Story Five, "Anna"

Noah

Anna was sitting in a chair when I first saw her. She was sitting alone, her back to the window. Sitting quietly and cross-legged, she was watching the room with eyes sparkling from the lamp next to her. Her long dark curls made contact with the knee-length green dress, revealing bare legs and flats. She didn't wear much jewelry except for a silver bracelet.
I was sitting on the opposite side of the room with a friend. My friend was talking and my mind was wandering. Most of the faces around were familiar, until that cliche of people parting so she could be seen. She had an elbow on the table, touching the lamp, and she was drawing circles on her glass. Dark eyes flitted between conversations around her.
She turned and picked up her drink.
While she was sipping her drink, her eyes pointed at me.
She slowly took the drink from her mouth, then set it back down.
We didn't break eye contact.
But, as my luck, another friend came and sat down by her, taking her attention away.
They started laughing and she looked at me for a second, before turning away.

A few days passed and I got a phone call.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Noah. Did you leave something of yours behind?"
"Uh..." I said, then looked around the room. I double patted my pockets, then shrugged. "I don't think so."
"Well, someone left behind a CD."
"Maggie, I didn't bring anything with me, when I walked in."
"Oh. Okay, then.," she said then paused. "How about Evan?"
I shook my head, then said, "No. He didn't bring anything either."
"Okay. Hmm, maybe I'll call Anna, then."
"Who's Anna?"
"You didn't meet her?"
"No. If I met her, I think I would have remembered her."
"Oh," she said, then paused. "Anna was the girl who wore the dark green dress."
Pause.
"But, two girls wore dark green dresses."
"Anna was the brunette. Wren was the blonde."
"I know Wren. Evan was hitting on her, and she left really early."
"Yes."
"Wait. Anna was the one sitting by the window the whole night?"
Small pause.
"Yes, that was Anna. So, you did meet her?"
"No. But, I was wondering who that was."
"Oh? Would you like to meet her?"
My head said yes before my mouth.

A couple days later, I was sitting at a coffee shop, staring at my watch and drinking a regular cup of black with three of those blue packets of sugar.
The door opened and I expected Maggie and Anna to walk in, but Anna walked in solo. There was no slo-mo windy hair toss, or anything to announce she was entering. It was slightly disappointing.
Her blue dress with white lace at the bottom looked very summertime, despite it being early March. Her hair was in pigtails and wore a chunky necklace.
She approached and stood in front of me.
"Hello."
"Hi. Noah?"
She held out a hand.
I found myself look down at her shoes, which were the highest heels I've ever seen an everyday girl wear. They must have been just over five inches and didn't look at all comfortable.
After that, I slowly got up and took her hand.
I was still much taller than her, so she only had to be around five feet three inches.
"Anna, right?"
"Yes."
"It's nice to meet you."
We withdrew our hands.
"Nice to meet you, too."
She quickly looked at her watch.
"Can't stay long. Have to meet with a PR person in a few minutes, but really wanted to meet you."
"You have a public relations person? What do you do?"
"An actor."
"Oh."
"What do you do?"
"Factotum."
I glanced over at the bored girl at the register, then turned back to Anna.
"Do you have time for a coffee?"
She shook her head.
"Don't have the time right now. But, do you have plans, say, later on tomorrow night?"
"Tomorrow? No."
"Want to go out and do something?"
"Sure."
She looked at her watch again, then quickly took a business card from her purse and put it my shirt pocket.
"Call that number."
She patted it, then gave me a quick smile and slowly turned and moved over to the door, before walking out.

I was getting ready for the date, while Jessica was sitting there watching me. We had broken up two days before, but she decided we didn't break up and refused to leave, so in her mind, we were still together. She wasn't mad, but didn't enjoy my already pursuing someone else. We were talking while I was getting dressed.
"What is her name?"
"Anna."
"And, where did you meet her?"
"That coffee shop down the street."
Pause.
"Is she prettier than me?"
I looked at her, and she was giving that head tilt.
"That is none of your business."
"Well, at least, tell me, if she's a redhead, a brunette or a blonde."
I looked at her hair, which was a dark blonde, almost bordering on mousy, and her vivid green eyes.
"She doesn't have your hair or eyes."
"Hmmm. Anything you willing to reveal about her?"
I had finished putting on my jacket and quickly ran my hands through my hair, before turning to her.
"No."
She had a puss on.
I went over to her and gave her a little tug on the chin, before moving over to the door and leaving.

