Chapter 1 – In Search of Greatness
"We need something dynamic, Ana. We need something that will take the eBook world by storm! I'm talkin' 'top of the best seller list for the next two...three years' strong! What do you got?" Roach harps.
Jerry Roach ran the show for decades at Seattle Independent Publishing (SIP) until young billionaire mogul Christian Grey acquired it almost two years ago. SIP is now Grey Publishing, or GP for short. Today, the publishing company's CEO is a former editor's assistant who would later become editor in a very short period time. The young, porcelain skinned beauty with long, thick and layered brown tresses, was SIP's shining star. She cranked out manuscripts with detailed and precise notes at lightning speed as assistant to editor, Jack Hyde.
After a crazy ordeal where he turned out to be a major creep, Hyde is now spending most of his days behind bars for a laundry list of offenses. Hyde's last hurrah came at the expense of his assistant who so happened to be dating the company's new owner at the time of Hyde's employment. She would later marry that mogul. At the end of the day, the former assistant put a bullet in Hyde's leg after he tried to beat the living shit out of her. The confrontation came to a head when the young bride presented Hyde with his demanded five million dollar ransom from her husband's fortune in exchange for the life of her sister-in-law, who Hyde's co-conspirator Elizabeth Morgan kidnapped earlier that day. Hyde had previously blackmailed Morgan, then head of SIP personnel, for her participation, which ultimately backfired on him once she began cooperating with the authorities.
Today, Anastasia Grey, nee Steele, is now the #1 at GP. In spite of this, she does not take this responsibility lightly. She insisted that her mentor Jerry Roach stay on as a head of the company. Even though he is 'old school', he is quite the visionary. He sees things in a different but insightful light, which Ana truly appreciates. And with Roach still at the helm as president, it gives Ana the time she needs to take care of her infant son, Ted. She makes every effort to be present in the office at least twice weekly and works from home the remainder of the time. Today, Ana is present in the office, and Roach is picking her brain in an effort to energize their growing eBook roster.
"'Dream on a Monday'. Have you read that book, Jerry?" Ana inquires. Roach shakes his head. "I could NOT put it down," she continues. "I fell in love with that book. It's as if the writer knows the architecture of one's heart; what one goes through when they fall in love. This writer knows love." He listens intently, wishing that he were in the know. He witnesses her passion, but he has no clue on the exact reference of that passion since he has not read the book himself. "Give this book to your wife," Ana says as she takes the book out of her desk drawer and hands it to Roach. "Come back to me after she's read the book. Only after she tells you she loves it and then tells a minimum of three of her girlfriends about it will I give Bryan Ashford's people a call." Ana gleams, self-assured that Roach's wife will do just that. "Wow Ana. I will put your theory to the test. You're that confident that this Ashford fellow is the guy to take our eBooks division to the next level?"
"Yep," she succinctly replies, with a smile of assuredness.
"Alright. Don't work too hard. Get back home to that handsome little boy," Roach commands warmly before walking out of Ana's office with book in tow.
Ana's assistant Hannah enters the office after Roach leaves. Hannah is tall, thin, blonde, self-assured, precise and persistent. She brings in her small notebook computer and she is ready to go over Ana's schedule for the next two weeks. Hannah got off the phone a short time ago with Andrea, personal assistant to Ana's husband, Christian Grey. Andrea calls Hannah from time to time to let her know if there are any events that Mr. Grey would like to add to Ana's calendar.
"So, there is a ball benefiting foster children the weekend after next. Your in-laws will be at that one, so you may need Uncle Elliot and Aunt Kate to watch Teddy Bear so you and Mr. Grey can attend that one." Ana nods in acknowledgement. "I did move your meeting with Boyce Fox to Thursday since you're working from home on Wednesday."
"Good," Ana replies.
"However, you still have the appointment with Dr. Greene tomorrow, so don't miss that."
"Can you call her and have her make a house call? I'll have Teddy," Ana requests. Hannah nods to affirm.
