The First Times

First Job

Ana was staring at the phone, arms over the table and chin on her arms, hoping it would ring.

Will, who was doing laundry that weekend, smiled at the scene and pointed it out at Nico, who was reading from the couch. Nico looked up and smiled at the scene as well. He felt the need to say something.

"Staring at the oven won't bake the cake faster..." Ana jumped in surprise, before blushing and noding, leaving the phone at the table and she went to her room. "She is really impatient-"

"She got that from your side!" Will accused him, with a fake frown. "Who else would feel the need to stop giants alone and no wait for backup, locking himself in a amphorae, eating pomegranates' seeds?" Nico had the decency of blush in embarrassment upon hearing that.

"I get it, I get it!" Before Will could answer, sarcastically obvious, the phone rang.

"I answer! I answer!" Ana rushed out the room, making straight beeline to the phone and answering it. "Hello? Aunt Rachel!" She greeted, making Nico pass some money to Will. They had been doing this kind of bets since Ana told them about getting a job. "Really?? That's so cool- wait, I have to get pen and paper!" She rushed to the office and neither parent could ignore the gigantic smile on her face.

"Well, at least we know Rachel won't overwork her..." Will realized, happy. Nico nodded, smiling.

"That money would be great for university." Nico acknowledged and while he didn't like to think Ana would soon need to move out to study, he had to admit it would benefit Ana while getting around without an income.

"Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes!!" Ana squeaked and jumped around the hallway, obviously very happy. Both parents laughed and hugged her in congratulations. "I get to assist in the gallery in the mornings! Which means I could help someone else in the afternoons and-"

"Wow, sweetie! Hit the breaks!" Will stopped her a second. Ana frowned, looking confused. "Ana, is your first job, you cannot exhaust yourself working every waking hour..."

"Besides, we're not hurting for money and what about Benny...?" It took all of Nico self-control not to scowl at the mention of 'the boyfriend'. However, he had to admit that Benny was part of Ana's life and she had to keep him in consideration. Ana looked at them, blushing in embarrassment. She had forgotten in the initial excitement. "I may not like him-"

"The statement of the century!" Will mocked him.

"-but that doesn't mean I don't know about relationships. You have to work to make them work." Nico continued, ignoring Will's fake shocked face. Ana sighed and nodded, sitting on a chair.

"Guess I've been ignoring him a little, uh?" Looking up, she saw two concern faces before taking a decision. "I have to tell Benny about this, I'll see you guys later!" She kissed their cheeks and she was off the door as fast as you could say 'invasion'. Nico released a resigned sigh and Will smiled.

"Well, I guess we'll see 'the boy' more often..." Will resumed his mocking to Nico, who simply nodded. He wanted to ignore the last part of the conversation, ignoring his little girl had a boyfriend and a job and that soon would be leaving the house. When Ana returned a couple of hours later, she looked more relaxed and Nico mentally complemented himself for swallowing his pride.

It was obvious he was good for his little girl.

The morning of her first day at work, it was impossible for Ana to stay asleep. She didn't want to let down Aunt Rachel, so she had studied many art artists in advance to recognize their styles. It had been hard and Benny had helped her, but she still didn't feel ready. However, she was confident that Aunt Rachel would help her through the process.

Will had made her breakfast and left her on the way to the Hospital. Ana switched from nervous to excitement in seconds and Will making fun of her weren't helping so both were glad when they arrived to the gallery and Rachel took over from him. She assigned Ana the job of following her and to speak her opinion about anything they might encounter.

It was right after lunch that Nico and Will made an appearance to check on Ana. They knew Rachel would be nice to her, but their surprise was big when they saw Rachel watching from afar and Ana directing some assistants that were moving paintings around the gallery to expose. Naturally, Nico had to say something.

"Rachel, what is going on?" Rachel turned and saw them, flashing a smile.

"Willy, Neeks!" Both males groaned at the hated nicknames but allowed her to hum them. "So, what do you think?" She gestured to what Ana was doing. Both males shared a look. "Isn't she great?"

"Rachel, what did you tell Ana to do?" Will asked, curious.

"Oh, I told her to follow me around to see what I did, but she could voice out her opinion..." Rachel admitted, still watching how Ana was directing everyone. "However, I kind of lost her when we started to pull out paintings to fill the walls, she immediately grabbed one and began pacing the gallery with it. A few assistants noticed and she's been directing them ever since."

"We had forgotten about her slight perfectionism..." Nico shook his head.

"At least she's having fun..." Will pointed out and, evidently, Ana was smiling while doing it.

All of the grown ups knew they had nothing to worry about.

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Good morning/afternoon/evening, guys!

First of all, yes. I know I'm a day behind of what I promised, but in my idea of trying to cover anything, I couldn't do it properly. I managed to do several chapters for The First Times, but I couldn't finish the one for Saving Time - A Caleo story. I do have a new cover for it, thanks to the great ArtisticBookie1809 ! Thank you!

So, let's get going to the update until I return from my holidays!

The First Times: ....5 chapters!!

I hope this is enough for the next couple of weeks! It is my idea to come back with new ideas and new chapters for you!
xoxo, SilverHuntresses