We went to a bar after dinner to have a couple drinks. I had always suspected I've seen her somewhere before that night I laid eyes on her at the party, and I always thought she has just walked by me on the street. She was in the middle of telling me she had tiny ten line parts in some independent flicks, when it dawned on me, I was watching one of those movies a month before that night. Some vaguely comedic story where neighbors have to stop fighting because their children are getting married. It was quite disappointing to the point I almost threw the remote at the screen, because I was so disgusted at the convoluted plotline. I was about to change the channel, when her one of two scenes appeared. She was the cousin of the main guy and she was in his yard with the dog. Her job was to distract him while the main girl character was trying on her wedding dress, with his mother, who was the only really sympathetic person, besides the young couple. Her character was also seven months pregnant by her boyfriend, who was never acknowledged. The only laugh that came out of me was after she said one of her lines, before he literally picked her up and moved her out of his way.
After her wordless second scene, I just turned off the tv.
She was actually in the movie a lot more in the second half, but I could only stomache the first thirty-five minutes.
While at the bar, we were talking and she was leaning close to me. I was holding back from kissing her, despite every second after meeting her that was all on my mind.
She was wearing heels but I still had to lean down to her, when she wanted to whisper something into my ear.
We were smiling at each other and she looked like she was about to erupt in giggles, when she peered over her left shoulder and a look of seriousness erased her expression.
"What's wrong?"
She turned back and motioned me to lean down, before she put her lips to my ear.
"Someone in the corner is staring at us."
I quickly peered over my right shoulder, then did a doubletake.
Jessica was sitting there with her best friends.
She didn't noticed I was there, until one of her friends leaned in and said something to her.
I was somewhat self-conscious at the coincidence, but motionlessly shrugged it off and put my full attention on Anna again.
Anna and I went back to talking and laughing, when we had that stop that made us just pause and look at each other.
We were interrupted when the bartender told her her vodka on the rocks was ready.
This was the first time the whole night that she had her back to me. I wasn't paying much attention when I pushed in her chair at dinner, but I now saw that her dress plummeted to right below the top of where really cute underwear should be peeking out, but nothing was there.
My free hand touched her back, as she picked up her drink.
She was about to turn back, but stopped. She took a sip of her drink as I ran my hand down.
I took my hand away and she turned back to me.
Both of us were drinking when she took the drink out of my hand, and set both of them down on the counter. She was looking at me and ran a hand down my cheek.
I couldn't hold back any longer and had to kiss her.
Anna and I were kissing, when I heard, "What is he doing with that girl?" and loud gasps.
I actually expected a big scene, but it was conveniently time for us to leave, after we stopped kissing and looked at each other.
We walked by the table where Jessica was sitting with her friends, and had five pairs of eyes giving us dirty looks.
In the doorway, Anna reached for my hand and I held it, as we walked the two blocks to the theatre where we saw a friend of hers perform in some crazy one man show.

I came back to the apartment by myself, after kissing Anna on the cheek and walking home, and expected Jessica to be home, but, in the dark saw the answering machine light blinking. After walking over, I pressed the button.
"Noah, it's Jess. I'll pick my stuff up in the morning."
She sounded calm, but distant.
In the background, I heard someone say, "Hang up now."
There was a long pause, then she hung up.

