6 comments/ 10494 views/ 2 favorites Anna and Ramone By: tabzwnjk I'd like to thank michchick98 for her help in editing my story. Any grammatical errors found in the story are purely mine. Present day Anna and Ramone were eating ice cream in her apartment whilst reminiscing of their time together. They'd been friends for 20 years now and although life had pushed them into different directions, they remained the best of friends. It was November and they were discussing their plans for Christmas. They'd both turned 30 in the course of the year and were looking forward to their ski weekend in Austria. All the girls who came across Ramone couldn't help but be enamoured by his good looks. He'd filled out in all the right places and looked after himself. He had beautiful grey eyes, a beautiful smile and dimples that could melt the coldest of hearts. But all that paled in comparison to the person he was. Understandably with his good looks, he could get away with being an arse but he treated everyone with care and respect. He was devoted to his work and wasn't looking for commitment. Anna was an English rose. Every man who came across her would try his best to woo her with riches and passionate words, but all fell short. She had rich, wavy brown hair and piercing almond coloured eyes that would twinkle each time she laughed. She loved running and had a body to die for. She had curves in all the right places and when she moved on the dance-floor, men would look at her openly and girls would look away in envy. She was also deeply in love with Ramone. 1988 "Give it back!" Anna cried. "Oh, you want your little dolly back do you? Come get it then," taunted the neighbourhood bully, Arnold. "No! Give it back to me!" Anna started to run after him, tripped over a rock and fell, grazing her knee. "Ha ha! You fell over you twit!" laughed Arnold. His laughter soon subsided when someone pushed him from behind. "Oi, who do you think you're pushing around?" he yelled. "You better give it back to her!" Anna looked up and saw a tall boy looking over at her. She blushed. 'He's cute,' she thought. "I said give it back to her or I'm going to smash your face in!" snarled the tall boy. Arnold looked over at Anna then looked back at the snarling boy and decided that it simply wasn't worth it. He threw the doll back at Anna and sped off on his bike. "Thanks," sniffed Anna. "You're welcome. Is your knee okay?" the tall boy asked whilst kneeling down to inspect her knee. "I'll be fine. I'm Anna by the way," she said. "My name's Ramone. We've just moved into the neighbourhood." "Ramone? Are you Spanish?" "No, well yes. My mother's family is from Spain and my father's family is Italian so I guess that makes me a bit of both," he stated proudly. "Oh, I'm just from here. Well mum is from Ireland but she moved here when she was 15 and has been here ever since and as for my dad, he's just English," she laughed. They both got up and started walking back to the street where they lived and discovered they lived opposite each other. "Thanks for helping me today," Anna said. "No problem, just look after yourself, okay?" He replied. That summer, Anna and Ramone were inseparable. They spent every waking moment with each other and became the best of friends. Anna learned that Ramone was of similar age, and he'd had an early growth spurt. September soon came and they went to school. Anna's birthday came in November and Ramone trudged along to the party feeling elated. The party was in full swing by the time he'd arrived. Anna was dancing with Jamie, one of the boys in her class. She looked beautiful in her flowery dress and Ramone felt the first pangs of jealousy. He didn't really get along with Jamie, but shrugged off his feelings, figuring it was because he wasn't used to seeing Anna having fun with another boy. He glanced down at his pocket and smiled. She'd love what he'd made her. He'd been sneaking off to his uncle's workshop when she wasn't around to make it. When the time came for Anna to open her presents, Jamie walked over to Ramone and said hello. Ramone mumbled a hello back and turned to look at Anna. "She's really beautiful you know," Jamie said. "What do you mean?" Ramone asked. Jamie laughed and started to walk away. "Oh and one more thing Ramone, don't think that she's going to be your girlfriend anytime soon because you might be her best friend but she knows better than to mix with the likes of you," Jamie snarled. Ramone was dumbfounded. It was the first time he'd experienced prejudice and didn't know how to react. 'What did he mean about her being my girlfriend?' he thought. Anna sat excitedly as each present was brought to her. She unwrapped them happily, squealing with delight at the contents of each package. The next box handed to her was from Jamie. She glanced his way with a shy smile before turning her attention back to the package. She was a bit more careful to open his package, although she didn't know why. Slowly, she pulled back the flaps of the box and removed the delicate tissue paper. Inside, there was a musical jewellery box. She gasped and said it was the best present she'd ever received. Ramone couldn't help but notice that she'd never smiled at him like that before. 