Chapter 16
Ana began the new week feeling fresh and light. Kate had helped her pick out a 'boss bitch' outfit saying that she was a boss bitch and she needs to dress as such. So here she was, wearing a navy skirt suit with a satin ivory camisole underneath, nude heels on her feet and hair in a low bun. Ana couldn't lie. She did feel like a boss bitch and for once she like the she belonged in this building.
Ana walked into the lobby of GEH with a newfound confidence. She wasn't going to worry about irrelevant things, and she wasn't going to get worked up over the little things.
"Ana?!" Came a shocked voice from her right. She looked towards the reception desk and saw Jose. Her lips automatically turned into a smile.
"Good morning!" Ana said brightly. She was happy to see him.
Jose walked over to her slowly and his eyes took her in appraisingly. It didn't make her feel uncomfortable though, Jose wasn't doing it in any malicious or creepy way. "Morning. I almost didn't recognise you." He said.
"I wouldn't recognise myself either." Ana laughed.
"You look unbelievable. And sun kissed." He said in wonder. "Not that you don't look great all the time but… man this is different. Very good different. What bought this about?"
"Nothing. Just thought a change would be nice." She shrugged. "Kate dressed me today."
"Well she did an exceptional job. I'm kind of scared that you're going to fire me or something. Anyway… oh! I haven't had a chance to speak to you lately. How was the gala?"
"It was great. Yeah. Met some amazing people and hopefully publishing isn't so far out of my reach now." Ana said vaguely. She didn't want to get into that again.
"I'm glad you had a good time. I'm praying it happens for you soon. Can't imagine you want to be stuck as Grey's assistant for too long." His phone started ringing. "I have to take this. I'll speak to you later okay. Let's go for lunch soon!" He waved at her as he walked away.
"See you Jose." Ana smiled as she waved at him and resumed her walk to the elevators. She was glad Jose hadn't brought up the rumours about her and Grey. No doubt he'd heard about them.
Ana was the only one waiting for an elevator which was unusual especially considering everyone was arriving for work now and the lobby was bustling with activity.
The elevator arrived and she hit the button for the 20th floor. Best thing about working on the top floor was that as soon as you pressed for the 20th floor, the elevator won't stop at any other floor. Just as the doors were closing, a hand appeared between the doors. Ana looked up when she heard the doors open again and found herself staring straight into Mr Grey's piercing eyes.
He flashed her one of those polite smiles that he'd been giving her lately. Ana nearly rolled her eyes; she was sick of them.
"Good morning Miss Steele." He greeted her politely as he stood in front of her facing the doors and they began their ascent. Oh, and he had been calling her Miss Steele ever since the email too.
Ana looked away from his back and got out her phone, so her eyes didn't stray. "Morning Mr Grey." She said quietly. Neither of them said anything for a few moments before he spoke up.
"You look like you caught some sun this weekend. I hope it was enjoyable?" He said almost hesitantly. Ana looked up in disbelief. Was he trying to make conversation? He noticed her appearance? The only thing going through her mind was why all of a sudden? Was he over his little whatever it was? He didn't sound like himself though, so Ana wasn't sure how to reply.
She went with a neutral reply. "It was very enjoyable, thank you." She decided to test the waters a little bit. "How was your weekend?"
He ran a hand through his hair and Ana heard a little sigh escape his mouth. "Same old, same old." He muttered. Christian got his phone out just then and Ana took that as a sign that the conversation was over. How did things become like this? How did they go from being where they were to this train wreck? It was sad.
They were silent the rest of the ride up. When the doors opened onto the 20th floor, Christian gestured for Ana to go first. Even when he was not acting like himself, he was still a gentleman. Ana flashed him a small smile and mumbled a thank you as she walked past him.
Christian watched her go and he swallowed hard when he saw what she was wearing. She looked every bit like a successful businesswoman and the way she was walking today made it look like she would be taking no prisoners today, but he knew her. Despite looking hard on the outside, he knew she would always be soft and kind on the inside. Its who she was.
He wanted to talk to her properly. But he had to distance himself. Not for his benefit, but for hers. Every time he saw her, he just wanted to say whatever was on his mind and just spark up a conversation, but he couldn't, so he'd been avoiding her. It was easier that way.
