A little bit of a filler chapter or is it? This is a continuation of Chapter 42.
Chapter 43 – I wanna be your eyes and show you me.
Sunday, February 16th, 2020
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX
CARMELA ON TOP FOR THE SEATTLE NOOZ
Good morning my caramel bites.
Now, you know me, I never leave the comfort of my bed on a Sunday morning but this scoop was just too hard not to share.
It seems that we may soon hear the sound of pitter patter of little feet around town.
Our new favorite IT couple was spotted at Seattle-Mason (the proof is in the caramel pudding below) smiling at a nursery full of newborns. I mean, look at those strong hands caressing his lady's (growing?) belly. It appears little Miss Steele works fast. Wedding bells may also be on the horizon? Oh I hope so. I haven't been to a good wedding in ages.
What do you think they're having? A boy or a girl or who knows... maybe even twins? I can't wait to see. Double the sweetness, yes please!
May the rest of your Sunday be as sweet as caramel.
Send me your delicious thoughts.
Love & Caramel,
Carmela on Top.
Image_001: Christian Grey &, Anastasia Steele lovingly gazing over babies at the Seattle-Mason NICU nursery.
Image_002: Christian Grey kissing Anastasia Steele with his hand on her belly.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX
I feel Ana get back into bed and lean in close to kiss me all over.
"Wake up." She whispers and giggles.
"What time is it? You said weekends are for sleeping." I grumble.
"It's almost 10 and it appears we're pregnant." She says seriously.
"WHAT?" My eyes are fully open and she bursts out into laughter.
"I mean, according to the press we're pregnant." She continues to laugh.
"Well if it's in the papers then it must be true." I say, willing my heart rate back down to a considerable pace.
"Did I really freak you out?"
"I mean, a little... it was quite the wakeup call."
"Sorry, I couldn't resist." She leans back in to give me a small kiss making me smile.
"So what are we having?"
She reads the Seattle Nooz piece with all the sass and I snort. PR is going to lose their shit and Ros will love every second of this. I pick up my phone and sure enough I have a million texts and emails from everyone. Ana and I respond to all the family inquiries via text. Most of them know it's not real but the congratulations still pour through in jest.
"PR wants to know what statement to put out."
"No comment."
"Are you sure?" I ask.
"Yep. I want to have a little fun with this." She says in her playful scheming voice.
"Miss Steele, who are you?" I can't hide my amusement now. My playful girl is always close by.
"I'm a girl who's pissed at the press for attacking me and I'm going to keep them guessing and frustrate them beyond measure. I'm really patient, as you know. They don't deserve our attention. They don't deserve jack shit." She says staring at the ceiling with the tense face but for some reason I get the sense she's talking about something else. "Besides... I have some ideas. I'll run them by you once they're fully cooked and ready for execution." She giggles.
"In that case maybe we should continue to practice our baby making skills... to make sure we're doing it right."
She giggles again and I lean in and start to kiss her neck. Soon we fall into the rhythm of making slow, gentle love. Whispering I love yous, making promises to each other and getting lost in each others eyes as we both become one, completely.
My face is buried in her neck as we come down from our high and her hands are in my hair, massaging my scalp.
"I really hope we can have babies." She says her voice wavering.
I look up and I see tears falling from her eyes and I'm overcome with emotion. "We will. I'm certain of it. You are meant to be a mother."
We lie holding each other in comfortable silence.
Ana's phone rings. "Oh god." She groans before answering and setting it to speaker.
"Hey Queen."
"DON'T 'HEY QUEEN' ME YOU HAG. WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST READ? YOU BETTER NOT BE PREGNANT. WHEN I TOLD YOU TO TRAP HIS ASS, I MEANT WITH A RING ON YOUR FINGER NOT WITH A BABY COMING OUT OF YOUR WALNUT HOLE. I SWEAR TO GOD I AM NOT READY FOR THIS SHIT. BETWEEN ROS HAVING A BABY, PHILLIP WANTING TO ADOPT AND THIS NEWS OF YOU SCOPING OUT BABIES... I AM ABOUT TO LOSE MY SHIT... I...CAN"
"But Jose..."
"SILENCIO! HAG. I CANNOT BE A DAD AND AN UNCLE WITH THREE BABIES IN TOW. DO YOU HEAR ME? I DIDN'T SIGN UP FOR THIS SHIT. MY ONLY JOB IN LIFE WAS TO BE A DROP DEAD GORGEOUS QUEEN, A TROPHY HUSBAND AND A GBF. DO NOT TURN ME INTO AN UNCLE, THERE AIN'T ENOUGH LA MER IN THE WORLD TO KEEP THOSE CROWS FEET FROM COMING IN."
