"There you are, you little shit." The bad man says as he spots me under the table. I cringe at the sound of his voice, rough and cracked from always smoking. He stomps toward me, and as he does I scramble back, my 8 year old body hitting the wall. "Don't you fucking scoot away from me. Don't be a bitch like your mother."

"Please, don't hit me," I murmur, my voice squeaky.

He laughs, and the harsh sound causes me to cover my ears. He rips my hand away from my face, grinning. "Oh, I'm not going to fucking hit you today." He takes a cigarette from his pocket, lights it, and then burns it into my leg. I scream out loud, but he only laughs, digging it in further. Nothing I do makes the pain go away, and so I stand there, wondering why my sister had to go off to college a couple weeks ago.

When he's done I hold my leg, biting my lip so I don't scream. "Oh, don't bite your lip. You know I get angry when you do that." He slaps my face, bending down right after that to kiss me. His tongue invades my mouth, and the smoke and his breath make me gag. He grins, pulling away. "You're mine."

I startle awake from the nightmare, my face sweating badly. Andrea comes running into the room, dressed to go to work. She works at Grey Enterprises Holdings Inc. as Christian Grey's assistant. She's worked there for about 4 years, and despite living with her for 10 years (I'm currently 23), I have never met Mr. Grey.

"Ana!" She says, rushing over to the bed. She gives me a hug, careful not to squeeze me too tight. I hug her back, relief washing through me. Andrea found me when I was 13 years old, crying in an alley when my abuser threw me out. She brought me to her house, and she has never forgiven herself for leaving me with that man. She has tried so hard these 10 years to make it up to me: big birthday parties (which I hate), big gifts (which I also hate), and even allowing me to be home-schooled for high school and college. I have never held a grudge against my sister, but no matter what I say to her I know she feels guilty. "You were having a bad dream again."

I nod, wiping my face with a tissue. I always keep a box of tissues on a stand by my bed for just these occasions. "I was 8. He uh, he came in and burned my leg with his cigarette. He then slapped me -" I shiver as the memories come back to me. My "relationship" with that horrible man lasted 5 years, and he did unspeakable things to me during that time. Because of him, I have never had the chance to have a normal relationship, too afraid of a man's touch.

Andrea holds me close to her. "Baby sister, I wish I could fix this for you."

I pull away from her slightly. "I know, but it's in the past. You can't."

She nods, holding me close to her again. "Come to work with me today. I can show you around, show you what I do." I nod, and she kisses my cheeks. "It will be a good way to get your mind off of things. I leave in 10 minutes. We'll pick up breakfast on the way. Get dressed." She hugs me again before leaving me to get dressed, looking at my ugly body in the mirror. Along with a few scars on my legs and thighs, there's one on my stomach, my back, and right over my heart.

Stop this, I say to myself, shaking my head. All I've done since I was 8 years old is hate who I am. That needs to stop. Hopefully this visit will be good for me.

Andrea pulls up outside of Grey Holdings at 6:30 am. The building is towering, intimidating, and overall quite impressive. I get out of the car, tugging my sweater tighter around me as I stare up.

"This is where you work?" I ask Andrea as I stand there, mesmerized.

She nods. "For four years now. Come on, I need to get ready before Mr. Grey comes in."

Andrea gives me a tour as we go through the lobby, showing me where the security offices are, the main floor board room, and a few other rooms I know I won't be able to remember. The executive floor is where we are going, and I turn around in awe as Andrea shows us the 20th floor.

"Usually Mr. Grey doesn't like visitors, but since you're my sister I don't think he'll mind."

I nod, unable to say much. I wrap my arms around myself tight as Andrea gives me a tour of the executive floor. She also gives me a rundown of what her day-to-day schedule looks like, and my eyes widen. She comes in earlier than the boss so she can get things ready for him, and she leaves after he does. She does all of his calling and scheduling, and whenever Mr. Grey has a problem he wants solved, he asks Andrea or his bodyguard, whose name I hear is Taylor.

"Mr. Grey is expected in one hour. Feel free to explore the building while I get things ready. It's only us and the security guards here at this time, so don't worry. I love you, baby sister," Andrea says to me, hugging me. I nod, heading back down to the first floor.

Once I am down there I go to the small cafe that is attached and sit down, waiting for my breakfast wrap and coffee. As I do I spot a copper-haired man with gray eyes sitting in the corner, talking to someone with his back turned to me. His eyes are beautiful, the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen. He seems tense, talking in a hushed voice and using his hands to make a point.

"Anastasia," the lady at the counter calls, my order ready. I say thank you and get my food, catching the eye of the copper-haired man. He excuses himself and gets up, coming over to me. I start to feel myself freaking out, memories coming back from my dream on how my attacker used to stalk towards me. Even though I am not getting the same vibe from this man, I still freak but I don't move. I can't move.

"Are you okay?" He asks, stopping a few feet from me. I nod, unable to talk. "Don't worry, I just want to say hi."

I breathe out, trying to get myself to relax. "Hi."

"Hi." He gives me a smile, and in return I smile back. Inwardly I wonder why I'm smiling; I don't smile a lot these days, but I smile at a man I don't even know? "Do you work here?"

I shake my head, unable to look away from his eyes. "No, my sister does. She's just getting for work, and I thought I would get something to eat."

Grey eyes nods, looking over at his friend. Slowly and gently he takes my hand, pressing a gentle kiss to it. "I have got to go, but hopefully we will meet again." Grey eyes nods to his friend, and together they leave. Once in the doorway though grey eyes turns around, one hand on the door frame. "I didn't get your name."

"It's Anastasia."

He nods. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Anastasia." With a smile in my direction he heads out, and it takes me a few seconds to recognize that he didn't tell me his name.

"Andrea, you will not believe what happened," I tell her, sitting my food down on the desk. She's on the phone with someone and holds up a finger for me to be quiet and hold on. I nod, walking around the waiting area, smiling at the thought of grey eyes. For the first time the presence of a male has filled me with something other than fear, although I did get scared a little when he was getting closer to me.

As my thoughts are focused I hear the elevator ding. Andrea stands up to attention, and when I see the man who walks out of the elevator I freeze. It's Grey Eyes.