But when he saw her walking through the lobby, he couldn't stay away. She looked good today. She'd gotten some sun and there was this glow about her. Christian knew what she had done during the weekend. Mia couldn't stop going on about it during their Sunday lunch. Had he been jealous? Yes. He would have liked to have been there, but knew even if he had been invited, he wouldn't have accepted. With the current situation between him, Ana and GEH, it would have just made things worse and caused more speculation.
Elliot did say to Christian though that he would have invited him, but it was all very last minute, and Elliot knew that Christian would have said no anyways since he had always hated last minute things. So on Sunday, he had seen the pictures that Mia had taken and a pang went through him when he saw Ana in the pictures. She looked so radiant and so happy. In one video that Mia had taken of Elliot on the floor after he'd been tackled by Kate, Christian could see Ana bent over, laughing so hard. He'd never seen her laugh like that, and he didn't realise but his lips had turned into a smile. Her laugh was so infectious. It was a stark contrast to her mood at GEH recently where she had been pretty withdrawn, and Christian knew it was because of him. It made him feel like absolute shit, but it had to be done. His family had gushed about Ana being a very well-rounded girl and so genuine. He knew that already.
Christian heaved a sigh and rubbed a hand down his face before walking out and making his way to his office.
Once in his office, he just paused and looked around. His heart felt heavy. These emotions coursing through him were foreign to him and he didn't like it one bit. He needed to throw himself into his work. "Andrea can you get me a strong black coffee please?" He said into the intercom before settling in. He was going to need it; especially today.
When the request came through the intercom, Andrea looked at Ana. "What is going on with him lately? It's like he's had a stick up his ass for the past week." Andrea mumbled the last part to herself.
Ana shrugged. "Beats me."
Later on in the day, Mr Grey, Ms. Bailey and a few others had a meeting scheduled with Anderson and Allen Inc. it was supposed to be a big deal according to Andrea and a lot of preparation had been done for it.
Ana and Andrea were both in the conference room, doing the final touches for the meeting. They realised they were short on pens, so Ana volunteered to go back to their desk and get some more. The door to Mr Grey's office was open and Ana whizzed past hoping he didn't see her, but she couldn't really be inconspicuous with the click-clacking of her heels. The one bad thing about this outfit.
Ana was walking down the hall, looking at the floor and cussing her shoes when she heard the elevator doors open and she looked up to see who had arrived. Three men in sharp suits and two women, very elegantly dressed stepped out. They were like a synchronised marching band the way they were walking and they just exuded class and power. They meant business so it didn't take much to realise these were the people from Anderson and Allen Inc.
Ana smiled at them politely as she walked towards them and hoped she didn't trip or do something else embarrassing in front of these people. All five of them were looking at her, some calculatingly and some appraisingly. She felt like she was being scrutinised from head to toe.
She reached her desk the same time they did.
One of the women stepped forward with her mouth open ready to speak, but one of the men intervened and spoke up instead. "Good afternoon. My name's Scott Anderson and we're from Anderson and Allen." He spoke in rich deep voice. He was tall with a head full of dark brown hair which was coifed to perfection and striking blue eyes. His smile probably got him into a lot of trouble, and it was what one would call 'panty-dropping'. His facial hair just added to his god-like appearance.
Were all the executives in the business world this attractive or something? Ana thought to herself. "Hello. I'm Anastasia Steele, Mr Grey's assistant. The conference room is just being set up. I'll inform Mr Grey you have arrived so in the meantime if you all just take a seat in our waiting area." Ana gestured over to the white couches. She was proud of herself. Her voice didn't waver once especially considering she was speaking to a group of good-looking, intimidating people. Appearance was just appearance. She never understood why it sometimes made her nervous and it was perhaps the most absurd thing ever.
Ana was still stood up and as the group headed over to the waiting area, she bent over to hit the intercom and to inform Mr Grey they were here. After she did that, Ana walked briskly back to the conference room with a bunch of pens and she flashed the group another polite smile as they glanced at her again.
In the conference room, everyone else had arrived with the exception of Mr Grey and Ana and Andrea were both told that Mr Grey would be escorting them to the conference room himself, so they were just waiting on him. Ana walked back to her desk. She would be manning the reception desk whilst Andrea attended the meeting. Andrea was more experienced, and this was a big deal, so it made sense for Andrea to go.
As Ana got behind the desk, Mr Anderson stood up and made a move to go towards her and Ana glanced at him to see what he needed. Before he could get to Ana though, a familiar voice stopped him.
