Chapter 1 – Who's That Girl

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

I'm bored.

Another day, another dollar. I've mastered the game. Making money comes quite natural for me now. In fact, I have so much of it that there's just no time to spend even an eighth of it. Even if I gave it all away, with my aptitude, I'd simply earn it all back in a short period of time.

This morning, I didn't have the opportunity to go out for a run like I had the day before due to an offsite breakfast meeting. After my meeting, I enter my state-of-the-art headquarters in the heart of Seattle.

Grey House gives me a strong sense of pride. In just a few short years, I have managed to grow a massive empire. I have carefully selected the right individuals to help take my company to the next level.

Not to say that everything's perfect, but I believe that I have things under control. Control and order are in my DNA. It's what I do. I am a natural born leader.

So with all of these factors going for me, why do I feel so…unfulfilled?

Well, it has been more than a couple of months since Susanna, my last submissive. Perhaps it's time to search for my next candidate.

I told myself that I needed to try something different. I've gotten bored with the lifestyle. After time, every submissive ends up wanting…more. I don't have time for that shit.

Also, I have no peers – fellow dominants to sharpen swords with. Elena's no longer in my extremely small circle. So now what?

It would be nice to just get laid without all of the bullshit.

"Good morning, Mr. Grey! I hope you have a wonderful day!"

Lord. The ditsy blonde behind the main reception desk is ogling me. This shit's getting old. I give her a quick nod and catch the open elevator just before it closes.

As I step in, I notice a brunette leaning against the back wall wearing a black skirt and blue blouse. Hmm, I've never seen her here before. Is she new? I quickly face the panel of buttons and select my floor. I see that she's going to the 8th floor. I didn't catch much of her, but from the quick glance that I did get, she's…cute. As the doors close, I look straight ahead…and I instantly want to give the Grey House cleaning staff a raise.

The stainless steel doors of the elevator are without spot or blemish. And I can clearly see my reflection. I can also see the girl standing behind me. Is she checking me out? Does she know who I am?

It appears that her eyes are so fixated on my profile that she doesn't notice that I am in fact looking at her. She's – dare I say it? Yes. She's beautiful. And she's a brunette…exactly how I like 'em.

Who is this girl? I must know.

Suddenly, the elevator door opens and I look up to see that we are now on the 8th floor. She quickly darts out. Why the rush, sweetheart?

Sweet lord – she has a lovely ass. Oh, the things I could do with that. My appetite is instantly stimulated and I lick my lips. It's the first time I've been aroused in quite some time.

Yeah, I need to find out who she is.

The moment I arrive on the 20th floor, I ask my PA to get me someone from HR on the line. I don't care who answers…I need to find out who this new girl is.

What the hell are you doing, Grey? You can't fuck her anyway.
Still – I'm curious. Extremely curious.

"Yes Sir," Andrea, responds as she immediately gets on the horn. Meanwhile, Olivia, my other assistant – being her usual annoying self, gapes mindlessly at me. I ignore her and head straight to my office, shutting the door behind me.

That girl on the elevator looked quite young. I hope she's at least twenty-one years old and not some too-young college intern that's here for the summer.
Soon, my intercom beeps.

"Sir – I have Katie Burns from HR on line one for you," Andrea announces.

"Put her through," I say. Andrea patches Miss Burns through and drops from the call.

"I would like a list of the newest hires located on the 8th floor," I order. I am secretly hoping that the brunette on the elevator wasn't just visiting the 8th floor, or my quest to find out who she is may be somewhat difficult.

"Sure Sir. How far would you like me to go back?" Miss Burns asks.

Hmm… For all I know, the brunette may have been here for much longer than this week. I'm a very busy man and I am sure that there are many faces that work here that I have yet to see.

"Go back a month," I decide. If I can't find her this way, I may have to try another route.

"Sure thing, Mr. Grey. I'll email you that list right away," Miss Burns replies.

Not ten minutes later, I comb through the entire list of 8th floor new hires sent by HR. I funnel out all of the males, leaving me with nine female employees. Out of the nine, four of them have headshots on the employee portal. My list is now whittled down to five. I pull up HR's database and discover that only three of them are in their early twenties. She has to be one of them. These three candidates will probably have ID badges in the system by the end of the week. That'll help.

My phone rings. It's Ros, my number two wanting an update on my morning meeting. I put off my brunette search for the time being.

….

I skip my regular lunch workout with my trainer Claude Bastille for yet another business meeting at a nearby restaurant.

A telecommunications firm located not too far from Grey House is in the market for a more robust network – and they heard that GEH may be able to show them the light. I decide to take the initial meeting alone without Ros or my top tech guys. This could be a huge account for us.

After a productive meeting, I hop into the backseat my car while my driver holds the door open for me.

