Alright guys... next installment! It is out as scheduled, though once again later in the day than I've updated before. Spent most of the day getting from Colorado back to California. Flew this time, no more long drives for a couple of more weeks ;) lol
There might be a slight discrepancy in regards to Christian and his touch issues but I can't remember what I've written about it before and I'm too lazy to go back and check. Sorry in advance if there is, shouldn't be too big of a deal.
And thank you so much for all the reviews! I love them all and love hearing what you guys have to think and how into the story you're all getting.
"Hey Ana, there's someone waiting for you. Said you have lunch plans?" Arnold said, leaning up against Ana's desk.
"What?" Ana popped her head up from the manuscript she'd been going over.
"There's a lady waiting for you at the front desk named Elena. Said you have lunch plans."
Ana had quickly learned that Arnold was the one who knew everything that was going on in the office at all time. Despite being the temporary office manager, he also doubled as the receptionist, not because he had to but because he enjoyed seeing the people that came in and out of their offices. Ana had no idea where he normally worked, or if he was just a temp.
"What does she look like?"
Arnold lifted a shoulder in a shrug. "I don't know. An older woman I would assume to be your mom if you didn't have a family photo on your desk." Arnold nodded at said photo, one of the rare ones that was of her, Ray and her mother from when she had graduated from high school. Ana wasn't one much more sentimentality but her mother had mailed her the photo along with apologies for not making it to her college graduation and Ana had found herself carrying it into work. "Do you not have lunch plans? Should I tell her to get lost? I mean you do know the woman right?"
"I think so… I'll take care of it." Ana stood, nodding her thanks to Arnold and making her way to the front office, a frown firmly if her suspicions over who was waiting for her were correct. She waved to Arnold who gave her a concerned look but otherwise didn't say anything else, moving further in to most likely gather his things for his own lunch.
Ana's frown intensified when she saw that her suspicions were correct. She hadn't been in the same room with her long, but she still recognized the woman that she had met that weekend. Elena stood in the middle of the lobby, eyes locked on Ana.
Ana slowed to a stop right in front of her. "Can I help you?"
"Yes," Elena lifted her nose and shouldered her purse. "Let's go. I have reservations that I don't want to miss."
"Uh, what?" Ana chased after the woman and pulled her to a stop outside the door, steering her to the right so they weren't blocking anyone. Elena scowled down at Ana's hand until she released her arm, hand going to wipe the area that Ana had touched as if it was contaminated.
Ana could only watch the movement with confusion and consternation, completely unsure of what was happening right now. "Are we meeting Christian or something?" She knew it was implausible, considering Christian would have alerted her but the entire situation was making no sense.
"No. I wanted to speak to you." Elena looked her up and down and whatever she saw only seemed to displease her further. "I have no idea what he sees in you."
"Sees in me? Christian?" Ana gaped. "It's a good thing that your opinion of me doesn't matter."
Elena gave Ana a pitying look. "Oh honey, you have no idea what's going on, do you?"
Ana took a small step back before catching the movement and forcing herself still, hating the condescension that was just reeling off this woman. Hating the feeling of being out of her depth. She had taken pride in knowing exactly where she stood in relation to Christian and disliked being made to feel like she wasn't. She wasn't sure she stood in regards to this woman
"Girls like you, don't get men like Christian Grey."
Ana relaxed. This woman had no idea what Ana's relationship was with Christian, which gave her a leg up. She had no idea what this woman's problem was but she wasn't about to let her walk all over her just because she knew Christian. He could get mad at her later, but it wasn't going to change how Ana would respond now. "Then I guess it's a sad day in hell, when girls like me, do in fact get Christian Grey."
Elena scowled. She had seen the flicker of realization in Ana's eyes and did not like the self-assured confidence it had given her. She stepped closer, her heels making her tower over Ana, Ana straightening her spine and glared, meeting her ice blue eyes head on. "You're only going to get hurt the longer you stay with him. Do yourself a favor and leave him now."
"See, I'd like to believe that you're just looking out for him, but really you just sound jealous. Don't like the fact that Christian Grey is finally paying attention to someone that isn't you?" The words felt weird coming out of her mouth but knew her assumption was correct, Elena's reeling expression making that clear.
Elena curled forward, lips twisted mockingly, "You're not the first woman Christian has had. Did he tell you that?" Elena patted Ana's shoulder, smirking when Ana ripped it away, taking multiple steps back so that they were no longer within touching distance.
