Chapter 74

Envy

Ana POV

Kate exits the room and comes over to the couch. I watch as she takes a few long sips of her drink. I can tell she's stalling but I'll give her a break and not jump on her immediately.

I look at her intently, waiting for what she's found out. Finally, she gives me a synopsis of her and Elliot's conversation and I take in everything she's told me. I down the rest of my drink and sit silently.

I start laughing and I can't seem to stop. It feels good to laugh. What makes it even funnier is WHY I'm laughing. "He's scared of what's going to happen when he sees me? He SHOULD be scared of what's going to happen! He's fucked up this whole vacation, Rhi got hurt and we haven't had a chance to even enjoy ourselves because something is always ruining plans!"

I look at Kate who is sitting silently, watching me lose my shit. Quietly losing my shit because I don't want to disturb Rhi and Alex. She's got a smirk on her face but her eyes are wide with shock.

"Not to mention the fact that he hasn't even bothered to call, text or even email me! That's what pisses me off the most. I mean, email is the pussy way out, hiding behind words and a computer, but it's at least TRYING." I growl out, "I don't think I'll be able to forgive him for this."

After my tirade, I start laughing again. I'm not sure what's making me laugh, stress or anger, maybe a little of both. I can't hold back. "Big bad domineering billionaire Christian Grey is nothing but a big chicken-shit pussy!" I snort.

Kate looks like she's about to burst and before long she doesn't disappoint me. She says one of the funniest things I've ever heard. "Breaking News: Billionaire Bad Ass Christian Grey is nothing but a chicken-shit pussy!"

No matter how hard I try to avoid looking at Kate, I can't and when we make eye contact we both lose it. Tears are running down our faces and my tummy feels like I've done a million sit-ups.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! My tummy hurts!" I struggle to breath and try to gain my composure.

"Elliot recommended to wait until Grey comes clean. He's feeling guilty after seeing Rhi's bruised hand." Kate says, then adds, "The longer it takes for him to fess up the worse he'll feel."

"Fuck, I don't know if I can wait that long. I might be dead before he feels any guilt." I snort. "Christian feeling guilty about something? Ha!"

She's right though, I've always felt and thought Christian had a heart but he always kept it locked up. I don't really understand why though because he's never shared any details of his life, only what is necessary. He's never opened up to me. I can't help but feeling a little jealous of Kate and Elliot's relationship. He's so open and free and fun. Christian is the complete opposite. He's hard to take sometimes. OK most of the time but that's grown on me, to a point. I love him, I really do, but what he's done hits deep and brutal and just because he's powerful it doesn't make it OK to disregard people. He's in for a reality check when I see him again.

"Ana?" Kate's voice interrupts my thoughts. "You OK?"

Sighing, I turn and look at her. "Yes, I'm OK. I was just thinking about how different your relationship with Elliot is from mine and Christians."

She looks at me, confused. "What do you mean?"

Shaking my head, "Kate, Elliot is so fun and free and open. You guys have fun together just hanging out or going out and doing things. We've gone to the circus, the zoo, rodeos, clubbing and playing pool at an actual pool hall. Elliot has met Rhi and he knows her and they both are spontaneous and just go with the flow. You know how she wants to go Troll hunting right? That's a road trip event. Christian would never do those things." I sigh and fight off the jealousy that starts to infiltrate my body. "Do you know how much I have to fight with him to just get to see you? Sometimes I don't want to deal with him so I just don't tell him. But you didn't hear that from me. No, he doesn't have to know everything I do, but he's so …."

"Controlling?" Kate blurts out. She doesn't look apologetic at all when I look at her.

"Yes. Controlling." We share a look but Kate doesn't say anything. We don't see eye to eye when it comes to Christian. He's the complete opposite of Kate and they've always disagreed on almost everything.

"Kate, we've never really had to hide Rhi or her past with Elliot. She felt comfortable enough, after a while, and told him herself. Christian would force the issue." She rolls her eyes and I start to get angry. "He'd use every option he had to find out everything about her. He'd invade her privacy and make up some excuse that it's to protect him, his business and his family. Like she's some spy."

"It's a good thing she and her family have connections so we're able to lock down her information. You have to agree with me that that's the main problem with Grey. He can't find information on her and he's paranoid." She laughs. "I'll bet you anything that's the part that's bugging Taylor the most. He can usually find anyone's information easy peasy but Rhi is a challenge and he doesn't like that. I'll have to ask Elliot the next time I talk to him."

I'm quietly thinking about what she's said when she breaks into my thoughts. "Ana? Are you happy? You know, with your relationship with Christian?"

I don't respond right away. Am I happy? "I'm happy that I met him. I'm happy that we're together. I love him. I really do, but this whole situation has made me realize that he and I need to have a serious talk. He needs to change a little because if he doesn't there might not be an us anymore."

Kate is silent, her face expressionless and my mind and heart are racing. "Kate, I hate to admit this but I'm jealous of the relationship you and Elliot have. He does the things we enjoy and I always feel like a third wheel because Christian refuses to join us." I sound like I'm pouting and feeling sorry for myself, and maybe I am, but it's the truth.

Reaching out and taking my hand, Kate says, "Ana don't feel like that. You're never a third wheel. You know that. Elliot loves you. Christian loves you but in his own way. Have you ever told him your feelings on the matter?"

I roll my eyes. "Not unless we're arguing about me going out with you guys. I certainly don't tell him anything about Rhi. I usually just give in because he wears me down sometimes. I'm embarrassed because I never thought I would let some man control me like that. Especially after what Rhi's gone through."

