Hello everyone!
As always thank you for taking the time to read my story.
Recently I received a comment concerning my grammar and spelling. The person kindly suggested that I should get a beta reader. I think it is a wonderful idea since english isn't the language I grew up speaking and therefore misstakes in both grammar and spelling may occur. Let me know if any of you are interested and have the time to read through my story before I post them.
As always, I hope you have an amazing day/night wherever in the world you are. xx
Chapter 11 - The Cure
I look at Ray while wondering what to tell him when something in his gaze catches my attention. He looks happy and curios. His look doesn't show any sign of protectiveness and disdain that I had expected from him. This leaves me shocked, what happen with the man I knew that just to "joke" about punching my future boyfriend? That man was gone with the wind.
"Hello, Sir. My name Christian Grey." Christian says while offering him his hand. Ray shakes his hand firmly. Christian is a few inches taller than Ray but they have the same built - broad shoulders narrower hips. Christian's modern suit against Ray's old jeans from 99' and washed-out t-shirt, made it seem like their where from a different worlds. My dad is sporting the rugged look with a buzzcut and a slight stubble on his cheeks. Every line on his face has a story to tell. Everything from the small scar over his left eyebrow that he got when he was eleven at his first fist- fight, to the wrinkles around his eyes that had seen war. "I'm Anastasia's... friend."
Ray looks a bit sceptic at his response but he doesn't mention it. "I'm Ray, Annie's father." he tells Christian. Ray takes my hand and leads me to the couch carefully, and when I'm sitting on it comfortably he tucks me in with the blanket I had on before.
"Dad, what are you doing here?" I ask him while a cough escapes my mouth. I try cover my mouth as good as I can with my blanket.
"Kate called, and asked if could take care of you while she was in Seattle." he tells me while putting his hands on my forehead to feel y temperature more closely. Both Ray's parents are doctors, which almost makes him a nurse by default. "But, I see that your… friend has that covered." he says looking over his shoulder to Christian and gives me a look that says "why didn't you warn me?".
"I told Kate, Christian, and now you that I'm fine." I tell them, trying to look stern.
"You're not fine." Ray and Christian say at the same time. They look at each other surprised, with Ray's eyebrow slightly raised and Christian's smirk. I believe that they're sharing a moment.
"Have you eaten yet?" Ray asks me. "She ate a bowl of chicken soup and drank a cup of tea earlier." Christian answers for me before I can do it myself. Ray nods and looks satisfied with Christian's answer.
"We have to keep her hydrated and try to get her to eat something with more substance to it." Christian nods. "My mom said the same thing." Christian tells my dad. "She's a doctor." he continued before my dad asked what she did for a living. Ray nodded his head.
I rolled my eyes at them and closed them, trying to ignore them or to just fall asleep. I really appreciate them taking the time to come here and take care of me. I try to breath with my nose but end up almost coughing up my lung when my blocked nostrils fail to lead any air to my lungs. Christian sits down worriedly beside me and starts to rub my back in circles.
"You should go. I don't want you getting the flu as well." I say to him while looking him in the eyes. I must look awful, with my runny nose and red eyes. "Who's going to run your empire if you're not there?"
"I only employ competent people, so, I think it will survive if I'm not there for a few days." he answers me while putting a strand of hair behind my ear.
"I think the real question is if you will survive being away from work for few days." Wait, did he really say a few days?
He chuckles. "Then, do me a favor and keep me distracted." I give him a small smile.
Ray clears his throat loudly, putting a stop to whatever that was. "Annie, I'm going to buy the ingredients The Cure. Do you need anything?" Oh no, not The Cure. It smells awful and tastes even worse. It has a green-grey color and it's thick - you can barely swallow it. You almost want to be sick instead of having to drink 'The Cure', but this is an emergency. The Cure is something brought up from hell, it works like a miracle every time but only demons would come up with that taste.
I think about his questions for a few seconds and the only thing that I think of that I need is tampons, but I can't ask my father for those can I? He wouldn't know which kind to buy and he would be embarrassed to even buy them. I don't want to repeat the fiasco of my first period all over again. I can ask Kate later for them or maybe even Jose or Gavin, they've done it before. "No, thank you. I'm good."
