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APOV
You can do this, you look great, you're prepared, you're going to be just fine. You're going to nail this! I'm sitting in Wanda in the parking garage of GEH giving myself my routine pep talk before heading into my meeting with Christian. I felt good about it until I did a drive by this morning and saw the 20 floors of steel and glass and realized that he owned all of it. He owned all of it! By himself! At 28 years old. Actually, at 24 since that was when he bought and renovated this building. He owns this and about 500 other businesses and I own...Wanda. And she's leaving me.
Ana, he's the same guy who couldn't figure out the lettuce at the grocery store a few days ago. You will be fine. Just speak the language!
I've parked in one of Christians personal spaces per his instructions and chuckle when I see a few employees walk by and do a double take at my car. $100 bucks says it's towed when I come out. I've got on my favorite business suit, I've blown my hair out so that it's neat and orderly and I've got my real Louboutins on, courtesy of Mr. Kavanaghs 'spoiling'. I'm impressed when the blond receptionist knows who I am and escorts me over to the private elevator that goes straight to the 20th floor. I do a quick once over in the lift and take a few steadying breaths before I exit onto the white marble floors.
Holy mother shit balls. His private lobby is bigger than my apartment! Oh great, there goes the confidence I tried so hard to command. The perfect blond behind the desk rises to greet me and extends her hand as I walk towards her.
"Ms. Steele, I'm Andrea, Mr. Greys assistant. He's expecting you, please follow me." When we get to the door she pauses to ask if I'd like anything to drink. Yes, gin, straight up.
"An iced tea, unsweetened would be most appreciated." I need the liquid, my throat is closing up on me as the reality that is Business Man CEO Extraordinaire is taking a meeting with me. She opens the door and he stands to greet me, buttoning his suit as he walks from behind his desk, a smile stretching across his perfect face.
Gosh darn it he looks good in a suit and tie and he knows it. If I was feeling light headed from my anxiety before, I'm now about to faint. It should be illegal to look the way he does.
"Ms. Steele, good to see you again, please, take a seat while we wait for my associate Ros Wagner to join us." Formal, ok, I can handle that.
"Thank you, I'm happy to be here. I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you both."
Andrea comes back with my tea and sets it down on the table where we'll be sitting. As soon as she leaves Christian puts his hands on my shoulders and lowers his head and his voice. "You're going to be fine, Ana. Relax, I'm not going to bite you."
His hands touching me are doing nothing to relax me, in fact, the opposite is true. I can actually feel the blush creeping up my throat and face and now I'm really flustered.
"Christian I'm fine, really." He pauses and smiles before lifting his hands as the door opens again and a tall red head walks in, her hand outstretched to shake mine.
"Anastasia, I'm Ros Wagner. It's nice to meet you." She glances at Christian and gives him a slight nod, "Mr. Grey, good morning." He nods back and another immaculate blond walks in with a box of files. I'm sensing a theme here.
"Shall we?" Christian gestures to the sitting area and we sit together around a low glass table. Ros immediately takes the helm and explains the outline of the acquisition they're working on. I'm with her so far but I'm anxious to get to the part where I come in, that's where I'll feel like I've got some solid footing for this meeting. Ros pauses and pulls some paperwork out of a folder she's laid on the table.
"Ana, before we go any further we need you to sign an NDA and also a non-compete agreement. These are necessary formalities and due to the nature of this acquisition and the money involved, we need to cover our asses." Christian is watching me but this isn't my first rodeo. This is pretty standard and I reach over to take the papers from her.
"If you don't mind giving me a few minutes to read these over, I'd appreciate it."
I see Christian grin and lean back, his index finger running over his mouth while I glance at the contract. "I take issue with this appendix here on the non-compete. I'm not willing to sacrifice potential contracts during the time I'm working with GEH, that's bad business for me and a non-negotiable."
Ros raises her eyebrows and looks at Christian. He sits up and looks at me straight on, his elbows leaning on his knees. "We'll have legal rewrite and revise it. Anything else?"
"No." I sign the NDA and hand it back to Ros and put the now defunct NCA in my briefcase.