If there's one meeting that does not move, that would be the one with Dr. Greene. The last time appointments with her got scheduled and rescheduled four times without Ana's knowledge, Ana ended up pregnant with Ted. It was never disclosed to either Hannah or Christian that this was the reason Ana missed her Depo-Provera shots back then, but Ana is making certain that an unplanned pregnancy never happens again.
"Did Mrs. Taylor pack your lunch today? I didn't see it in the fridge," Hannah informs. "No, Mr. Grey is taking me out to lunch today," Ana smiles. "Oh!" Hannah gleams back at her. "He should be here a quarter to one. Then I'll get back before two and work until four before heading home to Ted."
Mrs. Gail Taylor, formerly Mrs. Gail Jones, is the young Greys' housekeeper and is newly married to Christian Grey's right-hand man, Jason Taylor, or simply Taylor. Mr. Taylor does everything: He drives around Mr. Grey, he buys lingerie for Mrs. Grey, he whoops ass, if needed. Taylor is tried and true and Christian would not trust another soul with the lives of him and his precious cargo…his wife and son. And if there is someone else working security detail for the Greys, you better believe that they were vetted by and will report to Taylor.
Spend enough time at the Greys' two Seattle-area properties (the big mansion at the Sound and the penthouse on top of Escala in the heart of downtown) with Gail Jones, and you can't help but to fall in love with the attractive, kind and nurturing woman. And that's exactly what Jason Taylor did. He made her his wife. Together, they work in concert to keep things in order for the young Grey family, and nobody does it better than they do it.
Today, Gail is keeping the massive home by the Sound in order and babysitting baby Ted while his mommy and daddy are at work. Gail has two young adult children of her own, but no grandchildren so far. Therefore, she truly enjoys her time alone with baby Ted. Gail also has an eight-year-old stepdaughter, Sophie, who is Taylor's daughter with his first wife. Per the custody agreement, Gail and Taylor get Sophie every other weekend. The Taylors have their own abode right above the Greys' garage. They stay rent-free in just over 2,000 square feet of personal living space, which is more than enough for this modest-living couple.
"Teddy, do you want some Jell-O now?" Strapped in his high chair, Ted squeals and hops in place while slapping his excited hands against the flat surface in front of him. "Yeah buddy! Jell-O! Open up wide!" Gail playfully flies the spoon covered in cherry gelatin towards the excited baby's mouth while making airplane noises. "Mmmm! Isn't that yummy?!"
"Mmmmm!" Ted mimics while savoring the squishy treat.
Gail's phone rings and she takes it out of her front apron pocket. "Oh, it's daddy, Ted!"
"Dada dada," Ted vocalizes.
"Yes, Mr. Grey? Oh…is Mrs. Grey there with you?! Great! Let's get Ted on speaker phone." Mrs. Taylor switches her iPhone to speaker mode so Ted can hear his parents speaking. "Hey buddy!" Christian calls out over the phone.
"Dada dada!" Ted chants, excitedly.
"Uh oh, there he goes! When are you going to say 'Mah-mah', Teddy Bear?" Ana interjects. Christina and Ana are on the speaker phone of Christians R8 sports car headed to lunch, so they decided to give Mrs. Taylor a call to check in on Ted.
"Mmmmm!" Teddy mumbles.
"I think that's as close as you're going to get to 'Mommy' right now, isn't that right, Ted?" Christian smiles. Ted squeals in delight at the sound of his father's voice.
"Okay Teddy, I understand. Mommy still loves you very, very much. And I'll be home soon. And then tomorrow is Mommy and Teddy time, okay?"
Teddy now squeals in delight at the sound of his mother's warm voice.
"That's my Teddy!" Ana exclaims.
"Alright Gail, Ana should be home at 6:00 and I'll get there by 7:30. We'll let you and Ted go," Christian sternly informs.
"Alright, you two enjoy your lunch. Teddy, say bye bye, to Mommy and Daddy!"
The proud young parents chant 'goodbye' to their infant son before disconnecting the call.
"So, anything exciting happen at work so far?" Christian asks his wife as he approaches the parking lot of the small restaurant where they plan on having lunch. "I met with Jerry. Oh, I guess we need to see if Elliot and Kate are free the weekend after next to watch Ted. We have that benefit gala with your folks."
