Ana stops her truck in front of SIP offices. The building looks shabby, in need of a renovation. Even the name of the company is faded and nothing tells that it is a publishing company. And this is what she intends to buy. That is, her grandfather does. Through her father, who is the most legit person in their family. However, she will be doing all the work, Edward is a busy person.
Ana gets out of the car and takes a look again. Apart from starting a new company, this is their best option. Acquiring a big company would be difficult and more importantly, it would attract attention. Smaller means better in this case. And if the company is stagnating then it will make the acquisition all the easier.
After some time of waiting in the reception area, Elizabeth Morgan, the head of HR, comes to collect her. She leads her to a meeting room where Jack Hyde waits.
Hyde is a little odd and difficult to read. He is also quite intelligent and seems to be right for his job. Still, it is one of those occasions when Ana wishes to read someone's mind. She isn't a proper telepath, at least not the way it is understood in her family. For some unfathomable reason, her talent is in making electric discharges, an ability she finds rather useless for her. She guesses she could try to take a peek but someone like Hyde could notice an amateur like her.
She plays here role well. An applicant for an internship as an assistant to Hyde. She doesn't show them any sass or smugness, neither are in her nature anyway.
With one exception. She asks whether her predecessor is on maternity leave and whether she'll be wanting her old job back. To that, Hyde condescendingly answers that she doesn't need to fear anything of the sort.
They don't ask her whether she is related to the governor, Black is a common name after all. Neither do they seem to notice that she is a Native American.
They ask her since when is she available and she says, "Immediately, if you wish."
Morgan smiles and replies that it is a little too soon. Hyde laughs and says that next day will suffice which gives Morgan a small pause.
Ana lingers for a few seconds after leaving the room. "Are you sure?" she hears Morgan say through the door. A nearby bout of laughter drowns Hyde's response. She leaves to avoid suspicion.
Christian discusses SIP with Ros before going home. It seems like the most convenient target for acquisition, if they want to branch out in publishing. They decide to go ahead.
When Christian returns home, he finds Taylor and Ana carrying in various electronics. From Ana's truck. Which is parked on the roof.
"Sir?" addresses him Taylor. "I thought it would be better to bring any replacements in discreetly and deny that anything was damaged here."
Christian has to admit that it is a wise course of action. However, he wonders what the tenants in lower floor will do. Will they want the power company to pay for the damages or will they blame the administration of the building? Do these wizard people even care? There is nothing he can do though, not without exposing his involvement in the matter.
"So, I've met Mrs. Jones," reveals Ana when they are alone.
"Yes, my housekeeper."
"Is she, you know, one of them?"
"Them?"
"The fifteen."
"No," deadpans Christian. "I don't fraternize with employees."
He doesn't add "unlike you" but Ana can hear it in his tone.
"How was your job interview?" he asks in a lighter tone.
"Good, I think. But it's not about getting a job there."
Christian raises an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
Ana sighs. "I guess you don't need a security clearance for this," she concludes. "Can you keep this one to yourself?"
Christian nods, baffled.
"I just want to have a good inside understanding of the company before I take over."
"Take over? How?"
"My grandpa is buying it. Although it's my father who's signing everything. Grandpa doesn't like to expose himself. In time, however, when I gain enough experience as an editor, I'll be taking over."
Christian can't say that it doesn't make sense. Still, this isn't something he is used to hearing from girls like Ana.
"Which publishing is it again?"
"SIP. Why do you ask?"
"Because I'm buying SIP!"
What a hell?
"Is this a joke? Why do you want to buy it?"
"I always wanted to expand into publishing."
"You always wanted to make money! There isn't any in SIP any longer nor is it the reason why we want to acquire it. Also, now that Jeremy Roach has two buyers, he's in a better negotiating position."
"That much we can agree on. There should be only one buyer."
Ana nods.
"Great," continues Christian. "So you and your grandpa can back off now."
Ana gapes at him. Is he for real? At the moment, she doesn't even consider that it would save her father the hassle of being involved with the whole thing.
"Excuse me?!" she exclaims.
"This is why you want me on board, isn't it? So I can take care of these mundane things for you."
"Not in this case. This is my mission. My family wants me in charge of SIP so I can further our cause."
"You want to print propaganda?"
"No, we want to bring culture and common decency to our readers. And perhaps slivers of truth so that they are more prepared for the eventuality that this ever comes out."
