The Life of Anna, Part 3: Embraced (14 page)

He was quiet for a few minutes. “Her last
pregnancy was really tough and she almost died giving birth. Dad
said that they talked about it and came to the decision together.”
He glanced at Anna. “She’d given him seventeen healthy girls. And
me.” He smiled.

“Were they all his daughters?”

Travis shook his head. “Nah. He rarely
parented any of the babies. He would choose different brothers to
mate with her. Same as all the breeders. The Elders are very good
at getting what they want out of the girls born in the Manor.”

“So how did you end up being a dancer?” Anna
asked, changing the subject. She didn’t want to think about parents
right now.

“Dad has the girls all learn some sort of
dance. So they’re more graceful and stuff. I think it also helps
them feel better about themselves. I snuck into the ballet classes
when I was younger because my mom liked to go to them, except when
she was at the end of a pregnancy. When Dad saw I had talent, he
had me start taking lessons outside the Manor and eventually I
ended up here.”

“Your dad seems…like a really nice guy.” So
much nicer than Devin. “I liked him when I met him in DC.”

“He is.”

Anna snuggled close and he wrapped his arm
around her. She yawned.

“Tired?”

“Yeah. I hardly slept the last week.”

Travis pulled her closer. “I can imagine,” he
said softly. “Go to sleep. You need your rest.”

As Anna locked her apartment door Friday
morning, Greg came out of his apartment. It was after Christmas and
they were supposed to leave for Germany on Sunday, and Anna had
been avoiding him like the plague.

“Are you packed?” he asked her, leaning
casually against the doorframe.

“I think you know the answer to that,” she
said in an even voice without looking at him.

“So you’ve been a good girl and bought
everything you needed and are packed and ready to go?” he asked in
a mocking voice.

“No,” Jenna interjected. “She wouldn’t let me
take her shopping.”

Jenna had tried to get Anna to go shopping
with her on their Mondays off, but Anna refused. She still planned
to refuse the trip to Germany. Travis reluctantly agreed to let her
stay with him so that Greg couldn’t find her. He worried about
betraying Alex, but he also understood that Anna felt hurt by Alex.
Whenever he’d tried to encourage her to give Alex a chance, she
grew hostile.

Anna glared at Jenna then looked coolly at
Greg. “I told you. I’m not going.”

“Why are you being so difficult, Anna?”

Anna jumped at the unexpected voice and
looked towards Greg’s apartment. Seth stood in the doorway, smiling
at her with his hands on his hips.

“Seth!” Anna exclaimed and started to go to
him, then stopped herself. He worked for Alex, too. Going to him
would be conceding to Alex’s wishes. She stood, looking at him and
fighting with herself. She wanted to go to him, but didn’t at the
same time.

“Ouch,” Seth said softly, his brown eyes sad,
his tone wistful. “What happened to you, Anna?”

“Life,” she answered bitterly.

Seth pushed past Greg and pulled Anna into
his arms. “C’mon, sweetie. What have I ever done to deserve your
anger?”

She allowed him to hold her and she slowly
relaxed into his embrace. She knew and trusted Seth. And she adored
him.

“Why don’t you want to go to Germany?” Seth
asked softly, petting her hair.

Anna shrugged. Seth’s warm embrace made her
doubt her resolution to stay away from Alex. Would Seth work for
someone who was as awful as she had been thinking Alex was? It was
possible, but unlikely. But with how she had been treating Alex….
Oh, he would be so angry with her. Would he punish her?

“Alex will be so angry with me,” she mumbled
into Seth’s shirt. “I’ve been so disrespectful to him.”

“No, Anna,” Seth said in a soothing voice.
“He will be thrilled to have you with him.”

She looked up at him. “But I’ve been so rude.
And disobedient. I haven’t gotten anything that I was told to get
for the trip.” She swallowed nervously. “He got angry with me at
Christmas.”

Alex had called her on Christmas Eve, but she
wouldn’t answer the phone. He ended up calling Aaron and had him
give her the phone. She had given him a spectacular ice-queen
treatment, and he had told her to grow up and behave. She’d hung up
on him, and then in retrospective terror at her audacity, she’d
cowered in a corner for an hour afterwards, afraid he would somehow
reach across the ocean to punish her.

