Chapter song: Young – Vallis Alps
Chapter 7 – in the end, time forever favors the young
CPOV:
Sunday morning, Memorial Day Weekend.
I haven't been able to sleep all night. She's in the room with Mia next to mine and my mind is consumed with wanting more of her. Her time, her smile, her infectious laugh, her body... I'm completely under her spell.
While I don't have violent night terrors that frequently anymore, the nightmares in general still make an appearance more often than not. Flynn said the lessened frequency was the result of touch therapy and in general, opening up and letting my family into my life. It was true; I was slightly calmer than before but there was still a huge void in my life. Did I miss the old lifestyle every now and then? Sure but I also attributed that to the disappointment of not being able to find someone. Spending those last two weeks with Theo and having eye opening life conversations with a man that I deeply respected and revered coupled with Mom's earlier diagnosis was enough to help make the transition easier into trying to evolve. I suppose when you're met with the mortality of people you love, it puts things in perspective for you.
"Money is great but kid, trust me having a woman who loves you and believes in you no matter what... doesn't get any better than that."
"Ellie had a way of making all the bad disappear by simply holding my hand. Why do you think I've been such an asshole to deal with ever since she's gone? I miss that girl."
Theo and Ellie found each other in high school and had the good fortune of spending almost 60 years together. Was that something I deserved? Was I foolish enough to dare and dream of something like that for myself? A kid from the Bronx who's birth mother was a drug addict and whored herself out to countless men. A kid who let himself be brainwashed by a bored and sadistic housewife who raped him and taught him how to whip and beat women to take out his frustrations. A man who continued to believe in that farce well into his mid-20's. Did I deserve any redemption?
I throw off the covers and after I get done with the bathroom I put on my running shorts and shoes to run along the beach to clear my head. It's about 5:30 in the morning and there's pin drop silence. The morning light is slowly seeping in. Time to enjoy the calm in the world before the noise comes blaring through.
I walk through the backyard towards the entrance to our private beach and start running west.
I loop back around after 3 miles. Once I get back I'll spend some time in the home office and get some work done till everyone wakes up and breakfast is ready.
As I get closer to the house I see what I think is Ana standing at the shoreline taking pictures of the water coming in. She's in jeans and a simple white tee and he hair is in a messy bun over her head. A few minutes later she walks back and sits on the sand and suddenly I see something fly up from near her feet and her gaze follows its path before looking back at something in her hands.
What is she doing up so early?
She senses me when I walk towards her and looks up a little startled and swallows.
"Hey, good morning." I give her my panty-dropping smile. Now is a good time as any to pull out all the stops.
"Um.. hi." She giggles nervously stealing her eyes away from me. Then I remember I'm not wearing a shirt. I wonder if she likes what she sees. The look on her face and the blush on her cheeks pretty much confirms it. I see she has her phone connected to some remote of some kind. "I didn't think anyone would be up right now." She adds.
"I'm an early riser. I like getting my morning run in... mind if I join you?" She nods and I take my place next to her. "Did you sleep well?"
"I tried to but I was in a new place so the first night is always a little difficult... plus Mia snores." She giggles.
I laugh out loud. "Please tell me you recorded that. The more dirt I have on her the better."
She laughs and shakes her head. "I'm kidding, she's a silent sleeper but she does move around a lot... I tend to sleep like the dead usually but given the unfamiliarity..." she shrugs.
"Is that the remote for your drone?"
"Yeah. I wanted to get some aerial footage while I was out here. Mia told me how beautiful it was so I thought I'd get some cool shots before everyone woke up and crowded the beach." She smiles.
"Where is it right now?" I ask and she points in the general direction eastward over the water and I see a small speck in the sky. She maneuvers it to bring it closer to where we are. I ask her about the no fly zone and she assures me that since we're outside of the 10 mile radius of the nearest airport that we're fine and that she isn't flying over 150ft. Once the drone is about 30 feet away and above us she asks if I want to try flying it.
"Don't crash it in the water. It's my only drone." She warns.
