A/N: Thanks for reading. Enjoy!
"Thank you for this weekend. It was incredible." I lay my head on Christian's shoulders as we make our way to the apartment following our return from New York.
"For the millionth time, you're welcome." He kisses me delicately on the top of my head. The elevator comes to a stop and the door opens to the foyer. His fingers are knotted with mine as we step into the apartment. With exhaustion hitting us, our bodies fall back on to the living room sofa. "What was your favorite part?"
"I liked going to some of the boutiques and restaurants. Seeing Les Miserables was nice too. If I had to pick one thing it would be making love in every room of your apartment."
"Ana, the apartment is as much yours as it is mine. The same goes for everything I own." I place my left hand on his heart.
"This is the only thing I truly want.", I whisper.
"You've had it since the first day I saw you." He stares admiringly at my engagement ring. "This ring looks so damn good on you."
"It's a beautiful ring, one that I'm never going to take off."
"I should hope not. When you said yes to my proposal, you officially made me the happiest man in the world." I blush at the memory of the carnival he set up for his proposal.
"I still can't believe you did all of that for me."
"Ana, you should know by now I'd do anything for you. Don't you know how amazing you are?" I know he loves me, but sometimes I wonder what's so special about me.
"I have moments where I try to figure out what it is that makes you love me."
"It's everything. It's your sense of humor that can make the worst days better. It's your heart that loves everyone unconditionally. Baby, you're the total package, and I can't wait for you to be my wife. I realize we only got engaged a few days ago, but what kind of wedding do you want?"
"I think you mean what kind of wedding do we want. I want both of to be involved with the wedding planning. The day is as much yours as it is mine." He smiles at the repetition of his earlier words.
"In that case, I have no idea as long as it's you walking down the aisle towards me."
"It better be.", I giggle. My hand finds its way to his leg, moving upwards over the denim until the sound of my phone interrupts me. "I've got more important things to do than answer the phone." He laughs and yanks me on top of him as the phone stops. Our bodies are grinding together but stop when my phone once again rings. "It's going to keep ringing until I answer it."
"Yeah so you might as well get it over it with." I mumble under my breath and slip off him to answer the call. "I'm going to check my emails while you take your call." I immediately feel terrible when I see the caller is my dad.
"Dad, hi."
"Hi Annie. I was calling to see if you and Christian had made it back yet."
"We got back a few minutes ago." Not only was my dad at the carnival for Christian's proposal, but Christian also called him two weeks ago to ask for my blessing. "New York was wonderful. Central Park in the summer looks is gorgeous."
"I'm glad to hear that you and Christian had a nice time.", he says. I can't see his face, but I know he's smiling at my happiness.
"I'm just sorry that you and I didn't get to spend much time together before we left." My dad stayed with us Thursday night but headed back to Portland after Christian and I left for New York. I told him Christian and I could push back our departure, but he wouldn't hear of it.
"Ah, don't worry about it. I was thinking I could come back next weekend with Rebecca. I'd like for the two of you to finally meet."
"Next weekend would be great. I haven't met Rebecca, but I already know I'm going to like her." Anyone who makes him happy is ok in my opinion.
"Great. She's anxious to meet you as well. She has a birthday party for her mother to attend on Sunday evening, but we can stay until that morning. Would it be ok if we arrive on Friday?"
"Friday's perfect. We'll see you then."
"Did the future Mrs. Christian Grey have a nice weekend?", Olivia ask while everyone's clearing the room following her Monday morning briefing. I close my folder and release a drawn out sigh. "That says it all."
"It was incredible. What made it even more special is that we're engaged. Our bond is stronger than it's ever been."
"I almost forgot. Do you have that article on the carnival?" Kate who's still gathering her things laughs from the other end of the conference table.
"I'll have something to you by the end of the day.", I joke about the non-existant article. "How all of you managed to keep quiet about what was really going on is unfathomable."
"I may have used the threat of job loss with Kate, Audrey, and Daniel if they spilled the beans." Olivia walks out of the room and to her office while Kate and I head towards our desks. Both Audrey and Daniel are busy with work but the hostility level between them seems to be lower.
"Any progress with those two?", I ask Kate.
"The good news is they talked a little Friday afternoon. The bad news is Audrey told him she still needs time. They've agreed to get along here at work for the sake of the office."
At noon, Sawyer drives me to Sazerc for lunch with my mom who's driving there in her new car which coincidentally is my old one. Although she had planned to put the money Bob sent her to a new car, I decided to let her "borrow" my Volkswagen. With Sawyer driving me, the car has sat parked in the garage so it might as well be put to use.
"Ana, I love this car.", she says. "It runs smooth and gets great gas mileage. Thank you for letting me drive it."
"There's no need to thank me." We walk inside the restaurant and are seated at the front of the room. "How's work been today?"
"It's been busy. I've been working steadily on some reports which I'm almost finished with. I didn't realize how much I missed working until I started my job in accounting. I suppose you've been trying to get readjusted after your trip."
"Other than getting back on schedule with the time change, it's been fairly easy." The waitress comes and brings our waters and takes our orders before once leaving us to our conversation.
"Next weekend is still days away, but I was thinking the two of us could get together and do something. We haven't had a lot of one on one time since you moved out and I started my new job." She's right. Our time together has been limited in recent weeks.
