WARNING: This story features Christian Grey and Leila Williams as a couple! BUT the happily ever after is going to be Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey! IF YOU ARE NOT INTERESTED IN READING THE CxL PAIRING - EVEN IF IT IS ONLY FOR 17 CHAPTERS - THEN PLEASE GO READ SOMETHING ELSE BEFORE YOU START CALLING ME NAMES! THIS STORY IS ABOUT THE PROBLEMS OF A LOVE TRIANGLE; NOT THE RELATIONSHIP ITSELF. You might not get to read lots of Christian and Ana as a couple, so read with caution.

YOU ARE FREE TO LEAVE A REVIEW AS LONG AS IT IS MATURE AND POLITE! OTHERWISE I WILL SIMPLY DELETE IT! Thank you!

Table number four

Description: I loved him with every drop of my blood, with every beat of my heart and with every breath I took. I loved him more than Catherine loved Heathcliff, more than Julia loved Romeo and more than Elizabeth loved Darcy. This is the story of how I fell in love with the boyfriend of my best friend.

Disclaimer: All characters are based on the trilogy "Fifty Shades of Grey", "Fifty Shades Darker" and "Fifty Shades Freed" by E.L. James. This is only for pleasure, mine and yours, and I am not earning money from this.

NOT BETAED!

What's up, guys?

This is a new story that wouldn't let me sleep before I wrote it. I had planned to make a one shot out of this but there is too much to tell.

I know, in other fandoms it's not the most original idea but in our fandom there aren't much stories like this one.

What can I say about the story? Well, nothing much yet because I have to be honest with you. I didn't think this through to the end so we will see how the plot and the characters develop. Another thing is that I won't be uploading regularly – I never do, I know – and it's more like a side project. Originally, I had planned to write a few chapters before uploading the first one but I couldn't wait to see your reaction.

My main project is called "Thrill", another Fifty Shades of Grey fanfiction, so go check it out. You can easily find it on my profile.

Let's begin.

1. First time they met

I met Christian Grey on a Friday night.

I was sitting at our local bar with my friends where we enjoyed a couple of beers after an exhausting week of work. My friends and I were talking about work and how every 20 something years old doesn't earn enough to live in Seattle without having to spare at every little thing, when the doors of "Seatdown" - our favorite bar whose owner, José Rodriguez, thought that his play on words was hilarious – opened and Christian Grey stepped in with a few friends of his own.

He walked in with a cool and confident exterior, leading his friends to the bar where he greeted the bartender with a manly handshake – the stupid thing guys do whenever they fear to look feminine while greeting someone – and a breathtaking grin. As soon as the bartender has shared a few words with Christian Grey, he points to an empty table – number four - near us where the new visitors take place. Soon they have ordered their drinks and their laughter fills the bar.

I can't contain myself, my eyes are wandering back and forth between Christian Grey and my own friends. It's no surprise that he doesn't notice me staring. He talks with his friend, makes them laugh and is the obvious center of their group.

"Ana?" My best friend, Kate, waves with her hand in front of my face. "Are you still with us?" They laugh when I am startled.

"Huh?" I look at her as timid as a fawn which makes her roll her eyes.

"I asked you if you want another drink." She points with one of her manicured fingers towards my now empty glass.

"Oh. Yes. That would be great."

"Well, you still have to tell me what you want." Again, they laugh and I blush.

"Another beer would be great. Thanks, Kate."

"No problem, sweetie." She pats me on my head – a gesture that has always annoyed me – before she heads to the bar to get our drinks.

"What's on your mind, little Ana?" Luke, my colleague and friend, asks me with his dimples on show because of his grin. "Are you daydreaming about me?"

I stick out my tongue at him. "You wish."

Kate is back with our drinks, a beer for me and a pink, fruity thing for herself. It looks too pretty to be a drink and I assume that it tastes like pure sugar. Definitely not something for me. I don't like sugar, I rarely use it.

