It's been about a week since Ana's conversation with Christian and she's still unsure of what to make of it. Part of her feels like she's been run over by a bulldozer. Did he spare her from getting hurt or drawn into a way of life she doesn't want to be a part of? What does this mean for her relationship with Blake? Christian, in not so many words, declared he has feelings for her.
With a determined will, she promises herself to not think about it. What's done is done, there is no use dwelling on "what-ifs."
It's Saturday night and Ana is headed out with Kate, Elliot, Mia, Ryan, and Blake to go bowling at Lucky Strike. She's never been much of a bowler but Mia was so enthusiastic Ana couldn't say no. Ana looks relaxed in a fitted and faded Pink Floyd t-shirt and black skinny jeans. Kate, the fashionista, has on a pair of distressed jeans and a blue and white gingham cold-shoulder top. Much to both of their astonishment, they arrive to the bowling alley early. While waiting for everybody else, they stop at the bar for a couple of beers.
A few minutes later, Blake shows up. Eventually, Elliot arrives with Ryan, Mia, some girl neither of them recognize, and Christian. Ana backs into Blake and almost trips in shock. "You OK?" he asks her worried.
Kate walks up to Elliot and gives him a showy kiss. With their relentless and public displays of affection, the two of them have mastered the ability to make Ana feel awkward. "Ladies, this is my friend Nicole from high school. Nicole, this is my friend, Kate, and her best friend Ana." Mia introduces the stranger.
"Hi, nice to meet you." Kate extends her hand but looks apprehensive. Kate wonders why Mia would bring this girl when she was in on their plan to get Christian and Ana together.
As she stands there frozen in silence, Ana's eyes flit between Nicole and Christian, putting together the fact that Nicole must be there as Christian's date.
"Oh, um, Nicole, this is my boyfriend Blake." Ana remembers her manners. Behind Ana's back, Kate tries to admonish Mia with no one else seeing.
The group of eight gets to their lane and chooses to have two teams of four. Kate, Elliot, Ana, and Blake are one team and Mia, Christian, Ryan, and Nicole are on another team. At first, everything seems awkward, but soon enough the group finds their groove and gets along for the most part. But Ana still can't shake the sense of discontent about the fact that Christian has a date. Although, Christian doesn't look to be paying any regard to Nicole at all. In fact, he looks miserable.
About an hour into their game, Elliot and Blake head to the bar to get some more beer for everybody else. They are waiting at the bar for their drinks, so Blake takes the opportunity to speak with Elliot. "Elliot, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure, dude. What's up?"
"What's with your brother staring at Ana? He's been doing it the whole night." Blake doesn't want to beat around the bush and is just direct.
Elliot takes a second to collect his thoughts before he answers, "Oh, I hadn't noticed. Are you sure? I mean, he's here with Nicole."
"It's pretty obvious and if he doesn't knock it off, I will have to do something about it." Blake growls, shocking Elliot.
"Dude, totally honest, there's nothing to worry about." Elliot holds up his hands as if he is surrendering. Blake nods in acknowledgment.
The guys bring the pitchers of beer back to the group and Blake leaves to go to the bathroom. Elliot takes this opportunity to talk to Christian. "Bro, you're pissing of Blake."
Christian glares at Elliot, "Why the fuck am I pissing him off?" Christian's answer is loud enough Elliot worries everyone else will overhear.
"Keep it down, will you? He's noticed you keep looking at Ana. You might want to stop or at least not make it so obvious." Elliot warns.
"I'm not staring at Ana."
Elliot smirks at him, "OK. Just be discreet." He chooses to not make Christian any angrier and goes along with it.
"Yeah, OK." Christian's voice is laced with ice which, for all intents and purposes, dismisses his brother. Elliot is relieved when the rest of the night goes on without incident.
In their car on the way home that evening, Kate tests Ana. "So, I noticed that Christian kept looking at you tonight."
"Oh, Kate. You're imagining it. He was not looking at me - he had a date. Just because we can be friendly near each other doesn't mean he's interested in me." Ana doesn't want to talk about it. Is Christian still interested? A new hope blooms quietly inside her. But, Ana knows her friend well and doesn't want to show her that or Kate will make a spectacle of it.
"Yeah, the date he hardly spoke two words to all night? Plus, Blake noticed he was looking at you." Kate's tone is slightly devilish. She's enjoying giving the news to Ana. Blake is nice, but it's obvious Ana doesn't have the same chemistry with him as she does with Christian.
Ana whips her head around to look at Kate, "Why do you say that? What happened?" Kate's comment makes Ana somewhat hesitant.
