My dear little broccolis πŸ’šπŸ’šπŸ’š

πŸ’š So remember that this pic is RATED M, and it is not only for the sexy times. Some dark moments will be approached in this story, and they can trigger some people. This is a fair warning to remind you that this story sets place in a dark world, which means it is bound to mountains dark themes.

Love, Mina πŸ’šπŸ’šπŸ’š

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Chapter 45: Girls Night(4,8K)

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πŸ’š So, apparently, Christian can do no wrong in your eyes… it is interesting to know …

πŸ’š OMG! An early update! And a long one! What is happening!? Hope you will like it

πŸ’š For those who are interested, the red flag that I mentioned on the previous chapter was the fact that Christian clearly said that, would Raymond ask the right question, he would not hesitate to tell him the truth. Therefore, he would put Raymond before Ana, which if you remember, is something that Ana is afraid about …

πŸ’š Also, I don't want you guys to read too much into Raymond's conversation about children. Remember that he sees Christian as a second son, so yes, he's going to ask the question about his children, not as Ana's father, but as Christian's. He is curious to know what kind of life Christian will lead once he will have children, that's it.

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Mia's PoV

I demand actual proof that you have a cat! When you come back, I want a picture! Mia

With a small shake of her head, Mia put the phone on the counter and tried once again to at least get a glimpse of the infamous Bastille. She couldn't believe that it had been more than six months since she became his official nanny when Christian was away on business trips and that she still did not see actual proof of the cat's existence.

Sure both water and food were gone when she came by (and she actually was grateful that Christian had vegan cat food in his cupboards for when she would be the one to feed his pet), but that was it. She still had not seen the cat. She didn't even know what colour he was. And she wasn't delusional enough to think of at least finding a cat hair here and there. Christian was a cleaning freak. She had never seen a place look so clean, except in commercials. Maybe he was the hidden son of Mr Clean, who knew?

As she kept her silent hunt, Mia glanced at the stairs, wondering if the cat hid there when she came, knowing that she never went upstairs. Though Christian never explicitly forbade her any place in his apartment, Mia still felt that going upstairs would be an invasion of his privacy. Probably because the rare times Christian invited her over for dinner, he never really gave her a tour. Upstairs were his private quarters, and she respected that, not the little bit curious of what she may, or may not find there.

Christian had left three days ago, and so Mia had tried a different tactic to try and see the cat. She couldn't really tell why she was so obsessed on seeing Bastille with her own eyes. A part of her felt that it was because it seemed so strange for a man of Christian's stature and presence to have a cat for a pet. She often teased him, saying that Bastille was probably some fat grey cat that he petted while he plotted against his enemy like it was often seen in movies and cartoons. Which often made Christian laugh.

She was persuaded that he actually enjoyed this little game his cat was playing with her. But until she would see what kind of cat Christian Grey had, she would not stop bugging him. Though she doubted that Christian himself got the cat. Weirdly enough, the cat appeared around Christmas time, and though he never confirmed it, Mia was sure that Bastille had been a present from Christian's unknown girlfriend. What made her sure of it was the fact that Christian never denied it, and since she knew that he didn't lie to her, it meant that she was right. Which she made a big deal about. She went on and on telling him how big step it was in a relationship to have a pet together, and he went on, ignoring everything she had to say. Probably because he was not ready for that sort of commitment, when his girlfriend, obviously was.

Suddenly, her phone insulted her with Jensen Ackles' voice, treating her of 'Son Of Bitch', and indicating her that she received a text message. She took it, seeing with no surprise that it was Christian taunting her and her inability to see his cat.

Maybe he simply doesn't like you. I'm sure he heard you not being a preachy vegan, pain in the ass. So now, he's afraid that you're not really committed to the cause, and you'll relapse when he's around. Self-preservation, I'm telling you. Christian

My bad. Had I known, I would have been bitchy about food and ethics. Really, where can he hide? It's not like you live in a freaking palace! Mia

Isn't it a bit late for you to drop by, anyway? Didn't you say that you usually come around eight? Christian

Whoa, Big Brother! Calm down. Gee. I'm going out tonight. So I decided to try and catch your cat out of the schedule. Might I say that I miserably failed? Mia

You? Going out? XD Christian

πŸ˜’ It's not funny, Christian. I contrarily to some people I know, happen to have friends. Mia

I have friends. Christian

Jose doesn't count. The bromance that you guys have is too real for you to call him 'friend'. Mia

From the first time she had seen them together, rescuing her in that hotel room, Mia had been sure of one thing, Jose and Christian were brothers. Sure they had no blood tying them together, but they were the people on which they relied the most. When he came to help her in that hotel room, with that Senator laying on the floor, bleeding his life away, Christian did not call his boss, he called Jose. And Mia was sure that it was because Christian knew Jose would help him, no matter the decision he would take.

