Hey everyone! This is the soonest I've ever posted a chapter and it's the longest! Let's all be excited because this doesn't happen often. I will try my hardest to get the next chapter out by this weekend; I want to get a lot done before I go back to school.
So this next chapter is Christian and Ana and the grocery store; what could possible go wrong? And we get to see how Christian interacts with Ana's friends, this should be fun. I want to do a couple more chapters before I get to the Big Reveal. All I can say is it will be intense. As many of you have guessed Ana is not going to go down without a fight.
Also I want to thank you all for your amazing reviews, I love reading and responding to what you guys have to say. As for the guest reviewer Lectora, all your questions will be answered in this chapter, my dear. As for "Guest" I don't know what the oath has to do with anything, and we'll just have to wait and see if she signs the NDA.
For everyone else thank you again for reviewing and following the story, I am honored that you take the time to read. Also I added pictures to the Pinterest page, everyone go check it out; I put pictures of Nick, Enoska, Karian, Ana, and the delicious Mr. Christian Grey. The link is in my bio.
Enjoy! -Lily
"But I want to know," I whine.
"Just like Eve, so eager to eat from the tree of knowledge." He smirks.
I sigh in defeat, okay, I can wait one week. "Alright, next weekend it is then."
A satisfied smile plays on his lips then he turns and finishes up the brunch. "You need to eat," he commands.
"I'm full, it's too much food," I respond.
"At least finish your plate, I have a problem with wasting food," he says with intensity. I decide to force down the rest of the food, no need to make him angry.
Once I finish I grab both our plates and put them in the dishwasher. I look up and see Christian regarding me intently, resting his chin on his hands.
"So what's on the agenda for today?" he asks.
"Why?"
"I want to know what we're doing," he says with a shrug, his face impassive, with only a hint of humor in his eyes.
"I wasn't aware we were spending the day together," I say.
"I would like to; unless, of course, you want me to go," he says, his face still calm but his voice is laced with hurt.
"No, I would love for you to stay; it will be a little boring though, I have a lot of stuff to do," I explain.
"I have nothing else to do. So what's on the agenda?" he asks again.
"Well, first I have to go pick up Enoska and Karina and bring them here to get their cars, then I need to go grocery shopping, then we can do a late lunch, and finally I need to go to Toys-R-US," I say.
"Okay, let's go." He stands up, ready to go.
"Not so fast, I need to grab some clothes to bring to the dry cleaners." I rush out of the kitchen and into my room. I grab my dress of the floor, along with the corset and a few other dresses that need to be washed and put them in my laundry bag. I walk back out a few minutes later and find Christian on the phone.
"They want two?...How much will that cost?...Okay, and what safety measures do we have in place?...And they'll go via Sue?...How safe is Ben Sudan? And when do that arrive in Darfur?...Okay, let's do it. Keep me abreast of the progress." He hangs up.
"Ready to go?" he asks.
"I just need to brush my teeth," I inform him. A strange look comes across his face, almost guilty.
I rush back into the bathroom and pick up my toothbrush; it's wet. He used my toothbrush? I don't know how I feel about that.
I put some toothpaste on it and start to brush my teeth; it's like having him in my mouth, I suddenly feel naughty. After I finish I walk back into the kitchen. I find Christian leaning against the counter, a mischievous look on his face. "You used my toothbrush?" I ask in an accusatory tone.
"I needed to brush my teeth," he says completely calm, no shame what so ever. He picks up my laundry bag and gestures for me to go ahead. "After you, Dr. Steele," he says.
We walk out of my apartment and I make sure to lock the door, on the way to the elevator I shoot Enoska a quick text; both she and Karina are at her place so I will pick them up from there.
We wait for the elevator in silence, after a few seconds the doors swiftly open and we walk in. Once the doors close the electric pull is back, and stronger than last night. I looks up at Christian and I notice him staring at me, eyes dark and pupil's dilated.
