Dreaded Conversation
Disclaimer - All the rights to the wonderful world of Fifty Shades Trilogy belongs to E.L. James. I do not own any of the characters from the trilogy. No copyright infringement intended.
A/N: Sorry for the late update. I wrote a part of this chapter yesterday, but I decided not to publish it. I didn't want to leave you guys with a cliffhanger…Thank you for all your wonderful reviews. They make my heart soar. Let me know what you think about this chapter, as I'm pretty biased about the dialogue between Christian and Ana. I tried to write it in a way that would keep them both in character, but at the same time I didn't want to reveal too much, too soon. Does it make sense? Anyway…Enjoy!
Anastasia POV
I woke up the next morning with a pounding in my head, the fiery taste of bile heavy on my tongue. I slowly darted the tip of my swollen tongue over my parched lips, coughing a little, in hopes that the cotton balls I seem to have ingested last night might vanish.
Becoming bolder in my moves, I sluggishly peeled one eyelid of my engorged eyeball, the rays of light fluttering in the room digging holes in my retina. I changed tactics, closing my eyes once again, trying to take in my surroundings through the power of sound. There was a light whoosh, indicating that the window was open, a confirmed fact after feeling a light breeze on my left leg that was currently peeking from under the covers. The birds were singing soft trills, and if I strained a little I could hear the shifts of the leaves.
I was savoring for a little while the relaxing mood, trying to calm the pounding in my head, when the distant sound of water dripping on a tiled surface made my breath stop. In a second, everything that happened yesterday and last night came back to me, in vivid Technicolor details. I groaned, turning on my back and pounding my fists on the sheets around me, kicking my legs like a petulant child.
I opened both of my eyes this time, rolling over to check the clock, finding a tall glass of cold orange juice with two Advils besides, on the nightstand.
Thank you, Mr. Grey! I popped the pills in my mouth, swallowing them with a few sips of juice, before gathering enough courage to sit upright, despite the fact that the room wasn't going to stop spinning. By the time I finished gulping the rest of the juice, my night in shiny armor emerged from the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist, hanging low on his hips. I am pretty sure that my suddenly quickened pulse and my shallow breaths were not a side-effect of the hangover I was sporting.
"Good morning, Miss Steele. Had a good night sleep?" he purrs, smirking in that cocky way of his at me.
I had to effectively swallow a few times my new found saliva, despite my sandpaper throat, before answering.
"Good morning. Yes, thank you." I smiled at him sweetly, batting my eyelashes.
"Umm…where are my clothes?" I asked stupidly, noting that the inferior part of my body was basically naked.
"You threw up. They were filthy. I sent them to be dry-cleaned." He replied, in a matter-of-factly tone, using a smaller towel to dry his hair. I don't know why the clenching of the muscles in his biceps made my thighs to clench, also. Talk about synchronicity, right?
"I bought you new clothes. They're in the bathroom." He continued.
"You bought me new clothes?" I repeated, in a squeaky voice.
He didn't answer, preferring to regard me with a great deal of amusement, the corners of his mouth twitching. Bastard. I was too hangover and my head hurt too much to deal with him right now.
I got up, disentangled the sheets from around me, tugging down the hem of the t-shirt I was wearing. I looked at him from the corner of my eye, and the salacious look he was giving me made a wicked idea to pop in my head. With a sly grin on my face, I pushed back on my heels, lifted my hands and stretched languidly, like a lazy cat. I may even have purred a little. Take that, Grey!
I responded to his smoldering look with a sexy grin of my own and sashayed to the bathroom, closing the door behind me, leaning on it, taking a deep breath.
I used the time in the shower to gather my splattered wits, realizing that, probably, now would be the time for the dreaded conversation, and I honestly didn't have an answer for him. I found the bag with my new clothes hanging from a towel rack and I shook my head when I saw that he even bought me underwear. I didn't know what should worry me more, the fact that the underwear was an almost exact replica of the one I wore the night before, or that he guessed my size correctly.
I decided it doesn't matter and that I will take my retribution by washing my teeth using his toothbrush. There, that makes me feel better.
I emerged from the bathroom, a mist of steam surrounding me, and padded over to a chair to put on my socks and sneakers. He was over by the window, tapping furiously at his phone, dressed very much the same as yesterday.
He looked at me briefly, muttering about how he hoped that my clothes fit, walking towards the now empty bathroom. I raked my fingers through my hair, trying to untangle the knots and quickly tying it in a messy ponytail.
His head popped out of the bathroom, an incredulous look on his face.
"You used my toothbrush?"
I blinked twice, before stating the obvious. "I did".
His face scrunched up. "That's a bit personal, don't you think?"