Christian rubs his eyebrows.
"Very well," he says. "Do you want to be in charge of a publishing? I have no problem with that. Prove yourself and I'll put you in charge."
"That's why I would prefer my grandpa to be the buyer. He knows me and he's already convinced that I'm the right person for the job. Anyway, I have no intention of taking over Roach's position just yet. He'll stay where he is until he's ready for retirement or perhaps promotion. I'll work my way up in the meantime."
They continue to haggle. It is yet another novel experience for Christian (doing business with his girl) but he prefers to talk to Ana than to the rest of her family. In the end, they come up with a compromise. They'll buy SIP jointly, fifty percent each. In time, if all goes well, they'll gift Christian their half. Christian has a feeling "all goes well" means getting married but he doesn't wish to start another discussion.
Ana tries to call Edward but he is unavailable so she calls her parents instead to appraise them of the situation. If Jacob wants to back out of the deal and leave SIP to Christian, it is his choice. However, she has a feeling that he won't. Christian calls Ros who is rather surprised by the news.
Later on, when Taylor and Jones have retired, Christian and Ana share a bowl of salad before Ana's departure home.
"By the way, you wouldn't guess my bank account balance as of this morning," mentions Ana casually.
"That's correct, because I won't even try to guess."
Ana doesn't remark that it is merely a figure of speech and tells her point instead. "My parents sent there a rather large sum of money. It would probably seem like a loose change to you but it's a lot to someone like me."
"I thought you came from money."
"There's a large difference between that and suddenly receiving and exorbitant amount to money which I haven't earned nor do particularly need. Beside covering expanses of association with someone from your circles."
"I've told you I'm covering that. That's how it always is."
"You mean was."
"How it was with the others and how I would like it to be with you. Think about it as the government providing a soldier with an uniform."
"On that score, aunt Alice is sending me some clothes. Can I show them to you this weekend?"
"Sure," murmurs Christian dejectedly.
"Perfect," rejoices Ana and stands up. "Well, the truck is still on the roof. I'd better get going."
From Christian to Ana:
How was your first day? What do you think about the company so far?
Ana responds:
Hard to say yet. Let's talk later in person.
They meet one evening over some sushi prepared by Mrs. Jones.
"Well?" he asks.
"Just some preliminary impressions so far. I haven't met Mr. Roach yet but from what I hear, he seems like a good guy. His original mission doesn't seem too far from what my grandpa intends. The company itself gives a feeling of stagnation. Hyde gave me a stack of manuscripts to read. On paper, which is nice, I guess. I told him that I had not found any instructions on filing spelling errors. He told me to mark them on the paper with a pencil. And then he told me that he wanted me to read just the first chapters and give him summaries."
Christian sees her point, being a CEO of a tech company. Then again, does she expect people in publishing to treat books the way his employees treat software? That doesn't seem reasonable.
"And your boss?" he asks instead.
"Mystery so far and I still don't know what happened to my predecessor. I could ask my family for help but that would defeat my purpose here. It's simpler to wait till we can get access to employee files."
They talk about setting up a meeting with Roach and whether Ana should be there. Ana believes she should, rather than sending a lawyer in her stead. She herself is already a proxy but she doesn't think it would be right to hide from Roach that she has something to do with the buyer. Besides, he would find it quite a coincidence if he noticed that the newest employee has the same surname as one of the buyers.
When they are done, Christian raises the question of their plans for the weekend.
"Well, normally I would go hunting or perhaps meet other wolves in the Olympic park but I guess I would rather spend the weekend with you if you have something in mind."
"Indeed. Taking the fact that Escala is out of the question into account..."
They talk, knowing little that their plans are going to be disrupted next day.
Gail Jones is doing some cleaning. She is wondering how will things go between Mr. Grey and the Ana girl. She seems nice enough. So did Susannah, in her own way, but this seems different. Jason has told her something along the lines that the "circle was broken". She didn't know that he could be so dramatic.
Suddenly, she sees that there is a person standing by the countertop. First, she thinks it is Ana but she immediately realizes that it can't be her - Ana wears different clothes and has much stronger and taller figure.
Her second thought is that it is Susannah. For a moment, Gail wonders why has she returned and how has she gotten inside. Then she realizes that it can't be Susannah either. It is another woman. One she doesn't know.
Before Gail can get over the surprise, the unknown woman takes a knife from a drawer and slashes her own wrist.