"I understand. I feel the same way. I'm just lucky I found Elliot and he's a wonderful guy and a lot of fun. Talk to Christian when we get home. You need to make sure he understands what you want. Don't give in to him because he pressures you." She laughs, "Besides, I think you can get away with a lot of stuff from now on after what's happened this week." She winks.

I laugh, "Oh believe me, we're definitely having a chat about this whole fiasco. The asshole won't know what hit him when I see him."

"Ana, we are right on the cusp of salvaging this vacation and have half of it left. Let's move on with the vacation as planned and say, 'Fuck You' to the negativity." She smiles, "I know I'm over the drama bullshit."

Kate takes a drink of her daiquiri and when I reach for mine I find it's empty. "UGH! I want another drink." I laugh. "That's next on the list for the evening. Drinks."

Kate points at my drink and laughs, "You're looking a little dry there. Want a shot of Patron? I know I could use one." I look at her, smile and wiggle my eyebrows.

Before I get a chance to answer, we hear behind us, "I'm down for a couple!"

KATE POV

We both turn and look and see Rhi standing there with a huge smile on her face. Heading into the kitchen, she pulls out three tumblers and the open bottle of Patron and brings them over to the couch where we're sitting.

Looking at us, she gives us a crazy smile and throws down the gauntlet, "Think you guys can handle a full glass or are you chicken?" She starts clucking like a chicken and laughs.

Ana and I look at each other. "What do you think? Should we rise to the challenge?" I ask.

"You know what? We may not be able to match your ability to drink a lot, like an entire bottle of tequila, but we'll certainly not back down from a challenge. Let's do this!" Ana exclaims.

I clap my hands as Rhi pours the Patron and hands us each a glass. Rhi holds up her glass to make a toast. "To friendship and love. We've been friends forever and shall stay friends forever. I love you guys more than you will ever know."

We clink glasses, Ana and I shout, "Here! Here! We love you too Rhi. Always."

Rhi's already downed her glass while Ana and I look at each other. "Bottoms up!" and we slam our drinks.

"You know what?" Ana asks, "We really need to get some food if we're going to be doing any more drinking." She looks at Rhi, "Don't think we forgot about your pain meds you are going to have to take. However, this is how our vacation was supposed to be. We're going to enjoy it like nothing happened. Just keep an eye on your nerve block, OK?"

"Yeah, it's really going to suck when it wears off. You realize this, right?" I add. Getting up, I walk to the kitchen and pick up the breakfast tray from this morning and take it back to the couch. "OK guys, we need to snack if we're not going anywhere yet." Looking at Rhi, "Is Alex OK?"

She looks back at me, looks down and when she raises her head she has a huge grin. "Oh yes, he's absolutely fine. He's sleeping now. I've worn him out…" She lets her voice trail off and winks. "With everything that's happened the past couple of days, I mean."

Ana and I shout in unison, "UGH! NOT something we want to hear!" She laughs at our reaction.

"OH!" I exclaim. "I forgot something. Rhi? You might need another shot after I tell you this."

Rhi and Ana look at me, expectantly. "I got a little bit of information about that treasure hunt on you and Alex. Elliot's sister Mia is a social DJ on a radio station back home. I'm sure you don't listen to it because you hate talk radio, but she's got the scoop on everything social, and I mean EVERYTHING!"

"What does she know?" Ana asks.

"Elliot is going to talk to her to get all the information but from what he knows is that People magazine started it. Apparently, people around the world are tired of all the negative press and they want to focus on 'feel good' stories. They want to know who you are and hopefully get an interview." I watch as Rhi and Ana exchange looks before continuing, "There's a reward of $500 for that information alone, which seems like such a trivial amount to go through all that work just to find out who you are. He also doesn't think that's where it's going to stop though. Rumor has it that it's brought out the best in people, looking for the happy couple, hoping there's some big romantic story behind it and not some publicity stunt."

Ana's mouth drops open and Rhi's is set in a grimace.

"The sweet thing is that he said it's definitely love because that's how he felt when he saw me at the bar when we first met." I smile at the memory and wink at Rhi.

Rhi looks stunned. "You have GOT to be kidding me! What the FUCK is wrong with people? Do they not have other things to do with their lives than ogle and follow two people and blast their photos and videos on the internet?" She looks from Ana to me. "I DEFINITELY need another shot!"

Grabbing the bottle, she hands it to me and pushes the three glasses in front of me to fill. "Please. It's a full bottle and my left hand can't pour that well. I'd spill and that's alcohol abuse." She says this straight faced and Ana and I bust out laughing as I fill the glasses.

"Ladies, I just want to point something out to you." Rhi says, smiling. "You do realize we've drank the equivalent of four shots, so after this we'll have had eight shots of tequila! Are you guys going to be able to stand up and function after this?" She starts laughing which, I can only assume, is at our expressions.

"My god I hope so!" I laugh. "It's going to be an interesting night; I can tell already."

"It's totally unfair that you don't seem like you've even been drinking!" Ana pouts, laughing.

Rhi laughs, "You do realize I've been drinking a lot longer than you, right? Not to mention I go out on a regular basis so I can hold my liquor." She winks at Ana, "Besides, you've seen me drink people under the table. It's blown away many guys because I'm so small."

We raise our glasses, "To friendship and love. May it be shared worldwide to make it a better place."

I laugh at the toast and start singing Michael Jackson's Heal the World. We down our drinks once again and fall over laughing hysterically on the couch, with Ana falling off completely, making us laugh even harder.