'Maybe she won't like what I made her', he thought. He turned and decided to go home. When Anna glanced up to where Ramone had been standing, she discovered he was gone. 1993 Anna packed her bag and decided enough was enough. She was going to leave home and go to a place where no one would find her. She couldn't let him get away with this anymore. She sat on her bed and started to cry. She curled up into a foetal position and thought back to two years ago when it had all began. "Anna get in here!" her father yelled. She quickly ran up the stairs to her room and found him standing next to her bed looking furious. "Yes Dad?" she answered whilst looking around her room for any sign that would explain why he was looking so angry at her. She found none. Anna looked up at him and saw an emotion she'd never seen before. It was the week after her birthday and her father had taken her out everyday, stating that now she was a teenager, he could take her around with him everywhere. She'd never spent a lot of time with him and was glad to be the centre of his attention. And now she was faced with a fury she'd never seen before. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked. Anna was confused and asked him what he meant. He snarled and pointed to her clothes. "What do you think you're doing dressing up like a slut?" "But, Daddy, you bought me these clothes on Wednesday!" she exclaimed. He walked over to her, slapped her and told her to sit on her bed. She sat down with tears streaming down her face as he closed her bedroom door and told her to be quiet. He unbuckled his belt and removed it and held it in his hand. "I'll show you what happens to little sluts like you," he said. "Now get over here," he patted a spot on the bed. Anna began to sob and shook her head no. She stood up and walked toward the door. She'd almost reached the door when her head was yanked back by her father. "You think you can get away do you? Well think again!" he whispered. She could feel his breath on her neck and a feeling of nausea swept through her. When he heard her gag, he brought his hand across her face and warned her not to throw up. He pushed her onto the bed, stripped them both of their clothes and raped her. **************************** "Anna? Are you in there?" Ramone called as he knocked on her door. She quickly got up and wiped her eyes hoping that he wouldn't notice she'd been crying. "Coming," she said. She opened the door and he barged in. "What's wrong with you?" he asked. "Nothing," she replied whilst backing away. Ramone could see she'd been crying but he could also see she didn't want to talk about it. That angered him but he decided not to push it. To be continued... Thanks for reading the first chapter in the story. There's not a lot that has happened in the present and I just wanted to use this chapter to introduce Anna and Ramone to you. Next chapter will be up soon and I'd appreciate any feedback on the story. Thanks, T-Wnjk Anna and Ramone Ch. 02 Hi guys, Thank you for reading the story and also for your feedback. I hope you enjoy the second chapter as well. T-Wnjk ********* Present Day "Anna? Anna?" Ramone called looking concerned. "What?" "You're crying." "Oh," Anna said while wiping her tears. "Excuse me Ramone." Anna bolted to her bathroom and locked the door. Her heart was beating furiously and she rested her elbows on her sink with her head bowed down. She didn't dare look at the mirror for fear of what she would see. Fear. "Anna can you please open the door?" "I'm just freshening up; I'll be out in a second." "Why were you crying?" "It's not a big deal, I just got emotional. It's my hormones playing up," she said whilst trying to laugh convincingly. "I'm not falling for that one again. I'm not moving until you come out so we can talk about this." "There's nothing to talk about! Just leave me alone!" she retorted. "Anna I'm asking you to open this door," he beseeched. The next thing Ramone heard was the sound of the shower. He swore angrily and banged on the door. After getting no response, he walked back to the couch and sat down, all the time looking at the bathroom door waiting for her to come out. 'What did I say to make her upset?" he thought. An hour passed and the shower was still running. He was getting more angry than annoyed at this point. They'd never kept anything from each other, well except for that one time he'd found her crying and she refused to confide in him. He wasn't about to let her start holding back now. He stood up and walked towards the bathroom. He was about to knock on the door when he heard a sound that made his heart stop, if only for a second. ********* Anna shook as sobs racked through her body. She curled up on the floor crying whilst steam from the shower filled up the bathroom. 