Chapter 4 – Dance Little Sister
Ana
Saturday, August 30, 2031 (continued)
After hanging up from Teddy, I decide to take a quick shower. Once I'm out, I blow-dry my hair, drape on a nightgown, and throw on a robe and slippers. I'm sure Christian is sitting exactly where I last left him. He needs to get a grip. Phoebe is fine. As I arrive in the main room after a lengthy hike, the main door swings open. I glance at a clock nearby and see that it's 10:20.
Phoebe rushes in looking flustered. Oh no, was her date a disaster? I secretly hope that Hanson didn't turn out to be a creep. However I can't see that happening – he's such a nice young man. I've known him and his family for many years.
"How did your date go?" Christian casually calls out to her. However, Phoebe doesn't stop moving, nor does she look back at either of us. Shocked, I turn to look at Christian who appears to be unshaken. Holy fuck. And I know right then and there that it's something he's had a hand in.
"What?" he says with a dumbstruck expression on his face. I scowl at him, but know I'm not going to get the answers that I need from him. I briskly walk towards Phoebe's room. When I finally get there, her door is closed. I knock. No answer.
"Phoebe – honey? Is everything okay?" I twist the doorknob, but it's locked. When I stand silent for a beat, I can hear her sniffling. She's crying. Oh no!
"Phoebe! Please…tell me what's wrong?" I plead. I can hear her weeping louder. My heart sinks.
"Sweetheart, I'm here. Please…talk to me." I stand there for a minute longer. Soon afterwards, the knob turns. Standing before me is a beautiful 16-year-old girl…my beautiful 16-year-old girl – with a red face and matching eyes. My heart breaks at the sight of her. Holding a tissue, she steps aside – allowing me to enter. She shuts and locks the door behind her.
Hiding her face away from me, she walks over to her bed and falls on her pillow. She's staring straight up into space. I carefully take a seat on her bed right beside her.
"Honey, what happened?"
"Mr. Sawyer wouldn't let me and Hanson out of his sight. I…I wouldn't blame Hanson if he'd never want to see me again," she gently sobs. Oh no!
"What do you mean Luke wouldn't let you out of his sight?"
"It was my understanding that he'd just be dropping us off at the mall and letting us be until it was time to go. But no…he said that Dad told him that he was to remain with us at all times!"
Are you fucking kidding me, Grey? I'm beside myself. "Phoebe, both you and I had the same understanding. Luke was to leave you to enjoy your date. I had no idea that this was happening," I say, flabbergasted.
"I figured you wouldn't. I knew Dad letting us go out was too good to be true. Hanson didn't complain, but I could tell that he was very uncomfortable with a third wheel around, much less a personal protection officer! I mean…jeez! The tension with Mr. Sawyer around us was so insane, that Hanson didn't even prolong our date. I'm sure he thinks that I'm just a little girl under the thumb of her parents. He'd never have to put up with that crap with a different girl…especial one from UW!"
My sweet, sweet girl then rolls over and buries her face in her pillow and starts to sob loudly. I don't know what else to do. I gently rub her soft, long beautiful hair.
"I'm so sorry, Phoebe. This will never happen again. I promise," I coo. She flips her head around, dropping my hand like a dead weight. I'm startled.
"That's crap! It will happen! It will always keep happening with Dad!" she shouts.
"No – it won't. I will put a stop to it once and for all," I say firmly. I can feel the veins forming on my forehead. I am steaming mad. How could Christian do this! Why is he doing this?
"You can't do anything, Mom! He's going to do whatever he wants! He's always in control! Just look at what he did to Teddy!" she cries out.
….
Saturday, December 12, 2014
(Flashback)
"Wow, I can't believe that our little boy will be two-years-old exactly one month from today," I sigh. Wow – how fast Teddy has grown. It seems like it was just yesterday when there was panic in the delivery room – well, mostly from Christian – and I was giving birth to a beautiful baby boy.
"Mmm hmm," Christian hums behind me as he and I stand in the center of our bedroom. He swoops my hair over to one shoulder and begins to kiss the back of my neck. I gasp. I'll never cease to react to him doing that.
"Are you ready for this little one here?" I pep as I place a hand over my growing pregnant belly. Both of his arms wrap around me and he places one hand over mine with the other hand touching my belly directly.
