Chapter 18: After Mornings
Author's note!
Happy New Year everyone! :) Please do favourite this if you like it. And, drop me a review as well if you wish. I do love reading them! Feel free to share your ideas with me. I was playing with the idea of this chapter but was uncertain whether I should write it until... GREYTOSTEELE PM-ed me with her idea. I thought it was brilliant, hence, this chapter was born!
For the first time in a long time, I woke on my own accord. There was nothing at all to rudely arouse me from my sleep, except sleep leaving my body entirely on its own. Somehow, sleeping with Christian, by Christian, was gratifying.
I could hear him breathing. He was breathing deeply and I knew he was still fast asleep. My eyes fluttered open to utter darkness, it must be evening already. My hangover was pretty much banished from my system, just a slight headache.
Christian was the perfect remedy to a hangover. Never again will I get myself drunk, I cursed at myself.
Thankfully, Christian had not been sprawled all over me this evening. I wanted to go downstairs and get a snack or a meal, seeing that I had puked out all nutrition within my body from the past twenty four hours. I was stark raving hungry and immensely thirsty. My hands hunted the surface of the bed in the darkness for any clothing I could find. It came back with Christian's button down dress shirt and I put it on and fastened down the line.
Very carefully, trying my utmost best not to wake him, I slipped out of bed. Christian must have switched off the night light before he fell asleep, I had half the mind to turn it on but resisted. Christian needed all the sleep he could get, what with all the pressure from his business and from me.
Forcing myself to form a map of this room in my brain, I felt around towards the door. I hoped that there was no object lying about the floor or anything that could cause me to stumble and rattle Christian awake. Finally, my fingers met the cold metal of the door handle and with care, I pried the door open.
I flinched as it make a squeaky noise, pausing to check if Christian had woken up. There was nothing but the stillness in the room and I cracked the door open by a bit, thankful that the only light from outside was the moon's radiant glow.
Without another sound, I let myself out and left the door ajar, not wanting to risk the squeaky noise waking my sleeping beauty. The moment I made it outside, I stretched my muscles to the ceiling and felt the bones crack cathartically. Smiling, I bounded down the staircase in search of food.
"Good evening, Ms Steele!" Gale sang happily upon seeing me. "Dinner for yourself and Mr Grey?"
"Gale!" I greeted back and offered her a smile. Shyly, I pointed upstairs with my index finger and placed it on my lips to indicate that Christian was still sleeping. She laughed a soft chime and nodded. "Just myself."
"Will a grilled salmon steak topped with portobello mushroom sauce and a side of asparagus be satisfactory?" My stomach grumbled in response and she could not stop the gurgle from escaping her lips. "Yes, Ms Steele, immediately!"
"Take your time," I reassured her. "You can't rush perfection!"
"Indeed, indeed." She swiveled on her foot and started getting busy.
"Ms St-" Taylor was cut off as I turned to greet him as well. He had just emerged from the office with Sawyer a few steps behind him. Both men shifted their gazes away from me, blushing as they looked anywhere but at me.
I was suddenly extremely aware of how naked I was. I looked down and saw that they could make out everything about my body under Christian's translucent shirt. He had taken my underwear and flung my bra elsewhere, I had not desired to wake him by turning on the lights and searching for something to wear.
The blood raced to my cheeks. "I'm sorry." If only his shirt was a little longer. I better remember not to bend over at all tonight, not until Christian wakes and I get to put on proper clothes.
"I t-think" Sawyer stuttered, "I'll go back to..." He searched for something to say as he shifted uncomfortably. "I'll go to work." He made a beeline for the toilet instead and locked the door.
Taylor cleared his throat. "Ms Steele." I looked up to give him attention, watching as his cheeks reddened by the second. He sounded urgent, "I suggest you get dressed."
"Oh, my dear Ana!" Came the bright cheer from the office and out stepped Christian's mother. But upon a closer look at me, I could feel the awkwardness turn into a solid in this room. Oh hell. If only the floor could open up and swallow me whole, I would be saved from this embarrassment.
"Dr Trevelyan-Grey." I muttered under my breath, abashed.
"None of that formality, my dear." She managed after a long while, I still dared not to meet her eyes.
"Dr Trevelyan-Grey came up ten minutes ago." Taylor informed me. So this was the reason for his panic of my dress style.
"Alright, Taylor. I can explain on my own." She waved Taylor away dismissively and he made himself scarce."
"I'm so sorry, please forgive me for my dressing." My face heated up another ten degrees and I felt like running into a room and locking myself in until she was gone.
"It's alright, Ana. I suppose Christian's still in bed?"