"Sir, Andrea wanted me to let you know that your early dinner reservations with your brother are all set for Saturday following your biking excursion," Taylor informs me. I simply nod. I'm not sure why Andrea felt the need to have Taylor tell me this. When I want something done, I expect that it will be so and that's the end of it.

Taylor climbs inside and puts the Audi into drive. And out of nowhere, I get a flashback to this morning on that elevator.

The brunette.

The 8th floor is predominately finance. The brunette doesn't strike me as someone who would work there. Maybe she's in the New Graduate Program. She could simply be on a rotation. Then I idly wonder if any of the final three in my list of new female candidates on the 8th floor are in the NG Program. I'll have to look into that when I return to the office.

When I enter Grey House, there is no sight of the ditzy blonde welcoming committee. Strange. I immediately call the elevator before one of them surfaces. My mind is focused on narrowing down this list of three and finding my new brunette. I press the button for my floor.

Suddenly, someone breezes in before the elevators doors shut.
Well, slap me down. It's my brunette. Today is definitely my lucky day.

She's apparently shocked to see me. And now, it appears that she is staring me down. Yes doll, I run the place. I hate it when people that I don't interact with regularly treat me like an alien.

I'm still human, baby – just a very powerful one.

"What floor?" I murmur sweetly to her. Good lord…she's blushing now. However, she's more beautiful than what I remembered seeing in that reflection of the stainless steel doors. I'm so glad that I now have an excuse to study her features directly.

Yep – she's the full package.

"Eighth, please. Thank you," she says in a very timid voice. And it looks like she'd rather be anyplace than in here right now. Oh baby – I won't bite. Yet.

"Finance?" I say with a slight grin. She nods her reply, not saying another word.
Cat got your tongue, sweetheart? I'll get you to speak.

Before I can prompt her to speak, she does me the favor.

"I see that you're special," she says under her breath.
Whoa – excuse me? Where in the fuck did that come from? I raise a brow at her.

"Why do you say that?" I reply.

Yeah baby…I know that I am special. And if I could, I'd show you a completely different side of me to prove to you how 'special' I really am. It's a side of me that no other female in this building has ever seen before.

It's the side of me that'll keep that sweet ass of yours from being able to walk for days at a time.

"Well, I was told that only assholes work above the 17th floor and that only special people or people about to get fired go up to the 20th. Since this is my second time seeing you go up the 20th floor today, you must be quite special," she rattles off mindlessly. I gape at her.

You gotta be fucking kidding me.

Did this little girl just call me an asshole?! Is she serious?! Does she not know who the fuck she is talking to?! It's taking everything in me not to let loose on her right now and make her regret what she just said.

No…I don't think she even has a clue who I am. If she knew, I'd guarantee that those very words would have never escaped her lips. No one ever talks to me like that. Nobody. When people who work in this building are in my presence, they are very careful with their words. The brunette obviously doesn't know who the fuck I am. This girl must be brand spanking new.

In fact, a good spanking is exactly what she needs.

Yeah…I wouldn't fire her. I simply want to torture the hell out of her. I want her to scream out "Mr. Grey" repeatedly in a plea for mercy. Then when I'm done torturing her, I'd fuck her so hard that she would no longer speak.

Damn…it's getting hot in here.

"I see," I say, unamused. Yeah…she obviously has no clue who I am. Let's just see how new Miss Smart Mouth really is. Fuck – we're on the 8th floor. I don't have much time.

"Are you new?" I quickly ask. She responds with a nod.
Don't hold your tongue now, girl. I need to know who you are. I need to know who to punish.

"First day," she adds.

Jackpot. Now all I need to know is which of my three final contestants just began working here today. She just made my task a lot easier.

Get ready for the ride of your life baby. I'm going to have some fun with you.

And just as she does this morning, she can't get out of the elevator fast enough.

Oh…I'll be seeing you again real soon, baby. You can count on it.

"Have a great day," I say as she quickly crosses to the other side. To my surprise, she turns around to look at me. Before me, I see the most captivating blue eyes that I have ever encountered. And even though she appears to be mortified, her beauty can't help but to shine through.

Wow.

The closing doors finally obstruct my trance.

….

Anastasia Rose Steele. Young. Inexperienced. First real job. Recent college graduate.

And on paper, there is nothing truly fascinating about this girl. She's very bright – graduating in the top of her class at WSUV. She has an English degree, which means she has no background in business whatsoever.

Why in the hell did the NGP team hire this girl?!

I have no idea what possessed them to give her a shot other than her being a WSUV alum. Regardless of why she's here, I think I just found the key to alleviate the boredom that recently started to grate on me.

I am going to have some fun with this girl.

I have to be creative. Unfortunately, I can't have fun the way that I am accustomed to having fun with little brown-haired girls such as her. With an ass like Steele's, I'm sure that little sweet box of hers is quite tight…and moist.

Fuck! Grey – pull yourself together!