'Why won't he leave?' She thought. She'd heard him walk away from the bathroom and had been waiting to hear her front door open and close. No such luck. After some time, she heard his footsteps and waited for him to knock. She tried to stop crying but as soon as he reached the bathroom door, a sob escaped from her throat. She looked up at the door, but Ramone did not knock. He didn't call out her name. He did nothing. Didn't he care about her anymore? Anna was scared she'd pushed him away, her best friend. The man she loved. This was enough to start her off again and she crawled into the shower cubicle so he wouldn't hear her cry. So she wouldn't hear him leave. As she sat in the cubicle crying, she thought back to the day she'd been packing, ready to run away from home. ********* 1993 (continued) "So what are you doing then?" Ramone asked while trying to ignore the feeling of anger rushing through him. "Not much. I'm just relaxing." "This" he said whilst pointing to her room "does not look like relaxing to me". "What are you doing here anyway?" she asked. "I came round to see why you didn't show up for last period today." "I wasn't feeling well so I came home to rest." "What was wrong with you?" "Why are you asking me so many questions?" "I'm just worried about you." "Well there's nothing to worry about, so if there's nothing else..." she held her door open, signalling him to leave. He refused to budge. "Why are those bags packed and why are your clothes all over the bed?" "That's none of your business." "Fine. I'll make it my business." He walked over to one bag and unzipped it. "Hey! Stop that!" He looked into the bag and saw it was filled with clothes. His stomach knotted as emotions raced through him. "Anna, why are your clothes in here?" She was about to give a sarcastic reply, when she saw the look in his eyes. He looked scared. "I'm going away for the summer." "But summer's three months away." "I'm just packing early. You know how I get when I leave things to the last minute." She laughed uneasily. He couldn't shake the feeling she was lying to him but he could see she wasn't about to confide in him. That hurt him. For as long as he could remember, they'd confided in each other. Hell, ever since he'd scared off that bully Arnold, they'd been inseparable. "Ramone, I have things to do, so I'll just catch up with you later." He looked up and was about to say something but he saw the look in her eyes. It was fear. But what did she have to be scared of? Was it him? Why wouldn't she tell him? Anna looked away a few seconds after their eyes left. She didn't look up until she heard the door click shut. Then she collapsed on the floor crying. Ramone went home feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders. He walked into the house looking worried and his mum hurried over and asked what was wrong. He sat down and told her what happened that afternoon. He was convinced she was planning to run away but he didn't know why. For the first time since he could remember, he cried for the friend who was leaving him. ********* Present day Ramone sank onto the floor outside the bathroom with his heart pounding. She was crying again. He was scared. He'd never been this scared since the day he found her packing to run away. He thought back to that day when he'd found her at the bus station. To the day he'd found her walking towards the bus that would take her away from him. He resolved to stay outside her door until she came out. He didn't have to wait long. "Ramone?" He scrambled to his feet and looked at her. She was soaked through and her clothes clung to her leaving little to the imagination. It's a good thing she was wearing black, he thought. He shook the thought away furiously but he couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked. She was breathtaking even when upset. "Oh Anna, you had me worried." He grabbed her and held her. Anna could feel the tears stinging her eyes again. He hadn't left her. He was still here with her. She tightened her hold on him and felt him lift her up. She looked up and saw he was walking towards her bedroom. "You need to change out of these clothes or else you'll find yourself ill. Don't worry, I'll be waiting outside the door." He put her down and walked out of her bedroom, pulling the door shut. Anna got changed quickly and walked out of her bedroom timidly. Ramone picked her up again and carried her to the living room. He turned on the heating and put on a DVD. He picked up the melting ice cream and their spoons and walked back to her. Without another word, they started eating ice cream and watching the movie. The movie came to an end and Ramone looked at her. "Anna, we need to talk." Anna's heart began to beat faster in anticipation of what he would say. She watched as he took the empty ice cream tubs and put it on the table together with their spoons. "I'm your friend and I care about you. I hope you know that." "I do Ramone." "Then why won't you talk to me?" "Because there's nothing to say." "How can you say that? You've spent hours in the bathroom crying your eyes out!" he exclaimed. "I don't want to talk about it." "Are you sure? Because it seems that you don't trust me" "How can you think that Ramone? You know everything that goes on in my life!" "If that's the case, tell me what's bothering you!" "I can't," she replied so softly that he wasn't sure he'd heard correctly. "I'm sorry Ramone but I can't." "Can't or won't?" "Ramone..." "No Anna, I think we've said enough. Goodnight." Without another word, he left. ********* Anna groaned as her alarm clock went off. She looked at the time and saw it was 6am. She had a meeting in two hours, and didn't feel like going to work. She dragged herself out of bed and went to have a shower. Her mind went back to last night and she groaned. She owed Ramone an explanation but she didn't know where to start. She got to work five minutes before her meeting. She was meeting with the marketing director of a building firm. She worked as a marketing consultant and was often used by companies