Loving Him is Grey (50 shades fanfic-PG-13)

Chapter 25

Staring back at the picture of Christian and Elena, I resist the urge to throw it out the window. My insides quiver when I see the unmistakable ring on Elena's hand. Christian is down on one knee when the picture was taken. Swiping the tear from my eye, I walk into Jack's office. It's been a couple hours since I saw him last. When he saw me open the package and left me with my mind running rampant.

"Jack," I barge into his office and he looks taken aback by my bursting into his office without knocking. "Hope you have the plane tickets; I'll be there bright and early tomorrow morning."

He smiles at me. "Glad to hear, Miss Steele. Chicago is beautiful this time of year."

I nod my head, walking back to my desk to pack up for the day. Ignoring my phone vibrating in my hand, I head to my apartment. It's empty when I get back which means Victoria is working late tonight.  Dropping onto the couch, I check my phone to see multiple missed calls from Christian. I am so hurt, so angry at him for never mentioning that he was engaged to Elena. But it all makes sense now as to why she hates me so much.

Deciding to let him explain it to me, I call him. "Ana."

"You have some explaining to do and by the way, I'm going to Chicago this weekend. Better start explaining some things now, Grey."

The line goes silent. "What are you talking about? I'm coming over."

His line goes dead and I roll my eyes. Seeing him is going to be hard. Our relationship is so back and forth. Just when I finally thought we could have a clean slate without any drama. I should have known that Christian Grey would come chalk-full of drama. The good looking ones always do. I should have remembered that from high school. I kissed more than my share of frogs in the past. I finally thought I had found my prince charming.

Twenty minutes later Christian walks into my door unannounced. I shriek, nearly falling off the couch when he storms into my living room. Zipping up my hoodie, I stand up to stand face to face with him. Without a word in his direction, I pull the picture that was sent to me from my purse. Christian takes it with curiosity in his eyes. Then his mouth falls open as does the picture. It shatters to a million tiny pieces onto my floor. Victoria won't be too pleased with the mess. She's a bit of a neat freak.

I sit down on the couch with my arms crossed over my chest. "I would ask you to explain, but I see that you're a bit in shock right now. I can wait until you're ready. Then I am all ears, Mr. Grey."

Christian's fists ball at the side of his body. "Where did you get this?"

"Someone sent me it. I don't know, as a kind of welcome to the office package. No offense, but I don't want to stare at my boyfriend with the wicked witch of the west on my desk," I say flatly.

"It...I."

I watch as he, for the first time, struggles for words. Seeing him so distressed almost makes me want to forget about this all and let it go. But the stubborn part in my body refuses for me to give up. I want an explanation or at least him admitting that Elena and him were engaged once upon a time. As much as it pains me, I want him to tell me the truth and talk to me about it. Maybe once he opens up, he won't feel like he has to keep anymore secrets from me.

I cross my ankles over one another. "You were engaged to her. When?"

"Long time ago," he manages to say. "Nobody knew about it; we had planned to elope and...eventually tell my family once we were married. Then I decided that we could never...be married. So I broke it off."

"You didn't answer my question," I grind my teeth together in annoyance. "I want to know when you were engaged."

"About four years ago," he replies.

A lone tear slips from my eyes. As much as I want to show I can handle this, I know that I can't. Hearing him tell me this is much worse than I ever imagined. I always had a feeling that his relationship with Elena stemmed from somewhere. Now I know. I just wish I knew who sent me the picture and why. It couldn't have been Elena. She couldn't be that heartless. Or could she? If she still had feelings for Christian, it would make perfect sense.

I brush the hair from my face. "How about you and Hyde? What is that feud about? And I want the truth, Christian. There's a lot that needs to be cleared for us."

He meets my eyes with a look of dread. "Nothing. Just two men who are in a competitive job world. Nothing else to tell about that, Anastasia."

I want to believe what he's telling me, but I know deep down he's hiding something from me. I will find out. Right now, I think he needs to go home and think about his past. His everything. I have to start packing for Chicago anyway. Our plane is leaving Midway at seven in the morning. I need to pack so I can get some rest before I leave. This week has left me mentally and physically exhausted.

"I'm going to Chicago in the morning. I need some rest."

"You're still going?" the fire in his eyes is back.

I stand up, wiping the palms of my hands on my pants. "Sure. You never gave me a valid reason as to why I shouldn't trust Jack. It's a business trip, Christian. It's all it'll ever be."

Christian stands up, taking my hands in his. "I want you to be safe."

I wind my hands around his neck. "I'm a big girl."

"I love you, Anastasia."

I nod my head, tears welling in my eyes. "Then while I am away, you need to think about our future. Our future needs to be built off of trust. No more secrets; I can't bear them."

He kisses me gently on my lips. "I promise."

"Good because I love you too." I stand on my tiptoes, giving him a kiss that will make him remember me the two short days I'll be in Chicago. Knotting my fingers in his hair, I almost forget about the picture of Elena with his engagement ring on her finger.

Almost.

But I won't dwell on that. I'm going to Chicago tomorrow for the first time on my first business trip as an adult. I never knew growing up could be so scaring, yet so exciting.

I just hope Christian's and my love for each other will outweigh all the scary that I have building inside of me.