I AM REALLY HOPING YOU GO THROUGH THIS AUTHOR'S NOTE. ESPECIALLY.
A/N
Hello everybody.
I hope everybody is doing well. I am sorry for the slight delay in the updates. I will not be able to post daily but I will try my level best to post more than one chapter in a week. I hope you enjoy reading this chapter. Please let me know.
Also, I would really be very grateful if everybody took a little teensy bit of their time and offer a little more than a standard review and give out some kind of constructive criticism or what you like about the story, I would very much appreciate it if you have any suggestion to carry the story forward, I will give it a read and even incorporate the idea into the story if it goes well.
The title of this chapter is 'Être dans la galère' i.e a french saying which means to get your butt into a mess which is pretty much all that our darling characters are doing rn. ;)
Thank everybody for reviewing and reading. Hope you enjoy this chapter.
Love. xx
I knew Christian was sparing me from the gory details of the sadistic woman.
To a seven-year-old? Beating him up with heated rods and metals? Who does that to a child? I closed my eyes and all I could picture was a beautiful child with copper hairs and grey eyes, a child so innocent and heartbroken without his mother, a child who needed compassion and maternal love. How can someone be so sick, inhuman, and monstrous to load a child with so much pain and disgust for himself?
Then I did the most unexpected thing anybody could have done if they would have stressed on the unendurable, agonizing pain he had gone through.
I laughed.
Have you not seen anyone like that before, Anastasia? Have you not witnessed anybody who had gone through the pain because of something so evil?
My subconscious stood in front of me with her hands folded, a cruel yet painful smirk on her lips.
Suddenly it was all coherent and logical. Pain connected us. Yes! It was pain all along, the common link that connected us both. How could I not put my finger on the obvious that stood right in front of me? The connection we had was the pain that allied us to this extent.
My phone buzzed and I flinched as I was brought back from my reverie.
I patted on the sheets and fished out the rectangular bulge under it,
There was an email from Isaac Kay,
From: Isaac Kay
Subject: Plans
To: Anastasia Steele
Ana,
I will be looking forward to your arrival. The patience I have kept to hear from you is finally being rewarded. I am sure you have grown to be a beautiful woman with a beautiful voice.
Please confirm the dates and I will arrange rooms for you all at my apartment.
Your father,
Isaac Kay,
CEO, AIKA Publishing
My eyebrows shot up as I read the mail.
From: Anastasia Steele
Subject: Re: Plans
To: Isaac Kay
Mr. Kay,
As I had mailed you earlier, I will be joining your company at the end of this month but I am not sure about shouldering the huge responsibility you're assigning me with.
I was wondering if you didn't have other people who were willing to take over the company? I informally accepted your offer due to the unnerving circumstances but the more I think about it, the more irrational it sounds.
I hope we can talk about it more realistically after my arrival.
Also, we would land in Seattle sooner i.e. by this Sunday. My sisters would be delighted to enjoy your hospitality but I would rather not. I hope you respect my privacy.
Take care.
Anastasia Steele
I pressed send.
Accommodations, arrival, my plans, responsibility, the whole company. These somehow made it more real and terrifying. I wasn't in my comfort zone anymore and the fact that I was going to own a company sounded crazy.
From: Isaac Kay
Subject: Re: Re: Plans
To: Anastasia Steele
Ana,
We'll have a brief discussion about your points very soon. You have no idea of the happiness it brings me to write 'very soon' at the end.
The arrangements will be done.
PS You are going to love it here. There are quite a few hot men for you if that in fact is your preference?
Love,
Isaac Kay,
CEO, AIKA Publishing
I rolled my eyes and slammed the laptop shut after writing a one-liner with a postscript that he was way over the line and I am not gay.
My head was hurting the next day I woke up, later than usual. It felt like I could burst out any moment now. I had so much in my mind and absolutely nothing was anywhere near the natural standards of normalcy.
When Ellen entered my room, I pretended to be still a little drowsy and asked her to bring me my breakfast upstairs just so I didn't have to move.
Now, while I ate my cereals, I did what I did best at the time of crises. Making a mental list and ticking it off.
The first was to book three tickets to Seattle which was the hardest, considering my father will be left to fend for himself. It was difficult after practically being the caretaker of this house to leave him alone by himself.
The second was not as petty as I had made it be. Me being the president of a whole renowned publication-which no doubt would load me with a hell lot of responsibilities- was technically the hardest and most important but for real, it wasn't in either category.