"Great. Ethan and Mia are on their way." Kate announces when she reads the new message on her phone. "They stopped by at the museum to pick Leila up."

"Tell them to hurry, I need another man on this table." Luke jokes and Kate throws a shredded napkin at him. I zoom out of their banter, where Kate tells him that a little estrogen never killed anyone, and my eyes are once again back on table number four.

There, a group of young men sits with their drinks in front of them and an easy conversation between them. All four of them are attractive in their own way, but the one with the dark copper colored hair and the laugh lines on his face was the most enchanting one. He seemed to carry beauty and grace in every one of his pores. The way he moved when he sat down or took a sip of his drink – like me, he was drinking beer – was not clumsy or out of phase. He was elegant while doing the simplest tasks. In my little world where men like him only existed in novels, he was a novelty and a great attraction. Having read so many novels, having watched so many movies about this type of man – the prince in the shining armor - , who always was the romantic hero, I fantasized about this prince being real. I imagined him to come into my life on a white mustang, confessing his undying love for me, whisking me away to his castle.

Of course, this was rather illogical and if somebody ever heard my thoughts, they would send me to the nearest psychiatry.

And also, I didn't know this guy. He looked fine, yes, but he could be a total dick. Who knew if his interior was as beautiful as his exterior?

"There they are. Finally!" Luke's voice takes me back to reality. He is pointing towards the entrance where the rest of our gang is stepping inside with their wet coats – Seattle is usually rainy. It doesn't take them long to notice us and soon there are seven people around our little table. Luke, who seems to be happy to have another male near him, engages Ethan in a conversation about the latest baseball games, leaving us girls to ourselves. Unlike men, women like to greet each other by hugging and kissing each other, a rather dramatic act as if we didn't see each other for months. In reality, we went to lunch together yesterday.

"I need a huge drink, ladies! I have been dying for one since this morning! My boss has been cracking the whip all day and I was this close to murder him." Leila, who is sitting besides me, starts to babble rapidly, obviously exhausted from working at a museum.

"Is he still tyrannizing you?" Kate asks after she took a sip of her drink which colors her lips slightly pink. Leila groans and leans back in her chair.

"You have no idea. He is a sadist. Whenever I am unhappy, he is happy. This can't be a coincidence!"

"You should sue his ass! I am sure it's against some kind of law, maybe the employment's rights or something." Mia jokes and makes us laugh. "Hey! If he enjoys another human beings misfortune than he is clearly acting against the human rights!"

"But the human rights don't affect him because I am doubting that he is human. He is Satan. The only things that affect him might be holy water and a crucifix."

"Maybe you should try to exorcise him like in this movie about the little girl..." Kate starts explaining one of her favorite movies but Leila interrupts her with her hands slightly in the air and a terrified look on her pretty face.

"Could you please stop talking about that movie? I still can't sleep since the last time we watched it." It's been nearly a month since we had a sleepover / movie night where we watched two romantic comedies at first and then Kate suggested to watch a horror movie and I don't know why we agreed to do that but soon we were watching one of the most disturbing things I had ever seen. I am also still trying to get over that night.

"Ana? Are you planning to stay silent the whole night?" Leila turns to me now and her tired face is sporting a grin.

"Maybe. Depends on how annoying you guys are." She giggles and lays her head against my shoulder. "Hmm. You sweater is so soft. Is that a new one?" Leila inspects my sweater which is nearly the same color of Kate's drink and made out of wool.

"Yeah. Yesterday, after work I went to the mall. You know the one besides my office? There was a sale in a shop and I got this sweater and these jeans." I point to my lap where my new, light jeans is hugging my legs. It's extra tight and if it didn't look so darn good I never would have bought it.

"Anastasia Steele! You went shopping? On your own?" Leila gasps, shocked that Ms. I-hate-shopping went to the mall voluntarily.

"Shocking, I know."

