Disclaimer: I own nothing...
A/N: Erm, guys, you all deserve medals – your response to the last chapter literally blew me out of the water! You are absolutely amazing and you all deserve to know! However, regarding the new slip up in the previous chapter with Elena, it's only fair I stopped leaving you hanging and gave you more...
Beware, everything won't come to light in this chapter, but I can guarantee it will in the next few =)
As always, thanks and enjoy!
Fifty Shades Abandoned – Chapter Thirty-Five
That next morning, Ana paced around the bedroom as she got dressed. She had had little to no sleep, and the only thing that was whizzing through her entire system – bloodstream and all – was that Elena was messing with her head. The Bitch Troll was up to dirty tricks and Ana couldn't for the life of her believe them anymore.
Momentarily she had believed it, but then once clarity found her again and the baby allowed rationality to enter her steady thrum of emotions, Ana knew she trusted her husband more than she did Elena Lincoln.
Throughout the night she had received messages directly sighed from Elena, even photo after photo. It was really no surprise Ana had barely slept a wink.
That morning, the biggest blow of all had come. After three calls from Elena; one on her own phone, the other off of Christian's, she had received a photo of her sleeping fifty and her heart had stopped all together. She noticed the scars on his skin straight away. The third call bringing her back to life. Then she had listened to Elena tell her how unworthy and unwanted Ana was to Christian was after being reunited with Elena.
Ever since then, Ana hadn't heard from Christian or Elena.
After everything, she didn't doubt Christian, but having not heard his voice at all – no calls, text or emails, she was going out of her mind. Trying his phone one more time, scared to hear Elena's intonation fill the line, she waited and waited. It went to voicemail and Ana gave up. She had to get to work, and she couldn't spend forever hanging on the end of the line like an untrusting wife.
She wasn't that type of woman. She trusted her husband implicitly and until she spoke to him, her resolve would remain. Until then, she knew her break would come when she heard his voice filter down the line.
Keeping her phone close, she headed out for breakfast, ready to just start this day and focus on her job except walking into the kitchen she noted that Mrs. Jones was not working to her normal standard. "Gail," Ana said as she entered the room and saw the paled features of Mrs. Jones. "You've been getting sicker for the last few days, now will you please just listen and lay down? I can get Sawyer to drive and grab me some of my workload and I can do it here, but I do not want you worried over working."
"Ana," She rasped in objection.
Giving Mrs. Jones a pointed look, Ana didn't back down. "Go and sit down, I'll bring you in a cup of tea. If you keep working you'll only make yourself worse," She pushed her towards the grand living room.
"Mr. Grey won't be happy," Mrs. Jones halted and murmured.
"Mr. Grey will have me to answer to, now go," Ana said with a smirk and thought to the spanking she would get for it. It was a win-win situation. "Plus, I'm pretty sure Taylor does not want to come back to find his little lady love sick as a dog. Go and sleep in the guest room, Gail."
Smiling as Mrs. Jones gave in; Ana put the kettle on boil and decided to prepare her own breakfast this morning. In between bites she read the manuscript she needed to get done and tended to Mrs. Jones.
As slipped onto her seat to finish eating and reading, Ana was content. Even with her minds flicking back to Elena and to Christian, she couldn't deny that she just needed to talk to her husband to clear the air.
She almost wanted to hear his anger over this. She wanted her mercurial man, her angry Fifty to come out to play and squash her concerns and squash Elena for good along with it. She just needed a bit of her husband's fighting spirit to revive her inner goddess to helping her with her own.
Hearing a familiar tone, Ana looked to her phone and seeing Taylor's number on her phone, Ana answered it, terror filling her throat. "Taylor?" She asked fearful, "Is Christian okay? What's happened? Is everything okay?"
"Someone's taken my phone," Christian spoke tensely, as though he were talking through a clench jaw as he sat frustrated. "And Elena has been spotted in the hotel. I'm coming home tonight, Baby. I refuse to fucking stay here when I know she's here." He paused and Ana heard the smashing of glass, "Fuck! Why can't she just leave us be?"
