-"No… It can't be. Are you sure it's the same woman? Anastasia Steele?" "The DNA test confirms it; she's the only child of Carla Wilks and Ray Steele." "Holy shit…." Elena fell up against the wall behind her. Her ex-husband hadn't contacted her in years; he was one of the most power mob lords on the planet. He was also deeply, deeply in love with Carla long ago.
"You work with her, right?" James was on the other end of the line; he was in the same room with Lord Lincoln. His boss was currently sitting in his "throne", rubbing his thumb continuously under his lower lip. "W-well yes, but…." "Send over whatever information you can dig up on her; her and Steele." "I… I think will be difficult," Elena peered up at her ceiling nervously. There was a brief quiet. "Why?" "B-because she's in a fake relationship with Christian now. He's gonna watch her like a hawk."
James gazed back to lord Lincoln, who was listening to the conversation. He took a moment to reply. "Fake relationship?" The boss finally asked; he did not sound happy. Elena was terrified to respond; she was well-aware how deadly her ex-husband could be. "What do you mean by fake relationship? Why would they do that?" James piled on in her silence. "I-I… I don't know. There was this contract…." "Contract?" "A relationship contract, yes. I have no idea why they would do this."
James's eyes returned back to lord Lincoln; the news did not please him- not at all. "A relationship… a relationship with my princess." "Grey's harmless, sir," James quickly noted, trying to diffuse his boss's growing jealously. "He's close to Anastasia," lord Lincoln said in his usual low, dark tone. James knew what to do, trying back to the phone. "Elena, you are to break them up and keep them apart." "I can't do that!" She gasped fantic. "You're in love with Christian, aren't you? If you don't want anything to happen to your precious Christian Grey, you'll do everything in your power to separate them."
"Wait," lord Lincoln's hand rose up in a thoughtful manner. "Boss?" James blinked back confused. "Just keep an eye on them right now; don't do anything suspicious. One wrong move, and Steele will ship Anastasia out of the country. Let us know how much physical contact they have, and where they go together." "Sir?" This confused both Elena and James; it was unusual for his boss to act so… calmly and rationally. Seeing his puzzled expression, lord Lincoln grinned sinisterly at the man. "I think one finger for every time he touches her ought to do it. And if he sleeps with her…. That'll be a very special amputation."-
The next time, I opened my eyes I was laying on a familiar endless valley. Ah, I'm dreaming again, my eyes shut again. "You're awake again." That voice…. I gazed over to see a familiar sight sitting beside me; the same male angel from before. A smile bloomed across my lips as my hand stretched up to touch his flawless, pale, warm cheek. "You're still here….." "Of course, I am; it is where you are." His strong hand covered overtop of mine. This man… this personification of absolute perfection…
"Where did you come from?" "It is impossible to say." "You don't think I'll understand?" I chuckled softly. His grin widened and he caressed the top of my head, gently brushing back my hair over and over. "My dearest one, I would never think anything of the sort. It is not something I can say but must show." "Show me what?" I asked as my eyes started to relax; the sensation of his hand rubbing my head was magical…. I could have fallen asleep like this. His piercing blue eyes lowered onto me.
"What I am. I am the combination of all of me. In every world, in every universe, I experience them all; I am the essence that ties them all together." The multi-universe theory… I remember him mentioning something about that before. "So….. we are in another reality right now?" He nodded. "Some are quite similar to yours, while some are very different. The only constant between them all is that we meet, and fall in love…" My gazed softened ponderingly. "And you have access to all these universes?" "Each and every one; I am omniscient." All-seeing, huh? Maybe it's an angel thing. "And….. do you visit every Ana in her dreams too?" He nodded in the most profound, most affectionate way. "Every one." This wonderful, wonderful entity… My lips parted a silver. "Can you show me a very different one?" He stared down at me for a moment, proceeding then to lift my upper half into his arms like the other night. I shut my eyes, taking in a deep, glorious breath; I loved nothing more than when he held me.
The next time I opened my eyes, I found myself in what appeared to be a hotel room. I was standing now, still in the shirt I had fallen asleep in last night. After a quick gaze around behind me, I was stunned to see a large bed…. with me in it! Holy crap! That's….. that's me! Only much younger; like maybe twenty-one. Man, I looked good for twenty-one. She, or I, was currently sitting up and in what looked to be a male t-shirt. Her hair was all messy and she seemed a bit disoriented. She clearly couldn't see me standing right there at the foot of her enormous bed.
"Why am I here, Christian?" Christian? My eyes widened. So he's here too? Wait a minute… but that means that in this universe, I met Christian when I was younger. And I doubt Daddy would ever let me stay in a hotel room alone with any man then. But then, perhaps Daddy was also different in this universe…. Who knows?
Christian emerged from the bathroom shirtless and I had to cover my eyes. Why isn't he wearing a shirt or towel or something?! Does he want me to think he's hot? Well yeah, actually probably. But still! No! No thinking about any of… that! "You're here because I'm incapable of leaving you alone." This made my still-covered eyes grow a bit. Wow, so forward; even in this universe. He did look older than me too here; personally, I preferred us being the same age. Though there's probably lots of universes where I'm older than him; I just happened to luck out with mine.
Still shielding my eyes with my hand, I looked back to this version's Ana. Boy, she didn't have any problem gawking at shirt-less Christian. Yep! Definitely don't have overprotective father or hundreds of thugs monitoring her in this reality. "Then don't," she said in almost a whisper. My eyes rolled. I don't sound like that, do I? Then again, I was younger here; age matures people, some. Shutting my eyes again, I was transported back to the field where my angel was waiting for me. We turned to each other, him grinning not too far from where I was.
"Thank you, but I think I like my reality better," I tried to be polite. This made him laugh. "Good, that's how it's supposed to be. Each reality is tailored to bring you and me the most pleasure. The differences lay on the surface, but underneath it all, you are still the same deep down inside." My happy smile returned to my mouth. He's always thinking of me… and so kind. I was overcome with this desire to wrap my arms around him- and hopefully never let go.
"So everything that's happening with me now, back in my world? That's all intentional?" "Not everything; others have control as we do. But in terms of you meeting me, yes…. Oh yes, dear Anastasia." "I see….." Tears started to form in the corner of my eyes. He loves me… There's no other way to describe it. He simply, purely loves me- Anastasia Steele. My beloved angel floated over to stand right in front of me. He cupped both my cheeks in his hands, giving them a little, tender squeeze. "Please let me stay here with you." "But you are already with me," he chuckled warmly. "No, I mean I want to stay here forever. I hate forgetting you when I'm awake." "I know… I know. But you never forever my essence; not really. Each time you look at me while awake, you kiss me with your eyes. I know you love me, even if you do not consciously remember it…." I do, my hands rose to grab onto his wrists. I really, really do….
"Take comfort in this, in me. When dawn approaches and you wake up, I am still with you; always with you. And until the time when you remember again, I'll soak in each and every one of your precious kisses. Let your eyes kiss me…. My daily taste of perfection."