Chapter Fifteen - Recovered
"I am officially discharging you, Miss Steele" Doctor Harris tells me, in has hands are both of my splints. He places them down on the side and smiles at me "You have recovered very well. Mr Grey tells me you have been following my guidelines exactly"
"Yes, well he has been very insistent" I reply, rolling my eyes "but I am glad to see the back of those" I point to the splints and crutches. Finally, I was free.
"I'm sure you are, well that will be everything. Best of luck, Miss Steele" Doctor Harris says before I leave his office.
I exit the hospital, a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. No more hobbling around, no more splints, it felt good. Sawyer is trailing behind me as I stroll to my car in the parking lot, I insisted on driving home and so Sawyer drove my car to the hospital. We enter the vehicle and I start up the engine smiling when it roars to life.
I take the long way to GEH, deciding I want to surprise Christian. I park in the garage and Sawyer and I walk into the building. Taylor is down in the lobby, Sawyer stands with him whilst I tap in the code to the elevator and click the Christian's floor.
"Ana, good to see you. Feeling better?" Andrea asks me as I step through into the waiting area. She looks down and notices my splints are gone.
"Much, thank you. How are you?" I ask, giving her a smile
"Same old, Mr Grey is in his office. Shall I let him know?" I shake my head
"No. Thanks, Andrea" I say before heading towards Christian's office.
Our relationship was soon talk of the building after my accident, when the news had broke we couldn't hide it any longer. I didn't mind so much, but the boldness of some of Christian's staff was shocking, especially the women who thought they ever had a chance with him. Over the last few weeks Christian had fired far too many of the staff just for not being able to keep their mouths shut around us.
I open the door, and walk in to find Christian at his desk, he doesn't look up from his computer. "Now who the fuck would dare to just enter my office without a knock?" Christian says
"Just me, Mr Grey" I reply, he looks up and his face soon softens.
"Anastasia, they discharged you?" He asks
"Yep, I am good to go, I can return to work, and return to other activities" I tell him with a smirk
"Well, let's celebrate tonight. Dinner at the club" Christian suggests
"I'd like that very much, Mr Grey" I reply, taking a seat on his desk
I watch as Christian continues working, moving my butt to a more comfier seat. We were yet to tell anyone about our engagement, we wanted to wait until I was better and we could get everyone together. So I had only been wearing my ring at home. I do desperately want to tell our families and have our good news out in the open, we needed something to celebrate.
"Christian, I'd like to tell everyone about our engagement" I tell him, he lifts his head up and smiles
"Me too, I was just thinking we can do it this weekend. My Mother is having a gathering, everyone will be there" He replies
"Oh? I didn't know" I say
"Yes well I was holding off just in case the Doctor didn't take those splints off" Christian tells me
"Well, then it's settled" I say grinning.
Christian and I have lunch together and I then leave him to finish his work day, returning back to Escala I am met by Gail who is ecstatic that I am officially discharged and no longer wearing the splints. We talk briefly, I inform her that we will finally be telling everyone about our exciting news and she couldn't be happier.
"You know, Miss Steele. Until you walked through those doors, I never thought Mr Grey would settle down. I have seen such a change in him and it is all down to you" Gail tells me, I couldn't help but smile.
"Thank you, Gail, I think it's time you start calling me Ana" I reply, "Christian makes me a very happy woman"
"I'm not sure Mr Grey would like that" Gail says
"Mr Grey will just have to like it, I'd prefer it if you called me by my name" I reply
"Of course, Mis- Ana" Gail replies.
I decide to head up to the bedroom after a while, if Christian and I are going to dine out tonight I wanted to look the part. I look through my closet and pull out a red short sleeve wrap dress, I place it on the bed along with a pair of heels and head for the shower. I stand under the water, and enjoy the warm water for a short while before washing my hair and my body. It felt good to shower alone, I hadn't done that in so long. Stepping out of the shower I wrap a towel around my wet body and then a second towel around my head. I turn on some music and playing it at a low volume through the speakers.