"Well, Dad's going to be here next weekend with his girlfriend Rebecca."
"Oh.", she says deflated. "Another time then."
"Mom, we can still have a day together. Dad's going to be here Friday and will be leaving Sunday morning. We'll have plenty of time to do some shopping and grab lunch. Maybe we can catch a movie."
"Yeah, ok. Let's do that. Your dad and I talked for a while at the carnival. He told me about Rebecca. She sounds nice. Ray and I may have broken up a long time ago, but he'll always have a special place in my heart. He's been an amazing father to you and deserves to find someone who loves him." I want my mom to have the same feeling of being loved by someone.
"Mom, I understand that you're focusing on taking care of yourself and becoming more independent, but down the road, someone might come along and sweep you off your feet."
"Ana, I'm done with men.", she scoffs as our food arrives. I raise a brow and stare at her. "What?"
"I don't think you should close the door completely. Maybe you should leave it ajar."
"You should go ahead and have dinner without me.", Christian sighs over the phone. He had a last-minute meeting come up so he's going to be late getting home. "But make sure to save me a plate of Gail's delicious meatloaf."
"I'm not very hungry yet myself and will wait on you."
"I'm going to try and get the meeting over as soon as possible. I love you."
"I love you too." I end the call and start towards the kitchen to see if Gail needs help with dinner, but I stop when I see Sawyer coming from the security room.
"I'm on my way downstairs to the garage to personally escort a trespasser.", he murmurs.
"Who's the trespasser?"
"Elena Lincoln. One of the guys downstairs called and said that she's making a scene, refusing to leave until she has the conversation which she came to have." These past few days have been magical so of course the wicked witch has to try and put an end to it.
"Don't send away. If she came to talk, I'll let her talk."
"Mr. Grey isn't going to like that we allowed her inside the apartment. We have specific instructions to keep her away."
"I'll deal with Christian, but first, I'm dealing with that bitch. Bring her up." He hesitates briefly before heading off for Elena. I put on my game face and prepare for battle. The clicking of her heels echoes into the living room as she appears.
"Anastasia, I must admit I was shocked when I was allowed to come up."
"Christian's not here.", I snap.
"Good because I'm not here to see him. I stopped by to see you. I hear congratulations are in order.", she smirks. I wonder how she knows about the engagement which hasn't been officially announced. "I have to hand it to you getting him to ask you to marry him. Tell me Anastasia, did you get yourself knocked up so you could trap him? Is there how you made your little move?"
"I'm not pregnant. Christian asked me to marry him because he loves me and wants us to spend the rest of our lives together." She laughs and sits down in the chair behind her. "Why is it so hard for you to believe he's in love?" My question only stirs her laughter even more.
"Christian can't love. It's not in him. He's convinced himself that he can love and be in love, but it's nothing more than an illusion. He might even possibly go through with the wedding, but the pressure of playing the loyal and doting husband will get to him. It'll make him hate himself, you, everything around him. It might very well be that hatred that brings him to his senses and back to his old life. Do you really want to take the chance of him betraying you? Save yourself the trouble and end it now."
"I refuse to give up on us."
"Oh, wait a minute. Maybe you plan on being one of those wives who lets her husband do whatever he wants privately while putting on a show for the public. Pop out a kid or two and make the world believe you're the ultimate power couple while he has his subs. Unfortunately, he'll still resent you. He'll probably even resent the kids." I'm not letting her get to me. I refuse to give her that power.
"You couldn't be more wrong about Christian and what he's capable of."
"I beg to differ.", she smirks. "I know very well what he's capable of. He's the best fuck I've ever had." My fists are balled up as I dig my heels in the floor so I won't launch myself at her. "And I plan on having him again."
"Like hell you will.", a voice booms behind me. Elena's mouth falls opens as far as the Botox will allow. "I don't know why you're here, but you're leaving." He moves past me and grabs her by her right arm. "Get the fuck out."
"You're being rough, just how I like it. And your little fiancé is the one who invited me."
"I didn't invite you. I allowed you to come up here so I could find out what you wanted.", I fire back.
"What I want is holding my arm." She licks her lips as Christian pulls her across the floor to Taylor.
"Get her out of my sight. Now!", Christian hisses. Taylor nods and starts hauling her out of the room. Christian keeps his back to me until Elena is gone.
"I shouldn't have let her come up here.", I say. He only turns around to face me when I start closer to him. "I'm sorry."
"What were you thinking Ana?"
"I just thought if I tried one more time to put her in her place she might get the hint and leave us alone. I was wrong."
"You're damn right you were. You're so fucking stubborn sometimes." Part of me wants to cry and part of me wants to scream.
"And you're so fucking demanding sometimes. It's your way or no way at all. Is that how it's going to be when we get married?" He runs his hands over his face in frustration and stares at me.
"I don't mean to be demanding or bossy. When it comes to you and us, I get protective and want to do anything to make sure things aren't tarnished by parasites like Elena."
"She said you would either wake up and end our marriage or would stay in it while resenting me and even any children we have." We've had small conversations about kids, but the thought of him resenting our children upsets me.
"Ana, I'm never ending this. You and I are in it for the long haul. As for resenting you and our children, that will never happen. I will always love you and any children we have." He cups my face in his hands and brings his lips to mine, vanquishing any remaining thoughts of Elena Lincoln from my mind.