Victoria tossed and turned as she lay in bed later on in the evening. The words which her father had spoken to her remained swimming in her ears and continued not to make sense to her. What had he meant? Was it his cryptic way of telling her that he cared? Victoria slammed her cheek into the plush, feather pillow and sighed once, thumping it with her fist as she closed her eyes, willing sleep to come over her.
...
"Are you going back to your apartment today?" Christian enquired from his daughter as she toyed with her breakfast, her spoon moving into the cereal and swishing it around as he watched her with his lips pursed, his chin jutted out in annoyance and his eyes glaring at the milky substance.
"Mandy's parents should be gone by this afternoon," Victoria muttered, dropping her spoon against the side of the bowl and sliding it away from her. Christian sipped on his coffee, flattening out his black tie as he eyed the business section of the paper.
"Eat your food, Victoria," he demanded from the teenager who rolled her eyes.
"I'm not hungry," she retorted.
"Victoria," Christian said dangerously to her. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day."
"Then why aren't you having anything?" Victoria enquired, crossing her legs and resting her chin into her hand as she challenged her father.
"Do as I say and not as I do," Christian retorted and clicked his fingers in the direction of her bowl. "Now eat."
"So hypocritical," Victoria complained but shovelled a spoonful of cereal into her mouth, looking at her father who had turned his attention back to the paper. "Happy?" she snapped with her mouth full.
"Ecstatic," Christian mumbled back to her, draining off his coffee and then checking the watch on his wrist. "I'd better be going. I'm needed in the office this morning and then I'm going to play golf."
He stood up, grabbing his jacket which had been on the worktop and he shrugged into the gray material as he looked at his daughter.
"Text me when you get back to your apartment," he demanded and she nodded once as he looked across to Mrs Jones.
"I won't be home this evening, Mrs Jones, so don't bother about dinner. Have the night off," he informed her and she nodded hastily with a smile.
"Thanks, Mr Grey," she said as Victoria picked up her orange juice and muttered into it.
"So the tin man does have a heart," she mumbled as Christian narrowed his eyes at her and picked up his BlackBerry, dropping it into his pocket.
"Dinner sometime in the week, Victoria?" he checked with his daughter who nodded once at him.
"The same?" she enquired. They always ate together on a Wednesday night at seven p.m. in Bellisimos. It was quiet, quaint and in between their apartments.
"Yes," Christian responded curtly, heading over to the elevator and leaving the two women in the kitchen.
...
"I see what you mean about your dad," Andrew called out as he sat on the sofa in Victoria's apartment, his eyes scanning around the room and taking in the large plasma TV on the magnolia coloured wall. The wooden coffee table which sat on the shaggy rug. Two sofas lined it, their material plush and leather. The small living area led onto an open spaced kitchen, the worktops covered in cereal boxes, orange cartoons and utensils.
"Hm?" Victoria called out, urging for him to go on as she remained stood in her small bedroom, looking through her wardrobe for something to wear for her date that evening as her door to the living area remained open.
Andrew glugged back the water in his cup and set it onto the table, leaning back and thinking about what to say.
"Well...he was certainly intense," he explained and he gained a laugh from the bedroom as he looked to the open door.
"Try being related to him," she shouted back out and Andrew took his turn to chuckle.
"I'm good, thanks," he assured her before checking his watch. "Are you nearly finished? The film will be starting soon."
Why was she taking so long? She checked her reflection in the mirror, deducing that she was about to spend two hours in a dark room where no one would even see her. There was no point in worrying over her dress selection.
"I'm done," she said, shutting the door to her room and shrugging into her grey blazer as Andrew clapped his knees once and stood up, following her to the apartment door where she locked up. But something wasn't quite right. Victoria remained stood still, looking at the door as she sniffed deeply and glanced across to Andrew.
"Can you smell that?" she asked of him and he raised a brow, his nostrils flaring too and he nodded.
