"Who Ana? Who did you see?" Christian questions.
"Elena" I say and at that point Taylor, Elliot and Christian hurry from the coffee shop into the street.
"Are you sure Ana?" Kate asks.
"Positive, I would recognise her anywhere" feeling decidedly uncomfortable now.
They come back into the shop, no luck; she had gone before anyone else had seen her.
"Is she stalking us?" I ask looking at Christian and Taylor.
"I don't know pumpkin, I hope not but wouldn't put it past her" Christian looks concerned "But without evidence again, nothing can be proven"
"Can we go back to the house now please?" I plead, I have a bad feeling she is planning something and I feel very unsettled.
"Of course but let me phone Sawyer and get him to collect the ladies and we can walk back through the woods and be there almost at the same time" Taylor advises.
I nod in agreement; I would feel exposed walking back even with Taylor present. Sawyer arrives shortly afterwards, Kate, Gail and I get in the car and head off towards the house. I worry about them walking alone but I know both Christian and Elliot have taken self-defence classes and I am sure Taylor can hold his own.
The house is quiet, eerily so but then Peters opens the front door and signals the all clear to Taylor who then allows us to get out of the car. True to his word the guys arrive through the trees a few moments later, a little sweaty and In need of refreshment again. Some juice is hastily made up by Gail and drunk quickly. It's almost noon and I say to Christian I want to leave after lunch as I felt very unsettled. He passes that on to Elliot and Taylor who seem to think it a good idea to start for home.
"Why is she doing this Christian?" I say once in the privacy of our bedroom.
"She's pissed off at what's happened and thinks she can intimidate to get me to change my mind" Well he might not feel intimidated but I do!
"You are going to ignore her though, aren't you?"
"Of course Ana, I have never given in to blackmail or intimidation before and I am not going to start now"
"But she is following us, what if she does something bad?" involuntarily I shiver.
"The thing about blackmail and intimidation is generally the person sending the threat asks for money, it's easy, quick and convenient but it's not enough, they want more than money really" he tells me and it scares me more as it appears they won't stop.
"So we have to wait until they slip up and identify themselves or they do something to you or us?" I feel really anxious now.
He lowers his eyes and nods "But I will protect you baby"
"I know" I reply but I feel awful and just want to go home.
Lunch feels very strained, I think everyone feels vulnerable so it's a rushed affair and we head to our rooms to finish packing.
We convoy all the way home, we stop at Elliot and Kate's apartment while Sawyer and Peters do a sweep before carrying on to Escala, where the same process occurs again, thankfully with the all clear. It's comforting to be home but she has managed to put a dampener on the break away. Christian calls a meeting with the security team to discuss the events today and if any extra security is needed and where. I head for the shower and bed.
I must really have slept heavily and it doesn't look like Christian came to bed at all. I put one of his shirts on and go to find out where he is. I find the office door ajar and see him with his head resting on his arms on the desk. Ooh that's going to hurt when he wakes.
"Christian honey, time to wake up" I gently touch his arm. Well what happens next scares the life out of me but then I fall about laughing as he has jumped out of his seat into a sort of ninja 'I'm gonna whoop your ass if you come any closer' stance but in a very unfocused and stiff manner. What makes me laugh more are the manly grunting noises that accompany his actions which are obviously intended to scare the would-be intruder, however in his current state of 'just woken upness' it sounds quite girly. I am sitting on the small couch opposite his desk trying to recover from another rib aching laughter session.
"Why are you laughing?" he looks hurt and that makes me laugh more.
"Oh honey I wish I could have filmed that whole sequence so you could see what I saw then" I clutch my bouncing baby belly trying to calm myself especially as the twins are vigorously protesting at my sudden outburst.
"I just thought, well I am not sure what I thought but you startled me and I wasn't awake enough to realise it was you" he begins to calm too.
I walk over and kiss him on the cheek and tell him I am glad we have Jackie Chan in the house for protection, I tell him to go have a hot shower as that might help his sore muscles and to meet me in the kitchen for breakfast.
Gail is at her usual station preparing another wonderful breakfast, I feel so spoilt as she is such a great cook and she has taken a lot of pressure off me.
Christian comes into the kitchen, goodness me he looks so sexy, wet hair, trousers that sit just right and he is pulling his t-shirt over his head so I get ample chance to observe this body that I so crave at times. Lithe, toned but supple and flexible. I can feel myself getting wet just looking at him and decide to treat him a little later on.
I am working from home today and I have an OB/GYN appointment at 2pm, more bloods, prodding and poking but it is all worth it for the tiny beings inside me but before then I have to work. Security is even tighter now, we have someone permanently stationed in the entrance to the apartment, and I have Taylor driving me plus one other tailing and the same for Christian. I have a new guy stationed outside my office at all times and he follows me if I leave the room to where ever I am going which is a little annoying but there is no point in trying to change it as Christian will not budge.
