Chapter 2 - In Flagrante Delicto

Taylor came running after me as I headed for my son's bedroom, clearly under instruction from Christian not to let anyone in, and of course Taylor always did exactly what he was told, because that was his job. But I wasn't going to be fobbed off by anyone, not if my son could be lying wallowing in a deep depression, or even worse contemplating suicide…. "Mrs. Grey, there really is no need for you to concern yourself. Mr. Grey is fine." He tried to block me. "But if he's still in bed, then he must be ill. He's never in bed at this time. Christian never sleeps in." I pushed past him. "Mrs. Grey, please." Taylor tried to head me off again. "Taylor. You cannot keep me from my son."  No one was going to prevent me from checking on my son if he was ill. I was determined to see him. "Mrs. Grey, he's not alone." Taylor stared at me and raised his eyebrows, clearly trying to convey some deep hidden message. "What do you mean, he's not alone?" "He has someone with him." Taylor spelled it out to me, as he indicated the bedroom with his head. "Oh…" The penny finally dropped.  Christian was entertaining a friend of some description in his bedroom.  Taylor was tactfully trying to tell me that Christian was in bed with someone. That possibility hadn't even occurred to me. The implications sunk in… so that meant… he wasn't celibate. Oh God! I stumbled towards the couch and shakily sat down.

Taylor backed away, satisfied now that I wasn't going to go ahead and march right into my son's bedroom. I realized that Christian would have heard me just outside his bedroom door, and would no doubt be making his way out just as soon as he was decent.

Oh God! Who on earth was this someone going to be? Taylor, ever the soul of discretion, hadn't specified any gender, so that definitely made me think it was a guy. Did this mean Christian had a partner he'd been keeping secret from us? Was he ashamed of his boyfriend, too embarrassed or worried that his family would be judgmental or unsupportive of him? If that was the case, then I'd truly be disappointed, because I thought I'd made it plain to him numerous times that I just wanted him to be happy, and would support his life choices whatever his sexuality. So I quickly decided to be friendly and welcoming to his boyfriend if he brought him out and introduced him to me, to show that I was perfectly fine about it, and not upset or shocked in any way.

But then it occurred to me… what if… Oh God… what if he didn't have a regular boyfriend, but was being secretive because he was using some sort of a male prostitute instead, some 'crack head rent boy' type that I'd heard people refer to. Someone he was paying to satisfy his sexual needs. If that were the case, then I assumed Christian would most likely keep this someone hidden away from me in his bedroom. I was just going to have to play this by ear, wait and see how Christian acted and what he said to me.

I heard the door open, then watched bemused as Christian sauntered out, with bare feet, wearing his standard casual weekend attire of jeans and T shirt, looking his usual very handsome, tousled hair self.

I didn't let myself dwell on the reason why his cheeks looked flushed and his eyes were sparkling.  Classic post orgasm signs?  Whoa, don't let yourself go there, way too much information for a mother.

He casually strolled over, leant down to kiss me and then sat down next to me on the couch. An amused little smile was playing around his mouth – at least he didn't look angry or upset that I’d turned up unannounced,  so that was a good start.

"This is an unexpected pleasure," he said, appearing very relaxed.

"How are you Christian?" I asked, as I scrutinized his face, trying to judge if I dared ask who he'd got in the bedroom with him. I didn't want to risk upsetting him, so I waited to see what he was going to say.

"I'm good thanks. How's Dad?" he replied casually.

"He's as busy as ever, you know what he's like," I replied absent mindedly, as I couldn't help glancing over at the bedroom door. It seemed he was not going to say anything about whomever it was he had lurking in there. But as this was the first chance I'd ever had to discover anything at all about my enigmatic son's personal relationships and sexuality, I wasn’t about to give up just yet.

"Mia's due back soon isn't she?" he said next, clearly making polite chit chat in a most unlike Christian way. Was he waiting for me to go? Should I just come out and say something, ask him straight out?

"Yes, that's right she is, and she's asked if you can pick her up from the airport, if that's alright darling. I think she's missed you while she's been in Paris."

"Yeah, I've missed her too, and I've already said I'll be there to pick her up. She emailed me."
"That's good then." I tried to smile, but then watched in horrified fascination as I realized the bedroom door was slowly opening.

Right, I quickly told myself. Plaster a smile on your face Grace girl, and whatever you do, don't appear shocked or upset in any way whatsoever. Breathe in slowly, deep breath, in and out. Be calm and welcoming, whoever walks out of that door. I'm broad minded enough to handle this. I have to be for Christian.

But I couldn't help it. I was shocked to my very core when I saw just who was making their way out of his bedroom. My eyes simply couldn't take in what I was seeing. It couldn't be… surely not… this couldn't be right… did this mean?… but I was sure he was…

It was a beautiful young woman who was nervously making her way out. A girl. A female. Christian had a girlfriend. A sweet, beautiful young girl. Clearly not a hooker of any sort at all. She was perfect. Just perfect. I thought I was going to cry. Don't make a complete idiot of yourself for goodness sake. But Christian had a girlfriend.

By her flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes that exactly mirrored my son's, it was very obvious just exactly what they'd been getting up to in his bedroom, no doubt about that at all. So that meant… he wasn't gay. Christian was not gay. He was just a late developer with girls, that's all it had been. I'd worried myself sick for years over nothing.

