Chapter 15 - The Proposal x2
Christian's POV
"What?" I said rather rudely into the phone.
"Christian," my father said cooly, "Your mother tells me you and Ana are going to D.C. with Jerry Grant for Christmas."
"We are," I confirmed.
"Well, your mother is very upset that you won't be home. Is there any chance you and Ana would change your plans?"
"No."
"Christian…" he pressed.
"Is that all dad?" I spit out.
"Yes, that's all. Goodbye."
And here I was thinking, hoping that he was going to apologize to me. Whatever. I didn't need his support or his apology. It was meaningless anyway.
Ana's POV
I was really stressed out this week. Between more tension with Christian and his father and having to deal with finals, I had barely been getting any sleep. Not to mention the fact that Christian loved to keep me up all night.
Anyways, I had a surprise for Christian before we jet off to D.C. He was so focused on his company and proving Carrick wrong that he deserved something special. When I told my dad Christian and I had been shacking up in a tiny apartment, he was not pleased. But since Christian dropped out, both of us staying in my dorm wasn't an option. And I hated falling asleep without Christian, so the small apartment was our only option. The apartment originally intended for my clothes was a short walk from Harvard Square, but my dad was still concerned about my safety in that area.
Long story short, my dad bought us a stunning Renaissance-style townhouse in Back Bay, and it was only a short 10-minute commute to school. Christian was going to be over the moon. It had a stunning view of the Charles River, and there was so much space. The massive his and hers closet was exactly why my dad picked the place. Plus, my baby was going to have space for a grand piano. I loved listening to him play for me.
GEH was on its way to hiring soon, but I knew he was going to hold off on bringing in anyone until the new year. Christian was talking about renting office space soon, so I was really looking forward to that. But for now, I already had a prime piece of real estate to show him.
Jerry knew about the townhouse already. We went to go check it out before my dad bought it when Christian was working. I didn't want to leave Jerry in the Harvard dorms all alone, so I had to convince his mom to give up on the 'normal college experience' to let Jerry come live with us. And it wasn't like we didn't have the space.
Our bags were all packed for the airport, but I told the driver to make a quick stop to the townhouse first so I could surprise Christian.
"Where are we going, baby?" he asked when the car came to a stop.
"You'll see," I replied giddily, "Come on."
We both stepped out into the brisk Boston air. Ever since that Bloomberg article came out about Christian, the young up-and-coming hotshot CEO, we had been seeing the paparazzi from time to time. We both hated it, but we knew it came with the territory. We got so used to a constant paparazzi presence in Seattle, but in Boston, we weren't as recognized. But thanks to that article everything changed.
I breathed a sigh of relief when we didn't see photographers lurking anywhere. They had an uncanny ability to find us – it was crazy. But because of the unexpectedness of the paps, I had been making sure Christian and I were impeccably dressed at all times, and today was no exception.
Ever since becoming a CEO, Christian had to wear suits a lot more, which I was extremely turned on by. I mean a man in a suit? What girl didn't fantasize about her man in a suit? Especially when your man had washboard abs like mine. Back to my point. I pretty much eliminated most of his sweatpants and sweatshirts that make him look completely unprofessional.
His more casual wear now consisted of slim-fit trousers, dark wash jeans, button-downs, sweaters, and sportcoats. Unless he was working out, it was my mission to never let him be seen in public in sweats. At home, it was totally fine, but perception was everything in the business world. Since he was so young, people were already going to have their doubts about him. But if he was perceived by the public as a professional, his business associates were more likely to respect him. As they say, dress for success.
Christian was looking extremely handsome in a cream Loro Piana cashmere sweater, black Rag & Bone jeans, a black overcoat by Ermenegildo Zegna, and black Giorgio Armani Chelsea boots.
I was wearing a couture black Valentino midi dress with floral sequin embroidery and puffed short sleeves. I was also wearing a red Burberry trench coat, black wool stockings from Wolford, and black suede Aquazzura pumps. To accessorize, I had a red Goyard tote and black leather Gucci gloves. I felt like Blair Waldorf.