I had a long while before I had to be ready so I spend some time sitting on the couch in my towel, looking out at the city just passing by. I lean my head back and close my eyes, I felt so relaxed that sleep soon overcame me.
"Anastasia?" Christian says, I open my eyes and he is standing over me. How long have I been sleeping?
"What are you doing home?" I ask Christian, confused
"It's 4:30, Anastasia. I thought I'd come home a little earlier" he replies
"Oh, sorry. I must have been tired" I tell him, standing up.
Christian takes off his suit, and heads for the bathroom. I hear him turn on the shower and then the shower door close. I take a deep breath and drop my towels and put on a fresh set of underwear before slipping into my dress, I tackle my now messy hair and pull it up into a ponytail releasing some tendrils to frame my face. I moisturise my face, and apply a little make up. Christian finally emerges from the bathroom and dries his body. He dresses in a pair of Gray trousers and a white shirt. I turn to look at him and he is grinning.
"I have missed you" Christian says
"I missed you too, Christian" I reply, he wraps his arms around me, picking me up and placing me on the bed.
"I want to take you right here, right now" Christian is now on top of me, his hard erection pressing into my belly as his lips linger over mine.
Suddenly Christian is inside of me, thrusting in and out. I throw my head into the soft bed, unable to control my moans. "It's going to be quick" Christian whispers as he thrusts harder.
I feel the need to come, it washes over me and turns into a dire need. I needed this, a release we both hadn't had in quite some time. "Come, Anastasia" Christian tells me and I instantly find my release, Christian watches as I lose myself. Once Christian finds his own release, he picks me up and takes me to the bathroom, cleaning us both up. I hop off of the counter and pull down my dress, and then fix my hair. I watch as Christian dresses himself again.
"Change of plan" Christian says looking at me "Something has come up this weekend, we won't be able to make Mom's gathering so she has invited us all over tonight for dinner"
"Oh, okay. What are you doing this weekend?" I ask him, I wasn't aware of anything happening.
"I have work to catch up on, I can't put it off any longer" Christian tells me
"You're not going to your Mothers gathering because of work?" I look at him, "That doesn't seem right"
"Yes, Anastasia. Please do not push it further" Christian warns me, I roll my eyes and turn my back to him.
We finally leave the penthouse, heading down to the parking lot. Christian unlocks the R8 and throws the keys at me. "You're driving" Christian says, I grin and open the drivers door, sliding in. The engine begins to purr and Christian fastens his seatbelt with a nervous look on his face. I begin the drive to Bellevue, the urge to drive fast was overwhelming so I put my foot down, allowing the adrenaline rush to kick in. From the corner of my eye I notice Christian looking more nervous so I reign it in a little throwing him a smirk.
"I should have never let you behind the wheel" Christian remarks
"No you shouldn't have, I kind of want one" I tell Christian, he takes a deep breath realising what he had unleashed inside of me.
"Over my dead body will I get you one of these" Christian tells me, I begin to pout.
We finally turn in to Grace and Carrick's drive, and I stay behind the wheel for just a moment whilst Christian gets out and walks around. He opens the door, and extends a hand. I take it, and exit the R8. Taylor finally catches up to us, pulling up behind us.
We walk up to the front door and ring the bell, Grace answers the door. She is dressed so elegantly and beautifully, she must never take a day off.
"Christian, my darling" Grace says as she kisses her sons cheeks and hugs him, she then turns to me, "Ana, sweetheart, you look very well"
"Hey, Grace. Thank you, I feel so much better now" I tell her
We enter the house, where Carrick stands talking to Elliot and Kate who all smile at us. We say our hello's to everyone else and head into the dining room and take our seats.
"Where is Mia?" Christian asks, looking at Grace
"I'm right here!" Mia calls as she enters the dining room, she hugs her brother and then takes a seat next to him.
