A/N:
Christmas has always been a very special season for Anastasia, filled with much loved family traditions ever since childhood days. But this year is different. Very different. With her best friend Kate having moved in with her boyfriend and her mother away from the States for the holidays, things get even more of an emotional roller coaster when she meets a certain Mr. Grey at the tree farm – both on the hunt for the perfect Christmas tree and maybe even more.
Christian x Ana, Ana's POV
Hello lovelies! Here comes my fun little side project. I hope you enjoy it just as much as I do. Have fun and let me know what you think. Thank you! x
Blame it on the Christmas tree
by
Ava LeBeau
Chapter 1 – Sugar and Spice
"Actually mom's usually more thoughtful. But this year?" Anastasia sighed, staring out of the window, "...this year's different."
"You'll be okay, Ana," José steered Wanda onto the highway, "I promise."
Anastasia smiled softly and moved to turn the radio on.
'… You make every day feel like it's Christmas ...' a woman sang, her sonorous claim was expressly emphasized by an upbeat rhythm.
"So, where are you taking me?"
José smiled.
"Not tellin'..."
"José, please."
"Be patient, Ana," he grinned and turned the music up, whistling along.
"The tree farm?" Ana asked as José jumped out of the car, hurrying to open the door for her.
"Yeah. You do that every year, right? And now that Ray can't be here, I thought..."
"Aww, José, you shouldn't have," Anastasia smiled and her friend wrapped his arm around her shoulder while they were making their way towards the farm.
"Do you want me to cut the tree down for you or do you want to do it yourself?" Noah, the yard owner, asked.
Ana bit her lower lip, side-glancing at José, wondering just how firmly determined he was to get the perfect tree for his best friend this year.
"Dunno," she shrugged sheepishly and grinned at Noah.
"Feelin' all lumberjack today, José?"
Anastasia giggled.
"Nah, don't feel like it. It's Ray's tradition after all," José pressed his lips together and looked at Ana.
She nodded quietly.
"Well then, you go ahead and find the tree you like, Ana. Mark it and let me know. I'll be right with you then," Noah handed Anastasia a wooden tag with the number 77 on it.
"Thank you, Noah," she smiled again and they left for the yard.
"Yes, I really like it. It's perfect for the apartment. Not too sprawling, you know," Anastasia beamed at José, relieved they had finally found a tree.
"Glad you like it. Wait here, I'll go and get Noah, okay?"
"M'kay," Anastasia rubbed her hands together, it was colder than she had expected it to be and she had left her gloves in the car.
Sniffling, she shifted from one foot to the other, sizing up the tree once again, hoping the guys would be back soon.
"Oooh, look at this beauty!"
An unfamiliar, yet unnervingly shrill voice came from the other side of the row of trees.
"Christian, look, I think, I've found it. Isn't it gor-geous?" Somebody was clapping their hands ecstatically.
"Bit small, hm?" Said Christian did not sound impressed in the slightest.
"No, it's perfect looking. Just the right size for my room."
The guy let out a husky laugh.
"What?" The woman sounded annoyed.
"Nothin'," another husky laugh, "Come on, make up your mind, I don't have all day, you know."
Anastasia rose on her toes, craning her neck, trying to catch a glimpse of that rude grump and his irritating other half.
"I already know what I want, Christian. I want this one."
Anastasia's eyes grew wide and her mouth fell open in disbelief when she realized that it was her tree that they were arguing over.
"I-I'm sorry but... uh... I'm afraid this one's … mine."
Anastasia pushed several branches aside to make herself seen, a wry grin on her face.
The man, tall, dark, handsome, arched his perfectly manicured eyebrow and let out a snort. Yes, everything about this Christian screamed old-money.
He side-glanced at Anastasia before he looked back at the blonde woman who was standing beside him, a haughty look on her face.
"There you have it... it's hers already."
He whipped out his phone and swiped his thumb across the screen, looking bored.
"Yours? Ha! Well, good for you," the woman ignored his remark and shrugged, her eyes narrowed to slits.
It was all too obvious that she did not give a damn that Anastasia had already chosen that tree.
Ana, still on tiptoes on the other side of the tree row, eyed the blonde.