Christian was staring at me, wondering what we were doing on the street in the freezing cold when we should be on our way to the airport.
"I have a surprise for you," I smiled, producing the key to the apartment from my purse.
Christian looked confused as I led him to the front door.
"Why do you have the key to this place, Ana?"
I opened the door and walked inside, holding Christian's hand.
"This is your surprise," I said, beaming.
"You're kidding, right?" he asked incredulously.
"No," I smiled, "This is our new home for the time being."
"Ana…" he stuttered, "You bought a house?"
"Well technically, Ray bought the house. But it's ours. We can move in after Christmas break," I stated.
The townhouse had a total of three stories. As of now, there was no furniture. My dad thought Christian and I would enjoy decorating together. But I would definitely be the one making most of the decisions.
"What do you think?" I asked.
"It's absolutely perfect."
After winter break
Christian's POV
Ana and Jerry were all settled in back at Harvard to start the new semester. We were all moving into the new house this week, but Ana and I really needed to work on getting it furnished soon. I recommended that we hire someone to do it since Ana had to focus on school and I was occupied with work. But Ana insisted that we should do it ourselves.
The first thing on my agenda this week was to find office space. Ana and I were going to look at three options tonight. I was thinking of just leasing a floor of office space for a few months because with the way GEH was growing, we might need a whole building soon.
Then, for three days Ros and I were conducting tons of interviews for job openings we had. Initially, we got a boatload of applications, mostly from younger, recent college graduates. Most of them had one or two previous job references, while some of them were fresh out of college. Very few established adults in the business applied, but I thought that was a good thing. I was looking for young, determined people who would flourish under pressure and work their asses off.
Since we decided to keep the initial hiring small at first, Ros and I had to filter through most of the applications. We only offered interviews to the ones that stood out to us the most. I wanted to make sure all the first hires were the absolute perfect fit. There was no room for failure here.
My first interview was with Barney Sullivan for the Head of IT job. From looking at his resume, he was the perfect fit. He graduated early from MIT and had outstanding recommendations from his professors. Apparently, he hacked into the CIA's server, so he must have been good. I also had another MIT graduate that was going to come in for an interview, but as far as I was concerned, Barney already got the job unless any red flags were raised during the interview. I might hire the other guy to work under Barney. Not sure yet.
As far as the other departments went, I had way too many qualified applicants for only a limited number of jobs. I was hiring 6 deal team analysts, 2 people for my legal team, 2 data analysts, 2 accounts, 2 PR people, an HR rep, and a secretary.
I had to rifle through about 500 applications for spots on my deal team alone, which was crazy. Most of the applicants came from Ivy League graduates, and to be honest, I was so grateful that my company was fortunate enough to choose from that pool.
I trusted Ros's judgments, so I was letting her conduct interviews for the legal team, PR positions, data analysts, and the accounting team. I was going to do the interviews for my secretary, the HR rep, and the deal team analysts.
Whew, I had a lot of interviews to get through this week, on top of securing office space, finishing up a few deals, and not to forget, planning how I was going to propose to Ana.
I knew what you were all thinking. Why didn't my dumb ass propose when we were in D.C. during Christmas? The answer… I was a fucking idiot. I couldn't figure out how I wanted to propose or what I wanted to say, and I fucking chickened out.
But now I was more determined than ever to make Ana my fianceé. It was going to happen, I promise. But I just had to get through this hell of a week first.
One week later
Ana's POV
Christian had really hit the ground running. He already hired 15 well-qualified people for GEH, and he just signed the lease for office space in downtown Boston.
I was so proud and in awe of him that he was able to accomplish all of this in such a short period of time. His work ethic was unmatched, and he truly deserved every bit of success he had. But since Christian had hit such a milestone with GEH, getting office space and hiring its first employees, I wanted to do something really special for him.