Clasping her hands together she stands and grabs the box the blond assistant brought in. "Now to the meat of the project." It takes another half hour for her to explain the more sensitive and detailed areas of the project and Christian interjects when necessary. When she's finished we stand and she shakes my hand.
"It was nice to meet you, Anastasia. I look forward to your proposal. Mr. Grey."
"I'll let you look over the paperwork here. If you have any questions, just ask. Can I get you anything?" No, unless you're willing to work naked. Well, you can leave the tie on.
"No thank you, I'm all set for now."
I'm left alone in the sitting area for another half hour to go through the paperwork that shouldn't leave GEH while Christian works at his desk. My back is to him but my awareness of him in the room with me keeps me on my toes, I so want to do a good job and impress him. The person that had been handling the translations so far had done a fair job but it was immediately clear to me that the workload was heavy and intricate and needed singular attention, something it wasn't getting.
"It's one o'clock, let's go for lunch. Just leave this stuff here, someone will get it back to Ros." I can smell his aftershave when he leans over the table to look over my shoulder at the document I'm reading and as much as I want to bury my face in his chest I don't. Instead we walk towards the elevator and step inside, the air around us instantly changing. It's charged, electric and I feel a literal pull towards his body that traps the air in my lungs. This is crazy. I don't dare look at him but instead stare straight ahead and do my best to get a freaking grip. When the door slides open to the glass lobby, I can't get out of there fast enough.
The people milling about watch with rapt attention as we meander through the lobby and out the doors to the sidewalk. "Why is everybody staring?"
He leans in conspiratorially and whispers, "Probably because they've never seen me leave the office with someone other than my sister for lunch." I give him a big smile, my heart filling with joy because in that moment I know that he's let me into his private world and I'm thrilled.
"There's a small bistro around the corner that serves an amazing steak frites. The entire staff is French too so you can impress me with your linguistics." I can't help but laugh since he speaks French as well as I do but I do always look forward to being able to converse in other languages.
The hostess walks us to a private booth in the back and Christian puts his hand on my lower back to guide be between the tables. It feels good.
CPOV
"Andrea, the minute Ms. Steele arrives I want her escorted to my office." I know the assholes from auditing are using the upstairs conference room that looks out at my lobby and I don't want the fuckers eyeing her.
"Of course, Sir." You know why I keep Andrea around? Because she doesn't ask questions that aren't relevant and she almost always knows what's not relevant and what is. There is nobody on my approved list of visitors who is granted immediate access to me. Not even Elliot is shown right in unless the door is open. But Andrea just gives me a 'yes, Sir' and continues on her merry way.
When 11am rolls around I'm just about to pull my hair out but then the door opens and in walks Anastasia. I can't help the grin that spreads across my face, fuck she's so beautiful! I do my best to check her out without her knowledge and I'm quite satisfied with what I see. She's nervous so I do what I can to calm her but touching her soft shoulders was a problem because now I don't want to let go. I do, just in time for Ros to walk in. That's one conversation I'm not having with my number two. We make our way to the sitting area and gentleman that I am I let the ladies go first. It's just my good fortune that this allows me to check out Ana from behind. Holy fuck she looks good.
Ros goes over the more succinct points of what we're trying to accomplish with this particular acquisition and I sit back and watch Ana take it all in. She seems to grasp the general concept so I give Ros the go ahead and she presents the legal documents for signing. Usually I get super pissed if someone signs a contract without reading it and even more pissed when they take up my time to read one but when Ana takes a few minutes to read the papers over, I have to sit back so that I don't squeeze her. A-fucking-dorable.
I'm stunned when she nixes one of our appendixes but have to agree that in her position, it would be unfair to her business and also cause her fledgling company to falter. I quickly agree and we move on to the finer points of what we're striving for with the Chinese before Ros excuses herself and hands over documents, all in Mandarin, to Ana.
I follow suit and give her some time to pour over what's in front of her. These documents won't leave GEH but in order for her to give me a proposal, she needs to see what the job entails. I'll also give her an encrypted and coded flash drive after lunch for her to look at.