Taylor interrupts Christian in a middle of a meeting. After he follows him out, Taylor shows him a still from a CCTV recording.
"Is it Leila Williams?" he asks. He has been been briefed about Christian's exes so he suspects the answer already.
Taylor quickly recounts what he has learned from Gail. Christian dismisses the meeting and they drive to the hospital.
"Shouldn't we appraise our new associates of the situation?" asks Taylor on they way. "It could be pertinent."
New associates? Christian decides not to snap at him that it is none of their business.
"I'll tell Ana later if needed," he dismisses instead. At the moment, it doesn't even cross his mind whether is she going to tell him, "I've told you so."
"Very well, sir."
Gail awaits them at the hospital. She still seems a little shaken.
"Gail, are you all right?" tells her Christian. "I'm sorry you had to deal with this."
"I'm OK."
"Do you know where she is?" asks Taylor.
"In ER," she answers and points. "They wouldn't let me stay with her."
Of course, not a family.
"If I may suggest, sir," interjects Taylor. "Why not simply tell them that Miss Williams wants to see you? If they refuse, I can call Governor Black."
"Let's not involve him just yet. I'll go talk to the doctors."
Christian makes his way to ER and, swallowing his accustomedness to being obeyed by everybody, asks the nearest nurse there to notify Leila's doctor that he is there and Leila wants to see him.
An annoyingly long while later, he is in the doctor's office. Christian asks whether he can rely on his discreetness and gets an affirmative response. It is not as good as signing an NDA but it will have to suffice.
Christian keeps it terse. They dated, she left, she married some time later. As of several months ago, she was still happily married.
The doctor is surprised by the latter. Leila has not mentioned being married when asked about next of kin. Christian mentions her parents.
"May I talk to her?" he asks finally. "I was told that she wants to see me."
That's what Leila told Gail but she hasn't told that to the doctor. He asks Christian to be patient for a little while longer.
He returns after a while.
"You can visit her now. I have to say though, she seemed surprised that you came personally."
"We agreed to leave each other alone," divulges Christian.
They walk to her room. When they get there, she is gone.
"Perhaps she chickened out at the last moment?" proposes Taylor when they are back home. "Maybe she just want you to know that she's has problems but doesn't dare to bother you with them in person?"
"Looks like it. We have to find out what happened. Her husband is a good place to start."
"Sir, we should tell Miss Black. In fact, we should have done that back in the hospital. She could have tracked her down by scent alone."
"In a city with so many people crossing Leila's path? Unlikely."
"I wouldn't be so quick to take that assumption."
Christian can already hear Ana's voice telling him, "You should have alerted me right away. Now the trace is cold."
"I'll tell Ana when I see her," insists Christian stubbornly. Taylor's loyalty to the family of his old commander is starting to annoy him. He is the one paying him. Still, he can rely on Taylor not go behind his back.
"Instruct Welch to contact Reed," he continues. "Discreetly."
"Are you sure about involving Welch? He's still somewhat shook up from the last time."
"Well, unless Leila has become a werewolf, he should be fine."
"Why haven't you notified me earlier?" asks Ana that evening when Christian tells her everything. "I could have followed her. I could have tracked her down for you."
"She isn't your problem to deal with. Besides, you were at SIP. I was under an impression that your family considers that to be your responsibility."
"It is my problem. It all goes with each other. What if she does something really stupid? This kind of a scandal could hurt your business, SIP included, and blemish my brother's public image. I'm not even mentioning that such an attention from public would put strain on our personal lives."
"We'll find her and we'll find out what she wants. And then I'll get her some help and get her back to her parents."
"Hopefully. Where's the knife she used used to slash herself? I need to learn her scent."
"Gail washed it already."
"Great."
Ana does some sniffing around the place at least. Unfortunately, everything Leila bled on has been cleaned by Gail already as well. At the end, Ana can't say that she has learned Leila's scent.
They decide to cancel their weekend trip in case something comes up with her.
At the end of the week, Hyde invites Ana to join him and their colleagues at a bar across the street. It is her first Friday at SIP so she accepts.
She gets mineral water while others get beer. Hyde starts the conversation with books but he transfers to personal questions soon. She tries to asses him but he is his usual pleasant self.
She excuses herself after a while and leaves.