Her heavy makeup was immaculate, the fur coat she was wearing must have cost a fortune, but, to be honest, those high heels were a rather ridiculous choice for this location.
Yet, judging by her appearance, she was used to getting whatever she wanted whenever she wanted it. And scowling Christian here seemed to be the one who was paying for all this. So it came as no real surprise that he was grumpy and rude.
The corner of Anastasia's mouth twitched.
"Yes, mine," Ana smirked, nodding hastily, trying to flatten her disheveled hair with one hand.
She could hear voices from somewhere down the row, Noah and Jose.
The blonde looked outraged and took several wobbly steps towards the tree.
"Excuse me?" she shrieked. "It's mine!"
"No! I've seen it first," Anastasia stated, trying to remain calm.
"No, you're lying!" the blonde snapped, "I was here first. It's mine..."
Christian cleared his throat, still staring down at the phone in his palm.
"Is there a problem, Ma'am? Ana?" Noah's familiar voice made the woman stop in the middle of her rant.
"I... uh … I think there's a little misunderstanding here, Noah," Anastasia could feel José's hand on her shoulder.
"Yes, exactly. A misunderstanding," the blonde cut in, "this... this... lady here is trying to steal my tree," she shrieked.
"It's mine," Ana said weakly and pointed at the wooden tag that had the number 77 painted on it and hung from one of the branches of the tree, "See?"
Noah nodded quietly while José pushed his way towards the other side of the tree row.
Christian eyed him suspiciously, his lip curled with disgust.
"That's outrageous!" the woman hissed, taking two steps away from José.
"Christian," she pleaded, "say something."
"All right," the man droned, pulling out his wallet.
"How much, hm?" he threw Noah a challenging glance, "I'm going to pay double the price."
Ana's mouth fell open again.
"Money talks, hun," Christian stated boldly and gave Anastasia a perfectly flawless smile.
She let out a gasp, trying to say something.
"I'm sorry, Ana," Noah mumbled, looking contrite.
She knew just how much he needed the money and nodded slowly, reaching for the tag.
"We'll find you another one, Ana," José said, pushing his way back to her through the prickly branches, uttering an angry 'Snobs.' under his breath.
"I suppose you're cutting it down for me, right?" Christian's voice came and Ana tried to ignore his piercing glance.
"Of course, Sir."
"My car's over there," Christian pointed towards a black Audi SUV, top-of-the range of course, in the parking lot before he and the woman moved to leave.
"Right away, Sir. Right away," Noah got down to work.
"Let's go now," Anastasia said to José, who looked very angry.
"But what about the tree?" she knew that José was trying hard to sound calm and composed.
She shook her head, "Not now. I'm cold."
"Fine," he took Ana's hand and they left.
If she had become a confectioner, then, that much was sure, she would definitely be out of work by now.
But Anastasia was also convinced that there were only three things that truly mattered when it came to baking cookies for Christmas: lots of sugar, spice and effort. Not perfection.
She looked down at the first batch of her notorious cookies that were cooling off on the counter and giggled. No, they definitely were not perfect. But it was nothing that loads of sprinkles could not fix.
Her hands wrapped around a mug filled with steaming hot punch, Anastasia walked over to the living room. The apartment was empty and quiet now with Kate not home. Ana took a tentative sip of the punch, staring at the empty corner opposite the couch.
Something was missing.
A tree.
That tree.
It had been perfect.
But she had lost it.
Lost it at the tree farm yesterday, to that stuck-up drama queen and that blasé schmuck of hers who was probably her husband.
Yesterday's sadness of losing out on that tree had waned by now but she was still angry.
Money talks, hun.
Hun.
How dare he!
Anastasia's thoughts wandered back to him.
Christian.
Tall, dark, handsome.
Quite a tricky triad, she mused, and yet she wondered why someone like him would choose a shrew like the woman whom he had been with.
But hadn't he been an ass, too?
"Money talks, hun," she mouthed slowly and bit her lower lip, then took another sip of the punch and chuckled.
She should have gone easy on the rum. But then again she was home alone and had no plans to go out tonight.
Another chuckle.
Another sip.
She glanced at the empty living room corner again, the tree stand and the boxes of ornaments by the couch, waiting to be used.
José had promised her the perfect tree and she would definitely take him at his word.
