Author's note: If you're still on the edge of your seat because of Grace's attitude towards Ana... hold on to it for a minute, because that cliffee is going to last just a little longer. We need some comic relief after that doozie of a chapter. You'll get your answers about Grace in the next chapter.
Also, a note of clarification. Jack Hyde is not in jail... yet. As a reminder, it was only two weeks ago that Christian returned early from his therapy, just after Ros fired Hyde for insubordination and mismanagement of funds. She didn't have evidence of crimes he's committed at that point, not enough to have him arrested anyway. All of his evil-doings are just now being discovered. Now Christian's team knows more, but the way they obtained most of the information wasn't legal, so they can't turn it over to the FBI. All they have that they can use is the testimony of their employees, like Holly Steiner. Christian and Ros also needed to be careful that they weren't implicated in Hyde's schemes; if they'd rushed to have Hyde arrested, they could have ended up being arrested themselves for something they didn't do, because Hyde made it look like they did. This is why Barney Sullivan is so important.
So, Jack hasn't been arrested yet, but the FBI is currently making a case against him, and when they have enough evidence, they will arrest him.
But wait! If Jack was the one who shot Christian and Ana last night, and if there is evidence to back it up, he might go to jail for that, before all the white-crime evidence is collected. Put it all together, folks, and Hyde's probably going to spend a very long time in prison. But he's not there yet. And they have to catch him, and then give him a trial or two. Sounds like there might be a bumpy road ahead.
Chapter 14:(back to Christian's POV)
Yes, it's still Tuesday, November 22, 2016
"Christian! Thank God you're alright!" Elliot called out as he entered my hospital room. "And, wow, you're awake already! I thought you'd still be asleep. You OK, bro?"
I'm sure my face registered the confusion I felt. "Awake? I haven't been asleep, Elliot."
He looked at me as if it were brain surgery I'd just gotten out of. "Didn't you just get out of surgery?" he asked as he eyed my shoulder, which was now covered in bandages, my arm in a sling mainly to prevent me from moving too much. "You were awake during surgery?"
"Well, I don't know if I'd call it surgery, but yeah, I guess it was. They cut a bullet out of my shoulder, but I was awake the whole time," I answered. "They deadened my right side. I still can't feel anything from the waist up, but I'm sure it will hurt like hell when I get the feeling back. But I'm OK. Have you seen Ana?"
Elliot looked uncomfortable. Shit! She was hurt worse than I thought!
"Umm... yeah. She was in the waiting room with me. She's fine, Christian. Just a surface wound. She's already been discharged, but she was waiting to hear from you. Taylor and Sawyer are both with her now. The new girl... I forget her name... she's in recovery. Everybody is OK."
"Why's Ana not here?" I asked Elliot. "Why didn't she come with you?"
Elliot looked towards the door before he glanced back at me and whispered conspiratorially, "I think Elena Lincoln has something to do with that. Mom... umm... She told Ana to go home. I don't know what she thinks Ana did, but it's obviously something bad."
"What?!" I yelled. "After all she's just been through! Oh, hell, no!" I got out of the bed and headed to the door. I had to find my girl, now.
"Whoa, hold up there, man," Elliot told me. "You just got a bullet taken out of your arm. Take it easy!"
"It was my shoulder, not my arm. And I'll take it easy when I've seen Ana with my own eyes," I told him, not slowing down any.
Outside the door of my room, I found my parents, arguing in heated whispers. I could hear them clearly as I approached them, but they weren't being loud enough to make a disturbance.
"All I'm saying is that you should have talked to Christian before you made this rush to judgment," Dad told Mom. "You don't know the whole story, only what Elena has told you. How can you be so sure..."
"Cary, why would Elena tell me such a thing if it weren't true?" Mom asked him. "She's like a second mother to him. She wants to protect him just like I do."
I snorted, which got both of their attention. I'd had enough of Elena Lincoln's bullshit, and I'd already determined to tell my parents all about her. But not in the middle of a hospital hallway. I could make a good start, though.
"Mom, Elena Lincoln has no interest in protecting me. She's a predator and a liar. Now, where's Ana?"