"Oh yeah, that's right. Andrea must of called Hannah about that."
"Uh huh."
"I'm sure Lelliot and Fake aren't doing anything but fucking around or getting drunk at the club."
"Christian!" Ana scolds her husband. He laughs in response, knowing that his newlywed brother and his wife are much more responsible than he just made them out to be.
Elliot Grey is Christian's free-spirited adopted older brother. Pediatrician Dr. Grace Trevelyan-Grey and her husband, lawyer Carrick Grey, adopted Christian and Elliot along with their little sister Mia. Mia is around the same age as Christian's young bride, Ana, who ironically helped save Mia's life from the lowlife kidnappers of SIP.
Kate (Katherine) Grey, formerly Kavanagh, is a firecracker rookie journalist. She and Ana go way back. They have been college roommates and best friends since day one at WSU. Shortly before graduation, Kate got the flu and begged Ana to drive hours away from their Portland apartment and interview young cocky mogul, Christian Grey in Seattle, who was also slated to do the commencement address at their graduation. In the end, Ana has Kate to thank for becoming a billionaire's wife and Kate has Ana to thank for drunk dialing Christian who would later bring his brother along to fetch Ana from the bar. Christian introduced Elliot to Kate, and the rest is history.
It is a known fact among the Greys that Christian and Kate absolutely do not get along, but no one ever speaks outwardly of it. However, the two feuding in-laws do have a mutual respect for one another. Kate respects that Christian is a good husband to Ana and a fantastic father to Ted, while Christian respects that Kate has taken one more man-whore off of the streets of Seattle. In all honesty, Christian does respect the fact that although she is an ambitious young journalist, sis-in-law Kate knows how to keep dark and dirty secrets to herself.
On the night of Christian and Ana's engagement announcement, which also happened to be at Christian's 28th birthday party, Christian and Ana feared that Kate would out the skeletons in Christian's closet. Kate stumbled on a sheet of paper that was folded in the pocket of a jacket that Christian left in her apartment back when Ana lived there. The paper was a printed email from then 'Anastasia Steele' to 'Christian Grey', and it argued some suggested revisions to a BDSM contract that Christian tried for weeks to get Ana to sign. After all of the back and forth, Ana never signed the contract. She would eventually break up with Christian for five days only to get back together, scrap the BDSM contract idea altogether, fall madly in love, and get married a very short time afterwards. Their engagement only lasted a month and Ana conceived Ted sometime during their three week European honeymoon.
Kate understands the 'falling madly in love' part of Christian and Ana's union. But what she doesn't fathom is Christian's kinky past as a dominant. She could never imagine the depth's this man has gone to before meeting his wife, who happened to be a virgin before they met him. All while his own family believed that he was either celibate or gay, Christian was fucking the shit out of at least fifteen women that Ana knows of anyway, in a span of four or more years. Each of the fifteen at a point in time took residence on weekends at Christian's massive penthouse apartment in Escala where he could do with them what he pleased. Most of these events would take place in his elaborate BDSM playroom. Even though Kate pressed Ana to find out how many women he has slept with beyond the 'submissive fifteen', Ana is satisfied with knowing the number is in the tens and not the hundreds. Ana has therefore closed the book on Christian's past, and encourages Kate time and time again to do the same. However, closing the book is a much more difficult task for the tenacious Mrs. Kate Grey to undertake.
Christian and Ana's lunch was brief, but satisfying. There was some work conversation sprinkled in with some talk about their son Ted. Christian and Ana head back to the car. Christian starts the car for the fifteen-minute trek to GP. "So, are you working late tomorrow too?" Ana softly asks her husband, in hopes that he would shoot the idea down. "I hope not. I miss you and Ted. I hate working late," he reveals with sincerity. Ana lets out a reluctant smile. She knows how things will end up. Ros, Christian's next-in-command, will pop up in Christian's massive office with a crisis, and then the two of them along with a few other major players will stay in the office until the wee hours of the night resolving the issue. There was a time when Christian put Ana far ahead of his job and hardly ever showed up to the office at all, totally relying on Ros to keep the ship afloat. However, when Ros threatened to leave Grey Enterprises Holdings (or GEH), Christian vowed not to put that much pressure on Ros ever again. Ana had a greater understanding why Christian stepped up his work schedule before Ted was born. However, since Ted has been here and since Christian has turned GP over to her, Ana has become less understanding each time Christian comes home after eight, which is most evenings. One time, he didn't get home until after midnight, which fueled a fight between the couple.