So, you're not my friend? Christian

This simple little question made Mia smile. Though Christian quickly became a friend, her best friend even, in her eyes, it was still nice that he acknowledged it. still, she did not go melodramatic over it, because it was not Christian's scene, and not really hers either.

I don't know. I mean, since your cat is snubbing me, I have to assume that it's because you taught him to do it. Mia

Haha. Totally. I told him to beware of females. You are one dangerous species. Christian

Troubles in paradise? Mia

No. It's just a general truth. And us, males, have to look out for each other. Christian

Though everything seemed normal about their conversation, Mia didn't believe Christian when he said that everything was going all right in his couple. She couldn't tell what exactly made her think there was trouble in paradise, but she felt that there was something off with Christian, lately. Maybe it was because he texted her that he was leaving, instead of coming to see her, as he usually did.

The thing was, Mia knew that she read Christian better than most people. She was not vain enough to presume that she could see through him. She was sure that Jose or Raymond could do a better job at that, having known him longer. Or even his girlfriend, seeing him in a way nobody else did. But she knew she could read him well enough, Christian himself had told her so.

So she had the feeling that Christian had avoided her on purpose, and usually, when he avoided her, it was because something happened with his girlfriend, and he didn't want her to pry it out of him. More than once, Christian had told her that she had very good instincts, and Mia knew that Christian prefered keeping her instincts away from him when he didn't feel like he could elude her.

Anyway, I have to go. Like I said, I'm going clubbing tonight. Just send some positive vibes to your cat, so tomorrow I can finally see his cute little face. Mia

On those words, Mia got off the couch, but just as she was about to leave, her phone sang 'Carry On My Wayward, Son", making her think that she should quit her obsession with this show. Not that she really wanted to. She picked, surprised that Christian called, instead of keeping their conversation textual, and she didn't even have time to say hello, that he was already asking her,

"The club you're going to, is it Pandemonium?"

"How do you even know that?! You should really turn down that Big Brother thing!" Mia exclaimed, a part of her hoping that Christian was not crazy enough to stalk her like that. Sure it was nice to have someone worry about you, no matter where they were in the world, but that was pushing it a bit too far.

She heard him chuckle a little, before he clarified, "I just put two and two together, Mia. I don't work for the government, might I remind you. Katherine owns the club, and since she and her best friend are your closest friends, I did the math."

"Well, technically, you're my closest friend."

There was a small silence, but she didn't take it personally. She knew that Christian wasn't a man who liked to show or display his emotions, and she knew that if he didn't retort anything, it was because he simply accepted her friendship as it was. Nothing more.

He cleared a little his throat and insisted, "Well, is this the place you're going?"

"Yes. Why?"

The hesitation barely lasted a second, but Mia heard it, nonetheless, letting her know that Christian was not a fan of her going to that particular club. "I should have signed you up for self-defence classes."

She refrained herself from laughing locking the door of his flat behind her as she told him, "Christian … I know that guys are a bit 'pervy-touchy' at clubs, but it's okay. I can handle a loser or two coming my way."

"Pandemonium is a club who has a high clientele. The kind of clientele where you might recognise a few of your formers 'clients'. And since you are just a girl outside the bond of a contract, nothing stops them from doing what they want to you, if they recognise you. Especially not a simple no."

This made Mia freeze in front of the lift for a second. She didn't think of that, and she didn't want to have to deal with that kind of thing right now. She just wanted to spend some time with her girlfriends. Maybe Christian was right, and she should have taken some self-defence classes. But then again, the chances of that happening were really thin.

"Well, I will have to take my chances, then," She said with a tone she hoped to be brave. She knew that Christian would never go as far as to forbid her to go anywhere, but she didn't want him to worry if there was nothing to worry about.

"Just stay close to Ana, and troubles shouldn't find you," Christian said, his voice sounding a bit further than before. Mia couldn't tell if it was her imagination or the truth, but she was under the impression that he had put her on speaker so he could text.

"You're paranoid, you know that? everything will be fine. And seriously, Christian? Ana? Even I can take her on! She's so tiny."

"Just humour me."

Mia rolled her eyes but agreed. It wasn't like she had planned to ditch the girls anyway. She was on the Kavanagh floor when he asked,

"Can I ask you for another favour?"

"You owe me so many favours, that I feel I can ask for a dragon for Christmas," She joked, earning a chuckle from Christian.

