Anastasia Point of View
Chapter 1
This is it. This is my last chance. Don't blow it, Ana!
I'm sitting on a plush grey sofa chair in a pristine reception room at Grey Enterprises Holdings Inc. or GEH. The company is a global leader in communication technology, Eco-manufacturing, and next generation farming solutions. And for some crazy reason, a possible investor for my movie cafe business.
I try not to think about how it took me four meetings to get here. I act casual, glancing at my phone like I'm someone important when really I'm checking on My Cafe Story game app. Got to make sure my scones don't spoil. You are such a silly little girl. They will never take you seriously.
I. HATE. MY. INNER. VOICE!
She appeared when I was 13. I thought I was this cool girl, being able to make movie references from the top of my head until I became a teenager. I was surrounded by beautiful popular girls in middle school and that's when I became insecure and nave. My inner voice decided to appear then and broke down the tough realities of my life, being my guide and annoying me every step of the way. Everyone seems to have that voice in their head; the one that doubts every decision you make, but cheers for you when you need it. My voice was there when I needed her the most, but I dislike her right now.
"Good Morning, this is Grey Enterprises Holdings. How may I help you?"
I immediately get up, and walk over to the beautiful middle-aged blond secretary, with my tray of delicious treats in hand, ready for my pitch meeting. I quickly realize that lovely blond was answering the phone, and awkwardly turn back around. Great, now you look like a weirdo.
The secretary is sitting behind a giant dark oak desk. How was I supposed to know? I play it off by pretending to stretch. Don't look at her, she's not anxious at all, my inner voice sarcastically pleads, but here it comes, the dreaded blush of embarrassment that covers my pale cheeks. I hate being embarrassed. What are you doing here? You're not ready for this life-changing meeting. You are so out of your league, silly little girl!
I am not out of my league or silly, I counter trying to boost my confidence. I am little. I'm only 5'4". 5'2"! I wish I had a more commanding presence. Nonetheless, I am a businesswoman, who should be taken seriously. At five feet, two inches. I already have four movie cafes open, running smoothly and successfully. I have an offer on the table to open another in Los Angeles. How many people can say that? At an incredible five feet, two inches, not many. I just can't afford to run a business in another state...yet.
So here I am, wearing my white button-up collar shirt and black slacks, looking more like a waitress than a businesswoman. I didn't even put an effort in my hair, only braiding my long wavy thick brown hair. I am at least in a pair of black heels. Kate's heels. So embarrassing.
My best friend, a business marketer and pretty much, my everything, Kate Kavanagh, made me wear heels to the meeting. She had an outfit of a blue business suit that she owned picked out for me, but I had no time to put it on. I needed to make sure the food samples were perfectly made. I had to set up Seattle cafe for today's customers since I don't have a manager. And Seattle traffic is a bitch. Kate will kill me if she saw what I was wearing, or at least make fun of me mercifully.
Compare to the secretary-Andrea Wilks-who is in an expensive and tight grey sleeveless dress that goes to her knees, and her hair is is in a clean hair bun that sits at the nape of her neck, I look like I should be cleaning her office, not pitching an expansion of my company. Maybe they will hire you as their baker for their next office gathering. Give you hundreds of thousands of dollars to invest in your business, I don't think so. I need to clear my head, think positively.
Memories of my father come into my mind. My father, Raymond Steele, always wanted to run his own movie theater after he retired from the marines. He did in his late forties and owned it until he died. He would show the new movies that would definitely make money, and the independent and classic movies to satisfy regular customers. I started to work there part-time at the concessions. When he got too sick from lung cancer to manage the theater every day, I proudly kept it going. Now, I have a small but successful Washington based franchise. I can only imagine how proud he would be of the company.
He loved movies; an easy past time hobby when you are not full-time active duty military. "Annie, the best movies were made in the 70s, when people were high and no one cared about the money. True renegade film-making," my father explained to me when I was a child. He once showed me Jaws, a proper education on what sharks were like. I was only 8 and it made me scared to swim in a pool, but I loved the time I spent watching movies with him. I miss him. Me too. Such a great father.
"Anastasia Steele?" Andrea says, knocking me out of my daydream.
"Yes?" I quickly respond, standing up.
"You may set up in conference room number two." I pick up my office bag, and tray of bacon breakfast paninis, and follow Andrea.
The conference room is made of Plexiglas walls on one side and floor to ceiling windows on the other side. There is a large projection screen at the front of the room that has a computer and podium in the corner. In the center is a giant dark oak table that seats at least 12 people, even though I don't think 12 people will be here. At the last meeting I had with Ros Bailey, the COO of GEH, she told me we only needed to convince the big boss, and I would have my investment. She was excited about investing in a combined restaurant and movie theater that originated in Washington. "This could be the next Starbucks!" she excitedly would tell me. I don't know if we will become that big, but her enthusiasm gave me confidence that I was making the right decision. She is going to be here, right? We need Ros! She is our only hope.
