Chapter 3

Christian

It's only eight in the morning and I already have a headache. Monday morning, another week, another problem to solve, another idea to ensure comes to fruition. My hands, particularly my knuckles, are still sore from the weekend as my fingers run over the keyboard, I spent more time than I should have attacking the punching bag in the gym over the past two days.

I've been in the office since six, and my eyes are stinging, there's a bug in the game somewhere, complaints about glitches have come in overnight from hundreds of users, so here I am reading hundreds of line of code trying to find it. I need a coffee desperately except my assistant Andrea isn't due in for another half an hour and she's the only one who knows how to use the new coffee machine in the staff kitchen. The stupid thing cost over a grand yet it's impossible to get it to make a simply cup of black coffee.

Growing up I wasn't good with people but I was great with computers. My mom had given me my first gaming console and video game for Christmas when I was ten years old, the graphics were shit but I was absorbed into the world that had been created, it was an escape from real life. I wanted to figure out how it worked, how to improve it. I borrowed and read any book I could find written on computers and gaming. It made sense to me, I was good at something not many people could understand.

I went to MIT to obtain my degree in programming, but I never stopped writing and creating my own game ideas even while studying, I sold the first game I ever designed to Sony at the age of 19 but it wasn't enough. I spent three years designing and working around the clock practically on an online fantasy game which is now played by millions of people worldwide. I'm always trying to improve it and give the players something new and exciting to keep them interested. It's made me very rich and successful.

Six years ago when I moved into the building my company takes up space in I dragged my older brother Elliot into the city to show him the space a few days before everybody started work here, I was so excited plus I wanted to show off a little bit too, he commented that everything looked grey both inside and outside so as a joke I put the name Grey House on the outside of the building and it kind of stuck. I have two hundred employees working for me, it takes a lot of people working around the clock to ensure everything runs smoothly at all times on top of finance and marketing. Grey Entertainment Holdings or GEH for short is my pride and joy and nothing comes between me and this company.

My office door squeaks open, I look up hopeful that it's Andrea with my coffee, instead it's my sister, I groan knowing this can't be good but at least she's holding a cup of coffee which she places on my desk for me. She already tore me a new one for the way I behaved towards her friend the other day. Not that I didn't deserve it.

"So, I got an interesting call from Ana on Friday. I heard you opened a door straight in her face. Who the hell were you trying to hide from anyhow that you used the back entrance to sneak out?" She takes a seat in the chair before my desk.

I love my sister dearly but when she wants to get information out of you she's like a dog with a bone and doesn't let up, making your life hell until you give her what she wants which is what also makes her great at her job, so I have learned over the years the easiest way to deal with her is to just answer the question and move on.

I pick up my cup and take a sip of the magic liquid prior to answering.

"Lilly."

"Oh!"

"Yeah, oh."

Lilly is Mia's ex-friend and my ex-girlfriend who I dated for close to a year until she decided it would be a good idea to give a magazine interview about our relationship behind my back three months ago accompanied by a half-naked photo of herself. I don't mind putting myself out there when it comes to the company but I like to keep my private life just that, private. She failed to mention it at all, she had to have known I would find out and that there would be a fall out. It was brought to my attention by my mother of all people who happened to buy that particular magazine regularly. I felt like a laughing stock and I could no longer trust her and broke things off, she can't take the hint it's over for good and I see her pop up every now and again trying talk to me, to convince me to give us a second chance. Yeah, not happening.

"Did she tell you if her nose is okay, she wouldn't let me take her to the hospital."

"I don't blame her but she's fine. She could see the funny side of it."

I nod my head slightly, good to know there wasn't any damage caused.

"Look, I don't know what your problem was the other day because that wasn't you, and if you don't want to talk about it, fine, I'll respect that but Ana is my best friend, she's going to be around a lot so can you just please be nice. I was going to invite her to come out with us for your birthday next weekend."

Closing my eyes I groan and lean my head against the back of my chair.

"Do we have to?" I whinge like a child.

"Yes we do, you're turning 30 so don't bother arguing. I gotta get to work. I'll see later big brother."

With a kiss to my cheek Mia leaves my office.