"I'll try my best." I smirk. I scare her by flying it down close the water and she squeals.
"CHRISTIAN, I WILL MURDER YOU. DON'T!" She looks at me with her blue eyes wide but ends up laughing. She playfully snatches the remote from my hands and I feel that spark again. It's like a slight shiver and a rush of blood throughout the body and it's an addictive feeling. I know she feels it too because she goes completely quiet and avoids eye contact with me for a whole minute. "Okay daredevil, enough stunts for you. I'm bringing Bertha back home." She tells me she's named her drone Bertha and taps a button on the screen for the drone to automatically come back to our location and lands itself
"Is that my nickname now, Daredevil?" I smirk as she picks up the drone to pack it up in her bag.
"Wouldn't you love that?" She sneers. "Nah, I think I'll call you Lurch and Mia is Tiny... yeah, Sparky, Lurch and Tiny." She giggles.
"I cannot believe you've turned us into circus freaks." I chide.
"I'm a woman of many talents" She sasses.
We remain quiet for a few moments looking at the water. She gets up and asks if I want to join her because she wants to try taking a few more pictures of the shoreline before heading in. She starts clicking away while I walk with her.
"It's so peaceful here. I've forgotten what it's like to experience complete solitude." She begins.
"Yeah, New York isn't exactly the best place for that." I muse. She nods but her eyes remain fixed on the water. At one point she stands completely still waiting for the tide to come in and she takes a picture of both our feet just at the water reaches the tip of our toes.
"Did you ever think of trying to do something else or was it always going to be photography?" I ask as we continue to walk westward away from the rising sun. She continues to stop here and there, taking pictures as we continue to talk.
"It was always going to be photography. No doubt about it. I mean I saw the front of the camera more than my dad's face in my formative years." She giggles. "But honestly it's where I feel my most authentic self." She looks at me and it's honestly like her face is glowing in the morning light. Is this what holy experiences are like? Because I'm hooked and I couldn't tear my eyes away from her right now even if I wanted to. "I was once listening to this interview on the radio of this musician who was also a sculptor and painter, a jack of all trades essentially... and he said something that really resonated with me. He said that in the moment of creation, we are who we're meant to be. Like, when I'm busy taking pictures... I'm in the moment of creation. It doesn't matter whether the end product is good or not, I may even chuck it but just for that moment, the focus... everything is how it's supposed to be. The high of that equilibrium is what drives me."
She speaks with such a passion that I'm floored and unable to respond for a few moments. She looks up at me for a moment and giggles. "Too intense? It's okay, I've been told that I get carried away every now and then."
I chuckle. "No, not at all. I've just never heard anyone describe their passion so eloquently and that too on such a profound level."
She turns around and we start to make our way back to the house. "Do you feel that way about what you do? I mean I know in art is an extension of ourselves and it comes from the depths of who we are but I don't know how it works in business?"
I don't even know how to respond if I'm being truthful. "I'll be honest my motivations for how I started were pretty selfish. It's been the insatiable need to win and make money. It's always been a game to me. A game that I like to win and often do... I know, not entirely soulful but it's allowed me to change the landscape of certain things for good. It's like you said, money isn't bad, it's about people's intentions. My intentions weren't ever bad but at least now I can use the money to facilitate good intentions."
She looks down and nods. "That makes sense and art is selfish too or it can be. It's narcissistic in a way, if you let it. I mean when I put something out into the world it's not for flattery it's for validation that I'm not alone in this big universe and that there are other people out there who feel the same way or are affected by the same things I am. The universe is big and it's easy to feel insignificant. Art helps form a connection."
"I suppose you're right." This has got to be the most in depth conversation I've ever had with a woman and I'm not even on a date. We're just walking on the beach like normal people. Elliot was right; I need to go down the friendship route. It takes the pressure off.
APOV
BREATHE ANA.
DO NOT PASS OUT.
My god, when he walked towards me all shirtless and sweating, I died and came back to life.
