OMG... I have no idea what to say, 120+ reviews and so many pm's that I am still trying to reply to all of them. So, if you haven't gotten a reply so far, don't worry, I'll reply it just takes some time...
I have to admit, that I posted the first chapter merely because I was in the mood to post and I didn't really think about an outline, as most of the times the plot comes to me as I am writing the story... but I did give this story a lot of thought in the last couple of days and for those of you who were worried about the outcome of the story... don't worry, this story is going to have a HEA for Ana and Christian.
I also decided not to wait until two of my others stories are complete to fully get into this one. I can't promise regular updates, but I will try to post once a week for now...
Ana
I feel like I am sleepwalking as I take the first step towards the street. There is nothing left inside of me, just this overwhelming pain and just as I am about to step into the middle of the road, I feel strong arms around my middle and I am pulled back to the sidewalk.
"Holy fuck, Ana. Didn't you see the truck? And what are you doing here?" I stare up at Elliot and I have no idea what to tell him, so I just continue to stare blankly at him.
"Christ, okay, wait I need to call Kate, everyone is looking for you." he says takes his phone out and calls Kate.
"Kate... I found her... I don't know Kate, something is not right. She hasn't said a single word... Yes, I'll bring her back to my parents home." he hangs up and because I have no idea what else to do, I just follow him back, but stop outside the gate when I see Taylor. Of course, he is going to make sure that I won't enter the property again.
"Come on, Ana." Elliot tries to get me to follow him, but I am rooted to the spot. And then I see Elliot's parents and Kate walking towards us.
"Ana! Oh my gosh, you scared me, I couldn't find you anywhere, why are you out here, come on. You are missing dinner and you need to eat, if you lose any more weight there won't be anything left of you." Kate says grabs my wrist and of course the moment I have set foot on the property Taylor blocks the way.
"Miss Kavanagh, I need you to let go of Miss Steele's wrist. She is not welcome here and I've already told her s..."
"Excuse me?! Correct me if I am wrong, Taylor, but this is still my home, right?" Mr. Grey asks and he looks mad.
"Yes, Sir. But your son gave me instructions to remove Miss Steele from the property and..."
"Enough, I'm not listening to this, Miss Steele is our guest, my son doesn't get to make the decision whom my wife and I can invite into our home and quite frankly Taylor, kicking my guests out makes me question if you are still welcome here, now if you'll excuse us" he says wraps one arm around my shoulder and leads me back into the tent.
"Don't worry, Anastasia. You are Kate's best friend..."
"Not much longer" and with that the tears start again. Mr. Grey stops and looks at me.
"What do you mean?"
"I ... could I talk to you, privately for a moment. I could use your advise as a lawyer."
His brows shoot up, but he nods and leads me into the house and into his study.
"Please, have a seat, Anastasia. Can I offer you something to drink."
"No, thank you" I murmur and sit down in one of the club chairs.
"So, Anastasia, why do you need my advise?" Mr. Grey sits down behind his desk and I take a deep breath. I can do this.
"When I started seeing Christian he asked me to sign a NDA. At the time I didn't put too much thought into it. I just signed it without even reading it. And today he let me know through Taylor, that because I have signed the NDA I can no longer come here and that once Kate has married Elliot, I have to end my friendship with Kate, too. I had no idea that this could happen when I've signed the NDA. Kate is my only friend, she is like a sister... I ... I ... sorry" I sob and try to compose myself.
Mr. Grey gets up from his chair kneels by my side and hands me handkerchief.
"Please, Anastasia, you don't have to cry. There is no such thing as a NDA that could keep you from going to certain places or being friends with Kate. I have no idea what my son is playing at, but I won't have it. I would like to know why your relationship ended, but if you answer me it could be a breach of the NDA, so I won't ask you. But is there anything else that Christian did to you?"
He looks at me kindly and I nod. "He gave me a car for my graduation, when we decide not to see each other anymore, I gave him the car back and he gave me a check for the money Taylor got for Wanda."
"Wanda?"