The level of awkward in this room was through the roof. By her tone, it was as if she had caught us red handed in the middle of doing our deed. I knew she knew what Christian and I had been most recently up to. Unfortunately, she continued. "I'm glad you two have made up."
"We're working on it, Grace." I bit down on my lip nervously.
"It's nothing you should be ashamed of, Ana." Grace closed the distance and embraced me tightly. "If anyone should be ashamed, it should be me. I dropped in so unexpectedly."
"Oh! Of course not, Grace!" I hugged her back and reassured her. "It... Um" I swallowed. "It wasn't planned."
It was her turn to blush maroon as she took a step back to examine me. "Oh Ana!"
"Why don't you join me for dinner, we'll wait until Christian wakes up." I gestured towards the kitchen, my good manners on display.
"Wake up? He's sleeping?" There was a hint of worry in her voice. "He never sleeps to this hour."
"Oh. He just returned from New York a few hours back." I tried to convince her that it was perfectly natural. "The business there was affecting his sleep." Speaking of which, he had not told me how his business dealing had turned out.
"I see." She nodded her head as she listened. "Did you go with him?"
"Oh no, no. I stayed here." The apartment filled with the seductive aroma of fresh salmon being cooked. "Would you like to have some dinner?"
Even Grace could not resist the alluring smell of Gale's cooking. She gave me a small nod of her head and we watched silently as Gale did a little cooking show for us. With much grace and perfect skill, she plated up our dinners and lay them on the bar top before us.
"Thank you, Gale! Will you be cooking dinner for yourself and Taylor and Sawyer as well?"
"Oh no, Ms Steele. We've already eaten in the other kitchen."
I frowned. "What time is it?"
Grace beat her to the answer and she was smiling at me with a special sparkle in her eyes. "It's ten minutes after nine." Certainly, time had past so quickly whenever I was with Christian. Grace began eating and I followed suit.
The salmon was moist and tasty, with the skin so exuberantly crisp. Gale's seasoning was spot on and her choice of sides and sauce was done with finesse. "This is amazing!" I complimented Gale, to which she smiled at me shyly.
"So, Grace. What brings me the pleasure?" Gale shuffled out of the kitchen to leave us some privacy.
"Actually, Ana. I came here to confront Christian. I had no inkling that you would be here..." Her voice trailed off and I thought she was about to cry.
I knew what was going through her mind. "You thought I had left Christian..." I filled in the blanks for her.
Grace nodded sadly and I recognized the same fear I constantly found in Christian's eyes. "He barred Kate from coming up to Escala, so she had came straight to my home to tell us what had happened between the both of you."
Annoyance spread through me at her words. Kate was a great friend, my best friend, but sometimes she just failed to recognize boundaries. She had crossed the line this time. "Kate must've been red in the face with anger."
"Certainly." Grace's eyes grew wide as she pictured the scene in her head once again. How bad had it been? Kate Kavanagh and her temper could have taken down Julius Caesar's army in a second. "Elliott had to pick the little angry ball up and throw her over his shoulder to prevent her from screaming in my face."
I sighed and shook my head at the thought. "She's just a little protective over me."
"Yes, but it's good because I would really like someone like her for Elliott." Wow, that was a first. I cocked my head to a side in awe, Kate was half way in with the Grey's. All she needed now was a proposal. "Speaking of which, she mentioned something about you and her little brother…"
"Ethan?" I squeaked, the air barely making it past my lungs. Kate had talked to Christian's mother about Ethan! My boyfriend's mother! There was nothing other than killing her on my mind right now.
"Yes, is it serious?"
"Grace!" I was going to kill Kate. "He and I never…"
Grace's mouth formed a little 'O' in realization and she dismissed the subject just as fast as it had descended upon us. Thank goodness. Grace reached forward to clasp my hands in hers, I dropped my cutlery against the plate and it clambered noisily. "I am tremendously sorry for what Christian did. Please accept my apologies, I must have raised him wrongly."
"No, Grace!" I almost screamed her name. "Nothing like that. He just happened to be at the wrong place and the wrong time." Never in my life would I have imagined I was defending my boyfriend's infidelity.
Grace shrugged, "I was so confused! I had thought maybe the news reporting were all fraud, competition trying to beat my son from the inside." She rationalized out loud and I pitied her greatly. " Christian had refused my calls the past few days and this morning's newspaper clearly stated that you two were still together."
"Oh, Grace. Christian had no right to block you out, he was just struggling with work and trying to win me back." I tried to convince her. "It's possible he wanted to be alone to sort things out, if too many people stepped in to offer their opinions, it would have been really traumatizing." I was now speaking from experience.
