A/N: Thank you for all the continued love and support! I hope you enjoy this next chapter ?

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 12: Searching for Love

After a quick dinner with Nadia and Jessica (where Ana made very clear to her friends that she was not happy they invited Christian to tag along) they all headed over to the bar where the speed-dating event was being held. It was a place called The Clifton, and the crowded area with the soft lighting and dozens of two-top tables set up around the place made Ana feel a sense of nervousness and foreboding.

She, Nadia, and Jessica walked about five feet through the door before Ana came to a stop, gazing at the large crowd of people around her. "You know what guys? I think I'm going to tap out. I'll just watch from the bar."

"No way, Ana. We're here to participate and have fun," Jessica said firmly, hooking her arm through Ana's elbow and tugging her forward. "And Christian already promised he'd meet us here. I'm sorry you're not happy we invited him, but you don't have to let your dislike of him ruin our night."

"I still think inviting him was a good thing," Nadia insisted, glancing around at the swelling crowd of people. "He can be our protection in case one of these guys turns out to be a total creep."

Ana whipped around to frown at Nadia in alarm. "Wait, how likely is that?"

Before Nadia could answer, a middle-aged woman in a blue power suit and glasses approached them, smiling brightly. "Good evening, ladies. Are all of you going to be participating in The Single Hop tonight?"

"Just these two," Nadia grinned, gesturing to Jessica and Ana. "I'll be watching from the side."

"Excellent! Well, my name is Jillian, and I'm the organizer of the event as well as the emcee for tonight," she explained professionally, handing both Jessica and Ana sticker name tags and black Sharpies. "Have either of you ever done speed-dating before?"

Jessica and Ana both said no as they accepted the name tags from her and scribbled their names on them. Ana noticed her name tag had a large #35 printed in the corner.

"That's perfectly okay. So what you ladies are going to do is pick a table and sit down at one," she said, gesturing toward all the two-top tables filling up the main part of the bar. "Any table will do. One of our male participants will sit down across from you, and the two of you will chat for exactly five minutes. Then a bell will ring, and each man will move one table to his left, and they will rotate through the tables until you've spoken to each man once. Every participant also has a name tag with a number, which is just an easier way of identifying each person in case two or more people have the same first name.

"Every participant will also receive five 'call cards'," Jillian went on, producing two small stacks of cards and handing each one to Ana and Jessica. "Once we've finished up all the rounds, there might be a gentleman who catches your eye and you'd like to continue your conversation with him at a later date. On these cards you can fill out your name, contact information, and the name of the man you'd like to get to know better – you can then give these cards back to me at the end of the night, and I can ensure the man in question will receive it."

"And all the guys fill out these call cards too?" Jessica asked, her eyes lighting up with interest as she examined them.

"Yes ma'am," Jillian smiled widely, nodding. "Before you leave tonight, be sure to stop by and see me so I can give you your call cards from the interested gentlemen, and we can ensure you don't have any potential missed connections. All we ask is that you do not share any of your personal contact information with your dates during the speed-dating rounds. Do either of you have any questions?"

Jessica and Ana glanced at each other before shaking their heads again. "No, I don't think so," Jessica said, smiling at Jillian. "Thank you."

"You're very welcome, ladies. The event should be starting in about ten minutes, so be sure to find your seats soon."

She smiled before moving over to another group of people who walked in, and Ana, Jessica, and Nadia made their way over to the bar.

"This all seems simple enough," Ana noted, unpeeling the name tag sticker and pressing it to her shirt. "Though I might as well just throw away these call cards since I'm definitely not going to be using them."

"Could you give them to me then?" Jessica asked eagerly. "You never know, there might be ten guys I'm interested in by the end of tonight."

"Maybe Miss Steele is just trying to appear more mysterious to all the guys here tonight."

The three women turned to see Christian sitting at the bar by himself, nursing a beer while smirking at Ana. He had changed out of his work clothes, and Ana couldn't help but notice he looked really good tonight in dark wash jeans and a green collared sweater.

"Hi Christian! Glad you could make it tonight," Nadia said brightly, and Christian smiled back at her.

