Christian
What should I do? He struck first and here I am in my office with this damn note that Ana said she did not want to read. Taylor has long since gone to bed. I am thinking of all the ways in which this could go wrong. I am not actually sure who was meant to read this letter. He called Ana that but then again the term is man of the house.
I put on the gloves Taylor left me with to open this up. I open the seal and read his hastily given letter.
WELL WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THAT THE LITTLE BITCH I SAW IN THAT OFFICE WOULD HAVE GROWN SO MUCH? I TRIED TO CONVINCE YOU TO GIVE ME MONEY BEFORE BUT IT SEEMS THAT MY BOOKIE HAS BEEN A BIT MORE DEMANDING. I WANT A MILLION DOLLARS THIS TIME NEXT WEEK OR I WILL TRACK DOWN THAT LITTLE PIECE OF ASS AND SLIT THAT BITCHES THROAT.
He didn't sign it. The crappy handwriting aside the text was angry and in all capital letters too. I am not sure but the blinding rage in me has not stirred I am just sitting and not sure why. I knew he would come back but I did not know back then that he had bookies. Welch, he can do some digging for me.
I pick up my phone and dial his number, though all too late do I realize that it is three in the morning. Early as hell on a Sunday morning.
"….. Hmmmmm…Hello?" I hear ruffling and a grunt.
"Welch I need you to do some digging for me. The name is Steven Morton. I need all the information you can about him. Apparently this man wants to threaten me and mine and trying to get me to give him money in exchange he won't hurt my family." I rift off.
"Sir, Ana and I have already emailed about this a couple hours ago." He sounds more alert.
"What?" I am shocked.
"Yes sir. She emailed me and said around the same thing you just did if not a bit more…calmly. I did some preliminary digging and I told her it would be emailed to her tomorrow by ten." Yup it is confirmed my employees prefer her over me.
"Ok well, cc me in on it too please." Did I just say please? I believe I just did.
"Yes sir" He hangs up and I slowly drift into my room and see Ana asleep in my t shirt. Tomorrow… or later on today the pictures of us will be everywhere. Our lives will change tomorrow. She starts work on Monday and things are going to be probably hard for her.
I crawl into bed and don't know what tomorrow will hold for me or her but I am looking forward to a night where I don't have to worry about her.
…
I feel groggy and look over to see Ana still asleep. I roll closer to her and just feel the comfort of her presence. I don't know how many days I would just wake up and go straight to work on the weekends, even on Sundays. I caress her skin and feel relieved that she is with me. I slowly get out of bed and make my way to the kitchen where surprisingly things in this section of the house as completely been fixed from yesterday.
"Good morning Gail I hope that you recovered from your ordeal well." I said with a mellow tone. I didn't want to overwhelm her so soon with my normal morning gruff tone.
"Yes sir, I am just a bit more anxious than I normally am but I think I can manage. I woke up early this morning to fix this area. I picked up and swept where I could. Taylor mentioned someone to come in and replace the furniture" she said with an almost apologetic voice. I know she never saw this coming. A deranged person simply walking into my home and destroying everything isn't a thought we ever had with the level of security I have here. He got us when we were uneasy.
"You know that you don't have to cook today, right?" I didn't want her to work when she didn't have to. She really was off and I didn't want it to seem like I expected her to cook just because she was here.
"No its okay. I think keeping busy would be best." With that she went right into making coffee and what I could only assume was French toast.
I go into my office and see no email from Welch yet. I look at the listings of houses and see the one I really want. Its left side has a trail that leads into the woods while the other side has a small pond. I like that it is just what Ana wanted. I see they have a showing today. I quickly go into the room and see Ana is just waking up and sitting up straight.
"Hey whats up?" She asks as she whips her eyes.
"Well I believe I have the perfect house for us to buy and I want to run it by you" I secretly hope she will like it just as much as I do. It has everything and the added bonus of it being security wall friendly.
"Oh let me see" She reaches for my laptop and scrolls through the picture. She smiles the entire time and she even goes into looking at the interior pictures. I really hadn't looked into that and I really don't care.
"Oh look we can see it today. Wanna go see it?" she says even happier
I couldn't help but be excited. We quickly jump to it and hurry and eat much too Gail's amusement. We walk ever to the garage and I notice Taylor isn't with us.
