A/N - - Hey guys! So I've started writing a new story! :) This is a lot different to my other story as I've kind of completely made up Ana's background. Sorry if it starts off slow or boring...but I don't know how to just go straight into all that dramatic stuff haha!
"Ana! I'm home!" She heard Kate yell from her bedroom. Of course, she already knew she'd arrived before she even stepped through the door. Their apartment was one of two that sat at the very top of the building, on the 15th floor. The private elevator shared between the two apartments required a keycard to work and opened at either side, leading to their apartment or their neighbours. She'd had a security system installed to alert whoever was in the apartment if their apartment number had been pressed. So not only did she hear the four simultaneous beeps of the alarm system, she heard the bells on the back of their front door chime when Kate turned the door handle.
She made her way from her bedroom and into their open plan kitchen/dining/living room area where Kate was. This was the room that was linked directly to the front door. Ana liked that her apartment was open plan as it allowed her to see her surroundings. She felt safer that way. It allowed her to ensure that her boundaries were kept. If she or Kate had guests, she'd be able to put herself in a position where no-one could approach her from behind. Where no-one could touch her.
"Hey you" She smiled at Kate who was now sitting at the breakfast bar about to pour a glass of wine.
"Hey! Want a glass before we get ready?" She said, holding the bottle of wine towards Ana.
"Of course," Ana winked "and before you ask, yes I've called Carter to let him know we'll be coming."
Her and Kate spent every Friday night out together as sort of a best friend date night. They would usually go to their favourite restaurant or to the club Ana silently ownes called 'Steele'. Only the store manager Carter knows that Ana is the owner and has signed an NDA so that she can be sure it stays that way. Sure Ana has money, but she doesn't want to be known for it. The club was a really good investment which developed a good income. Even though the staff don't know that she's the owner, she knows most of them personally considering how often her and Kate attend. Plus, she liked not being known. It allowed her to keep an eye on her staff without them knowing or showing her special treatment. She just had to call Carter a few hours before opening to ensure that her and Kate would have their usual table set up for them in the VIP section of the club.
"I've learned to just stop asking" She replied giggling whilst pouring them both a glass. The girls sat and gossiped about their week as they finished their glasses of wine before retiring to their rooms to shower and change for their date. Ana loved her room. The walls were a rich cream and she added colour through the art on the walls and the numerous brown and gold pillows on her bed. When she walked in, the whole of the left wall held floor to ceiling windows, looking out onto Elliott Bay. To her right was her super king size bed against the wall facing the windows. She loved nothing more but to wake up the the view of the harbour. It was a stocky bed made up of dark oak.
Some might think that a bed that large wasn't needed for such a small woman, but she'd tried having a smaller bed and with her nightmares it had left her with numerous sprained ankles and wrists from falling out. Straight in front of her stood what looked like ordinary fitted wardrobes that covered the whole wall. The wardrobes were made up of three large panels. The two on the edge made of the same oak as her bed and side tables with cast iron handles and the middle panel was a full mirror.
This was the part of her room she loved the most. The mirrored panel slid to either the left or the night, into the doors of the oak panels to reveal her real closet. Sure, the two wardrobes at the side probably would have been enough but she loved the thought of having something hidden. Somewhere to go in crisis where only her and Kate would know where she was.
Behind the mirrored panel was a long walk in closet. One side held all of her clothes whilst the other held her vanity table with mirror and all of her jewelry. She loved her jewelry collection. Sure it wasn't fancy or expensive, but it was her. She'd designed the storage space herself. Against the wall at the side of her vanity stood what looked like a miniature wardrobe which stood to about shoulder height. The double doors opened to reveal her collection in a neat and organised fashion. As always. When you walked to the end of the closet, there was a frosted door which lead to her bathroom.
Ana made her way through her bedroom and into her bathroom to take a quick shower. After her shower, she dried her hair and styled it so that it fell into soft beach looking waves and put on natural looking makeup. She decided that she wanted to wear her black long sleeve knot dress which came to about mid thigh. She thought that she could get away with the length due to the long sleeves of the dress. She paired the dress with her black and white striped Louboutins and matching clutch. For her jewelry she chose a long silver necklace which sat just below her breasts, a mixture of chunky and thin silver bracelets for her wrists and plain silver heart shaped earrings.