"My old VW Beetle. Last week I decided to bank the check, but at the bank I was told that the check bounced. The check was way too high for what Taylor could have possibly gotten for my old car, but I need at least what he got for my car."
"Of course, please wait a moment." he leaves the study and I cringe when he returns with Christian who looks as if he is ready to spit nails.
"Why the fuck is she still here, Dad?"
"Anastasia is still here, because your mother and I invited her to celebrate Kate's birthday. We already know that you told Taylor to remove her from the property, but I'm not having it, Christian. This is my house and I am the one to make the rules in here. Now, have you told Anastasia she couldn't be here or stay friends with Kate, because of a NDA you made her sign?"
"Well, look at that. You know I could sue you for even mentioning the NDA" Christian hisses at me.
"No, you can't and I'm warning you, son. Do not threaten the girl in my home. She can mention the NDA all she likes, as long as she doesn't go into the details thereof or into details of your relationship. Christ, have I raised you to treat women like that?"
"She nothing but a none good lying bitch, but by all means, let her stay; Michelle and I wanted to leave anyway. Oh, and Anastasia... you are going to regret that you even showed up here tonight." and with that he storms out of the study, nearly knocking over Elliot who was just about to come in.
"Fuck, what crawled up his ass and died? Dad, I had about enough with him, ever since Kate and I returned from Barbados, Ana is a complete mess and now he is acting like a jerk, and this Michelle... yeah, fat chance that she is his girlfriend. I've been at his place at least three times each week since Barbados, but this girl wasn't there once. I have no idea what his deal is, but I am about to knock some sense into him."
"Get in line, son. Good Lord, the way he acted tonight reminded me of his teenage years. But another thing, Elliot, you have a lot of knowledge when it comes to cars, right?"
"Sure, why Dad?"
"How much do you think is an old VW Beetle worth." oh no, I don't think like where this is going.
"Depends, a collector would probably pay a couple thousand bucks."
"Good, I'll write you a check, Anastasia. Say five thousand dollar?"
"No, please, I can't take money from you, Mr. Grey."
"Yes, you can Anastasia. Believe me, this is not the first time I had to deal with a mess Christian made. You need a car, it is not safe for a young, beautiful woman like you are to walk or take the bus all the time. I won't take no for answer, so you better take the check."
I nod and take the check, but I feel terrible about it. Maybe, I'll just return it later. Back at the party I try to make a happy face for Kate, but I know I am failing miserably. I don't want to ruin Kate's birthday, but around 11 pm, I excuse myself and take a cab home.
At the apartment I quickly change into my pj's and get into bed, hugging the inflated Charlie Tango balloon to close. But as I lie there and think about today I get really angry. He called me a lying bitch and basically threatened me in front of his parents. And I have done nothing wrong, for three months I have been miserable without him and I had so many hopes for tonight, but they were all crashed.
Seeing Christian with another woman... and he allowed her to touch him. Actually, if Elliot is right and this was just an act to hurt me it's even worse. He told me I was the one woman he wanted to have more with, yet I couldn't touch him and this random woman can... maybe he allowed her to touch him, because he knew how much it would hurt me. That's just cruel. And here I am, thinking of what I could have possible done to anger him like that.
But I come up empty. For the last three months all I have done is being at home or work. So, why is he acting like this... or maybe he lied to me right from the start... maybe he is a sadist and finds some sort of sick pleasure in seeing me hurt and inflicting pain on me this way. After all I have left him because I couldn't take his punishment, maybe he just isn't done with me and making me miserable is how he is getting his kicks now.
Well, if that is what he wants, then he succeeded, because I have never felt this miserable in my life. Still, I'm hanging on to him, clinging to the balloon he has given me imagining it was him and in this moment, I decide this has to stop, I can't live like this, I was considering to kill myself over him tonight... I just need to stop this or else I will end up killing myself.
I get out of bed and find a duffel bag in my closet, I take the balloon, Christian's jacket, two pairs of boxer briefs and his sweater out of my chest of drawers and stuff it all inside. Looking through my room I see the picture of Christian and I from graduation. I printed it from the internet and framed it, so I could at least look at him. I take the picture and put it in the duffel bag. The last thing that has to go is his damned contract, it's still hidden under my bed, and I need it gone, too.
