A/N: So this I know has been a long time coming but please don't be mad at me, a lot has been going on in my life and also in my friend's life and we are working on coming to terms with things. I had my baby in July and before that my friend was having complications in her pregnancy and has had her baby at 34 weeks which has been hard for her so I've been supporting her and just trying to get into a routine with my now 9week old baby girl who I couldn't be more proud of but it means that I don't have as much free time as I use to. In saying that her is my next chapter and I hope you like it.
Much Love,
Xxx Aby
~oooOooo~
Wednesday 8th July 2027
Bangkok, Thailand
Christians POV:
Well I have to say that waking up this morning isn't as bad as I thought that it would be although the jetlag still leaves something to be desired. After talking to Ana before falling asleep I think that I'll be able to hold out until later on tonight to get a hold of her, of course she hates the time differences because she can never remember how they go and to be honest they mess with my head too. Hopefully after a full day of work and sorting out this deal I will have the chance to ring her and maybe even get to go home earlier than planned, I really want to be home in time for my little girl's birthday, lord only knows that I could never make it up to her if I missed it.
Jason and I headed to the gym first thing this morning and we worked out for a couple of hours before meeting up with Ros and Gwen for breakfast at the Horizon Club Lounge at the hotel for a talk about how today will go and making sure that everything is up to their standards. I've sent my suit to be cleaned and pressed and hopefully it will be ready in time for us to leave to go to Wu, Kong and Ku Shipping and sort out all this mess. It does my head in when international companies get their necks out of place when I want to start shipping to their companies and into their country.
By the time we are all ready, get from the hotel to the company it's nearing 11am and I know that at 11am on the dot I will walk into that building and I will be the CEO who will not be fucked with or bullied, today could get really hectic for Jason if things don't go my way. Gwen has come along to as I won't be needing Ros all day so then they can wonder off and do what they want and meet us back at the hotel.
Fixing my cuffs on my jacket as I enter the lobby of Wu, Kong and Ku Shipping and stroll right past the desk to the elevators and let Jason worry about all off this formal stuff, I want to get in talking about this shipping problem and then get back to my family. While Jason lets the desk call up to Mr Ko receptionist, Jason, Ros and I enter the elevator riding it up to his floor. Truth be told I don't like any offices apart from my own and Ana's of course but otherwise they seem so small to me, maybe it's just because I've been set in my ways for so long that nothing could change it, well at least that's how I thought it would be until Ana came falling into my life…literally.
I have to stop thinking about her because it's taking my focus and I need to be focused for this meeting if it means that we can iron out all these issues. Thankfully when we walk into the lobby of his floor he is walking towards us, good I like men who don't keep me waiting, it can cause major issues on top of what I already have planned to talk to them about. "Mr Grey, nice to meet you in person I'm sorry that my other colleagues couldn't be here to meet with you also but hopefully between the two of us we can sort this out together…" he says as he shakes my hand and I nod to him.
"I'm sure that we should be able to make the appropriate arrangements…please let me introduce Jason Taylor, my head of Security and my CPO and Ros Bailey my 2nd In charge…she will be sitting in the meeting with us and Jason will be right outside the door if that's okay with you…I'm sure you can understand being a business man yourself…" Jason nods at him and Ros shakes his hand.
"Of course Mr Grey, I understand and it's not a problem. Alessia would you please arrange coffee and some morning tea for our guests and please assist with anything that Jason needs while we are in the meeting, if my wife calls then please let her know that I will be home just as soon as I can…" he says to the young lady sitting at the desk to his right and she stands and nods politely she has long black hair, petite frame and olive skin.
"Please Mr Grey, Ros shall we get started I'm sure we all want this to be over as soon as possible…" he extends his hand in the direction of his office and Ros enters first because I'm nothing if not a gentleman after all. Once we're all seated it's straight down to business. We discuss the smaller issues first and leave the bigger one till last.
"From my understanding it is not the fact that it's my company that has shipments coming into your docks but the fact that it's American…I'm not sure why that is such a big issue but surely that is something that needs to be sorted out by both your country and mine and can be put to the side as we can't change the fact that we are an American company…this is just some stupid debate that has started up recently from watching the news and I will do everything I can to sort out that issues but right now we can't control that so I feel that it would be best to see what happens and then if need be step in and arrange something else so that we can still be delivering to Thailand because I have a lot of business here as well as I'm sure you deal with a lot of American business am I right?" I know I don't actually have to ask that question but it will be interesting to see how he tries to answer that considering we both know that there isn't a hell of a lot that either of us can do but hope that the government for both countries sort out their issues and fast because we both end up losing money in this not just me.
