Tea on Tuesday at Four

Chapter 2

Grace

I can't wait to tell Elena the latest. Imagine! For once I was right about my son and she was wrong. Of course, the irony is that it was her suggestion that proved that my maternal instincts were on target.

Oh, there she is. As elegant and confident as ever. She absolutely commands a room whenever she enters. And she always wears black. She has never given me a reasonable explanation for why. But then, she looks completely stunning in black. One of these days I must discuss all of that tanning that she does at the salon. If she's not careful she's going to end up with some form of melanoma.

"Elena, darling!" I stand and extend my hands. She grasps them as we touch cheeks.

"Grace, dear!" she answers coolly. "You are looking fabulous! I do love that pale blue sheathe, it looks glorious with your hair. Now, give it up, girlfriend! Something has put a sparkle in your eyes!"

I laugh. Elena is so cute when she talks in slang, as if we were teenagers or something.

"I have so much to tell you," I reply. "It has been an absolutely marvelous weekend!"

"Oh, how wonderful!" she says. "Now tell me all about it and don't scrimp on the details!"

"Do I ever?" I ask playfully.

She smiles a little ruefully. Yes, I know that sometimes she finds it trying when I ramble on and on, but she is always so patient about it. I doubt that she will object if I go on today. There are just so many things to tell.

"Let's start with Mia," she suggests. "How is our baby girl?"

"Mia is the same as ever," I reply, smiling at her endearment of my darling daughter. "And I'm not sure if that is good or bad. She loved her time in Paris, but was rather unimpressed with French cooking. Perhaps that master chef was a little hard on her. Or maybe, as Carrick thinks, the culinary school was just an excuse to live in Paris for a few months. What do you think?"

"I think that for once, Carrick is right," she says bluntly. "You know what a difficult time you had getting her through high school. And then you let her talk you into finishing school in Switzerland. She was all for it until she discovered that there were actual classes involved. It's a pity that she couldn't have figured that before she had arrived and you had spent forty thousand euros."

"I know," I sigh. "And she's come back with even less direction than before. So far the only ambition that she has discussed for the future is going to the mall this week."

"So did Christian pick her up at Sea-Tac as planned?" she prompts.

"Oh, yes," I reply. "At least I can count on him. Originally, Elliot had promised to do it, but he has taken up with a new young lady down in Vancouver. He decided to help her move up here this weekend. However, he did do his filial duty and come to dinner on Saturday."

"Same girl as the weekend before?" she asks curiously.

"Yes," I say. "He seems smitten."

"Because he's dated the same girl two weekends in a row?" she asks with a knowing smile. "I suppose in Elliot's case that qualifies as smitten."

"No," I answer. "Because he brought her to dinner on Sunday to meet us."

"Really?" She raises her eyebrows. "What . . . er . . . was she like?"

I smile to myself.

"Quite classy actually," I reply. "Her father is the head of Kavenaugh media. She's well-connected and well-educated. Quite beautiful also, very well-groomed. She's not really what you would expect from Elliot. But she is quite feisty. And she and Elliot couldn't keep their hands off of each other. I will need to talk with him about that, I think. It really is such a bad example for Mia. She's still so impressionable. What do you think?"

"I'm not sure," she answers. "Don't look so shocked, dear. It seems to me that Mia has never really thought as highly of Elliot as she does Christian. I am not sure that she is going to emulate his, or his latest little tramp's, behavior. I don't expect this to last long. If the girl is as classy as you say, she might dump him."

"Well, I'm not so sure about that," I say. "He's gone to Barbados for the next two weeks because she has gone on a family vacation. That is not like him at all!"

"In what way? After all, he does like the sunny climes."

"Yes, but," I say, trying to put my thoughts together. "Normally, he wouldn't just pick up and leave the business during prime construction season, no matter how much he likes the sun and sand. No, this one seems to have captivated him."

"Or gotten her claws in him," she comments drily.

"No," I reply. "It can't possibly be about the the money. Her parents have at least as much as we do. They bought her an apartment in Pike's Place Market. I would say that they are equally enthralled with each other. Oh, but I haven't told you the best part. She's Anastasia's roommate."

"Well isn't that interesting?" Elena raises an eyebrow.

However, she doesn't look shocked or surprised. Maybe after our little tete-a-tete last week, nothing I tell her is a shock anymore. But I haven't really come to discuss Elliot. The big news is about Christian.

"Yes, well, things with Elliot will be what they will be," I answer. "I'm sure that you would much prefer to hear about Christian and Anastasia."

"Are they a pair then?" she asks with emphasis.