After putting on a cardigan I make my way into the kitchen and take a lighter out of one of the drawers.
"Hey Ana, still up?" I jump when I hear a voice and scowl at Ethan who just came into the apartment. He is still staying with us, because the building that houses his apartment is undergoing renovations and he can't move in until the end of the month.
"Yes, can I borrow your car?"
"What? It's the middle of the night, where do you need to go at this hour?"
"I need to get rid of some things, please Ethan, I don't want to walk." I plead and he sighs.
"Fine, but I will drive you, I don't want you to go out alone at night" he gives me his best take it or leave it look and I sigh.
"Okay"
"Good, where do you want to go?"
"Well, I am not sure, I need to burn some things." I murmur and Ethan smirks.
"That must be a girl thing, well, you are lucky I know exactly where Kate used to burn all the things she got from her ex boyfriends. Do you have everything?"
I look around and see those darn Tess books, but I can't burn them... they are just too expensive and rare, no I know exactly what I am going to with them.
"Yes" Ethan takes the duffel bag from me and after driving for 25 minutes he stops at park. We walk for another ten minutes until reach a picnic site and Ethan empties one of the metal waste bins. Good think I gave back the Audi, no way I could have burned that car too, I think to myself and start to light each of the pages of the contract first, before I add the boxer briefs, the sweater, the Charlie Tango balloon and jacket along with Taylor's handkerchief.
I look at the picture of Christian and I one last time and throw it into the fire. This is it, I have erased almost every memory of Christian Grey that I have. Hanging on to it as if he would come back one day is just not healthy. I need to get over him, even if it breaks my heart, but he is not the man I thought he was. He is cruel and mean, but... No, I have to stop this, I can't try to come up with excuses for his behavior... not after tonight.
And as I watch, what I called my Christian Grey collection, burn I am starting to feel a little lighter. Not much, but I don't feel like I am going to break any second anymore. There is just one more thing to do... and hopefully after that I can finally end this chapter of my life and start a new one...
Two days later
Today is monday and I have to hurry, because I have to be at SeaTac in about an hour, but there is something I need to do first. As I arrive at my destination I sigh, how things have changed since the last time I have been here. But I need to do this, I just can't keep this books and I don't want to face Christian again... ever.
So, I take a deep breath and enter Grey House through the revolving glass door. I make my way to the reception desk where a beautiful blonde woman is smiling brightly at me.
"Welcome to Grey Enterprises Holdings, how may I help you?"
"I need you to give this back to Mr. Grey. He has sent me those books and I don't want them." I place the books on her desk and her mouth pops open.
"You ... umm ... are you talking about Mr. Christian Grey?"
"Yes, so can you give him those books or give them Taylor and he can give them to Christian." When I refer to him by his first name the young blonde looks almost faint and I want to snort. Get a grip, he is not Lord Voldemort, so I can say his name as often as I want.
I am just about to say something to her when I feel him. Fuck, Christian is here. I don't even need to turn around to know that he is here. And sure enough someone comes to a halt right behind me.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" he hisses into my ear and I have to fight the urge to cringe from the venom in his voice. Instead I take the books and turn around.
"I am here to return these books." I thrust the books against his chest so he has to take them and for a second we stare at each other, me heart-broken and he full of hate. I need to go, I can't be around him, not anymore it's just to painful. So, I turn around, leave Grey House and get into the cab that is waiting for me outside.
"We can go to SeaTac now" I tell the driver and as he pulls into traffic I look back one last time and see Christian standing outside of Grey House. If only things could have been different, but as it is I have to get over him and I know that New York is going to be just what I need to take a step closer to becoming my old self again...
I know many of you have requested Christian's POV, but for now this story is about Ana. Christian will show up once more in chapter 4 or 5, but after that I will focus on Ana and it will take about 5 to 10 chapters before Christian is going to be back in the picture... so you'll have to wait a while for POV...
You can find the link to the pinterest board for this story on my bio page :-)