"Mr Anderson." Christian said loudly as he walked towards them. His powerful voice resonated through the area and everyone's head snapped towards him. Ana looked at him; she had jumped slightly when he shouted. She found his stormy grey eyes already on her but when she met them, he looked away.
Mr Anderson stopped in place. "Grey." He said simply. They shook hands very firmly, Ana noted.
Christian shook hands with Mr Allen and was introduced to the rest of them. Ana had to reign in her amusement when the two perfectly composed women, were clearly taken aback by Christian and they fumbled slightly. Ana knew exactly what they were feeling so she sympathised with them. She was still stood behind the desk, but her attention had been diverted from the greetings going on in front of her.
"Ana." She quickly looked up at the sound of her name. Mostly in surprise however because it was Christian calling her, but he had always refused to call her Ana at work, so she wondered why on earth he was calling her that in the presence of others especially clients. Didn't this go against everything he had told her? Or did that not matter anymore either? She raised her brows at him questioningly, nonetheless. The whole group was trailing behind him and they were all now looking at her.
"Thank you for your help. I will give you a shout if we need anything." He said. Ana nearly frowned. This was a kind of weird thing to tell her. Of course, he'd tell her if he needed anything. That was her job. Once again, she didn't know what was happening, but she nodded anyway.
"Of course, Mr Grey." Ana replied back. What else was she supposed to say? He was acting peculiar today.
Christian nodded once and turned to lead the group out. Scott Anderson stared at her with unwavering blue eyes for a moment before he flashed her another 'panty-dropping' smile and followed the rest of them.
Ana threw herself onto her desk chair. What was going on here? It seemed like a lot but she had absolutely no clue. Ana closed her eyes and shook her head to get rid of the thoughts. She wasn't going to dwell on anything. That was her new mentality. Opening her eyes, she got to work, forgetting about everything else.
An hour later, Ana was just finishing off a phone call when Scott Anderson appeared walking down the hall towards her. She assumed he was going to the restrooms near the elevator but to her surprise he stopped at her desk, leaning on it casually.
"Hello Miss Steele." He said smoothly, raising one side of his mouth.
Ana's heart rate increases. She cursed herself mentally for this ridiculous reaction, but it was inevitable being in the presence of such an attractive guy. Did it send feminism back a few years? Probably. She wasn't proud of it.
Ana smiled at him politely, trying to act cooler than she felt. "Mr Anderson. Can I help you with anything?" She asked like the perfect assistant.
He looked down almost bashfully. "Please, it's just Scott. We're taking a break from the meeting and I wanted to stretch my legs."
"Oh. Of course. Feel free to do whatever. You could break out into a sprint and I wouldn't have any objections. But the guys in the security office might." She said jokingly.
Scott chuckled and the way the light caught his eyes made them sparkle almost. Ana couldn't help but stare in wonder. "You're right. I don't want them marching up here ready to take me away for suspicious behaviour. Wouldn't be too good for my reputation will it?"
"I can see the headlines already. Scott Anderson apprehended at GEH for sprinting up and down the hallways for no legitimate reason." Ana laughed. He joined in.
"So, Miss Steele, how long have you been working here?" He asked curiously.
"Since June. I started right after I graduated."
"Oh? And is this what you wanted to go into?"
"No. It wasn't. It still isn't. But for now, it'll do." Ana said vaguely.
"What is it you wanted to do?" He leaned in closer and Ana got a whiff of his cologne. It was a little overpowering and made her head spin.
"I want to go into publishing. And hopefully it'll happen soon in the near future."
He raised his eyebrows. "Well I hope so too. For your sake. You should be doing what you love."
Ana flashed him a thankful smile. "Thank you."
He smiled back at her, a small closed-mouth one but Ana could tell it was still very genuine and he meant what he said.
They spoke for a couple of more minutes, mostly him asking Ana questions making Ana wonder why he was so interested in her, but she answered them anyway. She was sure he meant no harm.
He was telling her an anecdote about one of his previous assistants who used to get appointments mixed up all the time which had led to various awkward situations. Ana was smiling up at him in amusement at what he was saying when a throat cleared behind them. Ana's eyes instantly found Christian's grey ones and boy did he look annoyed. She snapped her mouth shut and leaned back, unaware that she had edged forward during their conversation. Scott on the other hand was much less startled and he didn't even look properly to see who had cleared their throat apart from a slight swivel of his head. He stayed in the same position.