"Oh, and you tracing my phone, dragging me out of a club, giving me a bath and putting me to bed isn't? Not to mention you buying me underwear." I retorted, my voice dropping in the end to a menacing whisper.
"Good point, well made, Miss Steele." He said, with a smug smirk.
Cocky bastard. I checked my purse and pulled out my phone. No missed calls. I sighed with relief.
He returned to the bedroom, looking straight in my eyes. I did the same, straightening my spine, determined not to back down. We continued the stare contest for a while, each one assessing the other to see who will make the first move to open his mouth.
"Come, breakfast's here." He said, taking my hand and leading me towards the living room. I rolled my eyes and followed him. Like I had any choice in the matter.
He led me to the table, covered in a whole assembly of plates, the amount of food on it enough to feed six people, and throw a small feast for another four. He pulled my chair and waited for me to sit down, like a true gentleman.
This made me smile, a genuine smile, because, somehow, I never pictured him having the manners of a properly groomed man. After all, the way he fucked me the night before was far from gentle. Not that I would complain. I like both sides of him and, for some reason, I found myself wondering if maybe there were more sides of him waiting to be discovered. I felt giddy thinking how I wouldn't mind to go all Christopher Columbus on him.
His voice interrupted my wandering thoughts. "Would you like some coffee?" he asked, holding a jug.
"Yes, please". He poured me some and I picked up the milk and sugar, mixing them with the hot black liquid.
I took a sip, scrunching my face in disgust at the strange taste. "You don't like it?" he asked, seeing my expression.
"I prefer tea. But, in times like this, coffee is a must." I say, sighing in the end.
He chuckled, taking a sip of his own cup. "Maybe you should have thought about this when you decided to get drunk."
I ignored his comment, stuffing my plate full. "Are we waiting for someone?" I asked, cutting a piece from my omelet.
"No, go ahead." He said, gesturing to my plate, piling the food on his own plate.
We ate in silence, stealing glances of each other during the meal. I finished my coffee with the last piece of my delicious croissant, chewing slowly, savoring the exquisite taste of true French pastries.
"Thank you" I said simply, referring not only to the breakfast, but to him taking care of me while I was drunk, as well.
He seemed to understand what I was trying to say, giving me a shy smile that melt the heart I was not aware it still existed in the dark pits of my form. I couldn't help but smile back, biting my lip to stop my lips to curl into a full blown grin.
The intimate moment we shared was, of course, broken the instant my phone started ringing. Glancing at the screen, I muttered an excuse and moved to the window, in an attempt to have a little privacy and to block the raised voice I knew will blast from the speaker.
"Hello?" I answered my back to Elliott.
"Where are you?"
"Good morning to you, too, Jose." I replied sarcastically, rolling my eyes.
"You're not at your apartment." He said, unaffected.
"I'm not, but I'm fine, don't worry."
"Are you at the office?" he continued his interrogation.
"No, I'm with a friend."
A long stretch of silence followed. Finally, Jose spoke. "A friend? What friend?"
I sighed, rubbing my temple with my free hand. "I'll call you later. I'm fine. Don't worry." I repeated through clenched teeth.
"No, I'm not going to hang up until you tell me exactly where you are and what's going on." He replied, impatiently.
"Look, we were just finishing breakfast and it's really very rude of me to leave him alone. I said I'll call you later."
"Him!?" came his shocked voice. "You're with a man?" A short pause, then. "Who is it? What's his name? What are you doing with him? Why are you with him? WHERE ARE YOU?" he bellowed.
"Jose", I spatted through gritted teeth, "I'm a little busy right now, as I said before. Now, be a dear and leave me alone. I appreciate you trying to take care of me and look after me, but I wish you'd stop. You're one of the most important persons in my life and I love you to pieces, but you're smothering me. Please, just trust me and I'll talk to you later." I replied, my voice growing louder towards the end.
As an afterthought I added in a low, menacing voice. "And don't even think about tracing my phone, or I'll kick your ass."
I ended the call, not even bothering to wait for his reply, and turned to Elliott. He was looking at me steadily. I don't think that many people were able to see what really went through his head beneath his stony façade, but I knew that, underneath the cool and collected exterior, a storm was brewing. I didn't know the reason, but I could tell by the look in his eyes that the Kraken was about to be unleashed once again.
"Who's Jose?" he said bitterly, like he was struggling to pronounce his name.
Christian's POV
I clenched my jaw, waiting for her answer. She let out an exasperated huff, blowing some of the tendrils that escaped from her ponytail off her face, and returned to the table, not responding me until she was seated.
"He's a friend." She said. That's it? What the fuck was I supposed to do with this small bit of information?
Grinding my teeth, I continued. "Is he your boyfriend?"
She shook her head, before speaking resolutely. "No, it's not like that between us. He's like my brother. We grew up together."