"Mr Grey, I know that you're concerned but I can assure you that I have already started trying to find out what is happening with this whole American, Thailand trading debacle that seems to be happening at the moment and the second that it is sorted out I'm sure you will be among the first to know. Of course you know that we all do international business deals, and yes majority of ours happens to be American trading…" He is looking at me like I have 5 different heads and for the life of me I have no idea why but this is getting us nowhere. I look to Ros and she just shrugs.
"Mr Ko, I understand all of this but I'm still trying to figure out why one of the shipments that was due to arrive last month wasn't allowed to dock here before this whole international relations debacle happened, that cost my company hundreds of thousands of dollars and I want to know why I wasn't contacted right away before that decision was made, I expect there to be some compensation for my company…whether that be from you personally or your company and other associates." This is the issue that I have with doing international trades, it cause some major headaches not to mention the money losses that I have suffered over the years, with exchange rates and silly petty country differences and it rubs me the wrong way a lot of the time.
"According to the records from the shipping company one of your senior dock mangers said he had been told that no Grey Enterprise shipments were welcome at the dock and any that arrived were to be turned around immediately which leads us to believe that somewhere in this company someone is giving them false information or your company is trying to screw us over…" Now normally I would have a problem with Ros stepping in before he had the chance to answer but this is one thing that I wanted, was for someone to take responsibility and if it has to be him then so be it but if there are problems in his company then I want to make them personally liable for the money that they cost me.
"Please Mr Grey, Ros I had no idea about this problem, I only came back to work two weeks ago as I have been away due to some family problems and was only informed then. I can assure you that there will be enquiries into all aspects of this company both here in this building and down at our docking yard, it is understandable that you are both upset about the money that has been lost but as you can see we are short on staff at the moment and there are some bigger problems that we have here that are more important than yours at this moment in time, however due to the fact that you have flown over to talk to me I can assume that for you it is your top priority…." Is he really this crazy? Why wouldn't it be my top priority I lost nearly half a million due to his company's incompetency or just downright stupidity and someone wanting to get back at me but I have no idea who would want to as far as I am aware of there has been no issues with any of the international trading and work that GEH does throughout Asia, not to mention the rest of the world.
Alessia walked in with the coffee and some food and I took the moment to talk privately to Ros. "If you want to leave to go and spend time with Gwen now, I think I can handle the rest of this meeting alone and I have Jason if anything drastic takes place…I would really hate for Gwen to have come and you spend all day here in this meeting. We have hit the nail on the head with the fact that the people in charge don't even know what's going on and I need to play hardball at this stage to try and get this sorted in enough time for me to get back for Phoebe's birthday…please go out and enjoy yourself. We can all head out for dinner and I will fill you in then if you like…" I don't normally speak so informally in front of associates but Ros is more like family to me now since her and Ana get along so well and she's been a huge help since we started our family, I would feel guilty if they never got the chance to have a look around and explore Thailand. I've been here a few times, once with Teddy and Poppy and it was a great day. Normally when we're here it's all business for Ros but this time, I wanted her to get a break instead of me.
"Christian are you sure? I mean I am more than happy to stay, Gwen would understand, she knows that this is important to me just as much as it is to you. I have everything set up if you need me to get hard on this too…" she is trying hard to whisper but I know that she is just as pissed about this as I am and I know that she wants some answers.
"Yes, go, just leave the iPad here so that I have the notes that you made tell Jason to arrange dinner plans for tonight, go I'll be fine…" I smile at her gently, something I find myself doing a lot in the last few years, I guess my hard exterior has been broken through by my three amazing children and it's just not coming back up in the work force, not that I'm sure how comfortable I am with not having the same hard exterior that I've always had and people seemed to be intimidated by me but I guess it has had its uses in some situations that have caused me to be a little more "human" in a sense.
