CHAPTER 1 The meeting

APOV

I lay in my bed staring at a piece of paper held in my hands but my mind is too distracted to concentrate on it. The thoughts of my internship for the final semester, competition result, project, career and what not have occupied my brain completely. The result of the BISSEC (business security) competition conducted by the GEH is to be announced today and I am too nervous about it. Graduating in Information Technology is in itself was very competitive but I still chose it coz I love this field. Out of nowhere Kate storms into my room and jumps on my bed holding her tablet in her hands breaking me away from my thoughts.

"ANA... ANA" she shouts breathlessly.

"U won sweetheart. U won the BISSET competition." She says as I tell her to calm down.

"Oh My God did I... Did I really win the competition?" I yell in excitement as I break my lazy lying in bed position to hug Kate.

"Yes sweetie, you did. Here's the official confirmation." She points to her tablet showing me the web page of the GEH with the official declaration of the result.

"Check your mail Ana" she urges me.

I open my email and the very first mail showed up is from the GEH Inc. I open the mail and it reads,

From: Edward Lorrins

Subject: Winner of BISSEC Competition.

Date: December 1, 2010 12:30 PM

To: Anastasia Steele

Dear Anastasia Steele

We are pleased to inform that you have been selected as the winner of the BISSEC competition conducted annually by the GEH to nurture and explore young talents. So we would like to invite you to our Grey enterprise office in Seattle to personally claim the award of $10,000 and meet Mr Grey, CEO Grey Enterprises Holdings Inc. We look forward to our meeting on Friday, December 3, 2010, at 11:00 am.

Thanks and Regards,

Edward Lorrins

Head of IT Department

GEH Inc.

I close the mail and pass a bright smile to Kate who is already smiling widely at me. She hugs me tightly and murmurs "I'm proud of you dear". Kate has been my best friend for a long time and she has seen me gone through a lot all these years and she very well understands what this win means to me. I have a loan to settle which I took for my graduation and this prize amount is going to be a huge benefaction for me. This achievement is obviously going to assist me to land an internship in a big renowned company too. Now I'm really excited to our meeting on Friday.

"Hey Kate, let's getcha out and celebrate. It's gonna be my treat." I say in a joyful mood.

"Sure sweetheart... glad you said it yourself else I was gonna drag that ass yours to the bar." She chuckles.

We get dressed and head out of our apartment to the nearby karaoke bar. We call José to join us as he is really a party animal and karaoke nights are really fun with him.

Karaoke's has always been my rescue points in 22 years of my lifespan on earth from all the dramas, anxiety, distress and of course the little happiness too. I have let out all my emotions in these closed rooms singing at the top of my voice which people call more of a shouting. Tonight is no less. I pick up the Eminem 'lose yourself' song and hit the play button. The screen flashes the lyrics and I'm shouting out the Eminem rap songs, the speed of which I could never match up till date.

Look, if you had, one shot, one opportunity

To seize everything you ever wanted. In one moment

Would you capture it, or just let it slip?

Yo...

And then comes my favourite verse of this song, José and Kate join me too in this part...

You better lose yourself in the music, the moment

You own it, you better never let it go

You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow

This opportunity comes once in a lifetime you better

We three are totally exhausted from our fun filled and Eminem thrilled karaoke night. José has always been astounded by my girl fanning over Eminem but it's not the girl fanning thing. It's actually that I could always relate to his songs like I have actually experienced all those hardships and his songs just say it out loud in words and it just makes me stronger to witness whatever comes in my way. It's the motivation that I get from his songs that make me his fan though people hardly agree with me on this.

The next day we head out for our usual jobs, I set off for my part time job at Clayton's and Kate and José attend the special seminar on photography and journalism organised by the faculty of WSU.

Finally the day comes, I'll get to meet the CEO of Grey enterprises though I don't know much about him and didn't even felt like researching cause it's just gonna be a hardly 10 minutes meeting and a few clicks and that's it so no point in wasting my time in knowing CEO of a leading company. I'm just interested in getting some tips for my future for starting a successful business because that's what they are good at 'giving advices'.