Baywatch, what?
Zac Efron, who?
God dammit, Michaelango came back from the dead and delcared that he had one more in him and he carved out Christian Grey for us to thoroghly enjoy... and now this Greek God was choosing to sit next to me. ME...
Heck, even his voice is pure sex. I need to keep my cool and not go off on my weird and lame tangents. Just answer his questions as succintly as you can.
Even his manly smell is nice.
Can I kiss you?
Did I say that out loud?... No I didn't thank God.
He almost gave me another heart attack when he tried to bring Bertha down at full speed over the water. When I took the remote from his hands... it wasn't electricity it was like a transformer blowing out a fuse. I want to jump him right there but I'm a lady so I handled myself like one by keeping my mouth shut and not looking at him.
Is useless to wonder if he likes me or aybe he's just being nice to his sister's friend, like Elliot which case, i'd be okay with that I guess. I'd just keep my distance like Katya. I mean he was out on a date Friday night. So yeah... small talk is probably child's play for him.
Just go with a flow, Ana. Don't be snarky but be nice and polite like you are when dealing with photo clients. Be kind but don't expect anything in return.
CPOV
"I'M HUNGRYYYY." Elliot whines from the table
"Well then why don't you get up and help us carry all the food and set up the table. Do something, you're packing on the pounds there." She sneers and Dad laughs. I take that as my cue to earn a few brownie points.
"Christian Grey helping out with setting the table?" Mia looks at me in shock and tiptoes to check my forehead for a fever.
"Fuck off, Mia. I'm hungry." I growl.
"Christian Trevelyan Grey, language. This is not how I raised you." Mom scolds but I roll my eyes and ignore her as I pick up the jar of fresh OJ and walk back to the table.
Elliot wiggles his eyebrows at me because the fucker knows what I'm doing. I told him my chance to talk to Ana on the beach this morning. I will not repeat the crass joke he made at my expense.
Once Grace, Mia and Ana bring over the last of the items for the breakfast, Elliot thanks the heavens and tries to dig in but Mom slaps away his hand making us laugh.
"So this is Meneman, it's Turkish style scrambled eggs. Some people like them with the eggs poached but I always get it wrong so I went the lazy route this morning. These are some pieces of friend halloumi cheese, not Turkish but Mediterranean so we'll let it slide." She giggles. "I asked Mia to get some sesame seed bagels and we're going to pretend they're Turkish bagels... you can eat them with cheese or the eggs or butter and jam and I'll let Mia explain what she made." She sits down and Elliot claps but she rolls her eyes at him.
Mia made some French breakfast staples and pretty soon we were digging in and full engrossed in our food and conversation about different things.
"Mia was telling me that you both just celebrated your 35th wedding anniversary, congratulations on the milestone." Ana smiles.
"Thank you, dear." Carrick smiles genuinely.
"I would love to take a few pictures of you both. It's so important to document these important moments"
Grace laughs. "Oh sweetheart that's such a wonderful gesture but you don't have to."
"But I'd love to. I promise it won't take more than 10 minutes." Ana smiles. "Please?" She bats her eyes at Grace and makes her laugh again. God she's so fucking adorable.
"This I gotta see, there is no way to make Dad look good in pictures." Elliot laughs.
"I'll happily prove you wrong, Grey" Ana challenges and Carrick laughs as he gets up from his seat and playfully slaps Elliot up the head.
"Look at you two... so damn cute." Ana sasses when Mom and Dad walk into the living room holding hands. Mom is wearing dark green summer dress and Dad is dressed casually in jeans.
Ana asks Elliot to move the coffee table to the side and out of view. "Can we play some music, do you have a sound system?"
I tell her we do and she asks mom and dad their first dance song. I cue it up and the sound of Frank's voice singing Witchcraft seeps through the air. Ana asks mom and Dad to dance with abandon and have a good time as she continues to click. She's almost like a ballerina, constantly on her tiptoes following them and moving in to get close ups and then moving back to get wider shots.
