CHAPTER 11 - Adjustments
The rest of this first morning of lockdown goes by uneventfully. After a short math lesson consisting in additions and subtractions of three-digit numbers, Ana gives some homework to the children, which leaves her time to go clean the children's rooms. When she is done, she also empties Mr Grey's travelling bag, which he has left at the entrance of the washing room, and puts its content in the washing machine. All of his clothes are so chic, made out of the best fabric, Ana is very careful with the program and product she uses. It would definitely be better to actually have the suits sent to the drycleaner, but as everything is closed from today on due to lockdown, Ana has no other choice that to take care of it herself.
For lunch, unfortunately for the children, Mr Grey does not join them but asks Sawyer to collect a tray to have it in his office.
During the children's nap, Ana finishes fixing everything, among which ironing Mr Grey's clothes and putting it all back where it belongs, alongside a few freshly cleaned towels.
As Ana enters Mr Grey's bedroom, like the couple of other times she has already been there, she cannot help but notice how luxurious, large, and tastefully decorated this room is. The main colors are sophisticated, mainly beige and brown. Ana walks through the room holding a basket with the clothes and the towels towards the bathroom, as well as cleaning products, gloves and a mop in a bucket. She leaves the basket in the middle of the bedroom, only taking the cleaning set and the towels with her for now.
The ensuite bathroom is almost as large as the room itself, made of beautiful dark grey marble, with both a very large tub and a double shower cabin. Ana delicately puts the towels on the piece of furniture on the right side of the double sink, ready to be used. She then starts cleaning up a bit, putting aside the dirty towels that she finds on the rim of the tub.
Once she is finished in there, she grabs these towels on her way to the other side of the bedroom; she will take them with her to clean it later. After making up the bed, she then takes the just ironed button up shirts and the ties from the basket to the walk in wardrobe. This wardrobe is just breathtaking, as it is huge and ideally designed. And as Ana opens the different drawers, she cannot help but admire the quality of all these clothes. She then proceeds hanging it all, careful to respect the color ordering.
Christian is exhausted. After three very busy days away from home, he had allowed himself to just forget about work for a few hours this morning, but now, after around five hours of trying to fix up everything that was going wrong, he has almost forgotten these good moments. Almost, but not entirely. First, he had enjoyed meeting Miss Steele in the gym this morning; for some reason, being around her made him feel relax. Then, spending priceless moments with his children, from the moment they woke up, so happy to see him, to this very enjoyable family breakfast. This really helped him reload his batteries. As always. Before having the children, he was always tense, never allowing himself to fully let go of things. Then with his children, he learned to put things into perspective: love for his children always has to come first.
It did not come easily, certainly not with the help of Leila, their own mother. But thanks to the loving motherly figures around him, Grace and Gail mainly, he opened himself to his children's love a little more as time went by. And learned to be the father his children deserved. Actually, he tried to be both the mother and the father his innocent children deserved. With the help of a very solid family and trustworthy employees.
Christian walks in the kitchen to grab some water or even better, coffee if there is some left. Apparently, no one is around. But there is indeed coffee in the pot. Christian pours some in a mug. Unfortunately, he has not been able to have lunch with the children today, as he and Ros were in the middle of negotiations with China. But Sawyer brought his food and once again, it was really delicious. It consisted in tomatoes with mozzarella cheese and basil, spaghetti carbonara and a tiramisu. Probably the best Italian meal that he has ever had, even though he travelled through Italy with his parents as a teenager.
As he drinks his coffee, caught up in his thoughts, without realizing how really, the mug slips from his lips and he ends up with coffee all over his shirt and his tie. Luckily, he is not burnt, but he is all wet and dirty. He quickly takes it all off and runs to his room upstairs, knowing he has only about fifteen minutes before his meeting resumes.
He gets inside his bedroom in a rush and as he is about to enter his wardrobe, he hears a female voice humming something that sounds like Bohemian Rhapsody, the Galileo part. He looks inside and here she is, his children's nanny slash housekeeper, in the middle of the room, hanging some of this shirts.
He just stays there, not moving while enjoying the scene playing in front of him. Then suddenly, as she turns to reach the tie rack, she sees him, bare-chested, with his dirty shirt and tie in his hand; she immediately stops humming. "Oh, Mr Grey. I'm sorry Sir, I did not hear you." She stammers.