"Mr Anderson. We've been waiting to resume the meeting for 10 minutes. We thought you may have gotten lost on your way to the rest room." Christian said dryly. He definitely didn't sound like a happy camper.
When Christian had come out earlier, he had seen Anderson heading towards Anastasia and for all Christian knew he was just going to ask her for directions or something, but he had been paranoid and so put a stop to him approaching her. Was it jealousy? Probably. But he wouldn't admit that to himself. Christian was being an ass to Ana lately, but he wasn't that much of an ass where he totally ignored her presence, so he thanked her for greeting their guests. The last thing he wanted to do was humiliate her by ignoring her. He wanted to make amends if you could even call it that, but he wasn't sure how to go about it. He missed their random talks. She was the one person in his life, who wasn't family, who he could talk to easily about anything; be himself with no barriers up.
Christian was going to his office to fetch something when he heard Ana's quiet laugh floating down the hall. Anderson had left the conference room with the excuse to visit the restroom but now Christian was suspicious. Anderson had a bit of a reputation back in New York where their offices were, and he didn't want Ana to get mixed up in Anderson's business. Or at least that's what he was telling himself.
Another reason why Christian's hackles had risen when he heard Ana's quiet laugh was because during the meeting earlier, Ana had walked past and looked distracted and Christian watched Anderson's eyes follow her. In that moment, he cursed himself for insisting on having glass doors to the conference rooms.
He turned around to see Anderson leaning on Ana's desk, like he had no cares in the world; his hands gesturing wildly while Ana was looking up at him smiling and looking captivated by what he was saying. Something stirred inside of Christian. He wanted Ana to look at him like that. His eyes narrowed watching them. He knew Scott had an ulterior motive.
This was also an important deal for Christian and the fact that Anderson was acting like his priorities were elsewhere was really irritating Christian.
Christian watched Ana look flustered and a blush overtook her cheeks when she realised it was him.
"I'm sorry Grey, must have lost track of time. Give me a second." Anderson said casually. He said something to Ana who smiled back at him tightly and quickly looked back at her computer monitor. Anderson then strolled to where Christian was standing. "You didn't have to come looking for me. I was getting to know your assistant. She seems like a remarkable woman. You're very lucky to have her."
Christian was torn between annoyance and pride. His jaw clenched. "She is remarkable. Perhaps the most remarkable woman I know."
They walked back into the bustling conference room and resumed the meeting. As Christian drank his fourth cup of black coffee today, he couldn't help but think that he wanted this deal over with as soon as possible.
After the meeting, Christian, Ros and Andrea were walking the group of visitors to the elevators when Anderson insisted on saying goodbye to Anastasia. He heaved a heavy sigh of annoyance and Andrea shot him a confused look from the corner of her eye.
"Miss Steele. It was a pleasure meeting you. Thank you for your help today. I'm sure we'll see each other around." Anderson said charmingly holding out his hand for Ana to shake.
"It was a pleasure." Was all she said as she clasped his hand and shook it firmly with a polite smile. Christian got an odd sense of satisfaction from her response. She didn't seem affected by his charms.
The rest of the group bid farewell to them all and headed off to the elevators. Christian walked back and stood around Ana and Andrea's desk with Ros discussing the meeting. He was aware of Anastasia's every movement. Andrea piped in every so often while she went about doing other things. Anastasia basically ignored them as she focused on her work. The conversation then turned to other things besides the meeting until an upcoming trip to New York was mentioned.
Christian could tell Ana was curious about it as she looked at them.
"Maybe it's time Ana went on a trip with us?" Ros suggested, smiling at Ana.
They all turned to look at Ana who was staring at Ros with slightly wide blue eyes. "Uh…I mean… I could… are you sure… if you want me too..." She stuttered, presumably in shock.
The ghost of a smile graced Christian's lips. He was suddenly very grateful for Ros suggesting it but how was he supposed to keep a distance between them on such a trip? However, he found himself not caring about that right now. He was more focused on Ana's reaction.
They all looked at him for an answer. "Well… Andrea usually comes with us so Andrea if you're okay with skipping New York then its fine with me. As long as you feel ready Miss Steele."
Andrea waved a hand dismissively. "I've been to New York plenty of times and I'm sure I'll go again in the future. Ana can definitely go! She'll be great. She's ready." Andrea said encouragingly. "She'll make you proud."
Christian raised his brows in question at Ana. Ana was absolutely elated at this turn of events and was trying very hard to contain her joy. "Yeah..yes.. of course, I would love to go!" She grinned wide, eyes twinkling.
