A/N: Thank you all for your reviews and support! I hope you enjoy this next chapter.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 8: Falling Apart

Normally, Ana didn't like letting herself cry. Hell, she barely even let herself cry too much at her mother's funeral a few months ago. But honestly, she felt entitled to this breakdown, as she was crying for the life that she was hoping to plan for herself and now would probably never be.

Ana could hardly believe that, barely twenty-four hours ago, she was planning to have a real conversation with Jose about their future – about marriage and kids. The very idea now felt completely ridiculous. How could she have been so stupid to think Jose was ready to talk about this? They were clearly on different planets in regards to the future of their relationship. Was Ana just so wrapped up in her own wants and desires that she didn't realize Jose wasn't where she was yet?

Is this all my fault?

Ana now wiped her eyes with her wrists as she walked into her bedroom, collapsing onto her bed. On a cerebral level, she knew this wasn't her fault – Jose had been the one to confront her, yelling at and berating her for the unforgivable crime of possibly being with child.

His reaction was completely ridiculous, Ana couldn't help but think angrily: seriously, why was it so unthinkable for a guy in his mid-twenties to possibly be a father? Ana always knew Jose was a bit of a man-child, but she always associated that part of his personality to his taste in video games and movies. She supposed she should have realized his immaturity was a major red flag.

We can't come back from this.

Ana knew that much was the truth. There was no way she could continue to be with Jose after what he said to her. He had lied to her about wanting kids someday, and that alone was enough: kids simply wasn't an issue she was willing to budge on, and it likely wasn't something he was willing to budge on either.

Will I ever get to have a baby? Ana couldn't help but wonder to herself. She had to believe it was going to happen one way or another, even if it wasn't going to be with Jose…

Ana closed her eyes, willing away these thoughts. They weren't helpful, and she was already dealing with enough emotionally right now.

She finally, slowly, sat back up on her bed, taking a deep breath and wiping away the last of her tears. She refused to cry anymore over that dickhead, so she got to her feet and made her way to her en suite, eager to wash this day away in the shower before changing into her pajamas.

The next morning was Tuesday, and Ana woke up earlier than usual. She looked at her phone and immediately noticed several missed calls from Jose last night, but she ignored them. She seriously thought about calling in sick to work today, but considering the fact all her coworkers saw her at Vibracós barely twelve hours ago, she probably couldn't get away with pretending to be sick in that short amount of time. Christian would undoubtedly get on her case about it, and she really wasn't in the mood to deal with that.

It was best, for today at least, to pretend that everything was fine. It wasn't going to be easy, though, that was for sure.

Ana got out of bed and dragged herself to her bathroom to shower and get ready for the day. She went to pee first, and – of all the ironies that could have happened to her this morning – saw that her period had started.

Of course, Ana couldn't help but think wryly to herself. I'm sure Jose can rest easy now knowing beyond a doubt that I'm not pregnant.

Feeling more subdued than she wanted to admit to herself, Ana went to find a tampon in the cabinet underneath her bathroom sink before getting into the shower. It was going to be a long day.

~/~

After showering, getting dressed, and doing her hair and makeup, Ana was ready to go. Before heading to work, however, he decided to stop by the artisan cafe next door to her building for a bagel breakfast sandwich. Her favorite comfort food could at least cheer her up a little bit before she had to start her day.

After breakfast, Ana bought herself a milk tea latte to go and took an Uber to the office, deciding against a cab or the subway. Oftentimes, she could rely on Jose to give her a ride to work, but now those days were probably over. A lot of things that she had gotten used to in the past two years were probably over now.

Some of those things she would definitely not miss, though, Ana rationalized to herself as she gazed out the car window. Jose's thoughtless behavior, his annoying addiction to video games, his reluctance to take her out on dates, and his tendency to leave her high and dry when they made plans together… yeah, there were many aspects about Jose she would be happy to not have to deal with anymore.

Ana arrived at her office building feeling marginally better than she did when she left, and when she headed upstairs, she was even happier to notice Christian hadn't arrived at their shared office yet. Ana settled in at her desk, powering up her computer and sipping her milk tea latte, mentally compiling all the work she wanted to get done today.

Her solitude was short-lived, however, as she soon saw Christian approach their office from beyond the glass wall. He wasn't alone, either: he was walking along and chatting with Kate Kavanaugh, both of them smiling and laughing in a clearly flirtatious way.

