Even though my laptop's charger broke, I managed to upload this via the app. I didn't know that this was possible, confused Informatics student here.thanks for the tons of love and reviews :-*
NOT BETAED!
11. From talks and risks
The realisation that, I was going to meet Christian Grey on a Friday night in a bar, hit me soon enough. Anticipation and anxiety spread in my body like wildfire, tieing my throat while making my fingertips tingle at the same time. I could feel a mental breakdown making its way up from deep inside my brain as i realised that I hadn't had time to mentally prepare myself for this situation and now, I was right in the middle of it. It reached its peek when I stood in front of my wardrobe to pick up an outfit that didn't look like boring kindergarten teacher. My options were limited: I was either wearing a jeans- the ones that made my ass look great -, shirt and Cardigan combo or my one and only summer. Since my dress didn't even reach my knees, I decided to sport my good jeans and a sleeveless, gray shirt with a purple Cardigan.
A look at the mirror was enough to make me apply some make-up, a little bit of concealer, nude lip gloss and mascara. I didn't try putting on eyeliner, even though I wanted to, but I wasn't really good with it so I didn't risk smudging my whole face with black color. My hair was hanging to my shoulders, I contemplated putting it into a ponytail but I remembered that Andrea once said that it looked better down.
Christian – I was back to calling him by his name since we practically had a date tonight - had texted me the address of the small piano bar he wanted to meet at, his name on my phone's screen making my stupid heart flutter. I had no idea how I was going to prevent myself from having a heart attack tonight, his looks and his charming side usually had that effect.
You can do this, Ana. You will be cool – well, as cool as you can be – and polite. You won't be awkward, you won't be tense. Got it, girl?
With a last quick prayer to God or whoever was in charge of nervous, horny and awkward woman, I put on my ballet flats before heading out with my purse hanging on my shoulder and my keys in my hand.
The drive to the piano bar called Edward's took me longer than it should, because somehow my Beetle thought it would be appropriate to let out weird noises when I tried to drive faster. Crap. The last thing I needed was a broken car, but the worry about it made me forget my nervousness about Christian Grey.
Said man was seated at a booth with one arm over the backrest, the other placed on the table in front of him where his fingers played with the petals of the single rose placed in a glass jar, his gold colored drink right beside it. Edward's was small, with private tables and booths for two and a stage placed in the middle with a grande, black piano. A man with a curly, black ponytail was playing a soft melody, entertaining the customers with his talented fingers brushing over the keys of his piano. It was a beautiful picture, Christian looked deeply in thoughts, a small smile curling his pretty lips, his eyes focused on the blood red rose in front of him, the soft music only adding harmony to the picture. He was dressed in his trademark black, leather jacket, a white t-shirt visible underneath, his hair a chaotic mess on top of his head, making me want to grab it. His looks made me regret my clothing choice. I wished I was wearing my summer dress right now. Maybe it would have made me feel more confident.
But when Christian looked up to face me, the look he gave me made me feel like the most beautiful woman on earth.
„Hi." I squeaked as his eyes darkened, scanning me from head to toe. A grin curled his lips and he stood up to greet me.
„Hi." He said, laughing through his nose. I had managed to embarrass myself within a second. Excellent. Unsure on how to greet him, I politely hold my hand toward him as if we were on a business meeting. He looked at it with a humorous expression, before taking it in his, shaking hands with me slowly. As our skin touched, a blush spread on my cheeks as I remembered the last time we had body contact, my eyes immediately wandering to his lips, lips I would like to feel on mine again.
Stop it, Ana. Stop thinking with your kitty. It's a hungry beast, who needs to be controlled.
„It's great seeing you again." I squealed, our hands still shaking. When it lasted more than it was necessary, I quickly let go of his hand. His grin got wider.
„It's more than great seeing you again, Ana." Christian said with a flirtatious look in his eyes. He gestured toward the brown leather cushioned seat, only a few inches away from where he had been sitting. As appealing as the thought of sitting close to him sounded, I didn't think I would be able to talk to him without being face to face. He noted it with raised eyebrows when I sat as far away from as possible, but he kept his mouth shut. I didn't know what I would have done if he had said something about it.
„What would you like to drink?" He asked me as he already waved the waitress over with a cool move with his hand. Dear God. I was calling his hand movements cool.
