Chpt. 57 APOV:
I wake up to the alarm going off the next morning, surprised that I slept peacefully throughout the night. I expected to have a nightmare or at least trouble sleeping after everything that happened yesterday, but falling asleep wrapped in Christian's arms prevented that from occurring. As I go to turn off the alarm, Christian's arms wrap around me tighter holding me close to him and I realize neither of us moved at all during the night sleeping in the exact position in which we fell asleep in. I can feel Christian against my sex; our lovemaking last night replays in mind as I feel him grow hard against me. His arm wraps around my waist, anchoring me to him while the other turns the alarm off.
"We need to get ready for work," I moan as he rubs himself against me.
"Not yet," he nips at my ear.
"Christian…" I gasp as he slides into me.
"I want you thinking of only me today," he says pulling me down against him so he is deeply in me. "I want your mind on nothing else but last night and this morning."
"Hmmmmmmm" I moan as he moves himself inside of me.
He pulls my hips up and I immediately straddle his thighs moving myself against him as his lips find mine. His hands grip my hips tightly, urging me to move faster and thrust harder against him as the need in both of us quickly rises. His tongue is thrusting in and out of my mouth, mimicking of the movements on my sex which pushes me over the edge and I scream into his mouth as I come. Barely giving my body a chance to recover, he lifts my hips up so only the tip of his erection remains at my core, teasing me as I feel empty and desperately finding myself wanting and needing more.
"AHHHHHHHHHHH" I scream as he suddenly thrusts up and slams himself into me.
"Do you like that?" he slowly pulls out before slamming back into me.
"YES! Don't stop," I moan when he pulls out again.
He continues pulling out slowly and slamming himself into me, keeping me just on the edge as I feel his breathing increase and I can tell he is fighting holding back his own orgasm. I bring my lips to his, immediately he responds when my tongue begs his mouth for entry. He moans into me as his moves begin to become more erratic as his need takes over. Sensing what he needs, I lower myself onto him when he pulls out slowly and begin taking over the movements.
"Ohhhhhhhhhhh, don't stop….fuck don't stop," he moans as I slam myself against him.
Instead of embarrassing me, his words motivate and I move against him harder and faster bringing us both to the edge of desperation as need takes over. His hands are all over my body, his mouth is on mine as I desperately try to keep up the pace that is bringing both of us such obvious enjoyment.
"ANA!" he screams, stretching me even further just before he finds his release when take him deep inside of me.
"HMMMMMMMMMMMMM" I scream into him when his orgasm triggers my own.
His hands take over, moving my body against him allowing both of us to ride out our orgasms. My head is on his chest, his arms are wrapped tightly around me as we lay in peacefulness.
"I wish we could stay like this all day," he whispers.
"Me too," I sigh looking at the clock. "I need to leave in twenty minutes and still need to shower and eat."
"I'll shower with you, let me ask Gail to prepare something to eat in the car," he reaches for his phone quickly sending a text to Gail.
"I love you," I kiss him deeply before sliding myself off of him.
"I love you too baby," he takes my hand, leading me to the bathroom.
In no time I am showered, dressed and ready for work truly grateful for Gail who prepared breakfast sandwiches for us to eat in the car. Christian holds my hand tightly the entire car ride to the hospital, right now feeling him next to me is exactly what I need.
"Call me if you need anything today," he whispers as he kisses me goodbye.
"I will," I promise.
Sawyer meets me at the entrance to the hospital, quickly dropping me off at the publication department before taking his usual post across the hall. Despite our activities this morning, I manage to arrive before Jack Hyde who I'm supposed to start working with this week. I quickly settle at my desk, checking email before starting to review the articles that were sent to me. Immediately I note several corrections that need to be made before the first article is anywhere near ready for publication. I'm surprised by this as I had expected the quality of his work to be much better given the way Mary raved about him. I finish going through the first article, noting all the corrections before starting on the second article just as Jack walks in.
"Good morning Mr. Hyde," I greet him as he approaches my desk.
"Morning," he mumbles. "Do you have the articles ready?"
"I have reviewed this one and just started on the second one. I have made several notations on this article-" I hand him the folder with the corrections needed.
"Just one article? I have to have these to Mary within the hour!" he exclaims angrily.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Hyde given the number of changes needed the articles are taking longer than normal," I explain.
"There can't be that many corrections. Just hurry up, I will tell Mary we are waiting for you to review them," he groans before walking away.