It suddenly struck Ana that she knew the culprit and had proof – Elena had set a self taken photo of herself and sent it from Christian's phone.
"Elena's got your phone," Ana whispered into the phone. "She keeps ringing me off it and answering it when I ring." Ana hiccupped on a soft sob before she spoke once more, "Christian?"
His breathing came heavy down the phone, "What?"
"Are you sleeping with her?" Ana asked and shocked herself. She had no intention of asking it so abruptly, but her irrationalities that she thought had scurried off had been sat around her feet – obviously hidden by her stomach – waiting to just rip into her.
"Excuse me?" Christian bit in to her question with absolute shock. "I'm guessing you don't really need an answer. It appears to me that you do not need an answer to believe otherwise, so I guess will discuss this once I'm home." He told her, "I'm tired and worried about where the hell my phone is and wanted to reassure my wife that I am alive, and I get accused of sleeping around with someone that repulses me."
"Christian," She cut in as if she was trying to soften the blow after it had already been administered.
"Stop," Christian told her tirelessly. "It's been an extremely long day; I am not going to argue with you over something this ludicrous."
Suddenly, Christian's tone changed as he spoke to her again. No longer was her flowers and heart's husband around, but back came the old Fifty – angry, gritty, vindictive Fifty - and she knew she had beckoned him forth.
"Would it satisfy you if I was to admit it? Would that ease your conscience, Anastasia? Do you want me to lie to you to just settle your mind?" He asked her, the pace of his words slowed and laced with ice and malice. "Do you think I asked her to come and join me here? Would that make you face this day better? How about knowing that I was unfaithful and a counterpart in this plan? Would that make you feel better? Would knowing that Elena, a woman I don't dare trust nor have any interest in touching again, actually had her way with me for the last week?"
Ana felt his tone penetrate her skin and dig straight into her aching heart. "Why would I want to hear that?" She asked him, her tone becoming snarky. "I rang your mobile last night and she answered it, and do you want to know what she told me, Christian?" She asked him, her breathing heaving with worry and frustration, "She told me she was in your room with you. She even sent me a picture of your asleep in bed. So yeah, I have been going out of my mind wondering. After the first round of torture she wasn't quite done. So after the eighth, ninth, tenth bit, a part of me did start to wonder 'what if'."
"Ana," He spoke up, not knowing the extent of the abuse that Elena was piling on towards Ana. His initial thought was that Elena had sent one message and between Ana's mind and hormones she was running through afflicting scenarios that were just building insecurities around her.
"And I'll tell you what else she told me. That Taiwan wasn't even for business. It was for pleasure. That while you were out there, you were consulting with a divorce attorney to end our marriage and kick me from the apartment – Baby and all because I'm just giving you a burden. You know with you being over six thousand miles away it's hard to be positive when your husband's ex-paedophile is in the same hotel as your husband sending me photos of herself in your clothes and pictures of you sleeping. If loving you is all I've done to make her spite me, then hang me because it will be far better than putting up with her snide tactics, Christian. Loving you is not something I can or will change."
Feeling the familiarity of pain race across her stomach, Ana let out a strangled sob and could hear Christian screaming her name and asking if she was okay. This was the most she had stressed the entire pregnancy and this was the worse pain she had had by far. With the threat on her marriage by this one woman, Ana felt her stress levels more than quadruple and she knew her body was suffering and with it Little Blip was the victim too.
Bringing the phone to her ear she spoke low and albeit scared to talk to her husband. "I have to go," Ana sobbed down the phone to her husband. "You know what stress does to me and this stressor just won't fuck off." She shut the call down and broke altogether.
She sunk down in the corner of the kitchen and cried. She sobbed into her hands as her mind released vile scenario after vile scenario. She didn't believe Elena and now it looked like she had. Her husband was no longer excited to see her and instead of feeling elated and enlivened by the thought of her husband being home by that evening fear just thrust into her.
