A/N: I'm glad you guys all enjoyed the last chapter! I hope you enjoy this one :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 22: Reunion

At around 12:15, Ana was able to slip out of her office undetected and head out of the building, deciding to walk to the diner where she was going to meet Christian and Mr. Whalen. She also preemptively decided to message Jessica and Nadia over Slack to tell them that she was going out to meet a client so they knew why she wasn't sticking around for lunch. It was perfectly normal for marketing agents to go out for client lunches, but Ana still felt a bit paranoid as she made her way down to the atrium and headed out the front doors of the building, glancing over her shoulder as she went. She had a strange feeling that she was being watched, but knew that that feeling was probably just in her head.

Being in the same building as Jack and Kate, whose malicious intentions she didn't entirely know the extent of yet, was putting her on edge. It was good for her to get out of the building for the next couple hours… and see Christian again, of course.

I'm seeing him again.

Ana kept that thought in mind as she walked the several blocks to EJ's, hurrying along with quick determined steps. She kept checking her watch as she went, making sure she was making good time, and it was 12:30 on the dot once she arrived at the diner.

She walked through the front doors of the crowded establishment, and immediately began looking around for Christian. It was difficult, however, with so many people filling up the place, and she had a hard time seeing anything over people's heads.

"…Ana?"

Ana whipped around at the sound of her name, but frowned when she saw it wasn't Christian who approached her. "Jose?"

Jose was the last person she thought she'd see today, but there he was, standing near the counter in his usual flannel shirt and baggy jeans. He smiled, looking genuinely pleased to see her, as if the last time he had seen her didn't involve him screaming at her in a blind rage for possibly being pregnant.

"Wow, I wasn't expecting to see you today, Ana," he said, shoving his hands in his pockets as he gazed at her, giving her an appreciative onceover. "You look really good."

Ana really wasn't in the mood to talk to her ex-boyfriend right now, especially when she was supposed to be meeting Christian, and she turned away from him so she could keep looking for the guy she came here to see. "Thanks," she said blandly, not caring one iota about the man standing next to her.

"It's kinda crazy you're here today. Are you meeting a client or something?" Jose went on, clearly trying to engage her in conversation. "Some friends from my Elder Rings club and I come here for lunch during the week. Wanna come over and say hi? They're actually really cool, I think you'd like them…"

Ana was barely listening to what Jose was saying. She finally spotted who she was looking for, standing about twenty yards away, and he was all she could focus on.

Christian, who had clearly been searching for Ana as well, spotted her the same time she did. They stared at each other, and for Ana, Jose and the rest of the world seemed to melt away as they met each other's eyes.

He's so handsome.

That thought came unbidden to her mind, and she couldn't help but have her face break out into a wide, happy smile. Christian smiled back at her, a whole plethora of emotions crossing over his face as he did so. He began to move toward her through the crowd of people.

"…Ana?" Jose asked, finally realizing she wasn't paying attention to him.

"Sorry, gotta go," she said, not even glancing at Jose as she began moving through the crowd of people so she could get to Christian.

It felt like forever, moving through the diner crowd of people to get to Christian, and Ana had no idea how much closer she was to him until he was suddenly in front of her.

Ana practically bumped into his chest, and she turned her face up so she was looking into his eyes. Christian stared back at her, many emotions still playing across his handsome face – there was happiness, relief, but also a hint of sadness. Everything they had been through over the last few days was clearly wearing on him, but Ana couldn't bring herself to care about that right now as she suddenly threw her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his in an exuberant kiss.

Christian didn't hesitate to kiss her back, wrapping his arms around her waist while hauling her to his body so she was pressed up tightly against him. Neither of them seemed to care that they were surrounded by people and were in public together, where anyone could see them – all that mattered was that they were together for the first time in days, and Ana never wanted to leave his arms again. When she was here, there was no Jack or Kate or Leila… nothing else in the world seemed to matter.

Christian pulled back slightly, though he kept his arms around her and his face close to hers, brushing his lips lightly over hers again as he smiled. "Hi."

Ana giggled, pecking him on the lips once again just because she could. "Hi," she whispered, bringing a hand up to brush against his cheek.

"I'm glad you guys are happy to see each other, but can you cool it while we're in public?" an amused voice said from behind Christian. "People are staring, and I'd rather your reunion didn't get posted all over social media."

"Sorry Burt," Christian said, finally pulling away from Ana so he could turn around and grin at the man, and Ana looked at him too. Mr. Whalen was a very strapping and tall older guy, even taller than Christian, and he gave the two lovebirds a kind smile that Ana couldn't help but return.

"I'll make a wild guess and assume you're Ms. Steele?" Mr. Whalen asked, and Ana let out a slightly embarrassed giggle.

"Yeah, that's me," she said, and they shook hands. "Nice to meet you Mr. Whalen."

"You as well. We should probably go and sit back down at our booth, though," he said, nodding back toward where they had been sitting. "I apologize, we won't get a lot of privacy here."

"That's why I wanted to go to your office for this meeting instead of this place," Christian pointed out, taking Ana's hand in his own as he led her toward the booth. "We wouldn't have to be all exposed like this."

