Hi everyone! I know its been a long time since I update and I'm sorry for that... I hope you like this chapter.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters, everything belongs to E. L. James.
Chapter 8
Ana's POV
Last night before a got home Christian walked me to the door and kissed me like his life depended on it, wished me goodnight and went on his way, leaving me wanting more… and needing more. I never thought that desire would feel this good.
I'm lying on my bed thinking about last day's events. Gideon is trying to make it up to me… I can see that, but talking to Christian as he promised isn't enough. He has to do more, he has to want to do it… He took a step and for me that is a beginning.
I didn't intend on putting myself in the middle of this, but my longtime friendship with Gideon and my date with Christian isn't helping a thing… besides me being the only person who knows the whole story doesn't help either…
I can see that this is going to become really difficult to me, because Gideon is making a truce with Christian due to his feelings for me and my growing feelings for Christian may set him back, if Gideon knows that I like Christian he may never end this war between them…
Feelings… I never thought that I would have them, even though I believed in them. I want to lose my virginity to Christian, I want to give him the thing that I kept for 22 years.
This train of thought makes wonder what tonight will entail. Suddenly I remember all the kisses and all the teasing we did last night and start to feel hot and bothered so I decide to take a shower before it gets too much.
After my shower I get dressed in white jeans and a blue top and check my phone. I realize that I have a message from Christian.
Good morning Ana! Hope you enjoyed last night as
much as I did. Looking forward for tonight's dinner.
You won't hear from me a lot today because I'll be in
meetings all day, but I promise to give you my full attention tonight.
See you later baby X – Christian
The word "baby" makes my insides clench and I wonder what would feel like if he said those words out loud. I quickly reply…
Loved last night, thank you btw… Looking much forward for tonight.
Hope you have a good day at work, and don't worry I'll be busy too… sending
more curriculums to god knows where… XX – Ana
I decide to go to the kitchen to make breakfast and see Kate and Elliot on the bar stool eating cereals. Did he spent the night? I didn't hear anything, not that I wanted to anyway…
Last night I arrived late it was almost 1:00 am, so I guess if Elliot stayed I wouldn't notice but at the same time he could have arrived this morning…
"Good morning Kate… Elliot" I tell them as soon as I entered the kitchen…
"Good morning Ana" They say and Kate starts looking at me suspiciously and I have no idea why…
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" I ask and start to prepare breakfast…
"Ana did you go somewhere last night?" Kate asks and I look at her dumbfounded…
"Why?" I reply harshly… here she goes…
"Just curious about the hickey on your neck that I might add was not there yesterday…" My hand goes to my neck and I look at Kate, who has a serious look on her face…
"Let her be Kate" Elliot says smirking with a knowing look on his face. Did Christian give me an hickey?… how come I didn't feel it? Well I know why and didn't feel it… I was too focused on trying to breath.
"What? Was a legitimate question…" Kate answers.
"Yes… if you must know I went out last night… what about you guys? Did you have fun?…" I say while cutting an apple.
"Yes…actually…" Elliot starts to say, but Kate cuts him, avoiding my question
"Did you went out with Christian?" I look at her and continue to prepare breakfast… apparently the conversation that we had about her supporting my decisions wasn't very truthful.
"Yes, I did and so what ?… I'm allowed to, don't need to run all my decisions over you" I know I'm being very harsh with Kate and I know that she doesn't deserve it, for all she cares Christian is the bad guy, she doesn't know the full story but I do, and I feel like I have to defend Christian…
"Yes of course you don't need to Ana… I'm just worried, I'm your best friend I worry… and knowing your situation and seeing the hickey on your neck made me wonder if you gave it to him barely knowing him…" I look at Elliot and he is looking at Kate as if telling her to shut the hell up…
"Well… Why don't you tell all about my "situation" in the news, given that you think that this is your godamn business" I tell Kate…
"First, I told you already that you can trust Elliot, second I'll ignore your comment…" Kate looks at me like I'm some sort of unidentified object...
"Well I may know that I can trust him and all, but it doesn't mean that I feel comfortable talking about this in front of him… besides I only got to know him a couple of days ago… "I know this conversation is leading nowhere, and Elliot seems to want to be anywhere but here… I don't blame him though.
"You see that is exactly my point… you only met Christian a couple of days ago, you don't know a thing about him and yet you seem to trust him… its almost like you trust him more than me…you trust him so much that you're ready to jump his dick… by the looks of it you already did…" Ouch...
"Kate just stop" Elliot stops her before she can't continue… At this point I want to hide in a whole and never return, tears start to pool in my eyes and I turn to go to my room so I can save some dignity… this time Kate went too far… I know she doesn't know the story, but it doesn't give her the excuse to talk about me like that…For the first time I like someone and I feel alive… why this has to be so complicated?
Suddenly my phone rings and I notice that is Christian, I clean my tears and clear my voice so he doesn't notice something is up… I pick up and hear is voice…
"Hey Anastasia… you there?" He asks and I realize that I wasn't talking, just holding the phone in my ear.