"No, no, I'm sorry Miss Steele, I did not want to scare you." Christian says as he gets into the closet room, standing in front of her "I dropped some coffee on my shirt and my tie so I came to get new ones." He has a smirk on his face as he realizes that Ana is actually checking him out, and obviously enjoying what she sees. Christian is aware of his looks, and he knows that women usually enjoy looking at and even touching his brawny figure, in particular his stomach. He had already caught Miss Steele's stare in the mirror this morning at the gym and he has to admit that he had played with that a little bit at the time, exaggerating his moves and enjoying the effect on her.
Miss Steele finally adverts her eyes "Okay. Let me take care of this" She says, reaching for the dirty shirt and tie in his hand. "I will add it to the laundry." Their hands touch lightly then, creating some weird feeling in his fingertips.
Christian, deciding to enjoy the moment a little more, adds "Miss Steele, as you are here, I might as well take advantage of the expertise of a woman: which one do you recommend I should wear for my next meeting? I need to impress very serious Asian businessmen." He says, playfully, as he nods towards the hung shirts.
He has to admit, he appreciates her efforts to remain professional at that moment "Okay, so…" she directs herself towards one of the racks with the light blue shirts. "This one."
Christian comes closer to her, well aware of the effect it has on her right now, before reaching for the Armani shirt Miss Steele chose for him. Miss Steele seems enthralled with his flexing muscles now as he puts it on in front of her.
"And which tie Miss Steele?" Christian asks with an innocent-sounding tone of voice.
She goes towards the area where all the ties are kept "Hmmm" she says as she opens a few racks before finally looking content "this one" She says, grabbing one in her hands. The tie she chooses is a light blue one with white stripes with some light golden thin lines separating the stripes. It is actually one of his favorites, from his Hermes collection.
"Are you sure?" He asks openly teasing her this time.
"Yes" Miss Steele says with some assurance he had not yet seen in her which he definitely likes.
"I don't wear these very often actually." He lies as he once again stands close to Miss Steele, taking the tie from her hands. He just wants to see her reaction.
"Well you should, these are your colors." She says boldly, but almost immediately she blushes.
"Thank you Miss Steele." Christian has pity for the poor girl so he puts some distance between them, walking back towards the door "Did you choose this combo because you like them or just because you believe that it is suitable for a meeting with European business men?" Christian asks as he puts it on, once he has reached his bedroom.
"A little bit of both." She answers quietly, smiling lightly.
Miss Steele then surprises Christian by leaving the walk in closet quickly, with the dirty shirt and tie in her hand. She places them in a basket with towels and linen that was there, in the middle of the bedroom – how Christian had missed it when he got it was a mystery. As she does, she walks past Christian without looking at him. Christian just stands there, looking at her leaving the bedroom towards the washing room, the basket and a bucket in hand. Christian is left wondering now; was Miss Steele flirting back with him in his wardrobe? And why did it affect him so much?
Then he quietly finishes putting on his tie before heading back downstairs towards the office where the meeting is about to start.
He would later chastise himself for being so forward with his nanny slash housekeeper, but he couldn't help it and he actually really liked the very balanced exchange they have shared for the first time. Back there, in that room, he was not her boss and she was not her employee, they were just two adults obviously attracted to each other. But still, due to the situation, Christian knows he is playing with fire.
"Breathe, Ana, breathe" Ana has to tell herself after almost fainting in front of this handsome man. "He is your boss, for God's sake." She thinks as she is loading the washing machine with the children's clothes. And his shirt and tie. One question is bugging her; was he actually being flirtatious with her? She lacks experience, so she was not sure; it did feel like it, though. But surely he could not, a god-like man like him would not be interested in a mousy person like her. Or maybe it was just for fun. Or because she just happens to be there. Anyway, all she could do was almost run without looking at him to get away from him, and she wonders if he now thinks that she is a rude person; she just could not stand there under his eyes anymore, she had to leave urgently.
After mentally regrouping and once the children wake up from their nap, Ana spends the rest of the afternoon teaching geography. Then the children and Ana call Mia and her friends for a very enjoyable discussion.
Tonight's dinner is "croque monsieur", a French dish that Ana really liked as a kid. It is easy to make, consisting simply in toasted bread, ham and cheese, and the children can help her preparing it, as she knows they like being involved.
"Who wants to go and get Sawyer?" she asks as the staff's "croques" are almost ready.
"Me" Teddy says, jumping from his seat by the table to go towards the security office.
"Phoebe, can you please ask your father if he will have dinner with us or if he wants to eat in his office?" Ana asks the little girl, who obeys immediately.
Once the security officers have collected their croques, Phoebe and Mr Grey come back together. I'm glad that he can take time away from work this evening, to spend with the children, they like it so much when he is around.
"Miss Steele, I was considering having dinner in my office, but my baby girl and this amazing smell convinced me to come here."
