This is my last finals week ever. Unless I go to grad school. Not knowing if I’m eventually going to grad school or not is really undercutting the magnitude of these “last ____ ever” statements.
Chapter Sixteen
The last chapter ended with Ana at work, back from her weekend trip to Aspen, when suddenly her secretary and security team tell her that Christian’s mentally unstable ex-sub Leila has arrived at the building!
“Mrs. Grey, Leila Williams is on your proscribed list of visitors.”
“What?” I have a proscribed list?
“On our watch list, ma’am. Taylor and Welch have been quite specific about not letting her come into contact with you.”
I frown, not understanding. “Is she dangerous?”
She broke into your apartment with a gun, Ana. What do you fucking think?
Ana decides that, for some reason, she wants to talk to Leila. Her security team reluctantly agrees, and states that they’re going to search Leila first.
I’ll grant her this concession. Besides, last time I met Leila, she was armed.
Goddammit, Ana.
Ana learns that Christian has already been informed that Leila’s there, and knows that he’ll be there soon and so she doesn’t have much time to talk to Leila. She then cancels her next appointment that’s later that afternoon so she has more time to talk to Leila. I wish I was making this up. Ana goes in to meet with Leila, and finds that Leila brought another woman.
“Mrs. Grey, thank you so much for seeing me.” Leila’s voice is soft but clear. [...] “This is my friend, Susi.”
“Hi.” I nod at Susi. She looks like Leila. She looks like me. Oh, no. Another one.
Ana meets more of her husband’s exes! Awkward! Amusingly, she gets this one right:
“Yes,” Leila says, as if reading my thoughts. “Susi knows Mr. Grey, too.”
What the hell am I supposed to say to that? I give her a polite smile.
The situation continues to be weird as balls (the technical term).
“We call ourselves the sub club.” [Susi] grins at me, her eyes shining with mirth.
Oh my God, I love this. E L James basically wrote the name of her fanbase into the novel, as though in fear that her readers wouldn’t come up with something clever enough themselves, which, given the people who enjoy these books, is probably a valid concern. But seriously, she wrote in the name she wants the fangirls to call themselves.
If Benedict Cumberbatch plays Christian Grey in the movie, then we can call them “subclubberbitches”
Christian calls Ana, furious at her. Ana doesn’t give a fuck.
“Don’t shout at me.”
“What do you mean don’t shout at you?” he shouts, louder this time. “I gave specific instructions which you have completely disregarded—again. Hell, Ana, I am fucking furious.” [...]
“Good-bye, Christian.” I hang up and switch off Prescott’s phone.
Leila explains that she’s there to thank Christian for helping her, because apparently Leila has recovered from her mental instability in the three or so months in which this novel has taken place.
“To thank him. I’d be rotting in a stinking prison psychiatric facility if it wasn’t for him. I know that. [...] I suffered a serious psychotic episode, and without Mr. Grey and John—Dr. Flynn . . .”
Leila comments on how Christian is different and happier with Ana than with her.
“He seemed very happy. With you,” she says.
[...]“How would you know?”
“From when I was in the apartment.” She adds cautiously.
Oh hell . . . how could I forget that?
I don’t know, Ana. You really need to keep better track of all these people who are trying to murder and/or kidnap you.
Christian enters the room, fires Ana’s security person, and yells at Leila to stop harassing him and Ana, saying that he’ll cut off all the medical and therapeutic support he’s giving her if she returns to the West coast. It’s actually kind of a genuinely fascinating scene, because Ana’s horrified but Leila accepts it because this is the controlling version of Christian she knows. Of course, it’s also fascinating for reasons that were certainly not intended, because Ana only ever thinks about how she disagrees with Christian’s behavior, so she’s actually submitting to it the whole time just like Leila, demonstrating once again that Christian is still a controlling asshole and Ana’s basically running on Stockholm Syndrome.
Ana and Christian fight and talk about their love and kiss and make up and end up having sex and it’s even getting old to say that it’s getting old because we’ve read it all before. Ariel and I both just completely skipped over the last eight pages of this chapter in our posts and neither of us care. Although there is this one interesting moment halfway through before it immediately turns back to being the exact same thing we’ve read a million times again:
“Christian.” My voice is weary. “I’m tired of having the same argument with you.”
We are too, Anastasia Steele. We are too.
And the chapter ends with the sudden plot twist that Ana’s dad, Ray, has been in an accident and it in the hospital, so, uh, look forward to next week’s jokes somehow about that?