"It's more like the apocalypse, honey. But for a beginner, you were successful. Nice choice." Mia, our fashion icon, gives me a thumbs up. I feel blessed.

"Girls, what do you want to drink?" Ethan, who has raised from his seat, asks Leila and Mia.

"Ethan, I want a cocktail with lots of alcohol. In fact, forget the cocktail, bring me a Vodka Cranberry. Or two." Leila is in her element, looking fierce and determined to get drunk after a stressful week. Mia orders a pink, fruity cocktail like Kate's. We watch Ethan going to the bar where he greets the bartender – I think I know his name but I forgot it – with an equally manly handshake like the copper haired man did. My eyes wander back to table number four, where my mysterious prince is having fun with his friends. I wish he would look at me so I could see the color of his eyes. From here I can only guess that it is probably blue.

"Hey! Is this girl flirting with Ethan?" Mia shouts out furiously and my head snaps back to the bar where Ethan waits for his order while a petite blonde is trying to engage him to a conversation. Her body is faced towards his, while he leans against the bar with his front and only turns his head a little to answer her. Ethan is polite as always.

"Hey, missie! That's my fiancee you are talking to! Keep your paws to yourself!" Mia shouts and the girl besides Ethan is confused for a second before she realizes that Mia is talking to her. We see how Ethan tells her something with a grin on his face and holds up his left hand where his engagement ring – Mia insisted him to wear one – is on his ring finger. The blonde girl blushes deep crimson and wimps out to her group of friends who are giving Mia a nasty look. Mia may be small and thin, but if you anger her – usually this happens when women flirt with her man – she gets as brave as a lion. Her spiky, glossy, black hair and her light green eyes paired with her usual sweet behavior makes you think that she is harmless – but you should also know that she is regularly taking boxing classes at the gym.

With her possessive behavior, Mia manages something I would have done a backflip for: the guys on table number four take notice and laugh while they raise their glasses towards Mia. Mia takes Kate's drink and raises it towards the men.

"Well, hello there." Leila mumbles with an admiring look to table number four. "That's some piece of meat."

"Right?" Kate squeaks, her blue eyes now wide and glistening with an equal admiration. "I would do some dirty thing to that big blonde one. He looks like he could take down an army by his own. And you guys know how I like my men strong. We would make a great couple, two blondes against the world." Now she is sighing and by the way her eyes zoom off I can see that she is clearly daydreaming / fantasizing.

"Which one? Two of them are blonde." Mia asks and squeezes her eyes to get a clearer view of their faces – she refuses to wear her glasses.

"The one besides the dark haired one. With the green shirt which I would like to rip off."

"Uhh, Kate, he is too big." Leila grimaces.

"That's what she said." Kate jokes and makes us laugh. "Or hopefully that what I will say when I get him."

"Why does your man have to be blonde? Aren't you blonde enough? Your kids would look like King Joffrey!"

"Jamie and Cersei Lannister are hot!"

"Uhhh, Kate, they are siblings! That's just gross!" I make a face at her.

"The characters are siblings, yes, but the actors aren't!"

"Yeah, but then you should have said that Lena Headey and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau are hot!" Leila reproaches Kate for her mistake. "Anyway, I think the dark haired one is the hottest." Me too.

"He is too pretty. Never date a guy who is prettier than you."

"That's a stupid rule, Kate." Leila frowns. "Why shouldn't I date a guy who is pretty?"

"Because you will be the mortal enemy of every woman within your radius. And the pretty one's are usually not the type for long lasting relationships."

"Now you are just prejudging. It's like you are saying that every woman who is wearing a skirt is a slut." Mia is right. It's a clear case of double standards.

"I am talking out of experience, girls." Kate says when Ethan is back with the drinks and Luke who was silent until now puts an end to our discussion.

"Kate is right. That's why none of you is dating me." He winks and our banter is forgotten.

