Chapter 2
"Have you managed to get hold of Andrea yet?" Christian asks Olivia.
"No Mr Grey, there is no answer." Olivia says in a shaky voice.
"Keep trying and I need these documents amended." Christian says and walks into his office closing the door behind him.
Christian was very annoyed that Andrea would just disappear without a word, it was unlike her. She was his most trusted employee at Grey House. Christian knew that he needed to find out where or why Andrea had just vanished into thin air.
"Welch!" Christian says into his phone after dialing Welch's number.
"Mr Grey, what can I do for you?" Welch asks.
"I need you to track down Andrea; she hasn't been to work in a week." Christian says.
"I will get right on it." Welch says and hangs up.
Christian paces his office floor; he could not understand why Andrea would just vanish without a word. He was deep in thought when Taylor knocked on his door.
"Mr Grey." He says nodding at him.
"Taylor is something wrong?" Christian asks Taylor as he notices a worried look on his face.
"Andrea's car was found just outside Seattle." Taylor says his face expressionless.
"Any sign of a struggle?"
"No, the car was just parked on the side of the road, full tank of fuel, everything intact."
"This makes no sense, keep digging; something very strange is going on here."
Christian knew that between Taylor and Welch one of them would find out what was going on. He checked his schedule then, he was due to attend a lunch meeting with a few clients and Ros. He met Taylor at the car again; he sat at the back, pulled out his blackberry and noticed that he has a few messages and a text from Ana, Christian smiled and then replied to her message.
*Can't wait for you to be in my arms too.*
He missed Ana, especially since he had spent the entire weekend with her, doing what he loved to do, being with Ana was different, he didn't have the urge to be in control, and he didn't have the urge to do horrible things to her. He knew it was horrible now, he knew that strapping her down and whipping her would do nothing but harm both of them. Somehow she was way too different; she was way too good to be treated that way. Of course she infuriated him to his core when she put herself in danger or did things that made him angry. Like when she went for lunch with Jose, oh how he disliked Jose, he was not a threat but the mere fact that Jose wanted Ana made Christian's blood boil to a level he could not handle or when she decided that she was going to help Ethan shop for a special gift for Mia and ended up having one to many cocktails and Ethan helped her home, when Christian has seen Ethan's arm around Ana's waist he had practically jumped out of his skin, punching Ethan in the face. Yes Ana had her moments that drove Christian crazy but then there were moments when he lay in her arms and just listened to her heart beat, when he watched her sleep and listen to her murmur how much she loved him, those moments made Christian feel whole and complete.
Christian reached his club and went inside, he found Ros and their Clients already waiting for him, he listened to them talk while he decided what to have to lunch and while pouring through the menu he noticed Olivia she seemed a little out of place and as she approached their table he wasn't sure what she was doing there.
"Mr Grey, Ros said that you might need me to make some notes." She says her voice shaky as usual.
"Olivia that is not necessary, but since you here have a seat and order yourself some lunch." Christian says throwing Ros a glaring look.
"That is ok Mr Grey; I will head back to the office." Olivia says looking shyly at Christian.
"If you sure." Christian says and signals a waiter to take his order.
Olivia retreated quickly to the bathroom, she felt her face turn red, how stupid of her to just show up and how cruel of Christian to decline her assistance in front of his clients.
"Olivia." Ros says from the door of the bathroom.
"Ros!" Olivia glares at her.
"When I said that Mr Grey might need you to take notes I meant it as a joke, since you standing in for Andrea, I was just trying to lighten your mood."
"A joke!" Olivia says, feel embarrassed and close to tears.
"I am so sorry Olivia; I mean Andrea has never gone with Mr Grey to take notes ever, I thought you knew that and that you would know that I was joking." Ros says feeling very awful.
"I feel like such a fool." Olivia says, a little smile touching her lips.
"I am sorry; I will clear it with Mr Grey." Ros says and the leaves to join her lunch meeting.
After the lunch, Ros and Christian sat discussing the new deal, Christian looks at Ros, curious but with a straight face Christian says,
"What was that all about?"
"I joked with her earlier and she thought I was serious." Ros says, bursting into a hysterical laugh.
"I see why this is so funny to you?"
"Come on Christian, you should have seen her face when I told her that I was joking."
"Well next time don't play such jokes."
"You don't seem to like Olivia very much." Ros accuses.
"It is not about not liking her; she is just not as competent as Andrea." Christian says.
"And she drools at you when you not looking." Ros teases.
Christian is about to tell Ros off when is phone rings, he takes it out and has a surprised look on his face.
"That was Olivia." Christian says.
"Something wrong?" Ros asks.
"She says that Andrea called, she has eloped with her new boyfriend."
"That is impossible." Ros says in a serious tone.
"What do you mean?" Christian asks.
"Andrea was not interested in men."
"Are you serious?" Christian asks.
"Yes hence the fact that you worked well with her." Ros says shaking her head at Christian.
It was true, he worked well with Andrea, she has never tried to hint her availability to him, she has never tried any tricks to get his attention, and she did her work impeccably. Now he had to deal with Olivia, she seemed like she was going to break under his gaze, she was never certain about anything she did. Something didn't feel right to Christian; why would Andrea desert her car on the side of the road, he still wanted Welch to look into it.
On his way home he called Welch to confirm if he had found anything new, but Welch said that he did not and that he would look into the latest information, if Andrea had really eloped then there would be records.
Everything on Christian mind vanished when he arrived at Escala, he has had a tough day and between merges and accusations he really missed his Ana, all he wanted was to hold her, kiss her and make sweet, sweet love to her.
A/N: Hi All, glad to be back with this sequel. Stay tuned and enjoy this new journey. KM