Lately, he had made quite the effort.
She supposed that it was due to the fact that Kate had now moved in with her new boyfriend, Elliot, and that he had realized that there were only him and Anastasia left.
Both single.
And it was plain to see that José had always had a crush on Ana. At least that was what Kate had claimed several times and with a wry grin on her face.
The incessant buzzing of her phone pulled her out of her punch-fuddled musings about José's perfect tree for her, Christmas cookies and schmucks at the tree farm.
"Ana?"
"Kate!" Anastasia smiled, "Miss me?"
"Always. What are you up to?"
"Baking. You?"
Kate chuckled, "Listen, Elliot and I are throwing a house warming party next week and I want you to come."
"You do?" Ana asked teasingly.
"Of course I do," Kate laughed.
"But there's going to be only couples. And then there's going to be … me," she chuckled.
"José is going to be there too, Ana. He's told me everything about the tree by the way. What a mess. But he seemed keen to make it up to you with another one. Isn't that cute?"
A moment of silence.
"Kate, I… I don't think that José and I, I mean, friendship is something very precious and..."
"Shh," she laughed and Ana was wondering if Elliot was with her and listening in on the whole conversation.
"What?"
"Just be there, okay?"
"Yes," Ana said reluctantly, "do you want me to bring something?"
"How about some of your cookies?"
Ana knew that Kate would go above and beyond herself just like she always did, pulling out all stops when it came to food and drinks at her parties.
"Will do," Anastasia mumbled.
"You know, I really think José has a huge crush on you, Ana."
"Kate, not again..."
All of a sudden the doorbell rang and Anastasia gasped.
Who could that be? José?
"Kate, gotta go, there's someone at the door."
"Talk to you later. Love you, Ana."
"Love you, too. Bye."
Leaving the mug on the kitchen counter Ana hurried towards the intercom by the front door.
"Hello?"
No answer.
Outside she could hear heavy steps up the stairs and shrugged.
With bated breath she peeked through the peephole as somebody stopped right in front of her door.
All she could see was what looked like a double breasted wool coat.
No, that definitely wasn't José.
"Hello?" she said again.
"Anastasia Steele?"
"Mhh, yes," she cursing herself the moment the words left her lips.
"Who are you?" Anastasia pressed her lips together.
"Just open the door, okay?" the man outside her door said.
She furrowed her brow, "No, I won't."
"Please."
Pulling her lower lip between her teeth she unlocked the door, uttering under her breath that she was crazy for doing so and opened the door a little, peeking outside.
When she caught a glimpse of him she froze.
"You? What the... I mean, how...?"
"You mean... How did I get your address?"
"Mhmm," Anastasia's heart was racing in her chest.
"The guy from the tree farm... You should probably sue him for a gross breach of confidentiality. I know a handful of lawyers that could easily-"
"Oh, stop it, right now," Anastasia rolled her eyes at his stilted manner of speaking.
"Anyway, what do you want?" She tried hard to sound stern, the confused look on his admittedly handsome face was priceless.
Anastasia was biting back a giggle that was forming deep down in her throat. This whole situation was really beyond awkward.
It wasn't long before she realized that she must look a complete mess, just like the kitchen where she had baked cookies only moments ago.
With clumsy fingers she felt for her messy bun on the top of her head, looked down to find her Christmas sweater smeared with flour. Biting her lip she tugged at the hem of her sweater to pull it down a little. Too late...
"Can I come in?"
"Of course not!"
Are you crazy? she added in her thoughts.
"Why are you even here? Back to talk big again, hm?"
"Actually, I wanted to apologize..."
"Yeah, of course you do!" Anastasia cut in and rolled her eyes again, convinced that now was the perfect time to slam the door shut.
How dare he show up here?
"...and I wanted to bring you something."
"Oh, wow, you did?" Even though she meant to sound sarcastic, she opened the door a little wider, curious now.
"Ta-da!" he pulled some Christmas tree closer to his side for her to see it.
Was it that tree?
"Oh?!"
"Can I come in now?"
Anastasia still wasn't sure.
"Please."
To be honest, his smile was really convincing.
"Promise you won't kill me," she made a mental note to simply shut up.
He laughed huskily.
