AN: Victim blaming was something I witnessed all too often while working for an organization that supported victims of abuse. I wanted to write a story where everyone in Christian's life wasn't so supportive when the truth about Elena came out.
"Ana for this to work we have to be honest with each other." Christian implores.
"Honest," Ana asks. He lied to me at the first given opportunity and he's talking about honesty.
"This is about honesty and trust." He said with his panty-dropping smile, he was going to use every arsenal at his disposal.
"I find that hard to believe since you lied to me at the fist given moment." She barked.
"What! Ana, I've been nothing but honest." He said perplexed. He was beginning to realize he'd mistaken shyness for submissiveness.
"Okay then… let's try this again." She turned those incredible blue eyes on him, it was unnerving. "Are. You. A. Sadist?" He knew he'd lost her; he had to think fast if he stood any chance of salvaging this evening. "From your silence, I'll say it's a yes." She got up and made her way to the elevator. He had to say something. "Could you have Taylor take me home?" She asked with barely disguised annoyance. No, no, no if she walks into that elevator I've surely lost her he thought.
"Ana… yes, I lied…" Shit. "I'm a sadist." He resigned himself to be as honest as possible. Maybe if he told her a little about himself… anything other than why he was a sadist.
"15… you were 15. That is so wrong, she's a fucking pedophile." God this is going all wrong he thought.
"No, no she helped me." He defends.
"WITH WHAT?" My god, he is fucked up. "You still can't be touched, you can't sleep through the night, you are clearly not happy despite all this money. Tell me how in god's name did she help you." What an infuriating woman, fuck maybe it was best to let her go.
"You don't understand." He snaps not meaning to, he had to make her understand.
"You are right I don't. I don't understand how you can let the woman you said saved you, a woman who has dedicated her life to helping children have a pedophile for a friend. What did your mother do to make you hate her so much." Her impassioned speech made him feel rotten.
"I don't hate Grace, she saved me…" The anxiety was coming off him in waves.
"And you repay her by having her believe her best friend helped her son through hard work. What kind of person does that? If that is your idea of love god help the people you hate."
"I take it your answer is no," He asked sarcastically. Right now he wanted her gone, this was a huge mistake. He should have listened to his instincts.
"You goddamn right it's a no." She snorted.
"TAYLOR," he yelled. He saw the disgust in her eyes, and it ripped through him. She stirred emotions in him he long thought incapable of feeling. "May I remind you signed an NDA?"
"No you don't, I don't want to be associated with anyone who thinks pedophilia is a good thing." Now he was angry. He'd always known he was a monster but to have this slip of a girl point it out to him angered him. He could work with anger, anger was good, it has been his friend for years he thrived off anger.
"Who the fuck do you think you are?" He bellowed feeling like himself again.
"I know who I am, do you? Because from where I'm standing I can see through that false bravado you are wearing. Deep down you know the way you were introduced to that lifestyle is wrong. I would go as far as say so are your reasons for practicing it. Why else would you go through such great lengths to hide it? I'd give my right hand to say you live in fear of people finding out that Christian Grey is a deviant who thinks pedophilia is a good thing. You are ashamed of it and yet you stand there defending it, albeit a rather poor defense, a clear indication that you do not believe the bullshit you are feeding me." Fucking hypocrite she thought.
"If I never see you again it will be too soon." With that elevator doors close and he stands there speechless. What happened to the dominant? What happened to the CEO? He just stood there and got his ass handed to him by a college student.
Flynn's jaw was on the floor, probably unhinged because he had trouble shutting his mouth. A college student, a slip of a girl as Christian referred to her had torn through him like a lump of meat in a grinder. "How do you feel about what she said?" He asked after he managed to compose himself.
"If I knew I wouldn't be here." He was lying, but right now he couldn't admit to himself or anybody else that Ana was right, not about Elena, he would never throw Elena under the bus. So why wasn't he shouting about it from the rooftops? Why wasn't his practice of BDSM open?
"You don't know or don't want to admit it's true." Flynn countered.
"Oh so now you believe I'm a sadist," Christian remarked with a smirk.
"No I'm not talking about what you said, I'm talking about what the girl said. What is her name? I can't keep calling her the girl."
"Do." Was all he said.
"I don't believe you are a sadist, this is a choice, your choice. You simply refuse to see your life can be different. Your need for control is controlling your life and don't see or you do and simply bury your head in the sand. You have to come out for air at some point." Flynn said with a smile. Christian's head was already out of the sand, but Flynn wasn't stupid enough to tell his client and friend only for him to stick his head back in.
Christian left Flynn's office having learned anything new from before he went in. Ana had shaken him up, but he was going to forget her and carry on with his life.
"It had been seven months since his encounter with Ana and she wasn't as easy to shake off as he had hoped. It took him almost three months to step back into his playroom and even then he didn't get the same thrill he got from before Ana. That girl had bored her way into this brain and wasn't leaving. He still had the subs except he couldn't perform, he punished them, but that was all it was. He took out his anger on them; he got no control from it and certainly no pleasure.
"Sir." Taylor interpreted his thoughts of Ana.
"Yes Taylor what is it?" He muttered wearily. Hell because of Ana his relationship with both Taylor and Gail was suffering. They barely spoke to him, he knew they hated Elena but knowing the reason and Christian's refusal to cut the woman out his life had greatly impacted their relationship. So it was quite odd to see Taylor with a Cheshire grin.
"Elena was arrested his morning."