"Oh Thank You Christian and please if you need me for any reason you can reach me on my cell, I'm sure that you will have just made Gwen's day…I will make the dinner reservations so you don't need to worry Jason with that…" she stands says her goodbyes and exits the office and I see her before closing the door talking to Jason no doubt to make sure that this is a good idea and for him to be close by because I'm not always level headed especially when I'm in meetings with only two people.
I poured myself a coffee and then leaned back in my chair as I watched Mr Ko, who was giving some more instructions to Alessia and I looked down at my blackberry seeing the photo of my family and I sigh, I can't start to think about them because truth be told I would give anything to be back in the same time zone as them. He looks at me after pouring a coffee and I clear my throat putting my phone back in my pocket. "So Mr Ko…where were we?" I ask hoping that this won't take more than a couple of hours.
~oooOooo~
Wednesday 8th July 2027
Seattle, Washington
Ana's POV:
So here we are I'm in Diamonds bedroom trying to pack her bag for our trip to New York tomorrow and I can't help but wonder where the time has gone. Looking at her closet I wonder where all the little clothes have gone the tiny wee jackets, the dresses, I mean they are still small but they aren't tiny and I have to admit that I miss the days where she just wanted to be in my arms cuddling me, the day she turned two it all changed she was on the go wanting to be with Phoebe and Teddy crawling after them and she was a late walker but to be honest she was more into her crawling because it was faster, well that's what I think anyway.
"Are you going to want your teddy baby girl?" I ask as I watch her playing with her dolls house as I go through a check list in my head, both Phoebe and Teddy have sorted out their bags and I've got mine now it's just sorting out my little girl who's not so little. Wow where has the time gone truth be told I do miss having a baby around, I saw more of Christian then and I loved taking them to work with me and Rina still comes sometimes. I guess I'm just getting the blues about her growing up.
"Teddy stay with me Momma…" she says smiling at me before running out the door and I assume down the hall to Phoebes room. It wasn't exactly the answer that I was looking for but I take it as a yes…it's going to be hard to get her to part from that Teddy when she goes to Pre-school. After I finish packing her bag I take it downstairs and put it next to the door with the rest of the bags, sure enough nothing has changed over the years if anything we end up with more bags every year even if we're just going away overnight. I walk into the kitchen and smile as I look at Gail.
"So are you looking forward to our girl's trip to New York?" I lean against the breakfast bar as she potters around in the kitchen making lunch for us. It's been awhile since we've been away without our husbands but I think that this is what we need of course I couldn't tell her to leave Jackson here with everything that's going on with Jack Hyde and his threat, even though I don't take much of it I still wouldn't want her to spend the time worrying about him.
"I won't lie…it is good to be able to spend some girl time together with you and Kate and girls but I am worried about the boys…not ours of course, but the ones that we leave here. We all know what Elliot's like, if the Christmas party from last year is anything to go by, you set rules for them and they say that they'll follow them but Elliot doesn't do rules unless they're his so I am a little concerned about this whole Hyde situation and how much the CPO's will take before they spill what's happening to him and then it will get back to Jason and Christian and then we'll be on the chopping block…" she says it like it's burning her throat on the way out she's talking so fast afraid that if she doesn't it like that it won't come out at all.
Truth be told I can see where she's coming from I'm concerned as well I don't really want to leave Teddy here but I can't force him to come with us without telling him what's going on. "They will be fine I'm sure and Luke is going to keep a close eye with Welch on his movements as well as his nephews and anyone that they contact as best they can but I know there's a possibility that they may miss something but I can't think about that because then I won't be able to hold it together and I have to do that because Christian isn't here to hold me together and if I break I'll be no good to anyone especially my children and they are my priority when Christian is out of the country…" I sound like I'm about to break I can hear it in my voice so I sigh and take a deep breath and look at her.
"We just have to stay strong for our Family Gail…blood or not we are all in danger here and I don't want us to have to be looking over our shoulders but right now we can't do much until we know what they might be planning, I have to trust that the CPOs will take care of us and of the children…This is going to be a fun carefree trip…we are going to have a good time and do lots of shopping, eating junk food and just normal tuff rather than thinking about this…" I smile and walk around to her and hug her. I honestly don't know how I would survive when Christian was away if I didn't have her to lean on.
"Let's get these monsters feed and then get this trip underway, I do want to stop by Grey house before we head to New York, I need to check with Andrea when Christian is free for some time off…" I smile as we take the sandwiches and juices out to the backyard where the children are.