Ros, Andrea and Christian all chuckled at her enthusiasm. It was nice to see someone have such an enthusiasm for things the others found normal and mundane. It was refreshing and it made them realise how lucky they were to do certain things because of their jobs.
"Well, its settled then." Ros clapped her hands. "Ana's going on her first trip to the big bad city of New York. It sort of feels like its baby's day out or something. I'm joking Ana." Ros said at Ana's nervous look. "You're going to do great." She said sincerely. Ana flashed her a thankful smile.
"Ros stop scaring her. Anastasia, I'll email you over the details by the end of the day." Ana nodded at him. "Come on," he said to Ros, "Let's go and leave them alone." They both turned to walk back to their offices.
Ros turned around halfway down the hall. "Oh Ana? I absolutely love that outfit. You look hot." Ros winked at her. Ana blushed and mumbled a thank you. Ros was always the professional, but she did have a lighter side to her just like Christian did. Maybe that's why they worked so well together; they knew where to draw the lines.
Christian looked back at Ana and just grinned lopsidedly. He shook his head in amusement at Ros before they continued on their way. They knew Ros meant no harm.
Once they were gone, Ana turned to Andrea and hugged her. "I'm going to New York! Oh my god!" She squealed.
Andrea hugged her back just as tightly. "I'm so excited for you. This is your first venture into the big wide world. I feel like a proud mother and my bird is flying the nest." She held Ana at arm's length, gazing at her.
Ana chuckled at her. "Stop being dramatic. You're psyching me out. Come on, you need to prepare me."
Ana had gone home and told Kate the exciting news who was equally as happy for her. Kate was adamant that she help Ana pack insisting that if Ana was left to her own devices, the only things in her suitcase would be some work outfits, jeans and t shirts. Kate said she had to look cute while exploring NYC just in case she met the love of her life or someone else equally as important.
Christian had emailed over the details earlier. They'd be going on Wednesday evening and staying until Sunday morning. There were a few meetings they needed to attend that couldn't be done over video call, but this trip was going to be relatively uneventful. Christian had said they would have downtime where they could do as they pleased so of course Ana was going to explore the city.
In the back of her mind she was worried about Christian and how he was going to be around her. Things were still stilted between them but if the interactions today were anything to go by then they were making progress.
Channelling her motto as of recently, she decided not to worry about him and just enjoy the excitement of going to New York. No point in worrying over something that hadn't even happened yet.
Her week was going to be filled with searching up things to do and see in New York and she wanted to compile a small list of things she wanted to do while there.
Christian had just gotten home to Escala and he headed straight to the kitchen looking for a drink. He poured himself some water and turned around and nearly spilled it when he saw Elliot lounging across the couch. He had taken his shoes off and had made himself right at home; even wrapped up in a blanket.
Christian heart rate slowly returned to normal as he headed for Elliot. "Elliot. What the hell are you doing? Why are you here? Don't you have a home?" He asked, irritated. He pushed Elliot's legs off the couch where he was lying and sat down.
"Brother." Elliot just said simply. He was just gazing a Christian from his spot on the cushion, blue eyes unwavering. He didn't even react to Christian pushing his legs off.
Instantly Christian knew something was up. Elliot's always the happy go lucky guy, always joking around but his expression was blank, and he hadn't made any witty remarks. "What's wrong?" Christian asked. He could tell Elliot wanted to talk about something serious and so to try and diffuse some of the tension he grabbed the remote and turned the television on to some sitcom with a live audience so maybe the laughing would help with the tension.
"How's work?" Elliot asked simply.
"It's fine. Why?"
Elliot was silent and didn't reply, his eyes going to the view of Seattle out of the windows.
Christian watched the screen but not really seeing. He undid his tie and some buttons on his shirt, taking his shoes off too.
Elliot sat up all of a sudden and Christian's wide eyes looked at him startled. Elliot was still half wrapped in the blanket, but he levelled Christian with a serious look.
"Chris what are you doing?" He asked almost exasperated.
"What am I doing about what?" Christian asked perplexed. Elliot looked like he was sick of him, but Christian had no clue what he had done now. The last time they saw each other was at Sunday dinner and everything had been fine then.
"Look, I'm not trying to be the bad guy here I just want an explanation so don't attack me. Why are you giving Ana the cold shoulder all of a sudden?"
"What?" Christian sputtered. He bolted upright.