I got him a Fazioli grand concert piano, and I knew he was going to love it. I didn't know much about pianos, so when I went to the store and asked for the top of the line, no budget, the man said Faziolis were every pianist's dream. It had a hefty price tag of $200,000, so it better be worth the money. But I knew seeing that smile on Christian's face would make all the money spent inconsequential.
It was Saturday night, and Christian had an emergency with GEH regarding a deal falling through. So Christian had been holed up in his study all day trying to smooth things over with an associate. Jerry had to go back to D.C. this weekend for an event, so Christian and I were at home by ourselves.
The house was still relatively empty. We had all the essential furniture, but it didn't feel like our home yet. We still needed to get pictures and art on the walls and work on the decorations. But that could always wait.
I just had the piano delivered and moved into the great room, and I couldn't wait for Christian to see it. I hadn't heard much yelling coming from his study in a while, so I was assuming he should be wrapping things up soon. Christian usually tried to avoid working on weekends to spend time with me, but sometimes it was unavoidable. I wasn't upset though. I knew how much GEH meant to him. And by no means did he neglect me, if you catch my drift.
I decided to go check on him upstairs in his study. When I popped open the door, I saw Christian reviewing some contracts. He looked up from the papers and smiled at me.
"Hey baby," he greeted, "I'm sorry I've been working all day. I'm almost done, though. I just have two more pages to go through."
"Don't worry about it," I reassured him, "Can I get you anything?"
"No, but you can go wait in the bedroom," he said with a smirk, "I'll only be 5 minutes tops."
I giggled and retorted, "I'll be in the great room waiting for you." I gave him a wink before leaving his study.
Christian's POV
A huge fucking deal almost blew up in my face today. The owner of the company GEH was trying to buyout decided at the last minute that he didn't like the terms of the original deal and was prepared to walk out entirely. But thankfully, I was able to avert that crisis and come to a new deal.
I was almost done going over the contract of the new deal and giving my final signatures. I was happy that this headache of a deal was finally behind me. And I couldn't wait for the next couple of weeks when all of the new hires would be full-time GEH employees.
I had also made one rule for myself – no getting friendly with employees. I was so young, and whether it was conscious or not, they were going to have less respect for me. Getting friendly with my staff would only be counterproductive to the company I was creating and the business environment I wanted to foster. The only exception to that rule would be Ros. We were already friends, so I guess there was no going back. Hopefully, the new employees would take some of the load off of me so I could spend more time with Ana.
When I walked downstairs, I saw Ana curled up with a book… And a huge fucking grand piano. When the fuck did that get here? The thing was fucking stunning.
"Do you like it?" she smiled, looking up from the book.
I took a seat at the piano bench and ran my hands over the keys. Holy shit! It was a Fazioli piano. This was amazing.
"Ana… the house. Now, this?"
"You deserve it," she said, joining me on the bench, "The only condition is you have to play a song for me."
"What do you want to hear?"
"Can you sing for me?" she asked hopefully. I rarely ever sang. But what my baby wanted, she got.
I started to play the familiar notes to Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud" and started singing.
When your legs don't work like they used to before
And I can't sweep you off of your feet
Will your mouth still remember the taste of my love
Will your eyes still smile from your cheeks
And darling I will be loving you 'til we're 70
And baby my heart could still fall as hard at 23
And I'm thinking 'bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways
Maybe just the touch of a hand
Oh me I fall in love with you every single day
And I just wanna tell you I am
So honey now
Take me into your loving arms
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars
Place your head on my beating heart
I'm thinking out loud
Maybe we found love right where we are
When my hair's all but gone and my memory fades
And the crowds don't remember my name
When my hands don't play the strings the same way, mm
I know you will still love me the same
'Cause honey your soul can never grow old, it's evergreen
Baby your smile's forever in my mind and memory
I'm thinking 'bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways
Maybe it's all part of a plan
I'll just keep on making the same mistakes
Hoping that you'll understand
But baby now
Take me into your loving arms
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars
Place your head on my beating heart
I'm thinking out loud
That maybe we found love right where we are, oh
So baby now
Take me into your loving arms
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars
Oh darling, place your head on my beating heart
I'm thinking out loud
That maybe we found love right where we are
Oh maybe we found love right where we are
And we found love right where we are
When I played the last note, I glanced at Ana. She was looking at me with such love and adoration in her eyes, and I wondered why I was waiting so long to pop the question. I didn't need some huge over-the-top romantic proposal to convince her to marry me. She loved me. She loved me. She loved me. I had to stop doubting it.