I sigh heavily shaking my head before returning to the second article; it takes more than two hours to review the remaining articles and make all the notations on them. After reading the articles I truly have to wonder why Mary hired him; his sentence structure is off and his grammar is horrible especially for someone who has been published.
"Mr. Hyde, here are the remaining articles," I walk into his office, handing him the folder.
"It's about time, Mary isn't happy that these have been delayed," he says sternly.
I don't say anything as I walk back to my desk; I'm surprised at how different he seems compared to the man I met before my vacation. I didn't like the way he looked at me then, but at least he wasn't angry and blaming me for his mistakes. Sighing, I continue with my work load for the next couple of hours as I was behind in what I needed to finish today because of how long it took me to review Jack's articles.
"Mary?" I knock on her door.
"Yes, Ana please come in," she says.
"I wanted to see if you needed anything else from me before I left for the day?" I ask.
"No, I think I have everything I need," she smiles. "How did it go with Jack today?"
"I reviewed the articles and provided him with several suggestions that I think could improve the articles," I say vaguely.
"Good, I'm glad to hear that you two are working well together," she smiles. "I will see you tomorrow."
"Mrs. Grey?" Sawyer greets me as I walk out the door.
"Hi Sawyer," I reply.
"Dr. Grey has invited you for lunch today if you are free," he says.
"I don't see why not, I don't have anything else going on until later," I agree.
Sawyer walks me to Grace's office, texting her as we walk I assume letting her know that I am joining her for lunch. One of the nurses that work with Grace indicates that I should wait in her office as she just stepped out. Sawyer remains in the office with me, as we wait for her.
"Ana, it's so nice to see you," Grace says walking into her office.
"Thank you for inviting me for lunch today," I hug her before sitting at the table.
"I had some sandwiches delivered, I hope you don't mind," she says.
"No, it's fine," I reply.
"I will be waiting outside if either of you need anything," Sawyer closes the door behind him as he leaves.
"How's your job going?" Grace asks.
"It's good, I really enjoy the work and my boss is nice," I answer. "I've been volunteering a couple days a week on different children's floors too; mostly just reading books or sitting with kids while their parents step out to grab something to eat."
"Yes, I've heard from several of my colleagues what a wonderful job you are doing," she says.
"I don't know about that," I blush at the compliment. "I enjoy spending time with them and at least feel like I'm doing something and not just sitting around the apartment all the time."
"I want you to know that you can talk to me about anything dear," she says as we finish our lunch. "I know Christian talked to Carrick about your mother coming to Seattle…"
"We're meeting with her tonight," I sigh.
"Really?" she asks clearly surprised.
"I don't' think she will leave until she sees me," I answer.
"How do you feel about seeing her?" she asks hesitantly.
"I don't know," I admit. "Honestly, I was perfectly content without her in my life; I would rather just keep it that way."
"Perhaps she wants to make amends?" she suggests.
"I doubt it," I laugh. "My mother is not the type who will see that she did anything wrong when I was growing up."
"People can change," she offers.
"I learned a long time ago not to count on my mother for anything," I sigh. " I know you believe people can change, and for the most part I agree with you, but I don't think she is someone that is capable of change."
"Is there anything I can do Ana?" she squeezes my hand tightly.
"I don't think so," I smile in appreciation of her offer. "Honestly, I just want to get through tonight and hope that after this I don't have to hear from her again. I've managed just fine without her all this time, I don't see the need to let her back into my life even if she did change. I don't think I could ever trust her; I know I would never allow her around my children…"
"Children?" she gasps.
"Not now," I giggle. "But eventually."
"If you ever need anything Ana, even just motherly advice, I hope you know that you can call me anytime. I love you," she hugs me tightly.
"I love you too Grace," I say as my eye swell with tears.
"Dr. Grey? You're needed in the ER," a voice comes through her phone.
"Oh…I'm sorry Ana I have to go," she quickly throws away her garbage from lunch standing up.
"Thank you for having lunch with me," I say.
"Anytime," she hugs me one final time before leaving to head to the emergency room.
"Mrs. Grey?" Sawyer says as I walk out of the office.
"Can you take me home?" I ask.
"Of course," he answers.
When we get home I quickly change into more comfortable clothes realizing I still have a couple of hours until Christian will be home. Knowing that I need to keep busy to keep my mind off of the dinner tonight, I decide to spend some time in the library. I am still shocked that Christian built such a wonderful room with me in mind, it is a room I could only ever dream of having one day. I quickly grab a book and curl up on the oversized love seat that sits in front of the large window overlooking the city. In this room, it's so easy to forget anything else is going on and just get lost in a book.