"Absolutely – although I love you barefoot and pregnant, Anastasia. I'm just going to keep knocking you up," he murmurs sensually. I laugh.
"You sure about that?" I flirt.
"No doubt, Bunny. I want to make a dozen babies with you. And besides, you are in fact the most sexiest pregnant woman – ever."
His praise causes me to blush. "Am I? Why is that?"
"First of all, there's so much more of you to hold."
"I'm not sure if that's necessarily a good thing," I frown.
"Oh, it's a very good thing," he purrs. He then removes his hands from my belly and takes them behind my back, where I can feel him untying the knot of my green maternity wrap dress. Oh yes – this was exactly what I wanted. I've been waiting all evening for this. I moan.
"And you're always especially horny when you're pregnant, Mrs. Grey. I knew you'd want to leave the holiday party early after our dance. I was glad the moment you said that you wanted to leave. I could tell by the look in your eye that you wanted to fuck."
Dammit. I acknowledge that he's right by bashfully glancing down at the bedroom floor. I blush even more. He exhales as he lifts up my dress by the hem, bringing it carefully over my body exposing my matching lacy black bra and panty set along with a protruding belly.
One of my many symptoms of pregnancy: Insane hormones. I want sex all of the time – even more than before. It really helps being married to a man who loves sex just as much as I do – maybe more. Hell, Christian's my sex teacher. I didn't know my way around my own body until he got ahold of me. After all, he was my very first.
He slowly spins me around and studies me, grinning lustfully. I light up from his approving gaze. A wild thought enters my mind and I bashfully look down at the floor yet again.
"I'm surprised that having sex with our daughter inside of me doesn't bother me more," I say out of nowhere. I look up and see him frowning.
"Ana – I don't even want to think about that."
"Think about what?"
"About our daughter being present."
"Well…she is. And Teddy was present during sex when I carried him."
"I know…but its different thinking about your own daughter having anything to do with sex," he says. And I can tell that his mind is taking him some place that he'd rather not go. My heart sinks at the very thought.
"Christian, one day…she will have sex, but that's still a long time from now," I assure him. He closes the gap between us and pulls me to him. I place my cheek on his white button-up shirt, which is unfastened at the top two spots, exposing his small island of chest hair – which I adore. I nuzzle the island with my nose.
"Maybe when she's thirty, I will allow her." His words cause me to jerk up and stare up into his beautiful face. He's stone cold serious.
"Christian, don't be ridiculous."
"I'm not…that's my daughter," he says, returning his hands to my belly. Our second 'little blip' is currently the size of a large eggplant. In three months, our eggplant will be fully gestated and ready to roam among us. Even though I can't wait to meet her – this poor girl is going to have her hands full with her very overprotective father.
"Our daughter. And don't forget, I'm someone's daughter too. You had absolutely no qualms sexing me, and I'm still a ways from thirty," I chuckle.
"But you're my wife. You're supposed to have sex with me," he says, shrugging his shoulders as if it's a given.
"No, I don't have to have sex with you. I want to. And before we were married, I wanted to have sex with you then. It was my choice – just like it will be our daughter's decision," I try and reason. However, from the less-than-thrilled expression on his face, I feel like I just wasted my breath.
"We'll just see about that," he says with narrowed eyes as he wraps his arms around me to unhook my bra. As thoughts of my control freak being unleashed on our offspring begin to flood my mind, I suddenly lose track of foreplay. Soon my bra is on the floor, exposing my breasts. He lustfully studies them, licking his lips before lowering his face down towards them as he recloses the gap between us. I speak before he can sample me.
"Don't be that type of father, Christian. How would you feel if your parents stopped you from figuring things out all on your own?" I argue. He stops in his tracks. He looks at me with an expression that's light years away from lust.
"Ana, I wished that they had. Elena would've never gotten her claws on me. I wouldn't know all of the twisted shit that I know if it weren't for her."
Oh no – not this again.
"But you said it was her who helped you to get your business off of the ground. Look, don't get me wrong – I hate her, but sometimes there's a bright side to a storm. I'm thankful for your past. It's the sum of all of the parts that brought us together," I reason. I caress the stubble on his face with the back of my hand. He looks down.
