A/N: Thank you all for your continued love and support! I hope you enjoy this next chapter.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 5: Decisions
About ten minutes into their meal, Theo had reappeared from the spare bedroom. He was shuffling in a rather stiff way, and had a hand pressed to his lower back, but nevertheless he smiled at everyone sitting at the table.
"Hi everyone. Lunch smells great," he said, walking over to a nearby end table and leaning on it. Grace got to her feet and hurried over.
"Dad, be careful. If your back is still bothering you, you shouldn't be walking around like this," she scolded, placing a hand on his back and helping him walk toward the kitchen.
"I'm okay, Gracie. I promise," Theo reassured his daughter as they walked together. "My back pain hasn't been as bad as it used to be, and laying down for long periods of time tends to make it worse."
"You should listen to our daughter, Theo," Margaret said firmly, getting up to pull out a chair for him to sit on. "Once we get home I'm scheduling an appointment with your doctor."
"That's not necessary, dear," Theo waved off as he gingerly settled himself down in the chair. "The doctor's not gonna do anything other than prescribe rest or refer me to a chiropractor. It'll just be a big waste of time."
"Nevertheless, Grandpa, your doctor should at least be made aware of your back pain," Christian said seriously. "He can have that information on record in case of an emergency."
"Exactly. Thank you, Christian," Grace said to her son, nodding gratefully.
"Alright, alright. I'll go to the dumb doctor," Theo conceded reluctantly, shaking his head. "Everyone here's ganging up on me. Ana would never do that to me, would you, dear?"
The others chuckled as Ana gave Theo a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry, Mr. Trevelyan, but I agree with everyone else. You should go see your doctor – I don't want you to be in pain."
"Well, okay, then. I'll go to the doctor to ease your concern," Theo said to Ana, a warm twinkle in his eye. Christian couldn't help but smile at how kindly his grandpa treated Ana: it reminded him of how he treated Mia.
"I'm glad you've agreed to see the doctor, Theo, but until then, I don't want you to overexert yourself," Margaret said strictly as she began to fill his plate with food. "I know you promised you'd trim some of the branches off our maple tree next weekend, but I've decided I'm hiring a professional to do it."
"Darling, that's really not necessary," Theo protested. "Landscapers are expensive, and I'm sure my back won't be bothering me in the next few days…"
"I don't care, I'm not risking you having an accident," Margaret insisted.
"I'll be free next weekend," Christian offered, and the others looked at him. "I can come over and help with the yard work, if you want."
Margaret brightened immediately. "Would you really do that for us, Christian?"
"Of course," he smiled. It was a win-win, in his opinion: his grandfather wouldn't have to overexert himself doing physical labor, and Christian would also have an easy excuse to be closer to Ana. "Just let me know what time on Saturday and I'll drive down here."
"That's very sweet of you, Christian," Grace smiled at her son. "And it's great timing too since Mia is coming back from Paris on Sunday. We can have the whole family home for the weekend!"
"Well, Elliot won't be here," Carrick pointed out fairly. The eldest Grey child, Elliot, had recently gotten married and was currently on his honeymoon with his new wife in the Bahamas.
"I suppose so," Grace conceded. "But Elliot actually called the other day and said that he and Kate should be coming home sometime next week. I could probably convince them to swing by for a visit."
"It would be good to see him," Theo agreed. "Though it's a shame he won't be here on Saturday to help Christian and I with the yard work."
The others laughed. "Ana, if you're free, would you like to come over on Saturday while the boys are out working in the yard?" Margaret asked Ana with a kind smile. "We could just chat for a bit, or maybe cook something together?"
Ana smiled, although there was something a bit hollow in her expression.. "That sounds wonderful, Mrs. Trevelyan. I actually think Jack might be coming back from his business trip on that day, but I'll let you know if his plans change."
"Of course, dear," Margaret said with a small smile.
With that agreed upon, everyone continued on with lunch. While Christian couldn't help but feel a bit discouraged at Ana mentioning her boyfriend, he still felt rather happy at the prospect of seeing her again in a few short days. He couldn't help but glance over at her, and at the same time, she looked up and met his gaze. He smiled at her, and he saw her blush and smile before quickly looking back down at her food.
Christian thought about that blush and smile long after he left the Grey Estate and headed back to work that afternoon.
The rest of the week passed by rather slowly for Christian as he waited impatiently for the weekend to arrive. Thoughts of Ana had completely consumed his mind, to the point where he was almost annoyed with himself at how much he was thinking of her. Her beautiful chestnut hair, her perfect alabaster skin, and the sweet way she smiled at him and his family – he felt like he wanted to know every last thing about her.
He had gotten Welch to run a background check on her, of course, but it contained very little information about her. Her name was Anastasia Steele, a 25-year-old woman who was raised by a single father in Montesano. He passed away when she was only 21, and she graduated with an English degree from WSU-Vancouver about three years ago. That was about it, however: there was no employment information (apart from her recently getting hired by his parents), no driver's license, no credit cards, and nothing about any other family or friends. There wasn't even any information about her residence in Bellevue, despite him knowing she was neighbors with his grandparents. The house must have been in her boyfriend's name, but Christian couldn't find any information on who he might be, other than his first name was Jack.