Mom and Dad both looked shocked. "Christian... I'm glad to see you're alive and well, son," Dad told me. "And Ana's in the waiting area. I just saw her on my way in here. She was the one who informed me of your mother's... umm... misunderstanding." He turned back to mom and added, "I'm sure that's all this is. A misunderstanding, Grace."
Mom examined me, taking in my physical appearance. "Are you sure you should be out of bed? You need rest to recover from that gunshot wound."
"I'll rest when I have Ana with me," I told her. "Why were you rude to her? Why are you keeping her from me?"
"Christian, I'm just trying to protect you," Mom insisted. "Elena told me..."
"I don't give a shit what that bitch told you, Mom," I cut her off. "She lied."
"Christian, language!" Mom had the nerve to look indignant.
"Well, excuse me, but I've just been shot, and my mother responds by keeping the woman I love away from me because she chooses to believe the lies of a thieving predator over her own son!" I whisper yelled. I was done with this shit!
Mom looked both confused and upset, and Dad just stared at me like he was waiting for me to explain. He was the master of the poker face. In fact, he's where I learned it.
Mom began to speak, sounding more upset with me than anything. "But... why would you call her a thieving predator? Those are harsh words, son. She's been my best friend for thirty years! I think I would know if she... No. Just, no. And thieving? She explained the misunderstanding about that. She didn't embezzle from you. I thought she'd cleared that up with you. That's what she told me."
"Lies!" I insisted. "Look, this isn't the place for this conversation. I need to find Ana."
With that, I walked away from my parents, who were still staring at me in confusion, and I walked towards where I thought the waiting area was. Thankfully, Elliot was right beside me, so I knew I was headed in the right direction.
"Hey, bro, you might want to put this on," Elliot told me as he walked beside me. He handed me a hoodie. Damn, I was naked from the waist up, I just realized. I never went without a shirt, even when I went swimming, so of course I didn't want to walk around a hospital shirtless. Thank God for Elliot.
"Let me help you," Elliot said. "You don't want to create a scene in the waiting area, which you will if you go in there without a shirt on. Taylor's there, and I think it's secure, but..."
"It's OK, I get it Elliot," I cut him off, grateful that one of us had a clear head. "Help me get this sling off, will you?" A minute later, I was wearing Elliot's hoodie, and I had the sling back on my arm.
"Am I presentable now?" I asked Elliot.
"Considering you just took a bullet, you look pretty damn good," he answered. "But yeah, I don't think you're going to scare away any of the women in the waiting area now."
"I'm only concerned about one woman right now," I told him as we headed towards the waiting area.
And then I saw her. She'd clearly been crying, but she was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. She was sitting between Jason and Sawyer, staring at her phone. She was wearing a t-shirt that wasn't hers, and the bandage on her shoulder, much like my own, was peaking out at the neck of the shirt. Other than that, she looked fine. Tired and upset, but healthy.
She didn't see me approaching until I was almost right in front of her.
"Christian!" she exclaimed as she looked up and saw me. The next thing I knew, she was in my arms. Well, as much as she could be, considering my right arm was in a sling, and her own shoulder was bandaged up.
I'm not sure how long I kissed her, and the only reason we stopped is because Elliot interrupted us. "Bro, you're making a scene," he whispered playfully. But I could hear something in his tone, so I stopped.
"Your lips are soft," I told Ana. "You've been crying."
She nodded, but didn't respond. She only examined me with her eyes. Finally, she told me, "I didn't know what was going on. I didn't know how badly hurt you were. There was so much blood, when they took you to the ambulance. I was so worried! And nobody would tell me anything!"
"I was awake the whole time," I told her. "I told my mom to get word to you that I was OK. But..." I trailed off as my parents had joined us, and I didn't need to explain further. We all knew by now what had happened.
I looked at Jason and asked him pointedly, "Did Elena Lincoln shoot us?"
"Elena?" my mother scoffed, but I ignored her. "Why would she...?"
"No, sir," Jason answered. "We know it wasn't Mrs. Lincoln. She's been home all evening. And it wasn't Ms. Williams. She's safe, in the location prepared for her. We suspect that the shooter was Jack Hyde, but it's not confirmed. Seattle PD is searching for him now to bring him in for questioning."