"I don't mind," Ana said, before quickly adding: "Meeting you guys here, I mean. It's nice to get out of the office for a bit."

"And as I told Christian, my office is on the other side of town," Mr. Whalen explained as they sat down in their booth. Ana and Christian sat together across from Mr. Whalen, still holding hands under the table. "It wouldn't have been feasible for Ana to go all the way out there from Kavanaugh Media just for lunch."

"I appreciate that, Mr. Whalen, but I think you should know we were actually seen," Ana said, looking at Christian, and he looked at her in alarm. "Jose is here."

Christian blinked, looking taken aback by that news. "Your ex-boyfriend is here? At this diner, right now?"

"Yup. He was standing at the counter with some people from his video game club," Ana nodded. "He tried talking to me, but I walked away from him the moment I saw you."

An amused grin broke out across Christian's face as she said that, and he laughed, turning and craning his neck to try and see the counter. "So you and I just made out in front of your ex? I guess I can't object to being seen in that respect."

"As long as he has nothing to do with what's going on at Kavanaugh Media, I think we can let this one slide," Mr. Whalen said, smiling at the two of them. At that moment, a waitress appeared with menus for the three of them, and a busboy placed three glasses of water on the table in front of them. Once they left, Mr. Whalen opened his menu.

"Lunch is on me today, guys, so get whatever you want," he said, perusing the options on the menu. "I've heard the shepherd's pie here is pretty amazing."

"Thank you, Mr. Whalen. But you mentioned Kavanaugh Media," Ana said, too anxious to talk about what she came here for than to think about eating. "Over the weekend, I was doing some of my own research, and I learned about Leila's past as a social media influencer and figured she might be why Jack is trying to screw over the company."

Mr. Whalen looked surprised at Ana knowing that information already, and he smiled at her. "Wow, you really have been doing your own research. Christian said you probably would be looking for answers on your own."

"I did. Ana's one of the smartest people I know," Christian smiled at her, squeezing her hand underneath the table. Ana smiled back at him. "You're right, Ana, about Leila being a former influencer and about her being the reason why Jack is stealing money."

"There's a bit more to it than that, though," Mr. Whalen said, grimacing as he glanced around, making sure no one around them was listening. "It doesn't seem like Jack is just trying to steal money from the company – he's trying to start his own company."

Ana stared at Mr. Whalen, surprised at that information. "He's trying to start his own company by overbilling Kavanaugh Media's clients?"

"Pretty much," Christian said. "The clients who were overbilled were understandably pissed. That sort of accounting error on our part is unprofessional at best and illegal at worst. Some of the clients were reconsidering their contracts with Kavanaugh Media as a result, which was where Jack came in. He contacted these clients soon after the overbilling incident, posing as the CEO of another marketing agency, and pitched them an offer that would be too good for them to pass up."

"He screwed over those clients and then pretended to be their 'saving grace'?" Ana scowled in disgust. "What a scumbag."

"Agreed. And that's why Jack was in Mr. Kavanaugh's office the other morning," Christian went on. "He was pretending to be a CEO for another marketing company. He couldn't exactly use his intern office or a coffee shop – he needed to look legit."

"And from what we know so far, Jack's little CEO act has been convincing enough to two of Kavanaugh Media's largest clients," Mr. Whalen said. "Foster Polymers and Medline. They're planning on ending their contracts with Kavanaugh Media by the end of the quarter and signing with Jack."

"Oh God," Ana said, her eyes wide with extreme worry. "That would ruin Kavanaugh Media! We have to tell those clients what they're getting into."

"We can try, but until the NYPD can confirm Jack's illegal activities, our words will hold very little weight," Christian said. "We need more evidence of what Jack is doing before we can get the authorities involved and clear my name."

Ana was about to respond, but at that moment, the waitress returned to take their orders. Ana didn't really care about eating right now, so when Mr. Whalen ordered the shepherd's pie, she asked for the same, as did Christian. The waitress smiled at all of them as she collected their menus and walked away.

"Glad to hear you guys are as excited about the shepherd's pie as I am," Mr. Whalen smiled amusedly, leaning back in the booth. "But to get back to what we were talking about, Christian and I feel that you can help us, Ana. That's partly why I asked you to meet us here."

"Helping you guys is what I've been trying to do," Ana smirked at him before glancing over at Christian. "What do you need from me?"

"Just keep your ear to the ground when you're at Kavanaugh Media," Christian explained. "You've done an awesome job so far finding out all you have about Jack, but if there's some way we could get evidence against him while at work, we can build a stronger case against him."

"I can try," Ana agreed, thinking. "I was able to look at his emails on his computer… I could probably find something more incriminating if I can get a longer look. Or maybe someone from IT can give me access?"

"It would be best not to involve anyone else," Mr. Whalen insisted. "But Jack's emails might be a good place for you to start."

"Sounds like a plan. But just so you know, I dropped a hint to Max the other day that we should maybe look at Kate being involved in all of this," Ana added. "I can talk to him and see if he found anything yet."

