All of these characters belong to E L James and are borrowed for the purpose of entertainment to those who can’t get enough of the Grey’s.

TAYLOR

After our early morning run, I get the same ‘hair standing up on the back of my neck’ feeling that I had experienced for the last 3 days. I am always aware of our surroundings but with this heightened internal alert system going off inside my body, I am even more so. I continue scanning our route, only now, I am suspicious of even the little old ladies walking their dogs. Grey senses something is amiss but chooses to ignore it. I guess he thinks I’m tired of hearing him say that I’m overreacting. Well, he’s right, I am tired of him saying that but since I am his personal protection, ‘think what you will, Grey’. That is the reason why you pay me the big bucks.

As soon as we get back to GEH, I call Welch and arrange for an “invisible escort” to tail us in the morning and explain to him that I’m just getting this eerie feeling that someone is watching us. Welch tells me that he’s “on it” and he will report back to me as soon as he finds anything out and yes, he will keep this “under raps” from the boss.

About an hour later, Welch texts me that everything is in place and that I am to text him to give him our route. He informs me that this is going to be so under cover that I won’t even know that we are being followed. After Welch’s text, I start to relax….somewhat.

As soon as I finish reading Welch’s text, my phone rings the familiar tone that alerts me that it is the “ice queen”. “Yes, Andrea.” “Taylor, I am preparing the statements for the finance department and I notice that there is a lot of activity on Mr. and Mrs. Grey’s credit card and in addition to that, the amounts are staggering. Do you know anything about this?” I tell her that I will be right out. I hang up the phone and it rings immediately. I check to see who it is as the ring is just a normal ring. “Unknown” pops up so I answer it only to discover it is the “bitch troll” as Mrs. Grey calls her. Why the hell is she calling me? “Hello, Taylor, this is Mrs. Lincoln. Please don’t hang up on me. I have been trying to reach Mr. Grey but he is not taking my calls and I really do need to talk to him.”  My reply to her is, “Okay and how does that involve me?” “Well, I was wondering if you could give him your cell so that I could speak with him?” What the hell is wrong with this woman? The boss was right, she’s just like a pit bull that won’t let go. “Mrs. Lincoln, I really resent you calling me to get to Mr. Grey.  Did it ever occur to you that if he wanted to speak to you, that he would have taken your calls? I might be overstepping my bounds, but you need to get on with your life and leave Mr. and Mrs. Grey alone. Just to make it plain, do not Ever. Call. Me. again!!!! How in the hell did you get my number anyway? You have really crossed the line and that will never happen again. Answer me, Elena, how did you get my number? “Elena? Now who is crossing the line? It’s Mrs. Lincoln to you! If you must know, Mr. Grey had you call me long before he met that little gold digger Ana, for the purpose of a change of plans that we had made and I just kept it. It has been years ago, and just for the record, I know that you and Gail, that female servant, have never liked me but you people are beneath me anyway, so it really doesn’t matter what you think of me.” “Good, then we don’t ever have to worry about you calling us again, and I suggest that it would be in your best interest to stay away from the Mrs. Christian Grey if you don’t want her foot in your ass…..again.” I then throw the phone down on the desk before I disconnect so that the noise is extremely loud in her ear. Before I disconnect the call, I hear faintly, “fucking bastard”. My point has been made. I disconnect and head in to see the ice queen.

After I explain to Andrea that all charges are legit, I head back to my office to try to settle down a bit before Grey has me on the run. And it isn’t even noon yet. What a way to start a day. I sure as hell hope it slows down. ‘Right, Taylor, dream on!’

ANDREA

“Good morning, Mr. Grey’s office. This is Andrea. How may I help you?” The voice on the other end is seemingly very polite and asks to speak to Mr. Grey. “May I ask who is calling?” The pleasant voice on the other end of the receiver says, “Oh he wouldn’t know me by name, ma’m. I am someone who he knew from a long time ago.”  “I see, however, sir, Mr. Grey has to be informed as to who you are before he will take any calls. Is this personal or business, sir?” The voice on the other end states that it is very personal and that it is very important that he talks to him, his voice becoming a little more insistent at this point. I tell him apologetically, that it is not possible for him to speak to Mr. Grey without an appointment and I will have to have his name, social security number, and how he knows Mr. Grey. I inform him that I am taking appointments for the first part of next year and as soon as I get the required information, I will give him a call to verify his time to see Mr. Grey. ”Would you like to make an appointment, sir?”

The once pleasant voice, now becomes very loud and almost angry. “I’ll call you back.” And with that, he slams the phone down. I immediately ring for Taylor and inform him of the strange phone call. After the attempt on Mr. Grey’s life, we are all a little jumpy and more protective of the boss. Taylor thanks me and lets me know that security has been increased.

TAYLOR

Hair raising on the back of my neck time….AGAIN. I immediately make my way to Welch’s  office and inform him of what has happened and instruct him to call a meeting of the security team together. Welch agrees and immediately sends out an urgent e-mail. The meeting is set for Sunday as that is the soonest that he can get security replacements in place. The Grey mansion, Escala, GEH, Grey Construction and Grey Publishing all need immediate protection. Sawyer and I will handle the personal protection for the boss and his wife. Damn, I hate trying to protect in the blind. I have no idea what is going on or what other sick bastard is trying to do the boss in.

The next morning which is Friday, I am all suited and ready to run 5 or 6 miles with the boss, depending on his mood. Ana wore his ass out last night so he will probably only do 5, if that. How do I know that? Because they were in bed or at least in the bedroom by 7 last night and he sent me a text informing me that I could have the rest of the evening off. That was just perfect because I have wanted to take Gail for a cruise in my new ride. She loves that vehicle.

The boss is in pretty good spirits as he bids me, “Morning Taylor”.  “Sir.”  The boss notices me looking around more than usual this morning and asks, “Something wrong, Taylor?”  “I’m not sure, sir. Probably not.” No sooner than “probably not” has come out of my mouth, I saw the shadow of a rather large male duck behind one of the vacant buildings and I know that someone is tailing us because we take a different route every morning which means that he has been watching us for some time to have figured out where we would be and when. Grey didn’t see the shadow because the male subject waited until we were past him and the only reason that I saw him was because I turned around when I got that tingling feeling on the back of my neck. I ease my hand inside my jacket and unstrap my shoulder holster so as Grey wouldn’t notice. I had full confidence that Welch’s people were on it so we kept running. 

A few minutes later, we hear sirens. I turn around and see flashers just about where I saw the shadow. I inform the boss that I think we should turn around and back track because something has gone down. “Taylor, what on earth are you talking about?” “Mr. Grey, please sir, do as I ask. Your life may be in danger. Something strange took place today and for the last 3 days, I have been having this eerie feeling, so if you will just do as I ask sir, I sure that we will be just fine.

“Dammit, Taylor. Somebody better be trying to blow my fucking brains out or your fucking head is going to roll.” I want to laugh but the situation is just too serious. The boss, however, does as I asked and we jog back to where the flashers are.

Welch’s team has vehicles with sirens as well as flashers and because they are licensed security, they are allowed to have both. As we approach the stopped vehicle and slow down to a walk, I tell Grey about the strange phone call that had come in earlier. He looked at me like I had two heads and growing two more on top of those. “Didn’t want to concern you with it sir, until we did a little more investigating.” “I will say one thing sir, the ice queen is about as tough as nails when it comes to protecting you from anyone that we don’t know. Boy, she’s tough”. “When we get back to Escala, I will expect a full debriefing, Grey spits out.” “Yes, sir”, I say.

We get to the vehicle where Welch’s men have a man in handcuffs and at gun point, questioning him. You can tell that the poor bastard is scared shitless because he has literally pissed his pants. The sun has been up for about 20 minutes and traffic has started rubbernecking to try to see what was going on.