"Oh… Sorry… hey… I was just… ahhh…" I start rambling.
"Ana is everything okay? What's wrong?" I decide to tell him the true.
"I had a fight with Kate… Elliot was here… it wasn't pretty…"
"What was it about?..." He asks almost knowing
"It was... it was about you, but nothing major..." I try to minimize de issue, but fail.
"Are you crying? I'll be there in a second just hold on…" He starts to say, but I cut him off.
"No Christian… its fine we will talk later tonight… its nothing that I can't deal with, besides you said that you had meetings all day… I will be fine…" I tell him and smile at his concern…
"Ana… if you need me just say the word and I'll be there in a second…" Deep down I wanted for him to come but he has work to do…
"I'm fine…" My voice falters a little at the end but I repeat more forcefully…
"I'm fine really Christian… ohh and you gave me an hickey… " I hear him laugh at the other side and I instantly feel better.
"Sorry baby… Are you sure you are alright?" Christian asks again and I tremble at the word "baby".
"Yes… go work... bye…"
"Bye Ana… see you later…" He says and the he hangs up.
As soon as he hangs up i pull myself together and decide to go send more curriculums to more publishing houses and forget about my conversation with Kate...
CPOV
As soon as Ana picked up the phone I realized that something was up. I hate that she is fighting with her best friend because of this situation... the sooner we can solve this the better. I knew that it would be better to stay away, to stay clear of her... but its almost impossible... she is so perfect in every way... so beautiful.
I decided to call her before i got to Kavanagh Industries. I really have to see these pictures with my own eyes if I want to believe it... This all story makes sense in a way... every piece of information Gideon gave me fits perfectly in the puzzle. Why we started to drift apart, why he stole my business plan...all makes sense... but if he thinks telling the truth will put us in the same level of trust as before, he can go to hell. I know he decided to solve things between us and our families because of Ana... because he wants her. That's why he wanted me to keep myself away from her... well not happening, especially now...
Ana is different... she's pure and innocent, something that I lost a long time ago... and I need that in my life. I know Ana isn't submissive material, but I'm not expecting her to be...
If Gideon wants to solve things and at least be cordial for the sake of our families fine by me... but Anastasia is nonnegotiable... she is mine.
I enter the elevator of Gideon's company and press the button to his floor, as soon as I get out I see him wanting for me in the lobby... with an envelope in hand.
"Took you long enough" He says and I look at him with a look that say "fuck you" loud and clear... Well I was cordial, at least I didn't say out loud.
"I don't have your life Gideon, my schedule is very full..." I tell him and we start to walk to what I presume his office.
"Well, you can have a seat..." He tells me and go straight to his chair to piss him off.
"You are joking right?" He looks at me like he wants to punch me... well whats new?
"What? I'm pretty comfortable..." I tell him and he smirks.
"That is the only thing you will never take from me" He wants to have words then...
"Well I didn't know you had such attachment to a leather chair... but lets not talk about the things we took from each other... we both know it will end badly..." I get up from his chair and sit in the one in front of his desk. He looks at me and seats in his chair.
"Changing the subject to a much worse topic, here in this envelope are the photos that Elena took of us when we were fifteen" He says and gives me the envelope
"Anyone saw these?" I ask...
"Yes... only my IT guy, his name is James Smoak in case you want to run a background check on him..." The fucker knows how I operate I'll give him that.
"You have copies?" I know he doesn't but I need to make sure.
"No... the ones in the envelope are the original ones, i put my photos in there too so you know I'm not joking" Clever... he gave me insurance policy. I start to open de envelope and take the pictures in my hand. I scroll through them I begin to get sick... Its pictures of me and Gideon when we were teenagers in Elena's playroom...in various positions and in various vulnerable states... I can see what he meant by manipulation... this is just wrong... I had no idea of what i was doing... I though she was helping me...fuck...why was i so blind?
"Fuck this Gideon... you could've told me you know... you could've trusted me... "I begin to say while putting the pictures back in the envelope, but he interrupts me.
"I know Christian... I know okay... i thought i loved that old bag... but all she wanted was my dick, and a sack of potatoes to practice on" As soon as he says this i close my eyes and remember Elena beating the shit out of me...
"Christian... we didn't deserve this... especially you... you already had touching issues you didn't need anyone aggravating it, I thought you were stealing my girlfriend... thinking about it now disgusts me... I started to drift apart from you... I started to resent you... and then stole your dream, when I came to my senses, when I realized that Elena was wrong, it was too late... you had already dropped out. Christian I know that I don't deserve your forgiveness... but I'm really sorry for what I did to you... we went through hell and back together, we shouldn't be like this...we shouldn't perpetuate this war between us. That's why i showed you this pictures... I need you to believe me, and with these I know you do" Gideon says and I just stare at him not knowing what the fuck I should say... so I say second worst thing.