Christian and Mr. Whalen both looked at Ana in surprise. "Max knows about this?" Christian asked in alarm. "How much did you tell him?"

"Nothing that would point to Jack," Ana assured him. "Max was confused as to why Mr. Kavanaugh thought you were guilty when he had no evidence against you, and I pointed out that you had had a date with Kate a few weeks ago that didn't go very well. He was able to make the connection."

Mr. Whalen and Christian simply looked at Ana in surprise for several moments before both of them laughed.

"I have to say, that was pretty clever of you Ana," Mr. Whalen complimented her.

"I've said it before – Ana's one of the smartest people I know," Christian smiled down at her, and Ana blushed before grinning back. "And I have to say, I'm pretty damn lucky."

Ana leaned toward him so her lips hovered over his. "I am too," she muttered before pressing her lips to his in a sweet kiss, neither of them caring that others could see them.

~/~

Once their food arrived, the three of them were pretty much finished speaking about Jack and Kavanaugh Media, so they just made small talk as they ate. Ana knew she had to be getting back to the office soon, but she was dreading leaving Christian again – as much headway as they had made in the last few days in regards to clearing Christian's name, she still had no idea when the next time she could see him again would be. The thought was a depressing one, but she tried to hide it as she and Christian finished up their lunch with Mr. Whalen.

"It was a pleasure meeting you Ana," Mr. Whalen said sincerely as they were getting up to leave and putting on their coats. He held out his hand for Ana to shake, which she did. "We'll be in touch soon, but feel free to reach out to me if you need anything."

"Thank you, Mr. Whalen. I will," Ana smiled back at him.

"I'll leave you kids to it, then," Mr. Whalen said, looking over at Christian and clapping him on the shoulder. "I don't think I need to remind you that you and Ana aren't supposed to be seen together."

"I know, Burt. We'll keep our goodbye brief if it makes you feel better," Christian to the other man amusedly. "I'll see you later."

"Alright then," Mr. Whalen agreed with a smile, removing his hand from Christian's shoulder. "Goodbye you two."

"Bye," Ana said, and Mr. Whalen waved at them before walking out of the diner.

"C'mon," Christian said, taking Ana's hand and interlocking their fingers together. He walked them toward the front of the diner, weaving their way through the crowds of people; Ana noticed that Jose and his video game club seemed to be gone now.

"So is your ex-boyfriend still here?" Christian asked, clearly thinking the same thing as he glanced toward the front counter.

"No, it looks like we scared him off," Ana said with amusement. Christian led her to an alcove near the front door, tucked away from any nearby windows and where nobody was standing. "What are you doing?"

"I'm saying a proper goodbye to you," Christian smiled at her, tugging her toward him so she was pulled into his arms, and Ana placed her hands against his chest, smiling up at him. They were still in public, and lots of people who were milling around could see them, but this did feel a bit more intimate than standing at the counter or outside the door.

"We're supposed to keep this brief," Ana pointed out, and her heart caught in her throat as Christian leaned forward to rest his forehead against hers. "I have to be getting back soon."

"I know," Christian said, the regret clear in his voice as he pulled away slightly to gaze down at her. "But I didn't want you to leave yet without letting you know that, well…" He hesitated. "I lied to you."

Ana blinked, frowning up at him. "You… lied to me? About what?"

Christian let out a breath. "A few weeks ago, when we were all at Vibracós for happy hour, you asked me if I had ever been in love," he said. "And I told you no."

Ana felt her breath catch in her throat, and immediately her heart began pounding a tattoo inside of her chest as she stared up at him. "That was a lie?"

"It was," Christian confirmed, his eyes filled with emotion as he looked into Ana's eyes. "And I knew it was a lie when I said it to you, because I was too afraid to admit the truth."

"Which was?" Ana asked, her shaky voice a whisper.

Christian swallowed, still gazing down at Ana with a burning intensity she had only seen from him once before. "Of how deeply and irrevocably in love with you I was. From the moment I first laid eyes on you, Ana, I knew that I loved you, and I was never going to be the same again. I love you so much, it feels like my world is going to end when I can't be near you. I wish more than anything that I could have been better at expressing my feelings to you, Ana, but if you'll let me, I will spend the rest of my days telling you how much I love you. Because I do… I love you, Ana."

Ana could not fight the tears that slid down her cheeks as he said that. She hadn't wanted to admit to herself how much she wanted to hear Christian say those three little words back to her, but now that he had, an intense joy filled her entire body, making her dizzy.

Ana let out a giggle before sniffling, another few tears sliding down her cheeks. "I love you too, Christian," she said, hiccuping slightly. "Even though I didn't want to for the longest time… you made it impossible for me not to love you."

Christian's answering smile was big and genuine, and Ana felt all the love he had for her as he reached up a hand to cup her face, running his thumb along her tearstained cheek. Both of them seemed to forget they were standing in a public diner with people all around them as Christian, without a word, leaned down to capture Ana's lips with his own, and Ana didn't hesitate to kiss him back.

Christian loved her, and she loved him – and everything felt right in the world.

A/N: Aw these two :) :)

Please review! Next chapter, there's the confrontation we've all been waiting for.