"Apparently, Blake noticed Christian looking at you so much he threatened Elliot he would,", Kate makes air quotes with her fingers, "do something about it."
At first Ana doesn't know what to say, so she shakes her head to disagree. After a few seconds, she twists her head the other way to look out the car window. Kate overhears her mumble to herself petulantly, "he wasn't staring at me."
It's the following weekend and Kate has invited everyone over for a dinner party. She saw some movie where friends had a dinner party and thought it would be fun. Unfortunately, Kate isn't great at making dinner, a key part of dinner parties.
Since Kate doesn't cook well, Ana decided to not torture their guests and cooked their feast. As she is putting the finishing touches on dinner, Kate sits at the breakfast bar with a glass of merlot. "I haven't seen Nolan for a while. How is he doing?" Ana muses to herself how much she likes it when she and Kate have these little chats.
"He's doing well. When he isn't at the bookstore or substitute teaching, he's helping Jonathan with the restaurant. It's really taking off." Ana smiles sweetly when she speaks about her dear friends.
"And, I take it no Blake tonight?" Kate asks Ana although she already pretty much knows the answer. She doesn't approve of how much Blake is away and unable to devote time to Ana.
Ana shakes her head. "No. This weekend he is in Peoria, Arizona for work since there is some kind of exhibition game there." Ana shrugs disenchanted. Kate frowns; she hates seeing her friend disappointed. She deserves to be happy.
Loudly, the buzzer rings for their door and Kate gets up to let their guests in. Ana is still in their kitchen but when she hears the flurry of activity and talking, a clear giveaway their guests have arrived.
Mia dashes into the kitchen with a bottle of wine and hands it to Ana. "For our hostesses. I hope you like rosé."
"Of course! But you didn't have to bring anything. It was generous of you, nevertheless. You look fabulous, by the way." Ana gives Mia a quick hug. She is wearing an orange sundress with white polka dots and a cutout in the stomach and fits her like a glove.
"Thanks, you look incredible, too." Mia sweetly tells Ana.
Ana looks down at her outfit which is a boho style black tank top that ties at the shoulders and distressed jean shorts. Her hair is up in a messy bun and because of the heat in the kitchen she has little wisps of hair coming out. "Um, you have looked at me, right?" Ana laughs.
"I did and you still look fab." Mia responds.
"You're sweet. Thank you." Mia follows Ana as she carries the large pan of lasagna and sets it on the table in the dining area. Sitting there waiting are Kate, Elliot, Ryan, and… Christian. Mia sits next to Ryan leaving Ana to sit at the head of the table, across from Christian.
Dinner is heavenly; evidence that Ana is an accomplished cook. Everyone is enjoying a lively conversation sprinkled with laughter. Ana is cleaning up in the kitchen after everyone has finished. In the living room, Kate and Mia are snuggled up with Elliot and Ryan on the sofa watching some ridiculous rom-com. Christian brings some dishes to Ana and places them in the sink. "Ever feel like a third wheel?" he jokingly asks her.
"More like the fifth." Ana responds dryly.
"You want to get a drink and leave these lovebirds here?"
Ana shrugs, "Yeah, it has to be better than sitting around watching them all night." she motions towards the living area.
Ana and Christian head over to The Crocodile. Christian gets himself a cabernet sauvignon and Ana a vodka and cranberry. They take a seat on a couple of the bar stools in a quiet corner of the bar as a band sets up. "I'm glad we can sit together and talk like this, as friends." Christian confesses to Ana.
"I am too."
"So, how are you?" he asks her, his voice is quiet but sincere.
"I'm fine." she replies as if there is nothing wrong in the world.
"I mean, are you happy?" he places his hand on hers and gives it a gentle squeeze.
Ana pauses to think of an answer, "I'm not unhappy." This is a subject she would rather not discuss with Christian. She doesn't want to discuss the intricacies of her relationship with someone she once felt strongly for.
Christian reads the look on Ana's face and changes the subject. He knows their friendship is delicate, and he doesn't want to ruin it before it even begins. "Another one?" He asks, pointing to the glass in Ana's hand that is now only filled with melting ice cubes.
She gives him a smile, "Please." Christian nods for another round, then takes her drink from the bartender, and gives it to Ana; as he does the band setting up earlier begins to play.
"Welcome everyone! We're Tainted Seagulls, if you have any requests for songs from the 80's let us know! But now, let's start off with the safety demonstration." As soon as the singer puts his microphone back in the stand, the first few notes of a song Ana knows well come from a keyboard. Then the lyrics start with 'Ah we can dance if we want to, we can leave your friends behind'.