Ana rolled her eyes to herself as she deliberately turned back to her computer, and a few moments later, Christian entered the office. Thankfully, Kate had turned away and walked off toward her father Eamon's office at the other end of the hallway.

"Good morning," Christian smiled at Ana as he headed over to his desk.

"'Morning," Ana said flatly, watching Kate walk away, her beautiful blonde curls bouncing as she went. "Looks like Daddy's Girl showed up for work today."

"You're in a good mood this morning," Christian said sarcastically, eyeing her. "Woke up on the wrong side of the bed?"

Ana felt a lump grow in her throat. "Something like that," she muttered, turning her attention back to her computer and taking a sip of her latte. Christian, thankfully, didn't say anything else as he got to work as well.

~/~

The rest of the morning passed by in relative silence, which Ana was happy about. She was experiencing some menstrual cramps this morning, which were annoying, but she tried not to let them bother her as she busied herself with work.

Work was what helped distract her from all the nastiness that had happened last night, but the cramps were starting to distract her from her work… which then stopped distracting her.

Ugh. Ana sighed as she checked the time, seeing with dismay that it wasn't even eleven o'clock yet. Why can't this day be over already?

Once noon rolled around, Jessica messaged Ana over Slack asking if she wanted to grab lunch with her and Nadia at the deli down the street. Eating was the last thing Ana felt like doing right now, and since she hadn't told her friends yet about what happened between her and Jose yesterday, she really wasn't keen on seeing her work besties today. She messaged Jessica back with an apology, saying she had too much work to do.

She would talk to them soon. She just wasn't ready yet.

Wanting to get out of her office space and away from Christian for a bit, Ana grabbed a few random files from her desk and got up, deciding to head over to the copy room. That room was hidden away from the main bustle of the office, and it was usually empty, so Ana felt that she could hide away there for a few minutes without arousing suspicion.

Ana headed down the hallway and turned the corner toward where the copy room was. Upon entering the room, however, she saw someone in there using the copy machine: a young brunette woman from the SEO department Ana remembered as Mary.

Mary looked over at her from the copy machine and smiled. "Oh, hi Ana. I'll be done in a sec, I'm just finishing up here."

"No worries," Ana smiled politely, standing off to the side. "So how've you been Mary? I don't think I've seen you since I got back from my leave."

"I've been great," Mary said brightly, picking up her copies. "Really great, actually… a lot has changed in the last few months, as I'm sure you can see."

She turned to face Ana, who finally noticed the small but undeniable bump at Mary's stomach. Ana blinked, momentarily surprised. "Oh my gosh, congratulations!" she said, her happy tone sounded forced and hollow in her own ears. "When are you due?"

"In about four months. My husband and I are so excited," Mary smiled down at her belly, running a hand over it. "We're a bit nervous too, though. It's our first – can you believe it?"

That statement felt like a kick to Ana's chest, but she forced a smile on her face. "That's really great, Mary."

The two of them made small talk for the next minute or so before Mary said goodbye and left. Ana was finally left alone in the copy room, feeling even worse than before.

It wasn't Mary's fault, obviously. It was great that she was having a baby, of course it was. But still… after Ana's fight with Jose last night, and with her period starting this morning, Ana felt like the universe was just shoving motherhood in her face over and over again. Mocking her with it.

Ana now walked over to the copy machine, a lump growing in her throat as tears began to fill her eyes. A couple tears suddenly slid down her cheeks, unbidden, and Ana was immediately embarrassed. She quickly wiped them away with her wrist, trying to compose herself, and she let out a sniff. She willed herself to stop, and she took several deep breaths.

Pull yourself together, Steele. Don't be the girl who cries at work.

Easier said than done, though… Ana felt a few more tears slide down her face, and she sniffed again. She would have to stop by the ladies room on the way back and check her makeup to make sure she didn't have any black streaks running down her face.

Ana took another deep breath, but then froze as she heard someone enter the copy room behind her. Thankfully, her back was to the door, so whoever just came in couldn't see her crying. She cleared her throat. "Um, I'll just be a minute."

"I don't think my super important work can wait that long, Steele," a familiar voice said amusedly.

Ana felt a cold pit settle at the base of her stomach when she recognized Christian's voice. God, he was the last person she wanted to see while she was in such a fragile state.

"Well, then, maybe you should use the 'super important' copy machine on another floor," Ana suggested sarcastically, still keeping her face averted. Her tears had ceased, thankfully, but she couldn't disguise her red eyes and splotchy complexion. She prayed that Christian would just turn around and leave.