Ana and I lose our shit trying not to laugh.
"Jose, you of all people should know that I am... NOT pregnant." Ana is practically howling, all red with tears falling out of her eyes.
"YOU BETTER NOT BE. TELL THAT MAN OF YOURS THAT HE BETTER DOUBLE WRAP IT BEFORE HE TAPS IT. INFACT, TRIPLE WRAP THAT SHIT. WITH THAT FACE AND THAT LEVEL OF SUCCESS WE CANNOT AFFORD THE RELEASE OF ANY KRAKEN CAUSE WE KNOW HOW SUCCESSFULLY IT WILL INVADE YOUR OVARIES."
Ana tries to calm down but fails spectacularly.
"Well, my darling Queen I'll definitely keep that thought in mind when I have sex from now on..." she looks to me laughing. "oh... and by the way, you're on speakerphone with us."
We hear Jose half shriek, half cry and clear his throat and begins to talk in his usual lawyer demeanor.
"Oh...well then, let me amend my previous statement to say that, I hope you and your significant other exercise extreme caution when taking part in... physically pleasurable activities to avoid reproduction as to not interfere with my life plans and social standing in society."
"We'll certainly keep that in mind, Mr. Rodriguez. Thank you for so eloquently making your demands." I say, trying not to laugh.
"Thank you, I appreciate your willingness in the matter. Good day to you both."
He hangs up and Ana and I lose it again.
"There really isn't anything simple about him at all." I laugh.
"Yes there isn't... poor thing, sounded like he was having a heart attack. This is what I love most about him. The drama he creates out of thin air."
"What's a GBF?"
"Gay Best Friend." Ana giggles.
"Thank god he's gay. I would've fired him if he was straight cause there is no way he would've wanted to be just friends with you."
"So jealous Mr. Grey..." She climbs on top of me. "but I'm only yours... allow me to demonstrate" she kisses me deeply and effectively distracts me again with her tongue.
...
I had Taylor bring over the R8 to the Fairmont for Ana and I to head out to Mom and Dad's for dinner. Mom's weekend shifts at Seattle-Mason are finally over and her first order of business is to have us all over for Sunday family dinner.
I walk Ana to the passenger side and help her get in. Once I take my seat she leans her head forward on the dashboard and giggles looking at me.
"It's so good to see you again Lola, I've missed you."
I chuckle. "Miss Steele, I didn't know you and Lola were close."
"I made a playlist for her the moment I met her, of course we're close. Don't be jealous." She snaps back and laughs.
She cues the music and the song starts to play... the sultry sound of the trumpet flows through. The song sounds familiar. I've heard it before... I can't place it...
"Is this Iron & Wine?" I ask.
"Yeah, with Calexico."
How do you bust the clouds?
Head on the ground and feeling what you've seen
I wanna scope you out
I wanna be your eyes and show you me
"I haven't heard this song in ages. I didn't know you were into this kind of music."
"I know I play a lot of current stuff but I have a whole playlist for all the music I listened to when I was a kid and in my teens. I listen to that on my off days when I want to feel a little better. Mostly it was a lot of 90's and early 2000's stuff minus the classics."
"I'd love to hear it."
"I'd love to hear what kind of music you like too. I know I've essentially taken over your life, sorry about that." She giggles.
"Well I love the music you play and... I'm not sure you'd like my music..."
"You were born in the 80's, I've grown up on all kinds of music. I mean, as long as it's not Black Sabbath or Led Zepplin... I never really got into that stuff." She laughs.
"Okay, I guess I won't play that for you."
"Actually, let me play you something. This is my FAVORITE Prince song... I'm sure you know it."
She starts the song and sings along to it, looking at me, throwing her arms up, acting it out. She's so fucking full of life. I adore her this way, incredibly happy and free of worry. I recognize the song, I've heard it maybe 2-3 times but it means something different now.
If I gave you diamonds and pearls
Would you be a happy boy or a girl
If I could I would give you the world
All I can do is just offer you my love
D to the I to the A to the M
O to the N to the D to the pearls of love
D to the I to the A to the M (to the M)
O to the N to the D to the pearls of love
"Yeah?" she looks at me laughing.
"Solid choice, Miss Steele."
"Oh this song, I'm about to play... I LOVE IT but Ray hated it." She clicks play and I groan. "What?" she asks.
"Nothing. Elliot would always sing this like a fucking bear to annoy the shit out of me."
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
"Oh Grey, you just gave me SO much ammunition. I am gonna play this bitch up in Escala and it will be ga-lo-ree-us."
"I'm in love with a monster." I roll my eyes.
"Yep, no escape now." She laughs and continues to sing and dance. "I think I'm going to have dance night every week when I have my girls over. I miss that." She muses. I hold my hand out and she takes and I kiss her knuckles.