"Where would you even put a dragon? Just keep an eye open tonight. If there is a shady guy lurking around, send me a text."

Mia rolled her eyes once again, wondering what would Christian do if indeed there was a shady guy lurking around, he was across the planet. still, she wasn't naive enough to not know what kind of business could have lead to Christian being worried someone could follow those he cared about, and she didn't hesitate to call him on that, with a playful tone,

"Have you been playing with the wrong crowd?"

Even though she couldn't see him, she could swear that he just smirked. She could actually hear it in his voice, "Let's just say that I am making sure I have been heard properly."

She knocked at Kate's door while letting Christian know as Elliott and Ana opened the door, "I'll do it, but I want my dragon. You know what, I'll consider the debt erased when I will get to see Bastille. So you better catch the invisible cat, Christian, because I will collect bright and early."

Then she hung up, before hugging both Elliott and Ana. Though she wouldn't go as far as calling Elliott her friend, she enjoyed spending time with her. He was still a student, which meant that he understood her in ways others couldn't. often, he would offer her a ride to the University, since they had the same one, even though they were not in the same field; and once in a while, they would have lunch together. She had to admit, that at first, she felt weird because she was scared that Kate would get the wrong idea, but Kate assured her that she didn't mind. She knew that Elliott loved her and wouldn't ever do that to her, and she hoped the same went for Mia.

"So? Still having problems with Christian's cat?" Elliott asked. Mocking her and her inability to see a simple kitten. Mia grunted, sitting on the sofa where she was joined by Ana.

"I swear, it's like he hates me already. Can't you give me some cat weed so I can coax him?"

"Once again, it's grass not weed," Elliott professionally said, shaking his head a little. If Mia had one thing she could say about Elliott, he never knew when someone was joking. This was not the first time, and she doubted it would be the last time he would understand the joke, minutes after, which did not fail.

"Oh…" He miserably said, making Ana snicker at him. "Oh, shut up, Steele. At least I know that weed isn't just some … how did you say it? 'Bad grass'?"

"I was nine!"

"You were twelve! And we were watching CSI. How could you think that grass had any place in a CSI episode?" Elliott accused, and Mia nodded, agreeing with Elliott. From a certain age and on, there was no such thing as naivety when it came to watching a CSI episode. People weren't sleeping in ketchup, weed was not bad grass, and bad guys did not always have a black hat.

"Anyway," Ana snapped, clearly not happy to relieve that memory. "We were talking about the best honeymoon place for Elliott and Miss I-take-forever-to-put-false-lashes-on. Help me convince Elliott that Israel isn't the best place."

Mia frowned a little because she certainly wouldn't mind going to Israel. "I don't know. The pictures I've seen of Tel-Aviv are pretty nice. I always pictured Kate more of a beach honeymoon person."

"Yeah, but Elliott wants to go there so they can go to the temple and all. Really, who wants to spend their honeymoon doing religious stuff? I mean, I'm telling you, Elliott, I shopped with that girl, and what she has planned for her honeymoon is anything but holly."

Ana wiggled her eyebrows at Elliott, who rolled his eyes. Throughout the months, Mia had come to notice that when it came to sex jokes and references, Ana was the crude one, or the one stereotypes would classify as the 'dude'. Elliott was more reserved, and Kate more subtle, though almost as restless as her best friend.

And this was probably why she liked Ana the most out of the three. After their second outing, Ana confessed that she had some idea of where she came from, and she apologised if sometimes her jokes didn't land well with Mia, but Mia liked the rawness that came out of the brunette. She didn't censor herself because of something that might upset her and just went with the flow.

"Personally, I think you should go to London. Kate has been dying to do the harry potter studios, and β€”"

"There is no beach in London, Ana," Elliott cut her off, talking to her as if she was slow minded and making her childishly mimics him before sticking her tongue out.

Kate finally came into the living room, ready and dazzling, and she cut the conversation short, "You really suck at organising things in secrets, my friends. personally, I think we should go to Tel-Aviv for a couple of days, before drifting to New-Caledonia."

Kate hugged Mia, and the three girls walked to the door as the married woman told her husband, "Don't wait up, it's a girls night."

On the way down, they admired each other's outfits and makeup, taking a few pictures along the way, and once in the lobby, they met with Madame Dorothea who joked about them being able to storm the world, Charlie's Angels style. Then, in the limousine, they took a few other pictures, opening a bottle of champagne.

They arrived at the club and went straight to a VIP booth to finish their champagne, talking about the advantages of owning a club among other various things. They went dancing for a while before one by one returning to the booth where a new bottle of cold champagne was waiting for them.