Hope you have enjoyed part one of this saga, Grey fanatics. Didn’t want to leave you hanging but I also didn’t want to spoil the thrill of a shock. Part 2 will be posted Friday. Until then, try to guess what happens next.

All of these characters belong to ELJames. I have written this for the enjoyment of those who can’t get enough of the Grey’s and that includes me, too.
Christmas at the Sr. Grey’s
TAYLOR
After the annual Christmas Dinner is completed, which was prepared by Mia and by the way, was beyond delicious, food cleared and dishes done by the men this time, we gather in the huge room which I call the Grey Gathering Place, and open our gifts. Boss and Ana have really gone all out with the gifts that they have purchased for everyone. All of the women got chocolate diamonds in matching bracelets, earrings and necklaces while the men all received matching tie pins and cuff links, in chocolate diamonds……. except for me. Then Elliot hands his little sister an envelope that is decorated with all types of French cuisine drawn on it. Mia takes the envelope and reads what it says on the outside.

“Consider this to be a little acorn from which a mighty oak will grow. Merry Christmas, Mia. With love, Elliot, Christian and Ana”. For the first time since I have know her….actually probably the first time in her life, Mia is speechless. She looks at her brothers and sister-in-law, who she refers to as her “sister” and very meekly says, “Thank you, you three”. She carefully opens the envelope, pulls out a check, 2 gift certificates and a note. After she reads the note, she squeals like she normally does when she is overwhelmed with joy, runs up to them, barrels into all three of them like a miniature full back and starts hugging them and sobbing, really sobbing, hard. Her parents look at the three of them as if to say, ‘What on earth did you give to her?” As a matter of fact, everyone in the room has the same expression on their faces. Dr. Grey is the first one to say anything. “Mia, darling, are you going to share with us what your gift is or are we going to have to suffer until you stop crying, which from the sounds of it, might be sometime next week?” Everyone starts laughing and Mia starts wiping her eyes and her nose which is running quite heavily by now. Her dad hands her a box of tissues and wraps his arm around her shoulder while she composes herself. Finally, she is able to speak. “Everyone, my brothers and sister have given me the gift of a lifetime. She holds up a check for a million dollars from Christian and Ana, and two gift certificates from Elliot. The check is for me to purchase land and equipment to start my French restaurant and the gift certificates are for Elliot to build my restaurant to my specifications and for me to hire anyone whom I desire to assist me in designing it. The value is one million dollars”. The room breaks out in loud applause and whopping. The sobbing starts all over again, except this time Mia is joined by all of the women in the room. Why do women cry when they are happy?

While I didn’t dwell on it, I just wondered if Grey was going to give me the usual bonus later on after we got home, which I have already planned to share with Sophie. While everyone was ooohing and ahhhing over their gifts, the boss and Ana walk over to me and hand me a neatly wrapped gift. Ana notices the surprised look on my face and starts giggling.

“It’s for your office door”, she says with a chuckle. The boss looks at her and smiles as if trying to stifle a laugh and Gail sits and just looks impassive. I take the gift and thanked them sincerely, knowing that if it is for my door, it too has probably got chocolate diamonds imbedded in it. Boss tells me not to open it yet and all of a sudden, I feel as though I am the butt of a joke which pisses me off because I am no joking matter and the boss knows that.

As if on queue, the room suddenly quiets. The boss stands by the piano and the entire gathering, gives him their attention. He looks at me and calls me by name. “Taylor”. I reply, “Sir?”

You have been on my personal staff for almost 5 years. During that time, you have proved to be a most valued and trusted employee. You have proved that you are willing to risk life and limb to protect my wife and me and not even give it a second thought. I know that there have been times when you have wanted to take me out yourself, just to stop me from playing my piano in the middle of the night, keeping you awake. However, you were still able to get up and run with me or work out in the gym by 5:30 a.m. If need be, without any sleep at all, you were suited up and ready to “roll” with me, regardless of the time. I know that you got so angry at me one time that I thought we might have to come to blows and we both remember what that was all about. There was the disagreement that we had about you “packing” and you threatened to “walk” if you couldn’t “pack” so that you would be able to protect us, which, by the way, turned out that you were right. It was this last incident that made me realize just how fragile life is and the fact that one person is so willing to lay down his life for an employer, is just beyond belief. As you know, I am a man of few words. You have accepted me and all of my crazy ways without question. I, on the other hand, have noticed some things about you, my friend and I say that because, you are not just my personal protection, but my friend as well. I trust you with my life and that of my wife and those of my children as well. All of that being said, it gives me great pleasure to present you with a gift that I know you have always dreamed of having. It is just our way of saying, thank you, Taylor for all you have been to and done for us. Anastasia.” Ana then looks at me and tells me that I can now open my gift. Talk about being speechless. I cannot believe that the boss has actually let me know how he feels about me. Good gracious. Will wonders never cease. I look at him and say, “Just doing my job, boss”.

I open the gift that is supposed to be for my office door. It is a set of the State of Washington license tags that read “TAYLOR”. I look at my boss and he says, “They belong on what is in the circle in front of the house. Everyone get your coats and head outside.” He tells me to wait until everyone else is out of the house. He then tells, me, “Let’s go, Taylor”. Those who have exited have made two lines that I am expected to walk through. As soon as I step out of the door, I can’t move another step. All I can do is stare. There at the foot of the steps leading up to the Grey Sr.’s mansion, is a beautiful, 2013 black shiny Bugatti Veyron 16.4 vehicle. The only thing that I can think to say is, “Do you know how much these vehicles cost?” I could not believe that I said this out loud to my mega billionaire boss. Everyone starts laughing. My boss says, “Well, yes, Taylor, Ana and I bought it for you so I do know how much it costs”. I could feel myself turning all shades of red for asking such a stupid question that everyone thought was so funny. The next stupid thing that comes out of my mouth was, “For me? You have got to be kidding me.” The boss simple says, “Well that’s whose name is on the tags. You know that there are plenty of vehicles at your disposal at Escala, but we thought that you deserved one of your very own. One that is Taylor’s exclusively”. It’s all ready to go. Bullet proofed and low jacked so we can always find you. Why don’t you put the tags on and take it for a spin with Gail, but don’t forget to come back and get us. We will be ready to go in a couple of hours. I finally get my wits gathered and say something that sounds reasonable. “Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Grey. Thank you so much. Thank you”.

As I am putting the tags on my brand new vehicle, I am remembering that the boss had me make him my Power of Attorney after I was grazed by the bullet. That is how he was able to get the tags. Tags in their proper place, I open the door for Gail who is as proud as a peacock to be riding with me in such a fine vehicle. She rolls the window down and gives a queen like wave as everyone starts laughing. I start up the engine and hear the familiar throaty roar which sends me to another planet. I can’t believe that Ana and Grey think so much of me. It is overwhelming.

I explain to Gail as we pull out of the driveway, exactly what she is riding in. I tell her to open the glove box and take out the instruction booklet so that she can become familiar with its bells and whistles. She does as I ask and along with the book, she pulls out an envelope. She asks me what it is and I tell her that I don’t have any idea, maybe a spare key but she should open it. She opens the envelope and says, “Jason, listen to this”. ‘Taylor, I know that you always share your bonus with Sophie. I didn’t want this year to be any different, just because you got the car of your dreams. Please accept your annual bonus of $10,000.00. Grey”. “Oh, Jason”, Gail says as she starts to weep. There goes that crying because of happiness, again. Women. To tell you the truth, I have to wipe away my own tears and I don’t even try to hide them. Talk about being overwhelmed. This is a double portion of overwhelmness.

