A/N: Hello everyone, thank you again for all your kind reviews, your concrit and questions. I love hearing from you. Hope you like the new one. Have a lovely day! x

Blame it on the Christmas Tree

by

Ava LeBeau

Chapter 4 – Ice Igloos and Vodka

As promised, Anastasia called Ray first thing the next morning.

He assured her again that he was fine and that there was no need to worry.

Also, he maintained that another visit, in particular over the Christmas holidays, was not necessary.

By Ray's standards, the phone call had lasted quite a while, further proof for Ana that he must be doing better.

In the background, she could hear clattering of dishes and wondered if he was really resting.

But he would not let her order him to stay in bed and Anastasia was well aware of that.

So she asked him to say hello to Paula and promised to call again on Saturday.

She wrapped up their call telling him that she loved him, and, to Ana's astonishment, he had even reciprocated.

After finishing the call, Anastasia headed to the living room, intent to tidy up a bit after her hasty departure yesterday.

She walked up to the sofa and picked up the scattered remaining bags and boxes.

One bag caught her eye in particular.

Ana had not noticed it up until now.

That, she thought, must be what she'd gotten in return for the lost bag with Jack's sweater.

She turned the bag in her hands.

With large letters, the name of a luxury label was emblazoned on it.

The bag held a flat box. Carefully, Anastasia pulled out the box and opened it.

Inside was something that looked like a shawl or scarf. It was wrapped in very fine paper and the overlapping ends of the paper were held together by some sort of embossed seal.

Anastasia ran her fingertips over it.

She would have loved to open it, but this was not one of her purchases.

Yet, after some deliberation, she gently tugged on the wrapped scarf. The fabric was incredibly light and soft, silk maybe or wool as it appeared to be for winter, probably both, and hand-made in Italy.

Anastasia wondered how much it had cost.

She let her fingers glide over the silky fabric once more before she closed the box, wondering who he had bought it for.

Chewing on her lower lip, Anastasia slid the box back into the bag.

She would have to return the gift to him, the only question was: How?

With the bags rearranged and the Christmas tree watered a little, Anastasia went into the bathroom to run herself a bath. It had been a long night out partying and she was still a little tired.

Ana had just turned on the tap when the doorbell rang.

She hastened out of the bathroom, wondering who it could be at this hour, she was not expecting anyone.

Running her fingers through her hair to flatten it, she moved to open the door.

Outside stood a messenger from SIP. With a smile on his face he held out what seemed to be the announced letter.

Anastasia thanked him, wishing him Happy Holidays and headed back to the living room.

The envelope contained a card with a short Christmas greeting, the signature appeared to be Christian Grey's.

Curious, she went to the window with the card to see if he had really hand-signed it or if the whole thing was just, as suspected and admittedly rather common, some kind of signature stamp.

Anastasia raised an eyebrow and turned the card in her hands.

It looked real. Fascinating, she thought and smiled to herself.

The ringing of her phone startled her. Ana glanced at the display. Hannah?!

"D'you know where Jack is?" her colleague asked after a brief hello.

"He had a call scheduled with Mr. Fisher at 9:30. It had to be canceled because he didn't show up. He's not in the office."

"Strange," Ana replied, "maybe hungover from yesterday?"

Jack had seemed rather drunk when she had last seen him at the club yesterday.

Hannah chuckled, "Maybe. You think I should send someone over to check on him? Roach's already looking for him, too."

"Don't. We don't want him to get mad."

They both knew how short-tempered Jack could be when people interfered with his business.

Hannah agreed and continued,

"Y'know, I really liked Mr. Grey's Christmas speech, yesterday. Also, he's really hot, whew," Hannah giggled.

Ana nodded quietly.

The speech, yes, it had confounded all of her beliefs and suspicions regarding him and now she was at a loss whether he was nothing but a condescending, ruthless jerk, always on the hunt for big money and supremacy or rather a humanitarian, self-made CEO with a soft spot for rich boys' toys.

For now she'd decided to settle for somewhere in between, Hannah's question pulling her out of her musings,

"Did you get the card yet, Ana?"

"Mhmm."

"Hand-signed even," Hannah acknowledged, "very classy. And a lot more than I had expected."

"True," Anastasia said, looking down at the card in her hand, running the pad of her thumb over his signature.

"Oops, Roach's trying to call me. Talk later, Ana."

"Bye, Hannah."