"Who do you think you are?"
"I'm the woman that Christian listens to, so I'm telling you now, as a favor, leave him before you start thinking that he's in love with you. Or worse, you fall in love with him. Christian Grey leaves trails of heart broken women in his wake and doesn't even pause to look back. Don't be the next one. Men like him don't love."
With a final look, Elena stepped away, turned, and headed back into the light drizzle, umbrella coming up with a snap.
Fury and confusion danced in Ana's veins as she pulled her phone out and clicked on Christian's contact.
"I'm in the middle of something Ana. Is this important?"
"Important? I don't know. Weird? Yes. That lady that's apparently friends with your mother—and you; Elena? She just showed up at my work telling me that I need to break up with you."
She heard movement on the other side, hushed apologies, and a door closing, Christian's voice returning much louder. "Elena just showed up at the publishing house?"
"Yes." Ana waved at Arnold who was standing in the lobby once again, sending her looks of concern. He nodded at Ana's reassurance, but still slid behind the receptionist desk after a short conversation with the other man sitting there.
"I'm coming to collect you now. Where are you?"
"I'm at work Christian, but I only have an hour lunch break and it started fifteen minutes ago."
"I'll be there in five minutes and have you back in time. Wait for me. Okay?"
"Okay." Ana breathed out and hung up the phone.
Her heart was still beating fast, fingers twitching as she waited for Christian to show up. She could go back inside but then she would have to talk to the other people, mainly Arnold, and she needed to work out what exactly she was thinking before that.
Seven minutes later Christian pulled up in front of her, ignoring the honking behind him. Ana didn't wait for him to get out of the car, sliding in as soon as he was there, Christian immediately hitting the gas and flying around the block.
"Tell me what happened."
Ana did.
"How did she know where I worked Christian?" Ana asked when she finished up her story.
"What? I didn't tell her, if that's what you're thinking."
"I think it's rather odd that a woman I don't even know somehow knew where I worked.
"I didn't tell her." Christian's jaw clenched.
"Then how the heck did she know where I worked? Am I going to have to expect a house call as well when she finds out we didn't break up?" The thought hadn't occurred to her until just that moment but the second it did, she couldn't get it out of her mind. "Who the hell is that woman and why does she think she has any authority over you Christian? That's creepy as fuck! Does she always do this type of shit? Who does that!"
"What?" Christian laughed. Ana glared harder when she realized that Christian wasn't taking her as seriously as she had thought. Christian only looked back at her with an amused grin.
"Christian, that's creepy! Some old woman who's friends with your mom and yeah I get it, is friends with you too, but who the heck thinks they can go up to the girl that her friend is dating and warn her off!"
"People do that all the time."
"People their own age! Their brothers or sisters! Not your mother's friends!"
"Ana, relax, Elena didn't mean any harm."
What had originally been anger for Christian now flared on her own behalf at Christian's belittling statement. "If she didn't mean any harm then she wouldn't have shown up at my work and threatened me."
"I would hardly call that threatening."
"Then what would you call it? A friendly conversation? That wasn't friendly advice. That was a warning. Like—like she thought she had authority over you." Ana's eyes widened as she looked at Christian anew. "Does she know about your previous relationships?"
Christian gritted his teeth. Pulling into an empty parking lot Christian shut off the car and glared at the steering wheel. "Yes. She does."
"You tell your mothers friends about your relationships but not your own mother?" Ana asked, aghast.
"I—like I said, I'm close to her."
"Close enough to tell her about your friends with benefit relationships but not your own family?"
"She's the one that normally helps me find them," Christian reluctantly admitted, twisting in his seat and grabbing Ana's hand.
She'd learned quickly that when they were arguing he liked to be touching her physically in some way, whether to anchor himself or to let him know that she was still there she was unsure. The warmth of his hand grounded her a bit too and she would never say no to Christian Grey touching her, especially in a way that had nothing to do with sex.
Christian's statement though had her reeling. "She helps you find the girls?"
"I'm a very busy man, Ana, and I can't spend my time trying to meet people who will join a mutually beneficial agreement with me."
"You did with me."
"Our circumstances were very out of the ordinary."
Ana tilted her head in reluctant acknowledgement.
"Elena helps to find the girls and ensure my complete privacy before introducing us."
"She's your pimp," Ana said blandly. "How did that even start?" Ana wrinkled her nose as she pictured it. "Did you just walk up to her thinking oh, Elena, my mother's friend. She must be really good at finding discrete women I can fuck."
