A/N: Thanks for reading. I hope everyone has a happy and safe new year! Enjoy!
"Kate, come on! We're going to be late, and you know that I hate that.", I growl while pounding on her bedroom door. "I knew this was going to happen when you went to that party last night. You should have stayed home, but instead you went out and got drunk." Tired of waiting for her to open the door, I turn the knob and barge into the room where I see that she's laying in the bed with the covers pulled up to her head. "Kate, wake up."
"I don't feel good.", she murmurs.
"Gee, I wonder why." I place my hands on my hips and wait for her to show any sign of getting up, but she keeps laying in the bed. "If you're still in this bed after I count to three, I'm drag your ass out of it. One..two.." Just as I'm about to make good on my words, she pulls the covers back and allows me to see that she looks terrible.
"I think I've got the flu or something. My entire body aches all over, and my head is pounding. Before you start going all mom on me, I only had one beer last night, nothing more." As she talks, I place my hands on her forehead and realize that she's telling the truth. "Will you tell Olivia that I'm not going to be there?" Olivia Murphy is our boss at the magazine who has taken Kate and me under her wing. She was a great help while I was dealing with my breakup, giving me assignments to help me stay busy.
"Ok. Why don't you call and get a doctor's appointment? Hopefully you can get something to help get this out of your system. I'll call and check on you later."
"Hmm k.", she mumbles before pulling the covers back up.
Arriving at work in Wanda, my Volkswagen, I spot an empty space near the front of the building, but a red BMW swerves into the spot instead. The driver's side door opens a few seconds later, and my boss Olivia gets out with a grin on her face as I'm forced to park a few rows back.
"If you would trade that thing in for something a bit more up to date, you might have had that space.", she giggles while I'm getting out of the car. While Wanda isn't the most stylish car, she's one of the few things which I've always been able to count on. "Where's Kate?" Olivia knows that Kate and I always ride together, usually in Kate's white Mercedes since she can't stand Wanda.
"In bed, sick. She thinks it may be the flu.", I answer while we step into the lobby and then the elevator which takes us to the office on the fourth floor.
When we arrive on our floor, I smile and wave at Audrey, who's the receptionist for our department. She looks better than I thought she would after having her party last night. I place my purse on top of my desk and follow Olivia into her office.
"I hope you don't mind picking up some extra work since she's not here.", she says, sorting through the stack of messages on her desk, stopping on one of the papers in the middle. "I don't believe it."
"What's wrong?", I ask.
"Caroline quit. She turned in her resignation, effective immediately. Apparently she ran off to Vegas with her boyfriend Eric. Did she say anything to you about this?" Caroline Morrison has long been the leading columnist in our department which meant she got the best assignments.
"No. She was talking yesterday about getting more serious with him, but she gave no indication that marriage was on the horizon. Why would she leave her career for a guy? I don't understand."
"She had it bad.", Olivia replies. "This leaves me in a peculiar spot especially since she was going to cover the Coping Together Ball tomorrow night. I guess the honor now falls upon you." Placing the messages on the desk, she sees the questions in my eyes as to what the Coping Together Ball is. "Coping Together is a drug rehab program for parents wih young children. Every June, the Grey family holds the event at their home in Bellevue."
"Kate's better at the high society functions than me."
"She's also sick. I covered it last year so I guess that I could do it again, but I have all the confidence in the world that you'll do fine. I'm even going to give a company credit card so you can go shopping for a dress and all the accessories that you'll need. Ana, please." Olivia has been more than supportive of me in recent months so the least I could do is cover the event for her.
"I'll do it, but I'd like to get some more background information on what to expect."
"I like your thinking. I've got a meeting with the publishers, but I'll fill you in on some of the detail when I return. Also, Mrs. Grey is sending over one of the programs which will be of help as well."
"Ana, where's Kate?", Audrey asks as she glances over at Kate's empty desk.
"She's sick with what she believes is the flu. How was your party last night?" Her face lights up like Christmas lights any time the word party is mentioned.
"It was fabulous, but it would have been better if you were there. Kate said that you were working on an article which kept you from going." Kate's excuse sounds better than the actual one, I just didn't want to get trashed. "Before I plan the next one, I'll check in with you to make sure you're available."
