A/N: Thanks for reading. Enjoy!
"Please tell me you didn't eat it.", Kate grimaces from her chair at our table in Spinasse. Elliot simply shrugs his shoulders and continues eating his ravioli. "Elliot, did eat a cricket?"
"Can we not talk about insects while we're eating?", Ethan asks. He turns to his left where Max is sitting and waves his hand towards Kate and Elliot. "Wouldn't you like for the topic to be dropped?"
"Actually, I'm like Kate in wondering if he really did it." The subject at hand is whether Elliot truly ate a live cricket following a dare by a coworker, Chad. "Ana, Christian, wouldn't you two like to know as well?"
"Considering it's Elliot, I'm going to say he did it.", Christian answers with a laugh.
"Elliot, just put an end to the speculation and answer the question." Silence falls around us as Elliot straightens in his chair and looks in amusement at the questioning faces.
"Yes I did. I was hesitant at first, but I finally got the courage and did it. I tell ya the chirping made it a little hard to focus."
"Ok, ok.", Kate mutters. "Although I don't want to know any more details about the digestion, I would like to know what you got in return. What was your reward for doing it."
"Chad bought my lunch for an entire week.", Elliot replies, seeing the disbelief in Kate's face. "I'm sure you think buying my lunch for a week isn't a enough for what I did, but you've seen me eat. If anyone got cheated, it was him."
I glance at Christian who must feel my eyes on him because he turns and winks. Some may think a wink is nothing, but when the man is Christian Grey, I'm a goner. My feelings for him grow more and more each day.
"Are you having a good time?", I ask in low voice in which only Christian can hear. He observes our dinner companions for a few seconds and smiles.
"I'm having a very good time. It's nice being around everyone." I catch a hint of sadness in his response. "In the past, when I've had dinner with a large group of people, it's been work related so this a different but very welcome departure." Despite the rough start he had with Kate and Ethan, the three of them seem to be getting along better now. Moving forward, it's what we're all doing.
"Guys, this has been a lovely evening.", Kate announces. "It's always nice being with friends." She raises her wine glass and nods at Christian and Max. "Old and new."
"I'll toast to that.", Ethan adds. Soon, everyone has joined in on the toast.
"You could always come back to my place.", Christian says in between kisses while we're parked in front of my building following dinner. "We can make love, fuck, and then make love again." I feel my face turning red at his statement which Taylor undoubtedly heard from the driver's seat. "He has ear buds in and can't hear us, but I wouldn't care if he did."
"While I appreciate the offer, I'm going to take a rain check. I need to work on my article a little before calling it a night."
"How much have you got so far?"
"Almost half.", I reply with pride. "I was able to get a lot done today at work, but tomorrow's going to be a different story." Tomorrow is Wednesday as in the day Bryant is going to be at the office. I'm brought from my thoughts and my seat as Christian pulls me into his lap.
"What time is he supposed to be there?"
"Olivia said around eleven. I'm going to ignore him as best as possible for the entire hour he's there."
"I have no doubt that you'll put him in his place if he gets out of line."
"My dad is coming for a visit next weekend.", I say, sweeping my lips across his. "He mentioned it a few weeks ago but didn't make any definitive plans until today."
"I bet you're excited."
"Very. He's my pillar of strength. You can say no if you want, but I'd like for you to meet him." His lack of response makes me believe it's a no. "Never mind."
"Hey." His hand gently tilts my head. "I'm honored that you want me to meet your dad. It means a lot to me. Like a lot of things as of late, it'll be my first time meeting a parent."
"I'm sure, no I'm positive that he'll like you."
"Hey you two, come up for air.", Kate giggles as she taps on Christian's window. Christian rolls it down and scowls at her for interrupting us. Elliot only adds to Christian's frustration when he sticks his head inside the car.
"I should roll this window back up.", Christian smirks.
"But my head is inside.", Elliot counters.
"Which is why I should roll it up." I bite my lip to hold back my laughter at the two Grey brothers.
"I should get inside.", I tell Christian while sliding off of his lap. "It's already eight thirty. Kate, Elliot, if you'll excuse us, we're going to say goodnight." With that, I swat Elliot out of the window, rolling it back up to give us a few last minutes together. "It was a pleasure as always Mr. Grey."
"The pleasure was all mine Miss Steele.", he whispers before kissing me with his tantalizing lips. I've never been much of a drinker, but I can get intoxicated just by his kisses. "Why don't I come and pick you up tomorrow for lunch?"
"Lunch sounds good. I'll see you then."
"Hey Audrey, I haven't seen Daniel around this morning. Is he on assignment or does he have the day off?", I ask after I finish putting paper in the copy machine.
"I wish it were one of those, but unfortunately, he's sick. I went out to dinner with my sister last night while he went to Burgers and More, the new restaurant a few streets over. He wasn't sure about going there at first, but the owner is a friend of his mom's so he gave in."
"And he got sick from something he ate there? That won't be a good review."
"Actually, the burger he ate wasn't what made him sick or at least I don't think it was. After he got home, he was still hungry so he had some left over pizza from his fridge. The pizza had been in there since last week."
"Gross.", I murmur. "Does he not look in his fridge for out of date things?"
"Evidently not. I dropped some ginger ale and crackers off at his place on my way to work."
"I hope he feels better soon."
"Me too. It's almost eleven. Are you ready to see Bryant?", she asks. I reach into the candy dish she keeps on her desk and grab a peppermint.
"As ready as I can be." Glancing over my shoulder at Kate's desk, I see her eyes on the door as if she's waiting to pounce on Bryant when he arrives. "Kate seems to be ready."
