A/N
Hello, Young readers!
A new longer chapter for you to feast your eyes on! I hope you all like it. Review and tell me what you feel. I will try to escalate the story very soon and things will heat up! I promised to keep you on edge! Kindly note that I usually update weekly and will not abandon the story.
Please ignore my grammatical errors or PM me about it and I'll edit. My laptop is not working and I have to type this out on my phone, which is exhausting and a lot of work. Do review. Your reviews matter a lot. Healthy criticism highly appreciated.
Also, someone rightly pointed out that renaming the lead character would make people lose interest in the story of mine. She was right. People read 'cause of our favorite couple. Anastasia and Christian. But I just wanted to tell you that my story is entirely different from the trilogy. These two have an entirely different past.
It's worth a shot, and it is a HEA of course. Keep reviewing.
Next coming up very soon, promise.
All my love,
VA Adeles X
The café was as busy as ever. Lines were formed in front of the counter and the people carried their trays to the cushiony beige one-seaters. I walked through the wooden floor and behind the scenes. Mrs. Powel, Carolina, smiled hugely at me and I walked over to hug her,
"Mrs. Powel, do you not wonder if people here actually do read the zillion quotes hanging around or they just drink the famous coffee and sandwiches and leave?"
She laughed, waving her hand, "Oh, stop it. You love these, too."
I chuckled.
The café was a warming shade of white and different motivating quotes hung around the café which as she said, I did love. What could anybody ask for if you had your nostrils filled with the fragrance of cocoa beans and a few quotes that would make up for the bad day?
Mrs. Powel was a smart, five feet three inches, wheat-ish woman with black eyes, her face always warm and smiling. She always wore an apron, though she didn't really need it, being an organized worker. As ever gorgeous with her slender body, she looked adorable with her fitted casual black shirt and jeans. I still looked average in absolutely the same combination.
Warm hands hugged me from behind and I knew who it was. Jacob. My Jake. Jacob was my best friend. A person who I had happily commit a murder with. He had a 'I don't care a damn' personality which I and his mother was an exception to. He was funny, over-protective and easy to be with kind of a man or at least I of all other people found him easy to be with. We were childhood buddies and knew each other since the day we took our first breaths in the world. Jacob was six feet two inches tall with his muscular build. His skin was a beautiful tan and his hairs black and shiny.
"Happy Birthday, hammer." He said in his husky voice, calling me with the nickname he gave to me after we fell from a tree when we were six. It's a vague memory but he tells me that, we fell from the tree together and he began to cry but I sprinted up, dusting off my shorts and wiped the little tear threatening to fall and ordered him to stop crying like a baby.
"Thank you, Jake"
"Happy Birthday, Annie." His mother wished me with a huge grin on her face, "The cake's in the fridge. We'll cut it when the customers are gone."
Thank you so much, Mrs. Powel." I smiled at her, "Now let me take your place on the counter. You can go in. Jake and I'll handle it here."
With that, she nodded and went to the other side of the partition that parted the counter with the kitchen. We both stood a foot apart on our sides of the corner, putting the 'Powel's Café's hats on.
"Tell your mother I'll be working with her this summer," I said as I wished the customer a good day.
He hummed, "Me, too till I get my new assignment."
I smiled at him.
We attended to the customers until they became a number counted on fingers. There were hardly any lines forming in front of us when we stopped and started discussing our plans further. Jacob was a wonderful painter and graphic designer. He planned to wait and opt for a freelancing project so that he could help his mother at the café at almost the same time this summer.
The door opened and a man about Jake's height walked in. The girls in the café turned to look at him in awe. The girls of the school group giggled among each other making a drooling sign. I rolled my eyes.
His hairs were a coppery mess and his eyes a shade of gray. He was a sight to be admired at. He wore a white shirt, its sleeves rolled to his elbows and a pair of blue denim. He walked over to my counter, looking around. I stared at him and Jake stomped on my feet. Gasping slightly, I glared at him. I was not drooling over him like a school girl but he just looked familiar to me,
"Good Afternoon." He gave his head a tight nod,
I nodded back, frowning. I did know him from somewhere. A frown developed on his own face as his eyes narrowed onto me and then he recovered his stance, composing his features.
"Afternoon. What would you like to have?"
"A black coffee. No sugar." I nodded, typing out his bill and passing on the order digitally to the kitchen,
"Two minutes, sir." He nodded and turned his back to me taking his seat on the vacant sofa. I stressed myself further.
"Ana! What are you up to!?" Jake hissed
"Shh! I know him from somewhere. He was younger. Oh!" the memories came running back to me as it became all crystal. Jake frowned and sided to attend to the old woman on his side.
I called him when his order was ready,
"Thank you. Can you please add a chocolate muffin to my order?"
"Sure," I smiled, and leaned towards him, tilting my head to the side, "Christian Grey?"
"You know me?"
I smiled brightly, "You don't?"