„Um- a Vodka Cranberry, please." I mumbled. I liked how he ordered for me, it reminded me of the heroes and heroines in my favorite books. Even though I was all for emancipation, I was kinda enjoying the moment where the hero in the shiny armor saved the helpless maiden – or in our case, where the leather jacket wearing, messy haired beau ordered a drink for the blushing, nervous wrack.
His gray eyes were back on me after the waitress went her way with my order scribbled on her notepad, the soft light of the bar complimenting his complexion.
„So, Miss Steele." He said with a teasing tone. „I assume you have something to tell me."
His cocky side infuriated me a little, a good thing since infuriated was better than nervous.
„I have a few things to tell you, Mr. Grey. But shouldn't we start with small talk? You know, to ease up the conversation." I suggested with a confident smile, crossing my arms on the table. He copied my posture, leaning towards me so his cologne filled my nostrils. I could count his eyelashes, in fact, I did try to count them, so I wouldn't faint from his intense look. His gray eyes were taking no prisoners.
„Ease up? I didn't know we were going to have a tense talk. Should I prepare myself for your ire?" Christian asked, chucking lightly.
„I wouldn't call it ire." I shrugged my shoulders. He tilted his head to one side, licking his lips once.
„What would you call it then?" He whispered. The flush on my face intensified.
Desire. Lust. Hormonal craving.
That's a pretty good summary.
„Your drink, Miss." Quickly the Brunette waitress placed my drink in front of me, ignoring the smile I gave her as she made her way back to the bar to take new orders. Her sudden appearance had interrupted our intense stare down, I was thankful for that. I took a big gulp, enjoying the burn in my throat. It was better than a burning kitty.
„The weather today was pleasant, right?" Christian asked me with a humorous expression, looking sheepishly innocent.
„What?" I said, thrown back with his question.
„I'm making small talk. Just like you wanted me to." He said with a wink.
„Oh. Right. Yes, it was pleasant, even though it rained like crazy." I played along with a smirk.
„I'm sure the flowers and trees appreciated it. Ellie less so, of course. She was sad that she couldn't play in the sandpit today." He smiled when he talked about his daughter.
„Yes, it was hard to distract her with a puzzle, but we managed it." I could remember her pout when I had declared that today, we were not going out to play.
„But I want to build a sandcastle, Miss Steele." She had whined, crossing her little arms at her chest.
„I heard you are good with distracting people. Just like you do now, trying to distract me from the obvious conversation we need to have." He raised one eyebrow, daring me to fire back an answer. I loved a good challenge.
„Here I am trying to save you from my ire, but you seem to be begging for it." I said with pursed lips. He laughed out loud, shaking his head, before leaning closer toward me. He bit his lips sensually, his eyes scanning my face with darkened eyes.
„I would beg for anything of you."
Please don't talk in double innuendos with me. You don't wanna know how my kitty purrs angrily. It wants to be fed.
„You are very rude." I whispered after what felt like an eternity, breathless and stupidly excited.
„I'm very direct." He corrected me with a knowing smile.
„Whatever makes you sleep easier at night." I said with a shrug.
„I don't sleep well at nights." He said dryly, making me raise my eyebrows as I looked at him with a questioning look on my face.
„Why is that?" I asked, my fingers fidgeting with my glass.
„How can I sleep well without you by my side." He said with a crooked smile. I widened my eyes at him, my kitty wet and angry at me, as I realised what he was saying. Holy shit. That was quite a confession.
Suddenly he snorted, tilting his head to the left.
„You should see your face right now. As much as I would like to sleep with you by my side, you are not the reason for my restless nights. Ellie is very nocturnal, it's an adventure every night to get her to fall asleep."
That fucker had made fun of me.
How rude. How annoying. How… him.
„You are proving my former statement again. You are rude." I said dryly, pouting a little as my heart beat furiously against my ribcage because of his words. He would like to sleep with me by his side. It was impossible not to go crazy because of his statement.
„We could argue about that all night long, but I think we have more important things to talk about." He suggested, before taking a sip of his drink. I was paralysed by the way he licked his lips afterward.
„In our phone call, you said that you were sorry about something. What was it again?" Christian asked innocently, being the cocky bastard that he was. He enjoyed my squirming. I squeezed my eyes, looking at him with pursed lips before I answered.
„About lecturing you about morals and rules. And about running away after our.." I stopped mid sentence, blushing heavily. He grinned when I couldn't say kiss.
