Christian Grey was stressed. It was early evening Sunday. He was in his home office, reviewing his schedule for the coming week. There was nothing too pressing. He had a commencement speech to give at WSU on Thursday, a student would be interviewing him Monday afternoon for the special graduation edition of the school paper. It was not the kind of interview he usually gave, he usually did not give interviews, but the journalist had been... dogged in her pursuit. It was charming, in an annoying way. But it would be simple enough and perhaps a good distraction. Work was not what caused him stress. Work was where he excelled; Where he had the most control; Where he found it easiest to keep his demons at bay.

Christian's stress was not about work…it was about the itching in his palm, and the submissive he'd contracted, the one who was currently in his kitchen preparing one of the last dinners she would prepare for him. Elena had procured the woman for him. Alice Porter was beautiful; tall and slim, with sharp, brown eyes and sleek, dark-brown hair. She was a few years older than he, in her early thirties. And, for all intents and purposes, she was perfect. Witty and intelligent…successful- outside of his contract, she owned her own party planning business and had recently acquired a catering company. And she was perfectly submissive. She'd been his sub for the past 3 months, and the contract would come to an end the following weekend. He did not feel like renewing. He could not even begin to explain why. If asked, he would have to agree, she was perfect. He just…wanted more.

A soft knock on his office door jerked him from his thoughts.

"Come in, Alice." He knew it was her. She was the only other person in the apartment.

The door creaked open and she stood just inside his office, her head was bowed slightly and her hands were behind her back. A soft smile played on her pink lips. She wore a pale lavender shift dress that hugged all her curves while still managing to look elegant. A frilled white cooking apron was tied over her clothes.

"Dinner is served, Master." Her voice was soft and melodic, very pleasing. She adopted a different voice when she subbed for him, softer and a tad more high-pitched than natural. He liked it, he knew she liked doing it. He just wished it didn't sound so phony. He stood from his desk, straightening his shoulders and adopting the domineering profile that made her wet.

"Set the table for two. You will join me, this evening, Alice." She nodded and quickly exited the room. He did not always allow his subs to eat with him. He found the act felt too domestic, too much the opposite of what he wanted. He gave Alice a few minutes to prep things before he walked into the dining area. She was standing at his side of the table, his plate set out for him, with stuffed chicken breast, potatoes, and fresh green beans. She was pouring his wine for him when he appeared. That secret smile immediately returned to her face and she lowered her head slightly, silently moving to pull his chair out for him. Perfect.

He unbuttoned his suit jacket and took his seat. He nodded for her to do the same. She moved to the side of the table so that she would be seated next to him, rather than across from him, and took her seat. He knew her well enough to know she looked nervous, as if she knew what the was about to say. He decided it best to get it over with.

"This will be your last Sunday with me." He announced. "The three months we agreed upon will be up next Saturday. I will not be renewing your contract at that time." He heard her near-silent intake of breath. He regarded her, the way her shoulders tensed. She stared steadfastly at her plate. He continued. "You will return to Escala next Friday as previously agreed upon, and But Saturday will be our last day under this arrangement. Do you understand?" He knew she did, but he needed to hear it.

"Yes Sir." She spoke softly, still staring at her plate. He waited for her to say anything else, to argue or question. She remained silent. Finally, he took his fork and tucked in to a piece of the chicken, and immediately choked on the amount of salt he tasted. He reached for his wine and sipped it down but she noticed the strangled sound and her smile was back. He could not help but grin as well. Alice was absolutely dreadful at cooking. But she tried, the poor girl, for him, she tried. If he had had plans to renew the girl's contract he would have insisted on cooking lessons as part of the agreement terms for the next period. He eyed the green beans speculatively and took a bite…they were better than the chicken, a little too much garlic, perhaps, but better. She ate as well, and a comfortable silence settled between them.

Toward the end of the meal Christian found himself distressed at her ready acceptance of his refusal. He knew he was being childish, but he had half expected her to throw herself prostrate at his feet and beg for a contract renewal. They finished their meal and she cleared the plates. She was about to finish with the cleaning when he grabbed her wrist, stilling her. She still wore her apron and her easy acceptance of his dismissal had his palm twitching. She was beautiful, and he wanted to watch her skin turn that rosy pink color once more before he let her go.

"Be ready in the playroom in 10 minutes." He snapped. Her smile was back and he could sense the electricity radiating off her body from her excitement. The cooking and the cleaning she did out of dedication to the contract, and to the scene. But this…This was her favorite part.

"Yes Master."

