Welcome to my new FF!

Warning: In this story Ana is married to Jose. This story will also involve an affair. If you're not interested in that kind of thing then turn away now. You have been warned.

Chapter 1

A shiver ran down my spine as I held my mug close to me for warmth. It was freezing in this store and the air-con had once again broke. Jose was always fixing that thing, and it always broke. The logical thing to do would be to invest in a new one, and we would if we had the money. Right now all our money was going to this damm hardware store and trying to keep it afloat.

It was early in the evening, and like most Seattle days, it was raining. At six I would close the store and head home. I was excited to put on warm PJ's, snuggle up under a blanket, and read my new book. I was watching the clock on the wall like a hawk, just waiting for the moment the small hand reached the six. I couldn't wait to get out of here and go home.

I had half an hour left and no customers to serve. It was dead in the store. Jose insisted that we keep it open from six in the morning to six at night. He covered the morning shift and I covered the evening shift. Our lives were dedicated to this place, and they had been for the past two years. At twenty-three my life was nothing like I ever pictured it would be. I am married to the man I dated in college. I have my own house in the suburbs. I own my own business. I work in a Hardware store. At twenty, I would've laughed if you told me that this was what my life would become.

I thought that by age twenty-three I would be working my way up the ranks in a publishing house. I might even be an editor, or the boss of a publishing house. I thought I would've been able to see more of the world. I thought that Jose and I would have an apartment in the city. We would go out with friends every Friday night, and be twenty-three year olds.

But, this was my life.

I glance back up to the clock on the wall and see I still have twenty-five minutes before closing time. As I am watching the clock, the light above me begins to flicker. "No, no, no!" We can't have another thing break. This place was completely falling apart. The light flickers one more time before leaving me in shadows "Great…"

With an annoyed sigh I put my mug on the wooden bench and jump down from the stool. I know that Jose keeps spare light bulbs in one of the boxes under the counter. The lights in this place had a tendency to blow at random times. I bend down until my knees are on the ground and search for a spare lightbulb. I should be able to go into isle three and take a lightbulb from one of the packages. We are in a hardware store after all. Jose would get angry though, he doesn't think that we should waste a single cent. He even had me couponing when we did our grocery shopping. It was mortifying to hand over the coupons to the judgemental cashier. It was like screaming to the world that we were poor.

As I searched on my hands and knees, I didn't hear the door to the store open. It wasn't until someone behind me cleared their throat that I realized someone had entered the store. I quickly jumped up "Shit – Fuck!" I banged my head on the top of the counter, sending my mug of tea flying across the wooden bench. "Oh fuck!"

I rubbed my now sore head and turned to the customer who had heard my swear words tirade. Whoa. This man was attractive. Not just any kind of attractive, but god-like. He looked as if he were a statue carved by Michelangelo himself. With dark copper hair that looked as if he had been running his hands through it. A tall, lean body, that looked as if he worked out…a lot. He looked like the type of man that would take no notice to me when walking down the street. He stood there in damp jeans, a dark shirt that was sticking to him, and a leather jacket. He raised one single dark eyebrow at me. He knows that I am staring. Say something, Ana. Anything! The longer that you don't talk the, weirder he'll think you are! "I was looking for a lightbulb…"

Real smooth, Ana.

I clear my throat and try to compose myself after that embarrassing incident. I was always embarrassing myself around guys. No wonder I have only ever had one boyfriend my whole life, and I ended up marrying him. "What can I help you with?"

"Rope"

It sounded urgent. "Okay, this way, on isle four – No, isle two. Sorry, I am still learning my way around here"

He doesn't follow me. Instead he points to the spill on the table "Shouldn't you clean that up?"

"It's fine" I shrug my shoulders.

"Wouldn't your boss be mad if he sees that you've made a mess?"

He sounded as if he were my boss. I shake my head "No, I own this store. Do you want me to show you to the rope or not?"

With a smirk he motions for me to show him the way. I step forward first and lead him to isle two where we kept the rope. I watch as his grey eyes search the shelves. Those eyes were unlike anything I had ever seen before. I couldn't look away from them.

Once he decided on rope he turned to me again "Duct-tape"

"Duct-tape? Rope? What are you? Some kind of serial killer…" He didn't find my joke amusing at all. He obviously had no sense of humour. Okay, Mr. Serious and Sexy. "This way" I lead him to isle five where the duct tape was kept. On the way I turned to him and asked "So are you renovating or something?"