"Ana?" Christian's voice wakes me sometime later.
"Oh…I must have fallen asleep," I sit up closing the book that was on my chest.
"I guess so," he laughs. "Must have been all the activities last night and this morning…"
"Must have been," I giggle.
"We need to leave in 15 minutes," he says cautiously.
"I'll just grab a quick shower," I head towards our bedroom.
"Andrea has arranged for a few appetizers to be brought in along with drinks," he explains as we are in the shower a few minutes later. "I wasn't sure if you wanted full dinner-"
"No," I interrupt quickly. "I want to be there only as long as necessary. I don't want to be sitting through an uncomfortable dinner."
"That was my thought as well," he sighs. "I've asked Gail to have something prepared for tonight, Taylor will let her know when we leave so she can heat it up."
"Good," I sigh.
"Are you sure you want to do this? You don't have to you know…" he pulls me tight against him as the water cascades over us.
"I know," I squeeze him tightly. "I just want her to leave us alone and I think the only way she will is if she hears us say that she won't get anything from us."
"Whatever you need baby," he kisses me deeply before turning the water off.
"Taylor and Sawyer will be there right?" I ask.
"Yes, both of them will be positioned inside of the room with us," he confirms.
"Sir, ma'am," Taylor greets us as we come down the steps a few minutes later.
"We're ready Taylor," Christian says.
We ride in silence to the restaurant, I don't think either of us know what more to say. I don't know how I feel right now; I'm not nervous, worried or angry. I'm confident in who I am, of who I've become and more importantly of where I am today. I have a wonderful family, one that I never thought I would have and I couldn't be happier.
"Ready?" Christian asks as Taylor parks the car.
"Yes," I say confidently.
"I love you," he kisses me deeply, wrapping his arms tightly around me letting me feel just how much he loves me.
"I love you too," I say breathless when he finally pulls away.
We walk hand in hand into the restaurant; a few moments later we are quickly escorted into a private dining room. There are only a couple of tables set up in here, otherwise it's just a large empty room that seems too big for the four of us currently in here. Christian requests only nonalcoholic beverages be served tonight which I'm grateful for. I don't need to see her drunk and I have no doubt that she would quickly be so especially on the liquor and wine Christian typically orders.
"Sir, ma'am," Sawyer says moments before opening the door.
In walks my mother and some guy, instantly I can see absolutely nothing has changed with her. She looks older and much thinner, but she is exactly how I remember her otherwise. She's dressed in a pair of too tight, torn jeans and an even tighter shirt. The guy next to her has long, greasy looking black hair and is dressed in a pair of dirty jeans and a short sleeve stained shirt.
"Mrs. George, Mr. George…it's nice to meet you," Christian breaks the silence.
"Oh please, it's Carla darling," she shakes his hand holding on just a little too long.
"Billy," the guy next to her shakes Christian's hand.
"Ana! Wow look at you, I hardly recognized you!" She says coming over to hug me, but on instinct I take a step back from her.
"Carla," I nod.
"Oh what's with the Carla stuff darling? Here, I want you to meet your step daddy Billy," she pulls the guy closer to her.
"I've heard such wonderful things about you Ana," he extends his hand.
"I bet," I mumble shaking his hand.
"How about we sit down, the appetizers should be coming out shortly," Christian suggests nodding to Sawyer I guess to let the wait staff know we're ready.
"This is a wonderful place that you chose Christian," Carla sits next to him while Billy sits next to me.
"I've done a good amount of business here," he explains.
A few moments later the wait staff interrupts the awkward silence bringing in several plates of appetizers. Carla and Billy quickly take several items from each plate, piling it onto their own giving the clear indication that they haven't eaten a decent meal in time.
"What brings you to Seattle?" I ask a few moments later.
"Why you of course darling," she looks right at me. "You wouldn't believe how shocked I was to learn that you were married. It was so embarrassing having to learn that my own daughter was married from a friend of mine; of course I had to play along as if I knew when she told me."
"What do you want?" I ask ignoring her jab at me.
"I want to get to know you, I want to spend time with you of course," she gushes. "I want what any mother would want, a relationship with her daughter."
"You lost that right a long time ago," I tell her.
"What do you mean?" she asks.
"You lost the right to have a relationship with me when you allowed him to beat me," I say.
