Ana wakes up and her brain is foggy - she has the worst headache she's ever had. Ugh, she feels like shit. It takes her a moment to be able to open her eyes and when she does; she is at once filled with regret. Where the fuck is she?
On the table beside the bed is a glass of water and some Advil. Ana isn't certain where it came from but she is thankful to whoever set it here. She finishes the glass of water and once she's figured out she can walk she decides to figure out where she is. Unfortunately, she doesn't recall much about last night at all. Did Christian stay with her the whole night? Is that where she is? Why?
She slowly opens the door and enters a long hallway with lavish and expensive-looking art hanging on the walls. She wanders down some winding stairs and on the other side of the enormous great room she sees Christian. Once again, she's filled with trepidation. Did she cheat on Blake with Christian? Ana isn't the type of person to do something like that but she also didn't realize she was the type of person who would get blackout drunk.
He turns around and their eyes meet. A slow grin appears on his face before he says anything, "Good morning, Anastasia. How are you feeling?" He's silently laughing to himself as if it's some kind of inside joke.
"Like shit." Ana responds hesitantly because she's still not positive what did or didn't take place last night. Christian chuckles softly.
"Come. I have some eggs, toast, and oatmeal here for you. There's also tea and coconut water to help rehydrate yourself." Christian doesn't so much ask but order her to eat breakfast. She decides to oblige him without hassle and steps over to the table where he is sitting reading a newspaper.
Ana takes a few bites of her breakfast in silence. She's fixated on a question that is nagging at her and won't go away. Christian looks up from his newspaper. "How is it?" he asks.
"What?" Ana asks him with a mouthful of food, thoroughly perplexed.
He smiles at her response with his eyes crinkling at the corners, "Your breakfast?"
"Oh, yeah, it's good. Thank you." The nagging question still won't go away and she's not sure what to do.
"What's wrong?" he asks her uneasy.
"Nothing." she answers, her thoughts faraway.
"You're a shitty liar, you know that?" He teases.
Ana just decides to ask him the question weighing on her. Whatever the answer is she will have to deal with it. "Um, last night… did we, you know?" she blushes at the prospect of him nude and what they have done with each other.
"What type of guy do you think I am? I wouldn't take advantage of you like that. You drank too much, and I helped you to your place where you realized you forgot your keys and were locked out. I didn't know what else to do with you so I carried you back here and put you in one of my spare bedrooms."
"Oh. Thank you for helping me. I don't recall any of that." Ana is now sheepish.
Christian smiles at her, his eyes shimmering, and a slight laugh escapes. "What do you remember?"
"I remember an 80's band at the bar."
"I will mention you thoroughly enjoyed yourself and I must admit, I had fun too." A few minutes later his cell phone rings. "Pardon me, I have to take this. Help yourself to whatever you choose." Christian explains to her hastily and then disappears down the hall into his office.
Ana, still ashamed of her shenanigans the previous evening, goes up to the spare room and gathers her purse and shoes. Quietly she sneaks up to the door of Christian's office, he's involved with what sounds like a serious discussion. Once she draws his attention, she waves goodbye. He holds his finger up for her to wait a second and asks whoever it is on the other end of his call to hold on. "You don't have to leave right now if you don't want to."
"No, it's OK. I have to work at the bookstore later. Thanks again for everything." She turns to leave but before she can, he stops her once more.
"Do you need a ride home? I can drive you." Christian offers. He's not really sure what to do in this situation and his emotions are deeply conflicted. He doesn't want Ana to leave, but he doesn't know how to convince her to stay, either.
"I already called an Uber, but thank you. I'll, uh, see you later." Ana tells him sounding very unsure of her words.
He looks back at her but she can't identify what he's thinking. It looks like he wants to say something but is holding back. "OK. I'll catch you later. Let me know you got home alright. I mean it."
Ana nods and smiles at Christian and leaves down the elevator to the awaiting car. It's not a long ride at all to her apartment but the entire time she can't stop thinking about how natural it feels to be with Christian.
*I am home safely. Thank you for taking care of me last night.*
*Excellent. You're welcome, Anastasia.*
Over the next couple of weeks, even though they don't see each other, Christian and Ana text each other continually.
Ana hasn't been able to see Blake much either. He's been traveling so frequently for work, their relationship has been mostly talking on the phone or texting. Ana was feeling as if their relationship was stalled before but now it has only worsened.
"Hey! How are you?" Ana cheerfully greets Blake when he answers her call. "I haven't seen you in forever, it seems."
"I know. I miss you, but…" Blake's voice is cautious and instantly gives Ana that internal sense of impending doom.
"But what?" Ana asks unsure if she really wants to hear the answer. 99 out of 100 times the word but is never followed by something positive.
"I received a job offer to be a sports journalist for the LA Times. It's an extraordinary offer."
"Los Angeles?" she knows the answer but asks it in vain, nevertheless.
"Yeah, I start in a week. I already got an apartment." Ana is silent for a few moments. She doesn't know what to say. The deal is done, he's already got a new place even though she didn't even know the opportunity even existed.
"Ana, say something. What do you think?"
"What do I think? Does it even matter at this point? You've already gotten an apartment." She has a fleeting thought to just hang up the phone and pretend she never met Blake.
"Just because I'm moving doesn't mean we have to break up."
Ana snorts at Blake's attempt to claim things he knows isn't true just to placate her. "Blake I don't understand how that would work. With our schedules when would we get to see each other?"
"Ana, I like you. Don't count it out. Give it some thought."
"OK. I'll think about it, Blake. But I'm afraid one of us or both of us are going to end up getting hurt."
"I have to start packing up my apartment. I'll call you later in the week."
"OK. Talk to you later."
"Bye, Ana."
Ana ends the call and flops down on her bed tossing her cell phone aside. She draws in a deep, cleansing breath. The dilemma is, she feels conflicted. On one hand, she's sad that this could mean the end of her relationship with Blake. He's charming and funny. But for some reason, she also feels a little relieved.