"I'll be waiting, Ana."

"N-No matter how long it takes, I will wait for you. I-I love you...I love you... I love you..."

Chapter One

Four Years Later

"How did it go last night?"

All sweaty and gasping for breath from running, Ana was welcomed by a sight of a dark haired woman sitting casually in her living room when she entered her apartment. Already familiar to seeing her friend/neighbor, lounging in her couch, Ana's flushed face showed no surprise.

"Good." She replied, trudging into the kitchen and straight to the refrigerator. She could sense the woman's eyes following her as she reached for a bottled water and drank from it greedily. "What are you doing here so early? I thought Cole is going to spend last night at your place." She asked, hoping that the mention of her boyfriend would deviate Stephanie from asking more questions.

But her friend had caught on what she was doing. Exasperated, the woman roused from the couch and followed her. "Don't change the subject." To show Ana she meant business, she sat on one of the breakfast stools and focused her dark eyes on her.

Ana let out a sigh, feeling no choice but to reply. "Last night was good. Great, actually. He picked me up 5 minutes early with a bouquet of roses in his hand." Glancing at the dozen of red roses she already placed in a vase sitting on the counter, she smiled. "He brought me to Gerbardo's. I wonder where he got the idea that I love that restaurant." She glared at her friend who she knew was the culprit. After all, her date last night was Stephanie's friend from college. The dark haired woman just grinned mischievously. Rolling her eyes, Ana went on. "He even ordered my favorites. We talked in between our courses. He asked questions, I answered. I asked questions, he answered. After dinner, he brought me back here. That's it."

Ana could see her friend's shoulders fell after hearing her story.

"That's it? You said it was a great night?" Stephanie asked to confirm. Her hopeful face broke Ana's heart a little.

"That's it."

"No kiss on the cheek or 'I'll call you again'?"

"He did mention he enjoyed the night and would be happy to do it again soon."

Stephanie frowned, already aware of what she had done. "And what did you tell him, Ana?"

Ana blew out an exhale, opting not to tell her friend how she refused the man's invitation for a second date. "Drew is a great guy, Steph. He is handsome and seems a gentleman. Honestly, I'm flattered that he wants to see me again. But-"

"But he is not Christian." Stephanie cut her sentence, familiar with her reasoning by now.

"He is not Christian." Ana mumbled, looking down at her marbled counter.

"Oh, Ana." Pity could be heard in Stephanie's voice.

She knew it was unfair to compare every guy who had taken an interest in her to him. It had already been four years since she left Christian in the beach and she never saw him again.

While still in Seattle and working at SIP, a part of her hoped to catch a glimpse of him. Whenever there was an executive meeting at her work and the management announced that representatives from Grey Enterprises would be attending, Ana anticipated he would show up. But he never did. It was always Ros, his second in command, who would visit the building along with others. And until her 30-day notice was up, she never saw him stepped foot in SIP. Ana had resigned from the company, left Seattle and moved to New York without seeing Christian again.

"I know it's stupid." She chuckled dryly. "I'm the one who ended our relationship because I can't see him without hurting yet I'm the one who still longs for him. Here I am, stuck in the past because I can't forget him. I can't move on." Her voice broke as tears started welling up behind her eyes.

Aware of her history with Christian, Stephanie's hand reached for hers in sympathy. Ana felt her gentle squeeze.

"You're not stupid. You fell in love and got your heart broken. It happens, you know. I only got your side of the story but I think what you did was right. If the two of you are meant to be together, you'll end up together no matter what. And look what leaving Seattle brought you. You're only 26 and already one of New York Times Best Selling Authors. People love your books and they are anticipating the upcoming ones. You've been living on your own, away from your parents and without a roommate, since you moved here. You have come a long way from who you once were, Ana."

Ana smiled at the reminder of what she had accomplished after leaving the Emerald City for the City that Never Sleeps. She could still recall how she met her former-boss-now-editor, Melissa Dolton.

Four years ago, she accompanied Jack Hyde, her former superior at SIP, in New York for their scheduled trip with a broken heart. The night before she left Seattle for the book expo, Ana had her last talk with Christian in the Alki beach.

Removing herself from his embrace and slowly stepping away from him had been two of the hardest things she ever had to do. Because even if she believed with all her heart that one day, they would see each other once more, saying goodbye to the man she loved was never easy.

But she did. Ana walked away. And Christian let her go. They parted ways, hoping that when their paths crossed again, hurt and betrayal would be history and only love and forgiveness would be there for them.