"Who is Ms. Williams?" Katherine Kavanagh spoke up. I hadn't realized that bitch was even there, and when I glanced in her direction, I noticed she was holding her iPhone out. The bitch was recording this. When had she started recording? Probably during my kiss with Ana. That was probably what Elliot had been alerting me to.
I gave Jason a pointed look, but it turned out neither of us had to say a word to Ms. Kavanagh.
"Kate!" Ana yelled. "I can't believe you! Stop that fucking video right now!"
The bitch listened to her friend and did as she asked, but she pouted about it like a fucking toddler. "Ana, I'm not hurting anything. I wasn't going to do anything with it."
I'm not sure whether Ana believed her or not, but I sure as hell didn't.
"Kate, if you value our friendship, you will delete that video. Right. Now." The look Ana was giving her friend would have scared most people. But I wasn't sure about the tenacious Ms. Kavanagh.
Kavanagh rolled her eyes like the annoying bitch she is, but she told Ana, "Alright, fine." She did something to her phone, and then handed it to Ana. "There, deleted. Happy? You know I'd never betray you like that."
"I do, but they don't," Ana answered as she took her phone and looked at it. She pushed a few buttons, hopefully making sure the video was completely gone. When she was satisfied, she handed the phone back to Ms. Kavanagh. "Thanks, Kate. And sorry about dinner. I think we're all going to head home as soon as Christian is able to go. It's been an incredibly long day, and I'm tired."
Kavanagh looked disappointed. "Are you sure, Ana?" she asked with another pout. God, this bitch just kept getting more annoying. How the hell was I going to be able to tolerate her presence as Ana's best friend? I needed to find a way.
Ana nodded. "I'll call you tomorrow, OK?"
Katherine hugged Ana carefully, taking care not to hurt her injured shoulder. Well, that was something. At least she was sensitive about Ana's injuries.
"Thanks again for the clothes," Ana told her friend as they were hugging.
"No problem. I'm glad I still had them in my car and that I hadn't been to the gym yet. Don't forget the jacket. It's cold outside."
"I won't. I felt warm in here, but I'll put it on before we leave," Ana told her. "Thanks again. I love you, Kate."
"I love you, too, Ana," Kavanagh said as she hugged Ana again. I think she actually was being sincere about it too, so there was that. She'd given Ana her gym clothes to wear, and she was being gentle with her injury. Both positive things.
But then, she ruined the good vibes I was beginning to conjure up for her. Before she left, she looked around, and her eyes settled on my brother. Oh, shit. Ana wanted them to be a couple. I hoped like hell that wasn't going to happen.
"Elliot, would you mind walking me out?" she asked him. I was happy to see that Elliot looked a little uncomfortable at her request. But being the polite guy he is, he couldn't turn her down.
When we were rid of the nosy bitch, and sadly my brother with her, I turned back to my parents and asked them, "Would you both be able to come by my house tonight? I really want to finish this conversation now, but this isn't the place for it."
Dad answered, "Absolutely, son."
Mom nodded, but she answered, "I'm still technically on duty, but another doctor is covering for me because of... what happened to you. I just need to do rounds before I leave. It should take an hour at the most. Would that be OK?" I could see that there was much more she wanted to say. She had so many unanswered questions. Well, she'd get her answers... tonight.
"That's fine, Mom," I assured her. "Ana and I need some time to get settled anyway. We didn't even get a chance to eat dinner yet." Shit, my girl was not only exhausted, but she hadn't eaten yet either. And the night was long from over.
"Christian, you haven't been discharged yet," Mom reminded me.
I rolled my eyes. "Mom, with all due respect, I'm going home. There's no reason for me to stay here. I'm sure you're going to be checking on my wound, and you'll make sure I know what to do to prevent infection."
She nodded. "You're right, I will. But that doesn't mean Dr. Harvey is ready to release you without speaking to you."
I was tired, angry, and hungry, and all I wanted to do was go home. I glanced at Ana and saw by the look on her beautiful face that she felt the same way. We were leaving. Now.