Kate, Jose, Ethan and Elliott had been too much to handle. They all had differing opinions and different desires for me, both believed I should take a different path. I tried to imagine Christian talking and discussing things through with a whole board of his colleagues all over the globe, seeing that I had met very few and only one personal friend of his.
A thought suddenly occurred to me. Had he been talking to Elena while I was away?
"I understand, I suppose." Grace was still devastated and I was only beginning to grasp how this was making her feel. "I just don't want him to lose you, Ana."
Like mother like son, my inner goddess piped up after her long rest.
"It's hard... But I think we'll get through it, Dr Trevelyan-Grey." And she shook her head at my greeting of her. "Grace." I corrected myself and she smiled.
"He needs you, Ana. I know it. Because of his wealth, he's pretty much independent and has never come to his family for help. But with you..." Her fingers caressed my cheek. "He's able to depend on you and rely on you."
I flushed at the words, wondering why they hit me so hard. It was not as if I had not known that Christian felt this way about me, rather, it was the fact that his own mother was able to identify that. It made me feel strong and secured in knowing that I had the support of Christian's closest family, that I was loved by them and approved by them.
"Thank you, Grace." I whispered and we returned to our meal.
"How are you, Ana? You look rather pale."
As if to correct her, my cheeks heated up as the blood gushed in. "I'm recovering from a hangover."
"A hangover?" She questioned, dripping with curiosity and concern. "Were you drunk." This was not a question, it was a probe!
It was as if my own mother was grilling me about my drinking habits. I wanted to cover my face with both my hands and curl up in a forbidden corner. "I was not exactly in the right frame of mind."
"Sweet Ana, you're not to blame. But I really want to remind you that your health is the present and future, you have to take care of yourself." She gave me a stern scolding, which I could not help but look away.
There was a copy of the Seattle Times sitting by the sink. I reached down to pick it up and glanced through it. Just as I had agreed upon, Christian had gone ahead to get his people to settle the press. Christian and I had made one of the headlines : Seattle's Power Couple Denies Rumours.
"Mom?" Christian's voice shocked me from behind. The newspaper fell from my hands and onto the floor.
We both whirled in our chairs to find a freshly woken Christian stumbling down the stairs. He was bare cheated and clad in his wrinkled work pants, his hair tousled messily. Something about his appearance in this fashion hit me in the groin and I squirmed. He looked amazing in his post-love-making stance and noticed my reaction, smirking at me seductively. "Evening, Ana."
It took me a long while before I could formulate a response. "C-Christian."
He strode over like he was walking down a Victoria's Secret fashion show for men's wear. I thought I had died and gone to heaven as he smacked one against my lips, keeping it brief for his mother's sake. For whatever reason, he grabbed a bunch of my hair and threw it over my shoulder, as if shielding my neck.
"Mom." He shifted his gaze to greet his mom. "How can I help you?"
"I know!" I squealed and jumped off my high stool. Intending to show Christian the newspaper to explain his mother's arrival, I bent over to reach for the papers that were sprawled all over the floor.
At that exact moment, the toilet door clicked open and realization hit me the same time Sawyer gasped and retreated back into the toilet once more. "ANA." Christian's furious growl attacked me as he pulled me up and jerked me from my waist. His shirt fell back down over my ass and covered my lady parts.
"Sorry." I whimpered and turned to face his glower. "I forgot." With the most angelic smile I could pull off, I offered him the scraps of newspaper I had manage to salvage before Sawyer received a full-frontal.
"You must be cold, Ana." He spat through his gritted teeth as if he was trying to keep his anger under control. I knew by heart that at moments like this, it was in his primal nature to throw me over his knee and give me the spanking of my life. It made me wet thinking about it.
"I am?" He took the papers from my hands and gently pushed me towards the stairs.
"Yes, you are." He repeated for me. "Go and cover yourself with something... Thicker."
Oh. That was what he was getting at. I had to try and defuse this ticking time bomb before it could explode on me the moment his mother left us. Very subtly, I ground my hips against him as I tip-toed to put my arms around his neck. I was rewarded with a low moan from Christian, soft enough that Grace would not be able to pick it up. Making sure my taut nipples pressed up against his bare chest, I leaned in to kiss the man I loved, making sure to nibble on his bottom lip.
"I'll be right back, Mr Grey." I grazed his ear lobe with my teeth. Purifying my glance, I turned to smile at his mother. "Be right back, Grace!" With quick steps, I raced past Sawyer's toilet and up the staircase to change into something more decent.