"Or something"

"Not much of a talker, are you?"

He answered my question with silence. I didn't like silence, I felt as if I needed to fill the void with conversation to make things less awkward. Really, it just made things worst. I should really shut up sometimes. I stopped in front of the duct tape on isle five and pointed out all the different kinds of tape that we had "We have three inch, four inch, two inch. What're you looking for?"

"Which one would you suggest?"

I hadn't been asked that before. I was unsure of what to say. I looked over the different tapes "Ahh, I guess the two inch"

"But that one is the cheapest one?" He looked amused. "Shouldn't you be trying to sell me the more expensive item?" Jose was right, I suck at this job. I am meant to be the one running this business, but this man seems to know how to do my job better than I do! I didn't go to college for four years to sell duct tape to sexy strangers. "You haven't been in retail long, have you Ana?"

How does he know my name? He nods down to my shirt and I look down to the name tag pinned onto it. Oh… "No, I haven't worked long in retail. My husband and I recently took over as owners of the store…and as you can see, it has seen better days"

"Husband?"

I nod my head slowly "Yes, that is what I said"

"Three inch will be fine" It was like something snapped inside him. He grabbed a three inch tape off the shelf and began to walk towards the front of the store. What just happened? Was he mad that I had a husband? No, he wouldn't care about that. He probably has somewhere to be. He looks like he has an important job in the city. He probably has a wife at home and two perfect children. I follow him to the front of the store and begin to ring up his items.

"Have a nice night" I say as I hand him his plastic bag with rope and duct-tape inside "Good luck with…whatever it is that you're doing…"

Mr. Sexy and Serious didn't look back to me as he stormed out of the store.

Like every morning in the Rodriguez household, Jose was up at the crack of dawn to open the store. He left me to sleep in. It was hardly a sleep in when I was awake at seven because the neighbours decided to mow their lawns. I had chores to get done anyway. Most of it was simple chores like laundry or vacuuming, that Jose left for me to do. We each had our roles in the house. We had an order to the way that we did things and to who did what. It worked for us.

At nine I went into the store to give Jose a hand. When I walked in I saw him on the step ladder screwing in a new lightbulb. He glanced down to me "Why didn't you tell me the light had blown?"

"I didn't have the chance. You spent last night studying"

Recently Jose had enrolled in an online business course to help him when it came to running the store. Neither of us had a clue what we were doing when it came to this place. I had to admire Jose for the way that he took over things after Jose Sr, died. None of this was easy on him either. Jose's father was never sick, he was a healthy man who was loved by the locals. He was always talking about how he looked forward to the day Jose and I got married. He always said that I would be the one to give him grandchildren. Every Sunday he and my father would watch the football, Jose and I would sometimes join them. So, it was a shock two years ago when I woke up in the middle of the night to Jose at my door crying. He told me that his father had been making a delivery on the wet roads when his truck spun out of control and crashed into another car. Jose Sr. died on the scene. The passengers in the other car walked away with minor injuries.

Just like that, Jose Sr. was gone. I had never lost someone before, so it was hard for me to understand how someone could be here one minute, and then gone the next.

He left Jose with a home and a hardware store. Since his father's death, Jose had taken responsibility for his father's assets. We lived in his old house. We ran his old hardware store. Jose was slowly becoming his father, and I wasn't sure if that was a good thing.

"I also didn't have the chance to tell you about last night, I had the strangest customer. He came in here and asked for Rope and Duct Tape. He was really quiet as well. He barely said anything. Does that sound creepy to you?" I was going to leave out the part about him being, god-like, sexy. I don't think Jose would appreciate that. I look up to my husband who was still trying to screw the new lightbulb in place "Jose?"

"What? – Sorry, Ana. I am just trying to focus on doing this" He says with a frustrated sigh "Can you set up the garden display outside?"

We put a garden display at the front of the store to try and persuade customers to shop here instead of the mammoth sized Home Depot across the road. It was a brand new store that was erected about four years ago. Of course customers are going to shop there instead of our tiny store across the road. I was grateful that we had loyal customers who were friends with Jose Sr. before he passed. They always insisted on shopping here and helping Jose and I out.

As I am moving the third of the heavy pots outside A car pulls into the car-lot. It was a nice looking car, it looked like an Audi to me. As I was admiring the car, I noticed the back door open, and out stepped Mr. Serious and Sexy. He was in a well fitted suit and his dark copper hair was slicked back in a neat style. His grey eyes spotted me right away and he made his way towards me.

