Tea on Tuesday at Four

Epilogue

Grace

Tea on Tuesday with a friend has been a habit for so many years that I can't help it. I decide to keep my usual reservation and celebrate with my new future daughter-in-law. She of course knows nothing of my former tea date, but I think that it is highly appropriate that I meet with the savior of my son from that evil witch. Naturally, she is normally working at this time of day, but she has asked for the time off as a favor to me. I suspect that she is just as eager to talk as I am.

As Ana sits down, I am reminded of how shy she really is. This is the first time that we have been in a social situation together where my son was not present. Naturally, I want to get to know her better and that is very difficult to do when others are around. Mia is the most distracting, but she tends to be very deferential to others in conversation, especially her friend Kate. Even now, her eyes are lowered as she asks for her English Breakfast tea, bag on the side. She declines the offer of any kind of pastry treat.

"Now, dear," I say warmly. "You are so wonderfully slim. There is no reason that you can't have a little snack."

She blushes and replies, "Please Mrs. Grey, Christian is always nagging me to eat more. I am really not hungry and I never eat at this time of day."

"Didn't I ask you to call me Grace?" I ask lightly. "Pay no attention to Christian. He does tend to be obsessed with food, but that is because of his . . . well, his difficult start in life."

"Yes, Grace," she says. "He has told me that. I know that his life was quite tragic before you and Mr. Grey . . . um, Carrick, adopted him."

"Good, I am glad that you realize it" I reply. "Then we can cut him a little slack. I know that he can be trying, but you do a very good job of handling him."

She frowns.

"I really don't like to think that I handle him," she says. "That sounds as if I am managing or controlling him. I . . . I just love him."

"Yes, dear, that's quite obvious," I assure her quickly. "It's one of the reasons why I have told Carrick not to pursue this whole pre-nup issue. It's clear that you are not interested in Christian's money or position. But please forgive my husband. Being that he is a lawyer, he sometimes forgets that life is not one perpetual courtroom tied up in litigation. No, I can see that you have genuine feelings for my son."

"Yes, I do," she answers, looking up at me. "And I know that you love him very much as well. You know that I would never do anything to hurt him."

"If I didn't know that," I say dryly. "We certainly wouldn't be sitting here having this conversation. I deeply regret that I was not more vigilant . . ."

As I can see that her cheeks have turned a very deep red, I stop talking. I sigh. Well, we will have to address this sooner or later. We might as well clear the air now. Perhaps that is why she is so reticent. She may be a bit afraid of me after my little performance on Saturday night.

"Ana, dear," I say gently. "I want you to know that my behavior on Saturday night with Elena was very much out of character. Please don't think that I always talk to others like that."

"I know," she replies quietly. "Christian told me that. You must have been dreadfully shocked to find out, that way."

"That doesn't even cover the half of it," I answer. "But you knew about it?"

She nods.

"I know that it happened, well, before me," she offers. "And that it was over years ago. But Christian still had shared business interests with her."

"Had?" I ask sharply.

Once again she nods.

"Yesterday he called his lawyer," she says. "Their business association will be over as soon as the contracts can be written and signed."

"Well, that's a relief," I say. "Is he liquidating?"

She frowns and shakes her head.

"He is gifting the salons to her," she answers. "He feels as if he still owes something to her."

"Oh, that woman is certainly owed something," I say bitterly. "But it's not a successful business."

"Christian says that he doesn't want to be vindictive," she replies. "He just wants to cut all ties. He's still grateful for . . . something. And he is always very generous."

Once more I sigh.

"Yes, that is one of his attractive qualities," I remark. "One of many. He told me that he thinks that she saved him from himself."

"That's what she has been telling him for years," states Ana firmly. "I think that he just didn't know what to think. He let her control him, take advantage of him."

"Well, you and I may see it that way," I reply. "In fact any sane and normal person would see it that way. Just don't understand how this all go on for so long, or how I could not have known anything about it. Tell me, how did you find out?"

She suddenly looks very uncomfortable. I realize that I may have stepped into some very personal territory for her.

"That's okay, dear," I say. "You are entitled to your privacy. I shouldn't have asked. It's just that I have felt so guilty since I found out. How could I have missed it?"

She now looks thoughtful.

"Elena is very practiced in the art of deception," she says wisely. "You weren't the only one who was fooled by her."

I look at her closely.

"But you weren't?" I ask.

"No," she says. "There was always something about her that made me feel distrustful of her. But of course, she never did like me."

"Yes, I suppose so," I say. "But you never would have known it from some of our conversations. She knew that I had my hopes up about you from the first time I met you."

Once again, she blushes a bright pink.

"I'm sorry," she says. "I don't know what you must have thought when you discovered me with Christian that morning."

"I was grateful," I admit. "In fact, I was pleased. You see, you were really a very nice girl. I felt bad that you had been caught in that . . . situation with my son. But he had never introduced any girlfriend to me before. I knew that you had to be special, in fact that is what he told me while we were waiting for you. He asked me to be kind because you were very special to him."

