The next time I awake I can see daylight poking through slight gaps in the curtains. I look over at the clock but the first thing that grabs my attention is the plate of food is no longer there. I sit up and stare at the door but it's still shut. My stomach rumbles quite loudly at the thought of food and I get out of bed and make my way towards the kitchen.
Gail is already in the kitchen and she greets me with a smile as I sit down. "Good morning Ana, can I get you something for breakfast. Mr Grey said you didn't eat last night and I'm to make sure you make up for it this morning."
"I'll have some bacon, eggs and toast then." I say. Judging by what she said it was Christian who removed the plate of food from my room this morning. I feel a pang of regret as I realise I slept through his presence.
"Coming right up." Gail says as she places a cup of tea in front of me.
"Has Christian already eaten then?" I ask as he's usually sat here before I come out of the bedroom.
"Yes he ate early this morning as he had to leave for an appointment." Disappointment flows through me as I realise he left without saying anything. My face must speak for me because Gail speaks up again. "He'll be back around lunchtime though, I think he has an appointment with Doctor Flynn." She tells me and I perk up a little. At least I know he's not avoiding me after yesterday, and seeing Flynn is probably the best thing for him right now. When Gail sets my food in front of me I dig in whilst she clears up the mess.
I'm almost finished when she clears her throat, I look up at her and it looks like she's fighting an internal dilemma. "I know I have no place saying any of this to you, and you can tell me to sod off and mind my own business anytime you want but I just have to say, I'm so glad you're back." I set my knife and fork down and smile at her, she takes this as a good sign and continues talking. "The last year has been hard, on all of us. But this last week it's like seeing a whole new person in Christian. I almost had a heart attack when he came home smiling one night. Jason told me he had just spent the last few hours at your apartment and I couldn't have been happier. You know he was suppose to spend the week in New York?" I shake my head at her question. "Yes they weren't suppose to be coming back till Monday but Christian changed all the plans the minute he got back from yours and arranged to just have the meeting in the morning and fly straight back. He was so eager to see you he went straight to your apartment from the airport, which looking back now it's lucky he did." She says whilst glancing down at my arm. I had wondered how Christian had ended up in my apartment when he was supposedly in New York but never got round to asking him. Gail stands there smiling at me and I start to feel a little uncomfortable so I excuse myself from the table and tell her I'm going to get dressed.
I spend a long time in the shower before rooting in the closet for some comfy clothes to wear. I make my way over to the library, which also use to be my office, in the hopes of picking out a good book to read. When I enter the library I look around and see that, just like the bedroom, this room looks untouched. My MacBook is still set up on the desk and there are a few manuscripts piled next to it, it's almost like Christian was leaving it for me in the hopes that I'd return. I turn away from the desk and busy myself with finding a book, I settle on reading a book I haven't read before and make my way over to the seat by the window. I had intended on returning to the living room with my book but it's so quiet in here that I decide to stay put.
After finding myself having to reread the same page over and over again I finally decide to give up on reading, my minds too distracted to focus on what's on the page. I put the book down and settle for staring out the window at the skyline of Seattle, I find myself thinking about Christian and what I should say to him when he gets back. He deserves to know the truth but I'm just worried how he'll react when he finds out, I mean he did move on because he thought I'd left him for good. My thoughts are interrupted when I hear voices floating down the hallway, thinking that Christian must be back I make my way over to the door. I freeze in the doorway as I hear a woman's shrill laugh that sends chills down my spine, it definitely doesn't sound like Gail's laugh. I lean my head out of the doorway and try to listen to what's going on.
"Of course Christian knows I'm coming, we have a lunch date, his office told me he was working from home today so I thought I'd meet him here." I instantly recognise the voice, it's a voice that haunted my dreams for many months so I should be slightly familiar with it, I believe it to be Elena Lincoln, I hope I'm wrong but there is no mistaking that incessant purr she adds to the end of every word.
"I'm afraid Christian isn't here right now so I'm going to have to ask you to leave." A male voice says, it's someone who I haven't heard before.
"That's not a problem, I'll wait for him to return." I hear some heels clicking and I move back from the doorway and press myself against the wall. I'm filled with a mixture of emotions from anger to fear. My heart sinks at fact that Christian has arranged to have lunch with her, I'm angry at him for hiding it from me, then I get angry at myself as I realise he thought I left, I shouldn't be angry for what he did in the time I was away but I just can't stop myself.
"Ma'am I'm sorry but Mr Grey is not due back until later this evening, he was called away on important business and if he hasn't called to rearrange your plans them I'm afraid you'll have to take it up with him. In the meantime I'm going to have to insist that you leave, you are not on the list of approved visitors so I can't allow you to stay." I'm beginning to like this unknown man, he clearly isn't going to back down to Elena and for that I'm grateful, the thought of being stuck in the apartment with her makes my skin crawl. I do find myself questioning why he's lying though, Gail had told me they were due back around lunch time.