"That was beautiful," she mused.
"Marry me?" I blurted out.
"What?" she stammered.
"Marry me?" I said with more confidence.
She didn't say anything for a while. We just gazed into each other's eyes. I almost thought she was going to say no before I heard the most beautiful word come out of her mouth, "Yes. Yes, I'll marry you."
I saw tears of happiness pooling in her eyes. She launched herself at me, and my lips captured hers in a heated kiss. Then, I carried her to the bedroom where we made sweet, sweet love all night long.
Ana's POV
Last night was a dream. I couldn't believe Christian asked me to marry him. I hoped he asked my dad's permission though. But knowing how old-fashioned Christian was, I was almost positive he asked my dad for my hand in marriage. Although, the proposal did seem like a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing. It wasn't how I envisioned getting engaged, but I wouldn't change a thing about it.
When I woke up, Christian's side of the bed was cold, much to my disappointment. I looked at the clock and realized it was 12 pm. Shit! I couldn't remember the last time I slept in this late. But it did make sense since Christian and I didn't go to bed until the early hours of the morning.
I put on some comfy clothes and went downstairs looking for Christian. I spotted him in the kitchen making a complete idiot of himself. I saw burnt toast, overcooked eggs, and charred bacon. At least he tried.
"Are you trying to cook?" I giggled.
"I wanted to do something for my fiancée, but I think I failed miserably," he sighed while pulling me close to him.
"Fiancée," I remarked, "I quite like the sound of that."
"Do you know what sounds better?"
"What?"
"Wife," he grinned, "Mrs. Grey." And I did have to admit, I couldn't wait for people to call me that.
He pressed his lips against mine, and I moaned against his mouth, "Mmm, Mr. and Mrs. Grey."
Christian's POV
I was such a fucking fool. I forgot the ring! What kind of idiot proposed without the ring? That thought just came into my mind this morning right when I woke up. And I didn't get down on one knee either! Gah, I was really breaking all the rules now. I guess I was going to have to surprise her again with another proposal tonight.
Ana and I celebrated our engagement all night and all day long. Since Jerry wasn't around, we took advantage of the whole house with a fuck-a-thon, christening almost every room. There was nothing sexier than making love to your soon-to-be wife.
Ana was upstairs, snoozing away. I really wore her out today. Since my dumb ass forgot to give her the ring, I was going to set up a romantic dinner on the balcony and properly propose there. And I wouldn't be cooking this time.
I went to the bedroom to check on Ana, and she was still sound asleep. She probably wouldn't wake up for another couple of hours or so. I thought that would give me enough time to properly set up.
I knew I should probably dress up for this occasion too, so I put on a grey suit that Ana loved. I tamed my just-fucked hair and washed up. I then found the ring buried at the bottom of my sock drawer, and I slipped it into my pocket.
The first order of business was to call the florists.
"Hello, Winston Flowers. This is Michelle. How can I help you?"
"I need about 200 bouquets of red roses delivered in no more than 2 hours," I demanded, in my CEO voice.
"I… I'm sorry?" she stammered.
"200 bouquets of red roses delivered in 2 hours," I repeated myself.
"Sir, I'm sorry. I don't think we can accommodate that kind of order in such a short amount of time."
"How much?" I asked. Money talked.
"Sorry?" she stammered yet again.
"How much would it cost to make this happen?"
"Um… Mr…" her voice trailed off.
"Christian. Christian Grey," I stated, "Name your price."
"Sir, I'm going to have to talk to my manager, please hold." Ugh, imbecile.