If she was going anywhere other than her club, where she knew it would be dark, she would have chosen a different dress. Her scars were through the gap in the dress at her waist and she never knew what to say to people who asked about them. Exiting her safe place, she went back to their open plan living area to wait for Kate who would without a doubt take another half an hour to get ready. Ana didn't mind, it gave her a chance to calm herself before facing her world. She picked up her cell to call reception and ask for a car to be ready to take them to the club in 30 minutes.
After that she poured herself a small glass of wine and moved to sit on her L-shaped couch. She picked up her guitar and played a few of the songs that her and her father used to play together when he was alive. On the odd occasion that she lost her control or was touched in one of her sensitive area's, playing those songs gave her a sense of calm. It allowed her to remember all of the good times with her father and regain her equilibrium.
She heard the bell from the back of Kate's door chime and the clicking of her heels against the wooden floor, signaling that she was ready to go. She stood and placed the guitar back on it's stand by the sofa before joining Kate by the door.
"I already called reception for a car so we don't have to wait" She told Kate as she picked up her clutch from the breakfast bar.
"You're the best Steele. I so wish I could hug you sometimes" Kate gave Ana a sad smile. She knew that her friend longed to be able to hold her, especially when she heard her nightmares, but she just couldn't take it and she didn't want to try and subject Kate to her violent reactions. So she just settled for the only contact she'd had over the last 3 years. She grabbed Kate's hand and squeezed it to show her understanding. After getting a slight squeeze in return she took a deep breath before releasing her hand and making her way to the door.
Their car dropped them off at the front of her club and they made their way past the people that were lining up down the street and to the bouncers at the front door. Gavin and Tony, the two bouncers that were working the door tonight nodded at Ana and stepped to the side to let her and Kate through. They both made their way down a side corridor that lead to the VIP area. Ana made sure that there was a separate entrance to the VIP section that didn't require going through the club as there was no way that she could stand walking through a room that crowded. The VIP area wasn't totally secluded from the main bar and dance floor. It sat up on a balcony overlooking the rest of the club and there was a set of stairs that led from the VIP area, straight to the main area for people that wanted to dance in the crowd too.
They arrived at their table...well...it was more of a booth. Ana liked to have her back to something solid just in case. The bartender brought over their usual - a gin and tonic for Ana and a piña colada for Kate. They sat in silence, enjoying their drinks and the pulsing of the music before Ana's attention was caught by a loud gasp coming from Kate.
"Oh my god, Ana! I totally forgot to ask you!" Kate had a look of horror on her face and she started to worry about what Kate had forgotten.
"Forgot to ask me what?" Did she really want to know the answer? She was unsure when she saw the nervous expression on Kate's face.
"Well...Ethan called me the other day...and he was going to come to town to spend some time with me before he headed back out to London..." Kate trailed off, biting her lip nervously.
"For god sake, Kate. Just tell me what you forgot to ask me?" She said rolling her eyes.
"Okay...erm...well it's just a question...and you can totally say no if you want too. There's no pressure at all. Erm...do you think that Ethan could maybe...possibly...stay with us for...a few nights?" She almost giggled at how nervous Kate was about asking her a simple question, but she understood her nervousness. She was a hard person to live with and she had certain limits and rules on how things were done in her home.
"Kate, it's totally fine as long as you make sure he knows my limits. I will not be held responsible if I break his wrist or something because he doesn't know to make himself known to me."
"Thank you so much Ana! I'll make sure that he puts the sofa bed up every morning and everything!" She squealed, smiling like a mad woman.
She watched as her friends eyes roamed the bar and the look of shock that passes across her face.
"Ana...that's Christian Grey!" Ana didn't even bother to look. She knew that her club had some pretty important visitors due to it's VIP section exclusivity and she was kind of used to it by now. Not that she knew who Christian Grey was.
"Why don't you ask him to dance?" She smiled, taking a sip of her drink.
"No thank you. I interviewed him in college and he wasn't that nice of a guy...quite cold actually. But...the guy at the other end of the bar is pretty hot, so I'll ask him to dance!" She giggled before hopping out of the booth and disappearing through the crowd.
Ana sat and listened to the music as it changed from one style to another. That was one of the things that Ana prided herself on and what made the club so popular, and that was that they played music from different genres and from different times. It kept people interested, and a lot of the time made people reminisce about different songs and what they mean to different people. The song changed to 'Hotel California' by the Eagles and she had to smile. This was the last song that her and her father had played together on their guitars before he passed away, and that was the last time she played it. It wasn't the same by herself. But hearing the original song brought a smile to her face and made her mind fill with happy memories. She felt like dancing. Which was something that she'd never done here...but the new sense of calm that this song brought over gave her the confidence boost to just go for it.