to offer an outside opinion on their marketing strategies. Today was going to be no different from the rest of the meetings. A power-point presentation she'd have to sit through whilst listening to a mundane speech from a director. She often wished that the people who actually took the time to create the presentation would present it to her as they'd be able to answer some of the questions. It was a lot easier to communicate with the creators rather than the directors because most of the directors thought the sun shone from them. "Morning Lisa," she said to her assistant. "It's about time you showed up Anna, Malcolm has been pacing up and down the office waiting for you to show up," her assistant replied. "Don't worry about him. He knows I'll deliver, I always do." "Well it would help if you were here on time." Anna turned around to find Malcolm scowling at her. "Well hello there Grumpy," she teased. Malcolm sighed. "Are you ready?" "You know I am", she replied. It was a little lie she told but she hoped in her heart that she was ready. Truth be told, she'd spent the rest of last night thinking about her evening with Ramone and how it had gone wrong. "They're waiting for you in the conference room." "Lead the way." They got to the conference room and Anna took an extra second to straighten up her clothes. It wouldn't help to walk in there looking like something the cat dragged in. She inhaled deeply, then exhaled and signalled for Malcolm to open the door. When she walked in, she was met with a bright smile. Jamie Childs, her teenage crush was standing by the window smiling at her. She couldn't help the butterflies that arose in her stomach. "Good morning Anna," smiled Jamie. Malcolm looked at Anna then at Jamie and caught his smile. "Do you two know each other then?" "We went to the same school," Anna replied. "And don't forget we were high school sweethearts as well," Jamie stated. Anna blushed furiously at his comment whilst Malcolm tried hard not to laugh at her face. "So then, shall we get started?" "Let's get to it then Anna." Anna sat down and was surprised to find Jamie was the one delivering the presentation. She hardly paid attention to what he was saying. She was too busy scrutinising him and listening to the sound of his voice. Nothing had changed about him. He was still the same charismatic and somewhat arrogant boy she knew. All that had changed was the fact that he was now a man. He wore a stylish suit which she assumed was Italian and his shoes looked pretty expensive as well. He took of his suit jacket and she realised that his body had changed as well. He'd put on a little weight but complemented the additional weight with muscle. He looked a lot better than he had when they dated. "So what do you think about our strategy then? Will it work?" Anna jumped up at the question and realised she didn't know what he had been talking about. Malcolm noticed her hesitation and replied for her. "It certainly looks promising but we'll have a more in depth look with our team and see if we can come up with anything new." Anna smiled at Malcolm as if to say thanks. Jamie saw her smile and pangs of jealousy consumed him. 'Are they dating?' he thought. 'She still looks as beautiful as she did when we were in high school. Actually no, she looks a lot more beautiful. I've got to have her,' he surmised. They agreed on a date for a second meeting and Jamie caught up with her before she left the conference room. Malcolm raised his eyebrows and walked out whistling. "What was that for?" Anna said. "I just wanted to talk to you. It's been a long time since I saw you." "We've got nothing to say to each other. You're the one that left." "I know. But can we at least go have some coffee?" "I don't know Jamie. I've got a meeting in an hour." "Then give me half an hour. Please Anna; I just want to catch up." "Ok then," she relented. "But only thirty minutes." She looked at her watch then back at him. "Time starts now." They walked to a café near her office building. Anna found herself laughing at Jamie's stories. It felt good to laugh like this. It had been too long. She looked up and their eyes met. She quickly looked away feeling guilty. 'Why am I feeling guilty? I'm not even dating Ramone. There's nothing wrong with having coffee with Jamie.' She still couldn't shake the guilty feeling but decided to ignore it, for a while. "So that's what happened with me. How about you? You seem to be doing pretty well." "Thanks Jamie. I've been working for Davison's for five years now. I started as a junior consultant and moved up over the years. What exactly do you do for J.N?" "I own the company." Anna choked on her coffee. "You own it as in it's your company?" "Yes." "Wow, you've done very well." "It's taken a lot of luck and hard work." "I'm really happy for you." He was about to say something when her phone rang. She looked at it and saw it was Ramone calling. She looked up at Jamie then put her phone back in her bag. She'd call Ramone later. It would be awkward to speak to him whilst having coffee with his high school arch enemy. Unbeknown to Anna and Jamie, Ramone had decided to surprise Anna at work and take her for coffee. When he got there, Malcolm informed him that she'd popped out for coffee with a client but that she'd be back in half an hour. Ramone decided to walk to the coffee shop and say a quick hello. It was then he saw them. Anna was having coffee with Jamie Childs. He closed his eyes and wished that it was his imagination overreacting but when he opened his eyes again he realised that it was in fact true. What made it worse was Anna's face. She was laughing hysterically at something Jamie had said. He felt like a fool because he had come to apologise for walking out on her the night before. But clearly she wasn't as upset as he thought she had been. 