"He did? I didn't know that," she replies. "I could tell that you were relieved."

"You have no idea," I reply. "I mean, Elliot used to suggest, very slyly of course, that he was gay and there were always whispers. However, Carrick pointed out that if he was gay then he would have made no secret about it or any partner that he might have had. Christian has never held much to social convention. He tends to do what he damn well pleases. No, his behavior where women were concerned was very abnormal. Finding you in his bedroom was the most normal thing that I had ever seen with him. Do you know that he didn't go to his own prom?"

She looks at me shyly once again.

"I didn't go to my own prom," she says.

"Oh," I stumble over my words. "I guess . . ."

"It's alright, Grace," she interrupts. "Nobody asked me. And I didn't want to go by myself, even though some girls did. I stayed home and read a book."

"Tell if I am being too invasive, but was or rather is Christian your first boyfriend?" I ask tentatively.

"No, that's not an invasive question," she replies. "If you ask Ray or my Mom, either of them would tell you that he was, is, my first boyfriend. In fact both of them are concerned that things have happened so quickly. Ray is worried that I'm being headstrong and Mom thinks that I need to see more of the world. She also thinks . . ."

She stops and blushes.

"She thinks that you are pregnant," I finish for her.

"Yes, but . . ." she falters.

"It's alright, dear, you can tell me," I say gently.

"Christian has always been very careful," she answers softly. "He thinks that we aren't ready. And he's right. Although someday I hope, and he does I think, that we will be parents."

"Yes," I sooth her. "There is plenty of time. And naturally Christian wants to protect you. That has been obvious from the first. And if he has reservations, well, that is also understandable."

She frowns.

"You and Carrick have been wonderful parents," she says.

"Christian was badly scarred by those early years," I explain. "Both physically and emotionally. Scars like his may heal over, but the damage is always there. Mia and Elliot accepted our love so easily. But Christian has always felt unworthy."

She nods.

"Yes, that was how Mrs. Robinson, um, Elena, got her claws in him," she said. "He thought that he needed her, uh, kind of control."

"What do you mean?" I ask sharply. I suddenly realize that she knows more than she had told me. Of course, she wouldn't want to betray Christian's confidences."

"I promised not to tell," she whispers. "He doesn't want you to know. It's better if you don't know."

"Is it that bad?" I ask weakly.

She nods and looks down at her hands. I then realize that she has been twisting them in her lap. I sense that she wants to unburden her mind but she doesn't want to hurt me.

"Please tell me," I say. "How was she able to seduce my son? If you've nicknamed her Mrs. Robinson, that is no doubt what she did."

"Yes, she manipulated him," she says. "She preyed on his weaknesses, his feelings of being unlovable. He loathed himself. She exerted control . . . by force. He was obedient so that she would . . . She wanted to dominate him and he wanted her to. It was the only kind of . . . touch that he could bear. He said that it was all he knew."

She stops her halting explanation and looks away. But I don't want to hear anymore. I can fill in the blanks. It becomes clear to me that Elena took all of the information that I entrusted to her and turned it against my son. She wanted to control him and I gave her the means to do so. But there is no reason to tell Ana that. She knows more than she wants to already.

"Thank you for telling me," I say gently. "I will not say anything to Christian or anyone else for that matter. It will be our secret. I am glad to know. At least now I know that he is free of her and her influence."

"Yes," she agrees. "That is what he told me. He said that he feels liberated."

"And it was you who freed him," I comment.

"No," she says firmly. "He freed himself. She essentially gave him a choice. She told me, she told him, that I was no good for him. But he told her that she was wrong. He chose me over her."

I look at the shy, young girl in front of me and remember the scene from Saturday night. The tableau I witnessed was an overbearing, dominant woman with a shocked young man and a frightened girl. But for all of her fear, she also had great fortitude. Even before I walked in, she had refused to be intimidated.

There is no doubt in my mind that my son still has demons to face down, but I believe that with Ana by his side, he will eventually conquer them. Yes, on Saturday night, I asked to speak to him before I handed him over to her. And I could not have handed him over to a more loving and caring person.

Elena

It's over. My business relationship with Christian is finished. I am very lucky. He has chosen to gift the salons to me rather than liquidate them or demand some kind of promissory note for his share. It doesn't really surprise me that he didn't ruin me financially. He still feels guilty about Linc. And gifting me the business means that he can break all contact with me immediately.

He may break contact now, but I know that it is more from fear than strength. He knows that if he sees me again that he will be tempted. But he has always come to me in his difficulties. And he will not be free of difficulties just because he marries Ana. In fact, I predict that some of his difficulties will be caused by her.

I have not seen him since Saturday night. His lawyer phoned me yesterday and told me that he would bring the papers for me to sign today. I thought that perhaps he would send a personal letter or note, but there was nothing, only a series of contracts to sign. Ironically, they were signed on Tuesday afternoon at four.

The End