So needless to say
I'm odds and ends
But I'll be stumbling away
Slowly learning that life is okay
Say after me
It's no better to be safe than sorry
Take on me (take on me)
Take me on (take on me)
I'll be gone
In a day or two
Ana makes me feel like a kid again. I never had these experiences. I remember, Mia and Elliot would sing along to the radio. I'd quietly look out the window and tune them out whenever we went on road trips. I kept myself from making those memories. Mia would always nudge my arm and wiggle her eyebrows to try and get my attention but I never really paid attention. I just zone everything out trying to find peace and stillness.
We walk in to Mom and Dad's and they both hug us. They still adhere to my boundaries... I'm really trying to work on that. Even Ana is still careful after everything. I've told her she can touch me but she's apprehensive.
The last time Ana and I were here, things were... they fucking sucked but now we're here and we're stronger than before. Happier.
"How are you with all the press darling?" Grace asks as we all stand around in the kitchen.
Ana lightly shrugs. "I'm okay, I think as long as I stay out of sight it'll be good. Though that Carmela woman's spies are everywhere." She laughs.
"It'll die down soon." Carrick smiles at her.
"I hope so. I don't want to live in hiding forever." She says with a small smile.
Elliot and Kate are still on their way. Mia is in Boston with Ethan, helping him wrap up the last of this things to move back to Seattle.
We talk more about the Seattle-Mason gala. Mom wasn't able to attend due to an emergency with one of her patients and Dad hates coming to these things alone but they both praise Ana's effort to help raise money and she blushes in embarrassment. Dad asks me to join him in the study and all these years later it still holds a negative feeling.
"Hey Dad, what's up?"
"Nothing son, I wanted to ask you how you were doing?"
"I'm good."
"You and Ana look really happy. I know the press stuff is bullshit but the picture of you and Ana at the hospital was... well it damned near made me choke up." He laughs.
Fuck. I try to laugh it off. "Yeah, it was a moment we had. We went to Seattle-Mason to check in on a GEH employee whose wife gave birth to pre-mature twins and on our way out she stopped to see the babies."
"Yeah, they tend to catch your attention." He smiles. "Are you and Ana thinking about starting a family soon?"
I swallow. "We've talked about it... I mean eventually down the line. She really wants to be a mother. We've been going to couples therapy to work on our relationship so there's that... "
"You both look really happy and I'm glad you're back together..."
"Thanks Dad, I'm really happy too. I'm finally in a good place with things..." I trail off.
He smiles at me and rubs my shoulder. "Good. Just remember not to fuck up. God bless your mother, she's hasn't buried me yet but you never know..." he chuckles and I smirk.
I walk out with Dad back into the kitchen. "Where's Ana?" I ask.
"I think she went upstairs, I had a call from the hospital and she told me she'd be right back." She smiles.
I go up to my room and find Ana looking through my bookshelf. I walk in and lock the door.
She turns around and gives me a sweet smile. "Hey there Mr. Grey. I thought I'd kill some time up here while everyone was busy."
"I know of something we can do together to kill time." I smirk.
"You have a one track mind." She laughs.
"I do. All those times you were in my room with me... it was absolute torture not being able to have you." I say as I close the distance between us.
"Is that so?" her breathing has changed and her cheeks are flushed. She looks absolutely beautiful right now. This dress hugs her just right and it's taking everything in me not to rip it off of her.
"Would you like me to show you? I smirk.
She bites her lip. "I want to say yes but this is your parents house."
"I guess we'll just have to be really quiet then." I whisper in her ear and bite her earlobe making her mewl as she tries to free her hands from my grasps. I can't help but smile.
I pull her towards the bed and she straddles me. She giggles. "Are we about to live out a teenage Christian Grey fantasy."
"Oh I really hope so Miss Steele... it's a good thing we didn't meet as teenagers... I wouldn't have ever let you go."
We kiss and lose ourselves. She unzips me and begins to stroke me... it feels fucking amazing as she kisses my neck, biting and sucking... pulling on my hair.
"Baby, I want to come inside you..." I groan.
"Hmm, ask and you shall receive Mr. Grey." She kisses me and bites my lip and slowly takes me in. Fuck... I love how fucking tight she is, every time she takes me in... it feels like heaven.
She tries not to moan as she slowly moves up and down. I take over her mouth and hold her in place, while I tease her clit. She's almost there and it's torture for her I can tell. I love nothing more than the sound of her moaning my name and how much she loves this but I can't have anyone else hearing us.
"Christian... " she whispers. The need in her voice is such a fucking turn on. I grab the nape of her neck and snake my free arm around her waist as I lock her mouth with mine and aggressively thrust up into her as she moves... she comes in no time and I mewls into my mouth, begging for air. I come inside of her just a few thrusts later and loosen my hold on her.