"Christian, I love this song! How fun! Let's get closer!" Ana's excitement is infectious and before he can realize it, Christian is following Ana to the dance floor.
At first, Ana just sways and sings along with the songs. But after a few more drinks and a few more songs, she is ready to have some fun.
"Christian, come on, dance with me!" Ana is dancing to Take On Me next to him.
"No thanks, dancing isn't really my thing." He cooly replies; although if he had to admit it, he is having fun watching Ana let loose. She seems jubilant.
"What's the matter? Are you chicken?" She teases.
"No." He's trying to act mad but he can't hide the smile escaping from his lips.
"Do you dance like a drunk sorority girl?" The song changes to Girls Just Want to Have Fun, and she grabs his hands in an attempt to get him to dance with her. "Come on, Christian, please?" she whines to him but doesn't stop dancing.
Finally, Karma Chameleon comes on and Christian gives in to dance with Ana by taking her hands and leading her onto the dance floor. She's surprised at what a good dancer he is and it makes her laugh. She never expected this is how her night would turn out. For a moment she thinks about Blake and misses him but then the song changes and it slips farther and farther from her mind.
"You're a good dancer!" She says as she dances around him.
"Were you surprised, Miss Steele?" once again, Christian's smile betrays him as he tries to appear insulted.
"Yes! But it's a good surprise! Where did you learn how to dance?"
"Elena." he replies simply. Elena enjoyed dancing and taught him many styles including the quick step, waltz, and foxtrot.
"She was a good teacher." Ana replies to him still unsure of what to think about Elena. To Ana, Elena sounds like a creepy perv but Christian seems to think almost the opposite is true. She can't quite reconcile that he sees nothing wrong with his relationship with Elena.
"Where did you learn how to dance?" Christian asks her breaking her thoughts.
"My mom. She loved to dance and would turn on old shows of Dance Party USA and we would dance around the living room together like a bunch of goofballs."
Christian and Ana continue to dance to the many, upbeat songs from the 80's. When the band stops for a break, Ana heads to the bar for another round. "You should get some water, Ana." Christian chides her as she's walking.
"Relax, Christian, I'm fine!" Ana tells him as she downs her drink like it was a shot. "I'm hot, I'm going outside for some fresh air." She gives him a playful smile.
"I'll come with you," he tells her. He's afraid that once she gets outside in the cool night air, she will start to feel all those drinks she's had.
Ana steps outside and takes a deep breath in, "Whoa…" she murmurs and leans back against the wall bracing herself with her hand.
"Ana, are you OK?" Christian rushes to her.
She doesn't respond at first worrying Christian. Suddenly she breaks out into a silly giggle. "Oh my God… I am so drunk Christian. I don't think I've ever been this drink - I mean drunk - before." She points at him and laughs again, "There are two of you! This is my lucky day!" She doubles over laughing hysterically at her own joke.
"We should get you home. Kate is probably worried since it's so late. Can you walk?" He asks her patiently.
Christian's question incites more laughter from Ana, who then replies, "Nope! But I can dance! Because I'm a girl and I just wanna have fun!" She shouts the last part, no doubt thinking of the Cyndi Lauper song they danced to earlier in the evening.
This is his luck - he let Taylor have the night off because he didn't think he would need it and now he has to get a drunk Ana home. "OK, well, hop on." Christian turns his back to her so she can climb up for a piggy-back ride.
As he's carrying her down the block, she yells, "Woo hoo! Now this is a par-tay!" Christian shakes his head in mock disgust but even he can't be angry in this moment. As trying as she is, Ana is an adorable drunk girl. He's thrilled he is here to take care of her, Lord knows what kind of trouble she would get into otherwise.
"Hey party girl, you need to keep your voice down or the cops will come." He threatens her but continues carrying her. Christian notes to himself that Ana feels very light. She's too thin - she doesn't eat enough.
For the rest of the walk to her apartment, Ana is quiet. For a second he worries she passed out or something but then she wiggles her feet and giggles softly and he's assured she's fine.
He carries her up the stairs of the apartment building to her door, only to find it locked and no one there. Mia, Ryan, Kate, and Elliot must have gone somewhere. "Ana, no one's home. Give me your keys." He holds his hand up to her.
She pauses for a second, "I don't have keys!"
Christian is starting to lose his patience, "What do you mean? Ana, tell me where your keys are." His voice is slightly more forceful this time.
"They're hanging up where they're supposed to go." she insists.
"Inside? You forgot your keys?"
Ana says nothing, but she slowly nods, finally understanding what has happened. "Now what?"