"Of course your anniversary is coming up how could that have slipped my mind…?" I can tell from the smirk on her face that she didn't forget at all. I roll my eyes and place the try down on the table on the terrace.
"Come and get it…" I yell out to them as I look at Gail. "Now don't pretend like you didn't know…but it doesn't really matter right now…Phoebe's birthday is more important than our anniversary…and there's every chance that Christian won't have any spare time so I'm not getting my hopes up…but it's been awhile since either of us played hooky from work so I'm going to enquire whether it's an option…" I sigh and pick up a sandwich and a glass of juice and sit down as the kids come up and sit down with us.
After lunch the children help me clean up and Gail makes sure that she has everything she and Jackson will need and then we all head out to the cars and leave the house and the threats behind. We got to Escala first and drop off Teddy with Elliot and pick up Kate, Ava and Pascal and then I stop by GEH to hopefully arrange some time off with Christian. Maybe have a family get away or just a romantic one with the two of us…although I don't know if I could handle not having them with us. Gail, Jackson, Rina and I are in the first car and Phoebe, Pascal and Kate are in the one behind us and they will go straight to the jet and we will meet them there.
The Children's CPO's flew to New York this morning to make some last minute checks and to confirm everything that we will be doing while in New York and that transportation is all sorted, of course they should be a well-oiled machine but with Taylor and Christian both out of the mix and Luke still here they are doing it on their own so if anything screws up it will Taylor that cops it and it won't be from Christian it will be from me because I was the boss on this trip. When I reach GEH I look at Katarina. "You stay here with Gail and Jackson, Momma will be 10 minutes she is just going to check with Andrea about something to do with Daddy and then we'll go on the Jet and see the Lion King…" I kiss her head gently before climbing out of the car. "Stay with them I'll be in and out in no time. Nothing will happen to me…" I say to Luke as I close my door and run into GEH and straight to the elevator going straight up to Christian's office.
As the elevator opens into the office I step out and immediately see Andrea and she is all smiles.
"Ana how lovely to see you again…I heard what happened and I'm so pleased that you're alright" I walk over to her and smile. "It's good to see you too Andrea, yes you and your boss…" she smiles and shakes her head. "So I'm assuming that this is a flying visit…what can I help you with?" I'm pretty sure she already knows what it's about but is too polite to say anything. She knows everything nearly inside and out including dates, she has been around for a long time mainly with Christian but I'm pretty sure she remembers our anniversary because no doubt he's asked her to make reservations for us on more than one occasion.
"Well I actually wanted to check Christian's calendar and see if he was free for a few days off over our anniversary, I thought I might surprise him with a trip away but I of course know how busy he can get, so I was hoping you had some good news for me…or a way to rearrange his schedule so that we can go away…" I smile and sit on the lounge seat that sits out from her desk.
"Ana you know as well as I do that if I mess with his schedule without his say so that it will be my ass that will be out of here, but I'll see what I can do…as far as I can remember he doesn't have that may meetings leading up to the 30th…can I get back to you I just have to run out for a little while and grab some paper work for him and I'll check tonight before I go home and email you…" Typical man, it's always busy, busy even when he's out of the country poor girl hardly has anytime off you'd think that while he was away he would cut her a little slack, but nope. Maybe I'll ask him to give her some time off to go on holiday or something.
"Of course Andrea I can't have you getting fired because of little old me…" I giggle and nod. "Sure just let me know so that I can see if I can get my plans underway or not…" I turn and head back to the elevator. "Oh and Andrea, if he gets pissed about his schedule, I'll handle it he would be stupid and totally insane to fire you because of something that I did, plus he would be completely lost without you." I say turning to look at her once the elevator arrives before the doors close. Truth be told I know how much he will be pissed if she does do this for me, he's always so paranoid and a total workaholic that even he would have trouble with knowing that meetings were shifted just because I wanted to have some time away with him.
After reaching the car we drive the ten minutes to the airport and pull up next to the GEH jet, we board and start to taxi the runway at 1.25pm and fly the 5 hours and 15 minutes to New York arriving at 9.40pm (NYC time) at JFK airport, it's amazing to me how much time has gone by but it feels like just yesterday that Christian brought the Condo. Not long after Katarina was born Christian decided that it was worth us having a place in New York that could hold our family comfortable along with a few extra rooms for times such as these. I smile entering the building with Katarina in my arms and the others following behind, truth be told it's been nearly a year since we were last here.
