My dear little broccolis ๐Ÿ’š๐Ÿ’š๐Ÿ’š

๐Ÿ’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 ๐Ÿ’š๐Ÿ’š๐Ÿ’š

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Chapter 58: The Sister & The Politician (3,8K)

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๐Ÿ’š So once again, I am repeating myself, Mia's povs are not filler chapters. I know that at the moment it's not what you want, but they are crucial to the overall story. I know where this story is going, and I know how I want to get you there. If it means it will have different povs, so be it. I'm sorry it's not going exactly how you wanted it, but this how I want it. To give you a metaphor, it's as if you skipped all the non-Frodo chapters in the Lord of The Rings, you would still get to the end, but you would miss a lot of information

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Christian's PoV

It had been three weeks since Ana had ended brutally their relationship, but Christian did not let it bring him down. On the contrary, he was even more determined to prove that he was not affected to all. Especially since Jose and Mia kept on treating him as a time bomb.

If he was honest with himself, he did not like the image of himself when he had been drinking. And he liked even less that he had been drinking in the first place. In retrospect, the very concept of it seemed so foreign to him that wondered if he had been in his right mind, to begin with. But every time he thought back to this night, he remembered that his main goal had been to forget about everything.

Still, now that he was sober and clear of mind, he had the clarity to realise that he didn't want to ever feel that low and weak again. It actually felt like he had borne his soul and heart to Ana and that left him feeling very vulnerable. Which he swore to himself would never happen again. In truth, this whole side of him that came out of nowhere for the brunette was something he hoped to never see again.

Strangely enough, Jose was the one who kept on pushing the issue and kept on pressurising him to speak to Ana. Mia seemed to have understood that Ana was someone of the past now, whilst Jose did not seem willing to give up on the doomed relationship. Which irritated Christian knowing that Jose had been pitching against that very same relationship from the beginning.

And what Jose didn't know was that Christian had tried to talk to Ana. He didn't go as far as to see her, because he still bore in mind what happened the last time he had seen her, but he did try to call her a couple of days after his drunken night. Only to realise that she had blocked his number. This was when he knew that he should stop trying to make it work with her. He had never been her one.

It wasn't as if he wallowed in self-pity and started hated the girl. He knew that she loved him. Or at least that she had loved him at some point in their relationship. She did tell him several times in his sleep. And she proved it, more importantly. She agreed to take shooting lessons for his peace of mind, she came to see him whenever he was down or simply wanted to see her, she did share with him things that she never shared with anyone else. And most of all, he could actually feel her love.

But the fact that she could put to the past so easily what had happened between them proved to Christian that she was never as serious about them as he was. In the back of her mind, she probably knew that what they had would never be a lasting thing, unlike what Christian had thought. And actually, the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. As he told Mia on his drunken night, he wasn't her Prince Charming.

Sure he met a few criteria for her dream guy, but he was far from being a great guy in her point-of-view, given his line of work, and there was a high probability that Raymond wouldn't have been okay with them getting together as well. And most importantly, the last couple of times he saw her, he did not manage to make her cry. In fact, he did not manage to bring any emotions out of her.

He simply ceased to hold any sort of importance in her heart.

And though he could deal with that, and was doing his best to convince himself that he was okay with everything and that he was the bigger man, the situation still affected him. He was too proud of a man to admit that he was hurt by both her refusal and her cutting all ties with him, but still, this was the truth.

In fact, he was so hurt that he did not manage to get rid of everything reminding him of Ana in his apartment. Mia had advised him to put everything in a box away, but he never really had the will to remove the framed pictures or even her toiletries from the bathroom. After all, those were the only thing proving to him that anything they ever had been real, and that Ana did love him at some point in her life.

This particular aspect of his life actually made him wonder about his boss, and if he was going to end up like him, though he doubted that this would ever happen. First of all, though Raymond still loved her, Carla was dead and six feet under. But she had loved him and proved it to him. They had years together in which Raymond could reminisce in his saddest days. And though Christian knew he loved Ana, the rational part of him told him he would get over his heartbreak and settle with someone else.

