Page 23 of Love in Times of Contempt

She gave him a sly smile, before turning back to Ana and Liam. "You two met at work, I believe?"

Ana added more wasabi to her plate. "Yes, though such a statement kinda hides the uniqueness of it."

"It was for the documentary, right?" Logan said. "Ana's the director."

"Director, editor, producer…" Liam kissed her temple. "She's amazing."

Ana's body relaxed completely at his words. She grinned at him.

"I can't wait to go watch it," Giuliana said.

"I'd love to hear what you think." Ana picked some ginger with her chopsticks. "We're a bit nervous about some scenes."

Giuliana frowned. "How come?"

"It focuses a lot on the rough side of fame: loneliness, fakeness, tabloids," Ana explained. "I was very careful during the editing process to make sure we didn't single out any culprits. We don't want to make it seem like Liam's angry at a particular person or group for what was happening in his career, but you never know."

Liam appeared to take a break from eating, placing a hand behind Ana's back. "I think some people in the industry could get angry at me— at us— for how the film shows its flaws."

"And, as we're setting up a production company, well… it could really make it tough for us to network."

"I see." Logan took a drink. "Hopefully people are not upset."

"Talking about the company, guess who we offered the Manager of Operations position to." Liam scratched an eyebrow as he watched his friend.

Logan's eyes shot back and forth between Liam and Ana. "Who?"

"Alex," Liam replied.

This time, both of Logan's eyebrows shot up. He let out a slow whistle. "I hope that works out, man."

Liam nodded. "Me too. It's a bit of a risk, but I know if he joins us he'll do a good job. He's prickly but I think he has integrity."

"And he's your brother." Ana placed a hand on his thigh and squeezed.

After wrapping up dinner and talking about some ideas for how they could meet in the future— going somewhere else together, the four of them, or having them in LA— they went out of the restaurant for a quick goodbye.

As Ana hugged Logan and Giuliana, she caught the first flash of a camera from the corner of her eye. She and Liam had been holding hands, as usual, and she squeezed his fingers in hers. Without words, they did their best to ignore whoever was taking shots of them and, getting back in their car, they drove around for a while before going back to Liam's parents' house.

Chapter Eight

A MONTH PASSED WITHOUT hearing from Alex.

After another family breakfast together the next day, Ana and Liam had driven back to LA. They followed the trip with a week's worth of meetings, and getting things up to date with her and Liam's agents and lawyers. By the next Sunday, Liam had flown out for a series of sponsorship TV ads and a photoshoot: watches, alcohol, and sports equipment.

On a tight schedule, within three weeks, Ana had broken her lease, donated her furniture, and packed the remainder of her things to ship back to LA. She got back to her new, official home two days before Ely was scheduled to land, and prepared to welcome her best friend into their new lives. Ana couldn't wait.

Taking Liam's SUV, still their only car, Ana drove to the airport with an unfaltering grin splitting her face. The hug Ana gave Ely when she came through the doors was of epic proportions, even though they had seen each other only two days before.

"I can't believe I'm officially living in LA." Ely settled on the passenger seat next to Ana. "It's exhilarating. I love change."

Ana started the car and began the journey home. Seeing her best friend with her in California filled Ana with butterflies, even as she shook her head at Ely's statement.

"Ay, Ely. Only you could say something like that." Ana took a left turn and got out of the parkade. "How long do we have to find you a place?"

"My parents should be here with the truck next Thursday and we're putting my stuff into storage, so I don't have to worry. It'll all be there until I find my place. Unless I've found a place, of course, but who knows."

"Your parents are awesome, to be driving your things all the way here."