"I don't want our children to end up like me," he says under his breath. Oh no. Please…no. Don't say that. I pull him into my arms and hold him tight.
"Christian, if our babies have even half of your heart, they'll be more than fine. I never met anyone like you – ever. You are so compassionate and giving of yourself. Having our children take after you would be a dream come true for me. I already see you in our son," I say lovingly.
"No, baby…Ted takes after his beautiful mother. And I hope that this little one here does too," he counters, caressing my belly. Before I can react, he passionately kisses me. I know the reason why he does this is twofold. Yes, he wants to get on with it, but he also hates it whenever I complement him. However, he needn't hold his breath because I will never stop telling him how much he means to me.
Soon, the two of us are naked in our bed. His lips and hands are all over me. He's kissing my mouth, my chin, my neck, my breasts, and my belly... Then…
"Ahh!"
"Yes, baby – you like?"
He savagely attacks my sex with his mouth. I throw my head back in ultimate desire, grabbing hold of his unruly copper hair lodged in between my thighs.
"Yes!"
He resumes his sweet and torturous ministrations. He consumes me.
All of me.
"Oh…please…"
"Please what?"
"I want you…now," I gasp as my pelvis rhythmically jerks forward.
"Turn around," he orders me as he moves over to the side. That's right…no more missionary position while my belly is in the way – not that I mind having sex this way. Christian and I make love in so many fun ways anyhow. In fact, every way is mind blowing with my priapic husband.
He kindly props two pillows up for me before I position myself on all fours. Yes…for my head when I collapse. This is gonna be rough…just the way I like it.
He takes hold of my hips. Slowly, he glides into me.
"Ahhhh…" I exhale.
He groans. "You are so wet Ana," he sighs with pleasure. He starts to move.
Faster.
Faster.
I'm calling out his name as he picks up the pace, and my hands form tight fists – firmly gripping the bed sheets.
"Yes…fuck me…Christian…"
He moves even faster, driving me absolutely wild.
"Oh, Ana…"
I will never tire of hearing my name float across his delicious lips. I push my bottom backwards, meeting him at every thrust.
"Bunny…fuck…"
"Ohhh…Tiger…yes…ahhh…"
And just as he did during the first time that I called him that, he spirals out of control. It causes a chain reaction. I collapse forward with my face smushed against the pillows, crying out my release into them as he jerks forth, grunting out his orgasm.
"Dammit, woman – you're savage." And I can feel his smile against my back. It lights me up from within.
"You wouldn't have me any other way Mr. Grey, now would you?" I breathe.
"Damned right, baby. But I didn't want to come so quickly. You make me lose all self-control," he says as his lips are against my skin.
"And we know how much you despise that," I tease.
"No…when it comes to giving you what you want…I don't mind relinquishing my control." His words cause me to contemplate.
"Is that premise just when it comes to sex?" I ask. He rolls off of me and lies down besides me. I turn on my side and face him.
"No, baby. I've told you time and time again – I want to give you the world. Whatever you want. It's all yours."
"Christian, you've given me everything already," I softly reply. "You've given me a life beyond my wildest dreams. A beautiful little boy, and soon…a baby girl."
"You have that all backwards, Ana. You've given me all of those wonderful things." He moves forward and kisses me soundly.
"Surely there's something else that I can give you," he says.
I laugh. "No, like I said – I have everything."
"There must something else. Tell me."
I soon reflect back to our talk from just a short time ago.
"Just continue to be all that you are to me – loving, strong, and selfless. And when our children grow older…don't be such a control freak. I remember how you were with me earlier in our relationship. Don't ever do that to our son and daughter. Give them a little room to breathe…to learn and grow. They'll definitely need that."
After the words leave my mouth, they feel quite ominous. Where did that come from? He narrows his eyes at me.
"I promised to always protect you and our children. That is non-negotiable, Mrs. Grey," he says sternly.
"And I don't expect anything less from you. But you must have boundaries, surely. You of all people should understand the premise of boundaries," I remind him. Yes, his whole life, he's functioned according to boundaries.
"I do," he nods.
"So don't be the insane father with the shotgun in his lap," I smile. He laughs.
"Baby, I can't make that promise right now. All I can do is assure you that I will try."