Our foreheads rest against each other as we silently catch our breaths. I hold her face and look into her eyes, she looks at me with dreamy eyes and a dreamy smile.
"Teenage Christian Grey was quite the sexpert." She giggles.
"Miss Steele, you're so kind with your compliments." I give her a small kiss. "You look so beautiful like this. I wish this weekend didn't have to end."
"I wish the same too." She gives me a deep kiss.
We're suddenly startled by loud banging on the door.
"OH DOROTHYYYY IT IS I... YOUR FAVORITE BROTHERRRR. JUST WHAT ARE YOU DOING BEHIND THIS CLOSED DOOR?" Elliot bellows like the fucking frat boy asshole that he is.
Before I can even say anything, Ana puts her hand on my mouth and yells. "ELLIOT GREY YOU PROMISCUOUS LITTLE TART I AM GOING TO MURDER YOUR ASS WHEN I COME OUT THERE."
We hear Kate yell, from what seems like the stairs at Elliot as he laughs and suddenly there's silence.
She looks back at me and we both fall into a fit of laughter. "Thank God we were done...otherwise I would've incinerated him. NO ONE interrupts my happy time with you." She laughs.
"Happy time?" I smirk.
"Shut up. We need to go and commit the perfect murder before he opens his big mouth." She giggles.
APOV
We make our way down and thankfully Grace and Carrick are not around but Elliot and Kate are sitting on the couch looking at something on their phone. They both look up at us with sly grins when we walk in and I narrow my eyes at them.
"SO KIND OF YOU TO JOIN US." Elliot starts and Kate slaps his arm and he laughs.
"Fuck off, Lelliot." Christian says in his usual manner as we take our seats.
"So tell us... what did you kids do for Valentine's Day?"
"Christian took me on the choppa for a tour of Mt. Rainier and we had a staycation at the Fairmont." I say deliberately and look at him laughing.
"Helicopter, Anastasia. Helicopter." He grumbles while Elliot and I both laugh like hyenas.
Kate gives me our usual girl talk signal and we both excuse ourselves and go into the basement.
"TELL ME EVERYTHING." Kate whips back at me before we're even reach the last step.
"Ask away and I shall answer as best as I can."
"Well... how many?"
I roll my eyes. Of course that's all she wants to know.
"In all honesty, I stopped counting after 12."
She screams at the top of her lungs. "ANASTASIA HOE STEELE!" in excitement.
A few moments later we hear Elliot yell from the top of the stairs "WHAT AM I MISSING?"
"NOTHING, GO BACK TO YOUR DARLING BROTHER." I yell back.
When we hear the door close Kate begins again. "My girl is all grown up and certified hoe. I am so proud of you. I never thought this day would come but COME IT HAS AND IN ABUNDANCE IT SEEMS." She laughs out loud, clapping her hands.
"Thanks mama." I roll my eyes. "What about you?"
She snorts "Well certainly not as many times as you. We caught up on sleep and binged watched The Good Place."
"Damn... who are you Kavanagh?"
"It's all this flying back and forth. I'm fucking tired. You think I don't want to be having sex? I'm just so fucking tired but I'm staying put for two weeks so hopefully I'll be back in formation very soon and then... Elliot won't know what hit him."
"Hurricane Kavanagh?"
"Category 5, bitch. Coming at you with full force." She wiggles her eyebrows and we both cackle like witches and continue to catch up.
...
Dinner was wonderful. I've missed his parents. They're so involved and funny. It brings back some memories of SF that I try to shake. I have all these wonderful memories of family dinners that I can no longer look back on without sadness because that Dementor is in every single one of them. From before everything happened. It makes me wonder how long the manipulation had been in play... I shake my head to rid myself of the negativity. Elliot is determined to call Christian, Dorothy, whenever he can and we all laugh at his expense. It's so easy to tease him... but I see him smile every now and then. He's learning to accept all this slowly and surely. He's opening up and it's bringing us closer together.
We get back to Escala and exit the penthouse elevator. Before I can head to his room he asks me to join him upstairs in the guest room I picked for myself. He co-ordinated with Kate to have the movers move all my things this weekend. I thought I'd get a chance to say goodbye to my old room and have one last hurrah with Kate but the fucking press ruined that for me. They're still hanging outside the building during the day.
"Christian, do we have to? I don't want to see all those boxes and have my OCD give me anymore anxiety than I already have." I whine.
"Baby, just follow me. Just have one quick look." He smiles at me. God dammit. You and your gorgeous smile.