'I'll give her a call and see if she wants to meet up later,' he said to himself. He dialled his number and watched her pick up her purse. She took out her phone and he prepared himself to say hi. He couldn't believe his eyes when she put the phone back into her bag and continued her conversation with Jamie. To be continued.... Anna and Ramone Ch. 03 Hey guys, thanks for reading the series and for your comments and votes! This chapter is shorter than the previous two. The next chapter will be up shortly and will be longer than this one. Enjoy reading and keep the comments/votes coming in! Tabzwnjk ******************************************* "Well it's about time you got back home", Ramone said. Anna jumped at the sound of his voice. She'd spent the whole day with Jamie and all she wanted was to get home and sleep. "What are you doing outside my door?" "Well I thought I'd come and see how you were doing but you look fine to me". "Look I'm sorry about last night. Let's just forget about it". He sighed and nodded his headed in agreement. "Before I forget, I came by your office today and Malcolm said you were out for lunch". "Oh yes, Judy from college rang me this morning to say she was in the area and if I fancied catching up, so I went to meet her for lunch at the café", she lied. There was a long pause in which Anna was convinced Ramone could tell she was lying. Her heart was beating a lot faster and little beads of sweat were beginning to appear on her forehead. "I see, how is she anyway?" "She's fine", she replied tersely. "Do you know how long she's in town for? Maybe I could catch up with her as well?" "Sorry but she's gone back home". "That's a shame, isn't it?" "Yes, it's a big shame." "How did your meeting go today?" "It went fine." "Just fine? Not great, fabulous, splendid..." "Ramone..." she said as she cut him off. He paused and looked down at her. The light in the hallway had made her eyes look a lot bigger and he couldn't help feeling as though he was drowning when he looked into her eyes. His eyes darted down to her lips which were slightly parted. Her lips were just right, not too thin and not too plump. In his opinion they were perfect for kissing. She began nibbling her lower lip and his thoughts took on a more graphic trail. "Look Ramone, I'm really tired and need to get some rest," she said. He looked up startled and sighed again. His desires would have to wait. "I'm sorry Anna. It's been a long day and you look beat, so I'll go and let you get some rest." Ramone leaned over to hug her and for a brief moment she hesitated. She hoped he didn't notice her hesitation but it quickly became obvious that he'd noticed and he recoiled from her. "I'm sorry Ramone," Anna began. Ramone looked at her with sad eyes and turned away. She called out to him and he continued to walk away from her. She thought about following him but instead went into her apartment. She walked into the sound of the phone ringing. She rushed to answer it, hoping that it was Ramone. "Hello," she answered breathlessly. "Guess who?" "Err...Jamie?" "Nailed it in one" "How did you get my number?" "Well I rang your office and they gave it to me after some persuasion on my part." Anna made a mental note to berate whoever gave him her number. "Anyway Anna, I just wanted to ask what your plans for dinner tomorrow night were." "To tell you the truth Jamie, I don't think seeing each other is going to be a good idea." There was a long silence and they could hear each other breathing tensely over the phone. "Well, we might as well make the effort seeing as I'm going to be working closely with you over the next year." "What do you mean?" Anna asked. "Oh my goodness, did we get the contract for your company?" "Well, you might have done," he chuckled. "Come on Jamie, tell me!" she pleaded. "Come to dinner with me tomorrow night and I'll tell you everything you want to know," he said as his voice became more husky and his tone a lot less teasing. Anna swirled her hair in her fingers as she thought about what he'd asked. Back when they were dating, he'd used similar statements as insinuations for more intimate communication. She couldn't help blushing when she began remembering their time together in between the sheets. "Well..." she began. Her voice sounded too husky, so she cleared it before attempting to speak again. "Well what Anna," he responded. "I don't know Jamie. Look I'm really tired and I just want to get some sleep." "I won't let you go until you say yes." "Then I'll hang up," she responded, enjoying the light banter. "In that case, I'll keep ringing you non-stop and if that doesn't work, I'll drive to yours and wake you up with consistent knocking." "Fine, I give up." "Good, I'll pick you up at 8 then. Goodnight Anna," he said. He hung up before she could say 'goodnight'. Anna stared at the phone for a minute and then a slow smile spread across her face. She had a dinner date with Jamie Childs. She squealed with happiness as she got ready for bed. For the first time in a while, she slept soundly. *************************** Ramone had a difficult time sleeping. He kept tossing and turning imagining Anna and Jamie together. When he wasn't doing that, he was thinking of how sexy Anna looked when she nibbled her lower lip. He groaned and got up. He walked to the kitchen with an impressing erection and desperately tried to think of anything but Anna. The first thing he saw when he was about to open the fridge was a picture of him and Anna drenched after coming of a water-slide at a theme park. He was knocked back with the realisation that Anna's top was almost see-through. 