"Do you need any help or have any questions, Ms. Steel?" Andrea politely asks.
"No, I think I'll be fine. Oh, wait! I do have one question. Do you know if Ros Bailey will be here today?" I ask, oh so casually.
"Unfortunately she will not. She had an emergency meeting with a company down south. Would you like to leave her a message?" Great! Fucking Great!
"No thank you, I was curious," and want to cry.
"I will be at my desk if you need anything." Andrea leaves me to finish setting up.
I got it! You collapse on the floor and pretend to sprain your ankle. Then, we get the hell out of here. No! This is the opportunity of a lifetime. I want to expand my business. I need this money. All the other potential investors thought my business concept had no potential, wanted to change everything or didn't take me seriously. Several theaters in the country serve food. My cafes are nothing special, they would say.
Except, my food is better, not crap junk food. The theater going experience is way better. We offer a great price for everything. Our system for service is nearly perfect. We are ahead of our competition when it comes to dine-in theaters. We need to strike, while it's hot. Whoa! You actually sound like a businesswoman Miss Steele. Go get em' tiger! Thank you, I will.
I set up the breakfast paninis on small paper plates at the back table. I move to hook up my thumb drive to the computer in the front. I open up my 15 minutes presentation. 15 minutes; that's all the time I was allowed to show I have a winning business concept in front of the most powerful people in GEH.
I quickly go through the PowerPoint, making sure everything is working. Suddenly a group of men and women, in very classy business suits, walk into the conference room. This must be the people I'm presenting to. They walk in having quiet conversations among themselves, taking seats like they are assigned specifically to them. I count six people, but we are missing one person, considering the head of the table is still open. The big boss.
"Please, help yourself to a sample of paninis we serve at Annie's Movie Cafe." They all turn to me, looking confused. They look at each other, discussing whether they should take my offer or not, except for one man. He gets up, goes to the back table, and grabs a sandwich. He seems somewhat out of place, with shaggy dark hair, thick black glasses, a plaid brown and green shirt with a green bow-tie, and suspenders holding up his pants. Even with his old-time fashion, he looks to be in his early 20s. I like this man already.
"This is good. What cheese is this?" He asks, after taking a large bite.
"That's smooth cheddar. We melted the cheese, like a grilled cheese sandwich, before adding the bacon and fried egg. The tomato and lettuce were added last to stay fresh." He seems to like it. "By the way, my name is Anastasia Steele, the owner of Annie's Movie Cafe, but you probably already know that."
"Barney Sullivan, head of the IT department, and no, I didn't know that. I thought you were a caterer." Of course! "Nice to meet you," he says, as he chows down on his sandwich and shakes my hand at the same time.
"Nice to meet you too. And the rest of you are?" I ask, ready to meet everyone.
"We should wait to make introductions until Mr. Grey is here," a stunning black woman with curly hair reaching her shoulders, looking highly professional in a brown pants suit, cautiously says.
"No need to wait, Mrs. Walker." And there he is. The Big Boss! He walks in confidently to sit at the head of the table. He is the owner of GEH, Mr. Christian Grey. He is tall, dark and handsome. Literally! He has copper hair that you can run your hands through but looks like it was styled by a hairdresser that morning. He has bright grey eyes, that look intense. He has plump lips that I can't help but stare at. I luckily don't. He has a black suit, with grey pinstripes, a crisp collar button up white shirt, with a grey tie to match. He pairs the suit with black suede shoes that look like they were polished. A perfect outfit for a gorgeous man, but it's the body that's in it that has me staring.
He is slightly tan, clean shaven, and manly. Someone who looks like he can hunt for his dinner with his bare hands. He looks like he works out, but is still lean. He has a firm butt. How do you know? To be honest, I don't, but I bet he does just by the way his pants fit his body perfectly.
He looks like Superman in a business suit; Clark Kent if he wore glasses. I can only imagine him saving me from a burning building and then riding my body of my burnt clothes to then give me CPR. Really?! Having dirty thoughts, before your business presentation, looking like you should be a caterer and not an owner of a very successful business?! You should have changed! YOU SHOULD have CHANGED SILLY LITTLE GIRL! He is overwhelmingly sexy.
I walk over to him, praying I don't fall. "Hello, my name is Anastasia Steele. Nice to meet you, Mr. Grey." I reach for his hand, hoping mine is not too sweaty. He looks at me with his smoldering gray eyes, like he can see right through me. I hope he can't because I didn't wear cute underwear.
"Ms. Steele, it is nice to meet you," he states, but there is a sudden hesitation in his handshake when an electric shock goes through us when we touch. He must have felt it too. He releases my hand quickly, readjusts himself in his seat.