That Saturday, Christian wakes in his bedroom instead of some cozy cottage in woods or perhaps even a tent. Nothing has come up so far and neither Leila's husband nor her parents know anything about her whereabouts. However, the weekend is only beginning. Maybe she'll try to make another contact.
There is one improvement though. Ana is lying in front of him, facing away. Despite his misgivings, she hasn't turn around in her sleep. He can get used to this if she can avoid touching him.
It is a pity. If they weren't in a city, they could have some morning fun and he could try to change Ana's opinion on premarital intimacy. It is annoying that she and her family automatically expect him to marry her somewhere down the line. After all, he still doesn't fully understand what it entails.
After rubbing sleepiness from his eyes, Christian notices that there is a bird in the room. He sits up.
It is no ordinary bird. It looks a little bit like a chicken but leaner, bigger, and definitely not flightless. Is it a magical creature? Then he looks into its eyes and realizes that there is intelligence in them.
"What a hell?!" he curses and gets out of the bed.
"Relax, that's Fawkes," tells him Ana. "He's been observing us for almost an hour. I didn't want to wake you."
"Is that a person?! Another changeling?"
"No, not a changeling. A real bird. Phoenix. He is a person though - he's intelligent. How else would he have been able to orchestrate the events of the Second World War?"
"What?"
"He didn't cause it, he just greatly influenced how it went down. Not directly but through a wizard associated to him at the time. To a certain point when he achieved his goals and let the rest of it go naturally."
Christian closes his eyes for a moment.
"OK. What does he want with us?" he asks slowly.
"He's been around my family since shortly after his old wizard died. He's attached to one of my brothers now, the one who enchanted the truck. Still, he keeps an eye on what the rest of us are doing."
"So that's why there's a perch in the truck," realizes Christian.
Ana smiles with satisfaction. He was there once and he still remembers it. He is smart indeed.
Ana gets an idea and approaches the bird. "Fawkes, you wouldn't happen to know where Leila is?" she asks him, loudly and clearly.
The bird gives her a dubious look. He doesn't even know who Leila is.
"It was worth a shot," she murmurs.
"Do you've got cereals or something like that here?" she asks Christian. "For Fawkes."
"Sure. I think Gail left some here."
Some time later, when Fawkes is nibbling on his breakfast, Ana and Christian discuss what Fawkes's presence could possibly mean.
"Maybe he wants to tell me to trust you," muses Ana. "Let's face it, we are at a standstill here. You want to know what's ahead of you if you decide to commit to this. I can't tell you that until you decide to commit."
"And the bird is some kind of deus ex machina to help us out of this deadlock?"
"Well, his presence here is a perfect excuse for me to be more liberal with information. Tell me, knowing what you know now, are you in or are you out?"
Christian folds his arms and looks into her eyes with determination.
"OK, I'll bite. Deal me in."
"Very well. What do you want to know?"
"How do you plan to prevent me from growing old and dying of old age?"
Ana isn't surprised by the question.
"It's rather simple but it's not only secret as far as the magical world is concerned, this is also classified by US government and is important to national security."
"I'm listening."
"Do you remember John Smith? Years ago, the guy who was the president back then received a briefing similar to your own after certain events in Europe. As you can imagine, he got rather scared because he realized perfectly well that there are many dangers out there from which his bodyguards can't protect him. John Smith was assigned to his protection detail to alleviate his fear and to keep an eye on him. Later on, when more bigwigs learned about all of that, they too wanted to have their security improved. By that time, my tribe was working with the military already but that wasn't enough for them. They wanted..."
Ana trails of, unsure whether she should tell him about vampires. She has avoided the topic so far and she doesn't want to scare Christian off.
"They wanted something closer to them to protect them personally. Luckily, a suitable and economical solution was found soon enough. A diluted solution, if you want."
"What are you talking about? Some kind of a super-soldier?"
"It's way more than that. I believe there's some cartoon story about a World War Two soldier who got injected with some serum and became a superhero. And there was also a German officer who got injected with the same but the results were different for him. This thing I'm talking about is similar - it will take who you are at the moment and amplify it. A good person will become a hero, a bad person will become a savage monster. That's why there was a strict psychological selection process for this program."
"And what do you suppose I would become?" asks Christian with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
"A micro-manager. Your brain will become as effective as a computer. You'll be able to run your empire all by yourself, down to a team level. Perhaps even join in some R&D in your spare time. But, you'll never be able to switch your career to another field, most probably. You'll be running tech companies for the rest of your life because you would find it very difficult to, I don't know, go into movie industry for example or become a philosopher or something. It's a price for not aging. You'll be frozen in time, figuratively speaking."