"That's all I ask," I exhale. He looks at me with adoring eyes.
We kiss once more.
….
Sunday, August 31, 2031
(The Present)
"Try" my ass.
I sit in the reclining chair in my study with a book in my hand, but I'm not reading. I'm reflecting back to sixteen years ago. Where is that man that said he would 'try'? Where did he go?
I can't take any more of this. I won't take it. I want my husband back. I want my oldest two children back. Shit – Teddy.
I suddenly remember that we are back at two obstacles. And just when I thought we were good when Phoebe went out on her date – we are back to square one. I wished Dr. Flynn never retired.
Not only do I have to fix this mess with Phoebe, I have to brace Christian for Teddy's news. If I could just remain in my study for the next two weeks…
"Ana?"
Fuck. My husband's voice calls out from the other side of my door. I check a nearby clock and see that it's past one.
"I'm reading," I answer back. I had to say something, or he'd just think I was asleep and carry me off to bed. I don't want to be in that bed with him. I need to sort things out in my head so I know how to deal with this test. But something tells me that I'm about to have a pop quiz.
He opens the door and stands before me in jeans and a black shirt – exactly what he wore out to dinner earlier. He walks forward until he's standing in front my recliner before lowering himself down to his knees to look me in the eye. The expression on his face is unreadable.
"Phoebe won't even talk to me," he says. I'm shocked by his audacity. I cock my head over to the side.
"You blame her?"
"She doesn't understand my motivation, but she will one day. For now, I'll just have to deal with her attitude…I guess. She's a teenage girl with hormones."
You've got to be fucking kidding me, Grey. You can't be serious.
"That has nothing to do with it. It has everything to do with you not letting her be sixteen. You're treating her like she's four," I snap.
"Not this again…"
"Yes – this again. And you have no one to blame but yourself. Too bad you have to drag me down with you." His eyes gape at me as if he's staring at something foreign. No Grey – you're the alien. You're the unreasonable, overprotective father.
"Anastasia, we're supposed to be a united front." His words cause me to pop.
"Yeah – I know! I thought you and I agreed that we'd let our daughter have a nice date with Hanson! Instead, you go behind my back and order Luke to stick to them like white on rice!"
"I did, yes! In fact, Luke always follows the girls!" he yells back in a tone as if I lacked common sense.
"Luke doesn't follow the girls to all of their classes, nor does he hound them when they are hanging out with their girlfriends! Yet somehow, you thought that he needed to make this an exception! Phoebe was out on a date with a nice young man! She wasn't hanging with a convicted felon!"
"I don't trust him!"
And the truth comes out. I try to calm down for the both of us. I have no clue if the girls can hear us yelling incased in these thick walls, in a quiet house at one in the morning. But still, I need to reel this in. Besides, Christian doesn't respond well to confrontation. I should know this after two decades. I take several calming breaths.
"Both you and I spoke to Hanson in your study. You performed a stupid background check. So why don't you trust him?"
"I don't trust any punk with my daughter."
Fucking ridiculous. A puff of air masking a laugh shoots out of my nose, but I restrain myself from taking it any further.
"If you aren't the most contrary…contradictory…double-minded…" I scoff, but too frustrated to continue my angry list of adjectives for this man kneeling before me.
"Are you finished, or are you done?" he angrily quips.
"Oh, I'm done – and I'm staying in here."
He opens his mouth to speak, then closes it. Making another attempt to talk, he does the same thing a second time, closing his mouth.
"Goodnight, Christian," I say firmly, not blinking a single eyelid.
"So…you're not coming to our bed?"
"No – I'm not."
"Why not?"
Jesus…he wants me to spell it out for him.
"Because Christian, you are being an ass. Therefore, you can stay your ass in that bed all alone tonight. Goodnight, Sir."
He gapes at me. "What are you trying to do?"
I completely run out of patience. And plus, it's extremely late. My filter switched off hours ago. Memories of my Anastasia: Unplugged acoustic set come to mind. Don't let me get out my guitar, Grey.
"I'm done trying to reason with you. Leave me alone."
"So, you'd rather not talk things over like an adult? You'd rather be immature about this?" That look on his face – on no…he's actually believes in his own bullshit. He thinks that he's being the reasonable one, while Phoebe and I are being childish.