It's a joy to see Mom and Dad dance away like they're young and in love again. Ana whispers something to them every now and then making them laugh out loud and quickly captures those moments.
"How about one family picture? Just for the books." Ana looks back at us siblings. I see her cheeks are flushed and she eyes are twinkling. She really does love what she does.
Mia claps and we walk to a shaded area in the backyard. She positions Mia in the middle with Mom and Dad on either side with Elliot and I next to them.
"Okay now, everyone think of something incredibly embarrassing that Elliot has done, I'm sure it won't be that hard to do." She giggles and we all laugh and she quickly snaps a few and within a minute we're done. She looks through the pictures to make sure no one's eyes are closed and declares that we're pro's and therefore done for the day.
"Thank you, darling. You didn't have to but this really was such a good idea. We haven't had a proper family picture done in years." Grace says as she walks back with Ana into the house with her arm around her shoulders
"Anytime, Grace. Thank you for opening your home to me and as for the photos, I know how important these memories are and even more so to document them. Dad took so many pictures of mom and us in general throughout the years... in the end it's been such a comfort. Those photos serve as bridges to memories that I'd forgotten about." She says with a sad smile as she puts her camera down on the table as she walks in.
"What did she look like?" Grace asks. Ana takes out her phone and shows her a family picture of when she was 12 years old. She was a beautiful woman but it's clear that Ana looks a lot like her minus the eye color.
It's a little after 1pm when we here the front door open and the grating voice of Katherine Kavanagh announce herself. Elliot looks equally surprised because she told him she definitely wouldn't be able to make it. This weekend was going so well... fuck.
APOV
I hear Mia groan as she walks out on to the patio. "What happened?" I ask.
"The bitch is here." She whispers. Suddenly I feel my heart fall into my stomach and the hairs on my neck stand. Oh god.
WE ARE AT DEFCON 1.
Breathe.
Breathe.
Breathe.
Grace walks out, arm in arm with Kate, as Elliot and Christian follows them. She clocks me and it's literally do or die. I'm mute. I cannot move.
"OH MY GOD, ANA ROSE?" Kate looks at me and screeches. What in the actual fuck? This bitch is gonna act like she knows me now.
But all I can really hear is "ana ana full of woes. ana ana such an eager hoe" ringing loudly in my ears.
Everyone looks at me for an answer and I give a small smile as Kate envelopes me in a crushing hug.
"You both know each other?" Mia looks at me surprised. I swallow.
"Of course we do." Kate sings. "Right Ana? We were in St. Francis Prep together. God, it's so good to see you."
I'm still mute but I manage to give a small smile. "Hey Kate." I mumble.
I can see Mia, Christian and Elliot stare a hole into me. I can't speak.
"What a small world that you know our darling, Kate." Grace cheers.
"You look so much prettier without your braces now, Ana" Kate says. BITCH.
"And you look exactly the same despite the upgrades, Kate." I try to say with as much politeness as I can but I catch Christian trying to stifle a grin that makes me bite my lip to suppress my own laughter.
"Oh Ana, always with the sass." Kate nudges my arm and goes to sit with Elliot.
This is so awkward so I make an excuse to use the bathroom where I will go into full panic mode and text Katya to form an extraction plan because I cannot stay here. I legally cannot be within a 100 feet of Katherine Kavanagh and I am shitting bricks. Before I can make it to the bathroom I hear Mia catch up with me.
"You know her?"
"Sort of." I intone.
"She's making it seem like you were bff's in high school."
"We were, kind of... but grew apart. I left St. Francis my sophomore year..." I shrug. Just then Grace calls her and she tells me this conversation isn't over.
I lock myself in Mia's bathroom and text Katya and JR in our group chat and we brainstorm how to get me out of here. I have a solid out but let's see if Mia buys it.
When I come open the door to come out of the bathroom, I see Kate sitting on Mia's bed with her head cocked to one side.
"Ana Ana full of woes..." She says with a sardonic smile. "Found another family to latch on to, what... trying to get Grace to play mommy to you?"