"Everyone introduce yourselves," he commands. I walk around shaking their hands when they state their name and position at GEH. I purposely do not look at Mr. Grey, trying not to stare.
In the room, there is Andrea again, who I find out is the head secretary at GEH. Rachel Walker is the beautiful black woman, who was initially nervous to introduce herself. I understand now. She is head of marketing, someone I am sure will be working with closely. Kenny Hanada is head of accounting and finance, Carol Harrison, head of human resources, Bobby Richards, head of research and development and of course Barney, who just finished his sandwich. These are the top people in the company, minus Ros. I am a little surprised considering I don't feel like my business is that big. Ros did tell me, "If we play our cards right, AMC can expand across North America, Asia, and Europe. It is that good of a concept." Ros always had big ideas for the company. I wish she was here. I will just have to use the talking points she mentioned and pretend to be her for the next 15 minutes.
"Mr. Grey, here is a sample of our breakfast panini we serve at Annie's Movie Cafe." I place a plate in front of him. "It is one of our most popular sellers." He decides not to eat it.
"I just ate." He states matter-of-factly. That stings a little bit.
"It is really good, sir," Barney says, wiping his mouth with a napkin.
"Before you make such an investment, it is probably important to taste the product." I cheerfully explain, but hopefully not in an annoying way. I don't want to push this man. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day." He looks at me curiously. He doesn't seem angry, but surprise that I am pushing him. I hope I don't come off rude.
"If you insist. Everyone, join me." Everyone gets up and grab some samples for themselves. They start eating, some seem like they haven't eaten at all today. Makes sense, considering they were probably working this morning. Even Christian makes a delicious moaning sound that I doubt anyone noticed besides me. I walk towards the podium, ready myself to present, as everyone consumes their sandwiches rather quickly. They seem to like it! Eeeeee!
"This is fantastic!" Rachel says, finishing up.
"Told you!" Barney smugly states back. "Are there anymore by chance?"
"There are plenty more if you go to Annie's Movie Cafe or AMC for short. The best dine-in theater experience in Washington." Alright, you're ready. Let's do this!
"AMC has four locations, two sites in Vancouver, one being our original theater, another in Tacoma, and downtown Seattle, which is our newest theater. I was able to expand my company based on the profits of the previous theaters and the demand for more AMCs. The demand came from our social network sites, where we communicate with our growing fan base.
People love going to AMC because we expanded your typical movie experience to include food, drinks, and merchandise. The first theater in Vancouver started out as a simple movie theater owned by my father Raymond Steele, but as he became sick," I accidentally pause, getting caught off guard by the sudden emotions I am thinking about those dark and troubling times, trying to help my sickly father and running a business at the same time. Everyone is staring at me, with Mr. Grey looking the most confused. I'm simply trying not to cry. Lock it up, Ana! Ray would not want you to break down.
"Excuse me." I clear my throat and continue. "As my father was working less, I took over and noticed the growing problems we were having at the theater. People loved the movies we showed and the overall appearance, but I noticed our food sales were terrible. I decided to change that with the assistance of the cooking degree I received at Le Cordon Bleu Seattle" Perfect!
"I completely changed the menu to food items that could be made from a food truck we invested in. I made ready to order cafe food, like sandwiches you are eating now, burgers, tacos, and salads that were served to customers right before their movie. Because movies were shown at a specific time period, 12:00 pm, 4:00 pm, 7:00 pm, and 9:00 pm typically, we were able to serve people efficiently, with enough time to prepare for the next service. We had our service down almost perfectly." I show pictures of our kitchen and staff at our food truck. I even have a short 50-second video of service, which shows how long it takes to make a few orders.
"With the help of my friend and current marketing manager, Katherine Kavanagh, our customer base grew, while still serving our regulars. Eventually, we grew too large for our small theater in Vancouver and opened a bigger movie theater that actually had a suitable kitchen for us to work with. After renovations, we opened for business, and we grew exponentially considering we were so close to Portland.
With the new Vancouver cafe, I wanted to create more of a fan experience at the movies. One of my favorite events is a concert. I decided to make the movie experience more like that. Working with Fandango, people are able to purchase their tickets beforehand, select their seats, and are able to sit at the theater 30 to 45 minutes before the show. Before the show, we show movie trivia and current movie news. You can purchase movie merchandise that the movie companies provide, like posters and Funko pops. You can also order and eat your meal before, during or after the show. Our specials are usually themed for the big movie coming out that week. We have fan events, where we do special screenings of older movies on their anniversaries, or have movie marathons. You can also just go out an enjoy a movie in our very comfortable leather lounge seats." That is when I show pictures of our venues. "We also have excellent film and digital projectors, authentic IMAX screens, and one of the best atmospheric sound systems in all our theaters."
"Really?! What kind of system do you have?" Barney curiously asks.