I'm at my desk and I have to tell my cock, 'Down boy!' by reacting to my wayward thoughts. I can't even walk out of my office like this! It's been way too fucking long for me.

I really need to get laid.

Miss Steele is in the beginning of a three month rotation in finance. I need to know what her supervisor Brad Smith has her working on. Perhaps I can start there and come up with a different project for her. A special project. A project that will force her to interact with me on a regular basis.

I don't know why I am so inclined to see her again…but I am. I want to fuck with her head. I want her to know why I am sitting up here way above the 17th floor, and she isn't.

I'll show her who 'the asshole' truly is.

Maybe she'll quit her job by the time I'm done with her. Then after that, perhaps I'll slide her my private phone number and later introduce her directly to my dick.

Shit! I shake away my wayward thoughts. This is getting quite ridiculous. I've never gone this long without sex.

I really need to do something about this.

….

Thursday, June 23, 2011

It's three in the morning and I've been playing on my piano for over an hour. I can't sleep – not even one wink.

Oh, what to do with little Miss Steele?

I can't get the girl out of my head. It's frustrating. Is it…infatuation?
Hell…I'm too old for this shit. This is fucking juvenile.

And I have a flashback in the middle of the fugue.
'Well, I was told that only assholes work above the 17th floor…'

What in the hell are people telling this girl about my company! I am fucking sick and tired of the Grey House Rumor Mill. I have a mind to just fire everyone that continues to perpetuate this bullshit. There's an ugly perception that is breeding, and I don't like it one bit. So what to do about it?

If Grey House is sick, we need diagnose the problem. Well, what's the first step when someone goes to the emergency room? There's a triage. What happens in triage? Well first, they take a pulse…

The lightbulb instantly goes off. That's it. We need to take a pulse. I quickly leave my piano mid-composition and I make the trek over to my study in order to download all of my thoughts in a document.

….

"So what's this bright idea that you wanted to talk to me about, Christian?"

Ros and I sit across from one another over lunch at a restaurant not too far from the office.

"Well, I think that we need to kick up our employee satisfaction initiatives. I'm afraid that we are going to start losing top talent to some of our competitors if we don't get a handle on things soon," I say plainly.

"I'm with you there, Christian. What are you thinking?" Ros says, fully engaged.

"We need to survey the entire building. In addition to an online questionnaire, we need to implement some one-on-one interviews with key players from every department. That'll give us a solid baseline," I propose.

I stayed up all night putting these thoughts to paper. I know exactly how I want this done and exactly who I want to do it all.

"That's a wonderful idea, Christian. Do you want me to get the entire human resources department on that?" Ros offers. Oh no, Ros. This is a special project. And I have someone very special in mind that I want working on this – exclusively.

"That won't be necessary. This is an extremely critical project and I need a resource fully dedicated to this effort that will live and breathe this project. HR doesn't have the capacity I need to get the job done," I explain.

"So, should we hire a third party?" Ros says with a look of uncertainly.

"No. We do this within. We need someone internal that will bring an unbiased perspective to the output. Someone who isn't jaded and hasn't been working here for very long," I reply.

I know good and fucking well who I'm selecting for this project. It's non-negotiable.

"Christian…you said 'someone'. A project of this magnitude requires a team. It'll also take months to pull all of this data together," she argues. I give her a smirk.

"Well, I'm giving this project to one person and they will only have one month to do it," I say cut and dry. She gapes at me.

"Are you out of your mind? Whoever gets this assignment will surely quit! You dumping such a critical initiative on one person's back with such a brutal timeline will be counter intuitive to your 'employee satisfaction' initiative! This person will be far from satisfied, Christian!" Ros snaps. I grin at her.

Oh, Ros – I hope that is not the case. I will take great joy in satisfying the delectable Miss Anastasia Steele. Dammit! I shake away the wayward thought.

"Ros, I have a feeling that the person I have in mind will be able to handle the stress. This individual is new and bright. They are ambitious. This would be the perfect opportunity for them," I say in an attempt to sell my candidate. Ros arches a brow.

"Do I happen to know who this person is?" Ros says with an expression that's dripping of skepticism. Oh ye Ros of little faith.
"No. this person is brand new and they come to us from the new graduate program. This will be their only project for the next month," I say.

"I don't know, Christian. It's such a huge responsibility for a brand new employee and recent college graduate. I hope that you don't singlehandedly destroy the NGP in the process," Ros sighs.

"I will do no such thing. You have to trust me on this," I plead with my number two. Ros, have I ever led you astray?

….

Taylor drops Ros and I off back at Grey House – and the two of us enter the building together. On the way in, I see the back of Brad Smith…one of the supervisors in finance. He also so happens to be Miss Steele's boss. I decide to give him a head's up on what's to come.