"Fuck off, Kate."
"Or are you after Elliot because he seems to really taken a liking to you."
"I'm only friends with Mia. Trust me Elliot is yours. All yours. I have no interest in whatever is yours."
"Oh wait... you're after Christian then... well, you're not his type."
I roll my eyes. "My only concern is Mia, Kate. Stop letting your imagination run wild." I make my way to exit the room but she blocks me and closes the door.
"You're in violation of the agreement we signed."
"You're the one who showed up here and trust me, I'm leaving. I don't want to be subjected to your bad nose job or fake tits." I bite back.
She has the audacity to laugh out loud. "Jealous, aren't we Ana rose?"
"My name is Anastasia."
"I'm going to give you 30 minutes to leave or I'll call my lawyer and have you served with a restraining order."
I scoff. "I feel sorry for you."
"This is all your own fault. You stuck your nose where it didn't belong and tried to rip my family apart."
"I told you the truth but you chose money and your trust fund over your mother's happiness and tried to ruin my life. I was trying to be a loyal friend to you."
"Get the fuck out of here, Ana or I will really ruin you."
I am so fucking angry I could strangle her right now but I can't give her another thing to hold over me.
I turn away and go to quickly pack my things.
I will not cry.
I will not cry.
CPOV
I'm sitting with Dad and Elliot sipping on a beer with Kate yapping on the phone in the backyard when I look through the windows and see Ana's packed bag on the chair and she's talking to Mom and Mia in what looks like a heated discussion. What the hell? I get up and walk in.
"Grace, I promise, I'll be fine. I can just take can uber."
"What... nonsense... are you sure you have to go?" Grace seems heartbroken.
"I do. My friend is unable to cover the wedding so she's asking me to take over as the lead. I need to head home to charge my equipment and get ready for tomorrow. My call time is 10am."
"The uber from here to Brooklyn will be insane, Ana."
"It'll be fine, my friend will reimburse me... or I might just take the train instead. I'll check the times."
"You're going back to Brooklyn?" I ask and all of them turn towards me.
"Um.. yeah. I got a last minute wedding gig, my friend needs a replacement and her usual go to's are already booked." Ana responds with a tight smile.
"I can drive you." I offer.
"What? No... don't be silly. I can just take the train. That's insane, driving 2.5 hours jus to drop me off and then the same time to come back...No... You should spend this time with family."
"Actually, I would prefer if you went with Christian, Ana. It'll be safer. I insist." Grace interjects.
THANK YOU MOM. I can just fly back here in the morning or later tonight.
I can tell Ana is uncomfortable with the idea but after Mia's insistence she relents.
We've been in the car for about 20 minutes and Ana hasn't said a word. She's been looking out the window and tapping her leg. She's radiating a nervous energy. She gets a phone call and only gives one-word answers. Her brows are furrowed and a little while later she ends the phone call and continues to look out the window.
"Is everything okay? You seem tense." I ask her.
"I'm fine, thank you for asking. I'm just going over what I need to do when I get home in preparation for tomorrow's gig."
"Are weddings difficult to photograph?"
"Sometimes but mostly it's just the physical aspect of it that's really draining. Being on high alert for 8-10 hours at a time and on your feet the entire time. It can be taxing... we get these things called wedding hangovers" she giggles
I laugh. "How bad are they?"
"Well, they are harder to recover from than alcohol induced hangovers that for sure... I wouldn't wish them on anyone. Your body aches all over and feels like lead. It takes a few days to fully recover from them sometimes."
"How do you take care of yourself?"
"I have to drink a shit ton of water and eat lots of protein the next day. If I had known about this wedding beforehand I would've started to prep myself accordingly. So basically tomorrow will be brutal once I'm done. It's like experiencing an adrenaline crash, extreme exhaustion and dehydration at the same time once you finally get home. The body can be an amazing thing till you push it to the brink." She muses.
"So you have no one to take care of you?"
