I do not own the Fifty Shades Trilogy characters – those belong to E.L. James.
A/N: Sorry for the delay! It's taken me awhile to figure out this next chapter, but I think I got it! Enjoy!
CPOV
"Come on Grey, hit me harder than that!", Claude is yelling at me through his mouthpiece. I'm sparring with Bastille and it's been over a week since I've been in his ring to get some kickboxing in. This week has been insane with the leak of Ana and I's engagement, then separating myself from Elena's salons, and business has been fucking crazy at GEH lately. I needed to get this in before I explode and get some sort of control in my life.
I was able to get a good kick in to Bastille's torso, but it didn't knock him down, so I got to kick him harder. My moves need to be quicker and I feel like I really need to push myself today. The fucker got me twice in the jaw and good thing we wear the fucking head gear or my face would be fucked up today.
I get a few jabs and an upper hook in before I get him with a side kick and Bastille finally stumbles back and falls to the mat. I'm about to go all MMA on him as I want to pounce on him and grapple him on the mat.
"That's right motherfucker", I grunt at him as he narrows his eyes at me after he gets up. I know he is about to charge me, so I start doing the boxing shuffle and get my arms up in front of my face.
He doesn't charge me and takes off his gloves, so I stop moving. "Jesus, Grey! I know it's been over a week, but what the hell!"
I spit out my mouth guard because I hate those fucking things, but necessary in kickboxing. "A lot of fucking shit is going on. Now come on you pussy and put those fucking gloves back on! I'm not done".
He shakes his head and chuckles. "I'm done", he says and picks up his gloves.
"The fuck you are! I'm fucking paying you by the hour and your hour is not up yet".
"Not like this Grey. You pay me to work on your techniques, not to just fucking punch and kick me for the hell of it. If that is what you want to do, hit the bags!". Bastille is pissed as he is yelling at me. And he has every right because I haven't been following him today, I've just been beating the shit out of him. "Anyway, why are you so worked up for? You just got engaged to a beautiful woman! You should be fucking happy, man!"
"It's not really that. You've been checking Ana out?" Don't even tell me that fucking Bastille wants Ana. That really pisses me off if he does!
"What? Grey, I'm married to a woman adore, I don't have anything for your woman. It's a fucking compliment. I'm really fucking done with you today. Maybe you need to go see your shrink", and with that, he makes his way through the ropes and towards the shower. I take of my gloves and gulp down my bottled water. At this point, I might as well go take a shower and get myself calmed down.
I walk into the locker room and Bastille walks out of the shower. The locker room is small as we are in his private gym where he works one on one with his clients. There is a shower stall, a few closets to store personal items, a couple of sinks, and a separate room for the toilet. It's more like a bathroom you would find in a private home, but that is what I like about his gym, that it feels homey and personal in a way.
"I'm sorry, man. I know that you are trying to do your job and I should have respected that. I know that you are not disrespecting me, Ana, and your wife. I shouldn't take your comment out of context". I can't believe that I'm fucking apologizing, but I shouldn't have been an asshole to Bastille, he didn't deserve it.
"That's all right Grey. I'm sure dealing with the bullshit that you have to deal with must really get to you. I know the media has been all over you this week with the news of the engagement and I'm sure work is busy". He laughs, "You know Grey, I really should have taken advantage of your energy today. Next time I'm not going to hold back and we will really have it out in the ring. I'll see you next week", and he slaps me on the shoulder and walks out of the shower area.
I head back to Escala after my spar with Bastille and at this point, I just want to relax with Ana with a nice dinner and then a nice fuck. I would love to take her in the playroom tonight for a session. I'm sure she would be up for it since she couldn't wait to get me in there last weekend for my birthday. I love our kinky fuckery just as much as I love Ana.
When I walk into the penthouse, I smell dinner but I hear voices coming from the dining area. Ana must have some friends over. Fuck! So much for having alone time with her right now.
"Good evening", I announce when I walk towards the dining room and it's Ana, Mia, Kate, and another woman I've never met before. They all abandon whatever they are looking at on a laptop along what looks like bridal magazines and shit all over the table. The biggest smile comes across Ana's face and she jumps out of her seat and comes towards me. She wraps her tiny arms around my neck and I give her sweet kiss on the lips.
"Hi", she whispers when our kiss is finally over. Having Ana this close and in my arms, takes away all the stress and anger I've dealt with today. She's my balm and I'm so glad that I get to come home to this every night.