"It smells like smoke," he informed her just as a large whirling noise began to sound. Andrew quickly grabbed onto her hand, pulling her down the corridor until they reached the staircase and they began to move down it, the shouts and roars from other people audible in the small, enclosed space until they reached the bottom.
Once on the sidewalk, they moved across the road, looking onto the building as flames moved from it at every angle. People sobbed as their home was destroyed, others remained emotionless, not sure what to do. Victoria was a mixture of the pair.
...
Golf was the bane of Christian's existence. He hated the game yet it was where most business was completed.
"Not quite a hole in one, Grey!" Mark Casey called out as he walked up to where Christian stood and clapped him on the back. Christian froze at the contact, forcing a smirk onto his face as the man walked in front of him and Christian then rolled his eyes.
"Mr Grey!" a sudden voice called across the lush, green lawn and Christian averted his gaze to where he could see Taylor moving over to him, a phone in his hand and his eyes looking around the lawn.
"Yes?" Grey wondered quickly, looking into the bag of clubs and wondering which one to pick for his next shot.
"Miss Grey's apartment had been burnt down, sir," Taylor said and Christian felt his body change. It was as if he had become numb with worry. "She is safe and out but she couldn't get hold of you."
Of course she couldn't. Phones were turned off when it came to golf. No interrupting and no distractions.
"Organise for Mrs Jones to pick her up from the apartment," Christian snapped, dumping his club into his bag as Taylor shook his head.
"Her boyfriend has already brought her back to the apartment. Mrs Jones says she is just in shock. That is all. Do you want to continue here or go home?" Taylor wondered and Christian handed his bodyguard the bag with all of his clubs as he looked across to Casey who had his hand on his hip, his cap low as he waited for Grey.
"An emergency has come up, Casey," Christian called over to him. "I need to be going."
"Everything alright, Grey?" Mark checked and Christian nodded quickly.
"No need to worry," he promised and then began to walk off with Taylor by his side.
"Any injuries?"
"No, sir. Just slightly hysterical."
"And the cause of the fire?"
"Not yet known, sir. Firemen think it could be a gas explosion but aren't sure yet."
"So not arson?"
"It doesn't look like it, sir."
...
"You don't need to cry," Andrew urged Victoria as he sat beside her on the sofa, holding her glass of water as his other hand remained on her back, silently caressing her as she thought about what would have happened if they had spent longer in the apartment. What if she had continued trying on ridiculous amounts of dresses?
"It's all just...we were in there...what if..."
"If you keep playing the 'what if' game with yourself then you'll go mad, Vicky," Andrew said sternly to her and she looked at him as he smiled encouragingly in her direction. "You're alive and safe. That is all that matters."
"I want insurance on the phone right away," Christian's sudden voice echoed through the apartment. "I want a full report on what happened and I want to make sure that the correct people are held responsible."
Andrew's palm began to sweat slightly as Christian placed his BlackBerry against his shoulder, looking at the couple as they sat on the sofa and Victoria looked up at him.
"Taylor says you're okay," he stated and Victoria snorted once.
"Well if Taylor says it then it must be true," she snapped back as Christian sighed once, shaking his head and then taking his call.
"You should go," Victoria informed Andrew who questioningly gazed at her. "I'm sure," she urged him.
"Just call if you need anything," he pushed her and she nodded as she squeezed his hand one final time and Christian watched him go before ending his call abruptly.
"I have the best people looking into the incident," he assured her and she stood up, rolling her eyes as she did so and he remained glaring at her. "You could be a little more appreciative, Victoria."
"And you could care a bit more, dad," she retorted back, removing her arms from her jacket and moving her matted hair from her face. "Normally...well...normal fathers would ask if their daughter is okay before running off and worrying about how much money they have lost in their billion dollar empire by the burning down of one flat."
"That was the first thing which I did when I saw you," Christian defended himself and Victoria shook her head.