"Fuck the paperwork." He drops the laundry bag and he lunges at me, pushing me against the wall of the elevator, the metal bar presses uncomfortably against my back but at this moment I don't give a fuck. Before I know it, he's got both my hands in one of his in a viselike grip above my head, and he's pinning me against the wall using his hips. Holy shit! His other hand grabs my hair and yanks down, brining my face up, and he crushes his lips on mine, it's almost painful. I gasp in surprise, this gives his tongue an opening. He takes full advantage, his tongue expertly explores my mouth. My tongue tentatively strokes his and joins his in a slow, erotic dance that's all about touch and sensation. He lets go of my hair and his hand moves around my waist, pulling me closer. I feel his erection against my stomach. I can't move, not that I want to; I'm powerless and it's the hottest thing I've ever experienced. He pulls away slightly and bites me lower lip, igniting another moan from me. The elevator starts to slow down and he lets go of my lower lip and presses his lips against me. "You. Are. So. Sweet." He says between each small kiss.
He lets go of me just in time for the doors to open. My knees buckle and I can't catch my breath, it's like I just ran a marathon in the desert. My heart rate is through the roof. Holy shit!
I lean against the railing and looks up at him, he looks like his usual calm, collected self. How unfair.
"Dr. Steele." I hear someone say. For the first time I realize that someone came into the elevator. I look up to see Dr. Bernard, a middle aged, cardio-surgeon.
"Dr. Bernard." I nod at him. I just want to die of embarrassment.
When the elevator finally stops Christian grabs my hand and leads me out, a trace of a smile on his lips. "What is it about elevators," he says, more to himself than to me. We stop in the middle of the lobby, I look up at him confused.
"Where is your car?" he asks.
"Hmm?" I ask, my wits are still scattered after that kiss.
A full blown grin spreads across his beautiful face. "Your car, Dr. Steele? We need to pick your friends."
Suddenly everything comes back, I take a deep breath and shake my head. "Oh, yeah, this way," I say and lead him outside. Thankfully we decided to park across the street last night, instead of the underground garage, if I had to go back into that elevator I may jump him.
I open the car and he reaches and opens my door, then puts the laundry in the back seat and gets into the passenger seat.
We sit in silence as I pull out into traffic. I force myself to concentrate on driving, which is not easy. He hasn't mentioned the outburst of passion that exploded in the elevator. Should I? Should we talk about it or pretend like it never happened? It hardly seems real; maybe I imagined it. I touch my swollen lips, no, it definitely happened.
"Do you have any music?" he asks after a few minutes of silence.
"I have this amazing think called a radio, if you press the button there, it will play any song you want," I say, my voice laced with sarcasm.
I turn to face him just as a smile tugs on his lips. He takes his phone out of his pocket and plugs it into the iPod doc. The car interior is filled with the sweetest, most magical music of two women signing.
"What are we listening to?" I ask.
"The Flower duet by Delibes, from the opera Lakmé. Do you like it?" he responds.
"It's wonderful, Christian," I answer.
"Isn't it?" he grins at me. He looks so young when he does that; so carefree and fun, he reminds me of the Christian I got to know last night. Is this the key to him? Music?
"Can you play it again?" I ask as the song winds to an end.
He presses repeat and sits back against the seat and stares at me intently.
"What?" I ask suddenly self-conscious.
"I'm just watching you," he says as if it's the most natural thing on the planet.
"Why?"
"You're fascinating," he answers.
"Well, thank you." I glance at him and smile. "So you like classical music," I say.
"My taste in music is eclectic, Anastasia, I like anything from Thomas Tallis to Kings of Leon. Depending on my mood. You?"
"Same, though I have no idea who Thomas Tallis is, but I mostly prefer country," I say. I turn and see him grimace.
"I'll play it for you sometime, he's a sixteenth-century composer, Tudor, mostly does Choral music. As for country, well, I'm not the biggest fan."
"That's only because you haven't heard good country music," I insist.
"There is no such thing as good country music," he says, a grin plastered on his mouth.
I say nothing as I pull into the dry cleaners and get out. I open one of the back doors to grab my clothes but Christian beat me to it. He is getting annoying.
We walk into the dry cleaners and drop my clothes off; we are out of there in less than five minutes. Now to pick up Enoska and Karina, hopefully they don't embarrass me. I'm dreading this.