"Yeah…sure – whatever you want to call or categorize this as. Like I said, I'm done. I can't deal with this anymore. I never thought that you'd resort to going behind my back again. I thought we'd put a stop to that a long, long time ago. But here we are. Yeah…that's not going to work for me…or our children."
Granted, it's very late as I pointed out before. I have no idea what I just said. But whatever it was, it appears to take immediate affect. The once confident, set-on-his-decisions master of the universe has suddenly made a run for a border. Now before me stands a very familiar face. It's the same face I saw when I marched out of GEH upon finding out that he bought SIP. It's the look I caught when I left him standing alone in his bedroom at the penthouse at Escala after finding out about his many deceptions. It's the same expression I witnessed as he stood above me at that slot machine in Las Vegas – when I was newly pregnant with Teddy.
"No…Ana – don't even think about it. It's so wrong for you to jump so far left like that – even implying that you would ever…"
Suddenly, he stops talking, but he continues to look petrified. "Ever what?" I ask.
"Take the girls and leave me."
And in an instant, the tables have turned. He has now made me the villain.
"I never said that!" I am now worked up all over again.
"So why are you 'done' – as you say? Why won't you come to bed with me? Why do you refuse to talk to me?"
"Why are you putting words in my mouth! I'm just saying that I'm done for the night! I can't deal with this shit tonight! Well…now it's morning!"
"I'm not leaving this room until we deal with this like adults!" he barks.
Looks like we're going to be here all night, because he's not going to cave. He's not going to fully understand why his overbearing ways are illogical. He had a hell of a time letting Phoebe walk out of these doors with Hanson in the first place, even with Luke in tow. So how is he going to be able to let his baby girl go completely? How is he going to cast aside his fears and let Phoebe bump her head every now and again? It's not in his character to allow that to happen. The very same goes with Teddy. Again – I still have that to contend with. I'm getting sleepier just thinking about all of the stress.
"Christian – you need to allow Phoebe to spend time with Hanson all on her own. No PPOs. No PIs lurking in the bushes. She needs to be on her own. You need to trust her."
After I speak the words, Christian closes his eyes in pain. Soon, he shoots straight up and begins to frantically pace my study. Oh geez – not this.
"I don't tru…" He pauses mid pace as I interrupt him.
"I know you don't trust him. I know. But you need to trust that we did our job raising our daughter well. You have to let her go. Please…for her sake, and ours. I don't want to lose her. We're losing her, Christian." I can feel a tear pricking my eye. I fight it.
His tortured gray eyes stare right through me. Soon, he rubs his eyes and resumes pacing frantically in a straight line. I leave him to it. He needs to pace. This is how he contemplates in a stressful situation. It's how copes. Well – that and sex.
After what seems to be an eternity, he walks up to me and sticks out his hand. What is he doing? No – this isn't resolved yet. I'm not going to bed with you, Grey. But something in the air tells me that I need to take his hand. I need to reassure him that letting our girl grow up is in fact the right thing to do. If I don't take his hand, I'm shunning him. Shunning him will have the opposite effect of what I want to happen. When a few moments have past, I place my book on the small table and I take his hand. He guides me up to my feet.
I gaze up into his eyes and he looks down into mine. He looks unsettled.
"Give me a couple of days to work this out in my head. I have to make sense of this, or else I won't be able to step away."
Okay…fair enough. At least it's something.
"Sure. How long do you need? A day? Three?" I propose.
"Three," he answers.
"Okay – three days. But until then, let me deal with Phoebe and tell her that you are working on pulling back from her and Hanson. Is that okay?"
He closes his eyes in conflict before opening them back up. "Yes."
"Good."
And that, my friends is how you settle an argument like two rational adults. This will only continue if Christian holds up his end of the bargain and lay off of Phoebe and Hanson after Tuesday.
Without saying a word, he guides me out of my study and turns off the lights.
We're making some progress…I hope.
Next up: Teddy.
….
Wednesday, September 3, 2031
I know it's only been less than a month since I've last seen him, but I light up the instant my baby boy enters the restaurant. He looks like such a man dressed up as his father is, but he's wearing a black business suit and tie. Christian is in my favorite color suit of his – gray. I'm wearing a long-sleeved sapphire colored sheath dress with a black belt.