Easy to say but difficult to do, she realized when she returned from her short trip. Everything in Seattle made her think of him. The apartment she was sharing with Kate, the bedroom she was occupying and even the bed she was sleeping in all reminded her of Christian. When Ana was walking in the street, when she was eating in her favorite restaurant or when she was visiting the beach, she couldn't help but remember him.

And of course, there was SIP, the company she had grown to love. Despite Christian's absence in her workplace, she knew that it wouldn't change the fact that it was his. SIP belonged to him.

So when she met Melissa during the last day of the book fair and was handed a calling card by the older woman, offering her a job to work for her as her personal assistant, Ana grabbed the chance to start anew somewhere else. She could no longer stay in Seattle. Everything in it would always bring him back to her memory.

One week after her New York trip, she accepted Melissa's offer and submitted her 30-day notice to Jack. One month after, she was in an airplane enroute to New York, to the city where she didn't know anyone else but Melissa.

Four years later, Ana was a published author known to her readers as Addison Rose. She had published more than a handful of novels under her pen name that sold millions of copies worldwide. Stephanie was being true when she spoke that her books were loved and highly anticipated by many. She even had a fan club of her own now, created by people who admired her writings.

One of the good things that came from being a bestseller was the money. The amount in her bank account was definitely more than what she had when she first moved into the city. She was able to pay the balance of her parents' house mortgage and provide them savings for their retirement. From her earnings, Ana managed to purchase the two-bedroom apartment she was residing in. She was now capable of buying things she liked.

Stephanie was right, she had come a long way from the former Anastasia Steele.

"You can't be stuck in the past forever." Her friend's words pulled her from her thoughts. "You deserve to be happy. I'm not saying Drew can make you that but you can at least try and give yourself a chance. You've never had a boyfriend after Christian. Yes, you do go on dates. But when the guy was becoming too close to you and you were starting to feel more for him, you began shutting yourself off. It happened plenty of times now."

Ana winced at the truthfulness behind Stephanie's statement. Being her friend and neighbor, Stephanie Gibson was one of the few people who had witnessed everything that went through with her for the past four years. Never since she moved to New York did she enter another serious relationship. Yes, she did go on dates. She would go out with a man once or twice but when she started feeling like there could be more between them, she would stop seeing him, telling him she would rather be friends with him. It was foolish, Ana knew that. It was as if she was sabotaging her chance for happiness.

But she did deserve to be happy. Ana could be happy.

"I hate to say this but I think you're right." She said and waited until she got Stephanie's famous eye roll.

"You are so terrible, Ana! You're lucky I love you."

"And I love you too, friend." Deciding to shift the topic from her to her friend, Ana asked about Cole, Stephanie's on-and-off boyfriend of 2 years. The man was a nice guy who loved her friend but was too afraid to commit and Stephanie, a 30-year old lawyer, had been beginning to think of her future and had been wondering if her boyfriend was in it. "So, what happened to Cole?"

:::

After listening to Stephanie's rambling about her boyfriend and giving logical advice to her love problem, her friend left the apartment for work and Ana spent the rest of the morning writing. Hours had already passed when she removed her eyes from her laptop screen to notice the time. It didn't shock her to find that it was almost 3 in the afternoon and she had missed lunch. Sometimes, she was too involved in her stories that she got lost in what she was doing.

Standing up from her chair, Ana made a couple of stretches for her stiff back. Sitting too long with less movement was never advisable but she had been engrossed with writing that she had forgotten its bad effect on her body. When her lower back ache had faded, she exited her office/spare bedroom to grab herself an apple for lunch.

Ana could hear her mother's voice in her head admonishing her for not eating healthily. She could imagine her father's glare while she took a bite of the fruit. They were always worried about her. And her moving on the opposite side of the country didn't help.

She knew her parents were devastated when Ana told them of her decision to resign from her job and move somewhere else. Ray loudly cursed Christian, without a doubt thinking he was to blame for her leaving. Carla cried, her heart breaking for her daughter.

Despite her repeated statement, telling them Christian had nothing to do with her resignation and transfer to New York, Ana was aware that her parents didn't believe her. In their minds, her failed relationship with Christian forced her to give up her job and move away.

The ringing of her cellphone halted her reminiscing. It was Melissa, her editor, sensing that she had forgotten, reminded her of her plan that afternoon. Ana remembered promising the older woman that she would visit Big Leaves that day to collect her fan letters and gifts. She ended the call and hurriedly readied herself.