The third and most important was Christian. He had almost confessed his love yesterday but the sentence could anytime be rectified and a 'but as a friend' might as well be added. I wasn't sure how I felt about him anymore but all I knew was that he was the man I cared about and I won't leave him this time.
How to pull him out from his own fire was, however, another task at hand, what was I going to do? Just barge into his apartment and stop him from harming himself further, when I didn't even know if I had any rights toward him? It was a moot point.
Telling about this to Ray was not an option. I was bound to hide this from him. Of course, he would never allow his daughter to be anywhere near an alcohol addict, but what I could I do if not be at the place I wanted to be?
Not torturing myself further, I checked the easiest task at hand and booked three tickets for the end of the week, and brought myself up on my feet to put the bowl back in the kitchen.
Elle smiled at me when she saw me entering the kitchen. I dumped the bowl down in the sink and supported my back on the counter beside the sink, grabbing a dishtowel as Elle scrubbed the dishes methodically.
"How are you now?" She asked,
"Fine. Where's Jess?" I glanced around the empty hall,
She sighed, "In Daddy's room," She handed me the washed plate for drying, "Arranging his bookshelf."
My eyebrows shot up in surprise, "She's cleaning?"
"More like making up for yesterday." She shrugged and I sighed, drying the plate and keeping it on the rack.
After the dishes were dried, we both tiptoed to Ray's bedroom. Jess was dusting off his books and keeping them back on the shelf,
"Jess?" I called, passing a look at Elle,
She flinched, "Jesus!"
I chuckled, "Sorry."
Her face relaxed and her features turned guilty, "Are you okay now, Ana?"
I nodded, my jaws flexing at my sister's expression. Elle patted on my shoulder, encouragingly.
I sighed, walking inside and sitting on the side of the bed, patting the space beside me. Jess frowned but quietly sat down.
"I'm sorry, Jess," I said, hugging her close to me,
Her lower lip fluttered as she pulled me tighter to herself, "I am sorry, too, Ana,"
"Look, I-I think you are right," I admitted without looking at her and broke the hug, "I have booked our tickets to Seattle for this week. I am not keeping you both from him anymore."
A frown formed on both their faces as they stared at me with confusion. I smiled.
"Are you serious?" Jess whispered,
"I am" I nodded, "And there's something you need to know," I gulped loudly…
"I don't know how to react to this. I mean, I don't even know him." Elle's eyebrows were pulled together.
Jess was sniffling, "He is still our father, "
I kept a hand on her shoulder, "I am sorry, Jess, you both can spend as much time with him as you want."
Jess looked at me with glassy eyes and gave back a tiny nod. I glanced at Elle and moved out of the room, leaving her to handle Jess.
Putting on my blue t-shirt and black pants, I walked out of the house and took my car out of the garage.
After an hour of driving in circles, I parked at the far end of the beach and banged my hand on the steering wheel, the loud horn making me flinch.
What the hell was I doing? I had never considered my sister's reaction. I had been too busy dwelling on my life that I forgot about my family.
How could I be so selfish?
My phone rang loudly in the quiet and I quickly answered it,
"Hello?"
"Annie?"
"Dad? Is everything alright?"
"Nobody was answering at home so I called you. Is everything okay?"
"I am out to buy some groceries, Dad. The girls might be in their room."
"Did you talk to your sisters about your father?" His voice was gentle, not even a hint of stress in it,
I gritted my teeth, "I did talk to them about Isaac."
"How did they react?"
"They were shocked obviously. Jess started to cry. I couldn't handle it so I left. " I mumbled,
"Give them time, Ana. You got your part, now they need theirs. It's simple."
I smiled despite myself, "Of course it is. Why were you calling, anyway?"
"Oh." He exclaimed as if he had forgotten he was the one to call, "I was free so I wanted to know about the dinner tonight?"
I snorted, "Dad, you can worry less, you know?"
"Huh?"
I rolled my eyes, "We can eat the left-over lasagna and I'll cook noodles."
He was quiet, "I was thinking that I'll cook today," He declared unexpectedly,
My eyes widened in horror. The last time Ray cooked, we had to dump the burnt pan in the dumpster, "No. You are not cooking."
He sighed, "I didn't know the noodles had to be stirred the last time!"
"Dad, what is this about? The last time you were cooking you wanted to ask Jess about her boyfriend. What now?"
I could almost see him going red at being caught, "When are you going?" He changed the subject, abruptly,
"This Sunday," I replied, carefully
"Hmm," he took a little pause, "I-I met your friend this morning."