We get to my appointment through what feels like military precision protection. Everything is fine, the babies are growing well, my blood pressure is slightly up but not a huge concern and we get to see them again with an ultrasound. It's so fantastic when baby 1 moves so we can see the face and the features are so clear and beautiful. Baby 2 is firmly showing it's back to us so no facial view today. I feel myself glowing as we walk back toward the car, I know that it is still early days but I feel I can let myself get a little excited. Christian looks, well kind of proud and perhaps a little contented until a voice from behind us
"Christian, Ana darlings, how are you? Growing rapidly I see" oh great, it's the evil Barbie doll.
"How was Aspen Elena?" Christian snarls.
"I don't know what you mean Christian?" oh she does "I haven't been to Aspen recently"
Oh what a bare faced liar she is, the bitch!
"Goodbye Elena" and we walk off. I am shaking with rage, Christian grabs my hand
"Please calm down Ana, don't get worked up, it's not worth it" We stop and he puts his arms around me and whispers 'I love you' in my ear. I feel a rush of emotion towards Christian; I hug him so tight and tell him I love him too.
"Ana, I want to apologise for all the trouble recently and thank you for sticking around and giving me a chance to grow up" he continues "I want to be the best dad I can be but I am scared I will screw this up too"
"Christian, do you not think I am scared too? I know I didn't have the same childhood as you but my real dad died, Mom and Ray got together but divorced after 13 years, she met husband number three who didn't like me and the feeling was mutual. I moved out when I couldn't stand it anymore and have been on my own until now so my parenting examples haven't exactly been great either. I am determined to be the best Mom to these children and you will be the best Dad you can, no one is perfect and we WILL make mistakes" I breathe heavily as if I have just run a mile but we have just been walking toward to car.
"I never knew you left because of husband number three; I thought it was just the natural progression from school" as he opens the car door for me, I get in and Christian slips in besides me and I carry on explaining.
"He was quite nasty; I think Mom fell for him on the rebound from Ray, jumped into marriage before realising what he was really like. He liked to flash the cash but he was mean to me, he stopped me from going out with my friends even when I had completed school work and the weekends were a battle to get some freedom. Mom just agreed with him until I bit back one day telling him he didn't have the right to tell me what to do as he wasn't my Dad. I move to Ray's for a while but then started further education and found Kate. She took me in so to speak; we got along really, really well and the rest is history" I smile as I recollect the first time I met Kate, I was on my own and quite green to the world.
"She is a good friend to you, I can see that and I am glad that Elliot and Kate are together" Christian smiles.
"Yes, she is a bit like the sibling I never had and they do go so well together" I do feel I missed out a little not having a brother or sister but not much I could do about it.
This has been an interesting conversation, seeing the softer side of Christian is comforting and somewhat reassuring that he is opening up to me and vice versa.
The Wednesday of that week, Elliot has asked Christian to view a business opportunity in New York for development and it's big so Elliot needs extra financial backing. They are flying out on Sierra Bravo, Christian's personal jet Wednesday evening for 2 days so Kate is coming over to stay, it's easier on the security front and it gives us some time to catch up, watch chick flicks, eat pizza and drink orange juice, talk about babies and our significant others.
She comes in with Sawyer at 7pm Wednesday evening and Gail has cooked for us both, we sit in the lounge, put the movie channel on and completely ignore it as we have so much to talk about. Kate tells me about the things she has bought for the baby and then lowers her voice to say,
"Elliot still wants to have sex as often as before but I just can't keep up, I feel tired and it makes me ache all over afterwards" she looks embarrassed.
"Oh honey, I have been struggling for weeks so I have changed to an alternative method to help keep Christian satisfied" oh my god he would kill me if he knew I was telling her this.
"What's that?" Kate looks puzzled.
"Well, we use light bondage and blow jobs, 69ing and anticipation" she looks shocked.
"What do you mean by light bondage?" she asks tentatively.
"Use neck ties, belts or anything like that to ties hands to chair arms or legs to bed posts after sending e-mails or naughty texts throughout the day so that when he comes in he is ready to burst so less effort needed" I finish with a giggle.
"I am seeing you in a completely different light Anastasia Steele, are you really the same person I met all those years ago?" she laughs too.
"I am but my mind has been expanded" I make a large gesture with my hands and we giggle again.
Taylor enters the apartment and comes over to the couch, the look on his face is concerning. I stand up to look Taylor in the eye.
"What is it Taylor?" my heart beats faster and faster.
"It's Mr Grey and Elliot" Kate shouts out and I sink back down on the seat.
A/N: Please let me know if you liked this update as I love hearing from my readers.