History from Google
Though the Bugatti brand goes back a century to the dawn of the automotive age, it had died out during the World Wars of the twentieth century. The name was resurrected in 2005 to build one unmistakable model: the Veyron. Though Bugatti has only made about 400 of these amazing vehicles, it has managed to create several special editions, not to mention the ability of the buyer to configure the car how he or she prefers. Any way you sliced it, a Veyron would set you back a minimum of $1.5 million.
Every configuration of the 16.4, as the production version of the Veyron was called, starts with the curvaceous two-tone body. The small, arched grille is similar to the horseshoe-shaped grille found on Bugattis of old, with the oval “Bugatti” emblem in the center. At the 2009 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Sang Bleu made its debut in honor of the company’s 100th anniversary. The convertible’s striking appearance comes courtesy of blue carbon fiber and polished aluminum. The Grand Sport open-topped roadster is limited to 150 examples total, of which this $2-million plus one-off edition is one.
BACK AT THE GREY’S Christian
As we walk back into the mansion, Dad puts his arm around my shoulder and tells me, “You have been extremely generous, son. If you need me to, I will be more than happy to contribute to the cost of that car”. I look at my dad and feel a rush of love come over me. This man allowed me to be pulled back from the threat of death, took care of me until I became an adult, showed me all of the love he could muster, and showed me by example, how to be a caring man and he still wants to assist me with an expensive gift that I give to someone who I care deeply for. I turn around, give him a hug and tell him, “No thanks, Dad. I can well afford what Ana and I did here today. I realize that there is no sense in having money if you can’t share it with those you love. I really appreciate your offer, though. Dad, do you know how much Ana and I are worth? I make approximately $125,000 per hour. At this point, I am the second wealthiest man in Seattle and among the top 25 wealthiest men in the world. I am so grateful to be able to live the type of life that I am living that I can’t help but share my wealth with others. I love you, Dad. Now let’s go enjoy our family. And Dad, thanks”.
~~~~~~~
When we get back to Escala, I ask Ana if she thinks Mia and Taylor enjoyed their Christmas. Ana says, “I doubt it”, she giggles. “As a matter of fact, I think that Taylor is going to sleep in his car and leave poor Gayle sleeping alone.” I throw my head back and start laughing. I tell her that Taylor wants to keep his family jewels so he will probably end up back in her bed, even if it is in the wee small hours of the morning. We both laugh. I ask Ana if she is ready to turn in and with a smile, she nods. I take her by the hand and lead her to our room. I put my beautiful wife to bed, crawl in beside her, put my arms around her and hold her close to me and say to her, “It’s been a good day, Anastasia. It’s been a good day”. We then bid each other good nite, the only way we know how.

All of these characters belong to ELJames and are written for our enjoyment and to “carry on” the saga of Christian, Ana and the rest of the Grey’s, Taylor’s, Gail and whomever we want to introduce.

Christmas Eve

All of us are preparing to go to the All Pilgrim’s Christian Church. I ask Taylor if the instruments are loaded up. “Yes, Sir”, he answers. Mom and Dad are going to be totally surprised at what we have planned for them.

Elliot, Kate and Ethan, are picking up Mom, Dad, Mia, Gramma and Grampa Trevayln, Carla and Bob in my large Audi SUV that he picked up earlier from Escala and Taylor will drive the rest of us, including Gail and Ray. I want Gail to come along so that she and Taylor can spend most of the holiday season together.

We get to the church about the same time as the rest of the family and still Dad and Mom don’t suspect anything. We go into the church and the minister looks at me. I nod at him and he takes his place behind the pulpit. Taylor has already set up the instruments while the family is visiting and greeting each other and no one is paying any attention to him except Gail.

The minister starts to speak.”Brothers and sisters, this may seem a little unusual, however, it was a special request from Mr. Christian Grey. Mr. Grey, I have taken the liberty to invite the workers in for this special treat that I am sure we are about to enjoy. I hope you don’t mind”. “Not at all”, I say as I get up and walk to the front, followed by Elliot and Mia. The two of them take their places, Mia sits at her cello and Elliot stands with his guitar at the ready. I stand at the pulpit and start to speak. “Exodus 20:12 says: ‘Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee’. (KJV).
“Mom and Dad”, I continue, “this is our tribute to you who have taken us in when we were left parentless in this world. You loved us as though we were your very own and showed us what the love of “real” parents is. I know within my heart of hearts that Elliot’s parents’ prayer was for him to find parents who loved him unconditionally the way they would have, should they had lived. God sent him the two of you. Then there was the little skinny neglected child that literally was starving to death, me, and I, too, had no one to care for me. My birth mother’s prayer was for me, too, to find someone to love and care for me. This is evidenced by the note that she left for whoever found me. God sent me the two of you. Still not feeling as though their little family was not complete, along came Mia who stole everyone’s heart. Her mom being unselfish and caring, knowing that she couldn’t care for her, made her petition that she would find someone to love and care for her. God sent her the two of you.

Yes, mom and dad, you deserve to be honored in every way that is possible. Your three children love you more than life itself and even though some of us, me mainly, might have been a challenge, (which drew a chuckle from the audience,) know that our love for you and what you did for us, shall be never ending. As our tribute to you and so that you and your goodness and kindness of your heart, shall never be forgotten…..ever. We dedicate this plaque in your honor which the pastor has allowed us to hang in the vestibule for as long as this church stands. When it will no longer be able to hang here, arrangements have been made for it to hang in a wing of the main library that will be dedicated to you in a special ceremony to be held in the spring. We now dedicate the musical part of the program to you who taught us that music is from the soul of God as is our love for you”. I walk over to the organ, raise my arm to direct my sister and brother so that we start together. We start a melodious medley that reflects our feelings, ending with the Hallelujah Chorus with me pulling out all of the stops on the beautifully sounding pipe organ so that we sound like a full orchestra.

When we have finished our musical tribute, we each reach down and pick up the three bouquets of three dozen multi-colored roses each, walk over to our parents, hand them to mom who is by now sobbing uncontrollably in dad’s chest, and individually we say, “We love you mom and dad. Thank you . Merry Christmas”. This is the first time that I have expressed my love and emotions to my parents. It feels strange, however, I feel good about finally being able to do it…..finally.

We start back to our seats and notice that there is not a dry eye in the place with the exception of Taylor who has the strangest look on his face. Not impassive like usual, but almost like he is shedding a tear and trying to force it back but not being very successful. Dear God, he is crying…..Taylor is actually shedding a tear and hugging Gail who doesn’t even try to hide her sobs. Elliot, Mia and I hold each other in a loving hug before we take our seats. Ana and Kate are having their own little hugging and crying fest as are the staff that came to watch.

The pastor stands up again and before he dismisses us in a word of thankfulness to God, makes the announcement that we are to meet in the Lake View Cemetery. Transportation will be provided to all of those who want to attend another brief ceremony that has been arranged by Mrs. Christian Grey.

I look at Anastasia as if to say, “What is going on, Ana?” She just looks at me with tears still streaming down her beautiful face. So that we can all be together, we pile into the church bus and travel to the cemetery. Ana and I are sitting in the front so we see what looks like flood lights in the area where my birth mom is buried. As the driver pulls to a stop, Ana stands up, and announces that she wants to share what she has given to her husband for Christmas. No one makes a sound as she walks back to her seat next to me and holds me back as everyone else gets off. The pastor directs the passengers into a large circle around something that looks like a statue covered up. Finally, Ana lets me get off, holding my hand and leading me toward the light that has dimmed but sheds enough light so that those in attendance can see where they are going.

She takes the portable microphone which the pastor hands to her, and addresses me. “You have cared for everyone you could since you have been an adult. You have always been concerned that you couldn’t take care of your birth mom as the little 4 year old that you were. As a tribute to you and Ella, my husband, I present this to you hoping that you will see that Ella is now, finally being taken care of.

The pastor, Taylor, and Elliot remove the large tarp that is covering the statue. While the tarp is being removed, the flood lights gradually brighten. When the tarp is completely removed, the flood lights put on a show the likes you have never seen. All you can hear are loud sighs and oohs and ahhhs.

It looks like the heavens opened up and shone down in all of its glory, just in that one area. There in all of its beauty, stands a huge shining white angel with a wing span that is 10 feet wide and it looks like the wings are folding around a woman in a protective stance and the woman has her arms folded around a little boy, holding him, seated at the foot of the beautiful angel.

All I could do was to stare. Tears started rolling down my face as I think that my beautiful wife would do this for me. I grab her, give her a loving, holding hug and whisper, “Thank you, baby. Thank you for having Ella protected. It is another chapter in my life that is closed.
We all climb aboard the bus after the pastor says a prayer of protection and thankfulness for all of us, head back to the church and get in our own vehicles and head to the Grey mansion for the exchanging of our gifts and the traditional Christmas Eve meal.

After everything is over, we all head to our various homes and places where we are staying…..some in hotels. Tomorrow we will celebrate Christmas again at the Grey mansion.

Ana and I get ready for bed but not in our usual way. “Ana, I really would like for us to make love but this day has been so emotional that all I want to do is to hold you and reflect on everything that has happened. It has been a good day, Anastasia, it has been a good day”.

When Taylor and I walk into the elevator to go up to the penthouse, I inform him that I would like to be the one to tell Ana and Gail about the day’s events. I want them both to know that we are fine and no worse for the ware. Taylor answers me with a simple “Sir”. The elevator door opens and Ana is there to great her husband with a big hug. “I don’t know what this is all about”, I say, “but I gladly accept it”. Taylor makes his way into the kitchen and gives Gail a hug and she receives it with “a glad to see you,’’ response. “Me too”, he says.