We are all served with wine, and the food begins to arrive. We are served Roast Beef which Carrick takes great pride in carving with all the trimmings. We all place some beef onto our plates and tuck in. I notice Christian has a nervous look on his face once again, I wanted to get the news out there, but since this was his family, I wanted him to be the one to do it.
We are midway through our meal when Christian suddenly stands, he takes a hold of my hand. "Sorry to interrupt but I want to get this out before I don't do it at all. A few weeks ago I asked Anastasia a very important question" he pulls on my hand and I stand beside him. "I asked her to marry me" Christian looks at me with a huge smile
"and I said yes" I tell everyone who all look stunned, Grace immediately leaps onto her feet and embraces us both whilst the rest wait their turn.
"Congratulations both of you, I am thrilled" Grace whispers, tears falling down her face.
Carrick embraces his son and whispers a few words into his ears, I hoped they were good words. I am pulled aside by Kate who immediately hugs me. "You kept that quiet, Steele. Congratulations" Kate says as we pull apart.
"I know, I'm sorry, Christian insisted on telling everyone together" I tell her, she nods
"I understand, I'm happy for you, we have a wedding to plan" Kate replies
"Indeed, we'll save that for another day, lets get together next week" I say
"Definitely, we'll do lunch" Kate says.
Finally we all sit back down and finish our food before heading out onto the patio, The guys are all inside whilst Grace, Kate, Mia and myself are all lounging on the outdoor couches. The subject of conversation is our wedding.
"Ana, have you both thought about where you want to hold the wedding?" Grace asks, her smile had not left her face since Christian broke the news.
"Not yet, we've just been enjoying being engaged before telling everyone and working out what we're going to do" I reply
"I would love for you guys to have it here" Grace suggests, I liked the idea but honestly I didn't want to get married somewhere that had been tarnished by previous events. I look behind me and see myself lying on the floor in the foyer.
"I think that's something to discuss with Christian" I tell Grace, her face changes, the realisation setting in.
"Oh, Ana, I didn't think, I was so excited, I can't imagine how it makes you feel just being here after your accident" Grace replies
"It's fine, Grace. It's in the past" I say,
"Will you be having bridesmaids?" Mia asks,
"I think so, I haven't really thought about it yet" I admit, "You and Kate will be the first people to know"
We continue talking until Christian, Elliot and Carrick all join us. I can see Christian is tired, so I make the decision that it's time to leave. We say our goodbyes and I hop into the drivers seat of the R8, we arrived home and head straight to bed falling asleep in each others arms.
Morning rolls around and I am not ready to return to the office. What I really wanted to do was stay in bed with Christian and fool around but that was not going to happen. I roll out of bed and turn on the shower allowing the water to heat up before stepping in. I am midway through washing my body when Christian joins me, washing my back and then my hair. I wait for him to be done and we head back to the closet, I dry myself off and pick out a black pant suit and a sleeveless white shirt with a black ribbon tie. I pull my hair up into a pony tail and join Christian downstairs who is already at the breakfast bar with breakfast.
Gail places my breakfast in front of me, a cheese, onion and mushroom omelette. Once we're finished eating we head out and to GEH. This was the first time I would be wearing my ring, Christian insisted now that we had told our families. We arrive at our floor and head straight for the office, I take my place at my desk and wake up my computer and log in, Christian does the same.
It's a relatively quiet morning, Christian had a few calls to make and take, and didn't have his first meeting until after lunch which meant we could have lunch together. It was around 11AM now, and Taylor bursts into the office with a look on his face that I really did not like. He instructs Christian to turn the TV on and we watch the news segment.
"We are live with you from Seattle - A body has been found a top of the Grey publishing building formerly known as Seattle Independent Press. Not much is known yet but it is believed to be a suicide. Police had cordoned off the building. We will have more information later" Christian looks to Taylor before turning off the TV
"Sir, we think it is one of your ex..." Taylor trails off, Christian stands and runs his hands through his hair.