When Jessica arrived the next day, she was with one of her friends, and they both had took the day off, while all the others had gone to their jobs, or, in the case of one, stayed home with her baby. I found myself constantly barked at to get out of the way by her friend, while Jessica slowly and carefully went through and took everything that belonged to her. She didn't leave one corner of the place alone, and by the end, I watched her from the couch, while her friend was taping boxes shut and hauling the less heavy boxes to the hallway.
After they were done, they walked out. Jessica stood in the doorway, holding her favorite knickknack, this obnoxious little Chihuahua she did in college, which I always threatened to throw out the window everytime we were mad at each other, but never did, because I knew how much she loved it. Everytime she needed to relax, she would look at it, or go over and start petting it. She turned and looked at me, then waved bye and closed the door.
I could hear them outside, laughing, but couldn't move from where I was. I looked around and slowly sighed.
While their voices moved away and towards the door, as they took the boxes, my attention turned to the table, where she left this oddly shaped object there. It looked like a misshapen question mark, but I could never get it out of her what it actually was.
I got up and walked over to it, before running my hand over the flattened white curves.
This was my consolation prize for letting Jessica go.

I was at work when I called Anna. The best thing about my job is that I can take as long a lunch break as I want, and no one bothers to ask me where I've been. Once, I disappeared for two hours and walked back in the door, and nobody batted an eyelash. The work always gets done, even if I have to take the project with me, so the boss doesn't ask questions.
"Hello, is Anna there?"
"Yeah, it's Anna. Noah, is that you?"
"Yes. I was wondering if you wanted to do something tonight."
"Okay. What do you have in mind?"
"I don't know. Dinner and then we can go to that gallery that we passed on the way to the bar."
"Okay. When are you going to come by?"
"I get off work around six, so around seven thirtyish."
"How about eight?"
"All right."

I arrived at Anna's doorstep, holding a present for her. I leaned in and thought she would give me a peck on the cheek, but she went for my lips.
I stood there with a stupid grin on my face as she turned away to put the flowers in some water.
Before she disappeared around the corner, she looked at me and said, "Come in."
I followed her inside and closed the door behind me.

We didn't go anywhere that night, but stayed in and she ordered Chinese over the phone.
We watched a bunch of movies on cable and then fell asleep on the couch.

The next day, she had to get up around 7am and go see a casting director who had given her a second call for a tv sitcom role.
I had nowhere to be for a few hours, after we both left her place.
She left me at my car, after giving me a quick kiss.

I went home and made myself some coffee.
Sitting at my counter, I looked around and smiled at my surroundings.
The phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Noah? It's Jess."
"Hi, Jess. What do you want?"
"Noah, I still love you. Would you reconsider us getting back together?"
Pause.
"I don't know."
I sat there and stared at the wall.


Bethany

Noah and Evan sat at one end of the room, when I saw them, while talking to Maggie. She made me a bloody mary, and herself a gin and tonic. We stood there, sipping our drinks.
"Maggie, where's the husband?"
"Jeff's out of town on business."
"When's he coming back?"
"In a few day," she said, then paused and asked, "So, where's Spencer?"
"He'll come by later."
I saw Evan's lips moving, but Noah seemed to be looking straight ahead at the window. Until some people moved out of the way, I saw a familiar dark haired girl sitting in front of it. I didn't recognise who it was at first, because the table lamp was partly blocking her.
"I didn't know Anna came by, " I said.
"I wasn't sure if she was going to show. She's always so busy."
"She doesn't seem to know anybody here."
My attention turned to Noah again, who still watched her.
"Yeah, I don't think she knows anyone, except us."
"I think I'll go talk to her."
I was about to walk away, when Maggie grabbed my arm and I turned to her.
"Don't say anything about Glenn."
"Who's that?"
"She hasn't told you about her ex-boyfriend, Glenn?"
I shook my head, then said, "I've never met him."
"Oh," she said, then let go of my arm, before I walked off and went over to Anna.
Anna smiled at Noah, when I went and sat down by her.
"Hey, Anna."
She turned to me.
"Hi, Bethany."
She turned and gave a quick peek over her shoulder.
"Maggie just told me that she didn't expect you here."
"Yeah, wasn't sure, either."
"Why's that?"
She became whispery.
"Something came up."
I arched an eyebrow at her and she laughed.