It was perfect timing in a way because a new Luxury Condominium complex had just been completed and Christian being Christian got in quick and grabbed the 5 bedroom Penthouse Condo before they even put the condos on the market for sale turns out it pays to be a Grey and have a brother in the construction business as he can get you in touch with the architect of the building and boom you now own a multimillion dollar penthouse in one of the newest buildings in such a beautiful city. The 520 West 28 Street Complex is breathtakingly beautiful of course I didn't know about this as it was a surprise for all of us, floor to ceiling windows on all floors, two elevator banks for intimate admission to all floors, with open plan living, 2 private balconies and 5 bedrooms we have the biggest condo in the building, ensuite in the master it is so much like Fifty that I'm hoping it won't feel so bad being there without him for the first time since he acquired it. Normally it is family trips here, we spend a week or two seeing shows, sightseeing and just getting away from "Grey Drama" I guess is how you could put it.
Of course because we have the penthouse, Christian purchased the condo underneath for security, as they can never be too far away he would never stand for that. It feels like it has been a long day but I haven't really done anything, although that could be because New York is 3 hours ahead of Seattle but who knows maybe my age is just starting to show which wouldn't surprise me I guess we all can't be the Christian Grey who looks amazing all the time you would think he takes some kind of youth drug or something. I'm so glad that we ate on the Jet because Katarina has crashed out in my arms and I hate having to wake her to get her to eat because she gets cranky much like her father and brother when they are woken up without an alarm going off, I've found that out more times than I should have.
About 2 hours into the flight I received a text from Andrea about Christian's schedule.
I have managed to reschedule two of his meetings and move the other forward a week so that you can have your man to yourself of course as you're aware when I change his schedule he gets angry and it updates on his blackberry so I'm expecting a call from him at some point asking why and that's when I will tell him to take it up with you. Enjoy New York x Andrea
I had to smile when I read the text because he has rubbed off on her because she doesn't mess around and is straight forward. So either sometime tonight or early hours of tomorrow he will ring me and want to know what is going on but I have learnt over the years that I can persuade him to trust me even though he still hates surprises. Truth be told once he finds out about Jack and his threat he won't want to go anywhere and he will probably put everything he can into finding Bradshaw and making sure that neither of them comes near us again but I can't think about that now, we came here to have some girl time and to put this behind us for now. With the children in bed Gail, Kate and I sit down in the sitting room and have a glass of wine while Ava and Phoebe sit with us with drinking hot chocolates.
"So Phoebe have you decided what you'd want for your birthday?" Kate asked after gulping down some wine. With all that's been going on I haven't thought about what she would want, we have always tried to be generous with our children without spoiling them but it's harder as they get older to figure out what they want it seems to change every other week, but I guess that's normal for most parents with teenagers, however when you're a Grey the expectations are a little different especially when your father is the top business man of Seattle, if not the country. We have been lucky all things considered to not have the whole teenage rebellion that parents can expect although I could be getting ahead of myself as we still have a few years left but here's hoping that we don't have to go through that I'm not sure that I could handle that after having such well-behaved children for so long.
"Honestly I don't know what I want for my birthday…" the one thing that you can count on is that Phoebe is very much my daughter, she never asks for anything and never seems to want anything, over the last few years we have started asking what she wanted as opposed to just buying things that we think she might like. Last year I just gave her some money to do what she wanted with and in the end I think she just put it into her account. I almost feel like she's missing out on normal teenage experiences but it's just so hard with her being our baby girl and having such an over protective father that I almost want to allow her 24 hours of free rein to just experience life without having to worry about threats, the paparazzi and Christian.
"Surely you must have some idea. A big party, getting your license, going on a shopping spree?" Kate of course is always trying to get her to open up but the only thing that seems to do that is music. Kate thinks that she'll be able to use her journalism skills to get the information that she wants but Phoebe very much so has her father's stubborn streak more than any of the three of them. It's one of the reasons that they seem to butt heads more but I know that they can still be around each other it's just a rather silent table when they don't talk to each other.
