I know an update is long overdue, I apologize. My hope is that the next update does not take as long.
Phoebe's eyes were near tears as she waited for him to say something. I watched as he took a deep breath, and then a long draw from his glass.
"Congratulations Pumpkin." He said with a smile that even reached his eyes, the crinkling in the corners a sign of his age. I stood still, unable to wrap my brain around this being his actual response. Dad moved to give Phoebe in a big hug, then he shook Kyle's hand, pulling him into an embrace as they shook. Looking around the room I wasn't the only one perplexed with the response. My mother was the first of us to shake off her confusion and move forward, plastering a smile on her face and going to Dad's side to congratulate both of them. I felt the room take a sigh of relief and the side conversations began. Suddenly Dad cleared his throat, everyone turned to look at him. This was the time he lost it, I thought to myself. Instead he raised his glass. "A toast, to my lovely daughter and my future son in law." We all toasted the couple, but I was not convinced. That's when I spotted Taylor heading into the kitchen. He was the only person that usually knew my father's reasoning. Taking a quick glance around to make sure I wouldn't be missed, I started for the kitchen.
"Oh Teddy!" Phoebe grabbed me as I tried to exit. She was beaming. "Daddy is so happy for me! It wasn't as bad as you said it would be!" She giggled. "And to think I was nervous!" I gave her a tight smile.
"I know, funny right?" I tried to see if Taylor had stayed in the kitchen or if he and Gail had left to their quarters.
"What is it?" Phoebe turned to follow my gaze. "There's nothing back there." She gave me a confused look.
"Uh, P I've got to go relieve myself." A lame excuse, but I didn't have time to waste. Happiness was not a natural response for Christian Grey, he barely fought with his emotions after the announcement, and I planned to get to the bottom of it. Phoebe rolled her eyes.
"It's all that scotch you drank, better watch it. One too many and you will be calling Lynsey to take care of that favor you owe her." Phoebe winked at me and I had to sigh. I had almost forgotten about that morning. Leave it to Phoebe and her relaxed state to remind me.
"Believe me P, Miss Franklin is the last thing on my mind. Now if you'd excuse me…" I gave her arm a squeeze as I passed her, heading to the kitchen. In all the time it took me to make the move, I was certain Taylor had time to give me the slip.
As I walked in I saw that I had missed him. Eyeing the doorway that led to the Taylor's quarters I was half tempted to barge in and get to the bottom of this, but that would have been the Christian Grey way of handling things. And despite what my mother and sister thought, I was not his clone. Leaning back against the counter I felt the buzz of my cell phone. I thought about ignoring it, but could use the interruption. Not even bothering to glance at the caller ID I put the phone to my ear.
"Grey."
"You never texted me." I didn't even need to see her face to know Lynsey was mad. I let out an annoyed sigh.
"Excuse me?" I knew my tone was short, but I didn't care.
"Mr. Grey, I thought you were going to text me." Again the anger was clear in her voice. "I don't like to be kept waiting." My mind went to her lips. Shit, I thought, trying to think about anything but her. I heard her click her tongue. Son of a…
"Teddy?" My mother stepped into the kitchen. I quickly hung up on Lynsey and focused on my mom.
"Yes ma'am?" I gave her a slight smile.
"Oh I hadn't realized you were on the phone. No need to end your conversation, everyone just was curious as to where you went." She smiled at me. "See it wasn't that bad, we worried for nothing." I nodded.
"It looks that way." I shifted my weight, my phone still in my hand. It suddenly buzzed and I saw Lynsey's name flash across the screen. Mom raised her eyebrows at me before giving a slight wave.
"I'll let you take that." She said as she left the kitchen. I rolled my eyes, there were too many people around to have a conversation with Lynsey right now. My phone lit up yet again, sighing deeply I answered and pressed the phone to my ear.
"Now is not a good time, Miss Franklin." I spoke in a hushed tone, but firmly.
"It never is with you is it Mr. Grey." She echoed my tone, yet hers was much more stern. "When you tell a girl you're going to text them, they expect you to do just that." Her tone was somewhat light, but I could hear the frustration in her voice.
"It has been a busy day. I would think that from what you've heard you would know that. Family before business."
"Business? Is that what this is to you Mr. Grey?" The shock was evident in her voice, I laughed. "I don't find it funny at all." The frustration in her voice was giving way to anger. I sighed, it always did with her. "Tomorrow night, I'll be at your place after work."
"Yes ma'am." I gave her the response I knew she wanted and heard her end the call. Sighing I leaned back against the counter. Lynsey was supposed to be in the past, and stay in the past. Instead she was rearing her ugly head again and honestly I didn't know if I was up to dealing with her. Last year was a time in my life where I was still yet to buck the crazy that had hounded me since college. Now, being a hard working member of society, I had settled on the burn of booze in the privacy of my own home, and nice ordinary plain vanilla sex. Both seemed boring and underrated when put like that, but both had become common place and I was grateful. But now, because of my love for my sister I had to take one more go at it with Lynsey of all people. I placed my glass of ice against my temple, my eyes closed tight. Just like a bandaid, I thought, get it over with and be done.
"It's not that bad son." My father's voice brought me out of my thoughts. I gave him a small smile and pulled the glass away from my head. "Is this about Phoebe?" He asked as he stared at me. I shook my head.
"No sir. Completely un-Phoebe related." I turned around and went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. "How do you feel about it? You seemed extremely calm by the news, almost as if you knew it was going to happen." I took the cap off my water and took a long sip. Dad smiled and sipped his drink.
"Ted, there isn't much that goes on with my family I'm not aware of." I narrowed my eyes at him.
"You have someone keeping tabs on Phebs?" I asked. "I thought that came to an end when we got older." It had stopped for me in college. There was something strange about someone knowing so much about my sex life. I had told my dad it had to stop. Dad sat his glass on the counter and shrugged.
"For you it did. I trust you to handle situations that come your way. Your sister however, I wanted to make sure she was safe. I still want to know. It helps me sleep at night Ted." I nodded, I understood what he was saying. "She's my baby girl, son." I watched his eyes cloud over as he thought about it. But as quickly as they clouded over, he coughed and cleared up. "So what is it that has you so deep in thought? Bringing your work home with you?" He nodded to my phone on the counter.
"No, not tonight." I didn't look up, my eyes settled on the phone. I couldn't keep my mind from wandering to my last encounter with Lynsey. Rubbing my wrist I could still feel it.
"Expecting a call?" Dad spoke slowly. I blinked quickly coming out of the trance like state I was in and slapping a smile on my face.
"Oh no, I apologize, just a little preoccupied. It's nothing. I promise."