I ask Ana if she wants to join me in a glass of wine and she tells me that she would be delighted. “It’s been one heck of a day”, she tells me. I give her my smile that reaches to my eyes. After we finish our drinks, I ask Gail and Taylor to come into the great room where Ana and I are seated. I ask Taylor to summon Sawyer and Ryan as well. Gail comes in with a puzzled look on her face and Ana glances over at me as if to say, “Okay, Grey….what’s up now”?

I motion for them to sit and start off by telling them that Taylor and I have something to tell them but they shouldn’t get panicky “because as you can see, we are just fine”. Both Ana and Gail jump to their feet and at the same time, ask, and not in a calm way, “What happened?” I go into a full blown explanation of what took place. During my explanation, when I come to the part about thinking that Taylor got hit by bullets, Gail does the unexpected. She faints. As she starts to fall to the floor, Ana grabs her giving Taylor enough time to get to her before she hits the floor. He lays her on the couch while Ana darts off and returns as quickly as she left, with a bottle of smelling salts. I’m wondering where in the hell did she get those from. I didn’t even know there were any in here. I’ll ask her about that later.

When Gail is revived and snuggled safely in Taylor’s arms, Ana just stares at me as though she is reaching into my soul to pull it out of my very being. I go to her, wrap my arms around her and say to her “please, baby. Try to keep it together. We are both fine as you can see”. I ask them if they want me to continue. Gail just shakes her head in the affirmative while Ana just continues to stare at me like I am an alien from outer space. I’m thinking that maybe I should wait for a few more minutes. I look at Gail who has tears running down her face and I look at Ana who still has that blank stare and make the decision to just get it the hell over with.

After the incident is completely relayed, I tell Ana what I have agreed to let the ball crusher do. As I start to escort my wife to our bedroom after telling her that we need a private moment, my blackberry rings. I look and think, “Oh fuck! It’s Elena”. I let the call go to voice mail and proceed to guide Ana. She is like a zombie. I don’t know how she made it to the medicine cabinet unassisted. All of a sudden, Ana starts gasping for air, tears start flowing and she starts shaking. “Ana, baby”, I say as I scoop her up in my arms. She throws her arms around me and goes completely ballistic. She starts screaming “no, no, no”, and thrashing around to the point that I almost drop her. I deposit her on our bed and just hold her as close to me as I possibly can and start rocking her gently.
When she finally calms down and her sobs become whimpers, I start planting kisses all over her beautiful face, ending up on her lips that get so soft when she cries, runny nose and all. I reach for the box of tissues and gently wipe her nose. She quiets and looks at me with those beautiful blue eyes. “Christian, if anything ever happened to you, I would die….just die. Please! Don’t leave me, Christian. I would not be able to live”. “Anastasia, I feel the same way about you so I guess we are stuck with each other, forever and always, even in death and beyond. Don’t worry, baby. It looks like neither one of us is going anywhere”.

I tell her to go wash her face and get ready to come with me to meet her best friend and then we are going to play Santa Claus. “How do we do that, Christian?” Her voice is still rather weak but she seems to perk up at the thought of seeing Kate. I tell her that every year, I go to some of the stores that have layaway plans in and around Seattle and pay for all of the layaways that parents have had to cancel because the money was just not there. She looks at me, throws herself on me, hugs me tight and tells me that I am the best person in the world. I just smile, and ask, “You think? Now let’s get going, baby, before we end up doing the vanilla thing. The stores stay open much later around this time of year so we should be good to go”.

After we spend about $25,000 dollars, we head for Escala. I tell Anastasia what my plans are for Taylor and the rest of our staff at home as well as my mom, dad and grandparents. She can’t believe when I tell her what we are getting for Taylor. “That reminds me”, I say to Ana. “Don’t let me forget to give Elliot and Mia a call tomorrow”. She agrees, pulls my head down and gives me a loving kiss on the cheek. “Oh, and by the way, I will leave it up to you to choose gifts for Ray, and your mom and Bob. And please don’t spare the cost. Remember Ana, you are a wealthy lady now and money is just not an object. Ana smiles, holds my hand and says in an almost whisper, “Thank you, Christian”. I ask her what she is thanking me for. “Remember my wedding vow to you”? I repeat what I vowed to her…”What’s mine is now yours”. You don’t need to thank me for what is already yours, baby”. I look down at her and gently wipe away a tear that has fallen down her cheek. Damn, I love this woman, I think to myself.

Ana and I finish up our last minute shopping as she tells me what she has purchased for Ray, her mom and her husband, Bob. She looks at me to see what my reaction is when I find out how much money she spent. I smile at her approvingly and we walk, hand in hand through the beautifully decorated stores. Christmas is such a special time of year but it certainly hasn’t always been that way. My thoughts go back to when I was with my biological mother. Not pleasant thoughts but that is going to be taken care of soon.

When we arrive at home, the live Christmas tree has been delivered, decorated and is standing tall in the great room, looking every bit as beautiful as any she has ever seen. Ana just marvels at how beautiful it is. I tell her to wait until she gets into her house with all of its decorations, inside and out. The house is just about done but Ana changed her mind about a few things which threw the renovations off a little bit….quite a bit, really but Elliot is doing a fantastic job. No problem, her ‘brother’ tells her. (My brother). She calls him brother ever since he made that toast at our wedding where he referred to her as his “sister”. “Anything for you dear sister. I just want you to be as happy as you have made my little brother”. Talk about someone making someone happy. Ana beams and lets me know how much she loves my family. I tell her that they love her back just as much. “Sometimes, I think they love you more than they love me”. She makes my most favorite sound in the world….she giggles.

As Ana and I prepare to go to our prospective places of work, she reminds me as we enter the elevator, not to forget to give Elliot and Mia a call. I thank her, give her a kiss and tell Sawyer to take care of my girl. He smiles and says that he “has her covered, sir”. Ana and I say our “see you laters” (never good bye” as it sounds too final}.

Taylor and I walk into my building with a bevy of “glad to see you both, sir”, from the staff. I want to make sure that Andrea is okay so both Taylor and I, enter her office after a slight peck on her opened office door. “Glad to see that you are here and okay, Andrea. “I’m fine, sir. I was just a little shaken when I took the call”. I laugh out loud and repeat in a question like format. “Just a little shaken huh”? “Yes, sir.” she says looking down, embarrassed. “I hope to hell I never see you a lot shaken”, I retort. Taylor tries to stifle a chuckle which he is not very successful in doing. I ignore him and ask Andrea if she is up to taking instructions for the day. She jumps up, pad in hand and follows us into the office.

This is top priority, Andrea. Write a memo to all thirty thousand employees and remind them that GEH is a zero tolerance company. This is in light of the recently passed law that makes that whacky tobacky shit legal. If an employee is sick enough to have to smoke it, then they are too sick to be employed here. If I get fined for discrimination, then so be it. I will just have to pay the fine. There will be absolutely no drugs of any kind allowed on the premises of any building that is under the name of Grey Enterprises Holdings, here in the United States as well as those that are abroad. Put it in language that there will be no reason for them to not understand and have each one of them sign that they have read and understand this directive. I want them returned to me within three days. Each building manager will be responsible for checking to make sure that all have signed and dated, and then they are to be sent back to me with the manager’s signature, verifying that each employee has signed. Any breach of this directive will be cause for immediate dismissal, regardless of what the law says. This is Christian T. Grey’s law and it is to be followed to the inth degree. If anyone has any questions or is not clear, they are to get in touch with me directly. Antibiotics or over the counter drugs for the relief of a headache, cold or any preexisting or newly acquired ailment i.e. diabetes, high blood pressure, etc., is exempt. Sincerely, so on and so forth. And by the way, while I am thinking about it, send a notice out to all of the staff here in our north east area that all offices will be closed tomorrow, due to the predicted heavy snow warning. I don’t want anyone sliding in on the road just to get here. Notify Welch that he is to activate the security system to automatic and notify the police department in all locations of our plans. Tell the security detail that they also have the day off. We will play it by ear for the next few days.

I proceed to let Andrea know what else she is to do. I then ask her if she has heard from my European interest. She tells me that it is all taken care of and we can expect delivery early next week to the company here. She is talking in code and I understand every word. “Good job, Andrea”, I tell her. “One last thing. Is everything set for Christmas Eve?” She said that it is. I thank her and tell her that she deserves a medal. I turn to Taylor and ask him if everything is taken care of per my instructions. “Yes sir”, he says and looks like he is going to salute. I simply say to him, “Thank you, Taylor. Have you and Gail made plans yet for the wedding?” “I’m not sure, sir. I will have to check with her”. “Taylor, you act like you are already married, but that’s okay. Women are supposed to take care of all of that kind of stuff. You are not expecting a bachelor party, are you? “Yes, sir”, Taylor says. Taking me completely by surprise, I look at him and say “WHAT?” “Yes, sir. Ryan, Sawyer and Welch insist on it”. I’m wondering if I am going to be invited since I didn’t know anything about it. As if he is reading my mind, he says, “I think they are going to ask you if you will help to plan it.” I tell him that I will gladly accept the challenge. “Oh, fuck….what in the hell did I just agree to do? I think to myself. “I don’t do shit like that”. Oh well, I guess I’m committed. “Damn”.
~~~~~
We pick up Anastasia and Sawyer and I tell Taylor that I want to make a stop at the Sherman Clay Music store where I bought my piano. Taylor says, “Sir” and weaves his way expertly through the heavy holiday traffic to Fourth Avenue. We arrive in record time, due to Taylor knowing all of the shortcuts. As we exit the Audi SUV, Taylor tells Sawyer that he is “going in with the Grey’s and he should keep a watchful eye at the door”. Sawyer says, “Yes sir, boss”. I smile as we enter the store. Anastasia asks me if I am going to buy another piano. I tell her yes but it is going to be a surprise for her. She looks at me quizzically.