"And you, Christian?" Ray asks.
I've never seen a man look so surprised in my 21 years on this earth. Surely, people ask him if he needs something all the time? But, maybe more often than not people expect something in return for they trouble. Christian shakes his head. "No, thank you."
Ray nods is head, feels his pockets after his keys, wallet and phone and walks toward the door. He closes the door carefully, trying not to make to much noise on his way out. I look at Christian, he really is hot. … His defined jaw and his striking grey eyes that tells me more than his words will ever do. Women must throw themselves at him all the time, women that not only are attracted to him for his good looks but to his money. It has to be very tiring to have always have to watch you're back.
"Is it that rare for someone to ask if you need something without them expecting something in return?" I ask him. He shifts his eyes so they land on me. He nods softly.
"With a lot of money comes a lot of power. People think that I owe them something when they do something for me, for the most part." he says.
"That's sad." I tell him while I take his hand but he quickly removes it from my grasp.
"I don't want your pity." he says to me sounding a bit harsh.
"It's not pity, Christian. It's called compassion." I say to him softly feeling how my eyelids are slowly becoming to heavy for me to lift back up again. "And, when you get ill with the same thing that I have I will feel schadenfreude." By the time I'm done telling him this I have my eyes closed and I'm slurring as I speak.
Christian laughs softly at my comment. "Schadenfreude? Are you going to tell me 'I told you so'?"
"Oh, you bet. I'm going to say that 'I told you so' at least three times."
"Then I hope that I don't get sick, that I could tell you 'I told you so.'."
"You can dream about it, Mr. Fancy pants." I say to him jokingly.
"Fancy pants?" He asks me. I can feel that he is smiling slightly.
"What?! You have fancy pants." I laugh. My head starts sliding until it is stopped by a shoulder.
"Sleep Ana, and I will still be here when you wake up."
"How long have you been dating?" I hear Ray's voice say. I want to answer him that we're not dating yet, but I seemed to have forgotten how to control the muscles around my eyes and lips. So, I lie still in what I believe is Christian's arms. I can hear his steady heartbeat in his chest and I can feel the warmth of his skin through his shirt. Fingers are running through my tangled hair, sending shivers down my spine. There is nothing better, in my opinion, than someone running their fingers through my hair.
"Not long." Christian answers my dad. I imagine Ray giving him a short nod.
"How did you meet?" Ray asks Christian after a few seconds. I'm wondering what he's going to answer to that. Technically, we've met for the first time twice. The first, first time four years ago where he accidentally broke my hand and the second first time where we've met in his office. The fingers running through my hair stop for a moment.
"On a party four years ago." He tells him honestly. "She unintentionally spilled a drink on me, and I in turn accidentally pushed her over." Ray makes a sound of acknowledgment. I've told him about the man who involuntarily pushed me away and broke my hand four years ago. When he saw my broken hand on a impromptu visit to my college, he made me tell him everything that happen. Back then he was livid at the stranger who had broken his little girls hand.
"Can you tell me how you accidentally push someone away?" Ray asks him calmly. He sounds understanding like he knows something and he is just waiting for him to confirm it.
"I don't like to be touched." Christian says with a low voice.
There is a silence, where the only thing you can hear is the sound of my strained breathing. I can hear someone shifting their seat, it's probably dad because the only movement Christian makes is the soft up and down motion of his chest when he breaths.
"I never saw her again after that party that my brother dragged me to. I was so angry at him for dragging me there, 'I need you, bro' he said. When I had pushed her off me and I saw her sitting there with her hand against her chest, I felt bad. I remember thinking that even though she looked sweaty and in pain, that she was a good looking girl. Kate almost attacked me that night for hurting her, but believe me, I beat myself up that night. I thought that Ana was going to be angry, scream at me... Something, but she did nothing. She just looked at me, like she understood why I had done it. The only time she really yelled, was when I drove to the hospital instead of her dorm. She was insisting that she was fine even though she clearly wasn't fine. I drove her to the hospital, paid all of her medical bills and left with my brother." he tells my father. I listen closely to his retelling, wanting to hear the story from his point of view. "She walked into my office four years later. Kate had gotten the flu and couldn't do the interview, so she sent Ana instead." he laughs. "She is a horrible reporter. She was clearly nervous and looked like she lacked the confidence to be a journalist. I thought that she looked familiar but I ignored it. But, then, after she was done with the interview she apologized for hers and Kate's behavior that night, even though I was the one who had broken her hand." I can hear him smiling. "So, I asked to take her out."
