The Life of Anna, Part 5: Emerged (22 page)

She grinned when she saw the next rose, and
followed the trail to the biography section. The rose led to a book
about Anna Pavlova, which made her smile. There was no card in this
one, but it didn’t matter. She knew the trail was for her and he
was talking to her through the books. Her heart swelled to be
understood like this. And by a stranger no less.

A third trail of roses led to a book of the
history of New York City with lots of beautiful pictures. She
looked around but didn’t see any more roses. And was rather
relieved. She wasn’t sure how she was going to get these home as it
was. Her hands were full of roses and books. She might have to take
a taxi.
This is not a bad problem to have.

She practically skipped down stairs to the
checkout counter and beamed as she scanned her books with the
self-checkout machine. She was humming happily to herself as she
tried to decide what to do to get home when she looked up and saw
Simon smiling at her.

“Simon!” she exclaimed in surprise.

“I see you found the books Mr. J. wanted you
to find.”

“Oh, Simon! It was....” She sighed, happiness
filling her heart. “It was just what I needed today. Please tell
Mr. J. I said thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

“Bad day?” he asked, taking the books from
her.

“Yeah, you could say that.”

“Mr. J. will be very pleased to know he made
you smile.”

“This was...wonderful.”

“Can I offer you a ride home?”

Anna was about to accept when she remembered
Kurt’s anger from the morning. “I...I can’t. I’m sorry.”

“Katrina, I’m just going to take you
home.”

Anna shook her head. “My fiancé wouldn’t like
it.” She took her books back from Simon. “I’ll just take a
taxi.”

Simon frowned but didn’t protest. He started
walking with her to the doors when she stopped and looked at him.
“Please just let me go by myself,” she pleaded. “I don't want to
anger him further.”

“He was angry with you? For what?”

“Very angry. I’ve never seen him like that.”
She blinked away tears. “I was...indiscreet last night and he flew
all the way from Germany last night to yell at me and make sure I
don’t do it again.” She didn’t want to admit to Simon that she’d
slept with someone else and that Kurt had practically dragged her
out of Levi’s bed.

“I’m sorry to hear that. I assure you I
didn’t call him.”

Anna gave him a timid smile. “I know. I’ve
learned my lesson. Freedom gone,” she sighed.

“I was going to ask if you wanted to see Mr.
J. again, but I’m not sure if that’s a good idea.”

Anna swallowed. “I want to. Terribly. But I’m
afraid of getting caught.”

“Did your fiancé know about Friday
night?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“Do you trust me to keep things as discreet
as they were before?”

Anna looked up at him. “Yes,” she
whispered.

Simon smiled. “Good. I will be in touch and
let you know where and when.” He gave a little bow and walked
away.

Anna watched him for a moment and then turned
to go outside and catch a taxi home.

Aaron was home when she got there. “Where’d
ya get the roses? They’re pretty.”

“Oh...somewhere.” She said vaguely and went
to her room to put her books down. Did she want to risk telling
Aaron? Would he tell Kurt?

After finding a vase in the kitchen, she
filled it with water and arranged the roses and put them on her
dresser in her room.

“What’s wrong, Anna?” Aaron said sitting down
on her bed. She hadn’t realized he’d followed her.

She told Aaron about going out with Levi and
Kurt showing up the next morning.

“He flew all the way from Germany to pull you
out of some guy’s bed?”

Anna nodded.

“I never thought he was that much of a
control freak.”

“I didn’t know a lot of things about
him.”

“It’s so unlike him.” Aaron shook his head.
“What the hell happened to him? Have you tried talking to
Wilhelm?”

“He doesn’t care. He’s...busy.” She laced her
fingers together. “Sometimes I wish I’d just stayed with Devin. At
least I knew to expect cruelty.”

“Oh, Anna. Don’t say that.”

“Well, there is one bright thing that
happened while you were gone.” She told him about the mystery man
and the trip to the library that afternoon.

“Wow,” he said when she finished her story.
“Do you know who he is?”

Anna shook her head. “Simon told me to call
him Mr. J.”

“It’s kinda romantic,” he grinned.

