A/N: So…I just published a chapter, but I am posting another one today to celebrate Fifty Shades of Change reaching 50,000 views on FanFic. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
This chapter talks about a lot of fun things (don't want to give you any spoilers). Check out my Pinterest page for the Fifty Shades of Change Board. I have made an entire section dedicated to Chapter 23. PM me if you have trouble viewing the Pinterest page and I will send you the link.
For those of you that are able, the Pinterest board for this story can be found if you search Pinterest for CarolinaGraceFF2020 and pick the Fifty Shades of Change board.
Chapter 23
Moondance
After breakfast, I ask Ethan if he wants to do some interval training on the running trail. We spend a couple of hours running sprints, doing lunges, and taking turns coming up with creative ways to do some resistance training.
"Damn Banana, you are really intense this morning."
"Yep," I say. "Elliott and Christian have some disturbing videos of Leila. We watched them a few days ago. I can't get my mind off of how sick she is."
"Leila? That's the drunk author you took to New York, right?"
"Yeah, it turns out that she and Christian have a history. She's the one who broke into his apartment and leaked those pictures of Christian and me from his playroom. "
"No way! That's psycho."
"You don't even know the half of it. Right now, she has locked herself in his apartment and is having some sort of full-on break from reality."
"Whhhaaat? That's so effed," Ethan replies.
"I cannot even begin to describe how effed the whole situation is."
"Christian is going have to have a full-on exorcism of his apartment when we get home." This imagery makes me giggle.
"For sure. There isn't enough sage to burn to get rid of all of the bad ju-ju she is putting out at his place. "
We reach the rocks of the ocean lookout. We stand there for a moment enjoying the ocean breeze.
"What's going to happen with the book she wrote?" Ethan asks.
"I'm not sure. I know Christian and his lawyers got an injunction to keep it from going to market. I'm not sure if SIP will fight Christian in court. They will probably just cut their losses and drop it."
"That sounds smart. Nobody goes up against the all-powerful Christian Grey and wins. It's a shame though. Didn't you say that her book was really good?"
I nod. "It's one of the best that I have come across. It's a shame she outed Christian and his kink in the subtext. It really could have been so empowering to women struggling with mental illness."
"You know, Ana, Leila was able to get her shit together enough to right a meaningful story. I wonder what she is like when her mood is stabilized and she is not drinking?"
"You are going to make a great psychologist," I tease Ethan. "I think that I got a glimpse of sane Leila the day that I met her. We went to lunch together. She was so on-point the whole time. Her story, it really resonates with me. If she would just realize there are so many women out there who would benefit from reading about her journey with mental illness. Foolish could do a lot to normalize the silent struggles so many people face. Plus, her writing is good, really good."
"Is this something that you could help Leila with?" Ethan asks me. "I mean, as her editor, could you pair down the parts of the book that Christian objects?"
I ponder what Ethan is saying for a moment. "A good editor could edit the parts about Christian to make them more ambiguous but keep the main themes intact. Only, I'm not an editor. I am just an editor's assistant."
"Don't you want to be an editor, though? Ana, this is a project that you seem to be really passionate about. Maybe you could help Leila to tell her story in a way that leaves Christian out of it," Ethan suggests.
We exit our rocky perch and begin running more sprints. Even though our conversation is done, I keep thinking about Ethan's suggestions. Can Foolish be salvaged?
It is after dinner. The sun has set. We are all relaxing in the loungers by the pool at the big house. The torches flames create dancing shadows all around us. This is my favorite time of day on Barabai.
"No, no. That's not what I am saying," Jose argues with Ethan. "I'm not going to become all crunchy and tree hugging when we get back home. What I am saying is that when we do return to Seattle, I am going to be much more cognizant of the waste that I generate. If life on Barabai has taught me anything, it is that we can get by with less stuff. Take Mia for example. Did anyone think she would be able to live for weeks on what she could fit in a few suitcases"
"Truth," Mia agrees with a nod.
"Alright, I'll concede that we have all learned to do more with less over the past several weeks," Ethan says. "But I am willing to wager that once we all get back home, we all will slip back into our old ways of coffees-to-go and take out containers."