"Oh really? Is that all?"
It is clear what is he hinting at.
"Well, your hunger for carnal pleasure will increase. Unless you learn first that pleasure passes while joy is eternal."
"You know it's not just about the sex for me - it wouldn't be enough. It's about control."
"Well, your work may be an outlet for some of it, hopefully. As for any unhealthy aspects of this trait, you might want to deal with them beforehand. Just like with any other issues or traumas. An eternity is a long time to spend with a desolation of unresolved regrets."
Christian doesn't even bother to answer. Does Ana really think that it is as simple as that?
"You should also know that there are severe side-effects," continues Ana.
"Such as?"
"Your digestion system will be busted. You won't be able to digest solid food so you'll be on a more special diet than I am. But don't worry, I'll make sure it won't be a logistical problem."
She is talking about her rabbits but she doesn't tell him that he'll be drinking their blood.
Christian looks back at her in silence for a while. He doesn't have any further questions, he seems to have heard enough for the moment. Ana is glad for that.
She leaves him to ponder all that in solitude. Not wanting to be alone in Kate's apartment, she uses the opportunity to run to the national park and meet with other wolves. She keeps her thoughts about Christian to herself but they pester her with nosy questions for the whole time.
Ana returns to Escala next day. There are still no news about Leila so they discuss their upcoming meeting with Roach. The three of them will be meeting face to face for first time (Ana has seen Roach at SIP but they have not run into each other yet).
They talk about books as well, of course. Not that they plan to make any changes to SIP's portfolio in near future, they merely discuss what kind of new authors they should focus on later.
They watch the old Twilight Zone that evening.
Jeremy Roach is apprehensive about the deal the basis of which he is about to start forging.
When he started SIP years ago, it was a passion project. As time went by and SIP was still blooming, it became his retirement plan. Unfortunately, that has been in jeopardy for a while now. Unless they get out of red numbers soon, he is going to go broke. So when not one but two buyers made overtures, he had to give it a serious consideration.
The meeting is set for "after work". Roach finds that rather odd. Isn't this work for the buyers? Maybe they mean to be considerate to him and avoid messing with his workday? That's ridiculous.
It is evening and there are few people left in the office. One of them is a new face. A new broom sweeps clean, he guesses. However, they shouldn't be hiring in their current financial situation. He'll have to talk to HR.
When Roach leaves some time later, there are even fewer people left. The new girl he noticed earlier is gone. He gets in his car and drives to the restaurant where the meeting is to take place.
He spots an ancient red pickup parked there. That's strange, he has a feeling he has seen a similar one parked in front of SIP.
All is made clear when he meets Christian Grey. And the new girl.
"Mr. Roach," greats him Christian, shaking his hand. "I'm pleased to finally meet you. No lawyers, as agreed. I see that you have recognized my associate."
"Ana Black, pleased to finally meet you in person," Ana introduces herself. "I'll be representing Jacob Black, my father. Forgive me the deception, we thought it would be better if I joined your publishing on my own merit."
Roach isn't quite sure what to say to that so he just shakes her hand and asks in a light tone whether they are related to the governor.
"Indeed, John Black is my brother," she answers. "I do not hide the fact but nor do I advertise it. I would appreciate if you kept it to yourself, just like the fact that my father is one of the buyers."
"Of course. So, your father is interested in publishing?"
Ana doesn't need mind-reading to hear the presumption in his voice. He suspects that Jacob is merely a figurehead and that someone else is pulling the strings and providing the money.
"My parents and my mother's family, which provides the funds, are interested in results. The execution has been entrusted to me which is why I am here rather than my father."
"Mr. Roach, this is quite irrelevant since my joining of this venture," interjects Christian. "I'll be handling the business side of this. Mr. Black will be a silent partner for a while."
"And after a while?" asks Roach, having misunderstood.
"If all goes well, my father will transfer the ownership of his half to Mr. Grey," answers Ana.
Mr. Roach isn't sure he understands. On the other hand, Christian does - Ana meant that if they get married, Jacob will simple give them his half of SIP as a wedding gift. Christian doesn't like it, he doesn't like being pushed into something. He likes being in control. He doesn't dwell on that though and focuses on the meeting.
