Chapter 112
Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey as Told by Christian (Fifty Shades 4)
Who was massaging your back?
Christian Grey
CEO with friends in the right places,
Grey Enterprises Holdings, Inc.
I check the time of her e-mail. She should be on board right now, if her plane is on time. I quickly open Google and check departures from Sea-Tac. Her flight is on schedule.
* * *
From: Anastasia Steele
Subject: Strong Able Hands
Date: May 30 2011 22:22
To: Christian Grey
Dear Sir,
A very pleasant young man massaged my back. Yes. Very pleasant indeed. I wouldnât have encountered Jean-Paul in the ordinary departure loungeâso thank you again for that treat.
What the hell?
Iâm not sure if Iâll be allowed to e-mail once we take off, and I need my beauty sleep since Iâve not been sleeping so well recently.
Pleasant dreams, Mr. Greyâ¦thinking of you.
Ana
Is she trying to make me jealous? Does she have any idea how mad I can get? Sheâs been gone for a few hours, and sheâs deliberately making me angry. Why does she do this to me?
* * *
From: Christian Grey
Subject: Enjoy It While You Can
Date: May 30 2011 22:25
To: Anastasia Steele
Dear Miss Steele,
I know what youâre trying to doâand trust me, youâve succeeded. Next time youâll be in the cargo hold, bound and gagged in a crate. Believe me when I say that attending to you in that state will give me so much more pleasure than merely upgrading your ticket.
I look forward to your return.
Christian Grey
Palm-Twitching CEO,
Grey Enterprises Holdings, Inc.
Her response is almost immediate.
* * *
From: Anastasia Steele
Subject: Joking?
Date: May 30 2011 22:30
To: Christian Grey
You seeâI have no idea if youâre jokingâand if youâre not, then I think Iâll stay in Georgia. Crates are a hard limit for me. Sorry I made you mad. Tell me you forgive me.
A
Of course Iâm jokingâ¦sort of. At least she knows Iâm mad. Her plane should be taking off. How is she e-mailing?
* * *
From: Christian Grey
Subject: Joking
Date: May 30 2011 22:31
To: Anastasia Steele
How can you be e-mailing? Are you risking the life of everyone on board, including yourself, by using your BlackBerry? I think that contravenes one of the rules.
Christian Grey
Two-Palms-Twitching CEO,
Grey Enterprises Holdings, Inc.
And we know what happens if you contravene the rules, Miss Steele. I check the Sea-Tac website for flight departures; her plane has left. I wonât be hearing from her for a while. That thought, as well as her little e-mail stunt, has put me in a foul mood. Abandoning my work, I head into the kitchen and decide to pour myself a drink, tonight Armagnac.
Taylor pops his head around the entrance to the living room.
âNot now,â I bark.
âVery good, sir,â he says, and heads back to wherever he came from.
Donât take your mood out on the staff, Grey.
Annoyed at myself, I walk toward the windows and stare out at the Seattle skyline. I wonder how sheâs gotten under my skin, and why our relationship is not progressing in the direction I would like. Iâm hoping that once sheâs had a chance to reflect in Georgia, sheâll make the right decision. Wonât she?
Anxiety blooms in my chest. I take another slug of my drink and sit down at my piano to play.
TUESDAY, MAY 31, 2011
* * *
Mommy is gone. I donât know where.
Heâs here. I hear his boots. They are loud boots.
They have silver buckles. They stomp. Loud.
He stomps. And he shouts.
I am in Mommyâs closet.
Hiding.
He wonât hear me.
I can be quiet. Very quiet.
Quiet because Iâm not here.
âYou fucking bitch!â he shouts.
He shouts a lot.
âYou fucking bitch!â
He shouts at Mommy.
He shouts at me.
He hits Mommy.
He hits me.
I hear the door close. Heâs not here anymore.
And Mommy is gone, too.
I stay in the closet. In the dark. Iâm very quiet.
I sit for a long time. A long, long, long time.
Where is Mommy?
Thereâs a whisper of dawn in the sky when I open my eyes. The radio alarm says 5:23. Iâve slept fitfully, plagued by unpleasant dreams, and Iâm exhausted, but I decide to go for a run to wake myself up. Once Iâm in sweats, I pick up my phone. Thereâs a text from Ana.
Arrived safely in Savannah. A :)
Good. Sheâs there, and safe. The thought pleases me and I quickly scan my e-mail. The subject of Anaâs latest message leaps out at me: âDo you like to scare me?â
No fucking way.
My scalp prickles and I sit down on the bed, scrolling through her words. She must have sent this during her layover in Atlanta, before she sent her text.
* * *
From: Anastasia Steele
Subject: Do you like to scare me?
Date: May 31 2011 06:52 EST
To: Christian Grey
You know how much I dislike you spending money on me. Yes, youâre very rich, but still it makes me uncomfortable, like youâre paying me for sex. However, I like traveling first class, itâs so much more civilized than coach. So thank you. I mean itâand I did enjoy the massage from Jean-Paul. He was very gay. I omitted that bit in my e-mail to you to wind you up, because I was annoyed with you, and Iâm sorry about that.
But as usual you overreact. You canât write things like that to meâbound and gagged in a crate. (Were you serious or was it a joke?) That scares meâ¦you scare meâ¦I am completely caught up in your spell, considering a lifestyle with you that I didnât even know existed until last week, and then you write something like that and I want to run screaming into the hills. I wonât, of course, because Iâd miss you. Really miss you. I want us to work, but I am terrified of the depth of feeling I have for you and the dark path youâre leading me down. What you are offering is erotic and sexy, and Iâm curious, but Iâm also scared youâll hurt meâphysically and emotionally. After three months you could say good-bye, and where will that leave me if you do? But then I suppose that risk is there in any relationship. This just isnât the sort of relationship I ever envisaged having, especially as my first. Itâs a huge leap of faith for me.