A/N: Thanks for reading. Enjoy!
"Kate said you were back today, but I had to see for myself." Olivia closes my office door behind her and stands in observation. "You look well."
"I am well. Actually, I'm better than well. I'm great.", I smile back as she takes a seat. Unlike the time I was off after almost fainting, Olivia didn't oversee the office in my absence. I was only out Monday and yesterday, but the work I did from home along with everyone pulling together made things run smoothly.
"You've had an eventful last few days."
"That would be an understatement. I had no idea when I left the office on Friday that I would be faced with almost losing my husband along with a member of our security who's like family. Then there's the biggest OMG of finding out my soon to be ex stepfather orchestrated it." My anger towards Bob remains very much in tact following Brad and Justin Anderson's confession that Bob wanted them to kidnap Christian for money. Once Bob was confronted with this, he tried to deny it until finally giving in and admitting it. His reason, greed. He wanted money to buy extravagant things and saw taking Christian as the means to getting it. "What matters now is Bob's locked up, and we can move on with our lives.
"When Luke called and told me what happend, I had chills. I was worried about everyone. He tried to comfort me over the phone, but I could hear the sadness in his voice. He speaks highly of Taylor. There's so much respect there."
"Taylor's a special guy. He moved Christian out of the way and took the bullet." I close my eyes, reopening them with tears. "There's going to be a long recovery, but the important thing is Taylor is here. He's alive."
"Is it weird for you when I talk about my relationship with Luke?", Olivia asks. "I know I've talked to you about it before, but is odd that I'm talking about dating your security guy?"
"Not at all." I get the impression she's wanting to discuss things with Sawyer. "Olivia, Sawyer might work for me, but you're my friend."
"This might sound selfish, but another reason I was scared was because of Luke. I've known all along his job could be dangerous, but Taylor getting shot put that into perspective. I got to wondering what if I'm at work or home one day when I get a call that Luke's been shot. It comes down to I don't want to and can't lose him. We've been growing closer, and I..." She stops and smiles before continuing. "I'm in love with him." Yes things have been crappy as of late, but hearing a friend say she's in love pushes all the bad away even if it's briefly.
"I understand how you feel about being scared of Sawyer getting hurt, but like you said, it's his job. With that being said, he's a strong guy. Life is unpredictable, but you need to think positive. Now about being in love, I'm happy for both of you. The two of you are great together." She nods and gets out of her chair. "Going back to your office?"
"Yes. I'm going back to my office feeling content and better now that I've seen and talked to you. Thank you for listening."
"Any time."
"I'm only stating the obvious. If I were in that marathon, I would come in at a decent time.", Daniel's telling Kate as I'm returning from lunch. Curious, I stop at his desk. "Kate's covering a marathon this weekend."
"I know. What about it?", I ask.
"I told her I could do just as well, if not better than many of those runners. She didn't believe me." I turn and look at Kate who only shrugs.
"I didn't say I didn't believe you. I only said there are people who will do better than you since they've trained. Have you trained?"
"I exercise.", Daniel scoffs. Audrey returns to her desk with her eyes springing back and forthe between Daniel and Kate. "Audrey's seen me exercise. She knows I can do well in a marathon. Don't you?" Kate purses her lips together and waits for Audrey to answer.
"I believe if Daniel sets his mind and body to it, he can achieve a good finish in a marathon.", Audrey replies. "He'll prove it by entering Saturday's marathon." Daniel's mouth falls open. "You're free Saturday morning, right?"
"I am, but I wasn't planning on running a marathon. I was only making a statement."
"Oh no, no. You can't make that statement and not back it up. You're going to be in the marathon on Saturday. If you finish at a decent spot, I'll buy your lunch for a week. If not, then you can help Elliot Saturday afternoon when he moves the rest of my things to his place." Kate's moved a few things to Elliot's, but is staying at the apartment with my mom until this weekend. "And when I say the rest, I mean my bed and dresser which is fairly heavy."
"After running in a marathon, I'm going to be expected to help move your things?", Daniel asks. The confidence he had only moment ago has turned into nervousness. "I'll be exhausted."
"So you don't want to prove a point?", Kate questions.
"Kate, maybe you could change the prize. If Daniel loses, he buys your lunch for the week.", I suggest in an attempt to help even things out. Daniel still doesn't seem sure. "Buying lunch isn't as bad as lifting heavy furniture."
"Ok.", Daniel mutters. "The loser buys the winner's lunch for a week which means you're goiing to have to find another gulliable person to help move your things." Kate flips her hair from her shoulder and turns back to her computer screen but not before narrowing her eyes at me.
