A/N: This chapter contains mentions of drugs, violence and abuse.
Chapter 8: Healing cuddles.
The last two days have been hectic. Wednesday we all had a quick dinner at Kate's house, before Lauren and me went home to have an early night. Yesterday was mad at work. I needed to finish a lot of work to make sure the missed deadline was still completed. I made it, but was home way past ten.
Today is the last day of work before the weekend. And boy, do I need it. Tonight we still have girls night. Kim promised us to tell us what went down with Isa from beginning to end. Wednesday she wanted some more time. But tonight she is telling us.
The girls want to go to the spa Saturday. Kate thinks we all deserve some time to relax. And I really want to go, but there is the Grey matter. A part of me wants to know what he has to say. But to be honest, the bigger part of me wants to cancel. My head just is not in the place to have deep conversation at the moment.
On top of that, Lauren is almost getting married. Sunday we have the final dress fitting. Kim, Kate and me are her bridesmaids. Then next Saturday we have her bachelorette party. We are seriously going crazy that day. That makes this one of the last weekends we get to spend together and just hang out. In three weeks we all head to Greece to watch Lauren and Mike get married. On the beach, during sunset, on the island Crete. Swoon.
So, I decided to e-mail him and tell him I can't make it. At the moment my friends are more important. Maybe after the wedding, we can have that lunch and he can tell me. If he doesn't want that, then that is fine with me too.
Sitting behind my laptop, I open my mailbox and start typing.
From: Anastasia Steele
To: Christian Grey
Date: 05-11-2018, 11:53 am.
Subject: Tomorrow.
Mr. Grey,
Unfortunately I have to cancel our meeting from tomorrow. This week had been very hectic for me and some personal matters got in the way. There for, I won't be able to make it.
The next few weeks I'm very busy. A lot of work and my best friend Lauren is getting married in three weeks, since I'm her bridesmaid, I have to help her with the last preparations.
I hope you have a good weekend.
Anastasia Steele
Seattle Independent Publishing
Fiction Editor
I hit send and get back to work. I really don't want to be late again today.
It's nearly 4 o'clock, and I'm almost ready to go home. Hannah left two minutes ago, and I just have to send one quick e-mail before my weekend starts as well.
While I'm busy typing, I get a notification saying I have a new e-mail. When I'm done sending mine, I click on the inbox.
From: Christian Grey
To: Anastasia Steele
Date: 05-11-2018, 03:44 pm.
Subject: RE: Tomorrow.
Dear Miss Steele,
I'm very sorry to hear you have to cancel our meeting. I hope the personal matters are nothing to serious?
I understand you are very busy, so I will leave it up to you either you want to meet with me or not. I would be very happy to reschedule.
I do hope your friend is not a Bridezilla and that the preparations are not to out of this world. You will make a beautiful bridesmaid.
I hope to hear from you if you have time.
Christian Grey
CEO of Grey Enterprises Holdings.
Okay, not the reaction I was expecting from him. I thought that he would be way more obtrusive. I'm happy he reacted this way though, he is still my boss after all. I just don't get it. Apart from that one asshole moment, he really does seem charming. Why did he do it? Questions, questions.
I close my laptop and grab my stuff. If I be quick, I can have a warm shower and get in my comfy clothes before the girls come over at 5:30.
We are sitting on my couch, opening the third bottle of wine. We ate sushi, had a lot of brownies and now we are swallowing it all away with wine. I know it sounds like heaven, because it is heaven.
"So, tell us what happened in those two months Kimmie." Kate finally asks. The whole night we talked about the wedding, people we vaguely know and the latest rumors. I think nobody dared to ask Kim what happened while being sober. But thank God Kate cracked it.
Kim signs and grabs her wine. "God, I need a lot of alcohol for this." She says while taking a few big gulps before continuing. "The night I met her, we talked the whole night. We had so much in common. She likes nature, loves to travel and actually was very relaxed. We didn't push anything that night. Just talked and be comfortable around each other. Of course, I felt that spark. And I really thought that maybe this was it. Also because we didn't start with the physical stuff."
"After our first date, I was even more hooked. She was so funny and sweet. We made a whole fantasy where we planned to go to all kinds of countries. Time really flew by. When it was time to go home, I asked her to come with me. From that moment on, she hardly never was at her own place. She was always with me."
We all listen to her while she speaks. My heart breaks for her. She wants to love so bad, she is way to kind.
"After two weeks, on a Friday night, she asked me if I wanted to try some weed. She did it regularly and thought it was fun to try it with me. Well, you all know how I am with that stuff, it scares me to dead. But I thought I could try it with her. I felt safe around her and I trusted her. So we smoked one joint together. It actually was fun. But for me it was a onetime thing. For her, not so much." I can see the tears form in her eyes. I go sit next to her and pull her in my arms.
"If you want to stop, you can. We won't have to know everything right now." I tell her while stroking her head.
After a moment she sits up straight and takes a deep breath. "No, I want to get it over with." She says. "As it turned out, weed wasn't the only thing Isa used. A few days later I caught her sniffing cocaine. When I told her I didn't want that shit in my house, she snapped. First it was just screaming, calling me names. I wasn't nice either. But when I told her it was best if she went to her own house for the night, she flipped. She grabbed my neck and threw me against the wall. I didn't see it coming, so I wasn't prepared for the blow."
''That bitch.'' I hear Kate mutter.
"I was so shocked, I just went upstairs and got into bed. When she came up hours later, she apologized, told me it would never happen again. And you know what, I believed her. As stupid as it is, I thought she really would stop it for me. I could not have been more wrong."
"After that night, her behavior changed. She was very jealous, didn't want me to go out with anyone but her. She especially had something against Kate. I think she was jealous at our friendship or something. She isolated me from my social life, and I let her do it. Because I really thought we had a future together, that we would go and see the world, that she loved me. So I stayed. Every time she was under influence and did something to me, I forgave her. Until Wednesday. I just had enough."
"I was sitting on the couch, planning something for you, Lau. I didn't hear her come in. I felt her looking over my shoulder, so I turned around. She looked like a ghost, her eyes red. And she was angry. Very angry. She said horrible things. That she was trying to safe me from the three of you. That you had bad influence on me. That I would do more for you then for her. It didn't really make any sense. I hardly ever saw the three of you anymore. Then it hit me, this wasn't love. She wanted to own me."
"I got so mad at her. And I told her I wanted to break up. That's when she started to throw things around. She even ran to the kitchen to grab a knife. First I thought she was going to stab me, but she just yanked it in the couch. Thank God for that. All the while she was screaming. We got into a fight, and eventually I could get upstairs. The first thing I thought about was calling one of you. I felt horrible. When I was talking to Kate, she came running upstairs. And when she opened the door, I saw her standing there with a frying pan in her hand. I don't really know what happened after that. When I woke up I saw Mike telling me it was all over." She takes a deep breath and then closes her eyes.
We all are sitting there, shocked. How did we not see what was going on? Poor Kim.
"I am so sorry I let her come between us. I'm so sorry." She sobs and then starts to cry. The three of us try to comfort her while crying to.
"It's not your fault, sweetie. We should have asked what was going on. We should have been there." Lauren tells her through her tears.
We stay like that for ages. The four of us huddled on the couch. Eventually we all get tired and go to sleep. Kate and Kim crash on my couch, while Lauren and me share the bed. And at that moment, I appreciate them a little more then I normally do. Because I know we will always be friends and really got each other's back, no matter what happens.