"No, it wasn't," she replied. "You told me I was okay. You didn't ask."
"You're being melodramatic, Victoria," Christian told her dryly and he saw a small tear move down her face and she prodded herself in the chest.
"I've just watched my apartment burn down! I just made it out of there in time! I could have been dead! What if the fire had started on our floor?" she wondered and Christian shook his head, folding his arms in his white polo shirt as he continued to watch her.
"You made it out. Do not go into scenarios which could have happened but didn't," he implored her. "Now go for a nice, warm bath. I shall have Mrs Jones bring you some tea in."
"I've gone off tea," Victoria muttered back and Christian pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Since when?"
"Last week."
"Fine...coffee...cola...water...orange...an assortment of drinks," Christian said, becoming frustrated with her as she stormed off from the living area.
...
"Miss Grey."
Why did she even come here? Why did she bother with any of this? She didn't think it helped her. All these sessions had ever made her do was worry about things. And they made her feel like she was moaning to the good doctor. Doctor John Flynn. Her father's shrink. Or, as he preferred to be known, psychiatrist.
"This is an unexpected visit. Christian did not tell me you were coming," he informed her as she sat down on the leather sofa, folding her legs as she looked around his room.
"He doesn't know," she simply stated. "You know what I think about coming here, anyway."
"That is why I am surprised to see you here."
"Well...I need someone to tell me that I'm not going mad. Living with my dad for two days has already made me feel like I'm going that way."
"Things aren't harmonious in the Grey household?"
"When are they?"
She mumbled back to him and he smirked gently at her, placing his notepad to the side. She hated to see him writing things down. He never got anything out of her if he did it. She had only been to see him a few times. Once, when she was failing school and then when she was in a relationship and confused.
"So what is wrong, Miss Grey?"
"My dad."
"Christian isn't wrong, Miss Grey. He is just complicated."
"My apartment block burnt down," Vicky blurted out, closing her eyes as she felt Flynn gaze at her. "And he was more concerned with making sure that the insurance was sorted out than he was about me."
"Did he ask if you were okay?"
"He said Taylor told him I was fine and that was the first thing he asked about when he found out."
"He just didn't ask you."
"No."
"And why do you think that is?"
"Because he doesn't love me?" Victoria suggested, one eye peeking open as the man shook his head at her quickly.
"He loves you. He just doesn't know how to express it. He sees it as a sign of weakness and Christian doesn't believe in being weak, we both know that."
"But I'm his daughter."
"Even more of a reason for him to show you that he is the one in control. His calling the insurance was his way of showing power. Of making people see that no one messes with his daughter's property because it is yours and he cares for you."
"He also cares for fine wine and helicopters," Victoria bluntly spoke and Flynn's lips rose in a small grin and he nodded in agreement.
"That he does," he understood. "But he cares for you more."
"He also planned to force me to take Birth Control Pills because he thinks me and my boyfriend are serious," Victoria continued and Flynn arched a brow, mentally making a note to bring this up when he was next with Christian.
"Caring for you in his own way," Flynn said.
"It is over the top."
"He just doesn't want you to throw away your whole life by becoming pregnant. You're his daughter. He is looking out for you."
"But it isn't any of his business. He does not decide when I take the pill."
"I admit that it is intrusive for a girl of your age but I can see why he did it."
"Will you ever take my side?" Victoria complained as Flynn smiled.
"It's my job to show you both sides of a story, Miss Grey," he informed her and Victoria stood up as she checked her watch.
"I have a lecture to get to."
"Well you've been here ten minutes."
"So that's...what...five hundred dollars?" she asked him dryly and Flynn picked up his clipboard.
"I'll put it on your father's tab," he joked back as she left the room and he sighed, running a hand over his head and thinking about the issues which Christian had with his daughter.
...
A/N: Two chapters in one day! On a roll! Thank you to Aluria and lisalilac for reviewing the last chapter and please do let me know what you think! Just a quick word, please?