After a few rounds of drinks when Mia is slightly drunk and Ethan is trying to make her stop kissing him inappropriately in front of us, I catch Leila glancing at table number four. When our eyes meet, she just shrugs and her light blue eyes twinkle with playful guilt.

"He is really pretty." She sighs. "What wouldn't I do for a man like that."

It's not like she couldn't get him. Leila is as pretty as he is. She is a thin, tall brunette with curves in the right places. Whenever she smiles, you can see two dimples on her cheek and right over her lip she has birthmark which makes her full lips look like Marilyn Monroe – she hates this comparison but last Halloween I persuaded her to dress as Marilyn Monroe. We even replicated the famous white dress photograph with the help of a hairdryer. But aside from her exterior beauty, Leila is a caring, clever and sensitive young woman who doesn't take shit from anybody. She is ambitious, daring and confident. Leila Williams is everything I am not and that's what makes her my best friend. If Kate could hear my thoughts she would clarify that Leila is only one of my best friends.

Leila asks how my day has been and I tell her about work and how I spent most of the time at my desk as usual reading manuscripts. Luke and I work as readers at Seattle Independent Publishing. That's how I met Luke and soon he became a part of our group. Kate, Leila and I met at college where Kate and I shared a dorm room and Leila lived right next door. Thanks to Kate, we met Ethan and Mia. Since then we are inseparable, a group of young adults who try to find their place in the world.

"I think I am going to talk to him." Suddenly Leila is on her feet with a determined look on her face. "He can't reject me, can he? I am fabulous."

The other cheer her on while I am crestfallen. I should grant my best friend this handsome guy but internally I am dying. And I am overreacting. It's not like I have a claim on this guy. But when I watch her walk towards table number four with her hips swinging and her long black hair dancing to the rhythm of her walk and when I see how every men in this bar can't keep his eyes off her, I am jealous of her confidence. There she is, going to this handsome man, brave enough to talk to him. I could never do that.

We watch Leila approaching table number four, she puts her hands flat on the table and leans forward a little – she is doing her party trick by showing him a little of her cleavage – and from this far we can't really hear what she is saying but we can see the reaction of the men. They laugh suddenly and one of them – Kate's big guy – stands up and offers Leila his seat before he gets one of the empty chairs from another table. She smiles at him and sits down beside my, I mean her, prince. They look darn good together. He smiles at her, a smile that takes my breath away, and starts talking with her, maybe asking her questions, maybe telling her that she is so beautiful. Whatever it is, it makes her grin like a Cheshire cat. His eyes are never leaving hers, a knowing smile on his pretty lips while she talks. He is leaning back at his chair, on arm thrown over Leila's chair. His dark blue shirt only make me guess how muscular he really is. He doesn't look ripped as Kate's blondie, but he looks good. His face is structured perfectly, his nose neither to big or to small, his jaw looking sharp and his eyes, the color of which I am still not sure on, look alive. They look interested. Interested on Leila.

Soon she is in her element and the four man is hanging on her lips. Her pouty, red lips which are known to make grown men stupid. And I am sure whatever she is saying to them, it's as impressive as her beauty.

"That's my girl." Kate mumbles under her breath, sounding like a proud mother.

"Yeah." It's all I can manage out without giving away too much.

"What is she saying? Can you read her lips?" Mia asks curiously.

"You know how Leila is. She is probably bewitching them with the simplest story." Luke sounds thrilled at Leila's success. "She is as charming as I am."

We roll our eyes at his self compliment and Ethan tells Luke that he is being arrogant. Luke grins and says that Ethan is being jealous. They start to argue but we shush them, not wanting to miss Leila in action. She is putting a very good show, laughing at whatever joke the guys are telling, and low-key touching the pretty one, always small gestures like brushing his left hand whenever she reaches for some pretzels. Only people who know her can know that this is also a party trick of hers. "Body contact is the secret weapon of every attraction." She tells me this from time to time.

"He is soo in her trap by now." Kate's words make the reality harsher.

"You think?" I whisper back.