What is he doing back here?

"Mrs. Rodriguez"

"How do you know my name?" This man was seriously creepy. "Are you stalking me or something?"

"No" He rolls his eyes. He looked annoyed with me. "The name of the store is Rodriguez hardware. It doesn't take a genius to do a quick google search and find out more about you. Mrs. Rodriguez, my name is Christian Grey. I am a very influential, powerful man and I have the power to help you and your husband with your financial issues"

I cross my arms against my chest "What makes you think we have financial issues?"

He smirks "I had my security do a background check on you"

"So you are stalking me!"

This man is insane! He is in a whole other league of his own. He stalked a woman that he met once last night while buying rope and duct-tape. My alarm bells were screaming at me that this man was crazy. I should have no business with someone like him. "Thank you, Mr. Grey, but my husband and I are fine" I go to turn away from him but he quickly grabs my bicep.

"Wait!" He says. I turn to look back into his grey eyes. He no longer had that bored, annoyed, impatient look in his eyes. He looked desperate. "I am willing to help you and your husband out" He reaches into the pocket of his suit and pulls out a white cheque. He hands it to me. I wasn't sure if I wanted to see what was written on it. I should just walk away from him. But, curiosity got the better of me and I turned the thin paper over in my hands, My eyes almost fell out of my skull when I saw the amount written on the cheque.

Five-hundred-thousand-dollars.

"That money can be yours, Anastasia. Don't let your pride get in the way"

This man was definitely insane. He was willing to hand that amount of money over to a woman that he barely knew. Actually, he didn't know me at all. We had one brief conversation, that lasted five minutes, and now he wanted to give me five-hundred-thousand-dollars. He must have more money than sense. I cant think of any reason in which I would hand this amount of money over to a stranger.

I look up into him and can't help but start laughing at how absurd this situation is "You want to give someone you barely know five-hundred-thousand-dollars?"

"It wouldn't be for free" He tells me. His voice was tight. I don't think he appreciated me laughing at him. Surely, he knew how crazy this was. "I would need something from you in return"

"And what would that be?"

"You"

This was getting crazier by the second. He wants me for five-hundred-thousand-dollars. What did he want from me? If he thinks that I am going to sleep with him for money, he is kidding himself. I don't care how attractive he is. I am not going to whore myself out to a man with a big wallet. We were poor, but we're not that poor.

"I need a date to an event that I am expected to be at" He explains in a business-like voice. "If I could, I wouldn't go, but I have already agreed to attend this event. I need a date to attend it with me-"

I try to hand the cheque back to him, but he refuses to take it. "I am married, Mr. Grey! I am not going on a date with you"

He looks as if he is becoming more and more frustrated with me "It wouldn't be a romantic date. It would simply be business. You would be hired for a job for the night and you would be paid accordingly for it" I didn't know what to say. What is the appropriate response to such an absurd request "I have no interest in ruining your marriage, Anastasia"

"Then what would this date include?"

"You would show up on my arm. You would smile, look pretty, then go home. Think of it like being an escort"

"If you want an escort then why not hire one?" I ask him "Why do you want me?"

"Because, I need a normal girl. I am sure there will be many escorts working the night of the party. I don't want people whispering saying that I showed up with one. It isn't good for my company image, nor is it good for my image. I need a normal girl, like you"

What would Jose think of this? Five-hundred-thousand-dollars was so much money. We could do so much with that amount of money. We could sell the store, buy an apartment in the city, and start our life again. We could have a family. We could travel the world like we always wanted. Jose could get back into photography and open his own gallery, like he always wanted. There was so much that five-hundred-thousand would allow us to do. All I would have to do is be this man's date for one night.

But, this man is crazy. Yes, he is sexy, but I don't know if I trust him. This feels wrong. It feels as if I am whore-ing myself out. I doubt Jose would approve of me going on a date with another man, even if it was just business! Jose and I could work out another way to make money, a way that wouldn't ruin our marriage. He had almost finished his online course, and once he had completed that, then things would change for us. I could get a second job, I know the café in town is always hiring around the summertime. There are other ways for us to make money...

But, five-hundred-thousand-dollars was so much. We would never have the chance to make that kind of money again...

"Do we have a deal, Anastasia?"

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