Ana's POV
His birthmother? Is that even possible? " She is alive?" I ask.
" Yes." he says clipped and I'm not sure if it is a good idea to go up to his penthouse with him as he looks like he is moments away from another breakdown, but at the same time I don't want to leave him alone like this. First this cougar and now his birthmother. Coincidence? I don't think so, maybe this is what the cougar is up to, she teamed up with Christians birthmother to ... well I don't know what their plan is, but if they wanted to upset Christian then it worked.
Once we are in the greatroom of his penthouse he starts to pace while I stand back and watch him.
" Miss Steele I think you should..." Taylor stops midsentence when Christian starts to cuss and grabs a vase just to smash it to the floor. I take another step back because just seeing him tells me that right now he is in a state of mind where he needs to get it all out and if a fit of anger is his outlet right now I should not try to stop him. I know from expirience that beeing angry can be a healthy reaction to get it all out rather than trying to keep it all inside.
" Miss Steele?" I turn around and see Sawyer. Where did he come from? " Please follow me Miss Steele" he says in calm voice like his boss wasn't just throwing a major tantrum.
" I don't want to leave him like this" he gives me a warm smile. " Please Miss Steele I am here to insure your safety. Follow me into the security office. Mister Grey will be fine. You can see him once he has calmed down." I sigh, but I know there is nothing I can do right now, so I follow Sawyer into the security office and we sit down.
" I will need your daily schedule Miss Steele. Can you please right it down for me?" How can this man be so calm right now? " Is this a normal behavior for Christian?" I mean if he is so calm maybe he has seen this before.
" No Ma'am. I will also give you my cell phone number. If your schedule changes or you want to leave Escala you have to let me know."
" So I can't go anywhere alone?"
" No Ma'am."
" Wow that's crazy oh and if you want to follow me around please call me Ana."
He looks uncomfortable with that and I roll my eyes. " Would it make you feel better to call me Miss Steele instead I feel old if you call me Ma'am"
" Yes Miss Steele that will be fine." he hands me a notepad and pen so I can write down my usual schedule for him and he surprises me when he asks for a list of all people I work with. Oh man first I am distracted with the banging and swearing that is still coming from the great room and second I know most of the people who come to my classes only by their first name, so I tell him I will need to get the lists when I am at work tomorrow.
After what feels like ages the swearing and banging stops and Taylor comes into the office. " Miss Steele I think it will be best if you leave now. Mister Grey's psychiatrist has just arrived and this will take some time." he says in kind voice and I give him a small smile.
" Ok umm can you ask him to call me when he feels better and umm that I am there if he needs me." I blush a little but Taylor reassures me that he will give Christian my message and so I can't do anything else and leave the apartment.
If I thought my life was complicated I know now that my issues are nothing compared to what is going on with Christian right now.
Christian's POV
" Are you feeling better Christian?" I glare at John who is standing in the middle of my now destroyed greatroom. There is glass all over the floor, all the paintings are ruined, the piano bench broken just like all the barstools from the kitchen counter and the sofa is bumped out of place. Funny enough I do feel a little better.
" Slightly."
" Well Christian sometimes letting all the agression out can be healing. Why don't we sit down in your study and you tell me what led you to this fit of rage." I simple nod. I need a drink, so we make our way through the mess and I see Taylor standing at the entrance of the greatroom.
" Taylor have a cleaning crew come over to deal with this mess, I don't want Gail to have to do this when she returns tonight. Have the furniture that is broken replaced I will look for replacements of the paintings myself." I'm almost in my study when I remember something. Fuck Ana! She was with us. Did she run, have I fucked this up for good?
" Where is Miss Steele, Taylor?"
" Miss Steele left a couple of minutes ago. She asked me to tell you that you can call her when you are feeling better and that she is there whenever you need her." I give him a nod and enter my study. Fuck she really does like me. I mean after all she has wittnessed since yesterday evening she is still there. Ok she doesn't want to fuck, but I guess friendship is a start. And I have to admit her standing up to Elena while I was sick and calming me down after my nightmare was the most comforting thing I have ever expirienced from anyone outside of my family.