"No, Ana," Christian said in displeasure, "that's not how it started." He linked their fingers, tugging her closer so that she was leaning against the center console, her hand in his lap.
"So how did it come up?"
"Elena… offered."
That had Ana drawing up short again.
"I have always had trouble with people touching me, I know that you've noticed."
Ana nodded. He'd never explicitly told her not to touch him or where but she'd grown aware and stopped attempting contact in certain areas, only asking for a minor explanation that led to her knowledge of how he was more comfortable with touches when his chest was covered or, he was in control of it, like chest to chest, no hands anywhere close.
"It's not anything new. No one is allowed to touch me, they haven't for as long as I could remember and it makes it incredibly frustrating when I do… want to be touched." Ana sandwiched Christian's hands between her own and pressed a kiss to the back of his. Christian gave her a soft, hesitant smile. "Elena offered a way that I could have a relationship of sorts without any of those pressures."
Ana raised a brow. There was a whole lot that he hadn't said, but she would let it go for now. "Have you ever been in a real relationship?"
"No and neither have you," Christian said with a pointed look warning her to carry on with that topic of conversation though there was also a bit of smug pride in there that made Ana roll her eyes. He'd made it a point to let her know how pleased he was that he was her first and only.
She'd taken the smirk right off his face when she said that he wouldn't be her only for long. It had resulted in a long and hard round of sex that was incredibly satisfying but Christian hadn't said another word other than claiming her as 'his' as many times as he could. She had let him until the very end when they were cooling down in bed to remind him that she didn't belong to anyone, let alone him. He hadn't been too pleased with that.
"I might not have been in a relationship but that doesn't mean I'm not open to one. You, however, are not."
"I'm not the relationship type."
Ana wrinkled her nose. "Yeah, I've heard that before but I never really got what that means. You don't like people, you know you won't put yourself out there, or you simply don't want to?"
"I'm not capable of forming the attachments that are necessary in a relationship."
Ana stared at Christian. It took her a moment to realize that he was complete serious. "How do you think that?"
"It's true, Ana and I don't need you arguing the opposite."
Ana twisted her lips into a wry smile. "Sounds like I'm not the only one who's had this conversation with you before."
"No, and you won't be the last."
"Why do you think you can't do relationships?"
"I am not capable of love." This conversation was getting way too heavy to have during her lunch break in a Starbucks parking lot. "It's why I make sure that everyone I'm with knows exactly what to expect. I don't want them thinking there's a chance of anything else. I can't give love and never will be able to."
"Why do you think that?" Ana asked softly.
Christian shifted. He that tried to pull away but Ana latched on to his hand, keeping him from moving. "It's a simple fact Ana. Not something that needs to be dissected."
"Kind of sounds like it." Every time she was with Christian she seemed to learn something new and they weren't always positive. It left her heart twisting in agony for the man that sat before her.
"Ana."
"Christian." Ana glared at him until it became clear that he wasn't going to say anything else. Huffing, she said, "Look, we're getting off track and I need to get back to work. What are you going to do about Elena?" Her annoyance resurfaced as she thought about the woman.
She still didn't know everything, but her original ambivalence towards the woman had long since fizzled out. When she had met Elena her main concern was on Grace, the actual mother. She'd been a bit flustered with her dismissive attitude, but Grace had been in top spirits so hadn't thought much of it. Now that had changed. She was looking more and more ugly in Ana's eyes.
Christian started the car again and pulled back into the road. "Don't worry Ana. I'll call and talk to her. She won't bother you again."
"She shouldn't have bothered me in the first place." They pulled to a stop outside of Ana's work, never having gotten very far in the first place. Ana supposed she would be eating one of the granola bars in her purse for lunch today.
Christian grit his teeth, but Ana knew that he agreed, he just didn't want to argue again. It made Ana more mad to know that he wasn't immediately on her side though she was sure he would claim the opposite. "I'll talk to her."
"How did she know where I worked?" Ana asked, the question having nagged on her since Elena first showed up.
"She probably ordered a background check like I did. They are common practices in our circle."
"Am I going to have to worry about her showing up here again?"
"Ana," Christian squeezed her arm, "I'll talk to her. She won't bother you again."
"You do that," Ana nodded her head, lips pressed together as her eyes searched Christian's own. "I'll see you." Getting out of the car, Ana made sure to slam the door behind her, not turning back even when he called her name.
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