Christian and I stand to greet Teddy as he meets us for lunch.
"Oh…sweetheart, you look so handsome!" I swoon as I wrap my arms tightly around him. He kisses me on the cheek. I grab him by the arms and pull him back to observe him.
"You look so…adult!" I laugh.
"I am…at least I hope that I am," he jokes. I finally release him as he steps to the side to greet his father beside me. The two men hug. Even though Christian might be hard on his son at times, I can tell from the expression on the side of his face that he is mighty proud of his boy. I'm sure he'd never tell him that. Christian has this crazy idea that Teddy would get a big head and stop trying if he were to continue to be praised. I disagree. Our children need our praises.
Christian and I retake our seats, while Teddy sits in the chair across from us.
"So…how did your meeting with your future team at Amazon go?" I gleam anxiously.
"It was great. The supplier relations team was awesome. They wanted to take me out to lunch afterwards, but I told them that I was meeting with my folks."
"You should have told us. Your mother and I could have met you afterwards," Christian pipes.
"No…this is good. I'll have plenty of time to lunch with the team when I'm working there. Besides, it's good to see you," he beams. Wow, Teddy looks…happy? He didn't look as pleased to see us over the summer. Is this a new Teddy, or is he just thrilled to be seeing…someone else? I quickly dismiss the thought.
"So Dad…did Mom tell you…"
"Yes, she did." Christian keeps a straight face and doesn't show his hand…per usual.
I told him Sunday after brunch about Teddy's internship at Amazon in the spring and his plans to enroll in evening classes at UW.
"Why UW? Why not take courses at WSU Seattle instead," Christian argues.
"Well, certain courses that he needs are more accommodating at UW with his full-time work schedule," I respond.
He didn't say anything more after that. He simply hummed and let it go. I just let it be and hoped that it wouldn't be a problem once we met with Teddy for lunch.
"Well – I'm going to the registration office at UW after I leave here to get the ball rolling," Teddy announces. Both he and I study his father. All Christian does is nod. What…no words about Sophie? He's just letting this happen? Maybe he's finally turning over that new leaf.
Another good thing – Christian's going to have a talk with Phoebe after dinner tonight to let her know that he's no longer going to have Luke follow her and Hanson around on dates. He also assured me that he would no longer monitor Phoebe's personal text messages or emails. If Phoebe wants us to know something, she will tell us.
Perhaps Christian is slowly learning how to finally let go.
"Where are you staying when you return in the spring?" Christian smirks.
"I was hoping that I could crash back in my old room," beams Teddy. I laugh.
"Of course," I say happily.
"Your mother and sisters will be happy to have you back in the house for an extended period of time," Christian says.
"What about you?" Teddy asks his father. My heart stops beating. Oh no. Why should he even feel the need to ask such a question? Of course his father wants him home.
"It'll be good for us to catch the spring home opener this time around," Christian answers with a smile. Teddy beams back at him. Yep – that's Daddy's way of telling him that he's glad to have his baby boy home.
"Absolutely. I think the M's will do well next year," sparks Teddy.
"They're still in it right now. Maybe they'll do it this year," his father responds.
"I doubt it. There are way too many injuries to take it that far into the post season. They need to rest up for a fresh run."
I zone out whenever they start talking baseball. If Elliot, my step-dad, and father-in-law were here, I'd simply walk away and let the boys go to town. But this is really nice…seeing my two men talking like this. I missed that.
It's like…home.
….
Ted
Wednesday, September 3, 2031
So, my dad didn't freak out about me taking classes at UW like I thought he would. Looks like my mother smoothed things over with him ahead of time. I genuinely had a nice lunch with my folks today.
When Mom and Dad returned to work, I swung by the house in my rental car and changed out of my suit into jeans, a t-shirt and jacket before heading over to UW. I was too nervous to reach out to Sophie to let her know that I was coming to her campus. Instead, I decide to go with the element of surprise. Surely I'll find her roaming around the building where most of her hospitality courses would be.