"Not now Barney, we can discuss technical aspects later." Mr. Grey chastise. There is a 'later'. That is good. "Please, continue Ms. Steele."
"At AMC, we have excellent contacts with the major studios to show all the upcoming big-budget films, as well as independent movie companies to show smaller films. While this means we do not have the ability to show certain films multiple time, we do have the ability to show a diverse amount of movies, which helped AMC became really popular.
With our success with our Vancouver locations, I wanted to go to a bigger city. I wasn't ready for a place like Seattle, so we went to Tacoma. Once again, we had great success, to the point of people from Seattle making the drive to our Tacoma Theater. I decided to make the leap and go to downtown Seattle. At first, running the site at Seattle was difficult."
I am abruptly interrupted by Kenny Hanada, "What about the financials? What are your profit margins? How much do you spend on average per customer? How much do you earn, on average, in a day?" This is the part I am most nervous about because my dad was the one who did the finances. I hired an accountant, and he helps me understand the numbers. I study this every day.
I skip a few slides and list of our financial information, displaying charts and graphs that shows everything they possibly need to know. I explain the graphs in detail and show how much money we spend to pay for food, maintenance, contracts, and marketing. I got through this part of the presentation without making a mistake, thankfully. "You also have copies of my financial books."
"We do Mr. Hanada?" Mr. Grey asks in a very perturbed manner.
"Uh, yes Mr. Grey," Kenny says uneasily. I hope I didn't get him in trouble. If he had the books, what's with all the financial questions? He knew the answers.
"Do they look accurate and up to my standards?"
"Yes, Mr. Grey. Mrs. Bailey and I went through them thoroughly. Everything was solid."
"Then why did you ask the questions?" See, I told ya.
"I…wanted to make sure….she knew." Of course, she knows, you looser, she runs the damn place. This isn't Shark Tank.
"That's ridiculous." He turns back to me. "Anastasia, you may continue." Holy shit, he said your name!
"Thank you, Mr. Grey." I try to continue even though it feels hot in here. "At first, it was difficult getting into Seattle. We were going up against corporate theaters. Our site needed a lot of work. We spent the extra money on renovations by getting the best construction work done using Grey's Construction and Design. After the renovations, the theater was perfect and ready for business. Currently, AMC Seattle is our most successful site." Ros made sure I mentioned Elliot Grey.
"You hired my brother?" Mr. Grey asks with an amused tone.
"Yes, Mr. Grey, I did, and I had a great experience working with him. He satisfied my every need." Mr. Grey's scowls. That is not anger, that's jealousy. "I think he would be great to work within the future."
"So, why do you need GEH investment Miss Steele? You seem like you have it all figured out." I feel like I am losing the deal. He asked me that questions like he could care less what my answer is. You have to go for the big guns here. Be honest.
"Because it was my father who wanted me to do this before he died. We were all set up to open an AMC at the capital of movies, Los Angeles. My father found a place when he went on vacation there. He said it was a perfect AMC location. My father wanted to invest in a building he found. We didn't have enough funds to make a proper investment to buy out the building, so my father was ready to give up his retirement fund. But...his lung cancer got worse...his hospital bills increased...We had to spend the money on getting him better, but nothing worked." I wipe a tear away. I might be sad over his death, but I'm not weak. I can run this company.
"When he passed away, he asked me to promise him to not give up on the dream of expanding the company. I promised him, and now I will do everything I can to not stifle this company's growth. I know you don't typically invest in a food company like mine. That is why I found an investor in LA, who will cover part of the costs. Since GEH is an international company, I figure investing in a local company will be nothing for you. Plus with the Eco-friendly way we conduct our business, I figure-"
"GEH will provide you half of your asking price. I will personally cover the rest if you get rid of that LA investor. I don't need anyone's help with managing a company, no matter how different it is from my current portfolio." Christian Grey states. Is that a smirk from Mr. Grey? Oh my god! Perfect!
"Yes. Of course." I whisper. I'm done, I got the investment. I am so excited, I want to jump up and down and high five ourselves. Play it cool Ana! "Thank you, Mr. Grey. Thank you so much." I walk faster than I have all day, almost running to shake Mr. Grey's hand, but Barney bumped in me with his chair as he moved to stand up and I fall to the floor on all fours, feeling like I might have sprained my ankle.
Well, almost perfect little girl….Wait. Did Mr. Grey just growl?
A/N: I have a Pinterest for this story. Check it out in my profile. Here's the end of the link: /lady05giggles/50-shades-this-life-of-ours-part-1/. You might need an account unfortunately to see the pictures that inspired the story. I know you can't copy and paste, but if you search lady05giggles, you should be able to find the page as well. Warning though, it does have many of story's pictures. So there are spoilers. I wish Pinterest would show older pictures first. Oh, well.