Fifty Shades of Sacrifice

Chapter 36

A simple slice of pizza had evolved into a few beers followed by a movie. Midway through the meal, Ana finally stopped checking her phone every three seconds to see if Christian had texted her. As she waged an internal battle on whether she should fess up and tell her estranged boyfriend where she was, Ana realized that she wasn't concentrating on a single word Ethan was saying. She also realized that she was enabling Christian's controlling behavior by constantly acquiescing to it. Ana thought back to her talk with Kate and whether she was "scared" to go against Christian's wishes.

The truth is I am scared. No, scratch that. I'm petrified, and that's no way to live my life — or have a relationship. I'm 19 and I feel like I'm drowning in issues that 39-year-old married couples deal with. If I want a future with Christian, I won't feed into this dysfunction that I'm some trophy he can lock away. It's time for him to accept that I need to live my own life if he wants to be a part of it.

So she put her head back in the game and began paying attention to her friend who was trying to explain the different theories of how ancient Egyptian engineering might've constructed the pyramids.

"How would they have put up the walkways to install those mega-ton bricks without cranes? Wouldn't the walkways collapse under the weight?" she inquired, surprising Ethan, who assumed she hadn't been listening to him.

The conversation flowed smoothly from there. Ethan and Ana discovered they both had a penchant for politics and for silly comedies, so they decided to check out the new Tina Fey-Amy Poehler flick "Sisters" after loading up on pizza and beer.

"Oh my gosh I loved it when they were trying on those outfits," Ana recalled, giggling as they strolled across the expansive campus lawn back to Kate's apartment after the movie had ended. It was an unseasonably warm winter night but only a few stragglers were out, so they took their time wandering the freshly manicured grounds, enjoying the serenity.

"What was that line? 'We need a little less Forever 21 and a little more Suddenly 42.' That was hilarious. Those girls are comic geniuses!" Ana raved.

"I know," Ethan chuckled. "They should do more movies together."

"I totally agree. It's hard — Hollywood is a man's world. I can't tell you how sick I am of seeing 50-year-old action heroes paired off with 25-year-old heroines. Actresses are now considered too old for a part when they're over 30! It's getting ridiculous!" Ana suddenly blushed, regretting her rant. "Sorry. I sound like a raging feminist. Ignore me."

"Why? You're right. Remember how they switched up the main female roles in the latest James Bond movie because they thought the original choice was too old, even though she was still younger than that guy who plays Bond. They subbed her with a 23-year-old. Gross. The dude's pushing retirement age and she was old enough to be his daughter."

"Amen! I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks that's weird. Don't get me wrong — I love guys on screen too. I thought that wrestler guy from 'Sisters' was a riot."

"Oh yeah. He was awesome. Remember when Tina Fey asked if he was ready for her? And his response was, 'My safe word is keep going.' That cracked me up!"

Ana frowned, the BDSM reference hitting a little too close to home. "And what about when that music box thing got stuck up the guy's ... well, you know. He kept thinking the song would be over but then it kept playing and playing," Ana joked in an effort to steer clear of safe words and anything remotely related to Christian's former lifestyle.

They both cringed their noses in disgust — Ethan remembering the scene and Ana recalling Christian's submissives. Maybe a porcelain doll stuck up a guy's ass isn't exactly the visual you should be changing the subject with Steele.