"So you think I'm playing hard-to-get?" Ana asked Christian dubiously. "I already told you that Jessica and Nadia twisted my arm to get me to come here with them."

"And yet you're still here," he said, his eyes sliding down to her name tag. "'Anastasia'. How fancy, using your full name like that."

Ana felt herself blush as she glared at him. "It's not fancy, it's just my name."

"Your full name, that you never go by," Christian pointed out. "Hoping to catch someone's interest tonight, Steele?"

He was giving her a challenging look, and Ana had a sudden desire to be challenging right back. She crossed her arms, glaring at him. "I might be. What's it to you?"

An unreadable expression crossed over Christian's features as he raised an eyebrow at her. He didn't say anything, however, as he seemed to assess her.

"Hey Ana, I'm gonna grab a drink before finding my seat," Jessica said to her. "You want anything?"

"Sure. Could you get me a vodka soda?" Ana asked her.

"Of course," Jessica smiled, and she went to the bar as Nadia walked after her.

Christian now got to his feet, setting down his beer. "So, Steele… ready to go on 50 first dates?"

Ana grimaced. No, she definitely was not ready.

"Of course," she said confidently, lifting her chin slightly. "So how many call cards do you expect to get at the end of the night? One pity one, maybe?"

Christian let out a laugh. "Oh please, you think I have any actual competition here? Ten bucks says I get more call cards than you by the end of the night."

Ana looked at him in shock. "Are you serious? You want to make this a competition?"

"Might make it more interesting," Christian shrugged. "But hey, if you're too much of a chicken…"

Ana knew what he was doing, and she glared at him. "You think taunting me is going to make me take up your stupid bet?"

"Yes, I do," Christian said, looking right at her, a superior smirk playing across his handsome face.

Before Ana could say anything, the sound of microphone feedback filled the whole bar, causing the crowd of people to go silent. "Good evening everyone, and welcome to The Single Hop!" Jillian's amplified voice sounded across the area from a small stage near the front. "I hope you're all having a wonderful evening so far. The event is going to be starting up in about five minutes, so all you ladies participating, please find an open seat at one of the numbered two-top tables before the men are assigned their spots. Best of luck to you all!"

"C'mon Ana – it's time," Jessica was at Ana's side, handing her her drink before tugging her over to the tables, looking eager. "Let's go!"

Ana glanced back at Christian as she was being led away. "See you on the other side."

Christian grinned.

Ana felt like she was barely ready before the first bell rang and she was thrown headlong into speed-dating.

The first few guys she met were nice enough, though she could hardly recall any details about them: Dave was a nice but rather nerdy guy who worked at an IT company, and the two of them had barely sparked up a conversation about the latest Marvel movie before he was replaced by a short, stocky gentleman named Justin who worked at a pharmaceutical company. Then after him was Pedro, a mechanic from Queens who looked like he could've been her father's age, and then Francis, a financial advisor who somehow looked even older.

Ana tried her best to be polite to all the guys she met, and thankfully Jessica was seated only a few tables away from her, making her feel less alone in this sea of strangers. Jessica was definitely in her element, happily chatting away with her dates as she likely charmed every guy she spoke to; Ana hoped that she at least could be half as charming with her own dates, especially since Christian had bet ten bucks she would get fewer call cards at the end of the night than him.

Ana could see Christian in the distance chatting away with his own dates, and even she noticed the women he was speaking to practically salivating in delight over having the good fortune of meeting this gorgeous specimen of a man.

They wouldn't be drooling over him so much if they had to be on the receiving end of his stupid, condescending comments every single day, Ana couldn't help but think viciously as she watched Christian say something to the perky redhead across from him. She laughed a little too loudly at whatever dumb joke he told her, and Ana scowled to herself.

The bell rang again, and just like all the other times, the men got up from their seats and moved one table to their left. The dark-haired guy who now sat down in front of Ana smiled at her, and she couldn't help but think he was one of the cuter guys she'd met tonight so far.

"Hi," he smiled at her, holding his hand out to her to shake. "I'm Boyd. Nice to meet you, Anastasia."

"Nice to meet you too," Ana smiled back, shaking his hand. "But please, call me Ana."