"I'm sorry?" he frowned,
I shook my head, chuckling, "Thank Jesus for that. Anastasia Rose Steele. Rings a bell?"
His mouth formed an 'o', "Ah. Anastasia." The corners of his lips lifted up,
I smiled back, blushing, "You remember."
"You'd hope not, though." He chuckled. I shrugged. Jake was watching us two with confusion, I inwardly rolled my eyes.
"Christian, this is Jacob Powel. The owner of the café," they nodded at each other, "Jacob, this is Christian, from school. Remember my misanthrope friend who sat alone at lunch?" Jake's pupils dilated. He clearly had no idea what I was talking about.
Christian shook his head at my description, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Powel," he said in a businesslike tone
"Likewise" Jacob replied, mimicking him.
"Would you like to join me?" He turned to me and I glanced at Jacob
"No. I-
"Go, hammer. Take a lunch break. I'll ask mom to cook you your hamburger." I grinned at him.
Taking my seat across him, I crossed my legs placing my arms on the armrest. He did the same.
"So, how are you?" I initialized the conversation,
He shrugged, "Fine, I guess. You work here?" he looked around the café
I shook my head, "In the café? No. I just help. The owners are close to me."
"I see." He nodded and the conversation took an awkward halt.
"Still not much of a talker, huh?"
He scoffed, "Nah. It's always been-
"Difficult?" he nodded. I smiled in understanding.
"Do you want to go for a walk with me?"
"Umm…sure."
I took my bag, passing a meaningful glance at Jacob and followed Christian to the glass door and out in the pleasant Bridgeville. We walked on the streets turning to the beach near my house when he suddenly broke the awkward silence,
"You don't live on the Bingley Road anymore?"
"Of course, I do. The very same house."
He frowned, "I saw another girl turning the locks at midnight and—
"That must be Jess, my younger sister," I explained as we strolled ahead.
I turned to him with a crooked smile, "You were creeping outside my house?"
He chuckled, "No. I bought the house next door."
"What!? Seriously?" I gaped at him, skidding to a stop
"Is that a problem?" He stopped, frowning
I closed my mouth, shaking my head "No. Absolutely not." I started to walk and he followed behind, keeping up with my pace in no time.
"It's been so long," He muttered after a few minutes of soothing stillness and the sounds of the waves overlapping each other, his eyes staring at the sea waves but far beyond reach.
I sighed, "Good times, huh? You remember the first day we met?" I turned my head to him smiling,
He smiled down at me, his eyes filled with fondness, "Of course, I do. I was in fifth grade, you in second, when you hijacked my table at lunch."
I laughed and narrowed my eyes at him, "You were very rude when I asked you if I could take the seat beside you."
He narrowed his eyes, "If I remember it right, the seven-year-old girl asked me to move my butt."
My mouth hung open at his accusation, "I said that after you were declined my offer."
He pouted, my smile turned wider at his adorable expressions. He suddenly looked like the same boy I once knew so well, "That is… correct. I didn't want you to sit with me and I was rude to you."
"And then I asked you to move your butt and I forcibly shared my lunch with you. I was so good to you!"
He smirked, "Right. The school never used to mess with me but you were an entirely different thing," he paused, "Can we sit here?"
"Sure." We sat on the beach and it seemed like an abnormally normal thing for him to do but I kept my mouth shut, carrying on the conversation, "I always saw you alone at lunch. I was curious to why was that."
"Tenacious." He whispered in a huff,
I giggled, "My father calls me that, too."
"You are" he shrugged as he supported his body weight on his palms, leaning back and I crossed my legs, collecting the handful of sand and then letting it go.
"You did enjoy my company at lunch for nine years, though," I stated, throwing of fake arrogance,
He shook his head at my theatrics and his eyes turned serious, "Truly, I did. I could share everything with you." His voice diminished till the last word and I knew the statement wasn't entirely true and I knew well what he was hiding,
"Most of the things." I corrected his statement in a gentle voice, trying to unmove my smile with understanding. I didn't want to push him. I knew well what it felt like.
He smiled gratefully, his eyes sad, "That is what I loved about you." My breath hitched at the word. This didn't go unnoticed, he changed his tone, "And your bossiness." He teased
"Says who." I snorted.
We stared at the shore- watching it rise and fall and leaving the sand wet for a second and traveling back to where it belonged -for a very long moment.
"I wish it ended differently." He whispered,
"You had to graduate one day." I shrugged
He sighed, "You know that's not what I am talking about."
I knew and I chose not to go on that road. "It's in the past."
"I'm sorry, Anastasia ."
"Christian!" I lightened my tone, "We were children!"
"Guess, we were." He nodded
I stood up and he frowned up at me, "I really should get going. Jake and his mother would really need me."
"Jake?" his eyebrows shot up as he stood, himself.
"Jacob" I clearified
"I didn't know you were that close." He was uncomfortable for some reason
"Christian, I just used his nickname and he is my best friend. Don't you remember him from school? He used to stay with me until lunch."