"Ana, why isn't Taylor with us? He was at breakfast with us." I ask. I am also not sure when I started to have breakfast with my staff but somehow it ended up that way. I actually am getting used to the company now during meals and it turns out that Taylor and I have things in common… who would have known?
"Yes I know but I told him to stay home with Gail and Luke is going to meet us at the house." she says while stepping into the truck.
I wonder why they all listen to her with no problem but when it comes from me they all drag their feet. I look passed this favoritism and try not to focus on it too much. When we get out of the garage we see a barrage of paparazzi surrounding our building. With our handy hats and glasses Ana put in her purse we pass them with little to no effort. I don't think they would take me for a man who would drive himself but alas they are wrong. We drive in comfortable silence and see the house already has some people looking. I don't like that I am going to have to compete with other people for the house but I will just outbid anyone who tries. I look over at Ana as she leads the way to look at exterior of the house and see she is quite comfortable being outdoors.
"Do you like the outside so far?" I smile knowingly
"I sure do. Let's go see if they have a nice inside as well." She walks up to me and takes my hand and we walk into the house.
When we walk in we clearly don't fit the part. The couples and agents are all smartly dress in suits and dresses. We are walking in wearing jeans and hats. I don't like how they give us dubious glances in an attempt to make our presence even more obvious. Ana pays no mind to them as she looks around and likes what she sees. There is a terrace off the master and the media room would need a real update but all in all I like it. I would just like a face lift on the house and Ana agrees saying 'All it needs is some TLC and it will be great'. I see the many extra bedrooms and envision our children growing up here and having them inherit this home.
We make it down stairs where they are having champagne and little cheap treats and me and Ana immediately go to the agent in charge.
"Hello, how are you finding the house?" the woman says with the most annoying smile I have ever seen. I don't know why but happy people who are not happy irritate me.
"I want this house. I am clear and to the point." I don't like mixing words or being flowery
"Well sir that would be great but you need at least a ten percent down payment as a part of your earnest money." Is she really trying to talk me out of buying this house?
"That is fine how much is the house selling for?" I can buy it all cash and I wouldn't even bat an eyelash at the money.
"Well sir it's a considerable amount. Its asking price is $500,000 dollars." That is so cheap. I do believe my penthouse is worth more than this.
"Why is it so low?" I want to know there is nothing wrong with the property
"Well it's a short sale sir; the current owner wants to retire with his wife in the south to be closer to their grandchildren." I actually like her explanation and smile that an older couple lived here.
"Well pending a property investigation I want to buy it cash." Ana busies herself around me looking at the fire place.
"Okay well sir, can I take your name and its going to have to be a down payment today if you are going to need me to take it off the market right away." This woman is all about the money.
"Yes, my name is Christian Grey. I will write you a check now if you like." And just as I said my name many people look over at me and then Ana. They now have put two and two together and slowly moving closer to us.
The agent baulks at my name and realizes her grave error in her being too plain with me earlier. She now sees the big sale that can happen if I do want this house and if I choose a different agent that is here instead of her.
"Okay sir I will see what I can do." She looks nervous. As a real estate agent I thought she would have more confidence in her ability to get me this house.
"Are you not sure you can get me this house?" I don't like the sound of that. That means she was giving me some bullshit about needing money upfront to put it on hold. She was just trying to get me to back down from wanting this house. I am angry all over again. I look over to see another real estate agent. A man who was obviously a real estate agent from his name plate to his enormous smile and I can only assume he knows who I am.
"Are you a competent agent?" Is the first question I needed to know the answer to
"Yes sir, I am Marcus." He holds out his hand with a flourish and shakes mine. "How can I help you?"
"I want to buy this house today. The other woman said I need the down payment upfront so I can take it now and get the open houses to stop." I said with an angry rush.
"Well sir that is true but if you really want this house today and the owner does want a short sale I can have the paper drawn up later this afternoon. You don't even need to write a check at this point, all I would need is your banks information and from there your accountant and lawyer can hash out the details." He is direct and to the point.
"Why is it that the lady over there couldn't do this?" I really want to know what kind of wet behind the ears person is here trying to play with the big fish
"Well sir this is her first large property sale and isn't used to dealing with a clientele that have no issue when it comes to money." Okay small fish in a big pond at some point they need to learn I guess.
I hand him my card and give him Barney's information. Ana is just in the back ground allowing me to do my thing. I know this good day was going to get worse when I get that information about Morton but right now I love just being out with her. After we leave the house we head over to see my mom at the hospital. She was just having a bad day and needed a pick me up. I look beyond where she stands and see Luke surveying the grounds and he nods his head. We are all clear to leave now.