„Our what, Ana?" He asked, enjoying teasing me.
„Anyway, I shouldn't have given you mixed signals. I was telling you one thing and doing another, which probably was confusing. I'm sorry for that. It doesn't change the fact that we probably shouldn't have done it, not before I had spoken to my boss about it." I carried on with a professional tone.
„Do you always speak about it with your boss?" He asked, making me roll my eyes.
„Of course not. But in our special situation, the fact that you are one of my students' father changes everything. I had to make sure that she wouldn't misunderstand this before I could… interact with you." Interact. That sounded so robotic. I was turning into Sheldon Cooper. Great.
„And what did Miss Williams say about you interacting with me?" He said with a curious tone, slowly swinging the glass in his hand left to right. I watched the golden liquid in it hit the edges of the glass.
„She appreciated it that I talked to her about it like a professional, instead of keeping secrets. Interacting with our students' parents wouldn't be a problem, as long as it is official and public. Otherwise it looks… bad." I had no other word to describe it otherwise, but bad worked pretty well. Things like this weren't meant to be done closed doors, that woild just throw a bad light on us, as if we were doing a crime.
„Hmm." He made with a thoughtful expression. „Is that your way of saying that you want to go out with me? Most importantly, that you are allowed to go out with me?"
„Um- y-yes." I stuttered, fidgeting with my fingers as I felt the anxiety crawling up my body from my toes to my head. His silence killed me, he kept his sweet time before he talked again.
„Well, I don't know if I want to go out with you." He said with a shrug, giving me a long look. My heart stopped beating, groaning as it fell down to my stomach, the veins and muscles holding it gave up – well, it felt like that.
„Oh. I'm sorry. I- um." I managed to mutter, the urge to hide immense. I didn't think I had ever felt this embarrassed before.
„I mean, you will have to ask me to find out." He said dryly, my eyes widening at his words.
„What?" I let out in shock. He leaned toward me, one arm on the table, the other reaching forward to pick up the red rose from its glass jar. He swirled it around between his fingers, smelling it once before answering me.
„You see, I have asked you out once and in the end, I got my heart broken. I don't know if I can risk that again by asking you out. It's your turn to take risks, Miss Steele."
That cocky son of a bitch.
He was a wolf in sheep clothes. He was having his fun by playing with me. How rude and sexy of him. The kitty nodded furiously at that thought, completely agreeing with me.
„There is a chance that you will say no?" I asked, biting my lip. I needed liquid confidence. He watched me take a big gulp of my Vodka Cranberry.
„You have to ask me to find out." Christian said, shrugging again.
Irritated, but willing to take the risk, I took a deep breath before I did what he had asked for.
„Fine. Christian, would you like to go out with me?" I asked dutifully, watching him grin like a Cheshire cat. Before he answered, he leaned forward and put the rose behind my ear, his hand brushing my already flushed cheek, my heart jumping back to its place. It was ready to beat again.
I touched the rose carefully, waiting for his answer.
„Just to clarify things, would that mean that we could interact whenever, however, we want to?" He asked with raised eyebrows, what he was implying making me squirm.
„Um- sure." I breathed out.
„And you wouldn't run away again if I decide to kiss you?" He carried on, playing his arms on the table, crossing them in front of him.
I just shook my head, cursing him internally for taking his time, torturing me.
„Even if I decide to kiss you right now? I could just lean forward and press my lips on yours. I could take your bottom lip between mine, suck on it, bite it like you have been doing just minutes ago, torturing me. I could push my tongue in your mouth, taste you, savor you. I won't lie, I have been thinking about since you walked in tonight, hell, since we met, to be honest. Would you run away if I did that, Ana?" He whispered to me, making my hormones do a wild round of tango in my guts, all of my senses shut down, only my kitty roaring loudly underneath my jeans. He was waving the drug right in front of the addict's eyes.
„I wouldn't." I managed to say, it sounded like a pathetic squeak.
„Then yes, Ana. I would love to go out with you."
Daddy C's ass belongs to angelwish87 for this chapter. He says thanks cause she helped me upload this one ;)
well, he is one intense mother fucker, right? writing him made me grin.
for those who have asked: I'm not planning a CPOV right now.
Until next time, Melii says Auf Wiedersehen :-*
P.S.: rude guest reviewer, get a life ;)