"Here she is," Christian said proudly.

He stood up and then possessively pulled this girl up to him when she’d made her way over to us, blushing shyly, dressed in what appeared to be my son's shirt, fresh faced and not wearing a scrap of makeup. She didn't need to; she was simply a natural beauty, with stunning big blue eyes. She was just adorable, and I was over the moon with delight, as I'm sure my huge beaming smile gave away.

"Mother, this is Anastasia Steele. Anastasia, this is Grace Trevelyan-Grey." Christian's manners were impeccable as he formally introduced us.

"What a pleasure to meet you." I somehow managed to get the words out as we shook hands. 
I was still pretty incredulous with shock; I still couldn't quite believe this was actually happening. It was like a dream sequence, because this was exactly what I would have wished for my dear boy. A potential chance for happiness, just like Carrick and I had found together.

"Dr. Trevelyan-Grey," she murmured shyly as we shook hands.

"Call me Grace," I smiled warmly at her. "I am usually Dr. Trevelyan, and Mrs. Grey is my mother-in-law."

I could see Christian frowning in surprise, as he knew that I rarely let people call me by my first name unless I knew them really well. To hell with formality, I wanted to get close to this wondrous young girl, make her feel welcome. I winked at her.

"So how did you two meet?"

Where on earth had Christian met someone like her? She was nothing like the classic blonde ice maiden types he always seemed to employ around him in his office.

"Anastasia interviewed me for the student paper at WSU because I'm conferring the degrees there this week," Christian replied.

Ah right, that explained things. She didn't work for him. Just a chance meeting. Serendipity.

"So you are graduating this week?" I asked Anastasia. I quickly worked out that meant she was probably only around twenty one or so. Quite a bit younger than Christian, but that was okay - Carrick is eight years older than me.

 It also explained why she was so sweet and shy, because she was just a young student. My word, she was certainly being swept off her feet being courted by my handsome billionaire son, poor little thing. But I thought she was just perfect for Christian, a breath of fresh air.

"Yes," she replied, but then had to excuse herself to answer her cell phone that was ringing somewhere in the kitchen. I smiled gleefully to myself when I saw the way Christian hungrily gazed after her - he simply couldn't take his eyes off this girl. He was clearly totally smitten and head over heels for her, which I guessed explained why he was distracted and not really listening to me.

"...and Elliot called to say you were around – I haven't seen you for two weeks, darling.” I was explaining why I’d dropped by, but it was falling on deaf ears. I didn't mind though. This explained why Christian had seemed so preoccupied to Elliot yesterday – obviously he couldn't stop thinking about his lovely new girlfriend. It all made perfect sense now. Oh I was just so relieved and happy at this unexpected turn of events, and I couldn’t wait to tell Carrick about it, knowing that he was going to be every bit as surprised as I’d been.

"Did he now?" Christian murmured as Anastasia re-joined us, and the way he was staring so intensely at her made me feel that I was intruding. Time to take my leave. Two's company…

"I thought we might have lunch together, but I can see you have other plans, and I don't want to interrupt your day," I said as I picked up my coat, and proffered my cheek for a kiss, knowing from years of experience that this was the most contact I could expect from my son, unlike the big hugs I received from Elliot. But now that Christian had a girlfriend that he was clearly on very intimate terms with, perhaps that would change?  I could only hope that would be the case. 

"I have to drive Anastasia back to Portland," he explained, as he gently pecked my cheek.
"Of course, darling. Anastasia, it's been such a pleasure. I do hope we meet again," I told her sincerely as we shook hands.

Please, please, please, let this work out for my sweet boy. To the rest of the world Christian might be the super-rich CEO of Grey Enterprises, but to me, underneath it all, he was still the damaged little boy that we had adopted, and I wanted so much for him to find true happiness and spiritual well being.  I instantly had such a good feeling about this young woman, I truly did, because my gut instinct was telling me that this sweet young girl might just prove to be his salvation, the balm to his poor wounded soul. Carrick has always claimed that I’m an incurable romantic, and perhaps he’s right, but what’s wrong with that?
Taylor escorted me out through the double doors to the foyer, and pressed the button to call the elevator for me. I was hugging myself, and I had a huge soppy smile on my face as I looked over at him.

"He's head over heels isn't he?" I couldn't help myself, I just had to say something or I'd have burst, because I was so thrilled and excited about this wonderful development in my son’s life.

"I couldn't possibly comment, Dr. Trevelyan," Taylor replied in his usual succinct manner, but then gave me a sly wink to let me know that he agreed with my assessment of how things stood for his employer.

Having worked for my son for several years now, I’d seen how fiercely loyal and protective Taylor was, so I was sure he would dearly like to see him happily settled in his private life.
I was just so glad that I'd gone over to see Christian today, all thanks to Elliot. As I left, I got my cell phone out to call him, to let him know that thankfully his concerns were unfounded and he didn't need to worry after all.

Goodness, but he was going to be so surprised to find out that his brother had a girlfriend. He probably wouldn't even believe me, but I'd seen the evidence with my very own eyes now.

I don’t own any of the Fifty Shades Trilogy or the characters therein. They belong to E L James. I’m just borrowing them for fun and not for profit. Please refer to the Legal’s page for further details. This work is not to be copied or reproduced in any way without permission.