Spence was helping me put on my coat, when I overheard Noah and Evan talking. They still sat at the counter, around the corner from where the few of us leaving stood.
"So, how's Jessica?"
"We broke up the other day. I realised I couldn't be with her anymore."
"I'm really sorry to hear that, man."
"It's all right. But, what can I do? I just woke up one day and looked at her, and then she woke up and kissed me, and I felt lost."
"How long were you with her?"
"We were nearly together for three years."
"Wow. I'm really sorry."
"It's okay. I just feel bad for Jess. I still love her, but...."
I didn't hear the rest of what Noah and was standing there, when Spence nudged me with his shoulder.
"Hun, what are we thinking about?"
I looked at Spence then shook my head and smiled.
"Nothing, Spence."
"Okay," he said, then wrapped an arm around my shoulder and kissed my cheek.

Spence and I got home and I plopped down on the couch while he went downstairs to check on the mail.
I sat there and thought about how I loved him with all my being, but there was a nagging voice inside my head. I shrugged it off as he came in with the pile of letters and reading material various people sent to us.
He sat down by me and we started going through the pile together.
Some bills, a few letters, a couple magazines and a couple of invites to an art show.
Spence and I looked at each other after we both picked up the hand drawn postcards.
We both asked, "Henry has a show?"
Spence quickly flipped his over.
"Apparently, our Henry is a well known artist."

We hear from Spence's younger brother from time to time, so it always comes as a surprise when we do. The last we heard from Henry he eloped with his long time girlfriend, Dara, and they settled in Portland and had a baby, but that was a couple years back. Henry paints and takes photographs, while Dara is a performance artist, and were both showing their work, along with a friend of theirs.
We knew the gallery owner through Maggie, who seems to know every artist within the whole city limits, but when we called her the next day, one of her assistants answered the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hi. Is Cheryl there?"
"I'm sorry. She can't come to the phone right now. I'm her assistant, Wren."
"Wren?"
"Yes."
"Okay, Wren, can I ask you a question? My girlfriend and I want to know if we need to RSVP for the Gallery opening for Henry and Dara Quinlan?"
"Did you get invites?"
"Yes."
"No. All you have to do it just show them at the door and they'll let you in."
"Do we need them to get in?"
"Yes."
"Well, okay. Thank you."
Spence hung up.

A couple days later, it was before 10pm and we stood in the doorway of the gallery and looked around. We showed our invites to the people at the door, before they told us to walk in and to the left, and up the stairs.
We slowly made our way to the top of the stairs, after almost being sidetracked by the movie playing on the wall next to the elevator. At the top of the stairs, we were greeted with hushed laughing. It was almost unbearably quiet on the top level, as opposed to the bottom where sounds came at you from every direction. Henry stood, while Dara sat in a chair, in front of the stage, quietly knitting. There were people scattered through-out this level.
Some walked around the paintings and some in the chairs in front of the stage.
He saw us approach and turned to us, then hugged the both of us.
"How are you two doing?"
"Bethany and myself are doing great. How are you and Dara doing?"
"Things couldn't be better. Dara and I just had our second child a couple months ago."
Spence looked at me and smiled, then turned back to Henry.
"We've been talking about having children soon."
"Have you two gotten married, yet?"
I shook my head.
"How long has it been for you two?"
"Six years."
Dara finally looked up from her knitting and over at us. She slowly put down her knitting, then came over. There was always something methodical about her movements. She said her hellos, came to me first and hugged me, then went up to Spence and hugged him. She, then, stood next to Henry.
"Henry, I'm going to get ready now."
"All right, Dara."
He kissed her on the forehead, then she walked off to the restrooms.
"Being married is the greatest thing that's ever happened to me. You two should try it."
I didn't say anything, but saw a smile spread over Spence's face.
Henry looked at his watch and looked at the restroom door.
"It's about to start, so we should grab some seats."
As others came and sat down, the three of us moved to the seats, in the back row. I sat at the end, with Spence sitting next to me, holding my hand.

Dara quietly walked out, dressed in all black, and then slowly ascended the stage, before she started miming something. I didn't understand, and wanted to ask Henry, who looked enraptured with her.
The lights went down and words slowly started scrolling across her body. Certain words were visible on her body, while some were behind her, on the wall. She would touch one word, then slowly she would start speaking about the word and what it meant.
The words gradually turned into sentences, and she would continue speaking.