As the family is sitting at the table with Ana toasting the bread in a pan, "Ana, what does croque-monsieur mean?" Teddy asks.
"Well, I think you know what Monsieur means" Ana says.
"It means Mister." Teddy answers enthusiastically.
"Yes." She nods.
"and croque?" Phoebe asks.
Before Ana can say anything, Mr Grey steps in "Croque is…" and then he takes both Teddy and Phoebe's hands and pretends to munch it.
"…. Crunch!" Teddy answers laughing loudly.
"So this is Mister Crunch? It makes no sense." Phoebe asks, puzzled.
Ana thinks for a second "I think you would literally translate it into "Crunch Monster".
"French people are weird!" Teddy adds in a no-nonsense tone. Ana and Mr Grey share a knowing look, both smiling lightly.
"Remind me how Americans call a sausage in a bread roll?" Ana then asks.
"Hot dog" Teddy answers
"Oh… I see, it does not makes sense either." Phoebe confirms. Ana is smirking and so is Mr Grey, seemingly telling her silently "fair point well made, Miss Steele."
After dinner, Ana decides that there would be no TV or movie tonight; instead, she proposes playing some card game to the children. And surprisingly, Mr Grey decides to join. After several rounds of Spot it during which everyone has lots of fun, it is time for the children to call Gail and Taylor.
As the children discuss through facetime with their nanny and her husband in the main room, Ana and Mr Grey are having herbal teas in the kitchen, keeping an eye on the children for afar.
"Gail's mother has been feeling better for the past few days" Mr Grey informs Ana "But they still haven't been allowed to see her. I think Gail is relieved though and hopes she can visit next week. That is, depending on what the new rules are by then in California."
"Do you think this whole situation will last much longer?" Ana had not been able to watch the news or listen to the radio with the children always around. She had just read a few articles online which were not very optimistic about the situation.
"I don't know but seeing how the situation evolves both in southern Europe and Asia, I am afraid it is barely the beginning here in the United States". He answers, visibly worried.
"How are things going with your work?" Ana asks, hoping that he will not think she is being too nosy.
"Well, it is much more difficult to deal with everything from a distance, but there is no choice." He answers as he runs his hand though his hair. "This virus is actually quite scary. I would not want anyone of my family or my employees to get seriously ill after contracting it, so we have to do all we can individually to stop the spreading."
Ana nods. Mr Grey goes on. "My brother and sister in law are also at home for the next weeks, Kate working remotely while Elliot had to stop all his ongoing projects. But they are safe. Same for Mia in France, she apparently stays at some friends in the countryside. My dad is a lawyer and is currently focusing on his paperwork from home." Mr Grey then looks at Ana in the eyes. "But my mother keeps going to the hospital. She is not in the area where all the people infected with the virus are, but still, I worry about her."
Ana knows that there is nothing that she can say to comfort him, so she simply smiles empathically. Ana realizes that three months earlier, she would have been as scared as him for her grandmother at the hotel, welcoming customers. Ana would have probably spent lockdown there actually, helping her and making sure that she remained healthy.
Mr Grey smiles back, but Ana can see that his eyes are sad, but it is not only sadness that she finds there, it is as if Mr Grey was mad at himself for not being able to protect his mother. Ana realizes that he is a bit vulnerable here in front of her, his protective persona probably realizing that he cannot control everything in these circumstances. She is surprised that he is being so honest with her about his feelings and she finds it really touching. Then, as if sensing that the atmosphere had shifted to uncomfortable silence, he changes topics.
"But if today is any indication of how things will be like in the next few weeks, I think I will definitely find things to be grateful for: being there when the children wake up, spending more time with them, enjoying amazing food three times a day, playing games all together. "He stops abruptly, as if he thinks carefully about what he is about to add, then with a sweet smile "and spending time with you."
Just as Ana is taken aback, not sure what she can say, the children enter the kitchen loudly, her phone in hand, handing it back to her. Ana realizes that the call has been ended. "Gail and Taylor say good night, Daddy and Ana." Teddy says, standing next to his father, Phoebe standing just behind him.
"Okay, so what about going to bed now?" Mr Grey asks without waiting for an answer. "Teddy, you come with me, we will get you ready for bed. Then we have time to read together."
"Okay Daddy" Teddy answers, taking his father's hand in his.
"Miss Steele, …."
Mr Grey starts but before he can finish, Phoebe adds "Ana, come, I'll clean my teeth quickly so we can read at least two chapters tonight." Miss Steele smiles shyly towards Christian, before turning to load the dishwasher with their mugs. And then she follows Phoebe upstairs.