Call me an asshole, but I completely blew off my mom's words. I gave Jason a look, and then told my parents. "We're leaving. We'll see you in a few."
As we walked down the hall, Ana asked, "Can we check on Belinda? I just want to make sure she's OK."
Jason answered, "She's fine. I checked on her while you were talking with Mr. Grey and Ms. Kavanagh earlier. They're keeping her overnight, and there's no need for you to stop by because she's already asleep. Probably will sleep the whole night."
"Lucky her," I commented dryly, knowing that none of us were going to get much sleep tonight.
Ana quipped, "Yeah, lucky her. She got shot in the ass on her first day on the job." Ana sounded guilty, like this was somehow her fault.
"Well, if you're going to get shot, the ass is the best place," Jason commented dryly.
"That's exactly what Belinda said," Ana recalled, and then she asked Jason. "If she's fine, why are they keeping her overnight?"
"It's just for observation," Jason assured Ana. "They want to watch for signs of sepsis, just to be safe. She's fine, Ana. She'll go home tomorrow. Knowing Belinda... well, her reputation anyway... she'll want to come back to work tomorrow. But she needs to take a week off. I'm already working on a replacement."
I nodded in understanding, but Ana seemed upset.
"No, don't replace her," Ana pleaded. "I like her."
"Temporary replacement," Jason corrected himself. "But if you like the new person too, we can keep them. We need to hire a few new officers."
Ana seemed relieved by Jason's words. "I'm just glad that neither of us got hit worse than we did. Wow, Christian! My God! I honestly thought you were going overboard when you insisted on two bodyguards. I guess you weren't."
Jason responded for me. "That's because we were too lax, and it won't happen again. I want to make some security changes in light of what happened tonight, but we can discuss that later. Tomorrow, once we've all rested and have fresher minds."
"Yeah, that's fine, Jason," I told him. I agreed that we needed to keep a tighter ship.
Jason continued, "Reynolds is waiting for us at the exit, and Ryan is in the car. And Sawyer is trailing us already, in case you didn't notice. There will be at least two of us on each of you at all times from now on. I failed both of you tonight, and it can't happen again. If Hyde were a better shot, you might both be dead."
"So, we know it was Hyde?" I asked. I ignored his other comments for now. Yes, he'd failed, but I wasn't angry about that. I was angry that these people were trying to kill us. I had no doubt that Jason was going to up his game to protect us from now on.
"No, it hasn't been confirmed. Just a hunch."
"Has the media gotten wind of our shooting?" Ana asked Jason. I'm sure she'd noticed that we weren't headed towards the main entrance, so she probably already knew the answer to her own question.
"Afraid so," Jason answered. "We're going out a staff entrance that leads directly to the staff parking garage. There's a crowd out front, but they can't get too close to the entrance. We'll leave the back way, so they'll have no way of seeing us.
We did just that, so thankfully, we didn't see any of the fucking vultures. In no time at all, we were pulling into my garage at Escala, and headed up the elevator. Thank God.
In the elevator, I held Ana in my arm, the one that I could move. She just laid her head against my chest and sighed.
"You're exhausted," I told her.
"And hungry," she added. Good. I was glad she was admitting it. I wanted to make sure she ate a good meal, in spite of all we'd been through tonight.
Thankfully, Gail already had food on the table for us. Not just food, but my favorites. Pot roast with mac n' cheese and steamed broccoli. She was just pulling a chocolate cake out of the oven when we walked in.
Elliot was already there, sitting at the breakfast bar, eating my food. "I swear, this is the best mac n' cheese I've ever tasted," Elliot told Gail. "You sure I can't steal you from my brother?" The idiot knew we'd just walked in. In fact, I had no doubt that he was putting on a show just for the comic relief that he knew we needed.
Gail smiled politely at Elliot, and then she looked towards Jason and winked. "No, but I'll be happy to give lessons to the right woman. And as for the mac n' cheese, you can thank Alton Brown for that."
"Who the hell is Alton Brown?" I asked.
"Food Network," Ana answered as she sat down at the breakfast bar next to Elliot and helped herself to the food Gail had laid out. I joined her, not complaining at all when she treated me like an invalid and served me. I had to eat with my left hand because my right arm was in the sling, but I managed. This food was so good. So much better than we would have gotten in a restaurant.