"You really don't have to do that.", I say with a wave of my hands.
"It's the least I can do since you haven't had any real fun since your breakup. I know a few guys who would be perfect for you. Even if you don't find Mr. Right, you might meet Mr. Right Now, and there's nothing with that. Do you remember my ex Keith?"
"Was he the drummer?"
"No, he was a guitarist. Kenneth was a drummer who I dated after Paul, the manager of Keith's band." I honestly can't recall much about Audrey's old boyfriends or hookups since there have been several, but I nod my head and pretend to remember. "Anyway, Keith had the most magical fingers which would..." Just as she's about to give me unwanted details about her sex life, a tall copper haired young guy dressed in a dark gray suit and matching tie starts towards us. As he gets closer, I notice that his eyes are an intense gray.
"Good morning, I'm here to see Olivia Murphy.", he says in a deep voice. Audrey is practically foaming at the mouth at the stranger, but I'm not affected in the least bit even though I do find him good looking.
"She's in a meeting but will be back soon. If you'd like to have a seat Mr.."
"Grey, Christian Grey."
"Mr. Grey, it's nice to meet you. I'm Anastasia Steele and this is Audrey Karnes. "Can I get you something to drink while you wait?" He holds up a piece of paper and gives me a gentle smile. "No, I'm just dropping off a program for my parents' fundraiser."
"Mr. Grey, it's nice to see you again.", Olivia says while joining us. "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, but my meeting ran over. Why don't we go into my office?" Her eyes narrow at Audrey who's failing miserably at pretending to not be staring at him. "We can have privacy. Ana, why don't you join us?"
"Ok.", I answer, standing up from my chair. Olivia starts towards her office, but I wait for Mr. Grey to go ahead of me. "After you."
"No, after you.", he says. Walking in front of him, I feel his eyes on me the entire time. I'm relieved when we step into Olivia's office.
"Please have a seat.", Olivia smiles at him. "Ana, you too." With Olivia settling in behind her desk, I take the seat next to Mr. Grey who tapping his knee with the program. "When your mother called and informed me that she was going to send a program over, I didn't know that she was going to send you, not that it isn't nice to see you again."
"She was going to have a carrier bring it, but I had a meeting down the street so I volunteered. Besides, some of the carrier services have been known to lose items, and I didn't want to take a chance with this considering how much tomorrow night means."
"I understand completely. Ana's going to be covering the evening so you can give her the program." He shifts in his seat and hands out the program, brushing my fingers gently.
"Here you go."
"Thank you." A few seconds later, Audrey opens the door with an apologetic look on her face.
"Olivia, I'm sorry for interrupting, but Kurt Bennet is insisting on seeing you about a misprint in one of Caroline's articles.
"Can you ask him to come back later? I'm in the middle of a meeting.", Olivia sighs.
"If you're needed, you should go. Miss Steele and I can wait.", Mr. Grey says. Once again, those gray eyes are on me, but I simply nod and look towards Olivia.
"I'll be back as soon as possible."
"Miss Steele..wait..which would you prefer that I use, your first or last name?", he asks.
"You can call me by first name.", I reply.
"All right, Anastasia, have you ever covered an event as big as the Coping Together Ball?"
"I haven't. Most of my work has been on a lower scale, but I'm certain that I'll do it justice."
"I get the impression that you're very passionate about your work. Am I right?"
"You're correct." While looking down at the program, I notice for the first time that it's a masquerade ball. "Everyone will be wearing masks?"
"Yes. The theme changes every year so my mother decided to go the masquerade route this year. Really when you think about it, it's no different from everyday life. All of us have the tendency to hide behind a mask even though it's invisible."
"I'm not so sure about that. With me, what you see is what you get.", I tell him with confidence.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that if I were you.", he says with a smirk. I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't a tad bit attractive to him, but I refuse to fall under his spell.
"What do you mean by that?" Before he has a chance to answer, Olivia opens the door and sits back down at her desk.
"Again, I'm sorry. Did the two of you have a chance to go over things?", she asks.
"Somewhat. Anastasia, I'll be on hand tomorrow night if you need me." Why does I get the feeling that his words have a double meaning?