"Hi. How was your day?", I ask her while I look up at the audience at the table.
"Good", and she steps back and takes my hand and we walk towards the others. "Mia and Kate wanted to help with some wedding ideas. And this", and she brings me to the strange woman in my house, "is Katrina Walker, a wedding planner that Kate knows". She looks at Katrina, "Katrina, this is my fiancé, Christian Grey".
Katrina Walker extends her hand and we shake. "Mr. Grey, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. Ana has told me some of the ideas you both have for your wedding and I've shown her some great ideas that I think would be perfect". Oh, I'm sure you have shown her every expensive idea too.
"Nice to meet you as well, Ms. Walker. I can't wait for Ana to tell me all about it". I greet Kate with a quick nod and give Mia a hug and a kiss as well.
"If you would excuse us, but I need to chat with Ana in my study for a few minutes", and I walk away with my arm wrapped around Ana.
I shut the door when we get into the study and I walk over behind my desk. I power up my laptop and start clicking through some folders until I find the NDA form.
"Ana, did you have Katrina Walker sign a NDA yet?"
Her eyes go wide and she shakes her head. Just as I thought, so I will make sure this gets done. "No", she finally says softly.
I pick up the NDA letter from the printer and I hand it to Ana. "Please make sure she signs this before she leaves and make a copy for her as well. Also explain to her that if we hire her, any of her employees will need to sign a NDA too. That will also include all vendors that are hired for the wedding. You will need to get used to making sure that anyone we hire for anything, needs to sign a NDA. I'll forward you this document to keep on your computer, understood?"
"Yes Christian", and she takes the document. I walk around to her and I wrap my arms around her.
"How was your day, baby?", I ask her while I plant soft kisses on her neck and jaw line.
"Hmm, it was okay. I was a little frustrated this morning because again, I didn't apply to any jobs and I still haven't heard back from any of the places I sent my résumé to last week. Then this whole wedding planning stuff is, well, overwhelming", and she leans into my body and hug her tighter.
"Baby, then let's elope. Why put yourself through this wedding planning shit? Let's just avoid it. And for the job, don't get frustrated. The right job will come along soon enough. You know that you don't have work", and I give her a long kiss, that starts off soft, but I'm getting a hard on and we are both kissing each other with such fever.
"Listen", I pant when I break away. "I'm going to do some work in here. When the girls leave, we'll have dinner, and then I was hoping you and I can go into the playroom tonight. I think we both need it".
She smirks up at me and runs her hands through my hair. "I think you're right Mr. Grey".
APOV
I'm in the library on my laptop and I can't concentrate on looking for a job. I can't stop the silly grin on my face thinking about being in the playroom last night with Christian. Hmm, his hands and his mouth and what he does to me with them. I don't mind submitting to him and doing whatever he asks of me in the playroom as along as he assaults me with his gentle touches and kisses. I was so excited when he used the flogger on me again while I was shackled up to the cross. I sometimes don't where Christian gets the stamina for a playroom session and a workout with Claude in the same day. Then of course, we made love after being in the playroom and then again this morning before he left for work.
I check my email and I have email from the HR manager at Skytopics Industries and they want to interview me on Monday! I quickly reply back and let them know that I'm available anytime on Monday. The position is in their marketing department as an associate working on their marketing material. It's not publishing, but it's a job and at this point, I'm willing to interview with anyone. Maybe Christian is right, I should wait for the right job to come along instead of taking the first job offer. I know that he can provide for me, but I really don't want him to. I can't just sit here or the new house and not do anything. Then it would seem like I wasted four years of working my butt off at WSU for the right job. I don't want my résumé to have "wife of billionaire" as my only occupation!
Get a quick response back the HR manager at Skytopics and my interview is Monday afternoon. I realize the time and I need to get in the shower as I am meeting Grace for lunch today. Friday was the only day she could meet as she has the day off from the hospital and she only takes office appointments in the morning. I know she really wants to talk about what happened with Christian and Elena, but honestly, I don't really know the depth of their relationship except what Christian has told me and what happened at his birthday party.