"Brad," I call out. He's startled when he turns around and sees me. Oh lord. It annoys me when these people freak out about seeing the big boss.

"Mr. Grey! Ms. Bailey!" he says, overly enthusiastically.

"Brad, I wanted to let you know that I'll be in touch with you sometime today. It's nothing to be alarmed about. Just expect my phone call," I say cryptically. Smith gapes at me, but he tries to cover it with an exaggerated grin.
Give me a fucking break.

"A…absolutely Mr. Grey. Please…feel free to reach me on my cellphone. The number is listed in the employee directory," he says, stuttering. I nod at him and the three of us proceed towards the elevator where the door is already open.

Well…look at what we have here – its little Miss Steele! Instantly, she tenses up upon seeing me. She's standing right beside the personal assistant of my head of M&A, who also freezes.

Oh…I am about to have me some fun.

I can hear Smith greeting the two girls behind us. I turn to Ros.

"The person I want working on the project is in this elevator," I say so that only Ros can hear me. She gapes at me.
"Smith?" she discretely mouths. I shake my head. Nope – not Smith.

"Who?" she mouths again.
"You'll see," I murmur, grinning deviously. Ros rolls her eyes at me.

Smith exits the elevator on the 4th floor leaving Ros and myself along with the two young ladies standing behind us. And the moment I see Ros looking directly at the stainless steel elevator doors, I know exactly what she is doing.
I pulled the same shit just yesterday.

"You're out of your damn mind, Christian," Ros whispers, trying to disguise her disdain for me.
"I told you to trust me. I know what I am doing," I respond quietly.
"I've never seen this individual before in my life. Someone who knows the company well should undertake this," she discretely argues. I shake my head in disagreement.

"Like I said, I want a fresh perspective. This individual will be able to contribute that," I counter. Ros shakes her head at me as the elevator dings. We are now on the 8th floor. If Miss Smart Mouth doesn't know who I am by now, she's about to find out.

It's show time, Grey.

I turn to face Miss Steele in the back of the elevator, highly anticipating her departure.

She is so fucking attractive.
In spite of this, I put on my game face.

"Miss Anastasia Steele," I greet her with a bullshit smile. Immediately, her complexion turns white.

Yes baby, I know exactly who you are.

And I can tell that she wants to say something, but nothing comes out of that sexy little mouth of hers. I decide to add insult to injury. I extend my hand and she quickly takes it. Firm handshake, Miss Steele. Impressive.

"Christian Grey, Head Asshole. Pleasure to meet you," I introduce myself with my best poker face.
"Wha – " She's at a loss for words as she stumbles backwards and out of the elevator. Thankfully, she doesn't bust her ass.

Got cha.

"Have a great day, Miss Steele," I say. And I give her a smile that I hope frightens the living shit out of her. Chew on that for a bit, baby. I'll definitely be in touch soon.

That was the most fun I've had in a long time. As the doors close, the elevator is silent. We still have the 15th floor to go before reaching Ros' floor. I keep my eyes off of Ros in order not to encourage her to scold me in front of company.

When we get to the 15th floor, Marco's PA can't get out of here fast enough. After she exits, the doors close once again.

"Christian!" Ros snaps. I give a look that feigns innocence.

"What?" I respond, stifling a grin.

"You are up to something," she says, waving a finger at me.
"What are you talking about?" I say with faux indignation.
"Don't you bullshit me Grey – I know better! You have an ulterior motive by picking this young, attractive…inexperienced girl. I just hope that you are thinking with your cranium and with not your dick!" Ros says in a scolding tone. I wince at her.

Only Ros can get away with speaking to me in that manner. And at her words, I can't help but laugh. She frowns at me as we reach her floor.

And as of right now, I can honestly say that, 'Yes…I am in fact thinking with my dick'.

I can't wait to meet you face to face, Miss Steele.

A/N: I wanted to give my faithful readers a little taste of what's to come from the CG POV version of Business and Pleasure. Rest assured that I am not abandoning B&P (Ana's POV). I will aim to have chapter 43 up sometime on Sunday. Chapter 2 of this story is done, but I want to hear your feedback on what you've read of this so far.

My goal moving forward is to put out a few chapters of this version each week. I will have multiple chapters completed way in advance in order to keep the updates more fluid. This story will not be as long as B&P because many chapters will be condensed into one and most of the dialog from the previous tale will be summarized.

I was going to wait until after B&P was complete before releasing this, but I thought that it would be fun for you to see where Ana is today (in B&P), and then go back in time to see Christian's progression in contrast (in TCB).

I want to end B&P at chapter 50 so I can concentrate on playing catch up with Christian's POV. Afterwards, I want to begin a third story in this series that picks up decades later. I won't spill the beans yet on what I have planned, but I am looking forward to starting on that story!

Let me know your thoughts on this tale so far (TCB).
Thanks so much everyone! – ST2