Very classy and a lot more than I had expected, Hannah's words echoed in Anastasia's head, distracting her from her musings about Christian Grey, if only briefly.

She walked back into the bathroom, finally running the bath.

Soaking in the tub, of course, her thoughts wandered back to Christian.

Again.

Christian Grey, the prince in shining armor?

Savior of the poor and hungry?

She wondered if this was nothing but a facade.

After all, charity was the rage, wasn't it?

It was part of the portfolio, so to speak, when you had achieved a certain level of wealth.

A quick internet search had shown that he had made the eradication of world's hunger his cause for a long time. So, maybe, it was more than just a pretense to hide his constant hunger for money? Maybe.

On a tangent, she had also found several articles that had indicated that he was very secretive about his personal life.

It was not known whether he had a wife or children.

Some even suspected that Christian Grey was … 'more partial to men'.

Anastasia, however, was still convinced that he must be married to that bitch from the tree yard. To her, the two of them had seemed rather intimate.

There was that twinge inside again.

Blame it on the Christmas tree, she thought and hated herself for thinking about Christian Grey for the umpteenth time today again, sinking back into the bubbles of foam.

Kate and Ana walked back into the crowded living room after a quick tour of the apartment.

Ana took a sip of her Shiraz and congratulated her best friend on their excellent choice.

Her smile froze into a frown when an familiar, most irritating voice hit her ears.

Moments later she saw her.

The bitch.

Anastasia's eyes narrowed to slits.

"Kate," the blonde purred, having elbowed her way through the crowd she drew Ana's best friend into a tight hug, kissing her cheek.

"So good to see you again. Your apartment is gor-geous. E's shown me everything."

Apparently she was acquainted to Elliot.

"Now, where did you get those bath towels from? You've got to tell me, Kate. They're to die for," she sighed, dramatically throwing her hands up into the air.

"And your Christmas tree. The ornaments, och... they're from France, right?" she pulled out her iPhone and swiped, obviously looking for pictures.

"That's mine for this year. To be honest, it's the second one," she laughed. "I bought one, but then, in the morning ... poof … it was gone, just like this," she let out a dramatic sigh.

"Christian said he thought it was below standard... yes, below standard and way too small for my room and that he'd get me another one. Here it is: Just look at this beauty...," she sighed again, shoving the pictures into Kate's face, who nodded, forcing a strained smile.

Christian.

Anastasia drew a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment, the blonde's shrill voice confusing her deeply.

Hearing his name out of her mouth had cut like a knife. More than that.

Anastasia had hoped for a relaxed evening out, celebrating with her best friends, hoping for the party to take her mind off of said Christian Grey, but there it was.

Thirty minutes into the party and she was confronted with both his obnoxious wife and a bitter-sweet melange of memories, thoughts and emotions, as such already too much for her to bear.

And what was it with that whole story about the tree … poof... disappearing and him buying her a new one? Was she too much of a coward to admit that she'd told Christian to get rid of it because she couldn't be bothered?

Anastasia took another mouthful of her Shiraz.

Then she cut in to whisper to Kate that she'd be right back, giving her friend's hand a soft squeeze before she pulled away.

The blonde eyed Anastasia for a moment and gave her a fake smile, but apparently, and much to Anastasia's relief, she seemed to not have recognized Ana, and resumed showing Kate more photos of her Christmas tree and who knows what else, blabbing non-stop.

Doing the dishes had always calmed her down.

The warm water, the soft clinking of the porcelain.

Ana closed her eyes and drew several deep breaths.

She could stay here for the remainder of the evening, right?

Nobody, she was sure, would miss her anyway.

Staring at her reflection in the window in front of the sink, Anastasia took another plate and let the soapy sponge glide across it. So relaxing.

The chatter of the party guests was growing more and more distant by the minute.

"There you are," Kate's gentle voice interrupted Ana's kitchen meditation.

"Are you okay?" Kate asked and handed her a towel. "E and I have a dish washer, you know."

Ana smiled and took the towel to dry her hands.

"Ugh, Ana, I really miss our cozy evenings in," Kate pulled her best friend into a hug and kissed her cheek.

"E's so...," she lowered her voice and whispered, "...he's quite demanding."

Both chuckled.

"You know where you can find me," Anastasia winked, in fact she would have to find a new apartment soon. The rent was just too much for her alone.

"Anyway, how's Ray?", Kate asked. "I hope he's doing better."