The same salesman that met me before greets us and shakes my hand. Mr. Bellamy is expecting you. I introduce Mr. Bellamy to Ana and he surprises her by saying “Mrs. Grey. How very nice to meet you, and congratulations on expecting your first child.” Ana’s mouth drops almost to the floor and I have to laugh. I put my arm around my wife’s expanding waist. “We are here to purchase a child’s Baby Grand piano”, I tell her. She looks at me like I have just taken leave of my senses. “Christian, we haven’t purchased anything for the baby yet. Not a crib, not a diaper, not a bottle…..nothing and you are going to purchase this unborn child a piano?” You can’t give this child lessons until he or she is born”. Mr. Bellamy says, “Well I always say, you can’t get them started too early”. Everyone in earshot starts laughing, even Taylor. I lean over, kiss my wife and tell her to “let’s get this over. I’m hungry.”
I have instructed Mr. Bellamy to order in 3 pianos of different colors, because we don’t know if this child is a boy or a girl.

I tell Ana that we can just chose the white one if she would like. She looks at me, frowns and says, in a shocked tone. “If I’d like?” Why don’t we just ask the baby?” she says. “Wow”, I think. I haven’t heard her smart mouth in ages. I really have missed it. That is one of the reasons why I fell in love with this person. “Well sir, ma’m, when the children out grow them, we can exchange them for larger ones”, Mr. Bellamy says. I say that we will probably keep them all because we plan to have several children. I have to catch Ana as she stumbles back and says, “We are?” “Yes, baby”. I whisper quietly in her ear. I want as many extensions of you as I can possible get. Ana sighs and says, “As you wish, Christian. We are going to have to add a special room for all of these pianos”, Ana says. I tell her “that there will be no need for that…they can stay right in the room with my Steinway. Elliot has already made plans to have the room maintained at the right temperature for my piano and there will be plenty of space for all three.”

“I see that I am not the only one who has delayed the finishing of our house”, Ana pips. I have to laugh and she utters my favorite sound: She giggles.

We pay for the pianos, make arrangements for them to be delivered and walk out of the store, with Taylor leading the way. “Everything okay?” I ask my wife who is staring at nothing in particular. “Everything is just fine. I was just giving thanks for your being my husband and the father of our children to be. How blessed we all are”. I pull my loving wife closer to me and ask her quietly, “playroom?” She nods and giggles out, “before we eat or after?”

“““`

After supper, Roz rings me on my blackberry. The hospital called and told her that the injured would be assassin was being taken to their “inside jail holding room” and that he is no longer on the critical list and he is under heavy guard. The police are going to get a statement tomorrow morning. I tell Roz that I can’t wait to hear this one. I thank her and as soon as I hang up my call from Roz, my Blackberry goes off again. “FUCK”, I say louder than I intend to. Ana looks up but doesn’t say anything. I think to myself, does that woman have bricks for brains?” I let Elena’s call go to voice mail. “I know that sooner or later I am going to have to deal with her but not now, not in front of Ana. I would like to go to bed in one piece tonight and that includes me having my balls in their proper place”.

My wife and I head for bed and bid each other good night in the only way we know how.