Elliot shot him a look like he was stupid. "You know what I'm talking about. We both know you're not stupid so stop acting like it."
"Where is this coming from? How do you know? Has Anastasia talked to you?" Christian rambled off. Of all the things Elliot could have brought up, this was definitely the last thing he expected.
They were both facing each other head on now, the images on the TV forgotten.
"Kate told me. Ana told her. Kate only told me after Sunday dinner though otherwise I would have asked you about it then. The whole picnic the other day was for Ana. She was feeling down and little did I know at the time that it was because of you!" Elliot exclaimed. "I thought you liked Ana? You guys were such good friends so what the hell Christian?" He looked so disappointed in him.
Sighing heavily, Christian slumped back on the couch, rubbing his hands down his face. "I do like Ana. You know I do."
"Then why aren't you speaking to her then?" Elliot threw his hands up in frustration.
"I am speaking to her!" Elliot just raised a solitary brow. "On Monday, after the ball it was going great. So great. I felt like we'd become really close and I even spoke to one of her other close friends, Lily. Hell, she made me a box of cream puffs!" Christian said more to himself than anything.
Elliot opened his mouth to protest presumably but he snapped it shut and waved for him to continue.
"Rumours started circling about me and Ana. I heard some of the things that were being said about her and they seemed to think that Ana was sleeping her way to the top or something. I couldn't let her reputation be tarnished over false assumptions, so I sent an email out to everyone saying that there's nothing going on and to mind their own business, essentially. I explained the real reason behind me taking her to the ball and it seems like the situation de-escalated so it was a success."
Elliot listened attentively, watching his brother's face as he stared off into nothing as he spoke.
"And then I got to thinking." Elliot nearly rolled his eyes at that. Nothing good could ever come out of that. "In the end I decided that maybe I should distance myself from Ana for a while so no fuel would be added to the fire. It honestly pained me to do it but it was for the best. Just to let the rumour mill die down. She has such a bright future ahead of her and I didn't want it to be ruined before it even started. It was for her. I didn't know that she was going to be so affected by it though." He explained quietly.
Elliot processed that information. Kate had expected as much when she spoke to him. "You've never cared about rumours before." The audience on the television laughed but neither of them noticed.
"I don't. They're just lousy little assumptions that hold absolutely no merit, but I wasn't the only person affected by them this time. I care about Anastasia and I wanted to protect her from them. She shouldn't have to be subjected to them."
"Don't you think you should have talked to someone before you did this? The whole ignoring her thing? You could have talked to me." Elliot suggested.
Christian just shrugged. "I wasn't ignoring her; I just didn't engage her in conversations as much I as used to. I didn't think. I just did what I thought was the right thing. I had tunnel-vision or something. Nothing else occurred to me."
"It really hurt her. She was confused. You went from hot to cold in 0.2 seconds. You could have given her an explanation or something. She thought she'd done something wrong. Ana overthinks all the time."
Elliot knew her really well, Christian thought. "I know." He sighed. "She's been really quiet and withdrawn. I just didn't know what to do." He ran a hand through his hair.
"You're Christian Grey. It doesn't matter what people say; chances are what you say is more important than what most other people say anyway. So even if the rumours about you and Ana at GEH escalated, they won't affect Ana's future because for one I know you won't date Ana while she still works for you so you can deny them and two, you're you. People are going to take your word for it over others. Ana's future is going to be fine. You're gonna be fine. You both are going to be fine." Elliot said earnestly.
Christian didn't say anything, just taking the words in.
"First things first, stop ignoring her and apologise for ignoring her all week and explain your reasoning to her."
"It's been hard. Every time I see her, I want to talk to her about… god knows what, but I just want to talk to her. Talking to her has been the highlight of my days."
"You just love self-sabotaging yourself, don't you? You know it's going to be painful, yet you do it anyway."
"For Ana. Yes." Christian said simply.
Elliot studied him for a moment. "I think your feelings towards Ana are more than just attraction."
Christian just looked at him. "I gathered as much. I'm screwed." He said it simply, like a fact. He didn't seem as panicked as Elliot would have expected.
"The whole picnic the other day was for Ana. To cheer her up. I'm glad now that I didn't invite you. Everything would have gone sideways. I also think Kate told her to stop worrying about you."
