then said that the kiss was a moment of weakness which he regretted. He swore that it was the first and only time anything like that had happened."
"And you believed him.", I mumble.
"I did. Stupid, huh? Anyways, I told him that he needed to tell you about it so it even if it were a mistake. He hesitated saying yes until I told him that I would tell you if he didn't. Then, he promised that he would tell you."
"Guess what? He didn't. Instead I had to be humiliated by finding him, in my own bed, with his cock in another woman's mouth. Do you have any idea how sick I felt in that moment? You could have prevented it."
"I thought he was going to tell you. When you showed up at the apartment with red eyes, I knew that he hadn't. I immediately hated myself, but I also thought telling you that I knew would only make things worse."
"And having me find out now is supposed to be easier?"
"No. I can't stand him for what he did, but one reason I lash out like I do when he's around is because I'm projecting the anger that I actually have for myself. Ana, I wish I would have told you from the beginning. You're my best friend who means the world to me."
"I'm going to call and tell Olivia that I'm not feeling well.", I stammer as I start walking away.
"Wait. Where are you going? My car is over there."
"I'm taking a cab and going home." I glance over at Sawyer who's waiting for instruction. "Don't worry. You'll be with me. The last thing I need right now is Christian being upset about my lack of security."
"Will you be there when I get home?", she asks.
"I'm not sure."