Free The Life of Anna, Part 5: Emerged by Marissa Honeycutt Page A

herself
going into seduction mode. She looked up at him for a moment and
then turned away. No, she didn’t want to seduce him. She just
wanted him to stay.
    He kissed her on the top of the head. “I’ll
see you in the morning.”
    She stared at her hands and heard the
apartment door open and close, and then burst into tears. Part of
her understood why he left, but the other, larger, part of her felt
rejected and lonely.
    She looked at her watch. It was
eleven-thirty. She wanted to call Wilhelm. It was, what...nine
hours difference between them? It was early but not too
early...
    She got her phone out of her purse and made
the call.
    “Anna?” his voice was very gravelly. “What is
wrong?”
    “Wilhelm,” she said softly. “I’m sorry to
wake you so early, but I...just wanted to hear your voice.”
    “
Liebling
, I do not mind you
calling, but I am much better at conversations that do not occur in
the middle of the night.”
    “Middle of the night? Isn’t it six
there?”
    Wilhelm paused and then laughed. “Anna, you
are in New York, not San Francisco. It is three in the
morning.”
    “Oh, God! Oh, Wilhelm, I’m so sorry! I
forgot.” This night was not improving. “I’ll call you later then.
I’m sorry.”
    “
Nein
, Anna. It was important enough
for you to call. Hang on a moment and I will go in the sitting
room.” She heard him speaking in German, assumingly to Ilsa. “All
right,
Liebling,
” he said a few minutes later. “What
happened?”
    The tears began to flow and Anna told him
what had happened between Hugo and herself. When she was finished,
he was quiet for a while. She knew he was thinking and respected
his silence.
    “It sounds like he is an honorable man, Anna.
He left because he respects you and cares for you. Do you remember
how long it took for Alex to make love to you?”
    “Yes,” she sniffed. Months! And why did he
have to bring up Alex?
    “Do not be angry with him for waiting, Anna.
Most men do not take the time to rein in their desires without
thinking about how it will affect the woman he is with.”
    “But what do I do now?”
    “Is Aaron there?”
    “No. He went to California for Jenna’s
funeral.... Did you hear about that?”
    “I did. I meant to call but...things have
been very busy here the last week. I’m so sorry,
Liebling
.
I should have remembered.”
    Wilhelm knew and he hadn’t called her? That
hurt worse than Hugo’s rejection. “It’s okay.” She said softly.
“I’ll let you get back to sleep. Thank you for listening to me.
Good night.” She pressed ‘end’ on the phone before he could say
anything else. She went into her room, put her pajamas on and lay
down in bed. Well, her hurt had dissipated her need for sex. At
least she’d be able to sleep now.
*****
    Wilhelm stared at his phone in disbelief.
Anna had hung up on him. Not that he blamed her. He should have
called her and he was properly rebuked. Things had just
gotten...crazy here all of a sudden. She would forgive him once she
found out what happened. He hoped.
*****
    “I’m sorry I left like that last night,
Katrina.” Hugo sat down on the floor next to Anna the next morning
and spoke softly. “I didn’t want to hurt you, but I probably did
anyway, didn’t I?”
    Anna looked up from her stretch and gave him
an understanding smile. “It’s okay. I understand. I...appreciate
what you were trying to do.”
    Hugo let out a deep breath. “I was afraid
you’d be angry with me.”
    She shook her head. “I’m not.” She smiled.
“But I’m not as delicate as you may think I am.” She grinned
mischievously, with a hint of seduction, at him.
    His eyes widened for a split second and then
he shook his head and laughed. “Not nice to look at a man like that
before dance class.”
    Anna giggled. “Sorry.”
    He smiled, his dimples deepening. “I am
determined to remain a gentleman,” he said quietly. “If that’s okay
with you, I’d like to take you out again tonight.”
    Anna