I go to the admissions office first and get the ball rolling for spring registration. Afterwards, I stalk one of the buildings where Sophie would most likely be taking classes. I wait. I wait some more. Unfortunately, time isn't on my side at the moment. I'll need to head to SeaTac in a couple of hours for my flight back to Stanford.
Just as I contemplate if I should just bite the bullet and locate Sophie's social media account on my phone and let her know that I'm here, I look up as students are passing by. Suddenly, I see a familiar silhouette in my periphery. I turn and then do a double take. It's a girl with very long dark hair wearing a white skirt with dark flowers, a long-sleeved blue jacket over a black top, and a white scarf. It's someone who I know very well, and they look to be quite upset. She's trekking across the lawn very fast. My jaw drops.
What the… No…it couldn't possibly be her. To be safe, I decide to call out a name in order to rule her out.
"Phoebe?!"
Suddenly, the brisk walker stops dead in her tracks and spins around towards me. What in the fuck is my little sister doing here at UW when she should be in class at this moment in high school!
"Teddy?!" She's equally as shocked to see me. Both she and I rush up to each other and meet halfway.
"Why are you here?" I blurt out.
"I should be asking you the same thing!" she counters.
"You first!"
"Nuh un…you. You don't even go to school here. You're supposed to be at Stanford in California," she lobs at me.
"Look…Mom and Dad wanted it to be a surprise for you and the twins. I'm coming back home in the spring to work an internship at Amazon. I'll be taking night classes here just for the semester."
"Oh my God!" she squeals, as she jumps up and throws her arms around me – knocking the wind right out of me. I laugh. "That is so awesome!"
"Yeah, it's a sweet deal. You next. Why are you here?"
Instantly, her gaze drops. Oh shit…she's skipping school to be here. This is not good. Not good at all. Phoebe is going to fuck this up for everybody – myself and the twins included. And just when I thought that Dad was opening up to the idea of leaving me alone when it comes to Sophie…
"You're skipping class to see Hanson, aren't you?" I gasp. She sighs.
"Look…our first date last Saturday was absolutely horrible. Dad had Sawyer on our ass the entire time. Hanson couldn't even kiss me goodnight!"
Oh boy. Looks like Christian Grey's intruded on the next level of Grey children. "Look – you wanna go grab a milkshake?" I propose.
A short time later, my kid sister and I sit in a booth at a fast food joint on campus with our strawberry milkshakes in tow.
"I switched cell phones with Cynthia at school so I could sneak off to here," Pheeb confesses.
"You did what!"
"Dad tracks our whereabouts on our mobiles. You know that, right?"
"Yeah…he does."
"Look, I just had to see Hanson. I felt so bad about Saturday night. I don't want him to stop seeing me because my father's a pit bull."
"You need to talk to Mom."
"I did talk to her and it got me nowhere! She's going to always side with him!" she cries out in frustration.
"Pheeb, settle down. Listen to me – Mom trusts you. As long as she trusts you, she'll be your ally. Eventually, Dad will cave. Once you lose Mom's trust, she'll just let Dad run loose on you. Then you're screwed."
"But Mom's feelings don't matter in that marriage, Teddy! You know I'm right."
"I don't believe that's the case. When Mom's not happy, nobody's happy – Dad included. You just need to give her time to work things out on your behalf. You may not know it, but she's working behind the scenes. You might not see it now, but you will soon."
"God," she sighs, shaking her head in frustration.
"Yeah, yeah…I know. It's the cost of being the daughter of crazy billionaires. You'll eventually get over it…brat." My little sis bops me across the booth on the forehead with her palm.
"I almost want a regular, working class family. At least they would let me date," she pouts.
"Fuck that. You don't want to be regular. You don't want to be struggling to pay for school…or catch the train everywhere. You have a driver, Pheeb…and a trust fund. You can begin working at GEH during summers now…one of the largest privately owned companies in the world. How many of your peers can say that?"
"Whatever – I don't care. I just want a life, Teddy. Don't you want your own life? Aren't you sick of having to live up to some expectation that Dad has set for you?"
"Any good parent wants their children to do what it is that they haven't done. Yeah, Pops can be hard…but it's all in love."
"Bullshit. I thought it was at first, but now…I don't know anymore."