"Yes, indeed," I reply with equal emphasis. "At dinner on Saturday night, I decided to bring up your suggestion that Christian bring her to meet the whole family the next night. He immediately agreed and then Elliot insisted that he bring Kate, his girl, as well. It was then that we found out that the girls were roommates. Isn't that sweet?"

"Very," she replies tersely.

"What is it, Elena?" I ask, afraid that she has something to say that I might it want to hear.

"Grace, please don't take this the wrong way," she says gently. "But how do you know that these two girls aren't 'tag-teaming,' so to speak, to ensnare your two sons?"

Oh, dear! I think. Once again she and Carrick are on the same page. This is quite unusual. He is a little suspicious of Kate, actually, not Anastasia. He's thinking that maybe Kate is using her friend to get to Elliot. But I know that Anastasia would never never be part of any scheme like that. Okay, maybe she would unknowingly. And Kate, for all of her money and class, is a fast little piece.

"Well, Elena," I say. "Since the two girls will be separated for the next couple of weeks by a few thousand miles, they could hardly be accused of colluding. And you have never met two more different girls. Fortunately, Mia was far more taken with Ana, as she told us to call her, than Kate."

"Does that really surprise you, dear?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Mia has always adored Christian," she replies. "And you know that she has felt the same angst that you and Carrick have had over the years regarding his lack of interest in girls. I would venture to guess that she feels your same relief that he may have finally begun to date."

"Oh, Elena," I say. "As much as I hate to admit it, I am sure that you are right. She was bubbling over with enthusiasm for the poor girl the minute that she stepped in the door. Mia can be quite overwhelming in her own way. And poor little Ana seemed to be so embarrassed by the attention. There were times when she looked as if she just wanted to crawl under the table."

Elena is silent, obviously thinking hard about something.

"So will you be seeing Ana again anytime soon?" she asks carefully.

"Well, she is going to Georgia to see her mother this week," I reply. "But Christian tells me that she will be back Friday. He plans to bring her to Summer Fete. I was a little worried when she mentioned going to visit with her mother. Christian seemed a bit perturbed."

"In what way?" she asks curiously.

"Well, it wasn't so much what Christian said, but he seemed rather displeased that he didn't know," I say. "Come to think of it, they did do a lot of whispering between themselves."

"Private communication?" she asks.

"Yes, I guess that's not so surprising really," I answer. "But it is just so odd seeing Christian so taken with a young woman. But he's not like Elliot at all in that respect."

"You've lost me, dear."

"Let's see," I explain. "Throughout the whole evening, Elliot and Kate were all over each other. Nothing too risqué of course, but they are both very physical people. On the other hand, Christian and Ana were more proper, well-behaved in public if you know what I mean. Now after dinner, they did disappear off to the boathouse for a while and both looked a bit disheveled when they returned. Mia went out to look for them when they were gone for so long and she claims that they were up to some hanky panky, but how would Mia really know?"

"Mia has always had a vivid imagination," she comments uncertainly. "But darling, you've just thrown so much at me that I can't keep it all straight."

I look at her and she does look a bit baffled. Of course, she is right. Here I have been rambling on and on and she doesn't have the whole context. I need to fix this.

"Why don't you just tell me the part about Christian?" she prompts. "Maybe if I can focus on one of the children it will make more sense."

Her smile warms me. Of course, her concern is about Christian. Mia and Elliot are pretty much acting in character. But Christian! What in the world has happened to my son?

"Okay," I say as I take a deep breath. "Saturday night as we were dining en famille, I asked Christian about Anastasia, not mentioning in front of Mia that I had found out that she was with him at the apartment last weekend. Elliot knew, of course, I could see him smirking. Oh, that is such a dreadful habit that both of the boys picked up from Carrick."

"Yes they did," she agrees.

"Oh, and did you see the picture in Sunday's paper of them at the WSUV graduation?" I ask. "Of course they didn't know who she was, so she was just labelled as 'friend.' Thankfully there were no innuendos. That was little Anastasia!"

"Grace, dear," interrupts Elena patiently.

"Oh, yes, I'm sorry," I say returning to the main topic. "One child and one incident at a time. At any rate, on Saturday night, I asked Christian if he would bring Ana to dinner the next night and he immediately agreed. Of course he was not particularly forthcoming with details of their relationship, but he was only too happy to talk about her. Not that there is much to tell. Then, when they arrived on Sunday, we had a lovely family dinner. Although come to think of it, she didn't say very much. She's just so shy, Elena. And she seems so, I don't know, in awe of Christian, almost intimidated."

Elena smiles and shakes her head fondly.