I choose to go for a bit professional bit college student look with a cream color v neck cashmere top paired with my evergreen black skinny denim complimenting the ballet flats and a leather jacket. Though makeup is really not my thing but still I put on some light mascara and a cherry lip gloss on Kate's constant persuasion as per her saying 'some makeup once in a while cannot cause a major harm'. I let loose my hairs for today. Kate has already lent me her car for today. Now I'm all set to leave for Seattle. Since I don't wanna be late so I leave early.

I reach the GREY enterprises office building which is a huge tall building curved in all glass and steel. I enter the building and walk into the giant white sandstone lobby and head to the reception.

"Hi, I'm Anastasia Steele. I am supposed to meet Mr Lorrins and Mr Grey." I inform the blonde lady at the reception.

"One moment please, Miss Steele." She arches her eyebrows as she digs into the screen in front of her.

"Yes Miss Steele your meeting is scheduled for 11:00 am."

"Yes," I nod in response confirming my visit.

"Please sign here. Head to the elevator at right, press for the twentieth floor." She directs me to my location with a kind smile and handing me out a security pass that has VISITOR very firmly stamped on the front. Thanking her, I head to my destination crossing the two security men and for a moment my mind wanders into the thoughts of perks of being a company owner. I enter the elevator and hit the twentieth floor and doors slide open upon arrival.

I see another enormous lobby with all the glass, steel and white sandstone. Another young blonde woman rises from behind the desk and greets me.

"Miss Steele" she inquires.

"Yes".

"Please wait over there Miss Steele," she tells me pointing towards the seated area of a white leather chair. I make myself comfortable over the chair into this huge lobby which is no less than a masterpiece.

The elevator behind me slides open again and I see a man in his thirties in a charcoal suit with black hair and fair skin and his physique suggests he is a tough gentleman. He goes straight to the desk without even looking at me. He inquires something in a hushed tone. The blonde woman eyes in my direction the gentleman which gives me an idea that he is enquiring about me. The man terminates his conversation with the blonde and walks in my direction.

"Anastasia Steele?"

"Yes, Sir". I reply.

"Hello, I'm Edward Lorrins" he introduces himself offering his hand to me.

"Hello, Mr Lorrins. Nice to meet you sir", I say shaking my hand with Mr Lorrins.

"Nice to meet you too Miss Steele. Well, Miss Steele, your work is quite impressive. It amazed Mr Grey as well. You are quite a Genius. We are really glad to have you here." He states praising me.

"Umm.. Well, it's nothing sir to be praised so much for considering this big company. Every department must be filled with geniuses from all around." I articulate with a smile.

"No Miss Steele. Please don't demean your talent by saying so. We come across a lot of young talent every now and then and we don't praise everyone except only for the great. Well, you are a person to be praised and I can go on and on Miss Steele but we need to meet Mr Grey and I need to save the admiration part for him." He completes his statement with a smile without letting me utter a word.

"Yes, of course, Mr Lorrins." Agreeing with him I head in his direction.

We enter into Mr Grey's office and it is a magnificent wide room with beautiful sketch portraits hung up on one side of its wall. The other wall is covered with the stack of books.

"Hello, Mr Grey." Mr Lorrins greets the slim yet masculine figure in front of us and I realize him to be Mr Grey, the CEO, though I did not expect him to be so young.

"And this is Anastasia Steele, our BISSEC contest winner" he continues without a pause.

"Hello, Miss Steele." He greets me from the distance nodding his head.

"Hello, Mr Grey," I say plainly.

"Please have a seat." He says politely offering us to sit.

"So Miss Steele your idea of business security plan was quite appreciated by the IT Team and I was impressed too. Do you have any future plans to turn it into reality?" He questions me staring straight into my eyes.

"Yes, Mr Grey. I was hoping to further develop it as my final semester project."

"Well that's great and we would like to assist you in every possible if you wish to, Miss Steele."

"Uh... Thanks, Sir, it's an honor coming from you but we are supposed to develop our projects at the company where we choose to do our internship. It's our college's criteria and I haven't yet finalized my choice."

"Well, in that case, our company provides internship too and we'll be obliged to have brilliance like you as our intern."

"Umm... it's a great opportunity sir but moving out of Vancouver, WA at this point is not a convenient option for me", reluctantly I turn down Mr Grey's offer.