Big Leaves Publishing Company was one of New York's most sought after publishing houses and was located on the 12th floor of Ben Tower, a 10-minute walk from Ana's apartment. She had been one of their signed up authors for 3 years now and she couldn't be luckier.

Taking a quick bath and changing her clothes from tank top and sweatpants to sweater and jeans, Ana left her apartment and walked to the office.

Since people knew her as Addison Rose and not Anastasia Steele, they had no idea where she lived or who she was in real life so some of her fans had been sending letters and tokens of appreciation addressed to Big Leaves while others opted to leave private messages in her website which she personally managed herself. Every month since she started receiving the mails and gifts, Ana would stop by at her publisher's office to collect and bring them back to her place.

She would read each letter and write replies, thanking them for their support and appreciation the same way she did in her website. If there was a return address on the gift she received, Ana would buy something and send it to the address with a thank you card. It was the least she could do to show them her gratefulness for taking time and spending money to read and enjoy her novels. Without them, she would not be where she was right now.

Ana occupied herself with her cellphone as she waited for the elevator car to arrive. Ben Tower was a 40-storey building that was housing offices of different kinds. There were multiple elevators for employees and visitors to use. Ana was currently standing in front of one of them.

Seconds later, several elevator doors opened along with the one in her front. She waited until all the people inside exited before stepping in. She had her eyes on her gadget that she didn't see a man in a suit exiting last and passing right beside her. Their shoulders bumped and she heard his quiet "I'm sorry.".

Ana's head jolted up at the sound of his voice. Turning around, she tried to see him in the crowd. Her heart started to beat faster as her eyes frantically searched for him. Her sight caught a man in a grey suit striding towards the exit of the building.

Is he him? Is he Christian?

Seeing only the back of his head, she couldn't confirm if it was him but her instinct told her that it was. The man with the same height as Christian's also had the same dark copper hair like him. And she heard the man's voice. Ana would never forget how Christian sounded. It was him. She knew it was him.

Hearing the sound of her heart thumping loudly in her chest, she was about to exit the elevator but the door had closed before she could step out.

"Christian," She called for him in a soft voice.

:::

"Christian,"

He didn't know what made him turn around but he did just as the elevator he had just exited closed. Christian shook his head. He must be hearing things now but he thought he heard her voice.

"What is it, Mr. Grey?"

He looked at the younger man with him and saw curiosity and concern on his face. Warren Abbott was his recently hired assistant after Andrea left GEH. His former assistant got married a year ago and was now 5 months on the way to having her firstborn. Due to the sensitivity of her pregnancy, the doctor advised total bed rest for her, prompting her to resign from her position.

Too busy to choose, he allowed Ros to pick Andrea's replacement from the long list of applicants. One week ago, Christian was stunned to see a man sitting at his personal assistant's desk when he arrived at the office.

When he inquired his second in command why she chose Warren, a man with little experience of the job, Ros' only reply was 'for a change' and the woman gave him a playful wink before exiting his office.

The 'change' Ros talked about had become obvious after a few days of working with him. Aside from being the first man who was hired to be his personal assistant, Warren had this easy and positive outlook on things that sometimes Christian couldn't help but envy. Unlike him, the younger man had a constant smile on his face, even if things were going haywire. It really was a nice change from all the seriousness surrounding his office.

He had no complaints about his new assistant except Warren didn't know when to stop talking. Ever since he started working for him, Christian had been going home with a case of headache after a day of suffering from his excessive babbling.

"Nothing," was all his reply.

Christian continued his stride towards the exit with Warren walking beside him.

When they reached the outside, Warren's mouth opened. "Mr. Grey, I have a cousin who lives here. His name is Gabriel and he owns this quaint bar called Emotions not far from our hotel. I-"

"Tell me what you want, Mr. Abbott. I don't have time to hear about any of your relatives." Christian cut his assistant's words. If he didn't stop him now, Warren would go on and on and his head would start to hurt.

"Uhm..."

Christian eyed him in disbelief. "Now you're loss for words?"

Drawing in a deep breath, Warren spoke. "Since we're not due to leave until 11 in the evening, I would like to ask if I can stop by at my cousin's bar? I haven't seen him in a long time. That's it if you don't need me for anything else. You can come with me if you want. It's called Emotions and I tell you, it serves the most delicious burgers in the city."