"It obviously worked. I saw the videos of her laughing. I hate that I did that to her but I kind of like the fact that she was just as affected as me. Is that wrong?" He rubbed his face harshly again before continuing. "She came to work today with a pep in her step and she looked much happier than she was last week. You should have seen her today Ell. I saw her walking in front of me when I walked in this morning and I nearly had a heart attack. The outfit she wore. She looked unbelievable." Christian shook his head a little. "And I wasn't the only one that noticed." He remarked dryly.
"Do tell." Elliot asked intrigued.
"Scott Anderson and his team came down for a meeting and it seemed he had taken a liking to Ana. He all but ditched the meeting to go and speak to her. I had to go get him. he was using every trick to charm her."
"She's a beautiful girl. It's going to happen." Elliot shrugged. Christian was jealous. "Let me read the email you sent." Elliot asked out of the blue.
Christian handed over his phone with the email pulled up.
"Oh no Chris. You need to get advice before you do shit like this. This is why you have a whole team who are experts in this!"
"What now?" Christian said exasperatedly.
"You basically said that dating Ana would be ridiculous. It's almost as if you find her repulsive."
"What? No. that's the furthest thing from the truth and you know it." Christian exclaimed.
"Well I do. But Ana doesn't. I would bet that she was hurt by this. It's sort of insulting. Probably not to everyone but to her, I know exactly what she thought after reading this. Your wording isn't great."
"Fuck. I'm an idiot. I fucked up really bad, didn't I?" He rubbed his face again and cheeks had taken on a pink tinge behind his 5 o'clock shadow from his excessive rubbing.
Elliot rolled his eyes at him. "You think?" He said sarcastically.
Christian brought his eyes up to the ceiling. "I was so… worried about what this was doing to her. I didn't think of the other consequences. Fuck why am I doing this? Why did I do that? I didn't want to do any harm but looks like that all I've done." Christian ranted.
Elliot just gazed at him. Ana had really gotten into his head and she had a much bigger effect on him than either of them realised. He was acting impulsively, not thinking and he obviously didn't like it. Christian liked control. "I think you need to go and apologise, and you owe her an explanation. And please for the love of god, stop with this weird silent treatment. It's not benefitting anyone. You and Ana are great friends and I've seen the way you're around her Christian. Only she can bring that side out of you and everyone and I mean everyone likes that side of you. As I said before, she won't be working with you forever and fuck what people think. Don't date her - fine, but at least stay friends. And if you're worried about her future and reputation again then talk to her about it first. If she's not worried, then stop making things difficult but if she is then she'll ask you to take a step back."
Christian released a breath. "Okay." He nodded. "I hope she won't hold a grudge against me for all this."
"Nah." Elliot shook his head. "Ana's not that type. She might be more wary around you for a while but like I said you'll both be fine." Elliot was very sure.
They were both silent for a while. Elliot was watching the sitcom and Christian was staring out of the windows again, just thinking.
"She's going with me to New York on Wednesday." Christian said.
Elliot slowly turned his head to look at him. "That's great! Give you guys a chance to bond even more and maybe get rid of any awkwardness." Ever the optimistic. "Couldn't have come at a better time."
Christian hummed. He was thinking about how he was going to approach her and what he was going to say. Every scenario he thought of made him sound like an idiot, but it looks like it was going to be only way.
"What did you say about Kate telling Ana to forget about me?" Christian asked.
Elliot didn't move his eyes from the screen. "She was worrying over you and Kate basically told her to live her life and forget about you. Kate told her she'd done nothing wrong and there's nothing that she could do so that's what it sounds like she did. She went about her life, not letting whatever this was get her down. The picnic really helped. I've never seen Ana laugh so much in my life."
Christian wasn't sure if he should be offended or impressed at what Kate had told Anastasia. "Her laugh is infectious." Christian said with a smile.
"You should have seen her dude. She's always up for anything. I think we played about ten different games. She's a pretty good sport; better than Kate, Emily and Mia who wanted to tan more than have fun. Ironically enough, Ana got more than all of them. Next time, you should definitely come. As long as you don't pull another stunt like this."
Christian chuckled self-deprecatingly. "Deal. She looks good tanned. She was glowing today." He stood up, ready to go and change out of his clothes. "Are you staying for a while?"
Elliot nodded. He often did this, but Christian didn't mind most of the time.
Christian had walked off to his bedroom when Elliot remembered something he had said.
"She made you a BOX of cream puffs?!" He shouted in disbelief in the direction of his bedroom. All he got in response was laughter.
