Chapter 16：All the stops

The trip back home is quick now that they've slipped past lunch time. The chat in the car, but the conversation topics are all mundane and not particularly revealing. Kenneth is quick to disappear with his folder once they've arrived and Alex, too, leaves her with an apologetic smile, explaining that he still had some business to conclude for the day.

"I understand," she'd told him cheerfully. Lunch, after all, had been wonderful. She'd gotten to play with puppies, learn new things about her host, and harass Kenneth a bit. Anna may or may not hold the slightest bit of resentment for the way he'd scared her that first night. "Business is business! You can never let it sit for too long or it wouldn't be busy."

He smiled helplessly at her before agreeing and separating from her, heading to the study. Still, wasn't she letting him go too easily? Alex still had a long way to go in order to properly court her.

Anna saw him off with an equally foolish smile. Honestly, he was trying to hard. What was she to do with him? She truly respected his efforts, but she was also truly terrified of them. The easy carelessness with which he'd taken over Puppies and Pop was completely foreign to her. It was truly a capability of the wealthy. According to the story he'd told her, though, it wasn't something he'd grown up with but rather a power that he'd accumulated on his own over the years.

It was something she could easily respect, because that kind of work wasn't small. It was, however, also something she wasn't sure how to cope with. Had Alex forgotten how annoying it was to have to give way to those who both held power and lacked the care to use it carefully?

After all, one didn't come into a fortune and keep it by being foolish.

Anna instead turned her attention to the fact that they were going away for a week to a vacation of her choosing. A warm feeling bubbled up from her stomach to fill her chest, causing her cheeks to glow a pretty pink color. Startled, she lifted her hands to feel her cheeks, surprised by the sudden warmth in her face.

"Ah…" Anna was puzzled by the reaction she was having. Was she giddy?

She shook her head, tapping at her face with her fingers before tugging her phone out of her pocket. If these last few days had taught her anything, it was that she couldn't see the forest for all the trees. Bouncing her questions off of Michael had been a massive aid in trying to figure out what was going on in her own head. He'd been very generous with both his time and his advice.

It didn't take long for him to respond, either, despite it being the middle of the day. Maybe he'd taken lunch late?

'Sounds like you're in for a lot of fun!' he'd replied to her text. 'Don't forget to take a lot of pictures!'

'Ha!' she quickly typed back. 'It's not weird to go on a trip like this? I've only known him for half a month!'

'Does it matter?' came Michael's response. 'He's your boss and he's trying to give you some nice experiences.'

Which, okay, yeah, that was true. Only, Alex wasn't only her boss. He was also trying to grow their relationship from acquaintances to friendship and more. With that kind of context, who wouldn't be afraid of an extended period of close quarters contact?

Anna bit her lip for a moment, weighing the pros and cons of divulging that information. It was awkward and weird, but at the same time, hadn't she decided that she was going to treat Michael as a precious confidant?

'He said he wants to eventually date me.' Anna finally sent. 'So I'm not sure what to do.'

The ellipses of Michael's reply appeared and disappeared several times before she finally got a single line from him: 'Just be yourself.'

'That's it?'

'It's been working out for you so far, right? Do you hate him?'

'I don't hate him.'

'Then, do you like him?'

'He's a bit awkward, but he seems to be a nice person.' Anna's fingers moved quickly. After a moment, she sent another text. 'I'm not attracted to him.'

'He said eventually, so you'll have time to figure things out for yourself, right?'

'That's true,' she agreed quickly. That, at least, was a guaranteed truth. Three years might be only the blink of an eye for Alex, but for Anna, it meant that she had time to get to know him and make a better informed choice later on.

'So just get to know him for the time being. If he's nice like you've said, he'll respect your choice when you finally hand it down. He only asked for a chance, so it's not like he's trying to force anything to happen.'

Of course, what Michael didn't add was that he respected Alex for being blunt enough to tell Anna what his intentions were so abruptly. While it was sure to shock her, the way he'd done it was very deliberate. They'd been in a relatively neutral space and he'd immediately turned the conversation to a different topic after briefly explaining his intentions.

Most guys would never have the courage to do a thing like that, because no one wanted to be turned down abruptly. From his office, he couldn't help but wonder where the guy got his courage from, because he'd like some.

'I think you're right,' Anna told him. 'I'm thinking too much and I should just let things happen and see what's going on for a while.'

'There you go. Relax, read a book. Chill out for a bit.' Michael texted. 'I've got to get back to work.'

'Alright,' Anna told him. 'Thanks!' She set the phone aside, exhaling slowly.

The conversation had been made longer than it needed to be due to the nature of texting - it simply took longer to type than to talk. As a result, approximately half an hour had passed. Anna stretched her arms out and then sighed, looking around the study she'd brought so many books into.

As she was considering a book, there was a sudden bang just outside her door. Startled, she nearly jumped out of her own skin!

Anna yanked the door open to see what on earth could have caused the noise and saw Lissa and two other maids apparently assembling some kind of spinning wheel.

"…"

"…"

"…"

There was a moment of awkwardness before Lissa suddenly spoke, "I'm sorry we disturbed you. Can I get you anything?"

Well. Supposing they were going to pretend that loud sound hadn't happened, Anna looked at the stand the wheel was being fastened to and realized it must have tipped over.

"I'm fine," she told the maids. "I just didn't know what was happening out here. Do you guys want some help?"

"Oh, no," Lissa giggled, exchanging humorous looks with her fellows. Anna wasn't sure whether she should be feeling offended or not. Hmph!

"You're sure?" she tried, feeling a bit neglected.

"There's no need,��� Lissa said, waving her off. "And three is almost too many people to put this thing together anyways."

"What's it for?" Anna couldn't help but ask. She watched their nimble hands finish assembling the whole thing.

"I guess there was something that the master couldn't decide on," Lissa shrugged. "So he's leaving it up to chance."

As one of the maids began to draw lines on the circle, neatly dividing it into three sections, Anna realized what this was.

"This is for the trip," she said, feeling silly. He'd decided to spin a wheel to pick the trip they were going to go on? Ha! The sense of foolishness quickly shifted into one of outright humor. How could she possibly be blamed for not knowing what it was that he'd planned?

"That's right," Lissa told her approvingly. "You guys couldn't pick between the amusement park and two different resorts, right? So we're going to write them out on this white board and sometime later on, you'll give it a spin and whatever the arrow points to is what you'll do!"

"Does he, uh," Anna blinked at the wheel. "Does he do this often?"

"Only now and again," Lissa's continued cheeriness was starting to make Anna a bit nervous. Some days, she couldn't help but wonder if her assigned maid wasn't partaking in a bit too much sugar or caffeine. Whatever it was, she hoped Lissa didn't get too addicted to it.

"But often enough for him to have a white board spinning wheel?" she asked, dubious.

"Enough for him to have a white board spinning wheel," Lissa confirmed wholeheartedly.