"You're using your right hand," I told Ana, as I noticed that she didn't seem to have problems moving her right arm.
"Yeah, my shoulder is sore, but I can eat. It hurts when I move it, but I don't have to move my shoulder to reach my mouth if I am close enough to the plate."
"I'm so glad you weren't hurt any worse than you were," I told her. My words sounded empty compared to how I felt about it. She could have died tonight. We both could have. I'm not sure my brain had really registered that fact yet. Now, here I was, eating my favorite dinner with my two favorite people, and other than the fact that I couldn't move my right arm, life was pretty damn fine. My God, what a day we'd just had, but we were here now. Alive and well. Better than well. And holy shit, I was about to spill the beans to my parents in another hour or so. Was I ready for that? Yes, actually, I was.
"OK, I've got two questions," Elliot said with a mouth full of food, breaking me out of my reverie. Gail had already excused herself after icing the cake, so it was just the three of us for now. It would be a while before my parents got here.
"OK, shoot," I told him. I was trying to be funny, but from Ana's groan, it was clear I'd failed.
Elliot rolled his eyes at my poor attempt at humor and asked his questions. "First, who the fuck shot you?"
"Not sure yet, but we think it was Hyde," I told him after I swallowed my own mouth full of food. Elliot might eat like a slob, but I don't.
"OK, that was kinda what I expected you to say. I assume you've got your people working on it?" When I nodded, he continued, "OK, second question. What the hell was Kate Kavanagh doing at the restaurant waiting for you?"
I glanced at Ana, who did a face palm thing with her left hand.
"Maybe I should answer that," Ana told me. She glanced back at Elliot and explained, looking embarrassed, "I had already made plans with Kate, and when Christian said we were having dinner with you, I thought it would be fun to combine the two."
Elliot took another big bite before he responded with his mouth full again. I swear, he was raised in a barn. "Fun... and Kate Kavanagh... OK, umm... Right."
Ana sighed. "Kate can be... a lot to take in. But once you get to know her..."
"No, Ana," Elliot stopped her. "Not interested. Been there, done that. No, thanks." And I tried very hard not to smile for joy. Elliot wasn't interested in the annoying bitch. Thank God!
"Yeah, I get it," Ana responded. "Kate told me... We talked just before the shooting tonight, just before we left for the restaurant. She was in the restroom, I think. Anyway, she told me that you guys... that you went out a few months ago."
Elliot snorted. "Went out? No. We fu... umm... we had sex. We met in a bar, and I went home with her."
"What?!" I exclaimed. "You fucked Katherine Kavanagh?" Seriously, I'm not sure why I was surprised. Did I mention that Elliot had fucked half of Seattle?
"Guilty as charged," Elliot replied with a smirk. "If it's any consolation, she didn't know until tonight that I was your brother. Or that I was a Grey. Or that I own my company."
"Yeah, she told me," Ana said. "She said she regretted giving you a fake phone number."
Elliot snorted again. "She did? Well, it didn't matter. I never tried calling her. She was just a good... umm... time. Sorry, Ana, but that's the God's honest truth. I think... no, I'm certain that she saw me the same way until tonight, when she found out I'm Christian Grey's brother. Suddenly she was very interested. Like I said earlier, no thanks."
Ana nodded. "Sorry for setting you up like that, Elliot. I was going to try to get there first, but... well, you know, sometimes these things just happen. Crazy bitch invades your apartment, and then you get shot trying to leave. You know how it goes."
"No problem, Banana. Wait, what? What was that about a crazy bitch...? Invading your apartment?"
"It's a long story," I told Elliot, not really wanting to rehash everything about Leila Williams at the moment.
Ana told him, "One of Christian's exes got a fake ID and pretended to be me and got my building's security to let her into my apartment, and she cut up all my best clothes, ate all your chocolate, and was in the shower when we arrived singing the song from Bodyguard."
Elliot just stared at Ana in shock, clearly trying to comprehend all that she'd just told him.
