The Girl Next Door

By Tvdfanpam

Ch. 4

Ballet Recital

Christian left Ana's house after they finished off a bottle of wine. He needed to do some work at home so he said good bye with a promise to call the next day. He gave her a kiss on the cheek as he left and thought she smelled good! He walked back to Jason and Gail's house and knocked on the door, Jason let him in. He stood in the entryway of their new house.

"I'm going to head home. Thanks for the BBQ, it was surprisingly good!" He joked with his head of security. "Ana said something about nasty surprises or surprise guests, check into that, will you?" Jason nodded.

"Good night sir. We will see you at the recital since we are off this week." He gently reminded his boss. It was Christian's turn to nod.

He drove home in his Audi R8 and parked in the parking garage of Escala, a fancy apartment building in downtown Seattle. He had a million dollar view of the Seattle skyline and it did not disappoint as Christian stared out into the night sky from his penthouse balcony. He couldn't sleep after he finished his work so he went for a five mile run on his treadmill before showering and going to bed. He woke up refreshed and ready for his work week.

"Andrea, I need you to order flowers for me to send to someone. Come into my office when you finish what you are doing." She nodded at her boss and finished typing and got up from her desk and followed Christian Grey into his office. She closed the door. He often had her take care of personal matters and she wanted to give him privacy. There was a lot of activity on the executive level on Mondays.

"What kind of flowers do you want sent and to whom?" She started off. She had a legal pad on her lap, she had sat down in one of the empty chairs in front of his desk.

"I have two orders. One is for Thursday night. I need a dozen yellow roses arranged to give to a little girl; it's for Phoebe Brown. I will take them with me. Have them delivered here by five pm Thursday afternoon. I will need a card with Peppa Pig on it to go with the roses. I want a bouquet of fresh flowers sent to Anastasia Brown delivered to this address by noon today." Andrea nodded and looked up after she wrote down the instructions. "Make dinner reservations for Thursday night for twelve or thirteen people plus security at The Pink Door for eight pm. Make sure they have chicken fingers as a menu option. We want the private dining room overlooking Pike Place Market."

Andrea knew she just had to call the restaurant and tell them Christian Grey wanted to have dinner there Thursday night and they would bend over backwards for him. She left his office after getting more instructions from the red haired man.

Christian texted Ana: I'm sending you something today around noon.

Okay. I will be home. She texted back. What is it! I didn't think we were at the giving each other presents stage yet.

It's a surprise. There will be two things coming. He smiled when she sent a smiling winking face back to him. I think we are at the getting to know each other stage. You can let me know if you like the presents.

LOL. She smiled when she got his text message.

Would you and your parents and the star ballerina like to have dinner with me after the recital? I know a good place.

That sounds nice. I hope they have chicken fingers, lol. He smiled when he saw that.

Yes, they will. He sent back. He had every confidence that The Pink Door would have whatever he requested.

I have to take Phoebe to school. Bye. She also sent a smiley face blowing a kiss.

I'll collect on that kiss Thursday. He texted with a smile.

Ana texted Christian a thank you later that day with a picture of her and Phoebe holding the vase of flowers. He sent it to Andrea to have printed off and framed. He called his reserve security and asked Luke Sawyer if he would drive by Ana's house to make sure all was well.

Ana let Phoebe call Christian on Wednesday to make sure he was coming to her recital. Phoebe had insisted she needed to call Christian every day but Ana put her off until Wednesday afternoon. Phoebe reminded him she liked Yellow Roses and wanted to know if Mia was coming too.

"Yes, Mia is coming to your recital Phoebe. My brother Elliott and my mom and dad all want to come to. Is that okay with you?" Phoebe yelled at Ana in the next room: "Mom, is it okay for Mr. Grey to bring one, two, three, four people?" She counted out loud.

Ana took the phone away from Phoebe with the promise that she would give it back right away. "Who are you inviting to Phoebe's recital? You know it will last only thirty or forty five minutes, right? A bunch of preschool girls in pink tutus? Are you sure you still want to come? It will be barely managed chaos."

"Of course I want to come. After I told Mia about it she told my mom and dad who then told my brother Elliott. They all want to come." He couldn't believe it either but had invited them to dinner afterwards so they could come to the recital beforehand if they wanted to.

"Okay, I will reserve some seats for everyone. I promised Phoebe I would sit on the first or second row and we have to be there thirty minutes early anyway. Phoebe's friend Tegan and his mom Kate will be there along with my parents. Phoebe will have quite the entourage."