When we get into the car and unplug Christian's phone, I flip through the stations until I find a country station. Sam Hunts "Leave the night on" blares through the speakers.
I turn and smile sweetly at Christian, who gives me an exasperated look. He reaches to the sound system. "You touch that and I will leave you right here," I threaten.
He quickly moves his hand away and laughs. "Okay, Okay." He raises his hands in defeat as I pull into traffic.
We reach a red light just as the second chorus starts to play. I turn to him and start singing. "Girl you got the beat right, killin' in your Levis, high on your lovin's got me buzzin' like a streetlight, it's still early out in Cali, Baby, don't you wanna rally again we'll find a road with no name, lay back in the slow lane-" The car behind me honks loudly and I look up and see that it's green. I quickly press down on the accelerator and go.
Christian is hysterically laughing behind me. "There is no boring moment with you, Dr. Steele."
"Glad to know I entertain you, Mr. Grey," I snare at him.
"I have to admit this song is catchy; so as ever you proved your point," he says, trying to get on my good side again.
"I always do." I grin; I love playful Christian.
You what? My subconscious chokes out. I decide to ignore her and concentrate on driving.
Just as the next song starts the sound cuts off and my phone rings. I look at the screen and it show that the hospital is calling. "Answer," I say and the ringing stops.
"Dr. Steele."
"Hi, Dr. Steele," Nurse Angie's voice comes through the speakers.
"Is everything alright with Anthony?" I ask, my mind immediately goes to Little Anthony.
"That's what I was calling you about, he just woke up and Dr. T had them run another MRI and the bleeding has stopped but the swelling is still there," she informs me.
"Oh thank god the bleeding stopped. As for the cerebral edema, push 2 cc's Barbiturates, and angle his body at 30 degrees," I tell her.
"Shouldn't I give him Mannitol?" she asks.
"Normally, yes, but I don't want to risk another hemorrhage and Barbiturates slows the blood flow. I will be stopping by to check on him later. Thank you Angie," I say and hang up.
"Who's Anthony?" Christian asks after I hang up.
"He's a patient, he was brought in yesterday. He's five and he was taken from an abusive home; I don't know the details but he has some serious injuries." I turn to face Christian as I park the car in front of Enoska's building. His lips are in a tight line and a pained look crosses his face briefly. This seems to hit a nerve with him.
"So you are going to check on him?" he asks.
"I was planning on going to Toys-R-Us to buy him a few toys; he came in with a little, dirty teddy bear. It broke my heart, he's such a sweet boy. I stayed with him until he fell sleep, poor baby was terrified," I continue, tears start to form in my eyes when I think about Anthony.
Christian gives me a small, sad smile. "Well, he's lucky to have such a great doctor."
I smile shyly at him and grab my phone to call Enoska. She answers on the first ring. "Hey, I'm here, get down!" I say and hang up.
"That was rude," Christian says with a chuckle.
I just shrug. A few seconds later the rear doors open and in slide Enoska and Karina. I turn to look at them; both of them are wearing sunglasses and they don't seem to be doing so well. Karina turns to me and mouths, "OMG!"
"Karina, Enoska, this is Christian. Christian this is Enoska and Karina," I introduce them.
Christian gives a polite smile and says. "Hello ladies."
"Hi, Christian, nice to officially meet you. We didn't get the chance last night when you were grinding on our friend," Karina says in her usual sweet voice, and gives me an accusatory look.
That bitch! I just glare at her and she smirks back. Christian just sits back against his seat, shocked.
I take a deep breath and pull out onto the street, the faster I get back home the less chance there is of another comment like that. As I stop at a red light the screen in the car lights up. "New message," the voice says.
"Read it," I answer. It's probably Nurse Angie giving me an update.
"Message from Enoska: Please tell me you fucked this hot piece of a-" I quickly press the button on my steering wheel and Siri's voice disappears.
I turn to Christian and see a smile tugging at his lips. "I'm glad you're enjoying this," I snap at him.
"I don't think I have ever had this much fun," he whispers back. Then louder he says, "Thank you, Enoska."