"Oh, and I forgot to mention," Ana added, "She had a gun. A gun that Elena Lincoln gave her, that she was going to use to shoot me so that she could have Christian again. Yeah, that about sums it up. Well, except for the fact that somebody else, probably not connected to her in any way, actually did shoot us as we were leaving."
Elliot continued to stare for another moment or two before he finally blinked, and then asked, "She ate my chocolate?"
Seriously. That was how he responded to Ana's words.
"Was that all you heard from all that?" I asked him in disgust.
"It was the good shit," Elliot reminded me. "But no. Holy shit, Banana! You've had a fucking eventful day!"
"Yeah, and now your mom hates me because she believes some shit that Elena fucking Lincoln obviously told her." Ana seemed more distressed over my mom's behavior towards her than any of the other bad shit that had happened to her today.
"Not for long," Elliot assured her. "If this dumbass will finally tell mom the truth about that bitch, it will all be cleared up in no time. I swear to you, Ana, Mom will be kneeling at your feet begging you for forgiveness before this night is over."
"I don't want anyone kneeling at my feet," Ana insisted. "I just want your mom to like me. She was always nice to me before, so it was really a shock tonight."
"I'm sorry, Angel," I told her. "But Elliot is right. Once Mom knows the truth, she's going to love you."
We ate in silence for a couple of minutes, and then Elliot looked at Ana and said, "Hey, since you're so interested in my love life, I have a favor to ask you."
I had just taken a drink of water, which I spewed out, all over the place. "What?!"
My reaction made Elliot laugh, and Ana just stared at Elliot in amused interest. She glanced at me and said with a cute little smirk, "You know he's not into me, so get over it." She turned back to Elliot and asked, "What kind of favor?"
"Relax, Bro," Elliot told me in amusement. "Not that kind of favor." He turned back to Ana and explained, "I've started on online profile. You know, on one of those dating websites. And I thought it would be good to get, you know, a chick's point of view. On my profile, I mean. I want to attract the right kind of girl. So, I want to make sure my profile... I don't know... sends the right message. Does that make sense?"
I snorted. "A dating website? Seriously? You having trouble getting chicks?"
Elliot flipped me off, but then he explained, "I've never had trouble getting chicks. I just... am looking for the right kind of chick. I'm fed up with just casual... umm.. you know."
"Fuck and ducks?" I provided.
"I'm trying to be polite, man," Elliot said in an admonishing tone. "We're in the presence of a lady."
Ana did her snort giggle thing. "Elliot, seriously? I don't give a fuck if you say the word fuck."
I acted shocked, just to play with Ana. "Did you just use the F word twice in one sentence?"
She playfully stuck her tongue out at me, and then she turned to Elliot. "Which website are you using?" she asked.
"Umm... eHarmony. A friend recommended it." Elliot seemed a little uncertain.
Ana nodded in approval. "Yeah, I've had friends who met through it. Been married for a few years now. It's a good one. Any of the ones that do detailed personality questionnaires are good."
"I took this long-ass test thing. Went on forever and asked all kinds of personal shit." Well, damn, Elliot was serious about this shit.
"That's good," Ana told him. "It will match you with girls who answered those questions the same way you did, or at least a high percentage."
"Wait," I said, mainly because I wanted to be part of the conversation. "First of all, why do you know so much about dating websites? And second, what happened to opposites attract?"
Ana shrugged, and then grimaced. She rubbed her injured shoulder as she explained, "I did a free trial thing on Match when I was in college, but it didn't go anywhere. I wasn't really into it. It worked for friends of mine though. Most couples are alike in some ways and different in others. I mean, look at us. Alike in a lot of ways, but different in others. And I think we're a perfect match."
I smiled a goofy smile back at her. "Yeah, perfect," I agreed.
Apparently, Elliot noticed that Ana and I weren't able to stop gazing at each other. "OK, I'm not jealous. Not at all. Never mind that I'm nearly 30. And still single. And my baby brother is madly in love with a beautiful girl who loves him equally as much. You two are going to make beautiful babies, and meanwhile, I don't want to just be crazy Uncle Elliot. I mean, I do want to be crazy Uncle Elliot, don't get me wrong. I just would really like, you know, to have a family of my own. I'd like our kids to grow up together."