"Hello, Mr. Grey," a much more confident voice rang through the phone, "That kind of order will set you back about ten grand."
"Okay," I stated.
I must have shocked the manager because I heard a sharp intake of breath before he composed himself. "Okay, sir, what's your address?"
I proceeded to give him my address then ended the call.
The next call I made was to Ana's favorite Italian restaurant in Boston. A stunning 3-course meal was going to be delivered within the next 2 hours. I didn't want to poison my bride-to-be with my terrible cooking.
The next order of business was to set up the dinner table. And that's when I realized that we had no furniture on the balcony. Well, that was just great. We could always eat inside, but that would defeat the purpose of the mass of flowers I just ordered. Oh well, I guess I'd have to improvise.
There was a small built-in bench on the balcony that could serve as seating, but it didn't look comfortable to sit on. I had to go through our boxes of things to find blankets and pillows to lay out. Instead of a proper table, I stacked boxes and placed a tablecloth over it, hoping Ana didn't notice. But knowing her, she probably would, and she would definitely laugh at me for it.
I went through the boxes to see if there was anything else I could use when I found a box full of fairy lights. This would be perfect to set the mood since we didn't have any candles at the moment. I took the strands of light and hung them all along the balcony's railing and around the sliding door that led outside.
Shortly after my sublime decorating skills were put to the test, I heard the doorbell. Crap, I hope that didn't wake up Ana.
When the florist arrived, I ordered them around in a frenzy about where and how to place the bouquets. Neurotic? Just a little.
About 2 hours into my master plan, the food arrived. I instructed the delivery guys to put it in the plate warmer in the kitchen, and I went to check on Ana to see if she was awake yet.
I saw my girl still in bed, cuddled up against a pillow because I wasn't there.
"Hey baby," I said tenderly, pulling back the duvet and running my hand along her arm.
Her eyes fluttered open and she pouted, "Why are you dressed?"
I smirked and replied, "It's my turn to surprise you."
"What do you have planned, Grey?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at me.
"Just get dressed," I laughed, "Preferably something sexy."
That line made her throw a pillow at me. I took that as a queue to give her space to get ready.
Before leaving the bedroom, I called out, "I'll be waiting downstairs."
I knew it would take her a while to get ready, so I made the finishing touches for tonight. I grabbed a bottle of Dom Perignon from the fridge (a gift from a business associate), placed it in a bucket full of ice, and set it on the makeshift table.
Finally, I put the plates of food on the table and cover them with a cloche. I turned on the lights, and it was perfect.
Ana's POV
Christian had been just so full of surprises lately. He always went over the top with surprises, so I knew it must be something spectacular.
When I looked in the mirror, I saw swollen lips and messy hair. I shuddered as I ran my fingers over my lips. I was reminded of Christian's pure lust and passion while we were making love.
I decided to get dressed in something special for Christian. After all, he was wearing a suit, so I should dress the part too. When I got to the walk-in closet, I realized that most of my clothes were still in boxes, waiting to be unpacked. At least I had most of the couture dresses already unpacked. There was no way I would leave them sitting in boxes where they could get wrinkled and destroyed.
I selected a classy yet sexy gown from Marchesa. It was a black embroidered silk gown with floral appliqués. It featured a very deep plunging v-neck, so it would give something for Christian to drool over.
I paired the dress with black suede Jimmy Choo sandals and some jewelry Christian bought me. Over the 2 short years of our relationship, Christian had showered me in jewelry, each piece more extravagant than the next. But I was feeling nostalgic today, so I put on the first 2 pieces Christian ever bought me.
It was a diamond Cartier love bracelet and the matching promise ring. I smiled remembering that Christmas night when Christian presented me with the ring. He promised that someday he would marry me and put a huge diamond engagement ring on my finger for the whole world to see. Hmm, Christian hadn't given me a ring yet. I supposed he thought that I wanted to pick it out together. I'd talk to him about it later, though.