"No problem Miss Steele. We respect your choice." He says with a smile.

A knock on the door terminates our conversation, "Mr Grey the photographer is here", says a blonde standing halfway through the door.

"Send him in and bring along the particulars."

The blonde nods in response and moves out of the door.

Another blonde comes in assisting a young man. "Mr Grey, photographer Noel Joseph". Noel introduces himself to all of us with a handshake.

"Ready, Miss Steele", Mr Grey asks in confirmation. "Yes, Mr Grey."

The blonde takes a big check which is the exaggerated version of the original check and hands it to Mr Grey and another certificate of the winner to Mr Lorrins. The photographer first requests Mr Grey and me to pose with the big check held in our left hands and right hands shaping into a handshake and then Mr Lorrins and I pose in the similar fashion with the other certificate. A few clicks with smiles and his job is done. The blonde escorts Noel his way out of the room and again three of us are left in the wide room. A creepy silence occupies the space for a moment. Mr Grey whispers something in Mr Lorrins's ear and he gestures in assent. Mr Lorrins takes a step forward in my direction and speaks in a formal tone, "Miss Steele I have an urgent work to look into, so I'll be taking my leave. You carry on with Mr Grey. It was nice meeting you."

"Sure Mr Lorrins. Please carry on with your work", I respond in a polite voice.

"Goodbye, Miss Steele. Have a great day."

"Goodbye, Mr Lorrins. Nice meeting you too."

"Any questions Miss Steele for me", Mr Grey asks as I bid my goodbyes to Mr Lorrins.

"Nothing much Mr Grey, just some advice for aspiring entrepreneurs." I utter.

He grins for a second and then instigates, "work smart and hard. Have faith in your work and most importantly have a deep understanding of what you want to do. Be true to your aim. That's the simplest advice I offer to all the young entrepreneurs, Miss Steele."

I take in his advice gesturing him. His constant gaze is making me nervous and I bite my lip in anonymity to ask him any further questions more precisely it's making me thoughtless.

"Seems like you are out of questions young lady", he articulates reading my face, still looking into my eyes.

"No... Umm... Actually, I didn't give much thought to our meeting. I... ah.. assumed you would brush me off after a brief glimpse", my words stutter as I tried to reason myself.

He motions me towards the burgundy leather sofa placed next to his desk and offer me to sit making himself comfortable in the adjacent seat.

"Ok then tell me about you", he states.

"Me.. umm.. Nothing much to know exactly. I just wanna be a successful entrepreneur like you." I say confidently because that's what I actually hope for my future.

"Impressive. Quite an ambitious personality."

I smug at his comment. "Yes, Mr Grey."

"In that case, how about embarking on your business endeavor from our Grey House."

I pass a quizzical look in disbelief of what I heard, "what do you mean Mr Grey."

"I want to help you Anastasia", his face mimicked a cogent look.

"Please call me Ana."

"Ok Ana", his lips formed a smirk.

"Why would you want to help me?"

"Because investing in you will be a good deal for me."

"I'm sorry Mr Grey but I don't understand what you are trying to articulate me."

"Don't be baffled, Miss Steele. Edward proposed an idea of extending your cryptography work for further development and he suggested your involvement for the same."

The dilemma wears on my face, "but Mr Grey, I can't get a job right now. It's adamant at the moment for me to move to Seattle."

"It's not a job offer Miss Steele. We just want your assistance in the expansion of your own work. Making it simple - it's your plan so you extend it using your brilliance with the collaboration of our IT team. Your all time presence is not required. Work within your flexibility – weekends, day or night... whatever suits you. I hope that's amenable. Trust me you don't need a degree to embark on your business. It's a great opportunity at your footstep. Edward will email you all the details. Give a thought to it."

His hegemony was clearly visible in his insinuation. "It's really kind of you Mr Grey to think for a no one like me. I still need time to think and reciprocate further."

"Sure. I anticipate your decision."

"Then I'll be leaving now Mr Grey."

"Ok Anastasia."

"Ana."

He smiles as I lift myself up from the couch for my exit. "Goodbye. Mr Grey."

"Goodbye, Miss Steele." He says as are hands grasped into a firm handshake.