Fighting, they do well, but making up, they do much better. It's as if they both love to fight only because they know the making up part is much more passionate. The two can't be more different from one another. He was raised liberal, while she was brought up more conservative. He had a vast sex life before her, while he was her first and only sex partner. He sees black and white, and she sees the world in shades of gray. Perhaps that last part is the reason why she is so enamored with him and his many personalities. His behavior can be extremely irregular. One moment, he's loving; the next moment, he can be ball bustingly angry. He's a very passionate personality, regardless of what mood he's in. Ana's character is much more subtle, unless she is distraught. And although she can be passionate at times, it happens less frequently in comparison to her husband.
"I'm sorry, baby," he finally says to her.
"Sorry? For what?"
"For coming home late almost every night."
"Teddy misses you," she says, heartfelt.
"I know. I know," he empathizes. "I miss him too."
"You told me you were going to promote someone to help Ros out, therefore relieving you from most of the day to day things. If I didn't have Roach and Kay Bestie, I don't know what I would do," Ana sighs.
"No one currently on staff has proven to me yet to be as trustworthy as Ros. So, I cannot in good faith promote anyone to General Manager of Operations until I feel confident enough in the talent pool to do so."
"So are you saying you haven't hired any talented people?" Ana quips.
"Um, no. I'm not saying that. I'm saying that out of the talented people I've hired, I don't trust them as much as I trust Ros to run my company the way I want it to be run."
"Christian Grey, you are such a perfectionist," Ana teases.
"But, you already knew that, Mrs. Grey. I only promote perfection. I only marry perfection," he says, winking at his wife before setting his eyes back on the road. He catches her smile at the corner of his eye and he places a hand on her thigh, which is covered by a fitted gray skirt that sits just above her knee. He begins to massage her thigh in between moving the clutch of the sport car.
"I trust you to run Grey Publishing. And you have done a magnificent job doing so. I am looking forward to seeing what else you and your team have in store," Christian speaks softly to his wife.
"Yeah I'm excited about the eBook frontier. I got a hot new author in the works. He's tearing up the blogs…women are going crazy for this guy's work. He's taking modern romance to the next level," Ana reveals with enthusiasm.
"That Ashford guy, right? Those books you were reading while we were in Tahiti? Yeah, he's pretty good. That would be a great coup if you could procure him for the eBook division. Definitely some next level shit for GP," Christian boasts. Ana chuckles and her eyes sparkle at Christian. Even though her husband's the sole owner of a multi-billion dollar conglomerate, he will from time to time say or do things that remind her that he is still under thirty. Only Ana is fortunate enough to see this side of him regularly, as well as Ted. Christian's parents and siblings only recently began seeing this side of him, which being with Ana has brought out of him.
"Let me walk you in, sweetheart," Christian says softly to Ana as he parks the car in the lot adjacent to the building where GP resides. He exits the car, retrieves his wife from the passenger side, activates the locks and takes his love by the hand.
"Hi Claire," Christian says politely, but with his infamous professional demeanor…no smile.
"Mr. Grey! Hope you and Ana enjoyed your lunch," the kind receptionist harps. Christian then politely lets out a smile and nods to her to affirm her question, as he escorts his wife to her office. "I'll see you in a bit, Claire," Ana calls out as her and Christian approaches the middle of the office suite.
"Mr. Grey, Ana…welcome back," Hannah, whispers as she places her hand over the mouthpiece of the handset in the middle of a phone call. Christian and Ana both wave to her before entering Ana's office and shutting the door.