Chapter 34

It was three days later that Ana called Jack. The three days had been hell. Jack was only a call or a text away but she wanted him to sweat a little. And if course, her pride wouldn't allow her to call him before that.

And not to lie, she had reread the letter about a thousand times. And every single time, she had gotten some kind of pang in her heart. And every single time she had read it, she had felt like calling Jack. Something which she couldn't do.

It was five pm when she finally gave into her urges. She had just gotten back from work and the day had been stressful. According to her at that instant, she had burdened Landon enough with her problems. And she felt that every time she had called him of late, it was to complain about something.

She felt bad. Landon was her friend. He had been there for her, he had supported her for so long and if someone asked her about his state of mind in the moment, she wasn't going to give an honest answer.

Ana sighed. She guessed in the moment, she was going to continue being selfish. She needed Jack. Honestly needed him. She missed him.

She dialled up his number at the first ring, he picked. Ana heard his intake of breath and she didn't even know what to say.

"Ana?" he finally asked, tired of the silence. Ana inhaled and let out a deep breath.

"Who else?" she asked sarcastically and Jack laughed. It was a nervous laugh, almost like he didn't believe Ana had actually called.

"I'm.. wow. I thought you were not going to call," he confessed. Ana was tempted to comfort him hearing the vulnerable note in his voice. But she decided to listen to her mind instead of her heart.

"I thought I wasn't either," was all Ana said.

Jack swallowed. He knew she was going to make it hard for him and he had readied his mind for it. After all, he was very determined. He was not going to let her slip through his fingers.

"Why did you?" Jack asked, a little bit more comfortable.

"I want to hear what you have to say," she replied, then bit her lip.

Jack's heart beat a little bit faster. Had she already moved on? In almost a week?

"Closure?" Jack asked.

"Jack, are you ready to talk or not?" Ana asked, a bit annoyed.

Jack tightened his lips. When, yes when she forgave him completely, she was going to receive a punishment for disrespecting him.

"Can we meet? I don't want us to talk through the phone," Jack said. It wasn't a question or anything. It was an order and Ana knew she was going to follow it. Jack just had that way about him.

But she pretended like she was still thinking about it. After about fifteen seconds, Jack was confused. "Ana?" he asked.

Ana laughed at the frustrated note in his voice. Making him sweat was so much fun.

"When we're good, I'll punish you for this," Jack said in a low voice that sent heat straight to Ana's core.

She blushed and was silent for a while and Jack was almost scared that he had offended her or something. Even when everything was good between them, he had never said something like that.

"When huh? You're so confident in the fact that I'll forgive you," Melisa teased.

"I'm just confident in my abilities to make you give into me," Jack's voice had gone deeper and Ana's blush had too.

"We'll see whether those abilities are as good as you think they are," Ana teased and both of them laughed a little.

Then it was silent. Jack sobered up. He was already planning on ways to make it up to Ana. He knew she would not him to do that, but if he did not, he would not feel like he deserved her forgiveness.

"Today. In an hour," Ana said and Jack was confused for a while. Then realization dawned on him. She was giving him a chance to explain shit!

"I'll come pick you up," he said and Ana muttered an indistinct approval then hung up.

She took in a deep breath and stared at the TV which was on but with no sound. She was ready to listen to whatever Jack had to say. She didn't know why but she felt like tonight was going to be a decisive checkpoint in their relationship.

How it went was going to determine a lot of shit. For her. For him. And for both of them.

***

Exactly an hour later, Ana was dressed and ready. She was dressed pretty nicely. She knew Jack and without asking, she knew he was going to take them to a nice restaurant that required formal dressing. So she had put on a green knee length velvet dress, with a nice décolleté. She paired it with heels she knew she was going to be comfortable on the whole evening.

Soon, the doorbell rang. Ana spent about 20 seconds doing nothing at all. Just staring at the wall. She didn't know why she was this nervous. It was Jack who was supposed to be nervous!

She went to the door and opened it finally and Jack was standing at the door with a packet of chocolate in his hands. Ana laughed. "Come in," she said.

Jack walked in a bit nervously. Both of them remembered the events that had happened in that same doorway not even two weeks before. And both of them, especially Jack, regretted all of it.

As Ana turned, she had to take in a sharp breath. Jack looked good. Fuck he looked so fucking good. And it was all Ana could do so as not to jump into his arms and just kiss him.

She knew he was restraining himself as well if the tick in his jaw was anything to go by. They stared at each other for a while. They both had so much to say but nobody could utter a word.

Then Ana started laughing. She didn't know why she was laughing but she managed to break the tense mood. It was like some sort of weight had been lifted from both their shoulders.

Jack joined in the laughter, but all he let out was those chuckles of his. Then he walked to Ana and cupped her face in his palm. Ana looked up at him with her gorgeous brown eyes.

"I missed you. And I was such an asshole. I'm sorry," he whispered and Ana swallowed.

"I forgive you Jack," she replied and Jack did what he had been dying to do since he had gotten into the apartment; kiss her.

Ana responded hungrily. She had been waiting for this too and she was craving his touch after the time they had spent apart from each other. She sent his hands to his neck and both of them pressed as close to each other as it was humanly possible.

Then they broke apart and smiled at each other. Ana placed another kiss on Jack's lips and he held her waist and pulled her close to him again.

"We have to go to dinner," she whispered through the kisses, when it was apparent Jack didn't want to let her go.

"I know. I missed you. I missed kissing you. I missed touching you." Jack's whispers were only making Ana feel hotter. She finally pushed Jack away and turned away.

"Dinner first. You're not getting into my pants that easily Mister," she said and Jack chuckled. He walked to her and wrapped his arms around her, laying them on her now visible baby bump.

"We all know I could," he said into her ear, then bit it lightly, "But I won't. Let's go."

Ana stared at him with a mix of annoyance and fondness in her eyes then she went and picked up her coat, silently praying the night turned out to be a good one.