Finally, after what seemed an hour had passed, while she went into this nonsensical discourse of language about love, words and sentences played across her body, as she closed her eyes and they seemed to pass faster and faster, and her talking sped up, until they stopped, and so did the talking.
Across her chest were the words "I Love You", while all the other words from that sentence were blurred around her, creating a halo of light around her.
The words slowly faded and she was left in the dark.
In the brief dark, Spence ran his forefinger down my wrist.
He looked at me, when I turned to look at him.
We didn't say anything, but silently looked at each other, when the lights went back up and people started applauding.
I withdrew my hand and stood up, and started clapping.
Dara shyly smiled and bowed, before slowly getting off the stage, before a few people approached her.

Spence and I went home afterwards, while Henry and Dara went to their friend, before he showed his short film downstairs, which was an hour or so later. From what they told us, the film involved a mother and son having a conversation and it slowly evolved from the woman talking to what her son was actually saying.
We didn't catch it, because we were both tired and had to wake up early for work the next morning.

I sat, having coffee with a coworker, when Noah walked in with Anna, a week later, at the coffee place around the corner from work. He had his arm around her and she snuggled into it. He whispered to her and she nodded, then sat down.
He went to the bathroom, and I looked at Anna.
She saw me, surprised, got up and came over to us.
Anna was standing near us, when she bent down to me.
"Bethany, what are you doing here?"
I motioned to my coworker and said,"Just stopped by for coffee. What are you doing here?"
Anna looked at the other person sitting with me and waved, before turning back to me.
"Noah wanted coffee."
"Are you two dating?"
"We've been seeing each other for a few days, but nothing serious."
I nodded.
My co-worker looked at his watch.
"We got to go back in a few minutes."
I nodded again.

We chatted, when Noah finally came back. I saw him look at the seat Anna originally sat at, but then saw me and came over. He saw Anna sitting with us. Before he sat down, he pulled an empty seat from the next table and set it next to her.
My co-worker looked at him as Noah sat down.
"Oh, you've met Noah, Wyatt?"
"No. We've never met."
Noah held out his hand, but Wyatt looked at him and dismissed it, before turning to me.
"I really need to get back to the office now."
I nodded, and both of us silently got up. I waved to both of them, before walking off.
She looked mildly annoyed, while he seemed confused.

After work, I came home to Spence already sitting on the couch, watching tv. Lately, he's gotten obsessed with those overly romantic Lifetime movies, which bothered me. I wouldn't mind if I came home and splayed across the tv anything a normal testosterone-laden male would agree to watch.
He looked at me when I came in and closed the door. I moved to the couch, then sat down. He put his arm around and held me, before I leaned forward and grabbed the remote.
"Nooo. Don't change the channel."
"Are you seriously watching this?"
"Yes, I am."
"Why?"
"One of these days I'm going to see a nipple."
I started laughing.
"Why don't you go download porn off the computer like a normal person?"
He silently chuckled to himself.
"How about we go to F Street and pick up some playthings?"
"All right. Let me get my keys."

As soon as we got home, I put on the lacey red number and walked into the living room. He stood near the DVD player and popped one in.
I stood in the doorway and posed before he slowly turned around.
A wide grin came over his face.
The porn started playing, but he didn't paying attention as he slowly walked over to me.
I rested on my elbows against the doorframe as he put his mouth on mine.
He grabbed my hand and dragged me to bed.

I could hear the movie in the other room, and I peered at the clock to my side. Twenty minutes passed. He lied behind me, an arm around my waist.
I turned to him and said, "I'm going to get a glass of water. Do you want anything?"
"No, I'm good."
I slowly undid his arm from around me and got up.
I walked back into the living room and was about to pass the tv, when I casually looked at the screen.
The two on the screen clearly had a more enjoyable time than what passed between Spence and myself.
I stood there and watched the couple for a few seconds.
I made a mental note, then turned off the DVD player and went to the kitchen for that glass of water.