"Just Ana? But Anastasia is so pretty," Boyd insisted, smiling at her sincerely. "It's like a Russian princess or something."

"I s'pose, but sometimes I feel like my name needs to sound more pedestrian," Ana shrugged, grinning. "It can get a bit awkward if people think I'm royalty."

"So you're saying I shouldn't kneel right now and call you 'Your Majesty'?" Boyd asked in all seriousness, though he had a humorous twinkle in his eye. "Honestly, I don't mind."

Ana laughed. "Maybe hold off on that for now. We only have five minutes, after all."

"That's a shame. If only speed-dating didn't go by so quickly…"

The two of them chatted for the rest of their five minutes about work and hobbies. Boyd was apparently a successful writer who was publishing his third book in the next few weeks, and one of his books was even in talks of becoming a movie within the next year. He didn't get a lot of free time, he said, but he enjoyed going to museums and art galleries, and he wanted to learn more about photography so he could properly photograph Rome when he would go later this year. Ana would be lying if she said she wasn't impressed by him, and it certainly helped that he seemed to be very genuine as they chatted.

The bell soon rang for them to rotate, and Boyd got to his feet. "Until next time, My Lady," he said regally, placing a hand on his heart and bowing slightly to her.

Ana giggled."You're excused, good sir," she said, playing along. He smiled at her before moving to the next table.

"Well, wasn't that adorable."

Ana's smile disappeared as soon as she saw Christian move into the seat across from her. "Where did you come from?" she blurted out

"The previous table. Where else?" Christian asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"No, you were at least two tables away. Weren't you?" Ana insisted, glancing back at the other tables and trying to remember who had actually been there.

"Maybe you just weren't paying attention because you were so wrapped up in your conversation with loverboy over there," Christian said, nodding toward Boyd at the next table over. "What's his deal?"

Ana glanced over at Boyd too. "He's a writer, and he just made a joke about how my name sounds like a princess," she said, turning back to Christian and raising an eyebrow at him. "Why does it matter?"

Christian didn't answer her as he continued to stare at Boyd, his jaw seeming to clench slightly. "So are you going to talk to him again after all this? The two of you seemed to have quite a rapport going on."

"He's certainly a top contender, that's for sure," Ana said honestly. "But what about you? You've just been charming the pants off of all the women in this place, haven't you?"

Christian finally looked at her, his face softening a noticeable amount as he smirked. "Is that what I've been doing?"

"Oh please, like you don't know," Ana rolled her eyes at him. "You're like the best-looking guy at this thing. Don't act like you haven't noticed."

Christian's smile widened, clearly delighted to hear Ana admit she thought he was good-looking. "You really think so? That's very flattering of you to say, Steele. Can I expect to get your call card by the end of the night?"

"And help you win the bet? No way, " Ana stated firmly. "I shouldn't have said anything, your ego is big enough as it is. It doesn't need me to inflate it any further."

"There's no shame in saying how you truly feel, Steele," Christian said, smirking at her as he leaned back confidently in his seat. "If you think I'm good-looking, you can just say so."

"I said the other women here think you're good-looking," Ana clarified, though she felt herself blush as she glared at him. "I think you're just an asshole who enjoys being a jerk to me on a daily basis."

"And despite that, you still think I'm attractive," Christian noted, grinning at her.

Ana huffed and scowled."Believe whatever you want. The fact of the matter is that Boyd is getting my call card at the end of tonight and you're not," she stated, surprising even herself by saying that.

The humor finally left Christian's expression as he stared at her, an unreadable look shuttering over his features as he seemed to take her in. "Are you saying that because you actually like him? Or is there another reason?"

Ana felt a little thrown off by that question, and even more so by the burning look Christian currently leveled at her. She suddenly thought back to the other night, when Christian was standing in her kitchen and staring at her like she was the only other person in the world.

"What other reason would there be?" Ana asked quietly, a challenging note to her voice that Christian clearly didn't miss.

He didn't say anything as he continued to stare at her, and she didn't break his gaze. They both startled slightly when the bell suddenly rang, signaling the end of the round.

Christian glanced to his left, where he was meant to go next, and there was almost a reluctant expression on his face as he looked back over at Ana. "Back into the fray, Steele."