"Mr. Roach, would you prefer to sell to a corporation?" he asks.
"I was under an impression that I am."
"I'm not a corporation, I'm a person. You'll answer to no one else but me. From the moment you sell, to the moment you retire. And unlike before, you won't have to worry about money for as long as you break even in long term."
"And the agenda of Miss Black's family?"
"Mr. Roach, imagine that a new Heinlein is born," retorts Ana.
"Yes?"
"And he writes new Starship Troopers. Would you print it?"
"That's difficult to say. We would have to consider it carefully."
"What if you didn't have to consider anything besides the quality of the book?"
"Well, I guess I would."
"Then we have no conflict," assures him Ana, spreading her hands in an outward circular motion.
He still seems unsure.
"Mr. Roach, if you have been following the news, then you surely have some understanding of what my brother stands for."
"I do have an understanding of what he tells the voters."
"Well, let's say that he's for real. That his public face is what he believes. Now, he didn't come out of vacuum. He's a product of a certain ecosystem. The very same ecosystem which created me and the rest of my family. We wish to nurture the same culture in your company."
"So, you wish to do in publishing what your brother does in politics."
"Yes, basically. All strictly separate, of course. No mixing of politics and business."
They keep talking about books and other things for some time. At the end, Ana raises the question of Hyde.
"In a short period of time, he had three female assistants, all of which quit without stating any reason," she rehashes. "Isn't that rather peculiar?"
"I can't discuss sensitive details about my employees at this point," refuses Roach, choosing not to comment on the fact that Ana has been spying.
"This would have a been quite a red flag in my company," states Christian. "You have to admit that it deserves some consideration."
"The head of HR assured me that there's no need for concern," responds Roach. "So either they couldn't handle the workload or Hyde's work methods are too difficult to deal with."
"Sounds like you either have incompetent HR or you need to put Hyde in line."
"There's a third option," interjects Ana before Mr. Roach can rebuff that. "That there's foul play involved."
"Now wait a moment," argues Mr. Roach. "There have been no complaints against him."
"Mr. Roach, try to see it from our perspective," continues Ana. "The reason why those girls stayed silent may be that they saw no profit in doing otherwise. Now imagine that they hear that SIP was bought by Christian Grey. Are you sure that they won't start thinking about getting a piece of that pie?"
Now that's cold, thinks Mr. Roach.
"Not that I'm opposed to the idea," assures him Christian. "If something happened that made them leave, then I believe that some settlement is in order."
"But let's do it quietly, ahead of the news breaking out," adds Ana. "We have people who can approach them discreetly and ask them about it. All we need is your permission to do it in your name. We can tell them that the money is from your own pocket, I'm sure it won't be too much."
"That's rather unorthodox," remarks Mr. Roach but he is considering it.
Not one bit, thinks Christian. It is not something he has ever dealt with personally but he knows from his associates that giving hush money isn't rare.
However, all of that is still premature - Mr. Roach still isn't decided about selling SIP. He tells Ana and Christian that he will think about it. And he does have much to think about indeed.
"Very well, I'll try to find out more on my end in the meantime," allows Ana. "However, we should approach them as soon as possible."
They stand up and the men mean to leave when Ana pulls out one last surprise.
"Mr. Roach, there's something my family would like you to have. I've read your PhD thesis and I've got a feeling that you like Hemingway. Is that right?"
"Well, yes, as a matter of fact," answers Roach slowly, not sure where is it going.
"Do you have this in your collection?"
Ana produces a wooden box similar to those for cigars. There is "A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway, 1st edition" engraved on it. He opens it and there it is - in mint condition. He does own a few second editions of Hemingway's books at home but not of this one and no first editions.
"My grandpa picked it up when he was young," explains Ana. "Now it's time to pass it to someone else."
"Miss Black, I couldn't possibly," he tries to refuse.
"I insist. Regardless of your decision, you ought to have this."
Mr. Roach accepts the gift in the end.
Christian tells him that Ross will get in touch with him and they walk out of the establishment. Ana shakes Roach's hand, gives Christian a peck on his cheek, and gets in her truck. As she drives away, Mr. Roach notes that the engine doesn't sound like anything he has ever heard.
"She's quite something, isn't she?" Mr. Roach utters.
"You have no idea," responds Christian.
"I beg your pardon?"
"Nothing. It's like she said - she and her brother are merely products of a certain environment."