Kate laughed when Anastasia told her everything about her casserole cooking frenzy and the cleaning marathon at Ray's house on Tuesday. Paula didn't remain unmentioned, too.

"And what about SIP? How was the party? Hope Jack liked the sweater." Kate giggled again.

Anastasia recounted how Jack had taken her to a party with senior members of SIP's management, which, after a lengthy talk with Claire from HR, had landed her a new project in the end.

"Rubbing shoulders with the big boys already? Way to go, Ana!" Kate smiled. "Jack must be so proud."

"I... uhm... I'm not sure," Anastasia said flatly.

"Oooh, trouble in paradise? You're his find he should be nothing but proud."

Ana nodded absentmindedly.

Jack had been anything but proud, in fact he had seemed rather pissed off and left her behind at the club.

She recalled Hannah's call from earlier today and wondered if she should be worried about Jack's whereabouts, taking a mental note to message Hannah later.

"Oh, look, José's here," Kate piped and grabbed Anastasia's hand, pulling Ana with her.

"Kate, please!"

But Kate was already waving their friend closer, "José! Hiii!"

Hugs and kisses ensued.

"Ana can show you around if you like," Kate smiled sweetly, pulled out a small branch of a mistletoe and shoved it into the breast pocket of José's shirt, whispering, "Just in case."

She winked at him.

Ana and José arched their brow and looked at her.

"Drinks and snacks are in the dining room, feel free to help yourself and have fun. I really gotta find Elliot now, bye," another smile and Kate was gone.

"You're looking beautiful tonight," José said. Anastasia could feel a heat creeping up into her cheeks.

In an attempt to distract José she glanced at the sky-high Louboutins one of Kate's friends was wearing and mumbled, "Below standard, I fear."

"Well," José arched his eyebrow and glanced at the high heels, "... if that's the standard tonight, then I guess you're right, Ana."

"Just not into torturing myself, I guess," Ana shrugged, perfectly content with her flats, and both chuckled, somewhere across the room some of Elliot's friends were downing shooters, cheering each other on.

Tonight really was every introvert's living nightmare.

"Care to show me around?" José asked timidly and Ana nodded, leading the way towards the dining room.

Anastasia could hear Elliot when they returned to the living room,

"Glad you've made it, bro. And look at your outfit. It's hideous, Mr. Grinch. I'm sure Mia's gonna love it."

Laughter.

"You bet." This voice was just too familiar, making her insides clench.

Anastasia craned her neck, whispering, "oh no," when she first caught a glimpse of Mr Taylor, who was carrying what looked like a case of wine or champagne.

And then she saw him.

Christian.

"Kate, look who's here!" Elliot's voice echoed through the room, he was beckoning his girlfriend.

"You came," Kate smiled warmly.

From across the room, Anastasia witnessed how Christian drew her best friend into a hug, saying,

"Thanks for having me, Kate."

He leaned in and kissed Kate's cheeks, all the while glancing at the surrounding clique.

And while José hadn't noticed the new guest, yet, Christian had finally spotted her in the crowd.

Pulling away from Kate he straightened up, squaring his broad shoulders as his hands came to rest on his hips. Managing half a smile, he stared at Anastasia.

There was that twinge again and a tingling sensation sped up the back of Anastasia's neck.

She was quick to whisper, "Be right back," to José, immediately making a bee-line for the bathroom.

On her way out of the living room she could hear the blonde piping, "Christian."

"Mia, gravity sure is a brutal thing, hm," was his answer, eliciting protest from the blonde.

Anastasia was sure that he had dared a cheeky comment regarding her skimpy dress.

This just can't be true, Ana thought, slamming the bathroom door shut, leaning against it. Her heart was racing in her chest.

In truth it had been rather obvious that there was a chance of him showing up seeing that the bitch was acquainted with Elliot.

But it hadn't dawned on Ana up until she had seen him.

Damn right, Christian Grey was attending Kate's party.

And she was trapped, trapped in Elliot's and Kate's bathroom, that was veritably more of a spacious spa and, you had to give her that, the blonde had been right, the towels were heavenly fluffy.

But Ana knew that she couldn't fool herself into thinking that she could hide out here forever, admiring expensive towels and the size of that ball-and-claw bathtub by the window.

Taking a sniff at one of the bottles of Kate's extensive perfume collection, and deciding that the scent wasn't hers, rather reminding her of her aunt Alice, she paced the bathroom, wondering how to proceed.

Talk. They needed to talk.