"Typical Annie." Ray mutters. "I know who you are Christian, I do read the paper daily - even finance part. I have a good feeling about you, please don't prove me wrong." he tells Christian.
"I won't." Christian says to my father. His voice sounds so sincere and serious that one can't avoid to believe him.
Both are quiet for a while.
"You have to take care of her, even if she doesn't want you to. She's too stubborn for her own good." Ray says him solemnly. I want to roll my eyes at him, he has always been so concerned about me. I ask for help, when I think I need it. I'm not too proud for that, I just think that I don't need help that often.
"I will." Christian promises. "In fact, I was thinking about gifting her a new car for a graduation present." Christian says. Oh no, you wont, I think irritated. He can by me a pen for a graduation present if he feels like it, not a fricking new car.
"I don't think it's a good idea." Ray tells him. "She won't accept it willingly."
"There is something that you need to know about me, Mr. Steele, and that is that I'm also too stubborn for my own good. She will take the car." Christian says confidently. Do you want to bet? I think sure of myself. If I had the energy to actually move my muscles I would arch my left eyebrow.
"It's your war, my friend." Ray warns him, but I can hear the smile in his voice. I thought he loved Wanda, just as much as I do, but it turns out that I was wrong. "You would be doing me a favor." TRAITOR! My mind screams at my dad. They are not taking my precious Wanda. She is sacred, hasn't anyone taught them to respect their elders? She probably was driven by their great grandparents, and this is how they repay her?
Their conversation switches to baseball and fishing. It turns out that they have more things in common with each other than Christian and I actually do. For some strange reason is the thought of Christian and Ray getting along making me very happy. I'm starting to realize that I really like the man that is currently holding me tight against his chest, and I'm realizing that he seems to like me too. He took the time to come and check up on me when he heard that I was sick. I should stop being so harsh and actually give him an honest chance.
There is a knock on the door. "Do you know if she's expecting anyone?" Ray asks Christian. Judging by the movement of his body, he is shaking his head. I hear steps, and the telltale sound of the door opening.
"Who are you?" Ray asks.
"Hi, I'm Paul and I'm looking for Anastasia Steele." he says nervously. Paul?! What is he doing here? The cake! I Can feel Christian lifting me up and laying me softly back down on the sofa.
"I'm her father, Ray." Ray says to Paul. "and I'm her boyfriend, Christian." I hear Christian say. Did Christian Grey really just say that I was his girlfriend?
"I didn't know that Ana had a boyfriend." Paul says sounding confused. "That explains a lot." Paul mutters.
"What do you want?" Christian asks irritated.
"My aunt asked me to drop off the cake and card." he says meekly. "My aunt owns the hardware store she works in... Eh, used to worked in now." there is a little pause. "You look familiar... Wait are you Christian Grey - CEO of Grey Enterprises Holdings?" Paul asks. Of course Paul knows who he is, he study's business in Princeton.
"Yes, I am." Christian says sounding very arrogant. I imagine him standing there and looking impassive and important. Like he has better things to do than stand there and explaining to a stranger who he is.
"Wow, I've never took her for that kind of girl." I hear Paul say, in a low voice. He probably didn't mean to say that out loud. I wouldn't want to be Paul right now.
"What kind of girl?" Ray asks sharply. His tones indicates that he should be very careful with what words he uses to describe me next.
"Eh, nothing." Paul says. "I have to go. It was nice meeting you."
The door closes after him with a little too loud bang. The sound of it bouncing of the walls. Grunts and noises that express anger and exasperation come out from their mouths. They start bashing Paul, and somehow along the way, I don't know how, my consciousness surrenders to my tiredness once again overtakes my body.