"Oh I think she's had her claws sharpened since she got here."
Back at my desk, I open the file for my article and resume working on it. Olivia comes out of her office and walks past me, but I don't give it a second thought. It's only when I hear Kate's fake cough that I finally break my attention from the screen. Standing next to Audrey's desk is Olivia and Bryant who's showing her the contents of the folder in his hand. As she's speaking, he looks up and towards me, giving me a slight smile, but I roll my eyes and turn back around.
"I feel like I'm watching a showdown in a western movie.", Kate murmurs.
"Ana, Kate.", Olivia says. "I know introductions aren't needed here."
"Definitely not. Ana and I both know dear Bryant."
"On behalf of McGregor Advertising, he's going to be observing our office today as part of the ad campaign he's putting together for the magazine. He's agreed to remain as silent as possible. I've got a conference call, but I'll check back in soon." She looks at me apologetically and then shoots a warning look at Kate before leaving us.
"What are you two working on?", he asks.
"A fundraising dinner for a local school.", Kate answers.
"I'm doing an article on a book fair which was held this past weekend.", I respond.
"Both sound like interesting reads.", Bryant says. "A lot of time goes into putting the articles together, huh?" He's asking a question that he knows the answer to. When we were together he see me working on articles, but he never seemed to really care about what I was working on.
"Yes. It requires very detailed research so we can give the reader as much information as possible."
"Cool.", he grins at me. "I'm going to take a seat over there." He nods at a chair which conveniently is close to my desk. "You won't know I'm here."
"I wish you weren't.", I mutter although I don't think he heard me. Damn!
My intention of ignoring Bryant ends up being a success. He has made good on his word of staying out of the way while we work. Every now and then, I can feel his eyes on me, but I refuse to look at him. At eleven forty five, Olivia finally comes back into the room.
"My call ended up going longer than I thought. Is everything ok out here?" Kate and I answer with nods. "Bryant, how much longer do you plan on being here?"
"I'm finished up here, but I'm going to spend some time with the graphics department this afternoon. I appreciate you allowing me to do this."
"When the guys upstairs tell me do something, I have no choice."
"Ok then...I'm going to go and grab some lunch. I'm sure I'll see you all in passing." I hope not. "Have a great rest of the day." His eyes move to me briefly before he walks out of the office.
"Are you sure things went ok?", Olivia asks me.
"Yep. I did my work while he did his."
"I'm glad to hear that. I'm going to have sushi for lunch. Do you guys want to go?"
"Sushi sounds good. Count me in.", Kate replies as she grabs her purse. "Ana, what about you?"
"I'm having lunch with Christian. He should be here in a few minutes."
"Oh yes, the boyfriend. Audrey, how about sushi for lunch?"
"I would, but I'm going to check on Daniel to see how he's feeling. I'll probably get something on my way back here. Thanks for the offer though."
After the four of us arrive downstairs, we walk out into the parking lot. Scanning the area, I see no sign of Christian. I reach into my purse and see a new text from him.
*Running late, but I'll be there in a few minutes.*
"Is he coming?", Kate asks.
"He's on his way. Why don't you guys go ahead and go?" Kate seems skeptical of my idea. "I'll be fine. He'll be here soon."
"Are you sure?"
"Go. Have some sushi.", I giggle. "Audrey, tell Daniel that I hope he feels better."
"I will. See you guys soon.", she says before heading to her car while Kate and Olivia make their way to Kate's. I wave at the three of them as they leave. I become excited at the sound of a car nearing me, but that excitement goes poof when I see it's Bryant's Civic. He swerves into a spot only a few feet from me.
"Why are you standing out here alone?", he asks while taking his sunglasses off.
"I'm waiting on Christian to pick me up for lunch. What are you doing back here?"
"I was going to look over my notes during lunch but realized that I left my folder here. I'm kind of glad that I did because it gives me a chance to see you."
"Are you sure you really left your folder or are you using that as an excuse?", I hiss.
"I swear my folder is upstairs. I was on the Seattle Nooz site and saw some interesting photos." He's referring to the fun center photos of me and Christian which I've been trying to forget. So far nothing else has been reported about us. "I was a little shocked when I saw them. You used to never be into public displays of affection, and yet, there you were going at with him." I've never wanted to hit someone so much as I do right now. I can literally feel my blood boiling.
"That's because I'm not the same person. I've changed. I like who I am now a hell of a lot better than who I was when we were together. Like I've told before, I'm grateful for what happened. Otherwise, I would still be stuck in that rut."
"You still think what we had meant nothing?", he scoffs. "I don't believe you."
"I don't care whether you believe it or not. Sometimes bad experiences have to have happen in order for even greater ones to take place. I'm with a man who truly cares about me. When I talk, he really listens. I feel alive with him."
"I miss you. I miss us."
"See that's the difference between us. I don't miss you, and I don't miss us.", I shrug. Finally, Christian's SUV arrives in the parking lot. In a matter of seconds, Christian is out of the vehicle.
"I'm sorry that I'm late.", Christian apologizes. He and Bryant begin staring each other down. "Is everything ok here?"
"Everything is fine. You met Bryant at the Coping Together Ball, right?"
"I did. Hello Bryant."
"Mr. Grey.", Bryant murmurs.
"Call me Christian." He crashes his lips against mine and pulls me into a steady kiss while Bryant looks on. "I'd like to thank you."
"Thank me? For what?"
"For being blind and not seeing what was in front of you.", Christian gloats. "Are you ready baby?"
"I'm more than ready.", I answer. We walk away from Bryant and to the SUV. "You seemed to be enjoying yourself back there."
"I was simply letting him know that he's a dumbass."