He didn't, however. Ana heard him approach her, and she felt her heart pounding in her chest as she tried to act as normal as possible. She realized, in her distraction, that she was just clutching the file folders in her hands and not making copies – she quickly pulled a paper out at random and began busying herself with the machine.

Christian stopped at her side, but Ana deliberately didn't meet his gaze as she concentrated firmly down at the copy machine. She knew he was looking at her face, but she was going to pretend everything was normal even if it killed her.

"You've been crying," Christian finally pointed out. It was a simple statement of fact, no compassion or mocking tone to his voice. Ana wasn't sure which one she would have preferred.

Deciding there was no point in hiding her teary face anymore, Ana let out a huff before turning to look directly at Christian, grimacing at him as he no doubt got a full view of her tear-stained face. "Yeah. You caught me. Congratulations," she said bluntly. "Go on and laugh. I know you want to."

Christian didn't laugh, however. He kept an unreadable expression on his face as he continued to gaze down at her. "You broke up with your boyfriend last night, didn't you?"

She hated that he assumed that, even though it was pretty much the truth. She turned back to the copy machine, pretending to occupy herself with the buttons. "Wow, you must be like a genius or something," she muttered, aggravated.

He shrugged. "He didn't show up for happy hour last night and you seemed annoyed about it. I figured you were lying about him having to work late, so I just put the pieces together."

Ana wanted to retort back with another sarcastic remark about how smart he must be, but for some reason she couldn't. Christian wasn't necessarily mocking her for crying in the copy room, even though he definitely could have. He was being surprisingly normal with her, and Ana had a sudden urge to be honest with him.

She gazed down at her hands for a moment before finally glancing up at him. "He…" she began, but then hesitated, swallowing. "A friend of mine took a pregnancy test in my apartment a few days ago. It was negative, but… Jose found the pregnancy test box last night and thought it was mine."

She felt tears fill her eyes as she looked back down, clearing her throat. "He completely flipped out. The mere thought of me being pregnant was enough to send him into a rage, and I ended up kicking him out of my apartment. I haven't spoken to him since… and I don't think I want to."

Her confession just came spilling out, and after she finished speaking, Christian didn't say anything for several moments. The silence felt heavy between them.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," he eventually said quietly. Ana felt an inexplicable flare of annoyance: this man always had something snarky to say to her, and now all he could offer was a vague apology?

Ana frowned at him. "You don't have to pretend to be nice to me, alright? I'm just trying to get through the day today."

Christian raised an eyebrow at her, looking much more like his normal self as he smirked at her. "I'm not 'pretending', Steele – believe it or not, I actually am capable of real human emotion. My low opinion of you is strictly work-related, I assure you."

Ana couldn't help but let out a snort. This was the Christian she was more familiar with. "I appreciate your honesty."

"Thank you. And in the spirit of that honesty, I hope you don't mind me saying that your soon-to-be ex-boyfriend is a total dick," Christian stated, and Ana looked up at him again. "The fact that he didn't tell you his true feelings about not wanting kids is entirely his fault, not yours."

Ana shook her head. "I thought he and I were heading toward marriage and kids," she confessed. "I really did. I feel like an idiot now for thinking that."

"You're not an idiot for thinking that," Christian said without hesitation. "Most relationships head in that direction. And if it's what you want, then it's what you want – you shouldn't ever feel ashamed of that."

His matter-of-fact statement made Ana feel inexplicably better, and she smiled slightly at him. "Thanks, Christian."

He smiled back at her. "You're welcome. I'm sure your future kids will be very proud of you, Ana… as long as they don't mind having a second-rate marketing agent for a mother."

Ana couldn't help but laugh, feeling lighter than she had felt all day. "Right. And I can regale them with stories about my complete asshole of an officemate who actually tried being nice to me once."

"And don't you forget it," Christian said seriously, though he grinned. "I'll see you later, Ana."

He turned to head out of the copy room, and Ana watched him walk away. "Bye Christian."

Ana turned back to the copy machine and took a deep breath, exhaling it out as if she were releasing all the negative feelings she had been holding onto all day. She couldn't help but smile to herself as she gathered up her files, realizing that her talk with Christian was, strangely enough, exactly what she needed.

A/N: Turns out Christian can be kind of sweet sometimes :)

If you liked this chapter, please review! Next chapter, Ana gets another surprise.