A/N: Thanks for reading. Enjoy!
"Thank you all for helping." With his arms folded, my dad proudly looks around his living room which is now completely finished along with the rest of his house. A lot of things had already been unpacked prior to this weekend, but Christian offered to help my dad install new light fixtures throughout the house. Also helping was Elliot who helped clear a spot for my dad's garden.
"Any time.", Christian says. "The place looks great."
"It sure does.", my mom smiles as she sidles next to my dad. I spot her hand brushing against his. She turns her attention to me. "I kind of wish you would have brought Oliver, but I understand he's better off with Carrick and Grace while all this commotion is going on."
"You can come over later to see him if you'd like. I don't think we have anything going on after we leave here and pick him up.", I reply. Elliot walks inside and is followed by Kate. "Look who decided to show up when everything is done."
"I would have been here, but I was too busy with work stuff." This naturally interests me. "It wasn't anything major. I just needed to do some last minute rearranging of the next article. Daniel wasn't able to get his review in to me."
"That doesn't sound like him. He's had moments where he's barely made it, but he's never missed a deadline."
"Until now. He went to a new Italian place on Wednesday and showed me the notes from the visit, but when it came time for him to write the actual review, he wasn't able to do it. He said he had a case of writer's block and would do a hundred times better next time. Fortunately, we had some extra material to fill in the vacant spot."
"Kate, I'm sorry."
"It's fine so don't worry about it. It's all under control now." She pats my shoulder on her way further into the house. "Ray, your house is nice." Kate strides past the sofa, stopping in front of a potted plant Mrs. Hendricks, one of Dad's new neighbors, brought over as a welcoming gift. Christian and Elliot have gone back outside with my dad while my mom and I remain in the living room, watching Kate's eyes widen and mouth fall open. "Uh..."
"What's wrong?", my mom asks.
"Oh nothing.", Kate shrugs. "I was only admiring this lovely plant. That's all. Nothing more. Why don't we join the guys outside? It's too lovely of a day to be inside." She tries to steer us out of the house, but her odd demeanor isn't helping her case.
"We'll go outside just as soon as you tell us why you're acting so weird. It didn't happen until you went over by that plant." Kate's too concentrated on me that she doesn't notice my mom slip past her until it's too late. Like Kate, my mom's eyes widen, only her face is crimson red.
"Now I have to see what has both of you acting in such an odd way." I manage to get away from Kate's clutch and rush over to the plant. On the floor next to the plant is a pair of silk panties. "I was not expecting that."
"Perhaps the former owner left them behind.", Kate suggests. If only.
"Sadly, that's not the case.", my mom murmurs while picking the panties off the floor. She clears her throat and slips the panties into her purse which is on the sofa. "They're mine."
"I'm guessing you didn't put them there as a decoration."
"This conversation is becoming even more awkward by the second so why don't we pretend it didn't happen and move on?", I say as I walk away. "Kate, I believe you were right about going outside. We could use some fresh air."
"You're the cutest baby.", Christian coos to Oliver. Since he's already finished his breakfast, he's holding Oliver while I have mine. "I wish I could stay home and hold you all day." Oliver's mouth opens into a tiny yawn. "Ana, did you see the world's most adorable yawn?"
"I did.", I reply in between bites. "Are you still planning on meeting with Jack this morning?"
"I thought we agreed to not talk about Jack."
"We agreed not to discuss him during the weekend, and we kept that word. The weekend is unfortunately over, and it's back to the real world." Christian's meeting last week with Jack Hyde went better than he thought. Christian was left feeling sadness and empathy for Jack although he's not planning on letting his guard down. "I told you that I was going to trust your word about Jack, however, that doesn't mean I should trust Jack."
"I'm not asking you to trust him.", Christian mumbles. "I'm asking you to think outside the box." I scoff and go back to the oatmeal in front of me.
"How about I join you for your meeting with Jack?"
"Absolutely not."
"Why not? He's placed himself in my life as well. Don't you think I have a right to see the man behind all that happened?"
"I just don't think now is the right time.", he says. "I'm only now getting to know the guy."
"Andrea, hello." Andrea smiles when she sees me standing in front of Christian's office. Christian said he was meeting with Jack at ten, and with it being almost noon, I assume the meeting has been well over for a while. Gail said she'd watch Oliver while I went to Christian's office so we can have lunch together.
"Hi Ana. Christian's in a meeting now but should be finished soon."
"Oh. Ok. I knew he had a meeting at ten this morning but didn't think about other possible meetings. I wanted to surprise him by taking him to lunch."
"His ten o'clock meeting didn't start until eleven thirty." The sound of voices jerks my head to the now open door of Christian's office. Christian's standing with a blank face while the guy standing next to him smiles slightly at me. I recognize him from the photo as none other than Jack Hyde.
"Ana, what are you doing here?", Christitan asks through gritted teeth.
"I asssumed your meeting would be over, and I wanted to take you to lunch. I didn't know you were still in the meeting."
"It's my fault.", Jack says softly. "My car stalled at a red light while I was on my way here. I feel terrible for causing the delay."
"You're Jack Hyde.", I state.
"And you're Anastasia Grey, Christian's wife." Jack holds his hand out for me to shake, and when I do, he once again smiles briefly. Christian moves to my side, placing his hand on the small of my back. "I'm sure you have questions for me."
"Why don't the three of us step back into my office?", Christian says. He motions for Jack to go ahead of us and then walks next to me inside the office, closing the door behind him. I sit down in a chair next to Christian's while Jack takes a seat across from us. "Jack, I've filled Ana in on what you and I talked about last week." Jack nods and drops his eyes to the floor. "I've also told Ana how I intend to help you get your life in order. Ana, the reason for my meeting with Jack today was to discuss a job. I've offered Jack a position in the mail room here."
"Congratulations.", I tell Jack. "It's not that I don't believe the story you told Christian, but I'm hesistant to trust you. Power outages occured because of you."
"I wanted to draw Christian's attention in a way I was certain would work. Do I regret the depths I went to? Yes. I should have gone about it in a less over the top way."
"You sent that book to us, the one Mrs. Collier read to Christian."
"It was a book that I recalled he enjoyed, but I did as well. My childhood doesn't hold many pleasant memories, but sitting in the hallway and listening to that book being read is one of the rare good ones. I don't blame you for being leery of me and my intentions. If I were you, I'd be the same way. All I'd like is a chance to help proof myself to Christian and you but more importantly to myself. People say life is full of ups and downs, but mine has had much more downs than ups. I want nothing more than to be able to wake up in the morning and feel good about myself." Listening to him, he sounds sincere. "A chance is all I'm asking for."
"Then take hold of that chance and prove yourself.", I tell him.