Page 93 of The Life of Anna-Tenth Anniversary Edition: Act 1

Anna dropped her bag just inside the door of the large bedroom that Alex had led her to on the third floor. The room was elegantly furnished with a dark wood sleigh bed and a matching dresser. A green dress hung from a hook on the bathroom door in the corner of the room.

The sky was dark outside the window opposite from the bed, though Anna knew the sun hadn’t quite set yet. It had been a long day, and the bed called to her for sleep, but she needed to get ready for dinner with Alex and Wilhelm.

She reached into her bag and pulled out her copy of Pride and Prejudice, opening the cover to find the ballet program she’d hidden inside. Jenna had scrawled her number across the front in large curly handwriting. She needed to call and see if they could go shopping in the next day or so to find a dress for Devin’s banquet.

She pulled her phone from her pocket and dialed the number. It rang once . . . Twice . . . three times . . . “Hello?”

“Jenna? It’s Anna.”

“Anna? Omigosh! You called! I’m so happy!” She paused. “You have a phone now?”

Anna smiled. “I do.”

“Yay! So, did you get things figured out after moving out of Jack’s place?”

“Yes. At least I think so.”

“Where are you living?”

Anna hesitated. “I think I have an apartment downtown.”

“You think? You don’t know?”

“I haven’t seen it yet.”

“You haven’t seen your apartment? Anna, you’re not making any sense.”

Anna sighed. “It’s . . . really complicated.”

“Okay... but you’re not living with Jack anymore, right?”

“No.”

“Good. When can we hang out?”

Anna smiled at Jenna’s eagerness. “I need to find a dress for something on Wednesday. Could you help me find one?”

“Shopping? Hell, yeah! How about tomorrow?”

“That would be good.”

“Cool. Are you going to Aaron’s party? He asked me this morning if I’d heard from you.”

“Really?” Anna bit her lip, remembering her childhood crush.

“I think he likes you. He kept talking about how pretty you looked on Saturday.”

Anna shook her head. “Aaron wouldn’t feel that way about me. I’m his ‘Little Giselle’ remember?”

Jenna laughed. “His ‘Little Giselle’ is all grown up now and he likes it.”

“I don’t think I’m his type.” Besides, she didn’t need to be distracted by an old crush. Keeping Alex and Devin happy was her priority.

“Why not? Guys will be tripping over themselves to ask you out. I mean, Kurt’s a cool guy and all, but he’s married and lives in another country.”

“He left to go back to Frankfurt this afternoon.”

“Oh. Well, then you’ve gotta come to the party and meet the guys from the company.”

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