"Grace darling," she says. "Most of Seattle is in awe of Christian. I am sure that she is too. And if she's shy, it makes perfect sense that she would be overwhelmed among your family. Meeting everyone all at once must have been very intimidating for her. Now Elliot's girl, Kate did you say? It sounds like she comes from money and can hold her own. But you haven't mentioned anything about little Ana's family."

"Come to think of it," I reply. "She didn't have much to say. Her stepfather is a carpenter, he was in the army. Her mother has remarried but doesn't seem to have a profession to speak of. She's on her fourth husband."

"And her father?"

"Christian says that he died when she was an infant," I say. "Apparently the day after she was born. So sad! He was in the marines. She views the stepfather as her father. In fact, when her mother remarried, she stayed with her stepfather."

"Interesting," she says thoughtfully. "Christian might feel a bit of a bond with her, you know. She has no father and she might feel as though her mother abandoned her. It sounds as though she has complicated feelings for her mother, you know, like . . ."

"Of course!" I must agree. "He probably feels that she understands him. Perhaps she is the first girl that he's met who knows what it is like to grow up without a father, at least as a young child, and then be abandoned by a mother. Oh, Elena! This puts all of the pieces in place!"

"I'm so glad that we have figured it out!"

She says smiling cheerfully.

"But, Grace dear, please can I warn you about something?"

"What?" I ask cautiously.

"It could be that as the two kids get to know each other better, they will discover that they really don't have that much in common," she says gently. "Last week you mentioned 'love at first sight,' but if that's true then this may not be more than a flash in the pan. I couldn't bear it if you were disappointed! And remember that as far as we know this is the first girlfriend that he's ever had. How many first romances last once the bloom is off the rose?"

"I know that you're right," I admit grudgingly. "But I am rather taken with little Ana. I did not get the impression that she had the least bit of interest in Christian's money. But if you could see Christian then you would realize that he does have feelings for her."

"Oh?" She looks at me intently.

"He could not take his eyes off of her," I reply. "He was watching her every move and listening to her every word. There were times when he seemed to be completely oblivious of everything going on in the room except her."

"Grace, don't take this the wrong way," she says softly. "But that sounds more like infatuation to me. Darling, we both know that he never even went through puppy love. I know that it's hard to imagine that a full grown man like Christian could feel that way, but he still has a bit of catching up to do, shall we say, in the romance department."

"I know you're right, but . . ."

"Grace," she continues. "Please. Keep a close eye on your son. These first crushes can end so badly for young men. If you show too much enthusiasm for the girl it might get his hopes up. We don't want things to go too badly if it all comes crashing down to earth."

"Oh, Elena!" I exclaim. "I know that you are right! He's hardly known the girl for three weeks and I'm already planning the white wedding. What would I ever do without you?"

"I don't know," she replies humbly. "I'm sure that you would do just fine. You know that I'm always here for you. I still owe you for all the support that you gave me when Linc left me."

I look at her kindly. Yes, those were very dark days for her indeed. To think that the man she loved could have treated her so brutally. It was not her fault that he got prostate cancer and couldn't make love to her anymore. She had stood by him through it all and how does he repay her? He nearly beats her to death. But even as she is lying in the hospital suffering from broken bones and bruises, she still stands by him.

First she wouldn't press charges and then she let him divorce her. That was the thanks that she got for offering to give up sexual intimacy for him. But being the unselfish person that she is, she didn't want all of his "inadequacies" to be revealed in court.

Well, it was one of those moments when I was terribly proud of Christian. He gave her the money to set up her business and helped her to get established. Of course, he has made a pretty penny in profits over the last six years. But still, it is one of those many examples of his philanthropy and loyalty to friends and family.

I know how grateful she is and I guess that's another reason why she is as determined as I am to see him happy in life. And she's so protective. Yes, I smile, my son is lucky that he has had Elena to help look after him for these past fifteen years.

Elena

Oh, my word! If I ever wanted proof that Grace Grey was a simpering idiot, it is watching her sitting in front of me right now positively mooning over her son and his little chickie. The more I hear about "little Ana," the more that I think that she and Grace deserve each other. Luckily, I think that it is highly unlikely that this match is going to go much farther. If this girl is everything that Grace thinks that she is and Christian is the man that I know that he is, it's not going to take much to break it up.

And of course I saw her picture in the paper. Christian's certainly right about her being gauche. Her hair has no style, her eyebrows need plucking, and she has no sense of make up. I'm willing to bet that the dress is a hand-me-down from the roommate. It was the only stylish thing about her. And she looks so ill at ease, especially standing beside Christian.