"I think you're exaggerating a little, really," she sighs smiling at Christian. "Honestly, you were such an out of control teenager. All Stephen wanted was for you to clean up after yourself. He didn't have any children of his own, so he wasn't used to having children around-"
"So beating me unconscious was the answer?" I question.
"I don't remember it being quite that bad," she shrugs turning again to Christian. "She was always so dramatic…"
"I've seen the scars, I don't believe for one minute that she is exaggerating," he grimaces.
"What's done is done," she attempts to change the conversation clearly uncomfortable.
"Yes, it is," I say. "As is this dinner and any chance of a relationship between us now or in the future."
"What? You can't be serious!" she exclaims loudly.
"I am," I say confidently. "I don't need you in my life, I haven't needed you since I was ten and started taking care of myself. I have a wonderful husband and family now-"
"I'm your family!" she yells.
"No, you're not," I reply firmly. "You're someone who stood by and allowed her husband to beat me belts, canes and paddles; to break my ribs with his feet, to break my arm by twisting it. You're the person, who the last time I saw you, pulled me from my bed in the middle of the night and beat me senseless with a paddle. All because he told you! So no, you are not my family and you haven't been in a long time."
"But….Ana….don't do this," she begs trying to grab my hand which I quickly pull off the table. "Please we have nowhere to go! You're not going to let your own mother live on the streets are you?"
"You're kidding right?" I laugh at her. "Where do you think I lived throughout high school? Where do you think I lived when I was in college? When I left you were nowhere to be found; I hadn't seen you in days, hell I think you left me with him…."
"No! I just went to make a little money, I was coming back for you in a few weeks," she says.
"It doesn't matter," I sigh. "It's done. I knew the moment we were told you were in Seattle, that you came for money. You won't be getting money from us Carla."
"You rotten bitch!" she slams her fist down on the table and immediately Taylor and Sawyer are behind her.
"There's the person I remember," I say.
"I did everything for you! I put a roof over your head, I fed you, clothed you and this is how you repay me? You no good, rotten-" she screams.
"That's enough!" Christian says standing up. "I will not allow you to sit here and talk like that to my wife! If you contact either one of us again, or step foot on any property that either of us own, I will see that you are charged with harassment."
"You can't be serious!" she exclaims.
"Try me," Christian squeezes my hand tightly as I stand up. "Baby, let's go."
"Taylor, please take the trash out while we're gone," I say taking a page out of Grace's book.
"Yes, ma'am," he smiles at me.
Sawyer quickly leads us out of the restaurant to the SUV; as soon as we get in Christian pulls me onto his lap and holds me tightly.
"Baby, I'm so sorry," he whispers.
"Christian," I pull away looking at him. "This is exactly how I expected tonight to go."
"Really?" he asks surprised.
"The person you saw when she first arrived, that was the act she would put on anytime we were in public. It was the reason I never told my guidance counselors about what was going on at home. She could fool anyone into thinking I was making it up," I explain.
"I could believe she had the nerve to say you were exaggerating!" he tenses below me.
"I didn't think she would admit how bad it really was," I sigh. "I don't know if she was just too drunk or high to realize how bad it was then or if she just ignored it."
"You never need to see her again, I won't let her near you," he vows.
Taylor's POV:
"Sir, ma'am," I say after Mr. and Mrs. Grey leave the room. "I am going to take you to the airport and purchase you both one way tickets to the destination of your choice. Once you get on that plane you are not to step foot in Seattle again."
"You can't keep us out of this city!" Billy exclaims.
"Oh, I can," I smirk. "If you ever step foot in this city or try to contact Mr. and Mrs. Grey again, I will see to it that no one ever hears from you again."
"What are you saying?" Carla gasps.
"What I'm saying is," I lean across the table getting closer to her. "I have friends who can make people disappear very quickly and without a trace."
"You wouldn't!" she hisses.
"After what you did to that girl, try me," I grimace at what Ana described earlier.
"She isn't as perfect as you all make her out to be," she argues. "She never cleaned up after herself, she never did what she was told-"
"Enough!" I quickly silence her. "That may all be true, but she was a god damn child! Children are not supposed to do what they're told! They're supposed to defy you. I don't care what she did, there is no excuse for the abuse that you and your husband put her through! I hope no child should ever have to endure what Ana did."
"I think we should be going," Billy finally finds his voice.
"We will go to the motel and pick up your belongings before we go to the airport," I say.
"We need to leave tonight?" Carla asks.
"Yes, you will be on a plane tonight," I answer firmly.
"Carla, let's go someplace warm," Billy grabs her hand looking excited.