Seth stroked her cheek. “And he was furious
with himself the rest of the day. As was Wilhelm,” he added with a
chuckle. “Anna, he’s been running himself ragged to get everything
perfect for your arrival. He was exhausted and, frankly, hurt at
your hostility.”

“Hurt?”

She had a hard time imagining Alex being hurt
by anything; especially by a little girl like herself. But Alex was
human, she supposed. He’d been nervous the first time he asked her
to dinner. And he’d been so kind to her before...before he
abandoned her. She buried her face in Seth’s shirt.

But why hadn’t he called her when all the
horrible things happened? Why had he been so cold when he came out
for the student performance? If he cared about her, as he claimed,
why hadn’t he come back? Why had he left her alone with Devin? Why
didn’t he call when Ben was killed?

Did any of her questions really matter? Anna
bit her lip.

The bottom line was that she was Alex’s
slave. Even Wilhelm had pointed out that she needed to obey him.
She was being disobedient and deserved to be punished. Maybe he
would do it quickly and then leave her in the Manor. At least she’d
be away from Devin.

“I’m not packed,” she said, resigning herself
to leaving. “I don’t have any warm clothes to take.”

Seth cupped her chin. “Tell you what. If you
promise not to make poor Greg here drag you kicking and screaming
onto the plane, I will find someone to get you what you need.”

“Really?” Her eyes glimmered with hope and
shame.

“Yes,” he smiled, tapping her nose
affectionately. “Now go before Jenna has a heart attack.”

Anna looked over to see Jenna watching her
anxiously and tapping her foot. “Sorry, Jenna.”

Anna no longer felt angry about going to
Germany. Despite everyone’s assurances, she was petrified that he
would punish her for her disobedience on Christmas Eve. Her stomach
churned at the thought of his anger. It never failed to strike
unreasoning terror into her heart.

Anna went home between shows the next
afternoon. Her body ached and she wanted to sleep and cry at the
same time. She didn’t really have an especially good reason for
wanting to cry. Aside from the normal stuff going on in her life,
she’d even been able to sleep better this last week.

Seth was in her apartment with a petite
blonde woman when Anna arrived home. The woman was putting clothing
into Anna’s suitcase.

“Anna, this is Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn, this is
Anna. Kaitlyn’s been shopping non-stop since I called her
yesterday.”

“Hello,” Anna said softly.

Kaitlyn greeted her with a cheerful smile.
“Hello, Anna. How are you doing?”

Anna shrugged. “Okay.”

“Anna, are you getting stubborn again?” Seth
teased.

She bit her lip, not wanting Seth to tell
Alex she’d been stubborn. “No, I’m just so tired. If I didn’t know
any better, I’d think I was getting sick. Jenna got the flu just
before Nutcracker started and I feel like she said she felt.”

Kaitlyn laughed. “It’s not unheard of to get
sick. Especially this time of year.”

“I’ve never been sick.”

“Never?” Kaitlyn looked at her in
amazement.

“Never. I don’t think I can get sick.”

Seth looked at her curiously. “Maybe you’re
more human than you thought.”

“Maybe. I don’t know anything about…that kind
of stuff, though.” She glanced at a portable rack that Kaitlyn had
apparently brought in. Hanging on the end was a beautiful pale
green chiffon dress with appliqué roses on the full skirt and
hips.

“Oh, how beautiful…,” Anna said softly,
walking over to it. “This is for me?”

“For New Year’s Eve,” Seth said.

Anna reached out to touch the soft fabric.
“It’s one of the most beautiful dresses I’ve ever seen.”

“I was lucky they had one in your size,”
Kaitlyn said. “I saw it and thought it would be perfect. Do you
want to try it on?”

Anna nodded, grinning suddenly.

“Go ahead. It’s your dress.”

Anna giggled as she took it into the
bathroom. She pulled her clothes off quickly and stepped into the
dress. She reached behind but couldn’t zip it up. “Kaitlyn?”

Kaitlyn smiled when she saw her. “Beautiful.
I had them check the measurements so we’d know if they would need
to make adjustments once you got to Germany, but it was perfect for
you.” She took the zipper and began zipping it, and then frowned.
Anna felt it too. It was tight. Too tight. “That doesn’t make any
sense,” Kaitlyn said softly. “I saw them measure it. This is from a
very reputable store.”

