I do not own these characters. All rights go to E.L. James.
"Falling For You"
Chapter 10 – Breaking & Entering
Seattle is not one of those cities that never sleeps...Christian thought as he cruised up the deserted hill of Queen Anne Avenue. He continued weaving his way westward, the address he was searching for etched in his brain. The top of Seattle's most famous landmark, the eminently recognizable Space Needle, rose behind him in his rearview mirror, then disappeared when he turned left onto West Prospect Street.
The Aston Martin's engine purred as he dodged around parked cars and the concrete dividers some long forgotten city planner had seen fit to place at each intersection to slow down traffic in this part of the city. Many neighborhood residents took it upon themselves to plant flowers in the dividers, making them beautiful as well as functional.
His meeting with Kate and her manager this afternoon had not gone well, and had lasted well over three hours. Afterward, he'd had dinner at Aqua by El Gaucho, his favorite waterfront restaurant, hoping the soothing sight of the gray waters of Elliott Bay and the city beyond would calm his nerves and settle his urge for the elusive something that continued to plague him.
Unfortunately, neither the view nor the excellent food did anything to improve his mood so, on impulse, he called his computer tech, Barney to get him Ana Steele's address, which was on the west side of the Queen Anne Hill area. He'd decided that it couldn't hurt to drive by her house and see where she lived. He wasn't going to go in, or even knock on the door. He just wanted to see where she lived, that was all.
All of the lights were off when he stopped his car in front of the two story redbrick house whose address matched the one that Barney gave him. The small front lawn was well tended, with neatly trimmed bushes by the front porch under the windows.
He looked at the clock on the dashboard. It wasn't even ten o'clock yet. Surely she wasn't in bed this early? But what did it matter? He hadn't intended to speak to her anyway, he reminded himself. Although a cup of coffee would be nice. Yes, that and someone to talk to. Someone who didn't want anything from him. Someone who didn't want him to fix some problem, or loan her some money, or talk about business. Christian took a deep breath as Ana's house remained dark.
As Christian sat in his car he pressed the button to his window to let some cool night air. He leaned back into the welcoming leather of the driver's seat, and made a deal with himself. If the lights stayed out after ten minutes, he'd leave, but if he saw even a glimmer, he'd walk to the door, tell her he'd just been out driving in her neighborhood at ten o'clock at night, and decided to stop by.
It sounded pretty lame, even to his own ears.
Christian drummed his fingers on the steering wheel.
He could see the headline now:
"Christian Grey Stalks Employee"
The interview with Ana:
"He just sits in front of my house, waiting. I'm afraid to turn on my lights."
This was foolishness. The last thing he needed right now was the possibility of bad press.
Christian turned the key in the ignition and edged out of his parking space and into the deserted street, the cool air from the open window bringing him back to his senses.
~ ~ O ~ ~ O ~ ~
Elliot Grey watched the disappearing taillights of his brother's car with speculation. He stepped out of the protective shadow at the side of Ana's house into the pale white moonlit night.
Earlier that day, he'd overheard two of the volunteers at the soup kitchen gossiping about Ana and her famous family. His ears had perked up when they'd mentioned her last name and he'd blessed his luck at finding her address.
He hadn't planned on going in, had really just wanted to take a peek around the neighborhood, check out the dog situation, and see what sort of valuables she might have left lying out in the open. When he'd found the back door unlocked, he just couldn't resist, knew he'd be able to be long gone by the time the police arrived if she'd left the security system on.
In the end, it didn't matter. The creaking of the back door wasn't met with the screeching of an alarm, only the growling of a large black and white tabby cat who was sitting near an empty supper dish in the kitchen as Elliot entered.
"I wonder if she's got any liquor in here," Elliot muttered as he glanced around the tidy kitchen. A check of the cabinets revealed only a few bottles of wine and an unopened bottle of Johnnie Walker Scotch Whisky. Elliot grabbed the whisky, opened the cap and taking a healthy swig before continuing his unguided tour of Ana's house.
For a rich bitch, she didn't have a lot of money lying around, at least not where he could easily find it. He'd grabbed a towel from the kitchen and used that to cover his hand whenever he touched anything. Just in case he located something worth stealing, he wasn't going to be stupid enough to leave his fingerprints all over the place for the cops to find.
He'd done a quick once over of the downstairs and looked longingly up to where her bedroom and jewelry, no doubt, lay. He'd had one foot on the bottom stair when he'd heard the sound of a car stop from the road at the front of the house. He moved with practiced haste back to the kitchen. The cat was sitting by the back door, watching him. When it hissed at him, Elliot didn't think twice before planting a well-aimed kick into the animal's soft middle. He'd never like cats, and he damn sure wasn't going to put up with this one hissing at him.
The cat lay still on the back steps and Elliot stepped over it, closing the door silently behind him. Pulling his jacket together in front, he took another swallow of whisky as he walked cautiously around the side of the house.
The bottle almost slipped out of his surprised fingers when Elliot saw his own brother sitting in his car in front of Ana's house. Christian was looking toward the second story of the house, making Elliot glad he hadn't risked going upstairs.
"What the hell is he doing here?" Elliot muttered, pressing himself further into the shadows. He waited for Christian to do something, knock on the door, let himself in, anything…but he just sat in his car, staring at the darkened house.
Elliot took another thoughtful pull on the bottle, pondering the possibilities of why his brother had shown up at this house on this night. Was Christian following him? How did he know about Ana? Was it all just a coincidence?
Elliot waited in the shadows for a full five minutes after Christian left before making his way from the house, stumbling a little over the steeply sloped lawn and sidewalk.
"Guess we'll just have to wait to see what Big Brother's up to, won't we?" Elliot mumbled to himself as he concentrated on picking his way down the darkened street to the bus stop two blocks away.
AN: Chapter Title Song – "Breaking & Entering" by Tonight Live