Fucking hell I can't take my eyes off of her. She keeps biting that plump bottom lip of hers and fuck if I don't have another fucking erection! I attempt to work, and I do answer a few emails but I keep one eye on that side of the room. Twice now she's bent over to reach across the table and that is not a sight I'm willing to miss. Her ass is perfection in a pencil skirt. And yoga pants. And little black dresses. And jeans.
At precisely one o'clock I walk over and stand near her, she's bent over and I allow myself a few seconds to envision my hands around those hips, thrusting into her. "It's one o'clock, let's go for lunch. Just leave this stuff here, someone will get it back to Ros." thankfully comes out of my mouth instead of the 'please let me fuck you' that is running through my head.
The minute the elevator doors slide shut I'm acutely aware of the woman next to me. I didn't think I could feel more of a pull for her but, turns out, I can. If I turn my body to her, I will take her right here, right now against the wall and I'm pretty sure she wouldn't appreciate that. Instead I practice my breathing and control and as soon as the doors open she's out of there like a bat out of hell and I finally release the breath I'd been holding. What was that?
I'm loving the stares we're getting. That's right fuckers, she's with me so back the fuck off.
The bistro is the same place I go to with Mia on our monthly lunches and the hostess is temporarily caught off guard when she sees Ana and not my sister but all is forgiven when she leads us to a back booth. Some pencil necked limp dick is staring at Anastasia as we walk by so I glare at him and place my hand on her back to mark my territory. What am I, a dog? I can feel the shift in her muscles and add the feeling to my memory bank for later.
Another meal, another easy conversation, another bottle of wine. She's relaxed and open and I could do this every day with her. We talk about everything but business and when I get her laughing I can't help but laugh with her, she's contagious and I want in on whatever she's got. Just friends, remember?
Limp dick is gone when we leave an hour later but I still put my hand on her lower back. I'm hesitant to get in the elevator with her but I have no choice so we walk in and I see her tense up. She feels it too. When the door closes the electric is there again and I can smell her, the scent of her perfume or body wash or shampoo filling my head and making me dizzy. I've got to find out what that is and buy it. All too soon but not soon enough we're back in my office and she's sitting across from me at my desk. Here is where I drop the hammer. Settle in, Ms. Steele and watch the manipulative power that is Christian Grey, CEO.
"So, I realize you'll need to come up with a proposal and we'll need to sign off on a mutually agreed upon NCA but for now, I've outlined some of my demands for your contract term." She takes the slip of paper and reads it, her eyebrows shooting up at the end before a smirk catches her lips. She's on to me.
"Mr. Grey, I understand the need for me to have a private office here and am fine with that situation as long as we are in agreement that I do have my own office that I will need to be at occasionally. Your payment terms are agreeable and quite generous and I do agree that the project will take between the next three and five months depending on the turnaround time of the Chinese government. I agree to necessary travel and the compensation provided for it. I do not, however agree to a company car. I'm not an idiot, Mr. Grey. Your thinly veiled attempt at buying me a car isn't going to work." She sits back and folds her hands in her lap.
"Then I won't hire you. The car comes with my terms. I need you safe, I need you to have reliable transportation to get here and did I mention that I need you safe? All upper management and upper management assistants are given a car upon signing their contract, you are considered upper management for the duration of this project. I'd like you to start next week as long as your proposal is approved but the car leaves with you today." Game. On.
She's lowered her lids to mere slits now, the vibrant green dark and unpredictable but I'm not backing down. The thought of her in that fucking clown car she drives in makes me ill and I won't allow it anymore. Do I tell her Taylors already moved her things into the Audi and has removed the beetle to a more...secure...area?
"You leave me no choice. Where are the keys?" My girl is furious and trapped and smoking hot.
I call in Taylor who immediately hands her the keys to a brand new Audi 6. Her eyes bug out of her pretty face and she scoffs at me. "Christian. Are you for real?"
"Yes. Take the car, if you don't care for the color, let Taylor know and we'll get you a new one. I thought red would suit you. Here's the flash drive and the encryption code to open the file. There are a few on there that can only be opened at GEH but for the most part, your work can start tonight. I look forward to your proposal being on my desk by Friday afternoon." I've moved in front of my desk, casually leaning against it with one leg crossed in front of the other at my ankles. My arms are folded and my face is stern. From this vantage point I can see the swell of her breasts and I move towards the door to stem the automatic blood flow to my groin.
