Page 19 of Only You

Now she sounded like him. Andrew pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head.

“They will sunshine.”

They had to. Andrew’s thoughts went back to his conversation with Sally. He looked down at his daughter, whose features were so like Eva’s, although her colouring was blonde like his. Olivia had missed having a female in her life. The only women she saw were his mum, Star, Skylar’s mum, and Laura. A thought sprung to mind.

Would Ana be interested in getting to know his daughter?

He shook off the thought. Of course, she wouldn’t.

Why would a twenty-two-year-old woman be interested in a seven-year-old girl? Then again, when his mum and dad went to Australia, maybe Ana would like to get to know her niece. Andrew began to mull the idea over as he got Olivia ready for bed. It had bones as an idea, but there was no rush.

After putting Olivia back to bed, he completed the feedback forms on the candidates he had interviewed and asked the agencies to call him. He could arrange some more interviews. They could not all be as disastrous as today’s had been.

Chapter Twelve

Ana

The following week went by in a haze of work, university, and socialising with Millie and George. It was more coffee and gossip, but she loved spending time in their company, and they made her laugh. The light-hearted feeling flooding her system, she attributed to them.

Millie and George, of course, continued to bamboozle Ana into partying with them. She had made enough realistic excuses that they let her get away with it. Plus, as she explained. Her new job often ended past midnight. The nights she was not working, she needed to catch up on her ‘beauty sleep.’ They told her they would forgive her for now, but that wouldn’t last forever. Ana had never been one for partying, even when she had been on her previous degree. Some people may have gone wild, gaining their freedom, but Ana could not see the point. She enjoyed her new friends’ company, but the idea of going out and getting drunk did not appeal to her. The one time she had tried it, she hated it, so she had refrained ever since.

That night, her shift finished early. It was a week since she had first started working at Mount Crystals. Robin had called her into his office and asked how she was finding it. She was sure her beaming smile had given it away, but she told him she loved it if he had been in any doubt. The staff were welcoming, the patrons polite, well, most of them, and she had earned more cash in one week than she had in almost a month at Randy’s. She had paid her rent, and life was good.

It was dark and quiet when Ana let herself into the flat, which was not unusual for the middle of the week. She looked around in disgust at the pizza boxes and unwashed plates, cups and roll-ups that littered every surface of the living room. James had had a party the night before. She had come home from work to a flat full of stoners. Lucky for her, The Creep had been nowhere in sight, and the flat was crowded. She’d snuck into her room unnoticed and resorted to using face wipes to remove her makeup and bottled water to clean her teeth. She had not wanted to risk getting caught in the bathroom.

Ana walked into the kitchen and flicked the kettle on to make herself a drink. Taking out the folded piece of paper Robin had given her at the end of her shift, she stared at it before stuffing it back in her pocket. It was Andrew’s phone number. She’d think about what it meant later.

“Hey beautiful,” a voice sounded behind her.

Ana spun around to find James standing in the doorway, in sweatpants and not much else. Averting her eyes, Ana turned back to make her drink, deciding to ignore him.

“You going to make one of those for me?” he asked, walking into the kitchen and propping himself up against the counter.

“Sure,” Ana said, a chill settling over her body. “What do you want?”

“That’s the million-dollar question,” he said, moving closer to her and running a finger down her arm.

Ana shrugged him off and moved away, only to have him follow her.

“I think I’ll skip that drink,” she said, moving towards the door only to find her exit blocked.

“Now Ana, that’s not very nice,” he said, smirking, “You were going to make your landlord a drink. I think I’ll have a coffee.”

He leaned against the doorframe, making it impossible for Ana to leave without brushing past him.

Ana turned back towards the side, grabbing two cups from the draining board. She glanced at James, who was still lounging in the doorway with an arrogant smirk on his face. He loved himself.

Ana looked back at the cups in front of her. She took her coffee from her cupboard and added two generous scoops to the mugs before adding the boiling water.

“Milk?” she asked, trying to keep her voice steady.

“Black,” he replied.

Ana could feel his eyes burning into her. She needed to get away from him. James had always made her uneasy from the day she moved in. His gaze felt like spiders running over her skin. She had tried her hardest to ensure they were never alone together, and she had managed it until then.

Moving to the fridge, Ana grabbed her milk and added a splash to her cup. She picked them up and held one out to James, willing him to move out of the doorway so she could slip around him and into the safety of her lockable room.

“Aren’t you going to bring it over to me?” he asked, showing no desire to move from his current position.

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