Chapter 20

Ana stared at the door in shock. She had never imagined for one second that her conversation with Jack would prompt Landon to leave as he had just done. She didn’t know what exactly she had done wrong. It wasn’t the first time she was having a conversation with a potential partner in front of him, and she had been trying to make it short so they could get back to talking.

She was so confused. Apparently, she was not the only one who was confused. Jack had heard the noise and he wanted to know what it was. So it had been that loud, Ana mused. She stared at the door again for a few seconds before going back to the conversation she was having with Jack.

“What was that noise?” he asked her.

Ana shook her head. Even if she were to answer him, what the hell was she going to say? My best friend stormed out of the room for some reason and he banged the door violently? It was a little too early to be sharing dramatic incidents like this with him.

So she stuck to a “Nothing.”

Jack’s tone was dubious when he said, “If you say so,” but luckily enough, he didn’t push the issue. Even if he had, Ana would have probably ignored him. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow,” the man continued, “Make sure to be ready 6:30.”

Ana raised her brows. The nerve of this stupid arrogant man. He wasn’t even asking her. He was letting her know!

“Jack, how are you so sure I’ll be—”

“I’ll pick you up tomorrow, Ana.”

“How do you even know my—”

Again, the man didn’t let her finish. “Good bye, Ana. I expect you to be ready when I come to get you.” Then he hung up.

Ana pulled her phone away from her ear and stared at it in bewilderment. This man was another level of cocky. And arrogant. But the bad thing was, it wasn’t getting on her nerves. Instead, she liked how firm he was, and how he took things in charge. She sighed and put the phone on the couch next to her.

Then she remembered her best friend and picked the phone up again. She dialed his number and waited for a response. But every time she redialed it, the call went to voicemail. And it was obvious that he was declining her calls on purpose. Ana rolled her eyes at the pettiness. There was no reason for him to do that.

This was one thing she hated about Landon. Her never told her what she had done wrong. He would shut her out until he had gotten over whatever she had done. And it irked the hell out of her. She needed him to tell her these things. He was her best friend, the last thing she wanted to do was hurt him.

So Ana refrained from leavings voicemail because she was going to give him a blistering response and they were just going to get even madder at each other. So she was going to stick with silence and wait for the idiot to contact her when he was ready to.

Ana went to the kitchen and made food for herself and decided to work then sleep. Maybe it would make her forget that she had ever been angry at him. Hopefully enough.

***

The office wasn’t very busy the next day. And it was a good thing. Ana had never been this excited about meeting someone. Never in her life. But she was behaving like a school girl, giddily waiting for the appropriate time for her to leave to reach.

Since there wasn’t a lot of work, she left earlier than usual. It was three pm when she left the office, at her boss’s request. The man was still so pleased at the interview that Ana was sure that if she had asked for a raise, he would give it to her. Ana also knew that if there was one person who was annoyed by the “special treatment” she was receiving, it would be Tasha.

But Ana wasn’t going to let that bother her. She was taking full advantage of that treatment because she knew there was an expired date on it. She reached home by three forty five pm since there wasn’t a lot of traffic and let out a sigh of relief. It left her with ample time to get ready for the date with Jack.

The man had said he was going to pick her up and so she wanted to be ready way before he was going to reach. She had noticed during the interview that he hated people who weren’t smart and time conscious. And it was their first official date. The last thing she wanted was to make a bad first impression.

She put some food in the microwave and it was heating up, she took a quick shower. Then she ate some food and picked her phone up and stared at her best friend’s contact. He had still not returned any of her calls. So she sent him a text message. It was a simple one, she didn’t want to detail her emotions in a text. She was going to do all of that when they met in person.

Ana still didn’t get why he was so angry and why he was still ignoring her. She didn’t know what exactly she had done wrong. She hated this. The last thing she wanted was to be at loggerheads with her best friend. It was so unfair. She loved him. She sighed.

As soon as she was done eating, she walked to her room and put her outfit on her bed. She stared at the mess that she had created trying to look for the perfect outfit. It was in times like that this that Ana truly wished she had a female friend. Or that her mother was actually a mother that wanted the best for her daughter.

All her life, it had been hard for her to fit in. And a lot of people had not understood her serious nature, they had no wish to stick it out and see if there was something other than intelligence to her. Landon was the only person who had done so. That’s why she truly appreciated him. He had been with her since she was a kid and he had never once let her bad habits push him away from her. And she loved him for that. And that was why she found it so stupid that he was ignoring her for a reason she didn’t know.

She sighed and picked up a jumpsuit and stared at it. Yup, that was what she was going to wear. It was red and it hit her mid thigh. It was the perfect amount of sultry and the perfect amount of casual. Ana thought about wearing heeled sandals, then she thought of the swelling of her feet and changed her mind. It was not worth it.

So she slipped her feet into a pair of medium heeled slippers and picked up a small bag. Everything was in it. She checked her reflection one last time in full length mirror and gave herself a satisfied smile. She looked good. She checked the time and noticed that it was already six fifteen pm, so she headed to her living room.

She sat on the couch, clutching at her bag. Then something occurred to her. Jack didn’t know her address. How was he going to come and pick her up? Both of them were incredibly stupid.

The bell rang and Ana jumped up from the couch and walked to the door. It could be Landon who was blind. Maybe he was coming to explain what had happened the previous day to Ana.

To her greatest surprise, it was not Landon but Jack at the door. He looked attractive as usual. He was holding a flower in his hands. It was peculiar. It looked like a cross between a rose and an orchid. Ana had ever imagined such a combination possible.

"Ana. Won't you invite me in?" Jack asked calmly and Ana blushed. She had been so shocked to see him that she had forgotten the most basic of her manners.

"Sorry. Come in, Jack," she said and he almost strolled in. His walking style made him seem so self assured and confident which he actually was.

She took the flower from him and put it in a small base. Then asked, "Want a drink?"

Jacks shook his head. She shrugged and picked up her bag, and they walked to the door together. Like the gentleman he was, Jack let Ana walk out first then he got out. And waited without a complaint about the fact that Ana needed to lock her door.

They walked to the car in a comfortable silence. It wasn't that they didn't have what to say to each other. It was just that they were enjoying each other's presence. And they wanted to savour the moment.

Jack got into the car after opening the passenger seat's door for Ana. He turned on the radio to a slow and low song and looked at her well.

"You look beautiful," he said, almost as if he had just noticed it. But he had not. He had just waited to say it.

"Thank you. You look good too," Ana said with a flushed face. Jack smirked and looked at the road. He loved seeing her blush. It was kind of a turn on.

"How was your day? What did you do today?" he continued. His questions didn't feel like chores. It sounded like he was genuinely interested in hearing whatever Ana had to say.

"My day was great. Left work early and now I'm sitting here with you," Ana said and Jack raised his brows. She was becoming smooth.

"You're becoming smoother," Jack teased, and both of them burst out into laughter.

"I'm learning from the best," Ana responded and threw a wink, shocking both her and Jack.

Jack laughed and said, "Who might that best be?"

"You don't know him. Sorry," she answered, being deliberately coy.

"Is that so?" Jack asked . There was traffic right now. He was kind of happy about this. He could observe her beautiful face without any restrictions.

"Yup," she said smugly. Jack chuckled . It was funny seeing that expression on her face. He hadn't known her for long but he knew that that smugness didn't fit her. She wasn't smug. She was confident.

Before Ana could realize it, Jack was already parking. She took in a deep breath and watched him as he turned around to open her car door. Please let the date be successful, she thought, Amen.