Ana hesitated a moment before smirking slightly. "Good luck."

Christian smirked back at her before getting to his feet and walking over to the next table. Ana watched him as he left.

~/~

Finally, after an hour, the speed-dating was done. Ana met up with Nadia and Jessica over by the bar, feeling an overwhelming sense of relief.

"Remind me to never do this again," Ana said to her friends, sighing as she gazed at the crowds of people gathered near the stage, where Jillian was collecting call cards. "Can we leave now?"

"No! We have to get our call cards," Jessica insisted, scribbling on one of her own cards. "Also we have to hand ours in. Isn't there anyone you met tonight that you'd like to talk to again?"

Honestly, there really wasn't anyone apart from Boyd. Many of the guys here were perfectly nice, but it was hard to feel any sort of connection with them after a five-minute conversation. Ana had already told Christian that she was going to give Boyd a call card tonight, however, so she figured she might as well fill at least one out.

Ana filled out one for Boyd while Jessica filled out all of hers, insisting she met a lot of great guys tonight and she couldn't pick just one that she wanted to talk to again the most. Ana couldn't help but laugh at her friend as they walked up to Jillian and handed in their call cards, but her smile dropped the moment she spotted Christian walking toward them. He had clearly just seen Ana and Jessica hand in their call cards, and the frown on his face was apparent.

"So, you really are hoping loverboy is gonna call you back," he noted, looking at Ana with raised eyebrows. "I didn't think you'd actually do it."

"Ooh, who's loverboy?" Nadia asked Ana eagerly. She shrugged, trying to look unconcerned.

"His name's Boyd. He seemed really nice, and I figured I might as well see if anything could happen between us," she explained.

"Hey that's awesome!" Jessica exclaimed, wrapping an arm around Ana's shoulders and giving her a squeeze. "See? I knew something good would come out of tonight."

"We'll see, I guess," Christian said stiffly, and he turned and walked away before any of them could respond.

"Huh, that was weird," Nadia said, gazing after him with a frown. "Did he hand in any call cards?"

"I don't think so," Jessica noted, gazing at him before glancing over at Jillian. "Maybe he didn't meet anyone he liked?"

Ana didn't say anything, though something warm bloomed in her chest at the thought of Christian not being interested in any of the other women here tonight. She didn't really want to examine those feelings, however.

Everyone waited around for about fifteen minutes as Jillian and her team tallied up all the call cards, and finally began the process of handing them out to everyone. Jillian stood near the door as she handed them out, and Ana was eager to finally get her call cards so she and her friends could finally leave.

"Here you are, dear," Jillian smiled kindly at Ana as she handed her a small stack of call cards. "I hope you had a great time tonight at The Single Hop. Enjoy the rest of your evening."

"Thanks," Ana smiled politely, stepping to the side as she waited for Jessica to get her call cards. She thumbed through each of them: she counted eight in total, recognizing a few of the names on them, and her heart skipped a beat when she noticed Boyd had left her his call card.

Maybe our conversation really did leave an impression?

"Oh my – if it isn't Mr. Popular!" Jillian laughed.

Ana turned and saw the other woman hand Christian his stack of call cards, which was noticeably much thicker than everyone else's. "Enjoy your night, sir. And thank you for coming by The Single Hop."

"Thank you," Christian smiled politely at her, his cards in hand as he walked over to Ana nearby.

Ana grimaced at his ridiculous stack, which practically looked like a full deck of cards. "Well, I think it's pretty obvious who won our bet."

Christian glanced up at her. "What do you mean?"

"We had a bet on who could get more call cards at the end of the night," Ana said, gesturing to his massive stack of cards. "You obviously won, so I owe you ten bucks."

Christian didn't say anything as he glanced down at his stack of cards. Without a word, he moved over to a nearby trash can and tossed them all inside.

He looked back up at Ana's shocked face. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he said smoothly, grinning at her. With that, he tucked his hands into his pockets, gave her a polite nod, and headed out the door into the night.

A/N: Hm… I think he shocked her a little 0_0

Please review :) Next chapter, Ana starts grappling with her thoughts about Christian after the speed-dating event.