"No problem," She responds. She and Karina break out laughing along with Christian. Am I the only one not enjoying this?
"Ana, what happened to your lips?" Enoska asks.
I immediately blush and look over at Christian; my mind drifts to the kiss. "What? Nothing happened to my lips," I say, desperately trying to keep my voice even.
I meet Enoska's gaze in the rearview mirror and she gives me an I-don't-believe-you look but drops it.
I quickly drive back to my apartment, thankfully the traffic is light and it only takes about 10 minutes.
"I like you, Christian, you seem cool," Karina says.
"Thank you," he responds.
"I hate all of you!" I say acidly as I pull into the underground garage of my apartment.
"Oh shit, Christian, you are in trouble; good luck!" Karina says as she and Enoska exist the car. They walk around the car and wave to me, in return I flip them of. Bitches!
"Your friends are fun," Christian says as I pull out of the garage and onto the street.
I just nod in response. I am not talking to him. He chooses the worst moments to be fun and playful.
"Are you angry with me?" he asks, concern prevalent in his voice.
"Yes! That was so embarrassing, my friends aren't fun! They are little assholes," I snap.
"You are overreacting," he says.
I turn and glare at him, then quickly turn back to the road. "How would you feel if your friends did that?" I ask.
"I don't really have any friends," he says, his voice is even, but there is an underlying sadness.
"Well, you're about the have one less friend," I say.
"We're friends?" he asks and tilts his head to the side slightly.
"I don't know, I guess. I mean what are we? Friends is the easiest think go call it, at least for now," I tell him. My mind immediately goes back to the kiss and I touch my lips.
"Friends," Christian says, testing out the word, then he makes a face.
"What?" I ask.
"You're my first normal 'friend'. Another first, Dr. Steele," he says and puts air quotes around the word 'friends'.
"What does that mean? You are so cryptic," I say.
"You'll know everything next weekend," he says and sighs.
"Why do you act like that's a bad think?" I ask.
"Because then I will really lose a 'friend'," he says, using air quotes.
"Why do you keep using air quotes?" I ask, laughing as I park the car in the Wholefoods parking lot.
"I feel like just friend is too casual." He shrugs and looks at my lips. He must be thinking about the kiss too. Should I say something? I think as I walk around the car to where he's waiting for me.
"You really should let me open your door," he says, reprimanding me. He takes my hand in his and we start walking toward the grocery store.
"What a gentleman." I laugh.
"Are you laughing at me, Dr. Steele?" he asks, a smirk tugs at the corner of his lips.
"No! Wait, we need a cart," I say as he goes to walk through the doors of the store.
I let his hand go and run to where to carts are and take one. I walk back only to see him staring at me with a bemused expression on his face.
"I assume you don't do this often," I say to him. I bite my lip to keep from laughing, Christian's eyes follow my movements and his eyes darken.
"No, I've never gone grocery shopping," he says in a way that makes it seem like he's talking about something naughty. He reaches his and towards me and uses his thumb to pull out my bottom lip from between my teeth.
I hear someone cough loudly, I turn and see a women with a toddler in her cart glaring at us; I realize that we are blocking the entrance. What is wrong with us? We seem to have intense moments in the most inappropriate places.
"Sorry," I tell her. I push the cart into the building and Christian follows beside me, walking with easy confidence.
"Okay, let's do this. Let's pop your grocery shopping cherry," I say to him.
He looks at me, a bewildered expression on his face, then he breaks out laughing. "You really have a way with words, Dr. Steele. Lead the way," he says.
We walk into the store and I head over to the first aisle; I have nothing at home so I'm going to need to stock up on everything. Christian follows behind me, quietly looking around the store.
The first aisle is fruits and vegetables, I walk around and grab a couple of organic tomatoes.
"Why are you only getting two? I think you'll need more than that," Christian says from his place by the cart.
"I'm one person, and I work about 100 hours a week; most of my meals are hospital food. I don't want to waste produce so I only grab what I need," I explain.