"Ooooh, what I wouldn't give for an almond milk cold brew from Coffee Works," Mia coos with a dreamy look in her eyes.
"Alright, enough about what we will give up when we get back to civilization," says Frederic who claps his hands twice and then rubs them together. "I want to hear the things that each of you can't wait to return to when we all get back to Seattle."
Kate and Mia instantly respond in synchrony with a jubilant, "Shopping!" Their unplanned response gets a laugh from all of us.
"Fair enough," Frederic laughs. "What about you, Ana? We know you aren't dying to spend an afternoon at the Bravern. What are you looking forward to getting back to?"
I lean back against Christian and shut my eyes as I think about something that I miss from home. "I miss Ray," I say while fighting back the lump in my throat.
Christian tightens his hold and kisses my neck. We are all silent as my comment turns the group pensive.
"I miss my phone and the internet. I miss the internet on my phone," Ethan lightens the mood.
"Yes," Jose quips. "I miss my phone and Instagram."
"Instagram and TikTok," Mia quips. The group nods in agreement.
"I miss going out on the weekends. I miss clubs and bars. The crowds fuel my soul," Frederic adds.
"Netflix and Wedding planning," says Kate from her perch on Elliott's lap. "It was so much fun to be planning our wedding." She turns her head to kiss Elliott.
"What was fun about planning everything?" I ask. "Was it the party? The dress? What do you miss about it?"
Kate is thoughtfully silent for a moment. "Planning the party was fun, but that's not what I miss. It's the ceremony. The moment when everyone we love is gathered together as Elliott and I vow to love each other till death do us part. That's the part I was looking most forward to."
Elliott leans forward and whispers "Me, too" into my bestie's ear. My heart aches for what Kate and Elliott are missing.
Changing the subject, Frederic asks Kate, "What would you watch if we had Netflix right now?"
"Oooh, good question! Something totally bingey. It would need to be soapy and clever and have enough episodes to suck up tons of time."
Our conversation turns towards a ridiculously detailed discussion of the best shows to binge and what is still on each of our watch lists. At some point, I nod off to sleep and Christian carries me to bed. Being isolated in paradise has its drawbacks, but the time we all get to spend together is priceless.
"When we get back to Seattle, security is going to be tighter than before," Christian explains to me. I am sitting in his lap at his desk in the treehouse office. It is a rainy afternoon perfect for procrastinating and lying about.
"I suspected as much."
Rubbing circles on my arm, Christian continues, "I've been thinking that it makes sense for us that move out of Escala." He tips his head down to kiss along my shoulder.
"Urh, yeah Grey. You remember that I don't live at Escala, right?" I tease him
He swats my thigh. "Really, Anastasia?" He rubs his manly scruff along my neck.
"Where would we live?" I ask through a ticklish giggle.
"I bought some property."
"Property? Like you bought a whole apartment building?"
"No. I bought some land on the water. It's in Bellevue, near my parents."
"Do you want to build a house on it?"
"It already has a house. It needs some work. If you don't like it, we can tear it down and build something new."
"What's the house like?"
"I have pictures. Want to see?" I nod yes.
Christian opens a file on his computer. We scroll through tons of photos of the property. The view is amazing. There is a meadow. The house is an English Tudor. It looks well loved, but it has good bones. I see intricate woodwork and window seats. There are several fireplaces and a sweeping staircase. Best of all, there is a two-story library. The walls are flanked with floor to ceiling bookcases. The shelves go so high that there is a narrow little iron balcony running the perimeter. Rolling ladders abound. I can imagine curling up with a good book and a cup of tea beside a crackling fire.
"I love it," I murmur tilting my face back to kiss him. Christian smiles as he presses his lips to mine.
We continue to laze about while Christian works on spreadsheets full of numbers and projections. I get up and sit across from him. My conversation with Ethan inspires me to get to work on a project that I want to pitch to Christian. I get started mapping out my ideas.