"I think I'm just going to let this one slide and think about my sweet 16 party for next year, I mean that's a big one right? At least for other girls it is. I'm tired Mom, I'm going to go to bed…" she comes over and kisses me goodnight and Ava decides to do the same, they both go off to the room that Phoebe shares with Katarina when we come here. Of course Phoebe wanted her privacy so Elliot came up with a design for a bunk bed that would allow for that but also that they can interact with each other. It's a floor to ceiling design that is crème coloured and elegant and grown up at the same time. The bunks are enclosed with stripped wallpaper along the back of them, there are wooden stairs to lead to the top bunk, three drawers along the bottom, with small checked curtains that can be pulled across on both the top and the bottom bunks with a built in light attached to the top of the bottom and the ceiling of the top bunk. There are medium round balls on either side of the design one on either side at both the top and the bottom with three on either side in the middle of both bunks, with impressive panelling that gives it an 18th/19th century feel, it is a stunning and beautiful design just like both of them.
I sigh as I hear her bedroom door close and I look at Kate and shrug smiling gently. "I think she more like me than her father, not quite sure how that worked out because she seems like such a Daddy's girl…" I drink some more of my wine and run my hand through my hair, it seems like she's so down and she's supposed to be excited for her birthday.
"Ana I wouldn't worry about Poppy she will be fine, besides I think Christian has a surprise for her that will perk her up…" Gail says as he looks to Kate and me. "No I am not telling you what it is because I know that you Kate have a hard time keeping things from anyone and you Ana well I think you will be so happy when you see what it is…" that's the one thing I like about our 'family' it's like nothing separates us anymore, I remember when I first started going out with Christian it was all "Miss Steele" and "Mrs Jones" and it drove me insane. Of course my husband has something up his sleeve for his Baby Girl.
"Well that's good would be nice to see her happy on her birthday…I think I'm going to call it a night and I'll see you in the morning. No getting to rowdy now you two…you both have children to look after tomorrow and I'm pretty sure they don't want to see you hung over..." I tease before heading to the master suite and sigh as I close the door. Something has to be wrong here I am trying so hard to figure out what to get for my daughter for her birthday, I'm tired and missing my husband and I'm freaking out about the boys back in Seattle. Maybe I should tell Christian what's happening but I don't want to ruin this deal that he has to sort out in Thailand just for one threat….at least I think it's only one. I decide that I need to calm my nerves and go to the ensuite and run a warm lavender scented bubble bath hoping that it helps me to relax enough to go to sleep tonight without Fifty being her to hold me tight telling me that it's all going to be okay because the best people are on the situation and it will all be over soon, my biggest concern is that it's going to get worse before it gets better.
I undress and sink deep into the bath and close my eyes letting the bubbles and warm water work their magic before I decide to put my head under and just let the world disappear for a while, I need calm, I need peace but most of all I need my Fifty more than anything and I know that he would be here as soon as he could if I called him and told him to come home but I have to start being able to handle things on my own, I hope that he doesn't call tonight because I don't think I could play it cool today. Hopefully a goodnights sleep, or as close as I can get without him close to me will put me at ease. Tomorrow I will check in with Luke and find out where we're at and then will spend the rest of tomorrow shopping and sigh seeing before going out to dinner and then to the theatre to see The Lion King on Broadway. I need to keep myself occupied otherwise I am going to drive myself into the ground and then I'll be useless to everyone. I come up out of the bath and take a breath before opening my eyes and then sink back down leaning my head back on the side of the bath looking out the window at the stars. Maybe it would be better to just send a message to Christian that he needs to come home…but could I do that to him? Could I cost him a big deal just because I can't handle one threat made against our children?
~oooOooo~
A/N: So there we have it my newest update and I'm sorry it's not as long as previous chapters but I've kinda hit a wall again. So I just want to say thank you for being patient, I can't tell you how much it's been killing me knowing that it's been so long since I last posted.
Hopefully the next update won't take too long but am shifting in a few months to a warmer house and have quite a bit to pack so will be busy doing that and my partner is starting a new job which means that I will be home with my new baby girl by myself for the first time in nearly two months so will probably be writing in little bits and pieces but I will try post asap.
Would love to hear your thoughts about what you think Ana should do, what you think Christian's surprise should be? Anything you want to say, but please don't be too harsh on how it sounds it's been a while since I've written so I know it probably isn't up to the same standards as previous chapters.
Much Love and thanks,
Xxx Aby