Still, he knew that he would never give himself completely again as he did with Ana. Sure he hadn't been the most demonstrative and talkative person, but he had shown her a side of him that was very close to his heart. And if heartbreak meant feeling so miserable and weak, Christian was going to make sure he would never give the power to someone else to make him feel like that again, to have that kind of power on him.

In fact, Ryan had tried a few times taking him out at night, in order for him to 'get laid', or more likely, in order to really know what happened. But Christian had remained tight-lipped. Though Ryan had a vague idea of how disastrously Christian's relationship ended, he did not have any idea of Ana's involvement in it.

Which was the contrary to Lauren. Though she never told Christian anything, he could tell by the way she was sometimes furtively looking at him that she had a clear idea that Ana and he were no longer together. Which all in all at least comforted Christian that she was doing her job properly and simply had noticed that Ana was no longer paying her impromptu visits to Christian whenever she felt like it.

The only two people who knew were Mia and Jose, though Christian had no doubts that Ana had probably called her best friend to let her know about their downfall. In fact, Mia had texted Christian, letting him know that she needed to see him as soon as possible, and he was in retrospect waiting for her to get to his place, all the while reading the business portion of the newspaper, Bastille's on his laps.

Bastille seemed to have been affected by Ana's disappearance as well. He often looked at the front door, apparently waiting for something, and when Bastille had always slept at the end of the bed, he now slept where Ana used to.

Mia arrived, holding a magazine in her hands, her school bag still hanging on her shoulder, and looking at Christian with apprehension. He greeted her, wondering what she could be worried about, and she slumped next to him, holding tightly the magazine in her hand.

"How are you?" She asked, apparently almost dreading the answer. Christian shook his dead, knowing that Mia treated him as if he was a time bomb ready to explode.

"Once again, Mia, I am fine. It was three weeks ago, it's in the past now."

She gauged him, doubting his words, before she gave him the magazine, explaining, "One of my friends was skimming through that earlier."

It was a tabloid, opened on the fourth page where he could see a picture of Ana smiling and locking arms with Paul Clayton. Just next to them, it could be read: 'Rising politician Paul Clayton has been seen with the socialite Anastasia Steele two days ago, leaving Eleven Madison Park. The new favourite for the next mayor of New York has been known to work with the controversial Raymond Steele and is now attacking a new front on his cause, homelessness. Cause that is very dear to the young brunette who opened a shelter a year ago in order to help those who have no roof. Anastasia has also been seen on several of Paul's speeches, and the two are known to have gone to several high society events together for the past couple of years. It seems that what started as a genuine friendship as blossomed into more."

For a moment, Christian did not move nor said a word, simply staring at the picture displayed in front of him. If he was actually to use a single word at that precise moment, it would be anger. In fact, he had never felt angry in his life before. He was angry with the whole world, against the person who took the picture, against the person who wrote the article, against Mia who showed him the magazine, against Lauren who kept for herself what was happening between Ana and Paul, against Raymond who didn't care to share this new piece of information with him. And most of all, he was angry with Ana.

He knew that she would eventually move on, but he never expected her to move on so quickly. It wasn't that he had expected her to cry in a corner and mourn the loss of their relationship, but he didn't expect her to jump on to the next guy in barely a couple of months after their breakups. Especially when that guy was Paul freaking Clayton. Though he appreciated the man as a politician, the fact was, he was a politician, and Ana knew how he felt about that particular breed of people. In fact, she knew exactly how he felt about Paul. They had had several conversations about his dislike for the man when he had started becoming her regular plus one for her socialite events.

With a deep breath, he came back to the present moment, recalling Mia's presence and that she was not to blame for what was happening. She was simply the messenger, and Christian had this code of never letting his nerve loose on the messenger, no matter how bad the news could get. She probably simply wanted to give him a heads up, so he wouldn't lose control if he stumbled upon them during the next gala held by the brunette.

With very calculated moves, he closed the magazine, and he said with a cold voice, "As I said, it's in the past. I am not concerned with what she does anymore."

"Bullshit!" Mia called out, apparently no longer caring if she was cautious and considerate or not.

Christian repressed himself from glaring at her, and kept his face unreadable, perfectly aware that she was more than right. He did care that she already moved on. And he cared even more that she moved on with Paul Clayton of all people. He knew that Ana had been faithful during the whole time they had been together, but he also knew that Paul had had his eyes on her since the first time he saw her, and probably couldn't wait to get the opportunity to be more than a friendly plus one to her.