I wake up in my bed with the sun setting. The orange-red light entering my room, making everything glow. My body feels very heavy, I'm freezing and I really need to blow my nose. It's completely stuffed making me breath through my mouth, witch has resulted in a very dry throat that feels like the Sahara. I shut my eyes again, and send a little prayer to the gods above that to please speed up my recovery. I go up to take a glass of orange juice in the kitchen. On my way there I find my dad and Christian in the living room; my dad is watching TV while Christian is doing something on his laptop.
"Do you guys want something from the kitchen?" I ask them, while walking to the kitchen in what feels like slow motion. Both men look at me at the same time. Christian tells me that he can get it for me. "I need to move a little." I tell him.
When I come back to the living room it seems like they haven't moved at all. My throat feels a lot better now that it's not as dry. I sit down between them.
"What are you doing?" I ask Christian. I try to make a point of not looking into the his computer screen, so that he doesn't think that I'm snooping. He looks very concentrated at the bright screen while he writes something in an incredible speed. His fingers making make faint clicking sounds.
"Answering work e-mails." he answers my question. He closes his laptop and looks at me. "How are you feeling?" he asks me looking a bit concerned.
"Better." I tell him and that is not a lie. The difference is barely noticeable but there it's there. Christian nods, but I can see that he doesn't believe me.
"Annie, are you ready for The Cure?" Ray asks me. I instinctively scrunch up my face, I'm not looking forward to it.
"I will never be ready for The Cure, dad." I tell him. Seriously, The Cure is stuff from nightmares. Ray laughs and goes to the kitchen to get it.
"What's The Cure?" Christian asks.
"You'll see." I tell him. He scrunches up his face. "What's that smell?" he asks horrified.
"The Cure." I say sounding sad and disgusted.
Ray sits down beside me, holding a big spoon with the unappetizing goo and big glass of orange juice. He looks at me with pity, he knows how bad The Cure is. Christian, on the other hand, looks at the spoon like it is poison.
"What the hell is that?" he says disgusted.
"The Cure." Ray says seriously. And gives the spoon to me. Just do it, Steele! I do it, I chug down the spoon and grab the glass of juice from my dad drink everything from one go - every last drop. The taste of The Cure still lingers in my mouth, making me want to throw up.
"Well done, Annie." Ray says while stroking my back. Christian looks like he can't comprehend what just happened. "I would almost rather be sick that take that goo." he says.
"Well, this is an emergency." I tell him. "Can we talk about something else, please?"
"How are you feeling about graduation?" My dad asks me.
"I don't know yet. Ask me again on Friday." I smile at him. "I'm a bit worried about work though."
"Why?" Ray asks.
"There aren't that many companies that want to take on an inexperienced college graduate." I tell him.
"You could always work in my company." Christian says. "We offer an excellent payed internship. And even if you don't want to work for me like you said before, I could help you get a job." he continues.
"Thank you, but no thank you." I croak. "I want to find a job on my own. Thanks for the offer though." He nods again looking annoyed at me. Ray has the same look on his face. I roll my eyes at them.
"Well, I should get going." Christian says suddenly. He stands up and I can feel my face scrunch up in confusion. "Where are you going?"
"Your dad is here, so I'll go back to my hotel for the night and then I will come back tomorrow." Christian says looking a little sad. And if I'm being honest, it makes me a little sad as well. I nod. I stand up as well. Christian reaches his hand to Ray's and shakes it. "Nice to meet you, Sir." he says to him.
"Likewise, Christian." he says and sits back down on the couch, his eyes focused on the baseball game. I follow him to the door.
"I'll be feeling a lot better tomorrow." I say to him. "Maybe we can go for a short walk." I ask him.
"Sure." he says looking behind me fast. He bends down and kisses me softly on the lips fast.
"That wasn't the best idea. Now you're getting sick for sure." I tell him.
"It was worth it." he says with a small smile. "I'll see you tomorrow then."
"I hope so." I smile at him. He gives me a last smile and then turns around and walks away.
I walk back to the couch and sit down back again on the couch. I lay my head against Ray's right shoulder.
"You know I saw that." he tells me. I feels my cheeks redden. "Annie, he seems to be one of the good ones. Just give him a chance."
"I will dad." I say to him while staring at the TV and once again I feel myself drift off into dreamland.