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All of the characters belong to ELJames. The reference that is made about the toast by Elliot to his “new sister”, is borrowed from eminethe1st.blogspot.com. The piano store and the owner are borrowed from http://fifty-shades-of-grey.me/fifty-shades-after-harvard/

To leave a message on all blog posts, click on the pretty pink square to the right of the title. All of these characters belong to ELJames

My cell phone sings out in a chorus of voices “You’ve got mail”. “Now what the fuck?” I blast out, irritated that I’m interrupted….again. I glance to see who’s calling and think,
“shit, it’s the troll bitch” as Ana calls her. What in the hell is she calling for and why am I even entertaining the thought of taking her fucking call as I hit ‘send’ to answer. “Hello, darling. I am surprised that you answered considering your wife damn near broke my jaw bone on Thanksgiving. I still can’t eat a decent meal, but don’t worry, darling, I am not filing charges because I realize that I was wrong. I just didn’t think”….. I interrupt her before she can finish. “Look, Elena. You have got to stay out of my life. What we had when I was younger is. no. more. and you have to understand that. I really thought that I loved you at one point but I was just a kid with raging hormones. You told me that “love is for fools”. Well, since I met Ana, I realize that love is not “for fools”. I finally know what love is and what I felt for you certainly was not love. And it is a good thing that you didn’t file charges because, I am sure that you wouldn’t want “our” story plastered in the papers for everyone to see. But to protect Ana, I wouldn’t give a fucking leap if it was heralded by Gabriel himself. You are like a pit bull. You just won’t let go. What is it that you want, Elena?” There is a brief silence on the phone and finally she says, “I just want you to know that I will always be here for you. Maybe, I was the fool because I know now that I do love you Christian and I always have.” You can’t blame me for that. I can’t turn my feelings off like one would turn off a faucet. Do you really expect me to do that?” Elena, this conversation is over. I love Ana, not you, never have, don’t now and never will. Do you understand that? Leave my wife and me alone. Stay out of our lives. Do you understand that, Elena?” Stay out of our lives.” The phone goes quite and I hear her quietly sobbing. I quickly hang up the phone and call Ana.

She answers on the first ring. “Hi, my husband. You usually text me. Is everything alright?” I catch my breath at the sound of her sweet voice. “Yes, baby. Everything is just fine. I just wanted to let you know how very much I love you and miss you. Now get back to work.” “Christian, what brought this on?” “Nothing, baby, I just needed to tell you that”. Do you love me back?” “Of course I do my bossy, mercurial, sweet 50. Of course I do”. Now I am going to do as you just ordered me to do and that is to “get back to work”. “I love you, the ground you walk on and the air you breathe. See you tonight after work, okay?” I respond with an “I can’t wait” and click off my Blackberry. “That damn Elena. Maybe I will talk to dad about getting a restraining order against her. I really don’t want to do that, though. I know that she loves me and I don’t want to break her like I feel that I did to Leila but I can’t continue to allow her to harass us in this manner. Well, maybe after today’s conversation…… shit, she just doesn’t take no for an answer. Well, let it go, Grey, you have other things to deal with.

I call Mia, then Elliot and let them know what my plan is for a Christmas present for our parents and grandparents. Both of them are elated. Mia, in typical Mia fashion, starts squealing and saying what a wonderful idea it is. Even Elliot seems excited about it. “Great idea, bro”. Let me know when you want to get together. I tell him the same thing that I told Mia. I will give them a call in a few days. Just as I am hanging up, Andrea knocks on my door. I tell her to come in and she gives me the information that I have asked her to obtain for me. I tell her to go ahead and get it ordered but to make sure that it is completed and delivered on Christmas Eve. She says she is on it and exits. I sometimes wonder how I managed to get the staff that I have. Andrea and Roz are both getting huge bonuses because of their loyalty and dedication and for putting up with my “50 shades of fucked upness” I want them to know how much I appreciate them, even though at times, I can be an ogre.

I tell Taylor that I will be ready in about 10 minutes. “Sir”. He starts to head out of my office when Andrea comes running in, almost knocks Taylor on his ass and is totally hysterical, screaming and crying as she is falling to the floor. Taylor and I both try to reach her but Taylor succeeds as he is closest to her, catches her and picks her up and places her on the couch. “What the hell, happened, Andrea?”, I ask. Andrea is just about ready to pass out but manages to breathe into a paper bag that Taylor gets from somewhere, only God knows. The man is incredible. Andrea is finally able to speak and I, by this time, am ready to stroke out myself, knowing that it is something serious. My first thought was that something has happened to Ana. I just about scream at Andrea. Is it Anastasia? The staff and security on my floor, hear the commotion and come running. Is it Anastasia, I yell as I grab her shoulders? She starts shaking her head in the negative and sputters out, “It’s you they are after”. What the fuck is she talking about? Taylor jumps in front of me, almost knocking me on my ass, grabs Andrea up by the shoulders and asks her what she is talking about and who is after the boss? I quickly mull over in my head, “is that what they call me? The boss?” After what seems like an eternity, Andrea starts talking or should I say, rambling about a phone call from some man who said that he is waiting outside for that fucker Grey to come out because he is going to blow his brains from here to hell. Without missing a beat, Taylor orders the security detail to follow him and they are out of the office in a flash. Taylor had brought the SUV up earlier and parked it in my designated parking space.

I try my best to calm Andrea down, to no avail. I tell one of the other staff to get Roz in here ASAP, which they do. Roz comes running in, asking what the hell is going on. I try as best as I can to explain to her what happened. I instruct Roz to get Andrea to the ER for treatment for hysteria and to stay with her until I get there. In the meantime, Taylor returns with a report that the coast seems clear but just to make sure, he is going to take the car back down to the garage so that we can leave from there. I tell him no. I am not going to let some bastard run my life. Taylor insists and so do I and since I am “the boss”, he damn well better follow my instructions. He gives me a look that is a little more than his usual impassive look and I glare back at him…NO, Taylor. Let’s go. It is not up for discussion. Taylor grabs his piece out like he is ready for battle and walks ahead of me as we exit the office and then the building. I tell him to “put your damn gun away, Taylor. It was probably just a prank call”. Taylor keeps walking and I am just not in the mood for a fight with my personal security. I decide to let him do his job.

When we exit the building with the other security detail, they are all looking around in different directions as Taylor hustles me toward the SUV. All of a sudden, shots ring out. One of the security guards, yells, “Taylor, gun pointing at Grey from 2nd story, building on the left at 11 o’clock”. Taylor jumps in front of me, pushing me in the SUV, starts shooting in the afore described position and then suddenly goes down. Taylor has just taken bullets intended for me. He disregarded life and limb to protect me. I jump out of the vehicle and pick Taylor up, lay him in the back seat, shout at the security to take care of the situation….I’m taking Taylor to the hospital. They tell me that they are going to call an ambulance. I tell them “no, I don’t have time for a fucking ambulance’. “Not for Taylor, sir. We think he shot the shooter. He is hanging half out of the window”. I don’t take the time to even check, knowing full well that the security was on top of the situation. As we jet away, one lone paparazzi starts snapping pictures. Where in the hell did his ass come from? I am glad that the windows are tinted. I speed to the hospital that is about 3 miles away from GEH and pull into the area that is reserved for rescue squads. I jump out from the driver’s side, open the back door to the SUV, and lay on the ER bell frantically. An orderly comes running out and quickly accesses the situation, sees all of the blood coming from Taylor’s head and runs to get help.

They rush Taylor into an examining room, while asking me how he got injured. I tell them that he took some bullets intended for me. They ask me to step outside while they examine him to find out the extent of his injuries. A nurse starts an IV while a male nurse cuts off his shirt, jacket and pants, to keep from moving him. “Sir, you are going to have to leave”. “Not on your life, I retort in a voice that sounds like it came up from the bowels of hell. I am not leaving him”. The doctor on duty tells them to let me stay. “If I am not mistaken, you are Dr. Grey’s son, Christian….am I right?” I nod and ask him if my mom is on duty. He tells the orderly to check to see if she is in the building and to have her get down here, if she is, STAT.