I came home from work the next day and he didn't come home yet, so I decided to prepare a surprise.
I showered and washed off every bit of the day, then slipped on a black wraparound dress, redid my makeup and sprayed on some perfume.
I made his favorite meal and putting the final touches on it, when he walked in the door.
He looked at me and smiled, then set his things down on the couch and came over.
While I set things down on the table, he stood behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist.
He buried his head in my neck and kissed me.
My toes would normally curl with such a gesture, but my body didn't react to his kiss.
That surprised me.
I turned and kissed him, but as soon as we separated, I knew something was wrong.
I tried to put it out of my mind through-out dinner.

I cleaned up and was determined this was a figment of my imagination.
Spence layed in bed, when I came into the room and sat down on the edge. I took off my shoes and moved so I sat on his lap.
"What are--"?
I put a finger to his mouth, and we just looked at each other.
I got on my knees and opened his shirt and started kissing his chest.
As I kissed his chest, I started to undo his pants.

We lied there, the both of us breathing heavily.
I just stared at the ceiling.
He put his arm around me and I let him.

The next day, I sat in my chair at work and stared out the window.
An interesting looking fellow sat outside, wearing a suit and tie, reading some book.
I looked around and everybody was busy, then turned my attention to the clock.
Near enough to lunch, so I casually saved and turned everything off and grabbed my things, before taking the elevator.
I figured he would have left by the time I got outside, but still sat there.
I grabbed the chair at the table next to him.
Sitting down, I opened my purse and took out my bottle of water and a book.

I just finished a couple of pages and felt a pair of eyes watching me.
My attention slowly turned to him.
He had a warm smile on his face, and I shyly returned the smile.
"I'll tell you what I'm reading. If, you tell me what you're reading."
I mumbled back, "Just something by Henry Miller. Who are you reading?"
"You wouldn't believe me, if I told you."
I stopped and looked at him.
He showed me the cover.
My attention turned to the book and read, "Under a glass bell."
Both of us looked at each other.
I held out my hand.
"Bethany."
He took my hand and shook it.
"The name is Glenn. Glenn Plemner."
I didn't know how to react, except to pack up my things and go back inside.

I sat there in my chair and looked out. He still sat outside, looking up at the tinted windows. I know he didn't see me, as I got out of my seat and stood at the window, looking down at him.


Anna

She made herself a cocktail, then searched around and found the only empty seat at Maggie's place. It was against a window, so she sat down, after looking around to see if no one else wanted to claim the seat. Everybody was too busy having conversations and laughing, and she remained quiet. Most of the people there were catching up and having conversations about babies and work, which seemed like petty gossip.
As she sat there, she could vaguely make out someone across the room talking about some base theories related to quantum mechanics, which perked up her ears. Her attention turned to them, after she spotted Maggie talking to Bethany past a crowd of people near the couch, and two guys sat there. Both of them were tall, but one had darker hair than the other, even though they were both brunette and could pass as brothers. The one not talking looked at her and smiled. She smiled back, and found themselves watching each other. The only reason why she broke eye contact was that Bethany came by and started talking to her.

Before leaving, she stood in the doorway and considered giving him her number, but after waiting the whole night to talk to him, and not getting to, she walked out the door.

Her phone rang as she closed her door.
She looked at the Caller ID and saw it was Glenn.
She picked up the phone.
"What do you want?"
"Anna, I said I was sorry."
"Whatever."
She hung up on him.
The phone started ringing again, but she walked away from it.

Anna changed her clothes then sat down on the couch and turned on the tv. It was nearly 4am and nothing much was on except for infomericals and news programs. She flipped through the channels, hoping to see something of worth. On one channel, the ending for "Primrose Path" was playing. The movies always ended the same way. The man always came in and rescued the woman, and they lived happily ever after. It was rare when people didn't end up together. Old Hollywood movies wasn't what brought her to acting, although she looked up to the older stars. She enjoyed disappearing into characters and making them believeable. She was paid to do that, but that wasn't who she really was. During interviews, she was always matter of fact that the roles she played and who she was in reality were not the same person.