Anastasia nodded, suddenly feeling courageous. Talk it was.

Soon, there was a knock on the door.

"Just a sec!" Her heart was pounding against her ribs.

Anastasia sighed when she reentered the living room.

There he was, across the room from her, talking to some guy.

When he spotted her, he said, "Excuse me, just a moment."

His gaze never leaving Ana's, Christian made his way through the crowd.

When he had finally reached her, he leaned in, gently touching her shoulder, "Hi. How are you?"

He was so close, she could smell his expensive cologne, eyeing him she said, "Good, how are you?"

She poked her index into his chest, "Looking sharp," and made him wince.

Surprised she pulled back and mumbled, "Sorry."

Ana was sure that he was embarrassed to be caught wearing that outfit, for other reasons than the sweater being an utter fashion faux-pas.

"Never mind," he said, glancing down at the neon-green sweater he continued, "I'll write out a check, okay?"

Anastasia folded her arms in front of her chest. The office Christmas party was long over and, sweater or not, Jack had proved to be an utter grinch so she didn't really care.

"Listen, can we talk?" Christian said, looking rather tense.

„Sure," Ana tried to sound reluctant, it was all about playing hard to get, right?

"Somewhere private," Christian looked around and tried to take her hand, but Anastasia pulled away.

"Fine," Christian rasped and moved to open a door, only to find that it was the master bedroom.

"Too private, I suppose," a wry grin ghosted across his features while Ana bit back a chuckle.

"Listen, I meant it," Christian said as Ana followed him into the deserted kitchen.

„What? That I am worthy of your … uhm … below-standard trash?" she asked pointedly, arching an eyebrow at him.

Christian frowned, leaning against the kitchen counter, his arms now folded in front of his broad chest.

"Why did you lie to me, Christian?"

„Uh, what?" He looked puzzled.

„The tree..."

He shrugged, "yeah, what about it? Thought you liked it?"

„It wasn't meant to be trashed. You told your wife that you don't like it and took it away … only to show up on my doorstep and give it to me. Trying to make a pass. What the fuck, Christian?"

„Wait, what? Wife? Making a ... pass?"

"Yeah, wife, don't play dumb with me, please."

"Listen, I don't know what you're talking about. I don't have a wife. Not to my knowledge, that is. And to be honest… I'd rather be dead than a husband," his eyes were flickering.

"You... what?!"

"I'm sorry," he sounded contrite.

Anastasia stared at him.

"Anyway, wife? Would you care to-"

"Good, I stand corrected. Girlfriend. Your girlfriend," Anastasia talked over him, another bad start for their conversation, she supposed, frowning a little.

"What the hell, Anastasia?"

"That girl you bought the tree for. At the tree farm," Ana tried to jog his memory.

"Mia?" Christian laughed, visibly relieved.

"She's my sister... and a pain in the ass."

"Your sister?"

"Yes."

"Don't lie."

"I don't. What do you want me to say?" he looked desperate and Ana couldn't deny that she was relishing in the feeling of making him pay for his condescending ways with her the other day.

Let him stew a little longer... A grin tugged at the corner of her mouth.

"Come, let's go and talk to her, she'll tell you."

"Okay," reluctantly she followed him into the living room.

"There you are again," Mia hugged Christian before she pulled away to take a closer look at the sweater. "Oh my god, is that Valentino Couture?"

"Judging by the gaudy color scheme? Yeah, definitely." Christian rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, Mia, this is Anastasia."

"Nice to meet you," Mia smiled, apparently she still didn't know who Ana was.

"Tell her that you're my sister," Christian continued, Anastasia cleared her throat, staring at him.

"What?" Mia looked confused.

"My sister," Christian nodded.

"Honestly?" Anastasia folded her arms in front of her chest again, Christian seemed to have noticed that she was not convinced.

"Listen, Mia, Anastasia here thinks that we're an item, married or something, you know. Could you please-"

"Oooh. Christian married?" Mia laughed. "Well, so sorry to disappoint you, Anastasia, but Christian is my brother. Older brother as a matter of fact. And, you can take it from me, he can be a right pain in the ass," she laughed again. "Hope I haven't lost you a bet or something, Anastasia?"

"Oh, and Elliot's my eldest brother," Mia added. "One big family," she smiled.

"Elliot?" Anastasia felt a crimson tinge of embarrassment creeping up into her cheeks. She hadn't been aware that Elliot had any siblings.

Her mind was racing.