I let out the breath I was holding with a sigh of relief. I nodded, not knowing whether my desire to continue the interrogation will make her mad.
"Do you have a girlfriend?" she asked, interrupting my thoughts.
It was my turn to shake my head resolutely. "No, I don't do girlfriends." I said, looking at her, waiting for her reaction.
"Oh…" she breathed, eyes widening slightly.
I remained quiet, waiting for her to make the next step. After all, I do believe she owed me an answer.
"So…" she trailed off, shifting uncomfortably in her chair. "What do you want from me? I mean…" she trailed off again, gulping a little. "What did you mean when you said you wanted to see me again?"
Now, it was my turn to gulp. The truth was…I didn't know what I wanted, besides that I really wanted to see her again. Apart from that, though, my mind was unable to take it into further consideration. And if I was to be honest with myself, to see her again was more of a need for me, rather than a desire. Why was that? I had no answer.
She must have seen the confused expression on my face, because she started giggling. "You have no idea what you meant, isn't it?"
I smiled at her giggle and nodded fervently. She sighed and played with the end of her ponytail, a forlorn expression on her face.
"I don't know either…" she sighed again. "I don't do relationships, either. I mean I don't know how to even have one. I don't think I'm ready for one…" she trailed off, looking at me pleadingly to save her from her rambling. She was nervous and flustered, fidgeting in her chair like she was suddenly in the principal office. She looked so small and innocent right now, not at all like the strong woman with a smart mouth I dealt with until now, and I had to fight the urge to take her into my arms and reassure her everything will be okay.
I sighed, preferring to give her the honest answer, rather than the reassuring one. "I don't know either. I guess we're in the same boat." I made a small pause, debating inwardly whether to continue with my honesty path or not. "I don't know why, but I know I want to keep seeing you."
She nodded affirmatively, eyes wide. "Me too. I mean, I want to see you again, too."
She started worrying her bottom lip with her teeth, appearing to fall deep in thought. I stifled my groan, the sight of her biting that lip highly erotic for me.
"Look" she said, capturing my attention. "I'm going to be honest with you. Oh, by the way, honesty is kind of a big deal for me, you know. I have some trust issues, so…wherever this thing between us might take us, I have to know you will be honest with me. Always. I'm not saying you have to tell me your life story, or to disclose your deep, personal secrets, but I have to know that I won't feel the need to question every word that comes from your mouth. So, if I'll ask you something you are not prepared to tell me, or you have no answer for, or whatever, just say so. And I'll stop. And you need to do the same. We won't push each other "she finished, looking into my eyes steadily, waiting for reassurance.
I gulped again. Shit,shit,fucking fuck shit. That's going to be a problem for me, seeing how I already lied to her. But, then again, who's saying she didn't do the same? The way she talks about this, however, makes me think about safewords. Like safewording for ending an emotional torture. That's certain an interesting approach…
She interrupts my line of thinking, again, by continuing. "Anyway…what I was trying to say is that we don't have to put a label on it. I mean, we can be just two people that enjoy spending time together."
I nodded. "Eloquently put, Miss Steele." Somehow, she seemed to read my mind. I didn't like the fact that I didn't know exactly where this was going, but the thought of never seeing her again was surprisingly painful.
She let a small disbelieving laugh, shaking her head slightly. "Hell, we can call it a practice run. You know…we don't even know how much time we have. Who knows which one of us will have to leave Paris first?"
That gave me mixed feelings. I didn't know how to respond to that. On one hand, it is what I wanted in the first place, a way to pass the time spent here, a fantasy of some sorts, a holiday fling, but on the other hand…no, don't go there, Grey.
"So, let me get this straight." I say. "You want to see me again, no strings attached, until one of us leaves Paris?"
She nodded. "So, any other terms or rules, besides honesty and the…hourglass?" I ask, with an amused smile.
She laughs a little at my choice of words and bites her lip again, appearing to be debating something with herself for a few minutes.
"No" she says with finality. "No rules, no terms. I…I'm sick of those. I lived my life with too many of them. I'm ready to see what happens next, without planning ahead. I'm ready to embark on an adventure. It might be fun." She states giddily, with an excited glint in her eyes.
I can't help but laugh at her childlike antics. I don't know what to say about that. Everything she does and says is so unexpected. She seems to catch me with my guard down every time. But strangely, it doesn't bother me. And I can't help but agree with her. It might be fun.
"Okay, you have a deal Miss Steele." I say, laughing a little. She offers me her hand and we shake on it, laughing afterwards.
We spend a few more moments looking at each other, me being caught in her spell. My mood turns a little sour when I realize that I should warn her to steer clear of me.