What are the fucking odds I'd injure Ana twice. Somebody is probably having a laugh at my expense up in heaven, but how was I supposed to know anyone would be in the alleyway, it's generally deserted.

I should apologise for the way I ran her over and acted that day, I was such a prick, I should have helped her, made sure she wasn't hurt but I wasn't in the right frame of mind, I was so angry and unfortunately I took it out on her, a complete stranger, which she didn't deserve. In fact the events of that day have been weighing on my mind ever since.

That fateful morning my father had called me into his office at work, which was odd for a Saturday. He wanted to talk to me but wouldn't tell me what it was about until I get there, only that it was important and had to do with my biological parents. My biological mother Ella was his younger sister, while he was away at law school she ran away with her boyfriend because she fell pregnant with me. She refused to have an abortion and my grandparents disowned her. Let's just say that meeting with my father didn't go very well.

I'm seated in my dad's office where his desk is surrounded with files and papers and photos of the family over the years. I have no idea how he manages to find anything. He seems nervous and fidgety, constantly rolling a pen around and around in his hands.

"Son, I received a package from a law firm in New York yesterday. It was for you. I struggled all night with whether I should even tell you about it, but the right thing to do is let you know and let you decide."

"Tell me what exactly?"

Placing the pen down he pulls a large white envelope out of his desk drawer placing it in front of me.

"Christian, this is from the lawyers acting for your biological father. When you were born there was a trust fund created for you, to be given to you when you reached the age of thirty. There is also a letter for you in there from him. I know this comes as a shock however there it is."

I lean back in my chair, the wind knocked out of me.

I don't fucking want it. He made it pretty fucking clear he didn't want me.

"Get rid of it." I announce through clenched teeth, how dare he.

"I understand you're angry, hell I'm angry for the way he treated you and Ella, we can't change the past, but he obviously wanted you to have this money, perhaps it's his way of making sure you were looked after."

He's joking right?

"Then he should have stuck around! This is total bullshit. I don't want his blood money, it's too little too late, my mother died because she got sick, she was so sick and couldn't afford the medication to help her recover, I had to watch her on our couch with hardly any energy to even get up, deteriorating more and more every day, I was a child, afraid and not being able to help her in any way, where was his fucking money then! I'm sorry but you know I hate talking about this stuff."

"Of course I understand and I agree with everything you said. Listen, son, I'm not going to force the issue, you're a wealthy man in your own right, but I had to do my job and inform you about it. There's no rush but eventually you need to make a decision about the money one way or another, give it to charity, keep it, it's your decision and only yours."

I can't deal with this right now.

"I need to go." I rush out, standing and running out of there as if I was being chased by the devil himself.

As I sat in my car afterwards that day the past crept up on me. How could my grandparents treat their own child so cruelly and then me, as if I was dirt because they didn't approve of my birth, fucking stuck up assholes, how could my own father abandon me like I was nothing. Carrick has told me he tried to search for his sister but had no luck, his parents hid the fact she had run away from him for weeks, by the time he discovered the truth she had left the state, moved to the other side of the country in some hell hole with my biological sperm donor who abandoned us after six months I'm told. Ella left a diary behind but I've never been able to bring myself to read it, it's locked away in my safe at home. He only found me because the police got in contact with him after she died, she had listed her brother as next of kin on a piece of paper stapled to my birth certificate. Even then my so called biological father didn't bother to come forward. Well he can go to hell for I care, he's dead to me.

I owe Grace and Carrick everything, I am who I am today because of them. At first when I went to live with them I was a scared and shy little boy, surrounded by strangers, missing his mother, I would call them Uncle Carrick and Aunt Grace because that's who they told me they were but then Mia came along and started to talk, calling them mom and dad, so one day out of the blue I did too. It felt right, they were my parents in all the ways that counted and it made them happy to hear those names from me, I think that was the turning point where I accepted them as my family and they haven't let me down since.

The conversation with my father messed with my head, I needed to talk to someone, leaving his office building I drove with no destination in mind winding up at my parent's house, subconsciously seeking my mother out, I have always been able to talk to her about anything, she has always listened to me allowing me to get all my thoughts out enabling me to work through things. I think I needed her to tell me it was okay to be angry and ignore the letter. I walked into the house and called out for her but got no response, I noticed the caterers setting up in the backyard but still no sign of my mother so I had pulled my cell phone out and called her instead.