She is a naive little thing. I must admit that I do get a kick out of her nicknaming me, "Mrs. Robinson." There are a lot worse women that she could compare me to than Anne Bancroft. However, if she thinks that Christian is anywhere near as clueless as Dustin Hoffman was in the flick, then she really doesn't understand him. At all. She really doesn't know his dark side. Of course, so far he has gone very easy on her.

He's told me everything so far. I still can't believe that he actually paid Greene to set her up with birth control on Sunday afternoon. It cost him a small fortune, but I was the one who convinced him that if he didn't take care of it himself, she was likely to get herself knocked up. That would never do. I can't even imagine the repercussions for our relationship if he became entangled with her that way.

He better watch out. Just because she has the pills doesn't mean that she will take them. When I see him tonight for dinner, I'll remember to plant that little bit of insecurity in his ear. It's becoming obvious to me that I need to keep dropping little hints about her to remind him of his need for control. He thinks that because she is so innocent, she can't be conniving or manipulative. If you ask me, she's quite a piece of work. After all, what better way to have him shower her with more gifts, than to refuse what he gives her in the first place?

The books, I guess I can see. I could give her the benefit of the doubt on them. They're hardly the most romantic gift a guy can try to impress a girl with, even a mousy little librarian like her. But insisting that the laptop, the Blackberry, and the car are on loan? That is sheer genius! She's definitely got Christian's number. The more reluctant she is to accept his gifts, the more he wants her to have them. That's one of his favorite forms of control.

And of course she has no idea that Christian buys a red Audi for all of his subs. I wonder what she'll think of her "graduation present" when she finds out that it's all part of Christian's safety plan for his submissives. It really is amazing how this obsession with safety extends to the car that they drive.

Then she plays that little game with him last Monday night. Oh, yeah, I finally got that out of him when we talked on Saturday. All she has to do is email him the words "It was nice knowing you" and boom, he's in her bedroom. No woman has ever said "no" to Christian Grey before.

Then, when they have their meeting, little Miss Sweet and Innocent actually debates the various merits of different items in the contract. And not just the soft limits! Good Lord! She needed the laptop to research most of the terms. Didn't he see the red flag? Doesn't he realize that if he tries any of that shit with her that she might have him arrested? This chick is dangerous. And that's what he gets for trying to treat his hook ups like a business deal. He doesn't know any other way.

And can't he see how she manipulated him into spending the night with her in her bed last Thursday? It was a clear case of collusion with the roommate. There was nothing that was guaranteed to make Christian want to stay more than to try and throw him out. This girl is a fucking genius where Christian is concerned. Why can't he see it?

I'm really looking forward to meeting her myself. It's no surprise that Grace is smitten. It's a pity that I can't talk to Carrick about her. He's a little more savvy when it comes to these things. I know that he would see things my way. And Grace didn't mention too much about what he thought of her. He probably played it cool and polite. He always did have impeccable manners.

But he is also very protective of his younger son and I am sure that he has been on the lookout for gold-diggers for years. He mentioned a couple of years ago after Christian made his first billion that he was afraid that he might fall prey to someone like Ana. He even thought that his son was a virgin.

However, as protective as he has been, he has never found out about my real relationship with him. In fact, back when he was a teenagers, I convinced Linc to let him come over to earn a few bucks through some hard labor cleaning up after the addition, Carrick was all for it. He thought that an honest day's pay for an honest day's work might be just what the kid needed to turn around. The beauty of my plan, was that it worked. Christian did turn himself around. Although neither of them has ever really understood how. I take that back. Linc knows now.

Christian was a terribly good looking young man. Youth in subs has always appealed to me. Linc was never a sub after all. He was a sugar daddy. Even if Christian was a little young, I did value his inexperience. It gave me the chance to mold him exactly how I wanted. The irony of course is that if Grace hadn't told me everything about his background, I never would have been able to exert my will over him so easily. I knew exactly which buttons to push and how far I could go to capture him and his gorgeous body.

Dominating him was no problem. As long as I followed up each dose of a little corporal punishment with a sexual advance, he was mine. He succumbed easily enough. Slapping and kissing led to spanking and a blow job. Then he was mine. He would take any beating I gave him, as long as he could fuck me after. I like it rough.

That's how I give it and I can take it as hard as any man can give it. And boy could he give it rough! He was one seething pit of anger, not to mention self-hatred. His early life had him perfectly primed for what I was offering him. It was almost too easy to convince him that this was the only way that he would survive.