His expressions were blank.
I bit my lip, stressing myself to find something to give him a clear vision, "Ah. You didn't like him! You didn't like him because you thought that he st-
"Stuck with you too much. Yeah. Right." He nodded. I smiled and nodded back.
"I'll drop you at home and then leave from there, neighbor." An idea clicked, "Hey! Why don't you join us for dinner tonight? It would just be my father and sisters. I'm assuming you do not have a cook" I guessed,
"I don't but ill manage." He shook his head.
I rolled my eyes, "Christian, we are not strangers. You are still close to me."
He took a step closer, "Of course." He whispered. Somehow, it made him feel that I needed reassuring.
"You are coming," I ordered.
I returned home at seven after getting my hands Mrs. Powel's glorious chocolate cake and spending time with one of the most important people in my life and I was surprised by another.
"Sam!" I squealed when I saw her sitting on my bed, wearing her jeans and a grey minion t-shirt, reading my much-abused novel of 'The Fault in our Stars'. She glanced up and wrapped me in a hug. A difficult thing to do for her. She was my best friend as close to me as Jake was.
She let on the façade of the tough girl but I knew better. She wanted the society to consider her the tough guy. The idea appealed to her so much that it overshadowed what she really was. She was the one who needed love and care and someone to show her the mirror. It went so back that I couldn't even refresh my memory system to decode what she was like when she was younger. We met each other when we ended up together in sixth grade and… we just happened. She was about my same height, five feet four inches but her eyes were black and skin, fair.
"Happy Birthday, Steele." She smiled at me,
"Thank you! Elle and Jess didn't tell me you were up here!"
She grinned, her hand went to her back pocket and she let out a small, sleek rectangular box, wrapped in a gift wrapper,
"You bought me a gift!" My friends never did that. She squared her shoulder with fake pride. I laughed and tore the paper away revealing a jewelry box.
I opened it, "An anklet! I love anklets!" I exclaimed
"I know you do, dumbo." She giggled in her deep beautiful voice,
It was not any anklet. It was a charm. Two mobile phones in the middle. The rest was a platinum chain and diamond circles studded at distance.
I laughed at the memory the charm brought. I remembered it.
It was her fifteenth birthday and I was staying at her house. The phones started ringing at twelve, exactly at the same time and she gave me a panicked look. So, we both decided to answer both the calls at once. Our voices were so similar that her set of friends wished me birthday and disclosed their secrets making the wrong assumption. Samantha had a hell of a time when one of his 'stud' friends confessed feelings for me to me without knowing. I ignored him for the rest of my school life.
She laughed with me, "You still, remember Toby?"
I made a face, "Jerk" she laughed again.
Before I could ask my question, a voice interrupted us.
"Girls." The husky voice came from my room's archway and there he was, Jacob Powel, standing with a large wrapped gift- I assumed, painting- tucked in his shoulders.
"Hey! What's that?"
"Your present." He replied, proudly. I smiled at him, tearing the wrapper off.
It was a painting of both our six-year-old selves sitting on the apple tree. The rich colors flowed among themselves so well that I saw my childhood in a flash. I grinned at him, my eyes blurring their vision.
I shut my eyes close together. The tears aren't meant to fall.
"I love you both so much," I muttered, my voice breaking once. Jake smiled at me with love and Sam made a face,
"Jacob," she said in the rough tone she used to use with him, breaking the moment "Now, you can drop me to the airport."
That was the question, "You waited for me?" I asked, surprised.
"Don't look so surprised, nut head. You are insulting me." She nudged my shoulders, "I wanted to give you this and then leave for Hemington." She said in a soft voice and then her face turned hard, "I had to coordinate with Jacob so that we could both give you your gifts and he could gimme a ride."
Don't get her wrong. We all three were inseparable but as I said Jacob was hard to be with for the others and not everybody 'adored' her tough girl attitude. I knew they loved each other just the way they loved me but their relationship was…different. Really. There's no other word for it.
Jake gave her a cold shoulder.
"Guys, loosen up." I broke the ice and turned to hug Sam "Happy Journey, Samantha. You'll kick ass at your new job."
She broke the hug, "Don't be so…soft about it. You'll join me soon."
I nodded.
I hung the painting on the wall in front of my bed. The picture wall, I called it. There were so many pictures on it of everybody in my family. Jess caught having Elle's share of ice cream. Elle doing her homework. All three of us together with me in the middle. Picture of me and dad after I graduated college. The Steele sister literally sleeping on each other. We all little bodies looked so adorable. Then it was my trio. Jake teaching me how to ride a motorcycle. We both licking ice-creams with tiny tongues. Me and Elle watching TV together. And some awkward pictures of all of us that I loved the most. Mostly close-ups of noses and faces.
I wore the anklet, too. Sudden peace and content washing over me.
No matter how miserable I thought I was. I found myself actually happy.
But how long would I be?