Anna looked at herself in the mirror. Had she
gained weight? The top of her costume had felt a little tight
yesterday and this morning, but she hadn’t thought much about
it.

“Can you suck in your stomach?”

Anna inhaled and sucked in as far as she
could and Kaitlyn got the zipper up over her waist, but it was
tight again at her breasts.

“I don’t understand,” Kaitlyn frowned. “Anna,
I am so sorry. I don’t know what happened.”

“What’s wrong?” Seth poked his head into the
bathroom.

“It’s too tight,” Anna said, looking up at
him with frightened eyes. “I must have gained some weight.” Would
Alex be angry at her for getting fat?

Kaitlyn unzipped the dress. “There is
material here to let it out a bit. Or I can take it back and see if
they have a bigger size. They must have measured wrong. That’s the
only thing that makes sense.”

Anna gasped for breath. “I can’t wear it like
that. It hurts.” She put her clothes back on and went to sit on the
bed. She was gaining weight. But how? Whenever she thought about
eating, she started to feel sick. She’d hardly been eating.

“Let me call the store,” Kaitlyn said,
pulling out her phone and walking into the other room.

“Am I getting fat?” Anna asked Seth.

Seth laughed. “I don’t think that’s possible
Anna.” He looked at her. “If anything, you look thinner than before
I left. Have you been eating?”

Anna shook her head. “Nothing sounds
good.”

He frowned. “You need to eat. Especially
dancing as you are.”

“I’ll try. I’ve been so nervous and angry, my
appetite is just messed up.”

Kaitlyn returned a few minutes later. “They
have one in a size larger. Do you want me to get it?”

Anna looked at the dress wistfully. “It’s so
pretty.”

“Anna, women’s clothing is not consistent and
things happen. Maybe they accidentally grabbed the wrong dress to
wrap or something.” She patted Anna’s knee. “Don’t worry about it.
Our bodies are weird sometimes, too. I can’t fit into half of my
clothes when I’m PMS-ing.”

Anna smiled at the encouragement, though
she’d never had PMS. She began to feel sick again and lay down on
her bed as Kaitlyn showed her the clothes she had bought. All warm
stuff. Fur lined. Wool. Stuff Anna never worried about in San
Francisco.

*****

When Anna went back to the theater that
evening, she was exhausted. She got some dinner on the way, but
couldn't bring herself to eat it.

“Travis, am I getting fat?” she asked after
he dragged her into his dressing room.

He undid her top. “No way. Why?” He sucked a
nipple into his mouth and Anna moaned.

“I tried on a dress that should have fit
today but didn’t.”

Travis stepped back and studied her. “I
dunno. You look kinda…different, but definitely not fat.” He
grinned. “Your breasts seem bigger though.” He stepped forward and
caressed them. “I like it.”

“They’re really bigger?”

He picked her up and sat on the couch with
her on his lap. He took a nipple into his mouth and sucked on
it.

“Yes,” he murmured. “And I like it. Very,
very much. I’m going to miss you when you leave.”

Anna leaned forward and hugged him. “I’m
going to miss you, too.”

*****

Anna went home anticipating sleeping alone
for the first time in a long time. She was crawling into bed when
the door unlocked and opened. Thinking it was Jenna, she poked her
head out. But it wasn’t Jenna. It was Devin.

“Devin?” she asked, surprised.

“It’s your last night home, Baby. I wanted to
come see you.”

She smiled nervously at him. “O-okay.” She
had lost her anger at Devin for killing Ben. It had been replaced
with fear. Fear of what he would do to someone else she cared
about, what he threatened to do whenever she started to get
angry.

Anna’s body ached the morning after Devin’s
visit. Cruel lovemaking was the only way to describe it. He didn’t
hurt her in any specific way that she could remember, she just knew
that it hurt.

She took a long hot shower and felt a little
better. Maybe she really was getting sick. She certainly felt
strange. Pain usually came from sex, not from within her own
body.

Anna tried not to think about her departure
as she went about her day. Her nerves were raw and she snapped a
few times at Travis. Thankfully, he was understanding and
distracted her as best he could. He was very talented at
distracting her.

When they took their final bows, Anna felt
herself close to tears. She was leaving the country for the first
time in her life. Alex would certainly be angry at her. Why
wouldn’t he be? She had been so rude and disrespectful.