I drag myself along and climb the stairs and we reach the room. He opens the door and turns the light on and my jaw drops to the floor. There are no boxes. All my things are neatly set up and wow my room back at the apartment was small because this room looks empty with all my stuff in it. I walk in and I'm still in shock. My huge ass map is plastered on one wall with all my pins.
My bed really is tiny compared to Christian's that's literally the size of a city block.
"I wanted to order you so more seating but I thought I'd first run by you since you probably wanted a theme. Also, your clothes are downstairs in my walk-in closet as well." He says softly. Oh fuck, I have not said a word have I? I've just wondered around aimlessly like a fool. Truth is I can't find the words. What the fuck do I say? I would've been fine with a fucking mattress on the floor here too. I mean... this is just so over the top. I would've been fine organizing all my own shit slowly. Oh wow, he's had proper colored LED lights installed. The room is bathed in a red hue. This looks like a room in the red light district. Kate was right, I am Anastasia Hoe Steele. What a way to start the new decade.
I feel a sudden pang of guilt. Am I being a brat for wanting to have my own room? I mean I certainly don't intend to sleep here, just have my own space that I can retreat to. Something that's mine... where I can reset for a bit. Now that going out is never gonna be in my future. I should probably talk this out with Flynn. Yes, I need to go to therapy to make sense of these 'in debt' feeling again.
CPOV
Ana looks a little lost. She slowly walks around. She blinks and stops and walks around a little and then stops.
I find it so hard to read here when she's like this. Is she pissed? Is she happy?
I tell her about my initial thought of ordering more furniture but that I wanted her input. She processes my words for a moment.
"I.." she stops again and takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry... I wasn't expecting to see this all setup. I'm a little shocked actually."
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
"Good. I'm... I've never really had a room this big, this all feels... I hope you don't think I want to live in this room. I just... wanted a space I could visit that could be my own... you know to reset, a little refuge from everything every now and then." Her voice wavers but she tries to rein it in.
I pull her into a hug and she looks up. "Thank you for everything. This entire weekend and having my room setup. You didn't have to do that. I would've been fine dealing with boxes and slowly setting up everything... it woul..."
I interrupt her with a searing kiss... "how about we christen your new room?" I smirk at her and she giggles.
"I like that idea."
...
"Holy fuck... that was quite a christening." She says out of breath trying not giggle.
I laugh. "Miss Steele, what am I going to do with that smart mouth of yours?"
"Learn to live with it." She snaps and giggles again. "You know, there's a thing that you have to have sex in every room to really make the place yours."
"In that case, we've got our work cut out this week." I turn to look at her.
"Settle down there sparky, how about we take it slow... this weekend was... epic but damn, that was a lot of sex. I think we have a problem..."
"You're complaining that we're having a lot of sex?"
"No... I mean... this is not normal right? I mean, I lost count after the 12th orgasm..."
"Well, I kept count. Including this round you've had 23 orgasms since Friday morning."
She takes a deep breath. "We're addicts. This is insane."
"I think it's perfectly normal."
"Of course you would, you perv." She giggles.
"Ana, your body is capable of much more. Heck you can have... I don't know... 10 orgasms in the span of 30 minutes if you want, maybe even more. I could give you 2 orgasms an hour to start and in a 24 hour span, we could get you to 50. "
"UH... no thanks, that sounds painful."
"You have the potential baby, women's bodies are superior that way."
"And what about your primitive body, it's not like you can re-up that quick... won't all that wear and tear wreak havoc on your..." she waves her hand "equipment." She laughs out loud.
"Granted, men are primitive but I live to give you pleasure so I can alternate between various ways to make you come."
She snorts. "Christian... you really want to kill me don't you?"
I chuckle. "Not kill you, just make you feel good."
She rolls her eyes and laughs.
"Are you sore baby?"
"No... not sore I think, just thoroughly fucked." She laughs.
I pull her in for a kiss. "Just how I like you."
"By the way, what's our official story going to be for Catherine?"
"You know we really don't need to meet with her right?"
"Christian, don't argue with me. I don't want to be held to a different standard because I'm dating you."
"Why do you always have to play by the rules?"
"Why Mr. Grey, isn't that the very premise of life? To follow rules so that you don't get punished?" She wiggles her eyebrows.
I climb on top of her and shower her with kisses while she squeals and tries to fight me. "That fucking smart mouth." She calms down after a bit and looks me straight in the eye trying not to giggle. "We can maintain that we met at the wedding."
"And not tell her we actually met at GEH?" she asks.
"What's the point? Let's keep it focused on the wedding. You didn't know I was going to be there and then we got together."
"CORRECTION. I didn't know you were going to there, you SEDUCED ME and then we got together."
I roll my eyes. She's right, I did seduce her. I wanted her the minute I saw her. The minute, I really saw her. "Fine. I seduced you."