It was all very frustrating, to say the least.
Why could he find almost no information about Ana? It was like she was a phantom or something. He had a feeling that something was going on with her, but he couldn't quite figure out what. Why had she been unemployed for years, but was now seeking out this private chef job? And what was with that odd expression on her face when she found out she had actually gotten the job? He may have misread it, but he thought she had looked almost frightened.
Needless to say, Christian had a lot of questions regarding Anastasia Steele. And he was determined to get the answers he wanted.
~/~
Saturday finally rolled around, and Christian headed out to Bellevue at around ten o'clock, making sure to wear a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt since he knew he'd be working outside. It was a beautiful sunny day out today, and Christian couldn't help but smile as he pulled into his grandparents' driveway and saw the two of them standing on their porch, waving at him in greeting.
"…Hey you guys," Christian smiled after he parked and got out of the car. "Grandpa, how's your back doing?"
"Hi Christian. My back's actually feeling a lot better today," Theo smiled as he and Margaret hugged Christian hello. "I think I could actually help you with some of the yard work today, if Margaret would let me."
"Maybe," Margaret said skeptically to her husband, causing Christian to grin. "Christian, the tree trimming will probably take a majority of the day today, so don't feel like you have to get it all done today. And of course you're absolutely welcome to spend the night in our guest room if you don't feel like driving back downtown at the end of the day."
His grandparents always offered to let him stay the night whenever he came to visit. He never did, but it was always sweet of them to offer. "Thanks Grandma."
The three of them made their way to the backyard, where Margaret's garden and the maple tree were located. Christian could immediately see that the maple tree, while beautifully tall and full of lush green leaves, had a lot of low branches that were providing too much shade to the flowers beneath it. Theo headed over to the shed to grab his power saw and safety glasses, and Christian looked over at the fence separating this yard from the neighbors'. The house there was a beautiful forest green colonial with dark blue shutters and large French windows.
"Oh, that's Ana's house," Margaret said, seeing where Christian was looking. "She actually told me she'll be able to stop by for a bit later, so you might be seeing her."
Christian tried to hide how happy that made him. "That's nice. I remember she mentioned that her boyfriend was coming back from a business trip today?"
He could have imagined it, but it almost looked like Margaret's face fell into a more stoic expression. "Apparently he's not coming back until tomorrow now."
Her tone was odd, but before Christian could ask more questions, Theo reappeared from the shed. "Hey Christian, could you help me take out the ladder? We're gonna need it to get to those mid-level branches."
"Sure Grandpa," Christian said, moving to help him take out the ladder from the shed. He'd be sure to ask about Ana a bit later.
For the next hour or so, Christian and Theo worked on trimming the lower branches on the maple tree. The hardest part was finding good places to put the ladder where they could properly reach the branches without accidentally crushing Margaret's flowers underneath. Christian insisted upon doing the trimming, so Theo stood at the base of the ladder and held it steady as Christian donned the safety glasses and climbed up to cut the branches down with the power saw.
It was almost noon when Ana came around to the Trevelyan's house, and Christian had already cut down a sizable amount of branches, which now sat in a pile in the corner of the yard. Ana and Margaret approached Christian and Theo just as Christian began climbing down the ladder.
He was sweating from the heat and exertion, and once he was on the ground, he set down the saw, took off the safety glasses, and lifted the hem of his shirt, wiping down his sweaty face. He knew Ana had gotten a full view of his abs when he did that, and when he dropped his shirt, he saw Ana staring at him with a heavy blush on her cheeks. He couldn't fight the grin from spreading across his face.
"Wow, guys – you've really been working out here!" Margaret smiled at the two of them. "Want to come inside for lunch? Ana and I can whip up some sandwiches while you rest for a bit."
"Sure thing," Theo smiled, and he and Christian followed the two women inside the house.
"How are you today, Ana?" Christian asked as he and Theo sat down at the table, and Ana and Margaret moved to gather ingredients for lunch.
"I'm doing well, thank you," Ana gave him a small smile. Today she was wearing cute white capris with a turquoise tank top that really seemed to bring out her blue eyes. "I've been working as a private chef for your parents over the last few days and I think it's been going well."
"According to Grace, she's been doing a marvelous job," Margaret gushed happily as she took out the ingredients for making turkey sandwiches. "She's been making all sorts of amazing dishes, and Grace and Carrick have loved every one of them."
"Margaret and I have been driving her to the Grey Estate everyday," Theo said to Christian. "We only drop her off, but every time Margaret tries to convince me we should stay for dinner."
Christian couldn't help but laugh. "I can believe it. That chicken Ana made was incredible."
"If I had time, I'd have made it again for you guys today," Ana smiled. She and Margaret carried over a platter of sandwiches, a bowl of pretzels, and a few cans of Coke to the table and set them down.
"And you're giving us this instead?" Theo asked in mock outrage, gesturing to the sandwiches. "What a disappointment!"