Not married.

No girlfriend.

That was a good thing, right?

But then again, she was 'below standard', no doubts about it.

"Well, now that we have that sorted out...," Christian reached for Anastasia's elbow, intent to steer her back to the kitchen. Anastasia didn't resist.

There she was, in the middle of Kate's kitchen, with the notorious Christian Grey telling her, that he wanted to see her again, that he would in fact love to see her again.

All of this was rather surreal but Anastasia was positive that she wasn't dreaming.

Just when she opened her mouth to say she was sorry about making such a scene on Monday and that she hoped he would give her some time to think about seeing him again, Elliot barged in, a bottle of Single Malt in his right.

"Whoops... hi Ana," Elliot winked at her, "...hate to interrupt your little... uhm... whatever you two are up to here, guys, but we really need to talk about Aspen between Christmas and New Year, Christian."

Elliot wrapped an arm around his brother's shoulder.

"Actually," Christian held Anastasia's gaze, "I was thinking Iceland but-"

"Holy shit, Iceland? Parties in ice igloos, lots of Vodka. Nordic beauties. Aurora Borealis. Count me in, bro. I'm game."

Christian arched one of his perfectly manicured eyebrows. "Well, I had heliskiing in mind and I thought you were hellbent on playing house here now, E?"

Elliot frowned.

Kate had entered the kitchen, taking another bottle of champagne out of the fridge, "There you are!"

Her boyfriend gave her a wry grin, "Right 'ere, sweetie. Ever been to Iceland?"

"Iceland?" Kate furrowed her brow and laughed, "No." She winked at Ana.

"I guess we're gonna end up in Aspen, though. Busy schedule the whole week. Willing to do keg-duty in the evenings, though," Christian told his brother and grinned.

Then he turned to Anastasia, smiling, "Wanna come?"

"Yeah, you should come," Kate urged, beaming at her.

"Can we talk about this later, ladies?" Elliot cut in before he said to his brother, "Laphroaig and cigars, Christian?"

"If you insist," Christian laughed while Elliot opened a cabinet and reached for two tumblers.

"Cigars? In here?" Kate looked alarmed and Christian grinned.

"Don't you dare, guys," she tried to sound stern and ushered them towards the balcony.

"I wasn't aware you know him," Kate studied Anastasia's features, brushing a strand of her hair behind her ear, a curious expression ghosting across her own face.

"Where have you met?"

"Long story, Kate," Ana said and gave her a wry grin.

"Well then, tell me everything," Kate sipped her wine.

"Another time, Kate."

"Are you serious?"

"Yep, I'd better get going now."

"Already? You could stay overnight..."

"I'm tired, Kate," Anastasia gave her a small smile.

All she wanted was to go home. To lose herself in a marathon of seriously overthinking this whole situation.

His offer.

Her lapse.

Him having siblings.

Everything.

"All right. Call me in the morning. Promise?" Kate hugged Ana to her.

"Promise."

Together, they walked out of the kitchen.

By the door, Anastasia was buttoning up her coat when she heard his voice again.

"You're leaving?"

"Yes, I'm tired."

"I see. Well, as I said, I would really love to see you again, Anastasia."

"I know, Christian. And thank you."

"Well?"

"Well ... I'll let you know."

She looked at him and could tell that he wasn't convinced she would call him.

"I have something that's yours."

"You do?" Christian looked surprised.

"The scarf. I'm sorry, I... I didn't mean to pry, it's just that..."

"Oh, this...," he smiled at her, "...it's just a gift..."

Christian pulled out a business card, their fingers touched when he handed it to Anastasia,

"Just call me and I'll send someone over to pick it up. Any time."

"Thank you." Anastasia held his gaze for a moment, "well then, ..."

She pulled her lower lip between her teeth and opened the front door.

"It was nice seeing you again, Christian," her cheeks felt hot and were probably crimson again.

"It really was, just wish we'd had more time to talk..."

"Another time," she said and he smiled.

Anastasia wondered if she should go in for a quick hug but decided against it, he was her boss's bosses' boss after all.

"Bye, Christian," she smiled and held out her hand for him to shake.

"Good night, Anastasia." He gave her hand a gentle squeeze, "I'm looking forward to hearing from you."

Much to her surprise Christian hadn't noticed the mistletoe that was dangling in the doorway, in fact his gaze had been glued to her the whole time.

Missed opportunity, Anastasia thought and chuckled when she pulled the front door shut.