I may have been staring at Elliot with my jaw on the floor for a minute. I'd never heard him talk like this before. Elliot wanted a family? A wife and children? I had no idea. I didn't even know I wanted those things until I met Ana.
"OK, let's look at your profile," Ana suggested to Elliot. She turned to me. "Can we use your laptop?" Yes, I knew she was ignoring Elliot's comment about us making beautiful babies, but that was Ana, always steering the conversation away from anything she didn't want to address. And I was OK with it, for now.
"Sure," I answered. "I want to see this, too."
We moved into the living room after I stopped by my office and grabbed my laptop, which was a MacBook Air, so it was light and easy to carry with one hand. It took Elliot a minute to log in to his profile at the dating website. While he was doing that, Ana was grabbing three slices of chocolate cake for us.
"Oooh, do you have any milk?" Elliot asked as Ana handed him the cake.
"You want a glass of milk to eat with your cake?" Ana teased him with a tone that sounded like she was talking to a baby.
"What's wrong with that?" Elliot asked with a bit of a pout.
Ana rolled her eyes but smiled at Elliot. She turned to me, still smiling that gorgeous smile. "Do you want one too?" she asked.
"That sounds good," I answered. Yes, I had some very expensive dessert wines that would have gone well with the cake, but this... whatever this was... it felt good. I loved seeing Ana moving around in my kitchen and teasing my brother. She looked like she belonged here. She DID belong here, but I wasn't sure she realized it yet. And drinking milk with chocolate cake with my brother, like we did when we were kids... there was something very comforting about it.
In spite of her own wounded shoulder, Ana served us our milk and settled between us with her own cup of tea, to which she'd also added milk. We all three ate our cake while we looked at Elliot's dating profile.
After Ana had studied the computer for a few minutes, she turned to Elliot and asked pointedly, "What kind of girl do you want to marry?"
I nearly spewed my milk the way I had my water earlier. But then I remembered his comments from earlier. Elliot really did want to find a wife, to get married and have children. Ana wasn't off the mark with her question.
If her question bothered him, he sure didn't show it. He answered without hesitation, "Sweet. Kind. Considerate. And of course, beautiful."
"You grew up with a certain kind of... umm... privilege," Ana pointed out. "Do you want a girl with a similar background?"
"No, not really," Elliot answered. "I've been with lots of girls like that. Past girlfriends and what not. I really don't want to be married to a snobby bitch. I'd rather have somebody down to earth, who doesn't feel bothered when I come home from work all sweaty, with muddy shoes."
Ana nodded thoughtfully. "I think you should tweak a few things here," she suggested. "Like... OK, first, do you have another picture you could use? One with you doing something you enjoy doing, maybe, instead of just standing there? Or one of you at work?"
I glanced at Elliot's profile picture, and I recognized it. Hell, I'd taken it. He was on the Grace, and we'd gone sailing. Elliot wasn't wearing a shirt, and he'd gotten some sun that day. The wind was blowing his hair, and he was smiling widely, showing off his pearly white teeth. Yeah, he looked like a ladies' man.
"What, you mean wearing a hard hat at a construction site?" Elliot asked Ana uncertainly.
Ana shrugged. "Ouch, that hurts. That's the second time I've shrugged in the past few minutes. I need to remember that my shoulder is hurt."
"Does it hurt, baby?" I asked her concernedly.
"Not bad. Only when I move a certain way. I'm sure you're in a lot more pain than I am." She looked at me worriedly. "You really need to take the day off from work tomorrow."
"I can't," I responded. "I can't miss the interviews tomorrow."
"I know," she said. "But I'm worried about you working too hard and making your injury worse."
"Well, thankfully, I have an amazing assistant who will, no doubt, never leave my side the whole day. She's pretty great to look at too." And she gives one hell of a blow-job. Not that I would say that out loud with my brother sitting there. But I sure was looking forward to another office surprise performance sometime in the near future.
I'm sure I was smiling the same way at Ana that she was currently smiling at me. On her, it looked beautiful and radiant. On me, it probably just looked goofy.