"We should find you a guy to go home with tonight," Kate said to Mia as her blue eyes were already scanning the crowd for a potential partner.

"Hey! I am not the only single woman in this room," She complained, pointing Ana with her hand.

She knew that Kate didn't mean bad, and she herself said several times that she envied the relationship Kate had with her childhood sweetheart. But she knew that she wasn't really looking to have one by her own. For the moment, she wanted to achieve her dream, which was to become a lawyer. Her first year was coming to an end, and perfectly, and she didn't want some relationship with some guy to put that in peril. And there was also the fact that he felt that she was a bit off in that department. The last person she found rather attracted to, ended up being gay.

"True!" Kate lured, looking at Ana in a way that told Mia that there were things she didn't know about. Ana immediately recoiled, and snapped,

"It's not because I don't have some fancy ring on my finger, showing off to the world, that it means that I'm single."

"You have a boyfriend?!" Mia mused, before her brain, started to figure out who it could be. "Oh, please tell me it's not Paul! He's so …"

"Dull?" Kate finished for her, and Mia nodded her agreement. Sure Paul was nice, and very passionate when it came to his career, but personality-wise it seemed that he had nothing on him.

Ana rolled her eyes, before looking at the crowd and cursing Mia, "You've jinxed us! Look who's coming our way!"

Mia followed Ana's gaze, seeing Paul coming their way, happily waving, but her attention was retained by some guy who was standing by the bar. She squinted her eyes, wondering if this was the shady guy Christian had mentioned since she was sure that the guy did not dance or talk to anyone. That, plus the fact that, though he wasn't looking at them right now, she had been feeling his gaze for a while.

Paul asked for a dance with Ana, which, given the way she was helplessly looking at her friends, she was not eager to give, but Kate pushed her friend in Paul's arms and told them to have fun. Once it was only Mia and Kate, the blonde stated the obvious,

"I don't think she wanted to go."

"I know, but she needs to have some fun. She had this huge fight with her boyfriend, and she needs to see that she has other options," Kate said, before opening wide her eyes, and pretending like she did not just say that Ana had a boyfriend.

She turned her head to Mia, in the vain hope that she had not been listening, but when she saw that the blonde was all ears, she told her, "Please don't ask any questions. I'm not even supposed to have told you that!"

"Is Ana in some kind of Romeo and Juliet affair? Is she dating the son of a rival company?" Mia asked, with too much liveliness. The buzz of the alcohol was starting to get to her head.

Kate refused to talk, and she started crossing over who Ana could be seeing. She wondered if she was seeing an enemy of Robinson Inc', or an enemy of the mobster Raymond? The biggest enemy that Raymond had in town were the Mazerati, and Mia started this whole fantasy where Ana and the eldest son were in a torrid affair that would lead to a pregnancy and to the two families merging in the end. None of that dying and being star-crossed lovers bullshit. She liked Ana too much for her to die like that.

Ana came back from her dance with Paul, not without shooting daggers at Kate, and as soon as she was seated, a glass of champagne in her hand, Mia asked, "I heard you have a boyfriend."

Ana glared at her best friend, and Mia pound, as she swore, "I won't say a word! I promise! I'm very good at keeping secrets about secret lovers!"

And as she said the words, a wild idea flashed through Mia's mind. What if Ana was Christian's secret girlfriend and Christian Ana's secret boyfriend? She opened her mouth and eyes wide, looking at Ana before realisation dawned her. It couldn't be, the alcohol was definitely getting to her head. She doubted that Ana could keep such a big secret (she was talking about Christian earlier, and Ana didn't even react), and the rare times she had seen Christian in the same room as Ana, he had been completely indifferent to her.

Ana took a long inspiration, before she told Mia, "His name is Tristan, and I don't want my Dad to find out about him. He is very … unconventional."

"Is he married?"

"No! He's just not the type of guy you see at every corner."

Mia nodded, understanding that Ana didn't want her father to know. She had done some research on her future boss, and given how ruthless he was in the few articles she found about him, she could imagine that it would be much worst to anyone who would dare court his precious little girl. Especially since getting Ana also meant getting a foot into the mafia, if not two.

"So, what was your fight about?"

Once again, Ana glared at Kate who did not seem bashful the least in the world. "Something stupid I did."

"Tristan lost sight of his parents when he was young, and when Ana tried to reunite them and give Tristan his family back, the asshole got mad at her. And he barely gave her any sign of life since. He is one text away from ghosting her," Kate intervened, clearly more mad at Tristan than Ana was.