"Hi sweetheart."

"Mom." My voice cracking.

"Christian, are you okay, you don't sound like yourself."

"Yeah, no, it's fine, I'm just at the house but you're obviously out."

"Oh, sorry, I'm just picking up your grandfather's birthday cake."

"It's fine mom, I'll talk to you later".

"Oh darling before I forget, Mia's roommate from college Anastasia has moved to Seattle. She's such a lovely girl and so pretty, I think you would get along great with her, why don't you show her around, I don't think she knows the city very well and don't be late later today, you're bringing Mia with you right?"

I just stared at the phone. Seriously? The last time she told me someone was a nice girl I ended up in court getting an AVO on her stalker ass hence, Jason Taylor, my bodyguard following me around now on most days.

"Yes, mother." I confirm and hang up.

Even now over a week later, the bomb my dad dropped on me is still playing on my mind. Why now? He had twenty five years to write to me, but you know what, I don't actually care anymore, his letter can burn to ashes, I'm not remotely interested in what he has to tell me, the best thing to do is donate the money to charity, I don't want it tainting my bank account, perhaps to an organisation assisting teenage mothers, someone out there can get the help my own mother was never afforded.

I can still recall the blind rage I was experiencing as I was driving back to the office, hoping the distraction of work would help, the image of that envelope on my father's desk with my name written across it not leaving me. I suppose I never should have been driving in that state but I felt like I had to escape, I couldn't breathe, I was angry with the world. The truth is I didn't even see her riding along on the road, one minute the road is empty and the next moment I look up and see a girl on a bike in front of me. I'm still appalled at my attitude and behaviour, I'm not that guy.

Imagine my surprise to find Mia at lunch with the girl I knocked down earlier. I was horrible towards her, I can admit that now but she herself wasn't a picnic either, not that I could blame her considering. She may have been a bitch towards me but she's a beautiful bitch, with those deep blue eyes, full lips and wavy hair, when she looks at me however those eyes of her cool giving the appearance as if she wishes me dead.

There is something else about her eyes though that I can't place, as if they hold a secret or a deep sadness. I need to apologise to her. Mia is a pretty good judge of character, if she calls her a friend then she can't be all that bad.

Ana

My bruised nose healed quickly enough, the pain subsiding two days later but the same can't be said for my butt. Thank goodness my face is mostly back to normal, I start my job at the paper on Monday next week and didn't want to have to explain why I appeared as if I had been in the boxing ring to a room full of journalists.

With these free few days I had I actually made a start on my book, it's about a little boy who can see the magical world of elves and fairies which is invisible to grown-ups and the adventures he has with them right there in his backyard. I managed to outline and get started on the first two chapters, I've even impressed myself feeling as if I'm accomplishing something and not wasting more time sitting around and only thinking about doing it.

Earlier today I went out with Luke to purchase a new bike but didn't quite find anything that appealed to me. Call me crazy but I want a yellow one with a basket in front. He called me fussy. Screw him, it's not my fault that after two hours of shopping and searching I wasn't happy with what I came across.

Shopping with Luke is exhausting, he likes to complain a lot, so I'm currently standing in my kitchen preparing a cup of coffee while deciding if I can be bothered making anything for dinner I hear a man scream in the hallway outside my apartment. I carefully open my front door sticking my head out and giggle at the scene before me.

On the stained carpeted ground with a bike fallen on top of him is Christian Grey with Buddy growling in his face.

My giggle turns into full blown laughter. I love this dog even more now.

Well this is interesting.

Laura is also standing at her door apologising and pulling Buddy back to her side and inside the apartment.

"I'm sorry, he's usually so gentle, I don't know what came over him. It's just bad timing you appearing just as I opened the door. He didn't bite you did he?"

"No, I don't think so." He assures her.

He sees me standing there laughing at his misfortune.

"Are you going to help me?" He asks trying to disentangle himself.

"Nope." I reply, going back inside and shutting the door with a large grin on my face.

So what do you think of Christian?

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