"Oh, shut up. You've had it way too easy, girl. You just don't know how good you have it. This is your very first hiccup as the Star Grey Child. Up to this point, Phoebe Grey could do no wrong. Hey, let's change the subject. What happened when you found Hanson?" Her face falls flat.
"Well, he was shocked to see me here just as you were. He hugged me, kissed my cheek, and told me to get back to school," she says with a broken expression that pricks me. Did she just get dumped? Was that why she was crying and walking fast earlier?
"Did he say anything else?"
"He said that he likes me entirely too much to piss off my parents and never get the opportunity to see me again," she mopes. Well, well, well. Hanson is exactly who I thought he was: A straight-laced do-gooder. I start to laugh. She frowns at me.
"Who would've thought that Hanson would be so smitten by you that he tells you to leave and go home instead of taking you straight to his dorm room?"
"No – I think he was just trying to get rid of me. Maybe he's dating some girl on campus, which is why he was so stunned to see me here," she says, sunken.
"I don't believe that's the case. He was just surprised to see you here as I was…that's all. I believe Hanson really likes you. Look…he and I talked a few months ago. He asked me if it was okay if he asked you out one of these days."
"He told me about that."
"Yeah, and did he tell you that I said: 'Good luck getting through Christian Grey'?"
Pheeb cracks up laughing. "Yeah, he did say that. When I asked him Saturday how his talk with Dad went, he just brushed it off like it was nothing. He'd only say, 'Oh, your dad is real cool.' My dad – cool? I don't think so. Dad is fucking nuts."
I burst out laughing.
"Yeah, Dad can be high-strung at times. Mom balances him out. That's why they're so perfect for each other." Phoebe only rolls her in reply.
"Back to what I was saying about Mom working behind the scenes – she talked to Dad about me coming back home to work and take classes here at UW. I had lunch with them both today, and Dad took the news surprisingly well."
My sister scrunches her nose, perplexed. "Why wouldn't he be okay with you returning home for a term to intern at Amazon and take classes here? That's awesome news."
"Well…I'm sure you weren't oblivious to the time when all hell broke loose back when I was in high school. You know…with Sophie Taylor."
"The infamous Sophie incident," she gasps in remembrance.
"Yep. The incident I got shit on for skipping school – sort of what you're doing right here, right now."
"I'll be back there before last period, Teddy," she groans.
"How did you get here? You know Dad tracks…"
"Yeah, yeah…I know – Dad tracks our cars. I got a ride to school from Sawyer and then I borrowed Cynthia's car to come here."
I can only shake my head at her mischievousness. It almost makes me a bit proud. "So yes, that incident pretty much excommunicated Sophie from the estate grounds when she and I got caught kissing in the theatre room."
After a few moments, Phoebe's eyes open wide in what appears to be a sudden realization. She knew all about this already, so what's the big deal?
"I think I just saw Sophie not too long before I ran into you. She was holding hands with some guy. Well, at least I thought it was Sophie. I knew she looked familiar."
What? Sophie? Holding hands…with a guy? I try to hold myself together in order to not blow a lid in front of my sister. Maybe Pheeb was mistaken. Maybe she saw someone else. Still, my heart is lodged in my stomach. Has Sophie really moved on?
"Was it really her? Di…did she recognize you?" I stutter.
"Heck no! I don't want her to see me here. And plus, I was upset. I'd just left Hanson. Besides, she'd probably tell her father that she saw me here. I pretty much hid away once I thought it was her."
I need to find Sophie – now. I need to know if she's actually moved on. I compose myself and pretend that everything's hunky dory for the sake of getting my sister out of here.
"Hey…it's getting late. Get back to school before you get found out. You also don't want to get Hanson in trouble with Dad. He'll make his life a living hell."
"You're right about that. What are you about to do? Are you going to be at the house tonight?"
"No – I need to get ready for my return flight to California. And you obviously can't tell anyone that you saw me here, or you'll be blowing your own cover," I chuckle.
"Right," she laughs. The two of us stand and hug before going our separate ways.
For the next hour, I journey to and fro across five long campus blocks – hoping to encounter Sophie.
A/N: Next up, Christian finally eases up on Phoebe and Hanson and their relationship begins to blossom. Ted develops a theory as to why his father isn't too concerned with Sophie any longer. Also, there will be more surprises in store! – ST2