Chapter 7: Manic Monday
"Ana, that was mighty irresponsible of you." Luke scolded, not bothering to conceal his annoyance. "Next time you decide to throw my name out there to make him jealous, think about my job."
I watched guiltily as he kept his phone back in his pocket. He was right. I wanted to make Christian pay, to feel this tinge of bitterness and hurt that I was drowning in. Maybe that way he would realize how his actions were tormenting me and start treating me like his wife.
"You're not the only victim, Ana." Luke shook his head at me as he drank his water. "You took me to that doctor's appointment, you left him in bed and you just battered his attempt at reconciliation to the ground." Before I could say anything, Luke put his palm up to signal for me to wait. "Remember, it all started when you didn't take your shot."
"You're switching sides?" I narrowed my eyes, prepared for the betrayal.
Luke sighed in exasperation, "How can you see it that way? Christian and you are married! There aren't supposed to be sides." His eyebrows crinkled as he squished them together in frustration. "Why don't you get that?"
My face slipped into a subconscious pout as I glared down at the food that had been delicious. As much as I wanted to reject Luke's words, they were all true. Even though I had found fault with Christian's behavior, it had all begun because of my irresponsible behavior. I had been caught up in the moment in my anger at Christian.
"Ana, where do you see this ending if you keep fighting him?" Luke lured me out of my thoughts as he signed the bill. "Because I only see this ending in an ugly divorce."
Divorce. My head hung low. Did I want a divorce? I loved Christian. I love him and I could only ever see myself with him. Where would a divorce leave me? I'd have a beautiful child but not the love of my life to raise our child together.
I would be alone.
What was I supposed to do? Move on and forget his little thing with Elena? I did not even know what they had done together. What if it was something... Along the lines of Leila?
"Quit brooding, sweetheart." Luke reached forward and squeezed my wrist. "You don't know anything until he explains. So give him a chance."
I shot him a halfhearted smile and shrugged, suddenly not feeling like going to work. But the responsible adult in me told me different. Luke walked me to the car and began to drive, we would arrive just on time for work.
My mind was spinning around Christian, wondering what he was doing by now. Surely, he was pissed beyond
"Good morning, Mrs Grey!" Giselle and Charlotte sang together as I stepped into the lobby.
"Morning, ladies." I nodded at them.
Giselle turned around and placed a huge bouquet of flowers onto the counter, flashing me a huge smile. "These just arrived for you."
There was an assortment of flowers, littered mostly with baby breath. Red roses, yellow tulips, white daisies... It was breathtaking. "They must be from Mr Grey!" Charlotte said with a playful wink.
The two ladies giggled together at the thought. "You are so lucky!" Charlotte chimed, cradling the flowers to her chest and hesitantly passing them to me.
Luke judged me with a proud smirk. Defending his boss had been the right card to play. I felt my heart melt the moment I smelled the alluring scent of the flowers. Christian really did know how to apologize. It vaguely reminded me of the many bouquet of flowers he had placed at the foot of my apartment once.
"Thanks, ladies." I beamed, barely able to clutch the bouquet as I headed for the lifts.
"I would say expect an arrival from Christian in a few hours," Luke laughed as he held the door open for me. "Taylor says he's clearing some documents before coming over."
I nodded at him, my heart pounding at the thought of seeing Christian after what I had done to him this morning. The angst and anger would be translated into brilliant and glorious sexual intercourse.
"Be sure to do more than kiss and make up, Ana." Luke winked as the doors closed on him.
I stepped back and leaned into the mirror, letting out a gleeful sigh. Christian did love me and the flowers testified that fact. Instead of shutting him out, we needed to have a talk about us. Just like Grace had said, we most probably would end up loving each other even more with this child.
Placing the bouquet down on my desk I reached to pull out the card that was buried under the flowers. It was an adorable card with a cartoon of a baby. That was so sweet. If he kept this up, my resistance would disintegrate before I even met him.
With my head in the clouds, I read the message behind the card. It was not in his handwriting... Maybe it was his assistant that had done the card. "Congratulations on baby Grey, too bad I'll soon be sending my condolences on his abortion. -Elena Lincoln."
My blood was seething and I saw red. What the flying f***. I slammed the flowers upon the floor and stomped on them angrily. I had spent the past hour convincing myself that Christian and Elena were nothing but this has just destroyed all efforts.
There was a throbbing in my head. I pressed my palm against to soothe it but the dizziness hit me and I fell against my table, gripping the top for support. This was all too overwhelming.
As if it would solve anything, I yanked off the huge ass wedding ring from my finger and chucked it into a pocket of my dress. Patting it down, I took in a deep breath to steady myself.
My finger felt free and so did I. "Mrs Grey?" Claire's worries voice peeked into the room as she did. "Are you alright?" Her eyes shuffled to the mess on the floor. "What happened?"
"Yeah... Just a little dizzy." I replied, hobbling towards my desk as white spots covered my vision.
"Sit down, Mrs Grey. I'll get you some water. "
Clenching my jaw, I tried to calm myself down. My phone began to vibrate against my thigh and I lifted it out, expecting to see Christian but instead..."Hey, Ethan!"
"Hey, Ana..." Ethan's voice sounded heavy and uncomfortable. "You don't sound too good, love."