Awhile later, Taylor enters the office carrying a plastic case that looks like some type of a tactical gear. Taylor grins at me for a
nanosecond before setting the case in front of us. Christian releases the water-tight latches and opens the box. He and Taylor set about snapping together electronic components to assemble what I recognize is a military-grade satellite phone. Christian hands me a set of wired headphones with an attached mouth-piece. He dons a similar set.
Taylor connects the phone to a laptop with an Ethernet connection to what must be the proxy server for GEH's mainframe.
Christian fingerprints in to the software and focuses on using the phone. A series of beeps and static pings through the headphones. Christian nods to Taylor who disappears back over to his own work station. After several more tones, I hear a familiar voice.
"Hello?" comes through my headset. Am I hearing who I think I am?
"Daddy, is that you?" I ask.
"Annie, it's me. Oh, sweet pea, it is so good to hear your voice. Are you safe?"
"Yes, daddy," I reply through my tears. "Christian got us out of Dubai. We are all healthy. How are you?"
"I'm doing just fine. Jose Senior and I are doing just fine. No need to get back on the grid until this whole COVID mess is in behind us. Is that boy taking good care of you?" Ray asks.
I giggle. "Yes Daddy, Christian is taking wonderful care of all of us."
There are so many things I want to say to my father in this moment. I want to tell him that Christian is working on a plan to get the world vaccinated. I want to tell Ray all about Barabai and our time together in the Maldives. I know it is not safe to broadcast this information no matter how secure Christian's tech is. I settle on saying, "I miss you and I love you."
Ray pauses for a moment and through the static it sounds as if he is a bit emotional himself. "I miss you, too, Little Bear. Stay safe, I love you."
The phone's display blinks twice and the line grows silent. I shut my eyes and breathe through my tears. In this moment, I know that Christian has done the impossible. He has managed to find my father – a man who knows better than anyone how to disappear without a trace. When I open my eyes, I am met by his grey stare.
"Thank you," I whisper as I lean in to give him a kiss.
The next several weeks on Barabai follow a loose routine: sunrise yoga on the beach, breakfast in the big house altogether. Christian and Elliott tuck away in the treehouse as they plan and engineer GEHs plans to distribute vaccines world-wide. Taylor and the Grey brothers usually take their lunch at their desks.
For those of us not saving mankind, we fill our mornings with kayaking, swimming, doing the wash by hand, and other island chores. After lunch, most of us siesta through the afternoon heat. As the sun sets, we take turns setting up our delivered dinners. Afterwards, we often sit around the pool and talk, play cards, or watch movies on the beachside movie screen. The couples carve out alone time when we can. Ethan and Elliott make frequent jokes about how we are living out the plot to Groundhog's Day. There are only so many ways to change things up when isolated without the internet or outside communication.
It is during a period of exceptional boredom that excitement arrives on Barabai. Just before lunch on a Tuesday morning, Kate, Mia, and I hear a great commotion from the banks of the lagoon. We rush to see what has the CPOs in such a hoopla. What we find is more exciting than anything else that has happened since we arrived. There on the sand lies two gentlemen in board shorts who appear to be huffing and puffing from exhaustion. Beside them is some sort of homemade, raft-type dinghy that is not at all sea-worthy.
"Security, stand down," Mia orders Sawyer and Reynolds like the military general that she was born to be.
Sawyer and Reynolds holster their side arms but remain ready to pounce at the first sign of danger from the intruders. The CPOs are packing? How did I miss this in their dress downs? Are they even allowed to have concealed weapons on foreign soil? Not my circus, not my monkeys…
"Oh my god, Dax is that you? Holy shit, it is you and Ashton? It's me, Mia…Mia Grey." Mia knows these guys? "We met at the X-Games in Aspen a few years ago. You guys M.C.'d a benefit concert for my family's charity, Coping Together."
Dax, the blonde, immediately recognizes Mia and stands to throw his arms around her. He looks towards his brown-haired friend and says, "Of course we remember! Kutch, you remember Mia. It was that afternoon Snow Patrol benefit show we hosted. That day was epic. After the show, Mia took us and the band back to some crazy, badass house. We took motorbikes all some gnarly mountain trails."