"Fine, I'll just wait for him at the restaurant, we've had this lunch date planned for weeks, I can't see him cancelling it." I hear footsteps retreating before hearing the ding of the elevator. "Oh, and I will be letting Christian know just how badly I was treated by one of his members of staff, I don't think Christian will appreciate the way you have spoken to me." I listen at the doorway for a few minutes to make sure she has gone before running down the hallway into the bedroom. I sit on the edge of the bed and take a deep breath. What am I going to do? Christian is obviously still close to that woman, I find myself wondering just how close before I shake my head to chase those thoughts away, I really don't want to know the answer to that. After thinking things through for a bit I decide that the best thing for me to do is to go back home, it really was a mistake to come here, yet again things are moving way to fast between me and Christian. I barely had time to adjust to the fact that he was back in my life before I was moving in with him, this was only suppose to be temporary anyway so it can't come as too much of a shock to him that I want to go home. I gather my coat from the closet and place my painkillers with them on the bed and wait for Christian to return. It would be a lot easier to just go but I can't do that to Christian, he deserves to know I'm leaving rather than come home to an empty house and no explanation.
I don't have to wait long before I hear the elevator ding and the familiar sound of Christians voice floating down the hall. I can hear him barking orders at Taylor but I can't quite make out what he's saying. I listen to his footsteps make their way down the hall before coming to a stop outside the bedroom, he knocks and opens the door before walking in without waiting for me to answer.
"Hey, Gail said you were in here. She's just made some lunch, are you hungry?" He asks me. I shake my head as I answer.
"No, besides don't you already have plans with someone else for lunch?" I question him.
"No, I don't have any plans, I was hoping you'd join me for lunch and I could tell you about my morning." He replies.
"Well why don't I tell you about my morning first." I say to him as I stand up and take a step towards him. "I was enjoying a nice quiet morning before a certain someone showed up shouting the odds." I watch as his face falls. "Elena Lincoln came here looking for you, said she was here to pick you up for your lunch date."
"Ana I don't have plans with that woman, I don't know why she came here today, I haven't spoken to her in a very long time."
"Please don't lie to me Christian."
"I'm not lying to you Ana." He interrupts me with a slightly raised voice. "I have no idea why she turned up here, we don't have any plans today or any other day."
"I heard her." I tell him. "She said you had this planned for weeks, she went to pick you up from work but your assistant told her you were working from home. Christian I have told you before that woman is a deal breaker for me, if she's still part of your life, well then, I don't want to be." I turn around and pick up my coat from the bed and start to make my way towards the door. Christian looks down at the coat in my hand and a look of panic fills his face, he moves to stand in the doorway effectively blocking my way.
"No, wait, please just listen to me." He pleads and I shake my head at him.
"Move out of the way Christian, I'm going home."
"No, not until you listen to me, Ana I did not arrange to meet that woman for lunch, I haven't seen or spoken to Elena in a long time, Wylds' phoned me just over an hour ago to inform me that she'd just shown up, Ana I swear that's the first I heard anything about this." I wish I could believe him, but he has a track record of seeking her out in times of need. His face suddenly lights up as though he's had a moment of recognition. "I was meant to be in New York this week."
"Yeah I know." I say to him wondering where he's going with this. "Gail told me earlier, she said you flew back early."
"Yes I flew back to see you, now why if I was scheduled to be in New York all week would I have arranged to have lunch with Elena." I think about it for a moment, Gail had told me he wasn't due back till Monday and he only changed his plans the night he set off for New York and Elena did say this had been planned for weeks."And you said you overheard her say she stopped by my office, Ana I haven't told anyone at the office I'm back yet, as far as they know I'm still in New York. She's lying Ana, I have no idea why she turned up here but it certainly wasn't by invitation." I step backwards as what he's saying starts to sink in, as the back of my knees hit the bed I lower myself down. If Christian didn't have plans with her then she just turned up here and if she knows that Christian isn't in New York then she must be watching him, and that means she's seen me as well. I bet it was no coincidence that she happened to turn up the one morning Christian decided to go out. My breathing starts to get heavier and I look down to the floor. I hear Christian say my name but I can't answer him, my thoughts are racing a mile a minute. I can't let it happen again, I'm not strong enough to do it again. I can still hear the harsh words being whispered into my ear as though they were being spoken this very minute, the malice in her voice as she warned me what would happen if I even glanced Christians way ever again. Despite everything I refuse to be weak ever again and I refuse to let them get away with what they did, no matter what the consequences are. I need to tell Christian, he needs to know, this was far from how I pictured telling him but I have no choice.
"It was Elena." I blurt out, I must have interrupted him in the middle of saying something because when I look up he's staring at me with his mouth open. He shakes his head slightly.