"You know, I'm sure that if you talked to hโ€”"

"She doesn't want to talk, Mia. And I will not beg for her to hear me out. She moved on, and so did I!"

And in a blunt movement that had nothing to do with reason, he leant and kissed her on the mouth. He couldn't tell what pushed him to do so. Maybe it was a part of him that wanted to hurt Ana by going after one of her friends, or maybe it was a part of him that simply wanted to prove to Mia that Ana didn't mean anything to him anymore, all he knew was that for the brief second the kiss lasted, it felt wrong.

Mia quickly jerked backwards, going further into the couch, her clear blue eyes wide open with shock.

"I'm so sorry, I don't know what took over me," Christian apologised, actually surprised himself by his move. He had never seen Mia as anything more than a friend, especially not a potential lover. Actually, now that he was thinking about, Mia was more like a sister to him than anything else. Though he never had siblings, he did feel closer to her than a friend, but without any romantic feelings involved. And that weird interaction that just happened between them just proved him right.

Mia gently shook her head, dismissing the whole incident as she wisely said, "This is not how you are going to move. We both know that 'you and I' is never going to happen."

"As I said, I don't know what happened to me," He retorted, not liking feeling like a little boy being patronisingly reprimanded.

Mia knowingly looked at him, keeping for herself what they both know was the truth, and simply got up, kissing Christian on the cheek and letting him know,

"I don't think I'll be able to make it Saturday night. But my friend Angela is free and a real doll. I'll let her know that I have a friend looking for a plus one."

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Christian's PoV

When Christian got to the room, his eyes immediately went looking for Ana. Even though he had a date at his arms that would probably like his attention to be set on her, he scanned the room, looking for Ana's recognisable chestnut hair. They were at a gala that she had organised in order to uproot the homeless. It was actually the second year in the row she was doing it, but the difference with the previous year was that she and Christian were no longer in a relationship.

He could remember how excited she had been the year before when she had organised everything. And Christian couldn't help but be bitter as he wondered if Paul had witnessed the same thing this year. This was something that he had hoped would only be between Ana and him, but of course, that was when he thought they would build a life together.

As soon as his eyes landed on Ana, he ostentatiously reached for his date, thanking Mia for insisting that he would take her friend as his plus one. In fact, now that he was seeing Ana so happy at the arms of her suitor, he even started considering the aftermath of the gala, recalling how Mia said that simply wishing to move on wasn't enough. After all, Ana took actions in order to move on, so he needed to do the same.

With a deep breath, he turned his head to the woman at his arm who brightly smiled to him. She was a young redhead, the same age as Mia, though Mia was taller than her. Her dark eyes were wide and holding a twinkle that promised a lot of fun, despite the fact that she was still sporting a babyface. Mia had warned Christian that Angela was not looking for anything more than some fun at the moment, which -as Mia pointed out- was perfect for Christian. Of course, she had used words much more girly such as rebound and mourn the relationship, but Christian barely listened to her.

He was brought back to reality by Raymond walking to him, holding his hand to Angela. He politely kissed it, all the while commenting on Mia's replacement at Christian's arm, "Has something happened to Mia?"

"She is alright. But I took her friend Angela as my date, today," Christian responded, looking straight into his boss's eyes.

He actually never introduced Mia as his date before, and, in fact, he never brought any date to any sort of social events. And even though Raymond never commented on it, he knew that the man had taken notice of this habit. So for him to introduce someone as his date, and not simply his plus one had a big impact. He wasn't sure why he decided to do so, though a part of him wondered if it wasn't so he could officialise in a way the doom of his relationship with Ana and move on.

Raymond looked at Christian, his black eyes boring into him as if he was searching for his soul before he returned his attention to Angela who didn't seem to have the slightest idea of what just happened, or what she had gotten herself into.

Raymond stayed with them for an hour or so, though Christian could tell his attention was on his daughter, just like his own. Though he talked to Angela and did not forget about her, he still had the brunette in the corner of his eye. When she laughed out loud at some point of the evening, Raymond snapped his head to her, glaring at her suitor as he mumbled to Christian,

"I don't like this."