I look at Taylor and for a minute, have to fight back tears. Please, God. Let Taylor be okay. Just as I say that to myself, mom runs in and Taylor opens his eyes. Oh thank God. They explain the situation to mom before she has a chance to ask. She walks over to me, puts her arm around my waist and tells me that Taylor is just fine. “Our scalps have veins that are very close to the skin and whenever someone receives a head injury, it bleeds profusely. Taylor was just grazed by one bullet enough to scrape the skin. They don’t even have to shave his head or give him stitches. As you can see, he is just fine. As a matter of fact, it looks as though he must have bumped his head on something hard enough to knock him colder than a frosty morn, but it certainly was not a bullet. I think that he probably knocked his head on the door frame when he was trying to push me in the vehicle.

“Boss”, Taylor says. “Did I nail the fucker”? One of the nurses gasps. Taylor looks and sees everyone standing around, even mom and says, “Sorry”. Did I nail him, sir?” Yes, Taylor. Not only did you “nail” him, but you saved my life”. “Just doing my job, sir”. Oops, wrong thing to say in front of mom. “WHAT?”, mom screams as tears start running down her beautiful face. “I’m fine mom. I will explain later. Now stop crying”, I whisper in her ear. “You are embarrassing me. I am just fine. We will talk later but until then, not a word to anybody, okay? I’m sure that by now, the press has heard something and is trying to find out what happened.” She gives me the Ana Grey eye rolling look. “Oh no, not her too?” I say. She looks at me as if to say, “What in the world are you talking about?” “Nothing”, I say. “Just talking to Christian”. She looks at me with love showing in her eyes and smiles that special smile that I had become so accustomed to as a child. “What?” I ask. She throws her arms around my neck, hugging me tight and whispers in my ear. “When you were just a little boy and you had finally decided to speak, I used to hear you talking to someone or something. I would ask you what you were saying and your words to me in your sweet little voice, were, “Nothing. Just talking to Christian”. It just brought back a flood of memories and reminded me of how much we loved you and still do, my darling. I gently kiss my mother on her forehead. We turn our attention back to Taylor. Taylor motions me to come to the side of the bed. First he asks how Andrea is and then he asks if the would be assassin is dead. I tell him that I am about to go check on Andrea and then I will call and find out the situation at GEH. I want to see about Andrea first though because everyone is going to want to know how the “ice queen” is. Taylor looks at me astonished that I knew what they called her. “Taylor”, I say. “There is almost nothing that goes on in my companies that I don’t know about. I do have to admit that the boss thing threw me. That is one thing I didn’t know about and I have a sneaking suspension that you started that.” Taylor just looks at me, turns his head and tries to hide a smile which in turn makes me smile and cracks mom up. She doesn’t even try to suppress her laughter.

After Taylor is released, he, mom and I make our way to the information desk and find out that Andrea and Roz are still in the treatment room. Andrea has recovered enough to leave; however, Roz tells me that she refuses to leave until she see’s me and “I sure wasn’t going to leave her alone”. Andrea tells them “that he should be here shortly”. The doctor says it is okay for her to stay for another hour or so because he doesn’t want her to go into another panic attack. This last one was pretty severe. Talk about humbling. My staff really does care about me. I had no idea that they felt this way. Andrea’s bonus just doubled. Ana tried to tell me but it was just so hard to accept. Now I know. I brief Roz and Andrea and mom as to what took place at GEH. Roz leaves the examination room quickly. Taylor looks at me; I look back at him and shrug my shoulders. Andrea shoos us out while she gets dressed to leave. I check my Blackberry. 10 calls with messages from the ball crusher. Oh shit. I’d better get back to her. I sure as hell don’t want her calling Ana.

She answers on the first ring and says, “Christian, I want to know what the hell happened at GEH. I heard something on the scanner when I walked into the news room, about there being a shooting at GEH and several people had been taken to the hospital. They didn’t know if there were any fatalities. Are you alright? Wow. Does this mean that Kate is concerned about me too?” Will wonders never cease? I first ascertain that she has not called Ana. She tells me no. With a sigh of relief, I explain to her what happened and promised her the first news release. “As a matter of fact, Kate. Can you meet me at Grey House in about an hour? I will let you give out the press release. My people have been through enough”. “Christian, you would let me do that”? She asks. I come back with “Why not? After all, you are my wife’s best friend.” She agrees and very humbly thanks me. Wow, the bone crusher can be humble. As we prepare to leave, Roz comes hustling up to us to tell us that the only thing that she can tell us is that the shooter is in critical condition. They won’t release any further information. I will send my team of PR people, led by Welch, over later to get what information they can. They will bring back their report directly to Kate and me. No one else.

I get out my blackberry and attempt to call Sawyer when it rings. I look at it, relieved that it is not Ana. I see that it is Elena and quickly click on leave a message which states, “I can’t come to the phone right now”. I click off and call Sawyer, and apprise him of the situation. I ask him if she has left yet. He says to me “Affirmative, Sir.” I can tell by the tone of his voice that she is in the car. I instruct him to take her directly home, no television, and no radio. He is to keep Ana and Gail as isolated as possible. We are on our way home as we speak. Yes sir.”

Look for the rest of the story, next blog post along with another surprise.