"Why wasn't I made aware sooner? I own the fucking building" Christian says, an angry look on his face.
"Sir, the police are handling this very poorly. They informed the previous owners who then called here. Ros picked up the call as you were in a call and thought it was best I deliver the news" Taylor says "We are doing our absolute best to find out who exactly it is. When I know more, I will let you know"
Taylor leaves the office leaving Christian and I alone "Fuck!" he shouts before walking over to me.
"I have to go and sort this fucking mess" Christian tells me, I stand and look at him
"Christian, why would one of your old subs kill themselves on top of SIP?" I ask him
"Because that's the only way they can get to me right now" Christian says, he tries to soften his face and plants a kiss on the top of my head before disappearing out of the office.
I am instructed to clear Christian's schedule for the day so that he can focus on the mess at hand, I spent the day not doing much work at all but instead trying to wrap my head around this. Who was the body? Why would they even end their life? There was so much I wanted to know yet I was left in the dark. I call Christian's phone multiple times but he doesn't answer, I know he was busy but I just needed to not be kept in the dark.
At 5PM Christian finally returns my call, he sounds stressed. "Anastasia, Sawyer is going to take you back to Escala" Christian tells me
"What's going on? Have you heard anything?" I ask
"We will talk about this later, right now I am under a pile of shit and I need to fix this" Christian says, I sigh
"Christian, will you just come home with me? You can figure this out from home, right?" I say
"No, Anastasia, I cannot. Sawyer is waiting for you in the lobby, I suggest you head home" Christian ends the call, he sounded cold. I didn't want to go home without him, I wanted him to come home with me.
I pick up my bag and leave the office, and head down to the lobby where Sawyer is waiting for me like Christian said. I follow him to the SUV and sit in the back. The journey as always was short. Once we're parked, I walk to the elevator and tap in the code. Once we reach the foyer I chuck my bag down, frustrated and head upstairs. I take off my pant suit and slip into something a little comfier and head back downstairs. It was quiet, Gail wasn't around and Sawyer was no where to be seen. I feel my phone buzz in my pocket and a private number is calling.
I answer the call and I am met with heavy breathing. "Hello?" I say into the phone
"Anastasia" the voice was familiar, it was Elena
"Elena... Why the fuck are you calling me?" I ask
"Just wanted to see how you were doing, it's a real shame about Leila isn't it" She says
"I'm calling Christian" I reply
"To tell him what? That I am calling you? How will he trace me?" she asks
"He just will, believe me" I tell her
"I somehow think that won't be the case, I mean he hasn't tracked my calls yet" She tells me, I could almost picture her standing with a smirk.
"Why are you doing this? Why did you push me down the stairs?" I question her
"Oh so many questions, wouldn't you like to know the answers?" She says chuckling
"You're fucked in the head, do you think Christian will want you after all that you've done?" I say to her
"Yes, he will because when I kill you, he will come running to me and I will make it all better" She pauses "You have put all these toxic thoughts into his head, I have to get rid of you"
"Wow, you really believe that Christian loves you don't you" I say "I'm the only fucking person Christian loves, and don't you forget it"
"Watch your back, Ana. I guess I will have to do it myself since Leila refused to help me" The call goes dead and I begin to piece the puzzle together.
I immediately dial Christian, he picks up, I can hear chattering in the background from his security team. "Christian it was Elena" I say
"What? What do you mean?" Christian asks, his voice sounding panicked
"She just called me!" I begin breathing heavily "She threatened to finish the job she started, she said since Leila wouldn't help, she will have to do it herself" I tell Christian
"Hold on" Christian says before he begins relaying everything I had said back to his team, Sawyer appears from the foyer and picks his phone up, I can hear a lot of talking in the background.
"Fuck! She is so fucked up, Baby, I need you to come back to GEH so that we can trace that call" Christian says
"Okay, I will leave right now" I hang up the phone and immediately head for Sawyer, who is already pressing the button on the elevator.