She didn't believe Elena, she knew she didn't, but Ana realised she was always going to be a doubtful woman wherever her husband was concerned. After all, she came from nothing, was nothing, but she had enthralled the Christian Grey. She became his everything.
She wasn't the Goddess of the universe like he was the master of. They didn't rule togetheShe was just Anastasia Steele – disobedient, lip biting, innocently dirty Anastasia Steele.
The girl that felt like she was losing her mind and her life.
"Ana?" Her name popped into her hearing, summoning down from her emotional high.
"Mrs. Grey?" Sawyer's voice began to resonate in her head.
Looking up, Ana just felt the last of brave face crash down around her.
"Oh God, Ana, what's the matter?" Grace said as she dropped to her knees in front of her daughter-in-law. All she could see was the mess of Ana's face as a result of mass crying. Her eyes were swollen with tears, red with the onslaught, her mascara in track marks down her face.
"Sh-Sh-She told me," Ana hiccupped at Grace, "He-He was going-g to di-divorce me." She looked up at her mother-in-law's controlled, expressionless face, "Sh-She's g-going to take him from m-me."
"Who did?" She asked, trying to make sense of everything. "I want you to take a deep breath, calm a little and talk to me. Who said that?"
"E-Elena," Ana sobbed and put the back of her hand to her mouth, gaining composure so she could make more sense. "She emailed me, Grace. She's with him, she's found him and she's telling me he wants to leave me for her."
"Do you believe it?" Grace asked and saw a look she didn't need explaining. "I know that it's hard to trust him when you're worlds apart, but when you're together there'll be clarity and you'll see how truthful he is. There won't be room to misplace your judgement when he is home." Grace cupped Ana's face then, "Can you please just trust me on this at least? He will be home and he will fight for what's right. Believe me, you're what's right."
"Look," Ana said and went through her phone for the evidence that Elena had been sending to her. "Why is she doing this to me? To us?"
Grace had no response as she looked through Elena's torment, and all she felt was her blood boil away.
Closing the email down, Grace saw a newer unread email and checked it before even daring herself to pass the phone back she was pleased to see it was definitely from Christian. Looking to Ana as she sat silently crying at the thoughts kidnapping her, Grace readied to hand her the phone. "Read this," She whispered, pushing some of Ana's hair out of her face, ready to wipe her face free of tears.
Ana shakily took the Blackberry and began to read the first truthful email that had graced her eyes in what seemed like forever.
From: Christian Grey
Subject: Distance is a killer
Date: February 22nd, 2012, 01:12
To: Anastasia Grey
I'm going for my flight home now. Elena can follow all she likes, but my priority is getting home to you. I've rang my mother, Ana. Be ready for her to check you over.
I love you too much to ever dream of sleeping with any other woman, Elena especially. That woman makes my skin crawl enough that I would rip it from my bones. The mere thought of what she did to me when I was fifteen makes me physically sick. If you don't believe me, know that most of my nightmares lately have been of our son in that place – Feeling that desperate and vulnerable. It's not me anymore, Ana, it's our future child. Do you understand how much hate that makes me feel for her alone?
Never doubt me. I am only truthful to you because you have given me life itself in so many senses.
I will do anything to prove this.
Love you always.
Christian Grey
On his knees CEO, Grey Enterprises Holdings, Inc.
"Reply," Grace prodded her and saw Ana's defiance. "Elena is not worth the time of day nor is she worth the worries. Ana, my son loves you. I know that more than anyone and I would never lie to you about that. I would never, ever let you think something that just isn't true. So please reply to him and then let me get you resting because you're far too worked up to go to work now."
"I have to," Ana told Grace pathetically. "I need to try and work."
"No, you need to regroup and wait for your husband so you can work this out," Grace told Ana with a much more stern voice. "Reply now, or regret it."
Ana knew not to defy Grace Trevelyan-Grey.