I clear my throat and fidget a little. "You know, I should be honest with you, too. I feel like I have to warn you. You should stay away from me, Miss Steele."
She makes eye contact, not breaking it for some time. "I could say the same to you, Grey. I could be dangerous for you, too."
I gape at her for a second, then I groan loudly. "You always say the unexpected, don't you?" I ask, sourness in my voice.
She shrugs, brushing it off. "I'm just being sincere. I don't believe in holding your thoughts in. If I have something to say, I do it."
I chuckle, remembering our past exchanges. She's like a breath of fresh air.
"So…what do you want to do today?" I ask her, trying to see if she had any previous plans.
"I don't know. Wait, you'd like to spend the day together?" she asks me, surprised.
"I do. That is, if you don't have any prior engagements." I say, giving her a shy smile. "It seems I can't get enough of you, anyway." I continue under my breath, confused by this sudden revelation.
Her sharp intake of breath lets me know that she heard me. Great, now she'll think I'm some kind of creep or worse, a pussy. I don't have time to retract my words, because she gives me a full, toothy, grin, eyes sparkling and everything. I swallow, fighting the urge to spin her around and kiss her with all I've got.
"I would like a walk" she says after a beat. "I need some fresh air. Maybe some more coffee, or tea."
A walk? I haven't taken a walk in a long time. I actually can't remember when was the last time I took a walk, if ever. I gaze out the window, seeing it's a perfect day for spending it outside. But, would it be safe? I don't want some paparazzi punks to follow us around. And blow my cover. Oh, fuck it. Here, I'm nobody. It's not like someone on the street will recognize me.
"Okay" I acquiesce. "A walk sounds good."
She smiles sweetly at me, flinging her ponytail over her shoulder. "I just have to use the bathroom real quick, then we'll go, ok?"
"Sure. I'll make sure the table is cleaned up by then." I say, but she's already halfway to the bedroom.
I call reception, letting them know it's okay to send someone up to clean up and I gather my wallet, phone and keycard, putting them in various pockets, before grabbing my jacket. I don't bother to go to the door when the knock comes, being sure it's the cleaning lady, instead just answering with a distracted "come in" from my spot by the window.
The door opens and in comes Taylor. Shit, shit, shit, fucking shit.
"Good morning, sir." He says in his usual manner.
"Good morning, Taylor." I gulp. I can't believe I forgot about him. How the hell am I going to explain his presence to Anastasia, who's ready to come out from the bedroom any minute now.
As if she sensed it, she comes out, shrugging on her jacket, before slinging her bag on one shoulder. She stops in the middle of the room, looking at Taylor expectantly, then at me. Taylor's eyes widen slightly at the sight of her.
I cough uneasily. "This is my…coworker, Taylor. Taylor, this is Miss Anastasia Steele." I make the introductions, praying all the gods for Taylor to play along and not to fuck this up for me.
Anastasia extends her hand. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Taylor. Please, call me Ana." She says. And then, as if she remembered something, she adds, blushing "Right, you were the one driving last night. Thank you…"
"Nice to meet you, Miss Steele. No thanks necessary." Taylor adds, bushing a little too.
"Right" I say, interrupting them. "We were going to take a walk" I inform Taylor hastily. "I don't know when we'll be back."
Taylor eyes bulge almost all the way out of their sockets and he looks like he might begin spluttering a little. If I wouldn't be in such an awkward situation, I might have laughed my ass off at the sight of the imperturbable ex-military trying to form a coherent sentence.
"We were going for some coffee, too. Would you like to come?" Anastasia asks politely.
Taylor looks at me and I shake my head no, slightly. He gets what I'm trying to say and retreats immediately.
"No, that's all right. I was just coming to ask Mr. Grey what the plans for today are."
An uncomfortable silence stretches between us for a moment, before Taylor clears his throat and says his goodbye, quickly exiting the room.
Anastasia turns to me, with an amused expression on her face. "What's his deal?" she asks, pointing her thumb over her shoulder in the direction of the now closed door.
"I don't know. Are you ready?" I ask, changing the subject.
"Yes, I am. Should we go or we should wait for the cleaning lady to get here?"
"No, she has a keycard. I let the reception know it's all right to send someone."
Anastasia nods and moves towards the door. I catch up with her, opening the door for her. Once outside, I check to make sure the door is locked, while Anastasia calls the elevator. We step in it at the same time and once the doors close, we both become aware of the sexual tension that arises in the small place.
She's trying to suppress her smile, surely remembering what happened in here Friday night. I can't stop my chuckle seeing her expression and we both start laughing like mad persons, while the elevator descends. At least we were able to diffuse the tension, I think as I wipe the tears from the corner of my eyes.
Next chapter: Lazy Sunday. Have a great weekend!