I snort while I pour myself a glass of bourbon. The guy who comes with a shitload of issues and fucks as a coping mechnism to stay calm and the girl with trust issues who doesn't fuck at all. Yeah we are the perfect match. I chuckle at the thought. " Care to share what you are thinking?" Shit Flynn is here I almost forgot about him. " Nothing do you want a drink John?"
" No thank you" We both sit down and John looks at me expectantly. " I saw my birthmother outside of Escala on the other side of the street." If he is shocked he gives nothing away.
" I can see that this must have been very upsetting for you, but are you sure it was her or was it just a woman that reminded you of her?" Is he kidding?
" Fuck John it was her she was staring at me. No fucking way it wasn't her." I down my bourbon and get up to get me another one.
" From what you told me she was in prison for 20 years. Did you keep tabs on her after she was released?"
" Yes when my Dad told me that she was out I had someone watching her. But she stayed in Detroit and continued to live a shitty life as a drug addict. Besides she has no idea who adopted me, so after 3 years I stopped keeping tabs on her and now she fucking found me."
" Do you think it was a coincidence that she was outside Escala that she just moved to Seattle and was there when you arrived."
" No, fuck no John." I get up and start to pace again and suddenly it all makes sense. "Elena" I growl.
" Elena Lincoln?" John sounds surprised. " Yes god damn fucking Elena Lincoln. She showed up at the summer party last night. It's her, thats why she waited six months after beeing out on probation before she came out of what ever hell hole she was hiding. She brought her here. What the fuck is she up to?"
" Christian I need you to calm down"
" Calm down? Calm down! Why now John, haven't they fucked up my life enough? What do they want?"
" I can't answer that but what I can see is that you are under a lot of pressure and stress right now. Why don't you take some time off?"
" John do you have any idea how many people I employ? I can't just leave my company alone and wait until they decide to give up. Besides I will not leave town and let my family deal with this alone. It's my fault after all."
" Christian we talked about this, what happened to you is not your fault. You are a victim. Your birthmother used and neglected you, when she should have protected you as you were too young to protect yourself and Elena Lincoln took advantage of you. This is not your fault."
" It is my fucking fault John. Do you know how many times my birthmother left the front door open because she was to high care. You know what I did? Nothing I was a fucking stupid kid who chose to stay with it's drug addict of a mother who not only sold herself for drugs but me aswell just to get better drugs.
I should have run. I should have told someone but I didn't I was stupid and weak and I would have been dead if it wasn't for that old Lady who put two and two together and called the cops." I yell but John is not impressed, instead he gets up aswell.
" Christian you were a small boy. A frightened, traumatized child. You were not stupid nor weak. You had no idea that what was happening to you was not the norm. Your mother is at fault, her pimp is at fault and those men are at fault, but you are not at fault or do you really believe that it is the fault of the children when they are abused."
Fucking Flynn. " No but even if that wasn't my fault Elena was. I trusted her, I allowed her to do all that shit to me until I heard her on the phone and realised she was using me and she still beat me nearly to death. How can that be not my fault."
" We talked about this Christian. Elena Lincoln is a sexual predator, a pedophile people like this are masters in manipulation, that is why they can live a normal life without beeing noticed as such. And this is why she was able to manipulate you into believing that what she did to you was consentual. She promised you what you wanted the most, to be free of the demons from your past and believe me it is a very common thing for most people to be willing to do a lot of things to achieve this goal.
When you saw her for what she really is you wanted to turn away from her, you wanted to do the right thing and she showed her true colors by torturing you to keep you silent. That you chose to open up to your parents that night just shows how strong you truly are." I look at John for the longest time and finally sit down and take my face in my hands.