"Jacob?" I frowned,
"No. I meant the CEO."
I gulped, "Christian. What did he say?"
"I asked him about his plans and he said that he's going back to Seattle."
I breathed, "Oh." My voice wasn't the least bit surprised.
"Annie, I want you to stay away from him." I was surprised at the turn his tone took. This one was laced with paternal authority he had never really shown before… except for once.
"What?"
"Look, I just don't feel...right about him. You'll stay away from him, won't you?"
"What had happened all of a sudden?" I thought aloud. My whole body was rigid with tension.
There was a short pause, "Annie, just call it father's instincts. I know how rubbish this might sound to you, but it was just something about him that worried me."
"Dad-"
"Oh, ok. Honey? There's an emergency. We'll talk about this later. And, oh! I am cooking tonight"
"But, Dad-"
The line went dead with a beep. I buried my head in my hands. Ray had never been the one to boss around his children and load them with rules and orders. What was I going to do? Go against him, the man I called my father when I knew there was nothing wrong about his instincts?
I pulled my car over to Jake's cafe. The cafe was almost empty, the room filled with the smell of coffee beans and garlic that washed over my face as I stepped inside.
Jake spotted me, giving me a two-finger salute with a wide grin on his face. I smiled back, walking over to the counter,
"Hey, Jake."
He frowned, his grin turning into a smile, "You look tired. Did something happen?" He arched an eyebrow,
I shook my head, knowing well what he was implying, "I reached safely. I just wanted to tell you something." I looked at him through my lashes,
"Go right ahead, Steele."
"Jake, I'm moving to Seattle. This Sunday."
His eyebrows shot up, "What? Are you serious? You're leaving this place for real?"
"Yeah, of course. What'd you think? I was joking?''
"Ana," he tensed, putting his hand on my shoulder, "This is ridiculous. You can't leave. This is the place where you were born, all our lives have been here."
I grabbed his hand and pressed a slight peck and my voice went down to a coo, "I know, Jake. I can't just always stay here, right? And I cannot disregard Isaac's last wish,"
His face turned down and he looked away, "That's great. A warning would have been nice."
I walked to the other side of the counter and rested my hand on his arm, "Jake?"
He looked down at me, "What?"
"I am going!" I stressed,
"Happy Journey?" He shrugged,
"Why are you getting irritated?"
"I am not."
"Yes, you are."
"No."
"Jake." I glared at him,
He glared right back, "What, Ana?"
"You are not going to miss me?"
He seemed to think about it for a second, "What about Ray? You want your father to live alone?"
I rolled my eyes, "Jake, do you think I don't care about him? Of course, I asked him to come with me! He won't leave his hospital. They need him here."
He looked annoyed at my reasonable explanation, "And-and when he comes home? He'll be all alone."
"He rarely is home, Jacob. He'll come to meet me when he's free and I'll come to meet him, too."
He crossed his big hands over his chest, "Oh, you would come to meet him and not come here? Great."
I narrowed my eyes, "You are picking fights like a child. Cut it out, Jake."
He huffed.
My lips broke into a teasing smile, "Stupid." I wounded my hands around his waist and rested my head on his chest. After a long moment, he gave up and his arms were wrapped around me in a tight hug.
"Well, I also have an offer you're likely to refuse." I pulled away from him,
"Spit it out." He nodded, popping his chin up and down
"When I go there, I need you at the publication. I am sure we can find you something," I crossed my hands and shrugged, "If I am going to be the one in charge, I need my people around me."
He hesitated.
"You don't have to answer right away. Think about it. I am just a call away."
He nodded.
"Oh," I took out the grocery list from my pocket, "Would you send someone to bring this for me?"
"Sure"
The oven binged and I took the three pies out, keeping them on the counter to cool it down. My sisters were still inside their room and I had decided to give them some space until I made them their favorite apple pies.
After plating them, I carried them and crept to Dad's room. I quietly peeked in, wanting to make sure that I wouldn't have to be the one to console. They were sitting together on the floor in front of the bed, their legs crossed and an album open on Ellen's lap,
"Who's ready for some pies?" I grinned.
The pie as always was a success. It certainly did the trick as I had expected. Now, as I packed one in a lunch box, I wondered if Christian would appreciate the effort?
I rang the bell to his door and waited. There was no response. I knocked on the door and it creaked open. I frowned, why wasn't the door locked? I stepped inside and kept the pie on the center-table. Where was he?