He nods in understanding and a smile appears on his handsome face. "Do you need any help?" he asks, he looks so domestic standing in the middle of the store. It seems so alien for someone like him to be standing in a simple Wholefoods grocery store.
"Yeah, why don't you grab a couple of bell peppers," I tell him.
He nods and walks over to the pepper area with purpose. I turn back to my shopping and a few seconds later he comes back with two Chili peppers in his hand and holds them out to me. I look at him, then the peppers, then back at him. "What is this?"
"You wanted peppers; I got you peppers," he says, looking at me like I'm the dumb one.
"First I wanted bell peppers and second you put them in a bag," I tell him, trying desperately not to laugh.
He looks down at his hands then back at me, a confused expression dominates his features. He uses the hand that's not holding the peppers and scratches the back of his head. He looks downright hilarious standing there, I can barely contain my laughter. He runs a multi-billion dollar company but he doesn't know the difference between a bell pepper and a chili pepper.
I grab his hand and lead him to the pepper area. "Okay, Christian. Do you see the signs above each different type of pepper? They're not just there for decoration. Do you see this round pepper-"I hold up a bell pepper. "It looks like a bell doesn't it? And look at the sign above it-Bell pepper," I explain in the voice that my sister uses to talk to her Kindergarteners.
"Are you mocking me, Dr. Steele?" Christian says after I finish my little speech.
"What are you going to do about it?" I respond, looking at him through my lashes. I hear his sharp intake of breath. He drops the peppers back onto the pile and reaches over to me and wraps his long fingers around the belt loops on either side of my hips and pulls me towards him.
My breathing stops as he leans in and whispers in a low seductive voice, "Don't tempt me, Anastasia."
Oh God, he's so close, is he going to kiss me again?
I get my answer when he moves his face away slightly and kisses my cheek; disappointment rushes through me. He pulls away and smiles at me wickedly; he knows exactly what he's doing. I huff and stomp back to the cart. He grabs the correct peppers and a bag then follows after me.
"There, happy know?" he asks, dangling the peppers in front of my face.
"Just put them in the cart," I snap.
"Are you angry with me again? I have never had anyone mad at me so often." He smirks.
"I'm sure there are; they are just afraid to say anything. You are a very infuriating man," I tell him.
"And you are a very infuriating women," he fires back.
There is so much I want to say but I decide to bit my tongue.
"What else do you need?" he asks sweetly.
"Oh no, I'll get it myself, just stand here and don't touch anything!" I laugh.
He pouts- Holy shit, that's sexy-but otherwise does what he's told. We get through the rest of the store with minimal damage. Christian just follows me with the cart, he occasionally picks up a few items and examines them then puts them back on the shelf. I don't know what he's looking for or if there is any pattern to what he picks up, so I don't mention it.
When we are halfway through the cereal aisle Christian freezes and his eyes widen. I stop walking, curious at what initiated this reaction from the usually calm and collected Mr. Grey.
He turns to me, a giant, face spilling, childlike grin is plastered on his face. "They make Reese's cereal?" he asks as if it's the greatest thing on the planet.
I can't hold back my laughter at his childlike actions. "Apparently," I say.
"Reese's are my favorite," he says as a way of explaining his irrational reaction; he seems a little embarrassed as he pulls himself back together.
"Do you want to get them?" I ask.
He looks at me and nods. I gesture to the cart and he puts the box in. Who would have guessed, the usually stoic CEO freaks over cereal?
He seems so different from this morning or the first time I met him; he seems relaxed. A little hope begins starts to rise, maybe I have something to do with this.
"You know they make Reese's ice cream, too." I inform him.
"Where is the ice cream aisle?" he asks. This makes me laugh.
"I don't appreciate you laughing at me, Dr. Steele," he says in mock anger.
"Then stop making me laugh," I say and shrug.
"I make you laugh?" he asks, some strange emotion colors his voice. "I've never been accused of that before," he says wistfully.
"You're a pretty funny guy, Mr. Grey," I tell him, a slight blush colors my cheeks.
"I think it's just you who brings out this side of me," he says, his voice intense.