" Why now John? My life finally is as normal as it can get for a guy like me. I mean what do they want? Is it money or revenge? I would never forgive myself if they would hurt my family or Ana."
" Ana?" Shit now John is intrigued.
" She was with me when Elena showed up" I explain the whole summer party disaster to him and he looks pleased.
" Well Christian I must say I am pleasantly surprised that you took her up on her offer to become friends. How do you feel about beeing friends with a woman you originally wanted to take to bed?"
" It's different with her John. At first I just wanted to fuck her and that craving hasn't gone away, but there is more. It's like I'm obsessed with her and she can calm me down so easily and waking up with her in my arms was the best feeling ever. John I have no idea what is going with me and with all the shit that has happened in the last 24 hours I feel like I am barely hanging on to my sanity. Maybe that's what they are trying to do to drive me fucking insane." I chuckle bitterly.
" Christian I know this is driving you insane, that is why I wanted you to take some time off. But I do get your point that you can't just leave your company and family so please let your team deal with this situation. They know what they are doing. I understand your need to be in control but you should focus on your company, your family and even Ana right now as this is what will give you strenght and not drain you futher."
" I can try" I mutter but truthfully I don't think I will ever be able to leave this to my staff. This is my fucked up past and if it comes back to bite me I want to be the one who has the upper hand at all times.
When Flynn leaves an our later I see that the greatroom is cleaned up and the broken furniture is replaced. Well at least that went down without any problems. I call my Dad to fill him in about the incident with my birthmother and I can tell he is already getting worked up about this. Fuck this is what I do making my family worry and bringing problems with me.
I try to work but I can't concentrate and with the amount of alcohol I had to keep me calm I shouldn't be working anyway. So I call Claude for a work out session but even that can't help me and of course the fucker kicks me to my ass repeatedly. After that I take a long shower call Welch who has no new information and finally I have dinner.
I wonder if Ana meant what she said. Maybe she can calm me down. She said I could call her after all. So I decide to take her up on her offer.
Ana's POV
After leaving the penthouse I went back to my apartment and told Sawyer he could leave as I planned to stay for the rest of day. I thoughts went back to Christian no matter what I was doing. I assumed his birthmother was dead. I mean after all he wasn't a baby when he was adopted, but actually if she has done something really bad then a court might have terminated her parent rights and that is why the Grey's were able to adopt Christian.
I want to ask Christian but I feel like this is not a good time and we don't know each other for long so I think I will just have to wait until he feels secure enough with me to open up. Kate on the other hand is sensing a huge story. She called me in the afternoon to ask me if I had any news on that woman from yesterday and that she would stay with Elliot. I really hope this is just her beeing her usual curious self and not her trying to get a huge story out of Christian's misery. Because if that is the case I think I will kill her. Not only will that be a bad thing for him businesswise but with Christian and his issues with women she shouldn't try to press anyone for information about him.
I decide to have a talk with her about this. If she is not willing to drop it for Elliot then maybe she will do it for me. This is just not the right time for her to get her teeth into a story. And again I realise how protective I feel over Christian. It's just that I feel he has been through enough and doesn't need anyone else to add to his issues.
I've just finished my dinner when my cell rings and I see Christian's name flashing on the caller I.D.
" Hi Christian."
" Ana, hi. Umm are you alright I mean after this morning and yesterday."
" I'm fine how about you?"
" Getting there listen I was thinking we could meet maybe for lunch tomorrow?"
" Yes, works for me when and where?"
" With the situation beeing as it is I don't want to go out. I really don't need Elena or my birthmother making a scene in public. I will tell Sawyer to bring you over to GEH say 12:30?"
" Ok, I'll be there."
" Good and Ana I ... you don't have to come if you don't want to I mean I get it after what you saw."
" Christian I'll see you at lunch tomorrow. It will take a lot more to make me run for the hills."
" Good, until tomorrow."