All of these characters belong to ELJames
“Ana, where in the world does the time go? The holidays are upon us. By the way, mom and dad always wants everyone to spend Thanksgiving with them. Mom makes a real big deal out of holidays, especially Thanksgiving. They have the entire family over as well as staff and everyone else who she can drag in. She says that if staff breaks bread with us, they bond and feel more like a part of the family rather than servants and everyone gets to know each other, which is always good. That means Gail, Taylor, Sawyer and Ryan will be coming. We will get Welsh to supply security for the penthouse. Okay?”
Anastasia is staring into the blazing fire like she has not heard a word that Christian has said. “Ana, what’s wrong? You look like you have seen a ghost”. Ana looks at Christian with tears streaming down her face. “Oh, Christian”, she sobs as he gathers her in his arms and pulls her onto his lap. “Baby, tell me what is wrong.” Ana quiets her sobbing and tells him that she has something that she wants to share with him. “I’m listening, baby. What is it?”
Ana starts talking. “You have not heard me say too much about mom’s husband #3 but I know that you have wanted to ask me about him.” Christian thinks quietly to himself that if that bastard has done something to hurt Ana, I will fucking find him and fucking kill his ass. “Yes, but I figured that something must have happened that you found painful to talk about and when you got ready, you would talk about it.” Ana remains quiet for a few minutes, trying to control her emotions which she is having a hard time doing.
Gail is working quietly in the kitchen, preparing some of the food to take over to Dr. Grey’s for the Thanksgiving feast next week. She can’t help but overhear the conversation between Christian and Ana. At first, with Ana sobbing, she thought that Christian had said something to upset her. She listens more closely as Ana continues.
“I never did like him,” Ana continues. “He always stared at me like I had two heads. He used to tell me that I was the ugliest thing that he ever saw. He would always ask me how in the world did I ever expect to get a husband looking the way I looked. I would go into my bedroom and just cry until I got sick. I never said anything to mom about it but I did ask her all of the time, why I couldn’t be pretty like her. Being my mother, she always told me that I was prettier than she was and I would even get prettier as I matured into a young woman.
One day, husband #3 came, uninvited, into my bedroom. He said that he decided to fuck me and that would make me look better.” Christian’s body tightened and Gail clasped her hands over her mouth to stave back a gasp. Ana continued. “He started to wrestle with me to get my clothes off but I fought him as hard as I could and bit his hand hard enough to make him let go of me. I ran out of my room before he could catch me, all of the while, he is calling for me to ‘get back here, you little bitch. I’m going to fuck the ugly out of you’. Mom had to run an errand and was just turning the corner as I ran out of the house. She didn’t see the haste, only that I was standing out on the porch as she pulled into the drive-way. ‘Where ya’ going, sweetheart?’ I told her that I had to take my friend’s homework notes to her as she forgot and left them in my room. Mom gave me a nod and told me not to be late for supper. I ran down the steps before she could see my tears.
I knew that I had to get away from that son-of-a-bitch. I called Ray later that evening when mom and #3 went out to a movie. The only thing that I shared with him was that I couldn’t stay with mom’s husband #3 because he was always complaining about me and was always being critical of me. Ray readily agreed to come get me right then. I told him that I had to check with mom and try to make her realize how unhappy that I was. Ray told me to call him as soon as I was ready. Ray figured something had happened but didn’t push the issue.”
“It would be nice to have someone else in the house with me to look after and who I could teach things to” is the way he explained to Christian the reason how Ana came to live with him. “We had always had a bond, but her mom was against Ana leaving her.”
“I convinced mom that I was not happy and to please, please, let me go and live with Ray. He was the only father that I knew and he would take care of me. She finally let me go. Every year, around this time, which is when it happened, I re-live it. I kept all of that crap in me until now, only sharing it with mom and Ray. It all came back to me when you started talking about the Thanksgiving gathering. That’s one reason why Dr. Flynn wants to talk to me about my insecurity issues.
I was always ashamed of the way that I looked and why I thought that I was not pretty. When you kept telling me how pretty I was and what a delicious looking body that I had. I thought you were just trying to be nice to make me feel better about myself. Kate used to tell me the same thing. It is hard to shed that type of self-image when you have been told so many times how ugly that you are.
“Our first Thanksgiving together was, shall I say, challenging. I was just learning how to cook and Ray couldn’t help a bit. All we did was ate carryout and that grew old real quick so I really didn’t have a choice. Ray bought a turkey and some other stuff that I had no idea how to cook. The Monday before Thanksgiving, he came home with a package for me. I opened it and to my surprise, it was a ‘Cookbook for Beginners’. I laughed and asked him why he hadn’t gotten one for himself? He started laughing and said that he would rather fish than eat. We did manage to get through it with the turkey that was drier than dry, lumpy mashed potatoes with gravy that tasted like paste and the green bean casserole with half cooked green beans. Looking back, I realized just how good it was for me to have been there with Ray to keep him from starving to death. That was a Thanksgiving that will never be forgotten,” I chuckled.
“““““`
Contining my account to Christian, and even though I didn’t realize it, to Gail as well. “I turned on the news one day while getting ready for school and there on the screen was, big as life, husband #3’s picture. The news anchor was interviewing some of the neighbors who lived on mom’s street. It seemed as though, there was a serial child molester that had been on the loose for several months but every child he had attempted to rape, was able to claw and get away from him. They finally caught him from D&A samples from under the girls’ fingernails, when the young girl had identified him as the man who had tried to attack her. He was so brazen that he had gone to the park one day to scout out his next would be victim. The young girl happened to be there, saw him, ran from the park like her life depended upon it, screaming at her mom to call the police as she almost tore down the door. She and her mom met the police at the park and they arrested husband #3. By the time the news had finished the story, my body had turned to mush as I dropped to the floor in a dead faint.”
Ray found me on the kitchen floor and called the rescue squad and then called my mom. Mom caught the first thing smoking headed to California. She was booked on an emergency flight and was at the hospital in a matter of hours.
I was examined and it was determined that my system had just had a stressful and shocking episode….other than that, I was just fine. “When the doctor left, mom asked me if I had seen the news. I told her that I had and then started crying uncontrollably. Poor Ray didn’t know what to think. He and mom just looked at each other, dazed. When I finally was able to control myself, the entire story came about what #3 had said and tried to do to me.
“Mom passed out colder than a frosty morn but dear Ray saw what was happening and grabbed her to keep her from falling to the floor. I pulled my ‘need help’ cord and the nurse came rushing in. She called for a cart, and rushed her to the ER. Ray pushed me in a wheelchair following her. When she finally came around, she had a wild look in her eyes and was talking incoherently. They took her straight to the psych ward where she stayed for about a week. After they treated her for a temporary emotional breakdown, she was released. Ray insisted that she come stay with us until she came to grips with what had happened. After about 2 months, she was able to return home.
Ray did some investigating and discovered that #3 had been tried, convicted and sent to the penitentiary for 25 years with no possibility of parole. It seems as though several of the other would be victims came forth with their testimony.”
Christian thought as he held Ana, another fucking asshole of off the streets. Good. I hope the bastard rots there. From what I hear, that they do to child molesters as well as wannabe’s, he better not bend down to pick up the soap in the shower.
Gail finds herself shedding tears as she makes the dough for the pie crusts and cuts up the vegetables for the stuffing. How could that bastard do that to such a sweet child? I probably shouldn’t but I feel like I must share this with Taylor. Christian walks in the kitchen, surprised to see me, sees the tears and asks me gently if I “heard”. All I could do was nod my head in the affirmative. “I am getting Ana a glass of wine….would you like for me to pour you a glass?” I tell him no thanks and he gets 2 glasses out of the cupboard, pours Ana’s wine and fills the other with orange juice and takes two Advil out of the bottle and places them on the counter for me. “Don’t fret, Gail. Ana is going to be just fine. She has all of us to take care of her.” “Thank you, Mr. Grey.” Gail remembers what Taylor said about the boss being so kind to those whom he cares for.
After Christian gets Ana settled down, Taylor hears the boss on the speaker phone giving Welch hell. “I don’t give a fuck if it is a holiday. I pay them enough money to make it worthwhile to secure this place for a few hours.” Welch tells the boss that he would get the only security guard left because all of the rest are securing his other interests. There is just one problem though….he has a family and would it be okay if he brought them with him. “I don’t give a fuck as long as they don’t tear up the place he yells and yes, they can use the pool table and play the video games. They can eat here as well. I will have Gail prepare a meal for them unless his wife wants to prepare it. Call and let Taylor know so that he can inform Gail as to what is going on.”
I swear, Taylor thinks as he hears Mount Baker, Glacier Peak, Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens, and Mount Adams erupt at the same time. How in the hell does that bastard go from zero to ruthless son-of-a-bitch in .o5 seconds and then right back down again? I heard Ana refer to him as Mr. Mercurial once. I think that he gives new meaning to that word. Really, though, I think that he is upset about something entirely removed from this security issue. I will talk to Gail later and see if she knows anything.
He then calls Andrea and tells her to make the arrangements for the corporate jet and Charlie Tango to be available for use on Wednesday to pick up Anastasia’s family and to return them on Saturday. Both of the aircrafts will need pilots. If there is a problem, solve it and get back to me with the details. Thanks. Click-up goes the phone. Taylor has to chuckle as he says to himself, “rude bastard”.
I inform Sawyer and Ryan to be prepared for pick up at the airport for Ana’s parents on Wednesday. Charlie Tango will set down on Escala, as usual.
Grey goes back into the great room where Ana and Gail are in deep conversation. Gail informs them that lunch will be ready in about 20 minutes and Ana thanks her. “By the way, Christian, the plan for Thanksgiving is just fine. I am really looking forward to it, and thanks for including my family. Another reason why I love you so much”, I say as I plant a chaste kiss on the corner of his mouth. “Let’s go eat before all of Gail’s food is for naught” as he looks at me with that wantonly look that I have become so familiar with. You know….the one that makes me quiver all the way down south, I say to my subconscious.” Oh, brother, my inner goddess makes a b-line to the bedroom where she has to wait patiently which is going to make her stand in the corner on her head to cool down.