She stands, moves in front of me and crosses her arms.
"I'll have the proposal on your desk by Friday morning. Thank you for your time and for lunch, I again, had a good time." Her smile is genuine but there is an undercurrent of annoyance in her voice. It's either the car or the fact that I'm rushing her out of here but my dick can't take one more second of her in here and as much as I've tried to control the fucker, I just can't when she's around.
She sticks out her hand and I shake it before pulling her to me and kissing her cheek. "I'll walk you out."
Andrea picks up the phone as we make our way to the lift and by the time Ana is on her way down, I see the staff elevator ping open and out walks Ros. My glare goes right to Andrea and she doesn't look up.
"A minute, Mr. Grey." Ros is already walking in my office and I lean down to growl at Andrea.
"You work for me, not Ros, not anyone else. Am I clear?"
"Yes, sir. I didn't realize it would be a problem, I apologize." She seems a bit surprised by my outburst so I relax a bit.
Ros is standing in the office and I shut the door behind me, I already know what she's going to say and I frankly don't want to hear it.
"Christian, I agree that we need someone to take on this project in the capacity that Ms. Steeles company can offer. Have you fully vetted her? Her company? Her connections? We're talking almost two billion in cash here. Thousands of man hours, hundreds of millions of dollars being traded. Is it a good idea to bring in someone who's barely out of high school?"
I'm pissed. Not because she's wrong but because she's doubting Ana.
"I've taken care of the preliminaries and I'm satisfied with her portfolio. She's good at her job, she knows her shit and we're hiring her so get on board." My voice is calm but my nerves are not. I depend on Ros to challenge me sometimes but not with Ana. Never with Ana.
"OK, here it is. I couldn't help but notice the way you looked at her and the way you interacted, it's evident that you have some sort of outside relationship and I want to make sure she's not been planted by a competitor or is a competitor."
"As in, an industrial spy? Take my word for it then. She's clean and trustworthy. Are we done?" Get out of my office. I'm a second away from yelling in her face and counting backwards from 10 isn't helping. I'm just about to snap when she speaks up again and climbs out of the hole she dug for herself.
"I'll give you this, you know that 'it' factor that people talk about? Well, Ms. Steeles got 'it' in spades. And she doesn't even know it and that makes 'it' that much harder to ignore. She seemed capable and trustworthy, if it weren't for the smoke between you two blocking my view I'd have hired her on the spot but you have to understand my need to speak to you."
Ros is the only person in the business world that I would ever allow to speak to me like that. Anyone else would be in the unemployment line. Fact.
As she turns to go she throws one last line at me, "She sure is pretty, Christian. If I didn't have Gwen at home I'd be shooting for her as well. As luck would have it, I do have Gwen at home!"
I could fucking choke her right now but I'm distracted, again, by the constant buzzing of my phone so I let her go and get back to work.
"Andrea, have maintenance clear out the corner storage room and make that Ms. Steeles office. She'll also need a pass with wireless admittance and I want her to have access and use of the private elevator. If at any point she calls or comes to see me, I want her admitted without hesitation and I want to be interrupted. Immediate access, understood?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Make sure Olivia knows as well."
With Ana in a new and safe car, the office she'll work out of a mere 400 feet away and the reassurance that I'll get to see her a guaranteed three times a week, I kick back and put my feet on the desk. I look up her whereabouts on my phone and see that her cell is at her office. The meeting and lunch couldn't have gone better and I find that I'm actually excited to get this started. I've been going through the motions lately at the office, bored and unchallenged but now, I'm looking forward to being here and watching her work.
APOV
The minute I get in my new car I fall in love. It's got that new car smell and I didn't worry for a second that it wouldn't start. I'd like to drive it for a while and enjoy it but I'm anxious to get this proposal in GEH's hands sooner rather than later. This is a huge project and not only will it put a substantial amount of cash in my pocket, put Steele Translations on the map and teach me a lot about business, but it will also enable me to watch Christian work.