A few days passed and her phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Anna, it's Maggie."
"Hi, Maggie. What are you up to?"
"Not much. I was wondering. Did you leave anything behind at the party?"
"Just a purse and those three bottles of Finlandia."
"Oh, thank you by the way. For those."
"No problem. You know it's rude to show up empty-handed to a party."
"That is, when you show up."
"Hey, busy person here. Sometimes it's not possible."
"Well, there will be one next month. It's Jeff's birthday."
"Do you know what he wants?"
"To ship off the kids for the week to his mother's and to stay in bed that whole week."
Anna laughed.
"Kids get in the way, don't they?"
"Honestly, sometimes, they do. But, I wouldn't be the same person if I didn't have them. Don't you wish you had a kid, Anna?"
Anna twisted her face.
"No."
"Okay," Maggie trailed off. "Oh. There was something else I wanted to ask you."
Anna rolled her eyes.
"Yes?"
"Someone from the party wants to meet you."
"Who?"
"Noah."
"Noah? Who was that?"
"He sat there across from you with Evan."
"Does he have green eyes? And, he was wearing that grey elbow-padded jacket?"
"Yes, that's him."
"Okay. But, how will we meet?"
"I guess, I'll call him and set something up. When are you free next?"
"Got a few minutes tomorrow."
"Tomorrow, then. Around what time?"
"Around 11ish."
"11 a.m., it is."

Anna was applying her lipstick, when the doorbell rang.
She finished then slowly moved to the door.
After opening it, Noah was standing there.
She was surprised at what he brought her.
He was holding a cheesecake.
Both of them looked confused.
"I don't know. I figure you always get flowers on the first date, and wanted to do something different."
"Okay. Come in."

Anna and Noah were walking down the street, not sure how to kill time after dinner, and her friend's show was an hour away.
They were about to walk by a bar, but he stopped her.
"We can go inside here. I come here a lot with my friends," Noah said.
She looked at the sign above the door, and recognised it as a place she's passed many times during the day, but never went inside.
"Okay."
They walked in.
Noah looked around to see if anyone he knew was there, but no one looked familiar.
Noah and Anna went up to the bar, and he kept his back to the door.

After a few drinks, he whispered, "Are you enjoying yourself?"
"Yes."
His attention turned to the clock above the mirrored backsplash between the rows of bottles.
"How long will it take us to get to the Theatre where your friend is doing his show?"
"It's about twenty minutes from here."
"We have a few, still."
They laughed.
Anna looked at him and they went quiet.
"Miss, here's your drink."
Anna turned away from him and she could feel Noah holding his breath, behind her.
She reached for her drink.
Noah's hand made contact with her back, which was fully exposed.
She was wearing her favorite purple dress. The sleeves reached her elbows, the length was just below the knee and fit her perfectly.
Anna slowly turned to him and set both their drinks down on the counter, before she touched him.
Noah bent down and kissed Anna.
The room went silent around her.

Days later, Anna sat on the couch, reading a script. She leaned back and started thinking about Noah, when her phone rang.
"Anna?"
"Yes? Who is this?"
"It's Bethany."
"Oh, hi, Bethany. Didn't recognise you. You sound different."
"I do? I'm meeting someone in this restaurant."
"Who?"
"That's why I'm calling. Don't get mad."
"Mad? Why?"
"It's Glenn."
"Glenn? Go ahead. But, wait, what about Spence?"
"Yeah, about that. Still with him."
"Oh."
"Do I have your blessing with Spence?"
"Yes. But, do a girl a favor."
"Anything."
"If anyone is going to break anyone's heart, you break his."
Bethany went quiet.
"All right, Anna."
Anna heard Bethany slowly hang up, then put the phone back.

A few months passed, and Anna and Noah were on another date.
They were in the middle of eating, while Noah talked and Anna found her mind wandering.
It was clear by this point that he was more into her than she was into him.
Anna looked at Noah and stopped him.
"Let's call it a night. I want to go home."
Noah stopped talking and looked at her.
A look of sad disappointment came over his face.
"If you want."
Noah got the waitress's attention.

Anna sat on her couch and a smile came across her face.
She got up and unhooked her phone, then sat back down and went back to reading one of the scripts sitting on the coffee table.