A/N: Thanks for reading. Enjoy!
"Ana, Kate, I've got a favor to ask. It's last-minute, and I'd completely understand if you say no.", Olivia says as she stands between my and Kate's desks. "A carnival is being held at the waterfront tonight."
"I think I heard about that on the radio.", Kate replies.
"This is the first year it's being held, but it'll turn into an annual event if it's successful. The editors are wanting us to do a piece on it in hopes we can get the word out and help make sure it's held again in the future. The thing is, I only just now got the email and would do it myself, but I've already committed to covering a fundraiser at WSU tonight."
"You want us to report on the carnival?", I ask.
"Only if you can. If not, I can try and wrangle up someone else. Daniel's been talking about wanting to broaden his writing outside of restaurant reviews." Kate appears to be considering it while I do the same. Christian's in Portland today for a series of meetings that's going to last most of the day. It'll more than likely be late by the time he arrives home.
"Christian's out of town, and I have nothing else going on so I'll go, but only if there's going to be cotton candy."
"What kind of carnival doesn't have cotton candy?", Olivia laughs. "Thank you Ana."
"Hey why does Ana get to have all the fun?", Kate teases. "Elliot's going to a ball game with some guys from work, and your mom's going to dinner with Clara from her office, meaning I have nothing else going on. What if we both covered it? Two heads are better than one. We can split up and take different parts. Ana, you can do the rides since they scare the hell out of me.
"Sounds good to me."
"You could get the tension in here with a knife.", Kate murmurs. A few steps away from us Audrey and Daniel are awkward avoiding each other at the snack and drink vending machines.
"Excuse me.", Audrey says, avoiding contact as she steps around him. It's clear Daniel's not enjoying the weirdness that's been going on between them since revealing two days ago that he was once engaged to his high school girlfriend. Audrey said he's tried to talk to her, but she's not ready to hear him yet.
"Look." Daniel points to the snack machine where a lone pack of snack size Chips Ahoy cookies hangs on the top row. "Your favorite, and there's only one pack left." The scowl on Audrey's face relaxes while she takes a step closer to Daniel.
"You think buying me a pack of cookies is going to help solve things? It's good to know how you see our relationship or whatever it is."
"I know things can't be fixed by a pack of cookies just like I also know avoiding me and not talking isn't going to help things either.", he sighs. "I miss you Audrey. I miss us. Please stop shutting me out."
"I...I can't talk about this right now.", she stammers before running out of the room. Daniel's eyes stay on the door for several minutes as if he's hoping she'll come back, but she doesn't. He finally sits down in a chair on the wall opposite me and Kate.
"I wish she'd at least let me try and explain."
"She still cares about you, but right now, she feels betrayed and hurt.", Kate tells him.
"I should have told her about Becca and our engagement. I've been kicking myself for not doing so."
"Why didn't you?", I ask.
"Because I'm stupid. Becca and I dated in high school. We got into colleges hundreds of miles away so we thought getting engaged would help make the distance better. What we failed to consider was the fact that you can't fix something that's irreparable. Becca and I loved each other, but we weren't in love. The truth is I've only been in love with one woman my entire life, and that's Audrey." As much as I'm hurting for Audrey, I also feel bad for Daniel. He's clearly telling the truth. "I'm going to get back to my desk." He stands and heads out of the room with his down.
"I don't like seeing them like this."
"Me either. Relationships problems are never fun, but having to work with the other person doesn't help." I take a sip of my coffee as my phone rings from my pocket.
"It's Christian."
"I'm going to go back to work while you take that.", Kate says as she gets up and goes back to her desk.
"Hi.", I answer.
"Hey baby. I hope I'm not interrupting your work."
"You're fine. I'm on a break. I was planning to call you before going back. Olivia wants me and Kate to write an article on a carnival that's taking place tonight. Since you said it was going to be late when you got home, I told her I'd do it."
"About me getting home late. It's going to be at least midnight before I get back. My dinner meeting got pushed back to seven. I wanted to be home before you fell asleep, but I also don't want you to stay up waiting for me."
"I'm not sure what time I'll get back from the carnival so I might still be awake." I stand and throw my cup into the trash.
"Before I let you go, how would you like to go to New York this weekend? We can stay at my apartment and maybe go to a Broadway show.", he suggests. I wonder if there's more to this New York trip, specifically a proposal. He's already made it known that he's planning to ask me to marry him. Could this be it? "Ana, are you listening?"
"Oh...yeah. I'd love to go to New York. The Big Apple. It's a city full of possibilities." I hear him laugh from the other end. "When do you want to leave?"
"Tomorrow evening. We can hop on the plane and stay until Sunday afternoon or early evening. I've got a feeling it's going to be a good weekend."
"I think you're right."
"Christian called and said that it's going to be midnight or after before he gets back from Portland.", I tell Kate after I get back to my desk. I start back on my work while feeling my smile grow by the second. I hear Kate roll her chair next to mine.
"Did you two have phone sex?", she whispers. "Oh my. You did, didn't you? Ana Steele, you little minx."
"Shhh. No, we didn't have phone sex. He wants us to go to New York this weekend." In the corner of my eye, I see Kate's mouth fall open. I told her about finding the ring and Christian's proclamation that he's going to ask me to marry him, and I know she's thinking the same thing as me.