"Fine. Take the rest of the evening off but be back by 10."

Warren's eyes widened in delight. "Thank you, Mr. Grey. Uhm... You're not coming with me?"

For a moment, Christian contemplated Warren's offer. After the week he had, flying back and forth from Seatle to New York to close the deal he had been working on, he was tempted to join his assistant. A beer or two plus a burger would be nice to end a very stressful day and celebrate the now closed deal.

Maybe it would help him forget her even just for a second. Not that this time it was going to be successful, he knew that already. Nothing could make him forget Ana. Not even the bottle of scotch he consumed the night he returned from Alki beach, the night he last saw her.

How long had it been? Four years. He didn't need to think hard for the answer. His mind and heart knew that it had been four years since their break up.

Where is she?

Their last conversation at the Alki beach was still fresh in his mind as if it happened just yesterday. He had hurt her too much that seeing him pained her, he recalled hearing from her as tears flowed from her eyes. Christian didn't want to give up on them. Letting her go and watching her walk away from him were two of the most painful things he had done. But he knew he had to do them. He had already caused Ana so much agony that letting her go was the least he could do.

Ignoring the breaking of his own heart, he gave her what she asked for. Christian could only watch as she removed herself from his arms and without looking back, walked away from him. The pain had been unbearable that he mindlessly dropped down on his knees and cried. Taylor, who witnessed everything, carefully hoisted him up from the ground and helped him to the vehicle. Christian left the beach and never had been there again.

Both he and Ana believed that one day their paths would cross again because they were meant to be together. When that time came, he hoped she was no longer hurting and could finally forgive him. With that hope and belief, Christian lived his life after their break up trying to be the best man for her.

It wasn't easy.

He had grown up to his birth mother's lies, he realized a little too late. Ella filled his young mind with deceits, making him blame an innocent person. But everything he did, his concocted plan for vengeance, his use of money to break the laws and his disregard of what was right and wrong, Christian had no one to blame but himself. Even if Carla Wilks was guilty, he could have forgiven her and forget everything. If he was a better man, he would let everything go and not succumb to his hateful thoughts. But he was not a good man. His heart was dark and full of hatred. In the end, he lost the most important person in his life. He lost Ana.

Following Grace's advice, to whom he disclosed everything, Christian met and consulted with Dr. Flynn, a psychiatrist and therapist. He first visited the good doctor's clinic two weeks after his break up with Ana and was scheduled to see him weekly.

On his fourth appointment, Christian came in the clinic more devastated than ever after learning that Ana had resigned at SIP, her 30-day notice had ended yesterday and she was about to leave Seattle that day. She had submitted her resignation letter a month ago but since he was hands off to everything SIP-related and had asked Ros to take charge of the publishing company, the news of her resignation didn't reach him.

It was only when Elliot, Kate and Mia showed up late to Carrick's birthday celebration the night before had Christian learned that the three had been with Ana and had attended her farewell dinner no more than an hour ago. Apparently, giving up her job at SIP wasn't enough for her, Ana was due to leave Seattle the following day. The news broke his heart more.

Respecting her decision and following what she wanted, made Christian's resolve not to show up at her workplace. He didn't want to add to her ache so he never dared to step foot in SIP. He wanted to give her the space and time she needed to heal while he was doing everything he could to be the man she deserved.

But to learn that working in the company he owned and being in the same state as him were making it hard for her, Christian realized that the pain he caused her ran deeper than he could imagine. It took all his will not to see and beg her not to leave. If he did just that, it would be a selfish move on his part. Ana was doing what she needed to do to mend and overcome what happened, he told himself. If what she needed was to stop working in his company and leave the town he was living in, he would let her be.

At the end, Ana left to some place he didn't dare to find out. Because if he knew where she was, Christian was sure he would follow her.

Four years later, all he knew was she was healthy, safe and happy. Where? He had no idea.

But she never left his mind, not even when he focused himself on his company more than ever, making GEH bigger than ever. Ana still occupied his waking thoughts and dreams.

"Mr. Grey? Sir?"

Warren's voice brought him back to reality.

"What?" He asked, frowning.

"Mr. Taylor has arrived."

It was only then that he noticed Taylor was already standing beside the SUV, holding the backseat door open for him. Without words, Christian climbed in the vehicle, casting one last glance at Ben Tower with face devoid of emotion.

:::

"Are you sure it was him?"