I brief Missy as quickly as I can and then download the flash drive I was given, taking out my notes pertaining to the documents that were left at the office. By 7:30 I've completed a rough draft of the outline and I'll admit that I'm a bit daunted.
My estimate of $275k for the consulting fee is much larger than anything I've billed before but I've never had a client, or a contract like this. I'll be required to work on site at GEH at least three days a week and I'll need to be available pretty much all of the time for the duration of the negotiations and I'm required to accompany the team overseas at a still yet to be determined destination to close the deal. No problem there, I love to travel and the idea of going anywhere with Christian makes me giddy.
When my phone pings I ignore it for close to an hour and by the time I check it I've got three texts from Christian, each one a bit more concerned.
Hi, Ana. You did great today, any questions?
Everything ok?
Ana, I'm getting concerned, please answer.
I call him instead of texting back, it seems easier this way.
"Ana. Is everything alright?" he sounds a bit breathless but I'm borderline annoyed. Three texts in less than an hour? Is this how it's going to be if I work for him?
"I'm fine, I was just working on the proposal outline. I've got most of it completed but I want to look at some of the number sheets before I commit to a final version."
"Did you have any questions?" he's back to CEO Christian and honestly, I can deal with this a lot easier than dealing with badgering Christian.
"Not as of yet. I expect to be able to have this to you by tomorrow afternoon once my attorney looks it over. At the latest you'll have it Friday morning."
"I look forward to it, please be careful going home."
"I will, have a good night!" I'm aiming for cheery but I just want to get off the phone and finish this up. I've got a Pilates class in 15 minutes and I don't want to miss it.
By Thursday night I'm satisfied with what I've worked out and what I've constructed. I email it to Ros and Christian and head to bed mentally exhausted by the juggling act I did today translating for a client from Portugal and then switching back to Mandarin. I'm a bit put out that I haven't heard from Christian today but we're not dating so I shake off the feeling of melancholy and fall asleep.
Friday I wake to the ringing of my cell phone and notice that it's precisely 9am which means only one thing. He's gotten my email and has made a decision. I sit up and take a deep breath, coughing to clear my throat before I answer.
"Good morning, Christian."
"Ms. Steele, how are you?" Oh, ok, we're in business mode apparently.
"I'm well, thank you, and yourself?" Get to the point!
"I'm good, I received your proposal and I'm happy to agree on each point except for the ninth. If you strike that, we can begin working together on Monday." He's snide and I'm defeated. Shit. I was hoping he'd gloss over that one but being Christian Grey, I should have known better.
"You've given me no choice I guess. I concede, I will not return the car once the project is over but will, with a thankful heart keep it." Ugh. That hurt a little but I know he's not going to back down on this.
"Wonderful! Then you'll be here Monday morning if that suits you. I'd like to take you out to celebrate tonight, if you don't have plans of course." Shit, I'd love to spend tonight with him but I can't.
"I'd love to but I'm leaving for Montesano in less than an hour to spend the weekend with my dad. Maybe another night?" I'm hopeful, I do not want to shortchange myself when it comes to time with him but I can't cancel on my dad now.
"Very well, Monday night we'll go for dinner. What are your plans while at your dads?"
"The usual, grocery shop for him, clean the house up for him, badger him about doctor appointments and cook for him. We'll go fishing at some point and probably for a hike. The plan was to look for a car but since you've so neatly disposed of that problem, I'm up for anything."
"No plans to visit old friends while you're there?"
I scoff, visit friends from high school? No thanks. When I graduated, I left for good and while I do spend the occasional night with an old friend, I'm not one for holding onto the past. "No, if I do see anyone it'll be my friend Tara but even that I doubt."
His tone seems lighter all of the sudden and he tells me to have a good time and drive carefully. After we hang up I jump and scream and call Missy to tell her the good news. She works for me but she's also become something of a friend since it's impossible not to form a relationship with someone sitting in a closet all day with you. We agree to meet for a quick coffee to formulate a game plan for the office since I'll be at GEH for three days a week beginning on Monday. As it is now, Missy is working on our only other current business and that can all be done without my help, especially since I don't speak or read Farsi.
With an excitement I haven't felt in my life ever, I head off to my dad's house for the weekend in my brand spanking new Audi.