"New York is a romantic place. He might be planning a carriage ride through Central Park or he could have the spell out Marry Me in lights on the Empire State Building. Oh, how about this, the two of you are walking through Times Square when suddenly everyone stops what they're doing to look up at the screens around them. There on every screen is Marry Me Ana."
"Those are all very romantic ideas."
"Ana, I've got a feeling you're going to come back from New York with a ring on your finger." I think I feel my face cracking from my out of control smile.
"I see the ferris wheel which I'm not planning to go near.", Kate mutters. "When I was sixteen, I went on a date with Toby Lewis who I thought was Mr. Perfect, but he was Mr. Boring. He took me to a carnival and convinced me to get on the ferris wheel. The damn thing ended up stalling. We were stuck for thirty minutes."
"No wonder you don't like them." We start walking through the entrance and towards the tent set up on the left side of the area. Olivia said Peter Foster, the organizer of the event, would meet us inside the tent.
"I vowed to never get on another ride like that again." A tall gray haired man steps out of the tent and smiles.
"Ms. Steele and Ms. Kavanagh?", he asks.
"Yes. Please call me Ana.", I reply, shaking his hand.
"And please call me Kate.", Kate tells him. "Mr. Foster?"
"The one and only. Since we're on first a first name basis, it's Peter. A few people have arrived, but we're hoping for a larger turn out. I hope the two of you have a wonderful evening. The games and rides are scattered while the concessions are mostly on the right part of the property. I'll be around if you have any questions."
"Thank you." He waves as Kate and I head towards the attractions. "I smell funnel cakes. Do you smell them?" I suddenly inhale the delectable aroma of freshly prepared funnel cakes. Kate nods at a concession truck.
"Looks like we've found them. Wait, we haven't had dinner yet. Don't you think we should get something a little more proper for dinner?" Kate places her hands on her hips and sighs.
"Ana, we're adults which means we can have junk food for dinner without being scolded. You know as well as I do that you want one of those oh so good funnel cakes." Damn she's right!
"I do.", I giggle. We step up to the truck and are greeted by a middle aged woman. "We'd like two funnel cakes." I turn to Sawyer who's been keeping a low profile behind us. "Sawyer, would you like one?"
"No ma'am.", he says.
"Two funnel cakes coming right up." She walks away and starts preparing the funnel cakes as Kate and I anxiously wait. She finally hands us the treats. "Here you go. Enjoy."
"We will.", Kate says before taking a bite of hers. "This is so good."
"You mentioned splitting up. Are we still planning to do that or what?"
"Later. Why don't we walk around and get a feel of the place first? I see cotton candy." She shoves another piece of her funnel cake in her mouth and starts going in the direction of a guy selling cotton candy.
"It's a good thing you're not going on the rides. You'd be getting sick all over the place after eating all of this stuff."
"True although I want to share this with you." While she orders the cotton candy, I scan the carnival's games. Kate gets the cotton candy and notices me. "I think I saw one of those balloon popping games. It's the only kind I'm ever good at. Let's go and play." We balance our food and make our way to the booth.
"Good evening ladies.", the guy working the booth says. He points to the wall of balloons behind him. "For only a dollar, you get three darts. If you hit one balloon, you choose from a prize over there." He nods to a stack of small stuffed animals. Two balloons get you a larger prize, and three will get you one of the big prizes." The three of us look at the large stuffed animals on a table. "Who's first?"
"Kate, you go first." She places her food down on the stand in front of her and takes the three darts. The first dart she throws barely misses a balloon. She then throws her second dart and hits a red balloon. "Way to go." She stretches her arms and throws her third and last dart, hitting a yellow balloon.
"The lady gets to choose from the second pile." Kate debates before choosing a medium-sized teddy bear. She steps to the side as I take her place and gets my darts. My first dart hits an orange balloon, and my second gets a red one. The third and last dart, however, misses. "You get to pick one from the same pile." I pick up a stuffed pink bunny but also notice a light puppy.
"They're all so cute.", I pout jokingly. "Maybe I should just close my eyes and pick one."
"Or you could choose another prize." I narrow my eyes at Kate who's trying to be calm after hearing Christian's voice. I attempt to calm my nerves as I turn around, but it's a fruitless effort. My entire body is shaking even more when I see him on bended knee with the engagement ring held out. "Anastasia Rose Steele, when I first met you, I knew immediately there was something special between us. It was scary but also exhilarating. I felt a rush of warmth in the heart I didn't even know I had. I found in you the one thing that I had been missing, myself. You've become my best friend and lover, and now, I'm asking you to be my wife. Will you marry me?"
"Yes.", I answer with tears falling down my face. He wipes away his own tears before slipping the ring on to my finger. I jump into his arms as an applause breaks out around us. I'm even more overcome with emotion at seeing my mom and dad, and the entire Grey family. Even Olivia, Audrey, and Daniel are here.
"How did everyone know about this?"
"I set up the entire carnival. I figured it's a good thing for the community and us." I admire my ring briefly. "Do you like your prize?"
"I like this one better.", I say as I wrap my arms around his shoulder and kiss him.