Anna nodded and smiled shyly. “It’s
nice.”

Monday morning, the female dancers, and some
of the guys, were all abuzz with the gossip of the Mystery Man who
moved in while they were out of town. Anna listened with amazement
at the amount of information they had gathered in the short day
they had been home.

“He went out to a club, but stayed
unseen.”

“I wonder if he’s terribly ugly. Maybe that’s
why he doesn’t want to be seen.”

“I heard he’s Russian.”

“No, I heard he’s British.”

“Russia isn’t part of Europe, silly.”

“A friend of mine saw him at the club. Well
his silhouette. He’s really tall.”

Anna smiled, listening to them. She knew a
little bit more, but not much. She knew he tasted of wine when he
kissed her. That his touch was gentle. That his cock was huge! Anna
grinned to herself.

“I overheard Vincent talking about him in the
office.” Anna looked up to see Jasmine wide-eyed with excitement as
she spoke. Anna immensely disliked the woman, but was still curious
enough to listen to her. “He’s apparently given the Ballet a
huge
donation. So much so that he can pretty much come and
watch us whenever he wants to.” She sighed. “I’d love to dance for
him.”

Anna growled at the thought of Jasmine taking
another one of her men...not that Mr. J. was
hers,
per se.
She got up and walked out of the room to calm down, and then
laughed at herself, dispelling her anger. She was beginning to get
a temper like Alex had.

Rehearsals were intense that week and Anna
left the studio each night feeling as if the day would never end.
She loved what she was doing, but there was so much to do it was
hard to get her head wrapped around it. They were not only
rehearsing for fall, but she was also trying to learn some
Nutcracker pieces as well. Learning so many different dances was
difficult, but Vincent wanted her to learn everything she could so
he could use her wherever he wanted.

She loved crawling in bed after showering and
reading until she fell asleep. By Thursday night, she was on her
last book and was about ready for a new round.

That evening, as she was getting ready to
curl up with a good book in bed, a knock sounded at the apartment
door. Aaron called that he would get it but called her name a
minute later. She trudged out on tired feet, but was energized when
she saw the pink rose with a note card tied to it in the hand of
the doorman.

“A gentleman asked me to deliver this to you,
Miss Engel.”

“Thanks, Sam.” She grinned and took it.

Aaron closed the door. “What does it
say?”

Anna unfolded the note card to find the same
calligraphy from the note in her mystery book. “Dinner at
eight-thirty with trusted friends. Drinks and dancing after.
Romance at one.”

Her pussy clenched at the last sentence and
she blew out a long breath.

“Wow. At least he’s a nice control
freak.”

Anna laughed. “What does he mean by trusted
friends?”

As if in answer to that question, her phone
rang. “Hello?”

“Hello, Katrina. It’s Simon.”

Anna grinned. “Hi, Simon.” She glanced at
Aaron who grinned back at her. “How did you get my number?”

“I have my ways. Sometimes it’s better not to
ask.”

She giggled. “Okay.”

“I wanted to call and give you my number. Mr.
J. wants you to enjoy yourself with your friends on Saturday. I
just need to know how many to make the reservations for.”

“Oh, um...”

“You can think about it and give me a call
tomorrow. Or text if you’re more comfortable. I’ve called from my
mobile so you have my number, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Do the plans sound pleasing to you? You can
bring as many friends as you’d like.”

“Absolutely. He’s very kind.”

“An astute observation. Have a good evening
Katrina. I will anticipate your numbers tomorrow.”

“Thanks, Simon.”

Anna told Aaron what Simon had said. “Please,
can I come?”

She laughed. “Of course. And Cameron. And
Stef. I need to think about the rest. Do you think Hugo would want
to come?”

“I don’t see why not.”

She called Simon the next day to let him know
that there would be eight friends. “Is that too many?”

“Absolutely not, Katrina. You could invite
more if you wanted.”

“No, these people are good.”

“Excellent. The limo will pick you all up at
your place at eight. Does that work for you?”

“Yes. Thanks.”

She’d told her friends that Kurt had arranged
all this. How else would she explain it? And the look on Jasmine’s
face was priceless when she overheard. Anna briefly wondered if she
had Kurt’s number and would call him, but the wonder hurt too much
and she pushed it aside. She didn’t really want to know.