Christian did not say anything, though he couldn't agree more. And just when Raymond was about to go to his daughter, she walked up to them, all smiles in her blue dress. She did not spare a glance at Christian, but Christian still saw something that did not help him move on. She was wearing his necklace. The one he had gotten her for Christmas.

To be honest, there hadn't been a single day since that Christmas when he didn't see her with the jewel, but he hadn't seen her since the separation, and he had assumed that she would have gotten rid of the necklace. But there it was, on her neck, complimenting the neckline of her dress.

She only staid long enough to tell her father that someone was looking for him, and then hurried back to her date, not even bothering to introduce herself to Angela. Raymond followed her, leaving Christian with his own date, and when a couple of more hours passed by, he whispered in her ear, asking her if she wanted to go back to his place.

And though he was the one who had initiated the idea, the closer they were driving to his place, the less he wanted to take Angela to his room. It had nothing to do with her. In fact, she was very attractive, and she had a brain of her own. But it didn't feel right. And the more he thought about it, the more he felt like he was actually cheating on Ana. Which in itself he knew was crazy. They were no longer together, he didn't owe her any sort of commitment anymore. Especially when she was going on her merry way herself.

When he arrived in front of his building, he had no single desire to bring the girl upstairs. And before he could even try to conjure an excuse to simply bring her to her place, she bluntly asked,

"Are you gay?"

"Pardon me?" He asked, slightly destabilised from this line of questioning. She shrugged, her dark eyes carefully analysing his face as she explained,

"Well, I don't want to brag or anything, but guys are usually all over me, and you didn't even try to grope me once. And you did take a few detours so we would take longer to get here. I do believe that some men are gentlemen, but ... at the end of the day, you are just men ..."

Christian repressed a smirk, wondering if Mia's natural instincts were actually simply good lawyer's observations mixed with some feminine instincts.

"To answer your question, I am not gay," Christian simply said, before he added, "But it is true that I don't particularly look forward to taking you upstairs, though it has nothing to do with you or your gender."

"So there is a girl in your mind," She knowingly said, nodding her head with understanding. Then she turned her face to Christian, and brightly announced, "Well, if you ever want a fun night, you know where to find me. Even if it's just taking me out to a lovely party. But now, I'd like to go home."

On those words, Christian drove her back to her place, internally appreciating that Angela was not a terrible person, to begin with. He was even thinking that he would take her word for it and might actually ask her to come with him to the next events. He had had fun with her, though she wasn't as fun and natural as Mia.

Once he dropped her off, he drove to the gym instead of his own place and rushed to a boxing bag where he finally let his anger out. Each blow that he gave was forceful and full of rage, whilst he wished all along that it had been Paul's face instead of the bag. Though Ana had kept to a minimum her interactions with the politician, Christian still remembered every time he saw the blond man touch her as if nothing, slipping his hand on her smaller back.

In all honesty, the only thing that had stopped Christian from actually making a scene at the gala was that, no matter how bad they fell apart, he still respected Ana. And he knew how much the charity meant for her, so he kept his dark thoughts and instincts for himself. In fact, not even the prospect of a dumbfounded and angry Raymond had come to his mind. But he had kept himself in check, not wanting to create another disagreement between them.

Still, as he endlessly and restlessly pushed the bag, a thought came to Christian, making him punch even harder. Paul was about to spend the night with Ana, while he couldn't even bring himself to get a willing girl in his bed. Maybe Ana had moved on, but he wasn't ready, nor willing to do the same.

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๐Ÿ’šYour thoughts and opinions are always welcomed๐Ÿ’š

๐Ÿ’šSo, I am going to be honest, I am SOOOO excited for you to read the next chapter. I can't wait to put it online for you to read it ... It's going to be from Mia's PoV again, and ... you will ... well, you will see, haha

~ Anyway, question time:

๐Ÿ’šSo how are you feeling about Christian?

๐Ÿ’š What do you think of Mia in this chapter? How she reacted to that kiss, sort of?

๐Ÿ’š So Ana is with Paul? What do you think about that?

๐Ÿ’š What do you think will happen next?

๐Ÿ’šWhat was your favourite part?

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

Love, Mina๐Ÿ’š๐Ÿ’š๐Ÿ’š