"Holy shit balls, that afternoon was one of the best days of my life!" the brunette companion replies. "It's great to see you again, Miakins."
Mia giggles with delight that these two castaways remember her so fondly. She turns to us and says, "Guys, I'd like to introduce you to some old friends, Dax Shepard and Ashton Kutcher."
What the actual fuck?! Am I to believe that two bona fide Hollywood stars that Mia just so happens to know just washed up on our isolated island in the middle of the Indian Ocean? Sounds about right. I guess that make Ethan the professor and me Mary Ann.
Mia invites our guests in for lunch. She sends Sawyer to get her brothers from the treehouse. She insists that Elliott will want to see the friends he took riding on the trails in Aspen. Without anyone telling me, I know that the 'crazy, badass house' in Aspen most surely belongs to the same billionaire that owns this crazy, badass island in the Maldives.
Over lunch, Elliott and Mia catch up with our guests. Although they visited Christian's mountain house, this was my boyfriend's first time meeting the two guys. He missed their Colorado visit due to his ever-pressing work obligations.
Dax and Ashton are hilarious. Over platters of island delights, we learn that they and their families plus some friends are socially distancing on one of our neighboring islands. Mia and Kate insist that our guests show them which island so that they can mark it on our map.
Ashton laughs when he sees the island marked 'Kardasians.' "No, there is no way they are on that island," he says.
"It has to be them," Mia replies knowingly. "We have been watching them."
"It can't be them," Dax quips. "They are all staying on this island over here," he points to the island east of where he and Ashton re staying.
"Well, who could be staying on this one," Kate asks, pointing to the spot previously marked Kardashians.
"This one? It's a fun group. It's George and Amal, Randy and Cindy, Matty and Camila, and somebody else. Who am I forgetting, Kutch?" Dax turns to his buddy.
"I think it's Harry and Megan, isn't it?" Ashton says. "Oh yes, and Elton and David, right?"
"George and Amal? As in George and Amal Clooney?" Kate fangirls. "And Randy Gerber and Cindy Crawford? And Matthew and Camila McConaughey? And Elton John and his husband?" I'm pretty sure my bestie is about to faint.
"Yep," Dax replies. "Don't forget Prince Harry and Megan Markle-Sparkle."
"I knew there were royals over there," Mia says with delight.
We continue on with lunch. Dax and Ashton explain to us how they came to arrive on Barabai. Apparently, they were up late with their friends trying to think of their own boredom busters. Somehow, the two of them got the idea to see if they could build a raft a la Tom Hanks in Castaway. Their wives insisted that they would never be able to build something that could float. They spent the next several days perfecting the jumble of planks and rope and empty plastic barrels that they call 'The Ark.'
Today is the day that the two friends were attempting to test their contraption's functionality. Unfortunately, they lost one of their paddles as soon as they got underway. While trying to retrieve the paddle, they somehow lost the second paddle. Dax jumped off the raft to swim after their paddles. The raft then became unbalanced and capsized. Determined not to lose their water craft, the two guys held on to it while the current pushed them into our lagoon. These guys are hysterical.
After lunch, Elliott and the rest of the guys head out to the beach to try to salvage their ship wreck and re-enneer it for the return home. It is late afternoon when we gather on the beach to wave farewell to our new friends. They depart with borrowed paddles that they promise to return once they make it back to their own island. Elliott has wisely attached rip cords to prevent another incident like this morning's.
Just as they are about to cast off, Mia comes running down the beach with a small, waterproof bag. I see her slip a piece of paper in it and whisper something in Dax's ear. Dax gives a hearty belly laugh, clips the small bag to his waist, and gives Mia a bear hug. We watch the two guys attempt to keep their dinghy upright as they paddle out of our lagoon.
Sometime the next morning, Dax returns to Barabai aboard a Sea-Doo. He returns our paddles and a bag for Mia. Mia gives him a conspiratorially wink and scurries of to the beach house with her bounty. What did Mia send with Dax and what did he bring back? I'm hoping that whatever she got is better than another deck of Uno.