From her bedroom, Ana heard Stephanie's question. "I know it's him." She replied while brushing her short hair with her fingers. She tried rearranging her bangs but the strands had always been as stubborn as her so she gave up. Grabbing her clutch bag, she exited to the living room. Ana was meeting a couple of her friends from Big Leaves that night in a bar.

"I don't know, Ana. There are so many grey-suit-wearing-dark-coppered-hair guys in New York." Her friend sounded doubtful as she was rummaging the contents of the box Ana brought from the publishing office. Inside were fan letters and gifts sent for her or rather for Addison Rose. Stephanie brought out a small gift bag and gasped at the content. "It's beautiful."

"It is." She couldn't help but admire the snowball. Enclosed in the glass dome were two small figures; a standing woman and a man on bended knee. "He is proposing."

"Do you think she'll say yes?"

"I'm a romance writer so I think she'll say yes and they will live happily ever after."

Stephanie chuckled but turned serious as she looked at her. "What makes you so sure it was Christian you saw?"

"It's his voice. I will never forget his voice, Steph." She answered, sitting next to her friend.

"You already have your answer."

Ana turned to her, confused. "To what?"

"I know you've been wondering what you're going to do if you saw him again. Now you finally got your answer. What did you do?"

She fell silent. Since their break up, Ana had been asking herself what would she do if they saw each other again. Would she still feel the hurt? Could she say that she had forgiven him? A future together would still be possible for them?

Looking back to the event that afternoon, she was relieved to realize she was no longer hurting. Gone was the ache she used to feel whenever she thought of him. And if only she got lucky and was able to come to him, Ana was sure she could say he was forgiven. The question about their future was one thing she couldn't answer on her own.

"I... I wanted to come to him. I was surprised but was looking forward to seeing him." She told Stephanie. When she didn't react, Ana glanced at her and saw her reading one of the letters with a scowl. "What is it?"

"Something is wrong with this." Stephanie glared at the paper in her hand.

"Let me see." Taking it from her, Ana's eyes ran over the words printed out and smiled. "It's from F.T." She said, pointing to the initials at the bottom of the paper.

"F.T.?"

"One of my fans. She's been writing me for years." Ana remembered receiving F.T.'s letter when her first novel was published three years ago. Her avid fan had been consistently writing her. "Check for more of her letters. If I'm not mistaken, there are three more of them." From sending a letter once a month, F.T.'s mails became weekly five months ago and since she was coming to Big Leaves once a month, the letters had accumulated to four.

Stephanie followed her and looked for F.T.'s other mails.

Minutes later, four letters were in front of her friend and Stephanie was glaring at them suspiciously.

"Why do you think this letter sender is a woman?"

"Do you think she's a man?" Ana chuckled. "I don't think men enjoy my books."

"Hey, Cole reads and likes them." Her friend argued, talking about her boyfriend.

"It's different. Cole is a friend and you make him read them."

"Seriously, Ana, I got this weird feeling about this F.T.. Tell me about her."

Ana's smile faded at her words. She sat up straight on the couch and eyed the letters. "Well, I received her first mail when I published my first book. It was a simple congratulations and 'I love your book', nothing extraordinary. I can't reply to her because there was no return address on the envelope. One month after, I got another letter. And it went on until five months ago. I admit I was shocked to see she sent four letters. But as always, nothing came unusual with them. She was always writing good things about my work."

"She has been sending you letters without return address for three years?" When Ana nodded, she continued. "Can't you see what's wrong with them?" Stephanie asked, pointing to F.T.'s mails.

Ana looked at them closely and her eyes grew wide. "They are all printed out."

Her friend nodded. "Yes. Tell me, do all her letters look like these? Have you received a handwritten one from her?"

She tried to remember but Ana couldn't recall a letter from F.T. that was handwritten. She shook her head no. "But she's not doing anything wrong, Steph. Maybe she doesn't like her penmanship that's why she chooses to type her letter in a computer and have it printed."

"Do you know who else choose to type letters in a computer? Stalkers and serial killers."

"Don't be like that. F.T. is just a fan."

"I really hope you're right but I've handled cases about crazy and obsessed stalkers that I'm wary enough when I think there's one."

Ana hated to admit but Stephanie's words made her a little nervous.