"I'm sorry, what was Elena?" He asks me as he takes a step closer. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, there's no going back now.
"The note." I say and I open my eyes to look at him, he looks confused and I'm not surprised, none of what I'm saying makes sense, my eyes fill with tears and I decide to just rush the next part out. "She made me write the note, she kept me locked away for months, she tortured me, she threatened my family, she threatened you." The tears are now flowing freely down my face. "I didn't know it was her at first, she had someone working for her, he was the one who, who." I can't seem to get the words out. I look up at Christian and his face is void of any emotion as are the next words out of his mouth.
"I don't understand." He says. "Are you telling me Elena had you kidnapped and kept you from all these months." He asks though it doesn't really sound like he's asking a question, merely summarising what I just told him, I nod slowly at him in reply. "Are you sure it was her?" He asks me, he doesn't look at me, he looks straight over my head at the wall above the bed.
"Yes, she had someone else to do all her dirty work but it was all her doing, she wanted you all to herself Christian, she merely saw me as obstacle in her way to getting what she wanted." Christian inhales deeply before turning on his heel and stomping out of the room. I sit on the bed stunned, more tears start to roll down my face and I start to cry loudly. I wasn't sure how I expected him to react but I didn't think he'd just leave me sat here without saying anything. I decide to give him a couple of minutes to calm down, I expect him to go to another room so when I hear the elevator ding I panic, he's leaving. I jump up from the bed and race towards the elevator, screaming for Christian as I run. "Christian, please don't leave." I scream and as I get to the entrance hall the elevator doors are starting to close. "Please Christian." I plead but he doesn't even look at me, he's staring at the floor with his hands fisted at his sides as the doors close shut on him. I run toward the elevator planning on running after him, he's unpredictable when he's angry and I find myself worrying just what he'll do, but I find my path blocked by Taylor. "Move Taylor." I demand but he doesn't listen, he just stands in front of me staring down at me. I go to move around him but he just sidesteps and blocks my way. "Move out of my way Taylor." I demand for a second time
"I'm sorry ma'am but I've been instructed to not allow you to leave the building." My face drops.
"Allow?"I question him "I'm sorry but Christian Grey does not own me, he does not get to say what I am and am not allowed to do." I try to step around him again but he just keeps blocking my way.
"I'm sorry ma'am, I cannot let you leave." This makes me furious, how dare he stand there and tell me I can't leave.
"And what are you going to do Taylor, are you going to force me to stay, how far are you willing to go to follow Christian's orders, are you willing to put your hands on me, restrain me, hurt me? Because I am getting in that elevator even if I have to force my way past you, and I'm already injured so just how far are you willing to go?" I stare up at him with a fierce look on my face, he towers over me and I know he could very easily stop me from leaving, any attempt to push past him would be futile but I refuse to back down, Christian's probably long gone now but I refuse to sit by and do nothing. Taylor stares down at me before closing his eyes and stepping to the side. I rush past him and press the call button for the elevator. "Thank you." I say without looking at Taylor "You can tell Christian I hit you over the head with a frying pan if you'd like." I hear him chuckle behind me.
"I just might do that." He says. I start to bounce on the balls of my feet as I wait for the elevator. When lift finally arrives and the doors slide open my breath catches in my throat. Standing inside is Christian, he's leaning against the back wall, the top two buttons of his shirt are undone and he has pushed his sleeves up past his elbows. His head snaps up and his gaze meets mine, he looks between me and Taylor a few times before pushing of the wall and storming out of the elevator.
"You're fired." He says as he looks at Taylor.
"What!" I say shocked. I turn around and follow him through the apartment. "No he's not, you can't fire him for refusing to keep me prisoner here." I say to him and he stops and swings round to face me, I force myself to stop so I don't collide with him and almost stumble forward.
"I can fire him for refusing to follow my orders." He says as he runs his hands through his already disheveled hair.
"What would you have had him do Christian, in case you've forgotten I'm already injured, would you have preferred him to physically restrain me, cause me more injury?" I ask him and his face falls, he takes a step towards me.
"No of course not, I would never.."
"Well then how did you expect him to keep me here Christian, you put him in an impossible position, how is that fair." He looks down at the floor and I think he must feel some sort of shame for asking that of Taylor. "Where did you go?" I ask him.
"I went up on the roof. I just needing to think, to breathe. I'm sorry I took off like that, it was a lot to take in." As he stands there he runs his hand through his hair again and he looks so lost. "Ana I need you to tell me everything." He takes a step towards me and grabs hold of my hand. "I need to know what happened to you, are you ready to talk?" I shake my head.
"No, I don't think I'll ever be ready, but I will talk." He pulls my hand and guides me towards the living room where we take a seat on one of the sofas, Christian takes a seat next me and doesn't let go of my hand. I take a deep breath and prepare to tell him what I can remember.