Last Chance: A Bridgerton Tale about Anthony (AU NON-COMPLIANT)

Chapter 5: The Ball

WRITERS NOTE

I initially had a different outcome for this chapter; a fight and .. something else hehe but it would run on for too long and I already took 5 hours to write. AGAIN...

Hope you enjoy.

   ****

Anthony was confused, very confused about what had occurred. On the one hand he was relieved, relieved that the desire towards her,. that had been building up within him had had some sort of release.

On the other hand. Uh-oh. Maybe he should not have kissed her, maybe he went too far and once again he could not make up his mind and the confusion persisted.

He had been complaining about the state of his marriage towards his brothers, but he had fault as well for he had allowed her to ignore him. And he was okay with it or so he thought. He was okay with her purposely waiting for him to leave, for her to stay hours at her parents and return late.. Okay with conversations at the dinner table that primarily existed of 'how are you, good, thanks you?' rinse and repeat times 30.

He pretended to be a gentleman under the ruse of 'giving her time' but Anthony had fooled himself into thinking she was the only one that needed time to adjust.

She wasn't.

It was strange and slightly unnerving.. having her around the house, living like two strangers even though they should not have been, not after two and half months, not in certain 'regards. He had felt aroused last night. He had been, the occurrence had put him on edge, and now he wanted her even more even though.. at the same time, he didn't want to want her.

It didn't make sense but nowadays nothing seemed to make sense. Anthony Bridgerton, the once clearheaded, steadfast individual that was a force to be reckoned with, was a mess.

Constantly in doubt, especially around Mara, as if he couldn't trust himself. As if the closer he got to Mara, the farther he would get from Sienna and he didn't want that. Not even now when he knew she had married for she didn't leave his mind; he still scoured the newspapers to find out if she was performing somewhere. The last couple of months she had not.

On the other hand, he hated the current status quo with Mara. He wished they had gotten closer by now, but they weren't. Things were still so awkward between them and they should not have been. It was driving him mad and he hated feeling like this, torn, indecisive and caught between a rock and a hard place.

***********

Mara had carefully avoided him or so she thought, thinking he had gone out to attend his appointments, forgetting it was Sunday but there he was, in all his glory, his face hidden behind the newspaper, which he put down as soon as he heard her coming IN.

"Good morning" he had smiled, friendly but a.. little distant, she thought.

"Good morning" she said a little perturbed, unsure what to do know, standing there uncomfortably and undoubtedly with reddening features.. Mara was unsure what to do. She could provide an excuse an excuse that she had forgotten something in her room, go back and wilfully stay there until she knew he was out of the dining parlour or just OUT, just like she had the done the last couple of months, but it would be too obvious.

"Are you not hungry?" he inquired with a curious expression on his face.

"Sit, please" he said and pointed to a chair; located not too close to him but not that far either so. She quietly walked over to it, took place, served herself from the trays that were on the table and started eating and he pretended to be interested in his paper again, to no avail.