"Good, I'm going to let you tell Catherine all the details. I'm just going to file my nails and make any corrections if need be." She sasses. "Also, promise me... no PDA at work. Everyone will already hate me and then if you show any PDA... god, the women will really murder me. You have no idea the shit I've had to hear all these past months and then for them to know that... " she rolls her eyes and shakes her head.
Intriguing. "Just what have you heard Miss Steele?" I raise an eyebrow.
She groans. "Every women under the age of 35 wants to fuck you okay. Which I know you know. You're pretty self aware of the effect you have on hetero women so don't even feign innocence. It's not a good look on you."
"Miss Steele, I cannot believe you would accuse me of such immodesty."
"Shut up, Grey. You love the attention. Don't lie." She laughs.
"But baby, you're the only woman I want to fuck."
"I better be or I'll break your equipment."
I have to laugh out loud at that. She really would. "Are you jealous of these women?"
"No but I don't want to face their wrath either. You don't know how fucking petty and vile women can be when they want to. Everything about me, from the hair on my head to the shoes I'm wearing will be scrutinized and I'll be looked at with an unreasonably critical eye. What makes her so special? I'm smarter... I'm prettier... I have bigger boobs... whatever... Blah blah... I know you're going to say, who cares? But I have to work with these bitches... this includes men who will also think I'm a hoe... so yeah, I'm not exactly jumping for joy about going into work tomorrow. I have Jose and Val but still, I deal with a lot of different people. It's just going to take time navigating this and adapting to a new normal where everyone knows the most personal shit about you and have formed their uninformed opinions... Listen, I can deal with the pettiness on the personal front just as long as none of them try to fuck with me when it comes to the actual work that needs to get done." She rubs her forehead.
"Do you want me to send out a memo?" I'll fucking do it. I don't want people coming at her with their fucking snide comment and making her life miserable. She doesn't deserve any of this shit.
She rolls her eyes. "That is not why I told you this. I don't need you to come in to save the say. Just know that if anyone says any fucked up shit to me, I will let. it. rip. And Catherine will just have to deal."
"Yes Miss Steele. Though, I have to be honest, I really hope you rip someone a new one. I'm addicted to watching you tear people apart. It's fucking a joy to see." I smirk.
"Now who's the freak in the relationship?" She laughs and pulls me in for a kiss.
Monday, February 17th, 2020
APOV
"You know, thank god we're going in one car now. This past year my carbon footprint has gone to shit and then exponentially so after we got together." I muse looking out of the window. He's holding my hand with his thumb stroking my knuckles. It calms me and I'm struggling between feelings of wanting to take him right now and being nervous of facing everyone at work. He really has turned me into a sex addict.
I hear him chuckle at my statement and I turn to look at him. Ass. "Miss Steele, as always you say the most unexpected thing."
"Keeping you on your toes, Grey. Need to make sure your mind is still sharp given your old age and all." I smirk. He lifts my hand to kiss it and lightly bites it and hot damn it lights up my core like winning the jackpot in Vegas. I need to start keeping and extra pair of panties with me for instances like this or when he rips them... which is very often.
He's wearing a light grey suit with a silver tie. He really does look fucking hot. FOCUS ON WORK ANA. Maybe I should let him kiss me in front of everyone, it might send a message to everyone that they better fucking stand down.
"Please don't do that."
He smiles at me. That I own your ass smile. "Do what?" he asks innocently.
"You know what." I try not to smile like a fool.
He moves in closer. Oh fuck me. Thank god the privacy window is up. In no time he has two fingers inside of me, driving me wild. God dammit. I need to figure out a way to resist him and train my body not to react.
He finger fucks me while his tongue invades my mouth. Suddenly it's too fucking hot in here.
"Christian..." I moan..."I swear to god, I'm going to kill you." Fuck this feels good but I can't walk into work with a just fucked look.
"Baby if you do then how will you have 20 orgasm weekends." He chuckles.
"I'll buy a damn vibrator." I quip and he laughs.
"But then you'd miss having my cum inside of you." He breathes in my ear and holy fuck that unravels me. I immediately pull his tie and lock him in a kiss and moan as I lose myself. I can feel him smiling as he kisses me, smug fucker that he is. I love him. Even though he knows how to distract me, I love him.
He puts his fingers in his mouth. "You taste so sweet baby. Always the best kind of breakfast." He smirks while I try to fix myself and try to look presentable. We're almost at the GEH garage.
"You need to be put on a diet." I sass and he laughs.
"Good luck trying. I always get what I want." He leans in and gives me a quick kiss.
I roll my eyes at him. My insatiable pervert.