From: Anastasia Grey
Subject: I do believe you
Date: February 21st 2012, 08:21
To: Christian Grey
Please don't think I believe her not for one second. I thought I was dealing with the space between us, but I'm guessing this distance doesn't bode well at all. I just want you home so we can fix this and I want her dead, Christian. I swear to God, I am sick and tired of her thinking that I am not worthy of you. That I am not enough for you. That I am burden.
I know I am enough. I will be enough and I will prove to everyone I am. I know that's not what you think, you don't need me to prove to the world, but I do, for myself.
I never believed her, but my head's not been in the right place and after last night – I cracked.
Please forgive me. I will beg for you to forgive me for ever doubting your love for me. I will beg for forgiveness on even daring to think you would cheat.
Come home safe.
Anastasia Grey
Putting the phone in her lap, Ana took a shuddering breath wondering when she would hear back from her husband. She was exhausted now after all of the emotional torment, stress of the moment and of the lack of sleep.
"Come on," Grace spoke gently, "Let's get you settled on the couch for the moment so I can check you over. I really hate to pull both the mom and doctor card, Ana, but I'm worried about you and your blood pressure with the baby."
Ana just let Sawyer help her up and allowed him guide her to couch. Since the crash they seemed to have a new unspoken camaraderie that kept Sawyer as her detail. They even had coffee from time to time during lunch. Sawyer took her to the couch and helped her sit down as Grace came in and set up her things.
"Can you check on Mrs. Jones, please, Sawyer?" Ana asked the burly man. "She's got the flu or something. Can you just see if she's okay for? She's in the guest room resting."
"Of course, Mrs. Grey," Sawyer said and disappeared to find Mrs. Jones.
"Tell me you've been wary with her being ill and being so close to her?" Grace asked as she wrapped the blood pressure cuff around Ana's arm and worked carefully.
"I've tried, but there's not a lot I can do," Ana replied with a smile, but watched Grace's expression. "I know that look."
Grace, looking at Ana's fallen appearance, "Your blood pressure's really high so I want you to do nothing, but relax. I am going to look after you and we'll work on getting that down." As she finished she saw Ana give a weak smile and suddenly 'Your Love is King' filtered into the still air. Giving Ana her phone, Grace saw it was Christian and knew she had to excuse herself. "I'll leave you a moment," Grace said leaving all of her equipment out on the coffee table.
Looking to her phone, Ana took a deep breath before answering, praying it would be Christian. "Hi," Ana spoke into the line fearful, her hand running loops on her stomach to calm the pains and the baby.
"I'm ringing before we take off to see if you're okay. What happened?" Christian asked quickly, his tone racing to know. "Was it the baby?"
"Yeah, but we're both fine," Ana told him truthful. "My blood pressure's back through the roof so your mom isn't leaving me until you're home." Biting her lip, Ana took the silence as a bad sign, "I'm really sorry."
"So you said in your email," Christian snapped down the line.
Crying again, Ana tried to forbid the tears, "I really am sorry. I get so insecure when she's involved, when she threatens us."
"She's been spoken too," Christian told his wife with a stiff tone. "I want you rested and I want your blood pressure normal by the time I get back. I also want you to know that when I get back I will prove to you once more that it's you I love and want." He spoke and was interrupted by Taylor alerting them that they needed to take off and he needed to turn his cell off. "I gotta go, Baby, I love you. Never doubt that for whatever reason. I'll be home real soon and we'll fix this mess."
"Okay, I love you," Ana said and said farewell to her husband. Her morale still low, her mind still racing and her many questions still unanswered. Trying to relax, knowing her husband was coming to her, to prove himself to her again, Ana thought all was right in her world.
Grace left the doorway as she watched Ana lose some tension from her body, satisfied that her son had used his initiative to ring his wife. Working on getting everyone a drink before checking on Mrs. Jones, Grace stood in the kitchen talking to Sawyer about keeping an eye on Ana. She was like Christian when it came to giving demands – stern and forceful. She was not going to leave this apartment until Christian was with Ana and Mrs. Jones had Taylor.
Grace dropped the glass in her hand the moment she heard Ana scream out.
Maybe her easy plan wasn't going to be easy after all.