I hated how Ethan knew how I truly felt even when I masked it so well. Dropping the act, I sighed and rubbed my temples, "Yeah, something happened with Christian."
There was a tense silence. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"I was thinking about it and I pretty much almost fainted so... I doubt that's a good idea." I tried to laugh it off.
"That doesn't sound too good, where are you?" Ethan was in no mood for jokes.
"My office." Claire came back with a glass of water, placing it on the table and excusing herself.
"I'll come to you."
"What, now?" I squeaked, barely even understanding this urgency. Was my dizzy spell that dangerous?
"Or would you prefer to come to me?" His voice softened.
I smiled at that thought. It had been a long time since Ethan and I had had a hang out day just the both of us. It was usually in a setting with many people and Christian, who would keep me in tow at all times when Ethan was in the premise. "That sounds good, this office sucks."
Ethan cracked a laugh. "I'll take you out for lunch. Pick you at 11?"
"Sounds perfect." I beamed into the air. "I'll see you then."
"Don't get into any trouble until then, love." Ethan warned teasingly with a tinge of seriousness.
"You're a worse nagger than my mother!" I scolded. "Bye." I said and we both hung up together.
Claire lingered at the door with her PDA in hand. "Mrs Grey, should I schedule a doctor's appointment for you today?"
I raised my eyebrows at my overly concerned assistant, "Oh, that won't be necessary. I didn't sleep well last night."
"Alright." She nodded. "Can I get the janitor to clear the flowers?"
"Yes, definitely." I brushed the flowers aside dismissively, it smelt foul to me now. "Right away please."
Claire snapped her fingers and two old men strolled into my office, beginning to dump the crumpled bouquet into a plastic bag. They took a while to clear the loose petals and I felt apologetic for causing such a mess.
"Mr. Grey has been informed about your dizziness." She stated, tapping into her PDA.
"What?" My heart pounded against my chest. "When?"
She looked lost and worried, as if she had done something wrong. "I'm sorry... I..."
I worked a retrieving my calm and lowered my tone, "It's alright... Did he call?"
Claire shook her head, "Taylor called to check if you were in yet and he asked if you were okay... So I told him you were dizzy... I'm sorry, Mrs Grey."
Of course it was not her fault. Christian had instructed Claire to inform him of every detail, no matter how minor, ever since I had employed her. She was pretty much my nanny. "It's alright, Claire." I smiled reassuringly at her.
The two men were finally done. "Wait!" I said, lifting the card from my table and chucking it into the bag. "Thank you."
I redirected my attention to Claire, "Claire, could you shift any appointments from 11-1 to another time or day?" I leaned back onto my table as she tapped the PDA.
"Done." She looked up.
"Don't tell Mr Grey, please." I pleaded slightly. She panicked slightly. "If he asks, just tell him I have meetings." She nodded, guilty of a lie she has yet to tell. "If he tries to come up, do tell him that I am busy in meetings."
Claire relaxed a little, "Of course, Mrs. Grey." Just then, someone called her name and she turned for a moment before looking back at me. "Your first meeting partners have just arrived."
Throughout the meeting, I received various text messages from none other than Christian Grey himself.
9.10AM : Hey baby, I wanted to call when I heard about your dizzy spells but then you went straight into a meeting. Just know that if you're unwell just come back home. I love you, drink water and rest well. Laters, baby.
9.15AM: I intended to come over but I'm perpetually swarmed with work. You know what I say... If you want a job well done you have to do it yourself. Thinking of you.
9.30AM: Okay, Ana. We really need to talk. I hate feeling that you're suffering because of my reaction to our latest predicament.
That text made me laugh in a twisted way. He had referred to the Elena baby combo as a predicament. Christian Grey had yet to find out about the bouquet of flowers his lover had given me this morning.
10.15AM: I wanted to have lunch with you, but Claire says the only available time would be at 4. Are you having lunch at all? Taylor says you have to eat for obvious reasons.
So Christian was dealing with the baby by completely bypassing the word itself. How mature. But Taylor of course, who had experience raising Sophie, was inputting much needed knowledge well above his job description.
10.32: It kinda sucks that I'm having a one-way conversation here. I know for a fact you've read my messages because you left your time stamp on.
Growling under my breath as the second group of clients presented their proposal, I changed my iPhone settings.
10.47: Oh, that's hilarious Mrs Grey. I have Welch, if you have let that slip your mind. I could just turn on your office cameras from my laptop. This Cold War will not last.
"Thank you." I said, rising to shake their hands.
"Always great doing business with you, Mrs Grey."
"Claire will show you both out."
I took the opportunity to reply.
10.58: Mr Grey, I will be having lunch but not with you. This is the current predicament. Please assure Taylor, who is probably the only one worried for OUR child's safety, that I will grab lunch in between breaks. Your Mrs Lincoln delivered a beautiful bouquet of flowers to my office today. Glad to see that you share similar sentiments with your lover over our predicament. See you when and if I do.
The moment I pressed send on my phone, Ethan called. "Love, I'm downstairs with two giggly women."
I laughed into the phone as I made my way out. "That's Charlotte and Giselle, feel free to hit on them. I am on my way down!"