…
We pull up in the hospital parking lot and head inside. It is a mad house. I walk over to see my mom and she is in her office.
"I am going to go to the bathroom Christian." Ana kisses me on the cheek and walks to the other side of the hall way as I go into my mother's office.
…
Ana
After I am done in the bathroom I look over and see a many women in pink gowns walking or actually waddling on the other side of the bridge that connects two buildings. I walk over and see all the pregnant women pacing in obvious labor. Some women grown and huff others hold stiff and the other bend over and curse heaven and their husbands who are night next to them. I sit in one of the many chairs lining the hallways and watch in fascination.
This could be me and Christian soon. I would be swollen and pacing these very halls maybe cursing him in many ways or rubbing my stomach and trying to just jiggle the baby out. I hear a victorious cry of a baby next to where I am sitting. I hear adults crying and congratulating each other. I didn't need to look back to tell a baby had just been born. Suddenly a girl sits beside me. She is drowning in her clothes and her knees won't stop shaking.
"Time is it?" she says looking at my watch
"Half pass two" I say looking down
"So you pregnant too or something what are you doing on this side of the building?" she scoffs looking at me up and down. She is a brunette with a very sunken in face, bed head and her nail buds look like they have been bitten to the bone. A nurse comes and brings her a baby who is very small and a complimentary diaper bag.
"Just waiting for a friend." I eventually answer. The baby is so precious. The new baby tries to wedge closer to her but she holds it at arm's length.
"Ma'am we are going to need a name for you baby before you go." The nurse holds out paper work for her to see.
"Can't I handle that some other time?!" she answers in a very irritated tone.
The nurse leaves and I can only assume will return when the young mother has a better attitude. I continue to people watch. Besides the woman beside me, everyone is happy and awaiting their babies arrival.
"Could you hold him so I could fill out paper work?" she asks me. She doesn't wait for me to say anything and she places the baby in my arms and walks over to what I would assume is the direction of the nurses' station.
The small baby boy in my arms was so tiny. He had a shade of blue eyes that were similar to mine but his hair was a beautiful dark curly brown. He was so sweet and I kissed his forehead … Mm new baby smell. I lightly swayed him and when he began to fuss I held him closer to my chest and just rocked him. He drifts off into sleep and I hold him tight to make him feel secure.
Eventually I see that it has been a half hour and pick up the baby and his bag and walk in the direction of the nurses' desk.
"Umm hello I am looking for a woman who is maybe my height, brown hair and baggy clothes." I try to describe her best I could.
"Oh yes ma'am she just signed herself out maybe twenty minutes ago… she said the paper work for the baby would wait." The nurse said "Oh is this little thing here yours? Cute little thing. Wow you look good for just having a baby." She looks down to answer a phone call and I hear my name being called.
"Ana hey you ready for lunch...whose baby is this?" he pulls down the baby's blanket to get a good look at him.
"I don't know." I answer honestly
"What do you mean?" Grace says coming beside Christian
"She left her baby with me so she could fill out paper work. Then when I came over here to check on her progress the nurse tells me she signed herself out." I have no idea what to do.
"Oh dear" Grace says and then looks at the nurse. "She just abandoned him." She looks down and shakes her head.
"Can't she be called back? You can't just leave a baby?!" Christian argues and is immediately hushed by the nursing staff.
"Why would you want her to come back? She just left her child. This is a Haven, Christian, it's sad to say that she just relinquished her rights by leaving him here. This boy is now a ward of the state." she said as she takes the baby's diaper bag from me.
"Christian can I talk to you please?..." I say while holding the baby.
….
SOOOOOOO WHAT DO YOU THINK? WHO LIKE THIS LITTLE CURVE BALL?
REVIEW…. TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT TO HAPPEN NEXT !
(ALSO THE LAW I JUST GOT THIS FROM APPLIES TO MY STATE OF ILLINOIS, AND ANY FURTHER INFORMATION IS PROVIDED TO ME BY AND ALSO THE FACT THAT MY MOM JUST BECAME A FOSTER PARENT THIS PAST MONTH AND FACTS THAT COME FROM HELPING HER FILL OUT PAPER WORK FOR CERTIFICATION….. AND A VERY LONG VIDEO ON FOSTER CARE PROVIDED TO US BY DCFS)