"Why are you looking at me like that?", I ask.
"I almost had one more person to help on Saturday, but your idea messed that up.", she sighs and then giggles. "What's Christian doing on Saturday?"
"His shoulder is still sore from the bullet graze, meaning he's not going to be able to help. Besides, his last weekend wasn't exactly peaceful so he needs the time to just relax."
"I'll call Ethan to see if he can unless you and Christian were planning to reschedule your photo shoot with him for this weekend now that he's feeling better."
"We talked last night and have decided to hold off a few more weeks." I leave them and go bakc into my office. I'm hanging up my coat just as my phone rings from the inside of my purse. It's my dad. "Hi Dad."
"Annie, hi. I wanted to call and see how things are there.", he says as I sit.
"They're getting better. Taylor's still in the hospital but should be home by the weekend. He'll still have a long recovery. Bob's in jail where scum like him belongs."
"And what about you and your mom. How are the two of you?"
"I'm ok. Oliver's doing well, keeping me hungry and awake at night, but I'm enjoying every bit of you. Mom, well, she seems to be doing better than she was. The blame she was placing on herself is no longer there, yet I think she now feels foolish for trusting Bob."
"Bob's always come across as odd to me.", my dad confesses. "He seemed like things needed to be his way or no way at all. During the times I saw him with your mom, I felt as though he was condescending." I noticed in the past that my dad didn't seem to like Bob, but this is the first time I'm hearing it from him.
"You never...", I say as he breaks my sentence.
"Never said anything? No. I didn't. I thought about it a few times, but I thought maybe I was perhaps misreading the situation or your mom would tell me it was non of my business. Now looking back, I wonder I had said something, maybe I could've helped prevent what happened."
"Not you too.", I sigh. "Dad, you were doing what you thought was right. The only one who the finger needs to be pointed at is Bob."
"I hate him and the destruction that he's caused. Your mom and I didn't work out as husband and wife, but as friends, we get along well. I want her life to be extraodinary and filled with joy. Bob threatened that, but now that he's in jail, I hope your mom accomplishes my wish for her."
"It's going to take time, but I know she's going to come out stronger and happier. Sometimes we have to go through the storm to get the rainbow, right?"
"You're spot on. Listen, I also called for another reason. I was wondering if it would be ok for me to visit this weekend. I had thought about surprising you, but I felt that might not be a good idea. It's just I haven't seen my daughter in person in a while, and I thought it was time."
"Dad, I'd love for you to visit. Is Rebecca going to come with you?", I ask, feeling my smile widen more with every second.
"Not this time. There's a spelling bee going on Saturday, and she's going to be a judge for it. Hopefully the next time she'll join me."
"Something smells delicious.", Sawyer says as soon as we step from the foyer and into the living room. Lewis is craning her neck in the direction of the kitchen and the delicious aroma. "Whatever Gail's cooking is making me drool."
"I'm going to agree with you there.", Lewis laughs. The three of us are on our way to the kitchen when we hear someone entering the foyer and then the living room. It's Gail.
"Gail, how can you be here and in the kitchen too?" The sound of pans being moved around the kitchen gets our attention.
"I just returned from the store where I went to pick up some ricotta cheese." She holds up the plastic shopping bag in her left hand. "The chef needs it for the baked penne."
"Chef?", I ask while making a fast trek to the kitchen. Standing with his back to me is a man dressed in a black tee and jeans. I can't see his face, but my heart and entire body knows the mystery chef is Christian. "Hey good looking, what have you got cooking?" He places an oven mitt on the counter and turns to face me.
"Since I finished work early, I thought I'd cook my wife dinner. I'm shocked at how simple this baked penne with ricotta and basil recipe is. Of course, I forgot the ricotta which Gail graciously volunteered to get for me." Gail strides into the room and hands Christian the ricotta before making her exit. "She's going to the hospital." He saunters to me and pulls me into him. "How are my wife and son?"
"Hungry." My answer lights up his face. "It's sweet you wanted to cook dinner, but your shoulder is still healing."
"Ana, my shoulder is tender but not useless. Besides, I'm not doing a lot of lifting in here. It won't take me long to finish so why don't you go and rest until I'm done?"
"I'd rather sit in here and watch you.", I wink back at him.
"When I watch you, you say I'm being weird so what does watching me make you?", he teases.
"An equally weird and hungry wife. Now less talking and more cooking."