Christian works so hard every day. Lately, he only comes out of the treehouse office after the computers go down at sunset. Some of my favorite time together is after we finish our late evening dinner with everyone. Often Christian and I will walk along the beach in the moonlight. Sometimes we talk, other times we simply hold hands and enjoy each other's company in silent meditation.
Tonight, I have a special surprise for Christian. Louisa told me about a large sandbar just a few hundred yards off the back of the island. Once we are done with dinner, I convince Christian to take a moonlit kayak trip with me.
We paddle our boats from the lagoon and out around the island. The moon reflects off of the water in a magical carpet of fractionated sparkles. We paddle straight off the pier and towards the small mound of sand and seaweed in the bay.
When we reach the sandbar, we pull our boats aground. Following Louisa's instructions, I lead Christian towards the windward side of the embankment. We climb up a small dune and look down at the magical site in front of us. In the shallow depths of the crystal water, thousands of glowing bioluminescence twinkle at the water's edge. The site is absolutely breathtaking.
I hear Christian gasp at the marvel before us.
"Ana, this is absolutely magical. I have never seen anything quite like this."
I giggle. "I know. Louisa told me about this spot. She said that people travel from all over the world just to catch a glimpse of this wonder."
Christian wraps his arms around me. We stand facing the shoreline, mesmerized by the shimmering glow that rhythmically flows where the water laps the sands. Together, we get lost in the phenomenal beauty of this naturally occurring curiosity.
Every so often, Christian bends to kiss my hair. It feels wonderful to have this moment alone together surrounded by the celestial glow of the bioluminescence.
Eventually we walk down to the waterline to get a better view of the lighted sea life that create this marvelous light show. We wade ankle deep into the radiant ocean waters. Glowing water ebbs and flows beneath us.
I turn to face Christian. His arms wrap around me and pulls me close. I circle my arms around his waist. We stare into each other's eyes basking in the magic of this moment. After a few minutes, Christian lowers his lips to mine. His kiss is so different than any before. It is both tender and passionate. It is full of promises and security. It is not the start of foreplay. This kiss is the act of lovemaking using only our lips.. The rhythmic push and pull of the tide matches the give and take of our mouths. In this moment, we are both present and satisfied.
We walk along the shore with arms wrapped around each other. We stop every few yards to look into each other's eyes and kiss. In this hour, nothing else matters. It is I who breaks our silence.
"Avec toi, je me suis retrouvé. J'étais perdu, mais maintenant je suis à nouveau guérie."(With you, I have found myself. I was lost, but now I am whole again.)
Without breaking eye contact, Christian replies, "Sans toi je ne suis rien. Ensemble, nous sommes tout." (Without you, I am nothing. Together, we are everything.)
"Je t'aime," I reply. (I love you.)
"Anastasia, tu es mons plus." (Anastasia, you are my more.)
Christian steps back and offers me his hand in an invitation to dance. He glides me through the glimmering waters while he hums the tune of Van Morrison's Moondance.
You know the night's magic seems to whisper and hush,
You know the soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush
Can I just have one more moondance with you, my love?
Can I just make some more romance with a-you, my love?
Christian slowly lowers his lips to mine for the kiss of all kisses. In this moment, I am his. There will be no escaping our truth. As sure as the heavenly waters glowing beneath us and as true as the stars shining above us, we belong together. We stand holding each other well into the night.
Another A/N: Check out my Pinterest for an entire section dedicated to Chapter 23. Some of the tasty eye candy that you will find: the bioluminescence, Dax and Kutch's homemade raft, the library in the house that Christian bought, the lyrics to Moondance, and the satellite phone.
I don't want to ruin any surprises, but for those of you looking for some juicy spoilers for the next chapter, I have already made a Pinterest section for Chapter 24. It is chocked full of juicy clues as to what happens next. DO NOT CLICK ON THE BOARD FOR CHAPTER 24 UNLESS YOU WANT SPOILERS!
Out of all of the sections that I have created for the Fifty Shades of Change board, I think Chapter 23's is my favorite (or maybe the board titled CLICK! CLICK! Leave me a review and let me know which of the Pinterest boards for FSOC is your favorite. I hope that you find them just as delish as I do!