Christian and I both walk into the lobby from the garage into the lobby to take the elevators to 15th to go meet Catherine in HR. She's expecting us. There's an eerie silence as people steal glances at both. Christian is unfazed and me? Will I'm a fucking bundle nerves wound up so fucking tight that I could snap at anytime. We stand to wait for the elevator with some people waiting in front of us. I recognize Maria from Finance. Oh fuck me. This going to be awkward... she's often expressed the desire to, well its too much detail for me to recall without gagging. Jose would thoroughly enjoy my predicament right now. The elevator doors open and Maria walks in first and turns around and she gapes at me but quickly recovers giving me a fearful expression almost. Oh god... don't be afraid of me.
I recognize a few more people but none of them really say hi to me, just give me small smiles. I guess they're weirded out. God this tension is killing me.
"Hi guys, I hope you all had a good weekend?" I say out loud. There. I feel less nervous now.
Andrew turns back to look at me. "Thanks for asking Ana, it was great." He says genuinely. I hear small murmurings of "it was good" from some of the others. I can feel Christian looking at me. Stop looking at me, Grey.
I look back at Maria. She gives me a small smile. I hold my hand out to her and she takes it. I give it a small squeeze and she relaxes considerably. Okay, I feel much better too.
Christian and I exit on 15th and walkthrough the floor towards Catherine's office. I see some a mixture scowls, genuine smiles and some completely impassive expressions on people's faces.
Catherine's assistant motions us to walk through towards her office where she's waiting for us.
She smiles warmly at us and asks us to sit.
"How can I help you both today?"
"Well Catherine, Miss Steele here would like us to officially announce that we're in a relationship. In case you didn't know." Christian smirks.
I roll my eyes at him, "Catherine, please know that we were eventually going to come to you in a few weeks after we had sorted some things out but this press leak was rather a stupid mistake on my cousin's part."
She chuckles. And we talk a little more about the fraternizations policies and it's the same spiel Christian gave me about the direct supervisor stuff. He's way too playful this morning. I clock Catherine's surprise at his candid demeanor as well.
We take the elevator to go to 20th to meet with PR in his office. The elevator is empty and he grabs me and kisses me hard before letting me go.
"Christian... "
'What?"
"I told you no PDA."
"Technically, in this scenario P stands for Private and we have privacy." He smirks, I roll my eyes and he slaps my ass. "I'm going to miss that delectable ass today."
"You know, you're way too happy about this situation." I grumble.
"I get to show the world you're mine. I'm ecstatic." He shrugs. He really is a fucking teenager about this shit.
Walking past Olivia to get to Christian's office was fucking torture. She's obsessed with Christian. A sweet girl but always barking up the wrong tree. She didn't even look at me. Andrea was sweet as ever and gave me a wink before I followed Christian into his office.
Our meeting with PR was a series of back and forth. Caleb aka Holden, strongly urges me to make a statement along with telling me about the litany of requests that have come in for me. Vogue, Elle, Seattle Times etc all want to do an interview with me and the fashion magazines want to do a small feature on "The Girl who captured the heart of one of America's most eligible bachelors." Complete with a fashion spread with both Christian and I. Actually... that would be kinda cool. Dressing up and getting our pictures taken. No... focus, Ana.
"Caleb, would they be willing to amend their article titles to "How one of the most eligible bachelors in America was able to win the heart of a small town girl from Montesano? Cause then maybe I'd really give it a second thought."
Caleb tries to stifle a laugh along with Christian who's thoroughly enjoying this.
"I'm glad you both are finding this amusing but I'm not about give into this sexist crap. I'm an extremely private person. More than Mr. Grey here, which is why we had been waiting for the right time to announce but then all this happened on Thursday. I have no desire to be in the public eye or give any statements. They attacked me and my friends, I don't take that shit lightly." I say and I see Caleb's expression change.
"I understand Ana but the more you stay quiet they'll start to come up with ridiculous headlines and I'm sorry but it could potentially affect GEH too."
"Caleb, I'd like to think that those who do business with GEH are smart enough to know the difference between reality and fabricated BS. If something really damaging comes out then fine, we can work on a statement but something like my being pregnant, is too small time and frankly speaking... none of their business. And for the record, I am not pregnant and we are not adopting we went to check on a GEH employee and his new family."
"I understand your point of view but I would still ask you to consider. This could be beneficial in the end, just like the Seattle-Times write up about your fundraising efforts at the Gala. "
"The way Christian and I met or what I'm wearing does not in anyway help the important work that GEH is doing right now. It's just noise that will distract if anything."
"Not necessarily, it helps shine a light on it. It will make people pay attention when we do put out statements about the philanthropic efforts or any new tech ventures we embark on."
"I need to think about it." I say taking a deep breath. I know he's right. He can help craft the message.