But he could take the pain too, as hard as I could give it. Whipping, caning, beating, he could handle it all. He even would beg for it. He told me that it helped him stay focused. He told me that it made him feel like shit about himself, but he didn't care. It made him a man. It made him feel like he could take on any challenge. I kept him grounded. I kept him centered. He needed the brutality to keep sane and the domination to stay in line.

He needed me. There was no way that any of those cute little debutantes that Grace kept throwing at him would ever meet his needs. And if I ever found out that he so much as looked at another girl, I would have beat the shit out of him. Yes, he was so afraid of me that he wouldn't even go to his own prom. Knowing that I had that kind of power over him was worth listening to weeks of Grace moaning and groaning over her poor, socially hopeless son.

Christian always understood what I was doing for him. He knew that he would have been as dead as his crack whore mother if I had not stepped in. He recognized that his kind and loving parents hadn't been able to turn him around. They were too sensitive and nurturing. They tried too hard to make him feel good about himself, even when he disappointed them.

Young Christian didn't want to feel good about himself. he needed my form of discipline. He needed someone to beat the shit out of him and pull him in line. So every time he fucked up, he came to me and I beat him black and blue. Then I rewarded him with a good hard fuck. Pain and pleasure. I gave him it all. For six years I owned him. And then we, or rather I, messed up. But since his prostate surgery, Linc had become very unpredictable, and suspicious. He knew me well enough to realize that I was never going to live like a nun even if I did love him.

It wasn't too pleasant that afternoon when Linc came home and found us together. Christian was tied up and underneath me. I could have gotten away, but at the last minute I decided to take the high road. I freed Christian and let him get away while I distracted my husband. Linc would have killed him for sure if I hadn't. So I took the punishment for both of us. I'm damn lucky that he didn't kill me.

I'll never forget Christian's face when he came to visit me in the hospital the next day. He was so furious that he wanted to kill him. At that point, it wasn't worth it. Linc and I had already worked it out. He would divorce me and give me a decent settlement. I wouldn't press charges. It wasn't out of the kindness of his heart though. He didn't want the whole world to know that his gorgeous wife was fucking a handsome, twenty-one year old stud because he couldn't get it off anymore. A man has his pride.

Christian was steamed, but understood. He certainly didn't want his family to find out about us. And once I settled him down, he realized that if he did go after Linc, the his family would find out about us. He was still early enough in his career that his parents had just barely forgiven him for ditching Harvard. He had just started making money hand over fist and had finally begun to earn their approval. He decided that he would make it up to me. When I was well enough, he helped me to start up the business.

The Domme/sub thing was over between us. I think that he was afraid that something bad would happen to me. He already felt guilty about the beating that I took for him. It was his own weird way of protecting me. And I couldn't risk his safety. Linc swore that if I went near him again, he would make sure that Christian paid for it this time. There was no way that I was going to throw away all those years of work with him because my ex-husband hated him.

And I still control him. I have met and approved every one of his subs. I have groomed them to his specifications. They never even knew that I was the one with the real power in the relationship. They got Christian on the weekends because that's how I wanted it. I couldn't risk him really becoming dependent on any of them. Gail Jones was a find. She takes very good care of him (and Taylor) during the week. She knows more than she'll ever tell. And the things that she could tell!

She cleans up the playroom and keeps the subs' room in order, right down to doing their laundry. Boy, could she make a fortune if the tabloids ever got her to talk! But she never will. At first, it was because I was paying her off, but now I think that she actually has "motherly" feelings towards her. Boy is Christian a trip!

He beats and fucks little brown-haired girls because the remind him of his birth mother. But he has his blondes to take care of his other (non-sexual) needs because they remind him a Grace. Of course, I am the exception to the rule. But that's because I make the rules.

But now I need to get ready for dinner with Christian. Since she's down in Georgia, he has made time for a dinner meeting. I will be interested in discovering how things have gone with her since Saturday. I wonder if she has finally signed the contract. Of course, I couldn't ask Grace. I will actually feel better about her once she has.

I don't like this kind of "special status" that she has acquired with him. If he tells me about another one of his "firsts" with her, I think that I will scream. It's a good thing that I am a mistress of self control. I am able to listen to him go on ad nauseam about her in the role of the sympathetic and understanding friend. And go on he does.

She has him tied up in knots, and not in a good way. However, his confusion about her keeps him running back to me. And I am such a good listener, and a careful listener. And I have a memory like an elephant. I believe that it won't take much to get rid of her. And if my instincts are on target, the day she runs out on him is close at hand. And when she runs out on him, he'll come running back to me.

We will sit and drink and he will spill his guts about all the gory details. Then I will comfort him. Who knows? Maybe we'll even relive a few of the good old days.