After I put on some light makeup and pinned up my hair, I walked downstairs. Christian was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs with that brilliant megawatt smile of his.
He took my hand and complimented me, "You are a vision, Anastasia."
"I know," I blushed. "Where are we going?" I asked.
"Nowhere."
"Then why are we all dressed up?" I giggled.
"You'll see," he smirked as he led me to the balcony. Was this man crazy?
When he opened the sliding door, I was met with a beautiful sight. There was an explosion of red roses, and lights were everywhere. He even set up a dinner table with what looked like cardboard boxes. I would have laughed if it wasn't so romantic.
"It's gorgeous, Christian," I exclaimed.
"So you like it?"
"Of course." I leaned in and gave him a soft kiss. "Especially the cardboard box table," I murmured.
"It was last minute," he explained, laughing along with me.
After our little exchange, we both sat as close to each other as possible on top of all the pillows and blankets.
"So what are you feeding me tonight, Grey?"
"I ordered from your favorite Italian restaurant," he replied, "Cacio e pepe and lamb chops..."
My mouth salivated at Christian's words. "And tiramisu?" I asked enthusiastically.
"How could I forget," he smirked.
He removed the covers from the plates, and I could smell the deliciousness. I dug right in, and I heard Christian laugh at me. Hey! It was his fault that I was starving. He wore me out today.
Before eating, Christian popped open a bottle of champagne. It was the only thing we had in our fridge. That reminded me. I had to do grocery shopping soon before we both starved to death.
He handed me a glass of champagne, and we clinked our glasses.
"To us," he smiled.
"To us," I echoed.
"This was an amazing surprise, Christian," I smiled at the end of our meal.
"This wasn't the surprise."
"Then what is?" I asked curiously.
"Patience, baby."
I pouted, hoping he would give in.
"That's not going to work, Anastasia," he chuckled.
I frowned, and he ignored me. "Dance with me," he declared, holding out his hand for me to take.
"Right now?" I giggled, "There's no music."
"So?"
"So!" I exclaimed, "We'll look like fools."
"Come on," he encouraged me.
"Okay," I relented and took his hand.
He led me to the other end of the balcony and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me in. I rested my hands on his broad shoulders. And to think, he couldn't stand anyone touching him here before. And now he let me roam my hands freely all over his body. Oh, how times have changed.
With no music, we had no direction. We were definitely out of step and looked like complete idiots, but I didn't care. I was so happy.
After a few minutes of dancing, Christian demanded, "Turn around, baby."
"Why?" I giggled.
"Just do it," he smirked, and I complied.
"What am I doing, Christian?"
After a few moments of silence, Christian responded, "Okay, you can turn back around."
When I turned around, my heart burst with happiness. Christian was down on one knee, holding open a signature red Cartier box with an elegant and stunning engagement ring.
My hands flew to my mouth and tears started forming in my eyes. This was the moment every girl dreamed about aside from her wedding. I was completely overwhelmed.
"Anastasia Rose Steele," Christian started.
"Yes, yes, yes," I cut him off.
"You didn't let me finish," he rebutted, earning a laugh out of me.
I stayed quiet to let him say his piece.
"Anastasia Rose Steele," he continued, "There are so many things I want to say to you right now, but I don't know where to start. Before I met you, I was lost. You pulled me out of the darkness. You turned a boy who was scared, hurt, and emotionally unavailable into a man who is confident, happy, and loving. And for that, I'll be forever grateful. You are the most important person in my life. All the money… It doesn't mean anything if I don't have you. You're the person I want to grow old with. The person I want to have children with. The person I want to be by my side forever. So, Anastasia Steele, will you marry me?"
"Yes!" I practically screamed, tears fully streaming down my face now.
Christian got up from his knees and carefully placed the ring on my finger.
Right now, I didn't care about admiring the ring. All I wanted was Christian.
I practically jumped his bones and pulled him into a heated kiss, desperation filling the air.
"Take me to bed, Christian," I gasped.
"As you wish, soon-to-be Mrs. Grey."