Caleb looks to Christian. "Whatever the ol' ball and chain says." Christian says with a smirk. I look at him with murderous eyes and Caleb stammers trying to not laugh.
Caleb leaves and I look back at Christian.
"Ball and chain, eh? Well honey, have fun sleeping in your bed alone tonight." I snap. What's gotten into him?
He walks up to me and gives me an all-consuming kiss. The kind that makes me forget where I am.
"I love you ball and chain." He says breaking the kiss and it takes me a few seconds to recover.
"Whatever. You're acting really weird."
"You make me happy and I'm glad everyone knows now. We can show everyone we belong to each other and I kiss you whenever I want to."
Oh fuck. Why do you have to make me cry in the middle of a work day.
"I love you so much." I say trying to keep my tears from falling.
...
I finally get to Legal and get to my desk and legal is all a buzz. Some people look at me but I can't read their expressions. I get to my desk and see a beautiful floral arrangement waiting. I pick the card and read it. It's a hand written note from Christian.
You are the most beautiful and strongest woman that I know. I love you. Thank you for bringing all the color and light into my once dark and grey world. You mean everything to me.
Love,
Christian.
My heart is bursting right now. God. And he even used my favorite florist.
AS: THE FLOWERS ARE BEAUTIFUL. I LOVE YOU. SORRY FOR THE CAPS. BUT I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS RIGHT NOW.
CG: I love you baby, I'm glad you like them.
AS: You are definitely not sleeping alone tonight ;)
CG: I cover all my bases Miss Steele ;)
AS: Don't push it, Grey. Xo
...
"Well, well. Look what the cat dragged in." Jose walks over bristling with sarcasm and it makes me laugh.
"Hi Queen, how was your weekend?" I giggle.
"It was great.. Yours?" he wiggles his eyebrows, desperate for the scoop.
"It was lovely and I'm surprisingly not pregnant given how active I was." I quip and he laughs.
"You better not be. Ima seriously lose my shit."
"Yes, I will run my pregnancy timetable by you in the future." I roll my eyes.
"That's all I ask... oh and by the way, Val broke up with Bill. Thank God."
"Over Valentines Day weekend? Damn... that's harsh."
"Girl, it was a long time coming. He was so boring he made Phillip's grandmother sound like a stripper... and Grandma Tina has been a church going, black dress wearing widow for 15 years but hey... at least she got the Tulum trip out of it."
I almost fall off my chair at that.
Lunchtime rolls around and I'm nervous as fuck going to the 5th floor atrium. Jose took the temperature of the gossip pool and it's a bag of mixed reviews. I have 'Team, YAY for Ana and Christian'; 'Team we don't give a fuck' and 'Team Ana is a bitch for taking him away from us.'
I take a deep breath and walk in with Jose and Val. Everyone looks at us, oh for fucks sake this is like lunchroom at high school.
I start to hear the faint chant that grows louder. "cookies. Cookies. COOKIES. COOKIES." and I break out into a smile. Not all is lost.
...
CPOV
It's a little after 3pm when Welch and Taylor inform me they're are on their way up with the latest that they have about the Rothstein, Kapadia and Rahman situation.
Monitoring of the subs has not uncovered anything new except that Leila and Susannah are going about their days as usual. Again, nothing more to report outside of the deposits except the fact that Phoebe has not left the apartment since Tuesday of last week.
"Sir we are still digging to find the owners of Saphirars. It was registered anonymously. Hence the delay." I can see Welch is equally frustrated at this. He hates being met with a brick wall but he is determined.
"Of course it was." I snap back.
"The redhead who remained on the plane to New York, she disembarked and a private car registered to Rothstein Group picked her up and dropped her at Rothstein's apartment building. She has not left since Thursday afternoon. We've been trying to het someone into the building but security is tighter than Fort Knox."
"Fucking hell." This is beyond frustrating. I tell them about Ana's situation with Rothstein from 4 years ago and we discuss additional security parameters for Ana.
"The Kapadia jet is slated to fly out to Sydney on Wednesday night. The flight plan was given in this morning at Oakland." Taylor informs.
This is good. The fucker will be far away from Seattle.
"And Sir, there is one more thing. The call for this came in about 10 minutes ago." Welch says a little carefully.
"Well?"
"Elena Lincoln was found dead this afternoon."
Authors Note: the bitch is DEAD but what does this mean?
Pinterest: www dot pinterest dot com/paleseptember10/50-shades-of-love-and-light/ - check out board for chapter 41-43:)
Music:
Burn That Broken Bed - Iron & Wine feat. Calexico
Diamonds & Pearls - Prince
Never Gonna Give You Up - Rick Astley
Take On Me - a-ha