"OK, right," Elliot said, louder than necessary. "Like I said. Not jealous at all. Anyway, what's wrong with my profile picture, Ana? I thought I looked pretty good here."
"You do," Ana replied. "That's the problem. I think..." She glanced at me before continuing. "OK, don't take this the wrong way. You look TOO good in this picture. I'm afraid that the kind of girl you're looking for is going to look at this profile and think, 'Damn, he's gorgeous, but way out of my league,' and just move on to somebody that she thinks is more... attainable."
Elliot looked a little flabbergasted at first, but he quickly recovered from that. "So... I'm gorgeous." The asshole smirked a little, but then he looked serious again. "But I need to look more... attainable? How?"
"The kind of girl you're interested in will want to know you're somebody she can relate to. It's not just about your picture. It's in how you describe yourself too. Like..." She paused for a moment, looking thoughtful.
"Did I go overboard describing myself?" Elliot asked.
"Well, I'm just wondering," Ana began. "When you mentioned Kate earlier..."
Elliot groaned, which made me smile.
"Relax, Elliot, I'm not going to beat that dead dog," Ana assured him.
I couldn't resist teasing Ana. "Did you just call your friend a dead dog?"
"Oh, shut up," Ana responded, and she stuck her tongue out at me before she continued talking to Elliot. "You told me... or maybe she did, I forget... anyway, she didn't know you own your business. She only knew that you worked in construction. Why didn't you tell her, when you met her that night... that you own your business?"
"It wasn't important," Elliot answered. "I knew she was just a one-night stand. I didn't want to get to know her. Sorry, Ana. I know she's your friend and all. But you did ask."
"No, it's OK, I'm not offended," Ana quickly assured him. "I'm just trying to understand you better so I can help you with this. You've written here that you're a successful business owner. You enjoy sailing, hang-gliding, and mountain climbing. This picture is clearly from a day of sailing, so it proves you're telling the truth. Those are all expensive sports. You're wealthy. Your profile sounds like a rich guy. But when you meet girls like Kate, you keep that information from them. Kate would have been more interested in you if she'd known you had money."
"Yeah, I figured that out," Elliot commented.
"You're not improving my opinion of her," I told Ana.
"I wasn't trying to," she replied. "Your opinion of Kate isn't going to change until you've gotten to know her better, and that's going to happen over time, not anytime soon. Anyway, this isn't about Kate. It's about how Elliot is putting himself out there, and what he's communicating to potential love interests. This profile is OK if you want a trophy wife, or someone who wants you for your money. That's the kind of girl you're going to attract."
"Shit, that's not what I want," Elliot said. "I'd rather attract a girl like you." Wait, what?
"Elliot, I know what you mean, but Christian doesn't," Ana told him. I could see that she was trying to hide her smirk. Ana turned to me and added, "Elliot isn't interested in me that way, babe. So, relax, OK?"
She called me babe, and I almost turned into a drooling mess. I forgot for a moment that Elliot was sounding interested in my girl. And how the hell had she known that I was getting uptight about it? I hadn't said anything.
"A girl LIKE her, Christian. Not HER. You know better than that," Elliot told me emphatically. He explained further, "Dude, she knows you're a fucking billionaire, but she clearly isn't after your money. She loves you for you. She knows all your shit, and she still loves you. That's what I mean."
She loves me for me. Holy fucking miracle. She does. "Yeah, I know, Elliot," I told him.
"So, how do I fix this?" Elliot asked Ana.
She responded by getting her phone and taking a picture of him. Then she sent him a text of the photo. "Start by changing your picture to that one," she advised him.
A minute later, Elliot had done just that. He also followed her advice and changed his self description to something that Ana assured him sounded more down to earth and less like a rich bastard.
As I watched them interacting, I zoned out a little because I was beginning to feel nervous about my parent's impending arrival. They'd be here any minute, and I knew it was time for me to finally tell them everything. And on top of that, I was beginning to get some feeling back in my shoulder. In fact, it was beginning to throb.
And then, they were here. First, Jason announced that they were on their way up. Then Ana began to look as nervous as I felt. She got up and went into the kitchen; I'm not sure why. Elliot and I walked towards the elevator, where we could greet our parents.