"Don't forget to save seats for Jason and Gail. They can't wait!" He told Ana to tell Phoebe bye, he was late for a meeting. He walked out of his office and stopped at Andrea's desk. "Confirm thirteen guests plus security at The Pink Door for Thursday at 8:00 pm. Reserve a good case of Moscato also and confirm the chicken fingers availability. " Andrea nodded as she reached for her phone.

Ana ended the call and turned around to Phoebe standing there with crocodile tears. "You said I could talk to Mr. Grey again!" Ana picked her up and hugged her close as he tears fell.

"Mr. Grey is at work honey. He had to go to a meeting. You will see him in one more day." Ana had to wipe tears and promise a trip to the park before Phoebe turned off the waterworks. "Do you want to help me make tacos?" Phoebe nodded, crisis over for now.

Thursday after school, Phoebe was so excited for her first recital! She had been taking ballet classes for a whole year and it was time to show her family what she learned! Her mommy insisted on her laying down on her bed with her tablet after lunch to rest. Ana peeked in on Phoebe and saw that she was asleep and covered her up and turned off her tablet. She went to take a shower so she would have plenty of time to get her little ballerina ready for her big show!

Phoebe had her hair pulled up in a ballerina bun with glitter in her hair! Mommy let her wear some of her makeup! She had talked nonstop since she got up from her nap, even in the tub when Ana was washing her long hair. She nibbled on a snack but wasn't really into food at the moment.

Ana got her to the venue for the recital and made sure she went to the bathroom before she put on her tutu then left Phoebe with her ballet teacher and walked out to the auditorium to find some seats. "Hello Ana." Christian leaned and kissed her on the cheek, Ana leaned in to give him a hug.

"Hello Christian. You didn't have to come early." Ana blushed. "Phoebe is so excited for tonight. I hope she remembers her routine."

"I am sure she will be perfect." He looked at Ana. "You look amazing! I am looking forward to our date tomorrow night." She smiled back at him.

"So am I. It's been a while since I went out on a date. I hope I don't disappoint you." Ana said softly. She was a little nervous about it. Phoebe liked Christian so much already and had only spent one evening with him.

"Ana, hello!" Kate Kavanagh came up behind Ana. Tegan ran up and gave Ana a hug.

"I can't wait to see Phoebe dance!" He said. "Where is she?"

"She is in the back. The recital will start soon." Ana said kindly. "What's in the bag?"

"A present for Phoebe. Mom said you give flowers to ballerinas but I wanted to give her a Peppa Pig doll." He reached into the bag and pulled it out.

"I'm sure she will love it. Thank you. That's so thoughtful of you." He beamed up at Ana.

"Christian, please meet Kate Kavanagh and her son Tegan. Kate, this is Christian Grey. We are going out tomorrow night."

"Nice to meet you. Have we met before?" Christian asked Kate. "You look familiar?" Kate shook her head no.

"I think I remember seeing you one year at my parents' Coping Together Ball." He said. "You danced with Elliott. Was that five years ago?"

"Hello bro!" Somebody said behind Kate. She turned around and looked right into Elliott's face. "Kate! What are you doing here?" She didn't have time to reply before Christian introduced Ana and Elliott.

"Ana, please meet my brother Elliott Grey. I believe he knows your friend Kate." Christian said with a frown.

"Nice to meet you Elliott." Ana said, and Elliott grabbed her in a hug. "Nice to meet you too Ana." He didn't know what to say to Kate and hadn't noticed her son yet.

Everybody arrived at once and were introduced to each other then found seats and the lights went dim and the program started. Phoebe danced her dance perfectly and Ana got it all on film. Her mom and dad were mesmerized by their little princess and the Grey family was too! Christian gave Phoebe her roses; so did Ray and Carrick. Mia gave her a bracelet with a ballerina on it and Tegan gave her Peppa Pig.

Pictures were taken of the ballerinas in their costumes as a group and then they were dismissed. "Let's all meet at The Pink Door. I have a room reserved. We can celebrate Phoebe's dance recital and get to know each other." Christian said to the crowd around the star ballerina.

Elliott was still in shock after seeing Kate and wasn't thinking coherently. He finally noticed her red headed son and so did his parents.

A/N: My internet was down this weekend so I am posting what I have written so far. We will hear more from Phoebe and Elliott in the next chapter at dinner. Thanks for reading and for reviewing! I love it!