I arrive at Christian's club at twelve thirty and Grace is already seated at a window table. He reserved us the table a couple of days ago when I told him that Grace and I were having lunch today. Sawyer heads off to the back room of the club as I'm shown to the table by the host. I feel a little out-of-place since it seems like all business lunches and I'm wearing a black, gray, and white maxi dress for lunch. I have on my black cardigan but I'm not in a suit. When I approach the table, Grace stands and she looks lovely in her lavender shift dress with a matching jacket. She always looks so put together when I see her, even when we are at her home relaxing. I really hope as Christian's wife, I can be just a polished as Grace.
"Grace", and take her into a hug. "I hope you haven't been waiting long".
"Not all darling girl. I'm so glad we could finally have a lunch together, just you and me", she whispers in my ear before she let's go of me. We both sit down and the waiter comes by and pours us each a glass of white wine.
"So", Grace starts, "Mia told me that you met with a wedding planner yesterday. How did that go?"
"Oh, it went very well. It was someone who Kate's mom knows as she's created a few wedding dresses. She was nice and really listened to what Christian and I would like for a wedding".
"Well, I hope that Mia didn't take over the meeting or inundate you with her ideas. She can be a little overwhelming and of course, the idea of her brother getting married is just making her a little wedding crazy. I've had to tell her that this is your and Christian's wedding and one day she will have her own. Ana, Carrick and I would like to offer our home for a wedding venue, but only if you want to".
"Oh Grace, that is very kind of you to offer. We were looking at some vineyards in the area, but if you are okay with hosting at your home, then I will discuss it with Christian".
"Ana, darling, we would be delighted to host the wedding. It won't be a problem to have a tent put up like we did for the Coping Together Gala. How many people were you thinking of inviting and when do want the wedding?"
"Oh, just a small affair, maybe around 75 people? I don't want a big wedding. I would love a fall wedding, but I think Christian would like it sooner".
"Well, we can certainly handle 75 people and I think a fall wedding would be beautiful. Talk it over with Christian and let me know what you decide. So, how is everything else?"
Just then, our waiter comes and we order our lunch. I then tell Grace about the job interview I have for Monday and what I know of the job and company. She seems genuinely happy for me about the interview. I also let her know that Christian doesn't want me to work and she can understand why he feels that way, but I should do what I really want to do. I love that Grace supports me on my decision and doesn't back up her son 100 percent. I think she knows that he used to getting his way and that sometimes we need to stand up to him.
I glance over at Grace and I can tell she wants to talk about the Elena situation. She is biting her lip and nervously drinking her wine. "I don't know much about Christian's relationship with Elena and I probably know just as much as you", I say softly to her.
She grabs my hand and I can see her eyes glistening, tears ready to streak down her perfectly blushed cheeks. "Oh Ana, what did I do wrong? Why did he have an affair with her? She was my close friend", she whispers and then takes a deep breath.
"Grace, you didn't do anything wrong. She did. She took advantage of not only a vulnerable fifteen year old boy, but she took advantage of your friendship. Christian thinks she helped him, but she is pedophile and really she should be legally charged for what she did, but that will never happen".
"Do you think their friendship is over? I want nothing to do with that...that woman! She's been calling me all week, but I won't take her calls. She's even resorted to calling mutual friends to get me to call her back".
"Yes, I think their friendship and their business relationship is over. I know that she has harassed Christian this week as he removed himself from their business arrangement of the salons, but he won't talk to her. Grace, please, don't even think for a minute any of what happened between them was your fault. Let's just hope that one day Christian sees that their relationship was wrong and what she did was wrong". That is the only advice I give Grace. I don't want her to blame herself and I also don't want her and Christian's relationship to suffer because of what that damn bitch did to him. All we can do now is to move on from Elena as she no longer a part of the Grey's lives.
"Oh, I hope so Ana. I love him so much and he will always be my baby boy. I'm just so glad that you are now part of his life and that you both are going to share a life together. I really didn't think he would ever find anyone that would make him so happy, but you really do Ana. And I love you just like you were my own". Grace is now bringing tears to my eyes, so I get up and I hug her. She really is the perfect mother and even though I have my mother, I love Grace like if she was my own.
"Thank you Grace. That means so much to me. Christian makes me so very happy and I love him with all my heart. I love you and all the Grey's too. You've all been so kind to me".
"Well, you mean the world to Christian so you mean the world to us".
Finally, our food arrives and all discussions of Elena is over. We talk more about the wedding, plans for the summer, about Elliot, Kate, and Mia. I'm so grateful not only to have Christian in my life, who loves me and wants to take care of me, but also grateful that I have his family my life too.