'Why didn't I notice that before?' he berated himself. He got out some milk and cookies and sat at the kitchen table trying to read a newspaper. No matter what he did, the image of Anna looking sensual remained with him. He finished his midnight snack and crawled back into bed. *************************** The next morning Anna woke up to a bright sunny day. As she lay in bed, she thought back to her short conversation with Jamie and smiled. Almost as soon as she smiled, she thought of her talk with Ramone. Things weren't going well for them and it was all her fault. Or so she thought. He'd seemed so withdrawn from her. 'Ah well, I'll ring him later', she thought. She had a shower and got dressed. She was pouring some cereal when there was a knock on her door. 'I wonder who it could be', she thought. She walked over to the door and without looking through the peephole, she opened the door. "Surprise," said Jamie. "Hi," Anna replied reluctantly. "I was in the neighbourhood..." "Are you sure?" "Well...no I wasn't, but I wanted you to have these." Jamie reached behind and presented Anna with a bouquet. It was arrayed with her favourite flowers - lilies, daffodils and a sunflower in the middle. She couldn't help blushing as she took the flowers and welcomed him in. "It's a nice place you've got here Anna," he remarked. "Thanks, it's just a little place of comfort." "It's certainly a lot more homely than my house is. Maybe you should come by sometime and take a look to see what I'm missing." He had moved closer to her and Anna could feel her heart beating fast. 'This can't be happening', she thought. Jamie reached over and moved a strand of hair from her face and cupped her face into his hands. "So, are we on for dinner today or do I have to beg?" She backed away from him and cleared her throat before responding. "I don't know Jamie." "But you said yes last night." "I was tired and didn't know what I was saying, but what I really meant to say was no." "Give me a reason as to why we can't go out to dinner together." "Well, it's not good to relive the past." "Who said we'd be reliving? Maybe we should use the time we have to build something new and fresh." "You can't do that because it's impossible to erase all the memories." "You're right, because my feelings for you remain just as strong." "How can that be so? You left me Jamie. If I remember correctly, you said that I didn't fit in with your plans for the future. What's changed now? What's different?" Jamie couldn't help but notice how fiery she was looking at the moment. She used to look just like that when they were in high school. When she was defending her case, she always got the fiery look in her eyes that she had now. "What's different Anna is I am. I was a stupid boy when I left but I'm a man now and would like a chance to prove that I may be worthy of you. I know I hurt you by brushing you away like you didn't matter, but the truth is that you've always mattered to me. Seeing you here now, in the flesh, brings back memories of all the times we shared – good and bad. I just want to start afresh. I want to know what makes you smile, what makes you cry. I just want another chance with you. Please Anna," he said. Anna blinked and was surprised to realise that she had tears in her eyes – tears that were now streaming down her face. She looked at Jamie and she saw the boy she'd fallen in love with – the boy who bought her a musical jewellery box for her 10th birthday. She was brought back to the present when he reached across to wipe her tears away. She wanted him but didn't love him. It made it even more difficult to ascertain why she was crying if she wasn't in love with him. Maybe she could grow to love him, she thought. After all, he was a great guy with an amazing job. Who wouldn't want to be his? She looked at him and made her decision. She was going to try. "Okay", she whispered. "Okay? You'll give me a chance?" He whooped for joy when she nodded her head. "Oh Anna, you don't know how happy you've made me," he said with a smile. He looked at her face, smiling up at him and his heart clenched at the image. This amazing woman was now almost his. He decided that he'd make her his and never let her go. He cupped her face into his hands again and leaned in for a kiss. He paused when he was halfway and waited to see if she'd meet him halfway. She did. The kiss was everything a first kiss should be, although in their case it wasn't their first kiss. It was a soft, tender kiss filled with exploration and yearning. It wasn't a long kiss, but it was what they both needed. A kiss that promised a new beginning.