"You are doing this because you want Ana and she asked you to?" When he heard her name, his demeanor changed.
"At the beginning yes I was...but watching you look at these pictures made realize that I should do better, I wasn't there for you when she put her claws into you... hell I didn't trust you enough to tell you..." He says and I cut him off.
"Gideon I know why you didn't tell me back... its actually the same reason why I didn't tell you..." He stares at me and then starts to speak.
"Why then?" We look at each other and its almost like old times, when we didn't need to speak in order to communicate.
"It wasn't just shame of what we were doing... it was fear... fear of not being understood."
"Well either way... its the past and we need to move forward Christian" Gideon tells me and starts to get up...
"So where do we stand now... its not like we trust each other anymore..." I get up too and start walking to the window behind him... the office layout its much like mine... in a way we were always very similar in tastes. Thinking about it we were and are too similar, so similar that it was our downfall.
Which brings us to another impasse... he likes Ana so do I... Something or someone has to give... And he needs to know where I stand with her because I wont give her up...
"Gideon... one more thing I won't be able to keep my promise to you..." I turn around too look him straight in the eye and his head moves to the side.
"And why not?... she is off limits" Now he is the one looking at me straight in the eyes.
"She is off limits to you Gideon..." I suddenly say and he starts to come to me in a fast pace but I hold my position, but then he stops when we are close and points a finger in my face.
"Christian... I'm warning you..."
"Gideon she told you that she only sees you like a brother... why are you keeping her from being happy?"
"Christian... we just sort of solved an issue... do you want to start another? Really?" I look at him and then to an imaginary thing in the ceiling.
"Gideon I won't keep myself away from her... I know that we sorted an issue and that's why I'm being honest with you here...I went to dinner with her last night..." He stares impassibly at me...
"In the same day i told you to stay away from her..." He laughs sarcastically.
"After everything with Elena... I needed to see her... she is the first one to know who I truly am and not judge me for it... she is different... I need her in my life and you won't stop me... I'm telling you this in respect for what you did..." Now he looks puzzled...
"You told me the truth... I appreciate it and that's why I'm telling you the truth too..." He looks to his feet defeated.
"What happened on the date?" He asks with a serious face.
"We talked, had dinner and... ice cream... and if you want to know we kissed..." A lot... but I don't mention that. He looks high with range but then he gives me a look that is considered as sad... one thing I have never seen on him... but why do I care?
"Christian... You know I like her... but I also know that she doesn't like me the way I do... What pissed me off more was the way she automatically looked at you... maybe it was my fault... I was the one to tell her the truth about you... I don't want to see her hurt, she and Kate are the most important people in my life besides my parents... I would die before anything happened to them..."
"Gideon I know and trust me when I tell you this...I won't hurt her... I won't..." Then he starts to laugh...what the actual fuck.
"Christian don't make promises you can't keep..." What?
"What? You think I will hurt her eventually, really..." Then he cuts me off
"Christian if she likes you then I won't do anything about it, I want her happy and if she thinks she is happy with you so be it... I know you will try no to hurt her... but I was talking about other thing..."He looks at me and smirks... what does he think I am? A wizard? I don't read minds...
"She is perfect and innocent, but she will want to experience things in life... like s..." Finally I get it, does he that Ana is virgin?... Kate must have told him.
"Okay Gideon I get it... you don't need to say it..." He laughs and I look at him like the stupid fucker I am.
"Seriously though Christian... don't hurt her..." Is he giving up on her just like that? I expected more of an argument but well...
"This means you will stop trying to be with her...?" I ask because I really need to state grounds...
"I will stop trying to be with her...only because she doesn't want me the same way, but if she wants a friend i will be there..." Not what I wanted to hear, but I know that its the best i will get.
"One more thing Ana and Kate are fighting now..." I tell him and he sighs.
"So we passed it on to them...? What are they fighting about ?"
"They are fighting because of us I think.. she didn't tell me..."
"I will call Kate..."Gideon says.
"Okay then... I will be on my way..." I start to go but Gideon stops me.
"Wait... what about Elena? We cant just let her walk..." I really don't want to think about her now.
"Yes... will think about it later...Roma wasn't built in only one day..." I say and he laughs, I start to head for the door and he stops me once more.
"Wait I'll go with you... I have to pick up my parents from the airport" Right Eamon and Claire are coming back today... I completely forgot.
"Why don't you send your CPO to do it?" I would send Taylor...
"If someone hears you talk they will say you don't know my parents..." Its been a long time since I saw Eamon and Claire.
"Maybe i don't...does dinner still stands?"
"I guess so Grace will probably tell you...I don't know if they want lunch or dinner, but we're in the summer, they must want lunch or a barbecue" I don't know my mom stopped inviting us a long time ago for obvious reasons.
"We will see..." I tell him and get in the elevator.
"Yes we will"
Hope you liked this chapter... the next one is dinner between A&C and family reunion, this time Gideon and Christian will make an appearance.
Leave your reviews and comments...
Love, Bia x