I don't respond and he doesn't say anything further. We walk to the ice cream aisle and grab the Reese's ice cream bars and some Ben and Jerry's vanilla then we go to check out. We are both quiet, lost in thought.
He is sweet one moment then cryptic the next. It's like he lets himself go then he realizes and just closes off again for some reason. My mind flashes back to his words from earlier, If you know then I will really lose a 'friend'. Why? What is he hiding? He seems too good to be true, maybe he is, but I'm falling for him and I think he may be falling for me too. What could be so bad that I would leave him?
"Penny for your thoughts?" Christian's deep, masculine voice cuts through my reverie and brings me back.
"You don't have enough pennies to make me tell you what I was thinking," I say.
"I highly doubt it; I have a lot of pennies," he says with a smirk.
I turn around and roll my eyes and start putting stuff on the belt for the cashier to scan. Christian follows suit and between us we get it done in no time. I move the cart up so that the bagger can put the bags in.
"Really what were you thinking? And don't think I didn't see you roll your eyes," he says.
How does he know? "Why do you need to know what I'm thinking?" I ask.
"I want to get to know you better," he states simply.
"Then ask me questions, I'll answer all of them," I tell him.
"Okay, what were you just thinking?" he asks.
"Except that one," I say laughing.
"That will be $109.57," the cashier says to me. I reach into my purse to grab my debit card, it takes me a few seconds to find it with all the clutter in here. Once I do I look up and see Christian giving his card to the cashier.
"What do you think you're doing?!" I yell at him.
"You were taking too long, there's a line behind us," he says with a shrug.
"Don't slide the card," I tell the cashier.
"Sorry, Miss, I already did," She says apologetically and hands the card back to Christian.
I let out a sigh; this man is going to make me go crazy. "I'm paying you back," I state firmly as we walk to the door.
"Why?" he asks, his expression is confused and a little hurt.
"I can afford to pay for my groceries, why should you pay for them?" I snap.
"Because I can," he replies coolly.
"That doesn't mean you have to. I am paying you back and that's final."
"Like hell you are," he snaps, anger and aggravation flash on his face.
I stop in front of my car and reach into my purse and pull out $110 and hand them to him.
"I am not taking your money; this is ridiculous and quite frankly very rude," he yells at me.
"Take the damn money, Christian!" I wave the money at him.
"I am not taking your money. I don't see why you are making a big deal about this; you were taking too long and the people behind us were getting frustrated. It's a hundred dollars; I can afford it," he says and runs his hands through his hair.
"I don't care that you can afford it! Just take the fucking money, Christian!" I am starting to get really annoyed.
"I'm about to rip that money. Why can't you be like every other girl and just say thank you and move on?" he says, frustration clear in his eyes. His voice is low but the anger is easily heard.
"Because I don't need you to pay for stuff; I don't know the kind of girls you're used to but I can pay for my own shit. What you did was insulting," I yell.
Christian lets out a deep breath, runs both his hands through his hair and looks around. I mirror his actions and see that we have attracted a little crowd.
"Just get in the car, we can finish this discussion in there," he says, his voice quieter but the low tone makes him more intimidating.
"I am not going to get into the car until you take the money," I insist.
"GET IN THE FUCKING CAR, ANASTASIA!" he screams. This startles me, I stare at the ground for a minute, weighing my options and I start to walk to the driver's side. "Passenger side," he says, his voice clipped.
I turn to say something but the look on his face shuts me up quick. His face is hard as stone, his nostrils flared and his eyes are blazing. His mouth is in a tight line; his body language is defensive. I decide against saying anything and get into the passenger side. He is borderline terrifying.
He opens the trunk and puts the groceries in then slams the door shut and walks around to the driver's side and gets in. He adjusts the seat and the mirrors and pulls out. Neither of us say anything.
So what do you all think? The text in the car thing has actually happened to me, so I thought I would include it. And let's not forget the steamy elevator kiss, I got a little hot writing it. Hopefully Ana and Christian can kiss and make up. Let me know what you think about the fight- who was in the wrong?
Thank you all for reading and please follow, favorite, and review! Also check out Pinterest. If you have any question please just PM me. Thank you!
-Lily