"Katya or her mom can help out if I ever need it but I'm usually okay on my own." I could take care of you, baby. If you'd only ask.
We drive in silence for a little while as the music plays.
"So you know Katherine Kavanah as well." I ask.
"Sort of. Not by choice, I can assure you."
"Ah, so you agree that she's a bitch." I chuckle.
She giggles. "Your words not mine"
"How was she in high school?"
"Well, what do you think?" She looks at me with a raised eyebrow.
I laugh. "Fair enough."
Why do I feel like there's more to this story? Maybe I should get a background check. I've been avoiding it but I'm too fucking curious now. I want to know more about her.
"It's sad that she died so young." Ana muses.
"Who?"
"Eva Cassidy. Her voice was is so beautiful."
Wade in the water is playing.
"Didn't think your generation knew of her." I smirk.
"Well, grandpa... you'd be surprised to know that not all us kids are just listening to top 40 trash all the time." She laughs. The songs ends and she asks if she can go through my library. I give her my phone and she starts scrolling through.
"Hold up... you have Toxic on here? Well, well, Lurch... aren't you full of surprises." She giggles.
I smile but the thought of how the song got on there immediately wipes it away. Fucking Leila Williams.
"It's okay, I won't tell anyone... some days, you just need Britney in your corner I totally get it." She giggles and goes back to scrolling. "Yes... found it." She clicks play and it takes me a few seconds to figure out what the song is.
"Post Malone, really?"
"Not just any Post Malone song... it's the best one. Sugar Wraith is so underrated that it's criminal if you ask me." She sasses. "Plus, it makes sense to play song like this in a badass car like this. By the way, how do you not fall asleep driving this thing it's so comfy..."
"Comfy?" I smirk.
"Yeah... like a fluffy hotel bed." She laughs.
I laugh and shake my head. This girl is something else entirely.
I pull up onto her street and park right infront of her brownstone. She gets out and we walk back to the trunk and she takes out her bag.
"Thank you so much for driving me back. I really appreciate it. Would you like to come in for dinner at least? I was going to order chinese or pizza." She smiles.
"No I'm good. I'm going to head back to the apartment to get some work done."
"But it's the holiday..."
"It never stops unfortunately." I shrug.
"Are you sure? Not even for a coffee. I feel bad."
"I'm fine, honestly." I smile.
"Well, then I'll make you an apple pie or come by the diner and lunch will be my treat." She beams at me with her blue eyes.
"Sure, I'll take you up on that." I smile back. It's now and never. "Thank you for the company, Ana. It was refreshing." I lean in and kiss her cheek and I hear her gasp slightly when I pull back. Her skin is warm, soft as silk and the smell of her perfume is intoxicating. Roses?
We say our goodbyes and I walk around the car to get to the drivers seat. I look at her going up the stairs when her front door suddenly opens and out steps a tall Hispanic guy. He's a decent look fucker. She hugs him and they stand in an embrace for a few seconds and I feel like my eyes will fall out.
I quickly get in my car and roar out her street.
Did she have me drive her back home to get back to her fuck buddy? Was the supposed wedding gig even real?
How could I have been so fucking stupid?
FUCK.
A/N: Well shit... who wants to smack Kate and ruin her nosejob even more? And Christian jumping to conclusions... woah, there. I hope you like how they got some time to talk and get to know each other. i've got some fun stuff coming up for them... even through the misunderstanding haha.
Music:
Witchcraft – Frank Sinatra
Wade in the water – Eva Cassidy
Toxic – Britney Spears
Sugar Wraith – Post Malone. - it was only a matter of time till I snuck some post malone in there.
MajorisAngus: Ana will not go through any physical trauma in this story. Some elements may allude to it but in no way will she be subjected to trauma like my other story. There is some mental trauma. There will be an element of danger but again, nothing as crazy what happened to Ana in my other story.
Guest: If you have problem with my version of CG not coming across as the usual dominant he is... then you might want to stop reading to avoid further disappointment. This is a slightly reformed and rehabilitated Christian.