We arrive at GEH and we head for the 12th floor where Christian and his team are all gathered in a room with Barney. Christian quickly kisses my lips before taking the phone out of my hands and handing it to Barney. Christian and I leave the room for a moment, he embraces me and kisses the top of my head.
"Anastasia I'm sorry I brought you into all this mess" Christian says not letting go of me
"No, don't be sorry. It's not your fault" I reply
"We are doing all we can to rectify this, but the police are slow. They are having the body identified and finger prints and all evidence tested as we speak, even on a fast track as they call it it could still be hours until we officially know anything else." Christian takes a deep breath, trying to compose himself, I could see he was a mixture of emotions
"Once the phone has been traced, if it can be traced, I promise we will head home, we will take tomorrow off, and we will hide away from all of this, but tonight is going to be hell, waiting on these bastards" Christian says, I run my hand down his face trying to calm him down.
"What if it's not Leila and Elena is lying?" I ask
"It is Leila, I have personally called all my ex subs, every single one picked up except for Leila. Leila is a weak link, she has a history of mental health issues, Elena would see that as a weak link and use it to her advantage" Christian says. That calculating bitch.
"And now she's dead" I say
"Yes, I am done chasing this bitch. She has been under the radar for so long, it's time for her punishment" Christian replies.
We wait for a couple of hours and finally Barney has everything he needs. We finally head back to Escala, today has been such a mess, I haven't eaten anything since breakfast, the adrenaline and stress has kept me occupied but now that we were going home, I was famished. Once again I arrive at Escala, but this time with Christian by my side. Gail is in the kitchen plating up mac n cheese and she has poured two glasses of wine.
Christian and I both scoff down our food, and gulp down the wine, and then move to the couch bringing the bottle with us. He has unbuttoned his shirt and taken off his tie, he looks stressed, the most stressed I have ever seen him. I didn't envy him right now, being in this position but I couldn't help but want to take all his stress away and make it all better. I felt useless right now.
We spend the night sitting on the couch, neither of us could sleep, it was just too tense. We had finished the bottle of wine hours ago, and now moved on to drinking coffee to keep us going. Christian periodically checked his phone for updates but nothing came through. Surely they were close to finding out what was going on.
Christian and I eventually fall asleep on the couch, it was well into the early hours when our bodies failed us. The sound of Taylor's footsteps wakes us both up, we both stand facing Taylor who had news.
"Sir, Ma'am, It is indeed Miss Leila Williams who was found on top of Grey Publishing. Finger and foot prints show that she was not alone up there, there. There are two sets of foot prints and two sets of finger prints. One matching Leila's and the other matching Elena's, it seems Elena is now a person of interest in a murder enquiry" Taylor says, I sigh and Christian immediately picks up his phone. It was 6AM.
"We need to block the press from reporting any of this, and most importantly Elena needs to be found. Any luck on the trace?" Christian asks
"Yes, sir. the phone call was traced to Portland, the Heathman in fact. A couple of the guys went down and there was no one there under the name of Elena Lincoln but when she was described they had seen her, only with brunette hair. She is using the name Ella Kelly" Taylor tells us both.
"Taylor, I want Barney hot on her trail, if anything shows up in that name I want to know about it. But for now, my Fiancee and I need to rest. I will call you in a few hours" Christian says,
"Sir" Taylor says as he nods and disappears.
Without a word, Christian and I head upstairs, I strip down to only my panties and slide under the covers, Christian does the same, he doesn't lie down, instead he sits up and watches me, I close my eyes and I am working my way to a slumber with Christian's eyes locked onto my almost sleeping body
"She used my birth moms first name" Christian mutters as he runs his hand down my hair and back, "That fucking bitch" He says aggressively.
I finally drift off, my arms draped over Christians legs as he continued to sit up in the bed. If he wasn't going to sleep, I would sleep for the both of us. I was truly exhausted.