The next morning, Christian sat at his breakfast bar enjoying a cup of coffee. He heard Alice before he saw her. She'd spent the night in her room as was usual on Sundays, and she came barreling down the stairs in a hurried fashion. She was on the phone, he noted, eavesdropping.

"No no NO that will NOT work just as well. We paid to have those new ovens delivered Tuesday, and they are going to be delivered Tuesday. I don't CARE what Marco has to say. He better have two industrial ovens, ready for install. Tuesday. And if he can't deliver, feel free to tell him that, per our contract, we will happily go elsewhere for our purchase and take the full refund and time-lost compensation stipulated in clause two." She paused her conversation listening to the other end, no doubt, as she bustled into the kitchen.

She hadn't expected to see him. He usually waited for her to leave before he emerged from his study, or he would get an early start and leave Taylor to lock up after her. But he had been in no rush this morning. She flushed when she saw him and then flashed him a brilliant smile and mouthed a "sorry!" at him. She was wearing a navy pencil skirt and a white silk blouse, she wore matching navy pumps and had her hair pulled into a tight bun, a few loose dark tendrils framing her round face. She really was beautiful. He was a bastard. He found her to be most beautiful bound and gagged, and flushed, waiting for him to have his way with her. He was a sick man.

"Good. Yes , yes I am sure he will agree as well. Keep me informed. No. Yes. I am heading into the office now. I will be there in 15. If the Larkins call, tell them everything is handled, the venue will be ready to go by the 12th, they are working overtime to complete the reno. Yes. Very good. See you soon." She clicked her cell phone and threw it in her purse.

Alice was half way out the door in the foyer before she paused, turned around, and regarded him. Her eyes glittered with humor and understanding. She held his gaze a moment, before lowering hers and tip toeing back to his side. He remained still, impassive. She leaned forward, the ghost of her breath caressing his ear.

"I'll see you next Friday, Mr. Grey. One last hurrah, yeah?" She leaned back, her tone was soft, deferential, but almost teasing as well.

"Yes. Friday. Taylor will pick you up from work." She nodded her affirmation and turned to leave. And Christian felt a stab of guilt. He grabbed her wrist once more and pulled her back to him. She stood in front of him, obediently. "If there is anything you desire that we have not done in the last 3 months, submit your request to me via email before Friday. I will…consider it, when I take you into the playroom for the last time." A broad smile was his reward, and Christian thought, if he had a heart, it would have warmed at the sight.

"Thank you…Master." She grinned at him, teasing again, and bounded back out the foyer, pulling her phone back out to make another call. Christian sighed to himself, and grabbed his own things to ready himself for the office. His Monday was going to be 80 percent meetings. And one annoying interview… His palm twitched.

Anastasia Steele was going to kill Katherine Kavanagh. She had never been more humiliated in her life. There she'd been, sitting across from a demi-god, making an absolute fool of herself.

"Are you gay, Mr. Grey?" She'd actually asked him that. After she'd fallen flat on her face in his office, and after she'd already shown her complete ineptitude as a fill-in journalist. If Kate thought she was going to fill in for her EVER again, the woman had another thing coming.

Ana sighed to herself, consoled only by the fact that she would never have to see the man again. She just needed to get through her finals next week. Then she could worry about being embarrassed.

"Anastasia Steele" Christian tested the name out on his tongue, rolling out each syllable. It was a lovely name.

"Anastasia." He liked the way the name felt on his tongue. "Anastasia."

She was perfect.

She had been nervous, he could tell, and her clothes had been a nightmare. Her hair hadn't fared much better, the whole effect had her looking very young. But the way her face flushed when she felt embarrassed…that had been beautiful. He wanted to see her entire body flush that beautiful pink color. He was not a betting man, but he was willing to wager a cool million that she looked stunning naked.

He needed to have her. He had not expected to find a new submissive so quickly, but she was a natural, the way she'd addressed him "Yes Sir, thank You Sir…" the way she kept averting her gaze rather than holding his. He usually went through Elena for the procurement of his submissive, she had a good eye and she knew what he liked and what he needed. But he thought, something had been lacking in his previous subs, perhaps, he should try his luck on his own this time.

"Anastasia …"

Christian called Welch, his head of security, immediately, requesting a full background check on the girl. He would woo her, make his move, bring her into his world…He needed it. He needed her.

That task done, he paged Andrea, asking her to send in his next appointment. He would be working remotely out of the Heathman in Portland the next few days until after the graduation ceremony, so he needed to get through as many meetings in person as he could before then.