"I promise."
"Say it!"
"I promise I won't kill you," he even managed to keep a straight face.
Figures, Anastasia thought and swung the door open, stepping back to let him in.
"Hi, I'm Christian. Christian Grey," he smiled one of his flawless smiles and held out his free right for her to shake.
"How formal," she wiped her hand on her jeans before she took his hand and shook it, giving it a little squeeze, "Anastasia Steele. Nice to meet you... again," she managed half a grin.
Christian leaned the tree against the wall by the door.
"It's hot in here," he laughed.
"I'm baking."
"I see," he unbuttoned the heavy wool coat with nimble fingers.
"Cookies."
"Thought so," he grinned, she could feel his gaze all over her and folded her arms in front of her chest, a sudden heat was creeping up her neck and into her cheeks.
"Wanna try?"
"Sure," he shrugged, glancing around curiously.
"And I have hot punch if you like," Anastasia led the way to the kitchen.
"Thank you," he smiled when she handed him a mug and one of the cookies.
Taking a bite he walked into the living room. Of course, the tree stand and the ornament boxes did not go unnoticed.
"I could put up the tree for you, if you like," Christian said with his mouth full and pointed back at the tree that stood by the door.
"Mhmm," Anastasia followed him into the living room, hands wrapped around her mug again.
"Where's your boyfriend?"
"Who?"
"The other guy from the tree farm," he eyed her intently.
"Ah, José."
Just shut up, Anastasia.
"So he's not your boyfriend?"
"What do you care?"
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."
Anastasia nodded, watching him as he made his way over to one of the book shelves.
"Nice collection," he said, "Very impressive," he looked back at her.
A small smile was her only answer.
"Let me guess, English Lit?"
"Smart ass," she took another sip of her drink, eyeing him over the rim of her mug.
He laughed, "I knew it!"
"How about you?" Anastasia inquired.
Who was this mysterious Christian Grey?
So far he seemed to know quite a lot about her, but in turn, she know literally nothing about him.
Except for his bad taste when it came to women. She bit back a chuckle.
"What?" he tilted his head a little, grinning.
"Your job," she pressed for answers.
"I'm doing business," he stated vaguely.
"Yeah, right," Anastasia arched her eyebrow.
"Well, let's say, people trust me with their money," he smiled, walking over to the kitchen counter to put his mug down.
"I don't think they should," she teased.
"What?" his gaze darted to her, his brow furrowed. Both laughed when she winked.
His phone started ringing.
Christian glanced down at the display, mumbled "I'm sorry," and answered the call.
"Andrea?"
She studied his features while he walked over to the window, staring outside as he listened to the woman talking to him on the phone.
"All right. Listen, I'll get back to you in five minutes, okay? Bye."
"I'm sorry, I've got to go now."
Anastasia nodded, "No problem."
She led the way to the door and opened it for him. He stepped outside.
"Thank you for the punch and the cookies. That was very sweet of you. Actually they were very sweet."
Anastasia giggled, watching him buttoning up his coat.
That was when he noticed a glass of milk and a cookie on a napkin placed by the door frame.
"What's this?" Christian furrowed his brow and looked at her, obviously confused.
"A little snack," she bit her lower lip, looking up at him, "for Santa."
"I see," he laughed. "That's... kinda cute."
Anastasia smiled.
"You have a little something there," he pointed at her cheek.
"What?" she palmed her cheek, feeling around, "Where?"
"Yes, there," he nodded.
"Oh," she brushed her fingertips across her cheek, "Sugar."
He laughed again.
"Thank you for inviting me in. It was nice meeting you again, Anastasia."
"Yes, it was. And thank you for the tree."
"Don't mention it."
She nodded.
"Bye," he turned to leave.
"Good night, Christian," she smiled and closed the door.
What a strange evening.
By the front door Christian bumped into a very surprised José. He eyed the Christmas tree that José was carrying.
"Did you know that nice guys always finish last, José?" he drawled, "Shame."
Very pleased with himself he brushed past Anastasia Steele's best friend and left the building.
The headlights of a black Audi SUV lit the street as the car pulled up to the curb.
Christian pulled out his phone and entered the car,
"Andrea? Yeah, put Anderson right through, thank you."