The others laughed as Margaret gave her husband a loving smack on the arm. "Oh shut up, you big goof."
The four of them sat together at the table and chatted as they ate their lunch. Christian was having a surprisingly good time, but that was mostly because of Ana: she was more open and talkative than she had been at his parents' house, likely because she felt more at ease here. They chatted about Margaret's vegetable garden, Ana talked about some of her favorite recipes she made for the Grey's this past week, and they even talked about Christian's work at GEH.
"I'm the founder and CEO of a company called Grey Enterprise Holdings," Christian said to Ana when she asked. "It's a mergers and acquisitions company located downtown, but we have subsidiaries all over the world."
"Wow, that's really cool," Ana said, clearly impressed. "And do you work with your father? I remember you came over earlier this week to speak with him about something work-related."
"No, I don't. He's a lawyer, and I just needed his insight on a legal issue one of my subsidiaries was dealing with."
"Oh. Well, I hope everything's okay," Ana said, looking concerned, and Christian just wanted to squeeze her with how sweet she was being. "I don't think I could ever work in mergers acquisitions. It sounds like way too much pressure to manage everything perfectly."
"I suppose, but I'm sure it's very similar to what you do as a private chef," Christian pointed out. "When you're cooking a meal, there's a lot of moving parts. You have to keep an eye on each food item you're making to ensure everything turns out perfectly, and if something goes wrong, you as the chef need to fix it. That's not too far off from what I do with other businesses."
Ana smiled. "That's an interesting comparison. But unlike with business, the end result of my efforts will just be a delicious meal rather than the fate of hundreds of people's livelihoods. That takes the pressure off a bit, wouldn't you say?"
Christian chuckled. "Fair point well made, Ms. Steele."
Ana smiled again, but a moment later her smile faded into surprise as she looked at something out of the kitchen window. "Oh my God."
The others turned to see what Ana was looking at: Christian could see the front of Ana's house through the window, and a black Lexus car was pulling into the driveway.
"Oh, it looks like your boyfriend is back early from his trip," Margaret said, turning back to face Ana.
Ana, however, didn't look pleased by that information – her face had gone pale, and her eyes wide as she continued to stare out the window. She quickly jumped to her feet.
"I… I'm sorry, guys, but I should go," she said stiffly, stepping away from the table. "Thank you for lunch."
Christian looked at her, concerned. Why did she appear almost nervous? Margaret seemed to pick up on Ana's strange behavior, for she piped up. "Would you like Theo or I to walk you to your door, honey?"
"No, thank you Mrs. Trevelyan," Ana said quickly, grabbing her phone and keys. "I appreciate it, though. I'll see you guys later."
Before the others could properly say goodbye, Ana was hurrying out the door. Theo, Margaret, and Christian were silent as they watched out the window: Ana walked over to her driveway, where a tall, handsome man in a suit had gotten out of the Lexus. Ana approached him, and the two of them started talking – the guy had his hands on his hips as he said something to Ana, and she made a gesture toward the Trevelyan's house. They were too far away for Christian to see what they were saying, but after a few moments, the guy placed his hand on Ana's lower back and they both walked into the house together.
Christian didn't know why, but that whole interaction left him feeling rather unsettled.
"That was Ana's boyfriend, right?" Christian asked his grandparents, already knowing the answer.
"Yeah. That was Jack," Margaret said, turning back toward the table. She and Theo exchanged a glance.
"Is everything alright with them?" Christian couldn't help but ask. It was pretty obvious something was wrong, and based on Ana's behavior just now as well as what he learned from the background check he ran on her, the red flags were becoming more and more obvious to him.
Margaret sighed. "Honestly, we don't know… Theo and I have always suspected that Ana doesn't get out of the house much. Her boyfriend works away from home a lot, and she didn't work at all until I suggested the private chef job."
"She always avoids talking about him too," Theo pointed out. "Your grandmother and I try not to pry, but we get the impression that, well… Ana may not be in a great situation at that house."
Christian felt like he was going to throw up. "You think she's being abused?"
"We don't know that for sure," Margaret said firmly, getting up from the table and taking away their empty plates. "And it would be unkind of us to confront Ana about it. She's working for Grace and Carrick now, and she seems really happy doing that, so the best we can do is encourage her to be her best."
Christian said nothing, the urge to be sick not going away. He knew his grandmother was right, but that didn't stop him from wanting to charge into the house like an angry bull right now and take Ana into his arms, bringing her to a safe place where no one could hurt her ever again. He hated thinking about Ana next door with that man right now. What was he doing to her? Christian fervently wished he could do something, since sitting passively at this kitchen table and not doing anything proactive felt like torture. But what could he do exactly?
"C'mon Christian. We've got more branches to cut," Theo said to Christian, clapping a hand on his shoulder before getting to his feet.
Christian stood up as well, still fighting the urge to run to the house next door where Ana was. He knew there was very little he could do for her at the moment, but at the very least, he knew he could be close by in case she needed him.
Before he could stop himself, he turned to Margaret. "Hey, Grandma... would it still be alright if I stayed the night here?"
A/N: So what do you guys think? If you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review!
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