Her feelings
Anna was sitting on the bed while looking at nothing in particular. She wanted to sleep but as soon as she shut her eyes, a certain someone appeared in her sight and she opened them with a jolt. Her heart was a mess as she couldn't understand the reason behind it. There was that uneasiness in her heart which she never felt before. Time and again her thoughts were drifting around the time of the day that she spent with Regan. The peace and comfort that she always longed for and missed since long were resurfaced in his presence. She didn't know why.
She couldn't stop herself to think about him. She remembered the first time when she met him. She collided and fell in his arms. Since that day, he was always there for her.
She thought of her journey with him so far and the moments that they spent together during the last couple of days. They indeed came closer to one another. Her heart pulsated on just thinking about the moment when she embraced him to provide him the comfort that he needed. She was shocked with her ownself. The moment the lights went off scaring her to the core and when he got her, she couldn't stop herself on leaning onto him for she knew that he possessed the power to pull her back from her misery. And he didn't disappoint her either. The next day she woke up having him beside her. The way he took care of her, she didn't know how to feel about that.
Somewhere she had an idea that he asked her out to only distract her mind from the past event knowing that it would bother her. She could have denied but she didn't. And she thought it to be a good decision as she didn't realize after how long she got to enjoy herself. She felt as if she was still alive after a long time and the bitter memories were far away from her mind as it was filled with the newest good ones.
She remembered the way she pushed him when he held her for the first time just to protect her from getting hurt. Thinking about it now.... she was surprised about how she became used to his soothing touch that always provided her a comfort and assured that nothing wrong would happen to her when he was around. If it was not for him the other day when he reminded her of their first meeting, she wouldn't have remembered it to be him... ever.
Things did change for her with him and she had grown to trust him. He earned her trust to the extent that she truly considered him as a great friend which she never intended to make in the first place. She admired him for his chivalry, thoughtfulness, confidence and most importantly his work ethics. He indeed was a ruthless businessman but she knew he had his morals and values high and he never allowed anyone to go beyond them and that made him what he was known for. He was always tagged with different speculations due to his enigmatic and distinct personality but she knew well that he was different than what he showed to the world. For her, he was a man who loved his family and friends, cared for a stranger like her even when she was hell bent in pushing him everytime over the edge. However, his humbleness melted her and she couldn't defy that he was an amazing person with a heart of gold that cared for the people special to him.
'Does that mean that I am special to him? Is it even possible? No. Absolutely no. We are friends... good ones. That's why he cares about me so much.' She mumbled subconsciously and moved her gaze to her leg that was rested on the bed. Suddenly a thought crossed her mind and she frowned.
She immediately took her phone and called him. Regan was still looking at her picture in his phone when its screen lighted up with her name. He instantly received it without any second thought. Before he could speak something, her anxious voice rang through the speaker.
"Regan? Have you treated your back? How's it now? Is it serious? My bad... I was so much into myself that I didn't even ask about your injuries. Are you okay? Why are you not answering me? Regan?"
She was rambling without even giving him a chance to understand what was she talking about. All he could register that she was worried about him and his heart fluttered at her concern.
"Regan? Are you there?"
He came out of his reverie and retorted, "Anna I would speak if you would let me. What happened to you all so suddenly?"
"You got your back hurt when I ummm.... accidentally stumbled over you. Didn't you?"
"You know?"
"Hmmm... I heard you groaning when we fell down. I didn't get the chance to ask you before. I just remembered about it so I just thought.... you know."
He grinned on hearing her. Indeed his back got some scratches here and there and he himself realized it when the hot shower burnt his skin. She noticed it and called him to inquire about his well being. His heart swelled with a warmth of happiness.
"Its nothing serious. I already told you that."
"O..... Okay then, good night Regan."
"Night Anna."
His eyebrows twitched when she abruptly disconnected the call. But what else he could expect from her. She thought about him. It was more than enough for him and soon he drifted to sleep.
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Anna took Ashton's photo in her hand and caressed it. It was her routine to talk to him about her day before sleeping. She told him everything about her time with Regan.
"I hope you don't mind me doing all that I did today Ashton. I never thought of living a day without you like this but I really had a good time. You aren't angry with me, right?"
"Absolutely not."
She was still in his thoughts while the door creaked open and Richard came inside to sit beside her on the bed.
"Dad?" I... I was just...."
"I heard you princess. Trust me when I say, Ashton would be the happiest in all these years to see you happy. In fact he would have been angry at you till now for not doing this before."
She looked down and said, "I went out with Regan dad. I am sorry that I didn't inform you about that earlier."
"Well.... I don't mind that because I already knew about it."
"You did? How?"
"Regan called me in the morning and asked for my permission to take you out." He informed her. "I hope he didn't bore you."
She was shocked on hearing this from Richard. Still when she heard him, she chuckled and said, "Nah....not at all dad. I had a great time throughout the day."
Richard smiled and lovingly patted her head after seeing her so cheerful after a long time.
"Well I came here to give you this." He handed her a tape recorder which happened to be of Emily.
"Its Emily's right? Oh My God! I can't believe she still have it." She giggled and checked it back and forth. "You know Dad earlier whenever she wanted to tell me something particular, she used to send me the message through this. It was like a special code between us. Does it have a message?"
"You'll get to know after playing it." Richard chuckled on seeing her excitement.
Anna instantly pressed the button on and the room echoed with Emily's voice.
"Thank you... thank you.... thank you so much baby girl for your wonderful gift. Only you can think about such a lovely thing. I'll not lie but I really missed Jack while staying here. You sending us to a babymoon is the perfect idea to repay him for the time we're not together. Even Jack loved it. But don't you dare to think that I would let you go after this. Take care of yourself Anna. I want you to give me the best of your smiles when I return back. We love you baby girl."
"I love you too Em..." She mumbled. She gifted Emily and Jack a long trip to France. She knew that Emily loved to travel but she was unable to do that recently due to her pregnancy. Moreover she always kept her worried about her. She wanted the couple to spend some quality time together without worrying about anything else. Hence, she talked to Emily's doctor about the trip to confirm about her health and asked Jack's assistant to clear his schedule for the time being so that they could have some time together. She was ecstatic to know that both of them liked her gift.
"I am not surprised with your thoughtfulness princess. You really made her happy." Richard kissed Anna's forehead and let the sleep consume her with a new morning that was sure to bring the beginning of some sudden turn of events in her life.