"Yeah. Even if she doesn't get in a relationship with him, he sure is in for a One-night stand." Crap. I am torn between being happy that he maybe doesn't to be her boyfriend and being sad by the thought that they could have sex.

Suddenly, Leila is pointing towards us while talking and laughing at something. I panic, my eyes are widely open, because we have been staring at them since Leila left our table. The four men turn towards us and that's when my eyes meet with the one's from the prince. He looks directly into my eyes, a smile on his lips, and I turn my head before I blush deep crimson. Crap. I don't dare to look back.

"Why did she point to us?" Kate and Mia asks themselves, Ethan and Luke stopped paying attention by now, while I try to focus on something else. I look towards the bar where the bartender – his name was Mike! Finally I can remember it – is serving a group of girls who giggle at whatever he is saying. I am concentrating on reading his lips, that's why I don't hear the group of people nearing our table.

"Guys, make a little room for my new friends." Leila's voice makes my heart stop for a second. Are they going to sit with us? Am I going to be close to the prince? I don't know if I could bare that.

"Ana, move your chair." I turn my head to Leila who is waiting for me to make room for our new guests and I am startled. I look at her, then look at her new friends who are carrying chairs for themselves, and with a sigh I move towards Kate with my chair.

"Everyone, this is Elliott," Leila points to Kate's big guy, "These are John and Jason." Now she is pointing to a small, dark haired guy with glasses and a big, hulking man with a no-nonsense attitude who only gives us a small smile. "And this is Christian." She introduces the prince with a grin on her face which he sees and he winks at her.

Christian. Christian. That's his name. It's fitting.

"I asked the guys if they want to accompany us." Leila, who is sitting between me and Christian, explains to us. "You know, the more the merrier."

Soon we find out a little more about our new friends. Christian and Elliott are brothers. They met Jason and John in college. Elliott is an architect, he is 32 years old and he is single – he winks at us ladies when he says that and makes Kate smirk confidently. Jason is the same age as Elliott and works as a bouncer in a club – no wonder he is so ripped. Unlike Jason who doesn't give away to much, John is very forthcoming and tells us that he is 27 years old, and studies psychology. He and Elliott are in their element, entertaining the whole table with anecdotes about college and drunkenness. Christian tells us that he is 29 years old and works as a Technician at Trevelyan Enterprises which is pretty impressive because the CEO of that establishment is known worldwide. When Ethan asks Christian about Mr. Trevelyan, Christian says that you would think as a CEO he would be less of a dick.

Like Leila, Christian is the center of attention. His words put a spell on everybody, fascinating us and making us addictive to them. He is as charming as beautiful he is. Crap. I wish he had a bad character, that would make it much more easier.

Everybody talks, even Jason, with everybody, the guys are nice and funny so it's easy to talk to them. But I only speak whenever somebody asks me a question because situations like this always overwhelm me. I fear that I will say something awkward or weird and that everybody will hate me. Afterwards I blame myself that I didn't speak because I will feel depressed at the thought that I wasn't able to speak with people. I will think of myself as a coward. I always do that. It's surprise that I was able to make friends with my group of people. If they weren't forward, I never would have managed to talk to them first.

Instead of communicating like a normal human being, I daydream about unrealistic events and unearthly situations who will never take place. I dream about being Elizabeth Bennett, meeting Mr. Darcy, dancing with him, earning his love, breaking his arrogance. I dream about Romeo who would die for me. And I dream about Heathcliff whose love for me would be the only good thing about him. I zoom out, lean back in my chair and my mind wanders to my happy place – my dreams.

The only place I am the one who makes her way to table number four, speaks to the prince and charms him. In my dreams, I am sitting where Leila is sitting and I am the one who get's the attention of Christian.

Have I captured your interest? What do you think? What's your thought on Ana and the others? How is the story going to develop? Leave me your thoughts and your opinions in your most appreciated review.

Xoxo Melii