She suppressed an urge to text Kurt and tell
him that she hated him. Maybe if she got drunk enough on
Saturday...but she didn’t want to get drunk. Not with meeting Mr.
J. afterwards. She wanted to feel everything with him. Mr. J. was
becoming a life vest in the sea of hurt. Anna knew it was
dangerous, but she didn’t want to give it up. Not yet.

“Damn, Katrina,” Hugo whispered in Anna’s ear
Saturday night. “That’s not fair.”

“What?”

“What you’re wearing.” He slid his arms
around her waist and kissed her cheek. “Not nice to tease the
ex-boyfriend.”

Anna giggled and pushed him playfully away.
The feelings that came up when he touched her were still strong
sometimes. She’d had to give Hugo up for Kurt. The thought made her
so angry.

“I thought that was what ex’s were supposed
to do to each other,” she teased, both of them knowing full well
that they’d been forced apart by outside influences and would be
back together in a flash if those influences were gone.

Hugo was the first to arrive for their night
on the town. Well, except Cameron, but he didn’t count. He was
always at their apartment.

“You should have seen her last week!” Cameron
teased. “Even
I
was tempted.”

“Hey!” Aaron exclaimed, hitting Cameron’s arm
playfully. Then he grinned. “Eh, well. Yeah. I could imagine.”

“What were you wearing?” Hugo asked with a
smile.

Cameron rattled off the designers and the
fabrics, but Hugo raised his eyebrows at the words “sheer” and
“micro-mini.”

“Damn summer tour,” he muttered, and then
laughed. “Maybe it was good that I wasn’t here.” He shrugged. “Or
maybe we’ll have to go to a less classy place next time so I can
see it.”

Anna rolled her eyes playfully. “Don’t you
know it’s unbecoming to wear the same club-wear twice?”

Hugo’s eyes glinted. “Then maybe we should
have a private club here.” His voice turned husky and made Anna
shiver.

“You shouldn’t tempt me like that, Hugo,” she
whispered, eyes wide.

They stared at each other for a long time,
the electricity between them undeniable, until Hugo shook his head
and looked away. “I’m sorry, Katrina. I shouldn’t have said that.”
He cleared his throat. “You do look really nice though.”

Anna looked down at the spaghetti-strapped
black dress she’d bought the other day. Its low V-neck was covered
in sheer lace, so it wasn’t incredibly modest but not outright
whoreish either. The back had the same sheer lace to the waist and
the skirt hit her slightly above mid-thigh. Her favorite thing
about the dress was that it was made from incredibly soft silk and
it tickled her skin every time she moved.

Hugo’s words and gaze had made her nipples
harden against the soft material and she was glad the dress was
black so they were mostly hidden.

Stef, Jamie, Rachel, and Tanner arrived a few
minutes later and the apartment became noisy with the girls’
chattering. Cameron joined in, but Hugo, Aaron and Tanner stood on
the other side of the room shaking their heads and laughing at the
girls’ excitement.

A few minutes later, the doorman called to
inform them that their transportation had arrived and they all
crowded into the elevator.

They ooh-ed and ah-ed about the elegant limo
that waited for them and scrambled in, excited to begin the
evening. Dinner took place at an exclusive French restaurant with
melt-in-your-mouth everything in a private dining area.

They were taken to the same club that Anna
and Cameron had gone to the previous week. As they walked inside,
Anna wondered if Mr. J. would be there like before. She glanced
slyly over at the private area he’d been in before and her heart
leapt when the curtains were closed, allowing only a glimmer of a
silhouette behind. Was he here?

Cameron nudged her and motioned to the side
of the curtained opening where Simon stood hands clasped together
in front of his hips. He was watching her and smiled when she saw
him. He bowed his head slightly and then disappeared into the
curtains.

“He’s here,” she squeaked to Cameron,
butterflies floating in her stomach.

Anna didn’t know if she should behave herself
or give him something to watch, but realized when they sat down at
their table that he would have a perfect view of her and her
friends as they enjoyed themselves.