She stood and made her way to the small dance floor that was situated to look out over the balcony to the other dance floor. She stood at the edge of the dance floor with her back to the balcony and started to move. As the song really kicked in she closed her eyes and lifted her hands above her head and really let herself go to move to the music. The next thirty seconds were kind of a blur. She'd felt large warm hands move across the open skin on her waist...a serious no-go area for her and then she saw red. The next thing she knew, her fist coiled back and whoever touched her was now laying flat out on the floor in front of her. Fuck, what had she done? But she couldn't think about that right now. She needed to get out where there weren't so many people around her. She made a dash for the exit.
As soon as she exited the club, she walked to stand with her back against the cold brick. Shit, she was really shaking. She hadn't had someone touch her in one of her sensitive area's in such a long time, never mind on her bare skin and she was freaking out. She felt her legs give out and fold beneath her. She was desperately trying to control her breathing...she couldn't have a panic attack right now. She heard shoes clicking towards her and she took a brief glance upwards to see Kate now stood before her with a worried look on her face.
"What can I do Ana?" She asked, taking a step towards her. She held up her hand to Kate, signalling her not to come any closer. She hadn't got her breathing under control yet to get any words out. Suddenly, she heard what sounded like a group of people's footsteps coming towards her and she snapped her head upwards to find Carter and a few other men in business looking type suits jogging towards her. Now she really started panicking.
"K..ate!" She gasped trying to signal to her friend all of her fears about these men approaching.
"Okay...got it!" She said with determination before stomping off to meet the men half way. She was only about 10 steps away so she could hear their conversation.
"Don't come any closer...please...Carter just let these men know that she needs a minute or two." She was pleading with them and Ana hoped they'd listen to her.
"Miss Kavanaugh...she fucking punched my brother in the face! She didn't fully knock him out but shit! He was stumbling everywhere! Now your going to fucking let me see her right now!" She heard a man with a very strong voice practically growl at Kate.
"Miss?" She heard a softer, and kind of familiar voice closer to her than the other voices and her head snapped up to look at the man behind the voice. She couldn't believe who she was seeing, and by the look of realisation spread on his face he was shocked to see her too.
"Jay?" Her voice came out shakey as she tried to hold back her tears. Her fears were getting the better of her and now seeing him here made her show her vulnerable side. For so long she'd learned to deal with these episodes on her own. It didn't used to be like that. She used to have him and her father. The only two men who could touch her without her panicking or turning violent.
"Rosie?" At her nickname, she started sobbing and reached out her arms to the man in front of her. He grabbed her under her arms and hauled her up to him, lifting her off of the ground. She wrapped her legs around his waist as she'd done since she was a little girl and sobbed into his shoulder. One of his hands were cradling her head whilst the other was wrapped securely around her back, holding her up. He kept on pressing kisses to the top of her head like he'd done so many times in the past trying to calm her down.
"Am I safe?" Was the first question she asked, hiccuping through her tears.
"Yes, sweet girl. Would you like me to put your back on a wall?" Her sobs continued due to the familiarity of this situation. She nodded into his neck and felt him take a few steps forward to her back was pressed into a wall. To anyone from the outside looking in, it would look inappropriate...but they have a father/daughter type relationship and it was completely normal to them.
"I can't believe you're here, Jay. You don't know how much I needed you right now." She managed to whisper once she got her sobs reduced to silent tears.
"I know. I'm sorry I had to leave you angel. You know I would have stayed if I could." She just nodded, fully understanding why he had to go.
"I missed you so much." She squeezed with both her arms and legs, afraid that he might disappear again. But instead she felt him squeeze her back in return. Their reunion was soon ruined by that strong voice booming.
"Does someone want to tell me what the fuck just happened...and what the fuck are you doing Taylor?" She knew he was addressing her Jay. As far as she knew, she was the only person that has ever called him 'Jay'. They either called him Taylor, or if they're his family or very close friends, they call him Jason.
A/N - soooooo...what do you guys think? Kind of repetitive with the whole 'Ana's as messed up as Christian is' thing...but I'm hoping to try to create something individual out of this. I'll continue this story if you guys like it, just let me know :)
Lots of love...
Daisy xo