Anthony's Return

Chapter 3

Maybe I should tell him, he might get annoyed at me for not telling him right away. Even though he is keeping it from me. Not telling him won't hurt. I text Jared to come to my office once he is back. I scroll through my phone and hesitantly un block Anthony's number.

I text him.

[Why did you come back? Why do you care if I marry him? We are no longer together!]

I go back to my contacts and delete it just in case. My phone buzzes from Anthony's reply.

[Many reasons. We need to talk in person.]

I reply [You can just type it and leave]

I set my phone aside and look over some reports. I mean what's so important that he had to come across the country for? 'Oh Gabriella. I love you. Oh Gabriella you had a child. Oh Gabriella, you can't marry him.'

"Well guess what, Anthony?" I mumble. "Your words are shit to me."

When Jared gets back to the office he comes to me as requested.

"Are you going to meet up with him?" Jared asks. I finish putting my papers in my desk.

"No... I don't know." I sigh. "I feel like if I do he will go away, but I really don't want to talk to him."

"I wonder what is so important to him." He states. I pull my bag over my shoulder.

"You and me both." I say. We walk to Nick's office.

"Did you mention anything yet?" Jared mumbles.

"No." I sigh. "Give it time." I open the door. Nick freezes. He was paces. "What's up?"

"Uh, nothing." He states. He gestures toward Jared. "Jared is taking you home. I have work to do."

"Work? I can stay-" I begin.

"No, Gabriella. Go home. I'll be there shortly. It's just... boss stuff." He states. Boss stuff?

"Everything ok?" I ask curiously.

"Yeah." He assures ushering Jared and I out. "Drive safe." He pecks my cheek. I frown as he shuts the door.

"Something is up. He couldn't have been more obvious." Jared says. We walk to the elevators.

"It's okay." I state. "If he wants to play secrets, I can too." He looks at me.

"This is not going to end well, Gabby." HE states. I shrug it off. We go down and outside. " You know, we can park across the street and spy on the building."

"How is spying on a building going to help me know what he is up to, Jay?" I question. "And did you forget his window is right there? He will probably watch us leave." We get into his car. 

"We'll just drive around the block. Maybe he is going out or something. Or he actually has business to do. We will spy." Jared states. He begins driving.

"Do whatever." I say. Like he wanted, we round the block, parking across from the building. "I have a feeling we will be sitting here forever.""Ye- your phones lit up." He points out. I look at my phone seeing a text from Anthony. [The sooner we meet up, the better]. I sigh. "Who is it?" I show him the screen. "Nick can't see who you text, right?""No, we didn't combine lines." I state relieved. Within a half hour, Nick exits the building. My eyes widen as he walks with one of the girls from Starbucks. Christy always tells me that she flirts with everyone. "Shit." Jared says. He drives off. "I didn't realize he came out.""He was talking to-" I begin."Jamie. Yeah, who doesn't?" He replies. I groan. I shouldn't worry about anything. "Um, I need to get gas." "What? No." I cry. "We are about to get stranded." He says. " I need to get gas." I cover my face. "I'll hurry." He pulls into the gas station. "We will just say we grabbed a bite to eat.""Just get the gas!" I say. He gets out. I open my door so we can still talk. "Didn't you have plans with Stacy?" He shrugs."She is at work." He states. "We might just go out this weekend." "Bring her somewhere nice." I say. "She loves when you do." He smirks at me. "Come on. You know she tells me everything." "Yeah, that's why I have to be careful." He states. I wink at him, teasingly."You never are with me." I say. He laughs." I don't have to be." He says. I always love hearing Stacy going on about Jared being romantic. He treats her so well and I am so happy for them. "So say you do meet up with Anthony, and he tells you what is on his mind... then what?" I lay my head against the door frame. "I mean he flew across the country for a reason.""I don't know." I admit. Jared drops me off home after getting gas. Time to face Nick. I walk through the door. The house is quiet for once, but the smell of seasonings fill my nose. Interesting. I kick off my shoes and wonder into the kitchen. Nicks back is toward me as I walk in. He kneads something in front of him. His sleeves are neatly rolled up just above his elbows. I slowly approach him. I crane my neck to see what he is doing. A ball of dough lies in his possession.