" Bye Christian." I hang up and smile to myself. Who would have thought that behind the asshole who offered me money for sex is a guy who is basically just really insecure. Like me, I muse and decide to read a little before bedtime.
When lunchtime comes around the next day I'm in desperate need for a change of scenery. First my boss chewed me out because Sawyer demanded a list of all my dance students and then Jose grilled me about my weekend, the fact that I have security now and of course Christian. So when it was finally time to leave I was ready to run from the dance studio to have some peace and quiet for a couple of minutes. Thank God Sawyer is not a chatty person, though I suspect that Taylor or Christian told him to be as professional as possible.
So I use the quick car journey to the headquarters of GEH to listen to music on my I-pod and just relax a little. When we pull up at GEH I look out of the window and can't believe what I see. It is her that damned cougar. " Sawyer look over there."
" I already saw her Miss Steele" he answers and drives into the garage. " Aren't you going to do something?"
" No, Taylor is already aware of the situation and informed about the situation prior to our arival." Wow so she is hanging out there all day. That's creepy and actually I am tempted to go to her and ask her what her deal is, but I suspect that Christian nor Sawyer would appreciate it. So I wait for Sawyer to open my door, as he has told me this morning he would always let me in and out of the car, and we get into the elevator.
Sawyer presses the button for the topfloor and when we arrive and get out I feel completely out of place. Here I am in a businessbuilding dressed in leggings, a maxi shirt and flats while everyone I can see is perfectly dressed. " This way Miss Steele" Sawyer says and leads me through a waiting area and then comes to a halt at a white sandstone desk where a young blonde woman is seated.
" Andrea this is Miss Steele, Mister Grey's lunchdate" he says and she gapes at me. Well I guess he doesn't have many female visitors here and I wonder why he has this young blonde working for him, if he doesn't hire woman he finds attractive because to me she looks amazing.
" Mister Grey is waiting for you, please do go through" she says warmly. I give her a smile and let Sawyer lead the way again. He knocks and enters the office with me behind him.
" Thank you Sawyer you can wait in Taylor's office" Christian says when he sees us and walks over to me. His office is huge, all white with a large black wodden desk and a big L-shape white leather couch. The floor to ceiling windows give a great view of Seattle and on one of the walls is large painting that is extraordinary.
" Hi Ana, I'm glad you could make it." Christian says when he comes to stand in front of me and I take him by surprise when I reach up and hug him.
" I'm a hugger get used to it" I grin. " I guess I can deal with that, so I hope it is ok for you that I have already ordered our lunch."
" No it's fine I'm not picky with my food as long as it's not rare steak I'll eat it."
" So you prefare your steak medium?"
" Or well done I don't like it when my food is bleeding on my plate" I mutter and we sit down at his desk facing each other.
" I guess sea frood salad will be fine with you then."
" Sounds perfect. So are you better after yesterday?"
" Yes I had a long talk with my shrink though I wanted to apologize if I've scared you yesterday."
" No you didn't I had a meltdown like that a couple of years ago so I know how that is."
" Are you in therapy?" Usually I would be offened if anyone would ask me that as this is a very private topic but to my surprise right now I'm not.
" I was after my car accident for a year but I stopped as it wasn't really helping the dancing was what really helped and getting into college."
" You look free when you dance" he says and I frown. " I saw you dancing at the club before that fucker tried to attack you" he explains.
" It's what I love to do. Have you something like that?"
" I play the piano. Sometimes when I had a nightmare or can't sleep I play it is calming." I'm just about to answer when Taylor and Sawyer leap into the office.
" Sir we need to go. Some ran into your brothers car. He and Miss Kavanagh are beeing transported to the hospital right now. The other driver has fled from the scene before Reynolds could get him."
Oh no Kate!
I'm not sure if I will be able to update tomorrow as I will be away and probably won't have the time to write, but I promise to update on Thursday. Until then please leave a review and thanks to all of you who read my story.
Sunny