"Well, he is working," Ana said in the defence of her boyfriend.

"I don't care! You tried to do something nice for him, and he screamed at you. I do not approve of that kind of behaviour. You shouldn't be with someone who made you cry yourself to sleep five nights in a row."

"Well … I kind of understand Tristan," Mia said, earning a powerful glare from Kate, and so she explained, "Neither of you can understand. Your parents love you.

Personally, my parents didn't. I left home when I was fourteen, and I ended up … having to do things I'm not proud of to survive. My Dad was a passive drunk who would have rather not have kids, and since he was twice the size of my Mom, she let her frustration of being with a drunk on us, the kids.

So yeah, I wouldn't like someone to reunite me with them. Especially if that someone is my lover, who is supposed to know better."

This seemed to calm Kate a little, making her see things with a different point-of-view. Mia understood it was hard for someone who had been loved all their lives to even comprehend that some people don't have that chance, and would rather forget about the part of their lives when they felt so unloved.

"And anyway, it is not Kate's problem. It's not even why he's mad," Ana said, to close the matter, which only made Kate roll her eyes as if Ana had said something stupid.

"I'm just saying that you forgave much worse than putting together a meeting behind his back. And you didn't take a whole week to forgive him, either. Maybe you should remind him of that. You should remind him that we don't push away the people we love."

Mia didn't say anything, seeing that Kate went with another topic that she knew nothing about. She wondered if Tristan maybe cheated on Ana for her to forgive 'much worse' to him. But it didn't seem to fit with the character. Apparently, Tristan was mad that Ana went behind his back, so she doubted he would betray her in the first place.

Ana responded something about Kate being out of line, and Mia dug out her phone, knowing that she would be no help to the two girls. They went to a territory where she would only be a spectator, and so she decided to report to Christian about the shady guy who was still looking in their direction.

So, maybe you are not that paranoid. There is a shady guy at the club who keeps looking at us. Mia

Christian's answer was immediate, and Mia said that she would use the restroom while the two other girls kept on arguing.

Big blue eyes? Unruly hair? Grey streak in the middle? 5"8? Christian

Dude, how come you don't know by now that I suck at description? He's a shady guy with weasel eyes. Mia

When she was done in the bathroom, she checked her phone and saw that Christian sent her a picture, with many texts with interrogation marks. She rolled her eyes, shaking her head a little, and tried to take a picture of the guy, without being noticed, which was why she pretended to take a selfie, focusing on the guy instead of her face.

She walked back to the booth, asking herself what good will it do to Christian to know if some shady guy was here or not. He didn't seem dangerous, and Christian was miles away, unable to help them, anyway. Her phone buzzed in her hand, and she smiled.

Weasel eyes? Haha. That's just Luke. He's okay. He's tailing Ana. Christian.

Of course, he is. Mia.

She felt bad for her friend, having to endure bodyguards everywhere she went, and suddenly understood what Christian meant when he said that nothing would happen to her as long as she stayed near Ana. If she had someone shadowing her, he would prevent any threats coming her way, no matter to whom that threat was meant to.

As she sat in the booth, she saw the girls were still arguing, and so she physically put herself in the middle and ordered, "Stop! We're not here to bicker about guys. We're here to have a fun night between girls."

The two girls pouted a little, before agreeing, and after they ordered a third bottle of champagne, they went back to the dance floor where they danced all night long.

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Two days later

Christian is still in Russia for two other days

To Christian: Theresa Wilks died yesterday morning. Her funeral is due tomorrow, in the morning. Jose

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‼️PLEASE DON'T BE A SILENT READER AND LEAVE A REVIEW

IT REALLY DOES HELP‼️

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πŸ’šYour thoughts and opinions are always welcomedπŸ’š

πŸ’šSo we got Mia's point-of-view, and NO, this isn't a filler chapter. It is a very important chapter because it shows the relationship Mia has both with Christian and with the girls. She is completely free and honest with Christian, while she is more reserved with the girls. It is something that you have to keep in mind for further chapters, because like I said several times before, Mia is an important character, and her point-of-view build her through the story, so … yup

~ Anyway, question time:

πŸ’š So I know, many of you aren't in accord with Kate, but .. What do you think about her?

πŸ’š How about the relationship between Mia and Christian?

πŸ’š How do think Ana feels about Christian calling Mia and not her?

πŸ’šWhat did you think of this chapter overall? And what do you think will happen next?

πŸ’šWhat was your favourite part?πŸ’š

Anyway, E L James owns the names of the characters from the Fifty Shades franchise, everything else is mine.

Love, MinaπŸ’šπŸ’šπŸ’š