:::

As her cab pulled in front of Emotions, Ana's mind was still on F.T. and her letters. Shaking her head, she tried to dismiss the thought of her being a possible stalker, climbed out of the car and strode to the entrance. Emotions was her go-to bar in the city. It wasn't large and had a homey ambience unlike any other bars around. Its owner and head bartender, Gabriel Abbott, was like an uncle to her. It also served appetizing courses and was starting to get famous for their burgers. Ana loved its cheeseburger, the best she had, and she usually ordered it with a glass of beer.

Walking inside, she immediately saw her friends occupying one of the booths on the left side. A series of hi's and hello's later, Ana was seated with Denise, Big Leaves front desk officer, and Nikki, Melissa's personal assistant.

"Why are you looking at Gab?" She asked, noticing her friends were eyeing the 40-year old bar owner.

"Not him. We're looking at the man he's talking to." Gaze not leaving the bar, Denise answered.

"Yeah. The man is kinda cute." Nikki confirmed, an appreciative smile on her face as she looked at the man Gabriel was busy chatting with.

Staring at the man in topic, Ana took note of his appearance and agreed with Nikki. He was good looking and she assumed had the same age as hers. There was a permanent smile plastered on his face.

When Gabriel caught them looking at him and his companion, they smiled and waved their hands in greeting. Ana watched as he spoke to the younger man and the latter nodded. Seconds later, the two men came striding towards them.

"Hey, ladies. Glad to see you again." Gabriel greeted them with a wide smile. "I'd like you to meet my cousin, Warren. He's just stopping by from Seattle. Warren meet my favorite customers, Denise, Nikki and Ana."

"Seattle? Ana here used to work in Seattle." Denise recalled.

Warren turned to Ana. "Really?"

"Yes. But that was years ago and I've only been there in months. I haven't been in Seattle again since I moved here." She replied.

After leaving Seattle four years ago, she had never been in that city again. Ana couldn't think of a reason to be there. Her parents were in Montesano and she would come home to visit them. If she wanted to see Kate, who was still working in The Seattle Times and was now sharing an apartment with Elliot, they would meet somewhere outside Seattle. There was even a time that the two came to New York and they all had a good time exploring the city.

"Well, if you happen to be there, you just let me know, alright?" He said with a friendly beam.

Ana could only nod and smile.

:::

What am I doing here?

He asked himself, pausing and glancing at his watch. 8:00. Christian got three hours left before their plane was scheduled to leave. If what Warren told him was true, he was about to eat the best hamburger in New York. Still, it was unlike him to enter a bar with a sole purpose of ordering himself food. But here he was, about to stride inside Emotions.

His assistant was already inside and was probably chatting with his cousin. Warren had no idea he would join him. The young man had left the hotel before the sun even set while Christian was in his hotel room, video conferencing with Ros. Before he changed his mind, he stepped inside.

:::

As always, Ana had enjoyed Gabriel's cheeseburger. Her meeting with her friends was also one the of the highlights of her night. She missed them. They had grown close when she was still working at Big Leaves with them. Before Nikki became Melissa's personal assistant, it was Ana who held that position. But when she chose to focus on her writing and signed a contract to be one of the publishing house's authors, she resigned.

She didn't regret giving up her eight to five career. One perk in being a writer was Ana could have the entire day to herself if she chose to. But sometimes, she was too preoccupied with her stories that mornings and afternoons had already passed without her realizing. And there were the missed meals she had forgotten to eat.

Well, one's choice of work had its upsides and downsides.

Noticing the time, Ana roused from the booth. "Excuse me for a while."

"Is it 8 already?" Denise asked, discerning what she was about to do.

Pulling out her cellphone from her clutch, she replied. "Yeah. I'll be back."

"Tell your mom and dad we said 'Hi'." Nikki spoke as Ana headed for the door.

"I will."

Every night at exactly 8 in the evening, Ana would call her parents. She had been doing that for the past four years. They didn't ask her to do that but she knew they were always worried for her and hearing her voice, assuring them she was alright, was all she could do for them from where she was, in a city almost 3,000 miles away from them.

Ana had her eyes on her cellphone as she walked when the door opened and a man stepped inside. It was too late now, she bumped into the man's chest before she could stop herself. An arm was instantly wrapped around her waist, preventing her from bouncing back and possibly falling on the floor on her ass.

"I'm so-" All her words were forgotten as she looked up and was met with a familiar pair of intense grey eyes. Her eyes widened, her mouth gaped open and her heart started beating faster and louder recognizing the man whose body was pressed against hers and arm still wrapped around her. "C-Christian,"

:::

tbc...