The Summer Affair

Chapter Ten

                 On Sunday I woke up late, which was to be expected, seeing as I stayed out until one in the morning and didn’t go to bed until three.  My bedroom door was open and I could smell the aroma of bacon being cooked.  I inhaled deeply and almost robotically got out of bed, grabbing my phone on the way downstairs.  I stepped into the wide kitchen and sat down at the breakfast bar.  In front of me was an enormous stack of strawberry pancakes, an entire plate of crisp, still hot and greasy bacon, a pitcher of fresh made orange juice, cheesy scrambled eggs, and a plate of buttermilk bread toast.  My mouth started to water and I saw Alec at the stove, frying more bacon. 

                “Hungry much?” I asked him.  I saw his lips turn up as he turned around, bringing the pan of bacon with him.

                “Only a little,” he teased.  He scooped the bacon on to its plate and I picked a piece up.  It was burning hot and the grease was bubbling on the surface.  I stuck it in my mouth and felt it slowly cool.

                “Yum,” I managed through the mouthful of bacon as I shoved another two pieces in.  Alec leaned against the bar with his arms crossed, shaking his head.

                “Don’t choke, Anna,” he sighed and then grinned at me.  I rolled my eyes and smiled, grabbing a plate and loading it with food.  I was finished and had but my dishes away when my phone started ringing suddenly and I grabbed it.  I looked down at the caller ID and saw Mitch’s name.  My eyes widened and I hit decline.  I lifted a leg and slid it under, preventing Alec from taking it.  I looked over at him to see his eyes watching me carefully.  “Who was that?”  He sounded honestly curious and more than a little suspicious.

                “It was nobody.  Wrong number.”  Alec frowned and reached for the phone.  “Excuse me,” I said as I jumped up and moved to the other side of the bar.  “I don’t recall giving you permission to reach for my phone.”

                “Anna,” he warned.  He started around the counter.  I moved too, taking a step way when he took a step closer.  “Anna, just let me see the phone.  I want to know who was calling.”

                “You don’t get to see who was calling,” I shot back.

“It was him, wasn’t it, Anna?”  The amount of anger in his tone was growing.

“Why would it matter if it was?” I questioned.

“He’s dangerous, Anna.  He’s downright dangerous.”

“He’s never done anything dangerous in front of me,” I tried to reason.

“And he never will, because he doesn’t want you to know that side of him.”

“But there’s no point in staying away from him if he doesn’t do anything to me,” I said.  Alec threw his hands up in the air. 

“That’s not the point!”  He was clearly exasperated.

“Then what is, Alec?  I don’t see anything wrong with him.  He’s never done anything to hurt me or my friends and family!” 

“How can you be absolutely sure?”  That stopped me dead in my tracks.

“What do you mean?”

“How can you be absolutely sure that he hasn’t hurt your friends and family?  Huh?  How, Anna?”  I shrugged.

“He hasn’t told me anything.”

“I wonder why!”

“It’s because he’s never done anything!”

“Really, Anna?  Are you that blind?!”

“I have no clue what you are talking about!”

“Ask him.  The next time you see him, since I can’t stop you, ask him.  Ask him about what happened two and a half years ago.”

“Fine!” I spat out.  I stalked up to my room.  I had no intention of asking him that.  It was ridiculous.  I sat down at my desk and looked at the time.  Twelve o’clock.  “Hmmm,” I mused, trying to think of what to do.  I knew exactly what I wanted and couldn’t figure out for the life of me how to get Alec out of the house.  But then I remembered my conversation with Emma last night.  I quickly called her and she picked up on the first ring.

“Anna?”

“I’m going to take you up on your offer,” I said, spinning in my chair as I talked to her.

“I’m listening,” she said and I could hear the smile in her voice.

“Can you get Alec out of the house for tonight?  And when I say tonight I mean all night.”

“Sure thing, sugarplum.  I’ll go take care of that right now.”  I sighed with relief.

“Thanks, Em.  I owe you one.”  She said goodbye and hung up.  Next on my list was Mitch.  I held down speed dial and he picked up before it had even rung once.

“Hey!” he greeted.  I smiled instantly.

“Hey!  I was wondering if you wanted to come over today,” I started.  I didn’t even get a chance to explain before he said yes. 

“I’ll be there in an hour.  That alright?” 

“Yup,” I said.

“See you then, Anna.”

“Bye, Mitch,” I said and hung up.  I walked out into the hall to see Alec walking down the stairs.  “Where are you going?” I asked, trying to appear innocent.

“I’m going over to Emma’s.  Don’t go anywhere tonight, Anna.  I mean it.” 

“Yes, mom,” I replied.  He turned around and rolled his eyes at me.

“See you tomorrow.”  He walked out of the door and grabbed his keys.  I looked at the clock and saw that I had enough time to shower before Mitch got there.  I quickly ran into my bathroom and jumped in the shower, shaving and washing my hair.  I had just gotten out and finished getting dressed when the door rang.  I ran downstairs and opened it and let Mitch inside.

“Hey!  I didn’t know if you had any already, so I brought Doritos and Dr. Pepper,” he said, handing me a bag.  My eyes lit up as I saw the junk food my parents never allowed in the house.

“Yum!”  I exclaimed.  I grabbed it and put it onto the counter.  I grabbed his hand and led him in towards the den.  “Come on,” I said, smiling.  “We’re going to have a fun night ahead of us.”

A/N: Sorry for the short chapter but I've had a lot going on this week.  If I can get to it, I will update again this weekend.  Tell me what you think!  ♥Alex