This is my shortest chapter yet but I hope you can all forgive because of the questions it answers ;) Switched things up a little bit for this one.

"Is the girl still not talking to you?" Elena asked, perched on the edge of his couch, legs crossed.

It was a position he'd seen thousands of times, used to get him aroused the second she adopted it with the way that it showed off her legs. Now it just annoyed him. They hadn't been sleeping together for years, but Elena was always trying to get him back into bed no matter how many times he insisted it wasn't going to happen. He brought his phone to his head and dialed . He'd been calling her since yesterday when he'd dropped her off, immediately knowing that it was the wrong decision but she had work and so did he.

"Just let it go, Christian. Obviously she's a lot less mature than you thought when you got into this… situation with her."

"Relationship, Elena. Relationship." Christian said with a glare. He knew that if there was anyone he could explain what was happening with Ana it would be Elena. That had been what he'd planned to talk to her today during lunch that they had every Wednesday. Then Tuesday came along with a call from Ana. "Anastasia is my girlfriend and I won't have you discounting that just because you don't like it."

"Girlfriend, really Christian?" Elena sighed disappointedly. "Do you really think this will end well? People like us don't get girlfriends or boyfriends. That's just not our life."

"Maybe I've decided to try something new."

"Trying something new is a scene in the play room. Not fooling a girl into thinking you're capable of getting into a relationship with her. You're only going to confuse the poor thing and have yet another woman trailing after you; except this time you don't have a contract to tear up."

Christian's ears burned knowing that she was right, but just like everything that had occurred with Ana, he hadn't been able to stop. Everything about her drew him to her and he was helpless to escape her thrall.

At first she had seemed like every doe eyed women that walked into his office hoping that for some reason she would stand out. She had pulled herself together quickly as almost everyone else did, if they'd even had a moment. Most people came into his office knowing that they couldn't waste their or his time hoping for the unattainable.

Yet with Ana, things had been different. He was drawn to her voice and eyes, listening intently to each question she gave and answered, desperately trying to draw out more. The idea of her working in the same office was a blessing and a curse. Even now he wished that she was here with him so that he could be with her at all times, never need to pick her up from another office, even if it was close by. Even if he was now in the process of acquiring it.

Every time he was with her, things happened that he hadn't planned and instead of feeling frustrated and like things were out of his control he felt the complete opposite. Like it was the plan for things to be unplanned. That maybe he didn't need to control every step because the surprise that came from it would be worth it. Meeting Ana had been a hell of good one.

She brought something out him in he didn't know he wanted. He didn't know what it was about that woman but he kept finding himself revealing more and more without a thought. Next thing he knew she had practically his entire life story. He would find himself looking into her guiles eyes, his mouth would open, and his past would just pour out.

He might have been the first man that she had sex with, but she was his first in many ways as well. Sometimes he found himself thinking about how much more she was to him than he ever would be for her. Of how he wouldn't be her last and he hated the feeling that it left him with. He would console himself with the fact that while he might not be her only one but he would certainly be her best.

He just wanted to make sure that she remembered him like he knew he was going to remember her. Every time they were together they did something new. Things Ana didn't even realize were completely unique to him and why they stood out more than they ever would for her.

Having sex in his bed. Having sex anywhere in his apartment but the playroom. Him picking her up from work and talking to her about his day. Anytime that a submissive had been over in the past it was under a strict timeline with her always driving herself to his place in the car that he had provided. Another large difference between Ana and the women of his past though in that aspect he wished she would take after them a tad more. He hated the way that Ana refused any and all of his gifts, but most of all the car. All he wanted was to make sure that he knew she was safe.

He had never let anyone as close to him as he did Ana, but he couldn't find it in himself to regret it. Ana had met his mother, something that he would have tried to prevent in its entirety but something that once occurred, he was not displeased about. If anyone deserved to know Ana, it was Grace, the woman who had taken him in and showed that kindness did actually exist. A trait that Ana emulated.

Christian wished deeply that Elena had not been there at the meeting.

"Did you not think I would find out," Christian asked, returning his phone to his pocket when Ana' didn't picked up once more. He refused to feel anything about it and focused on what was happening in front of him. It was part of the reason he was such a good CEO. The ability to delegate not only the many tasks that landed on his desk each day, but to delegate his feelings so that he never treated anyone unjustly for something unrelated to them.

"It didn't matter if you found out," Elena replied dismissively but Christian could see the burst of annoyance in her eyes from Ana ratting on her. Christian couldn't be more pleased.

"You can't scare Ana into submission like she's some sub. She has no reason to be scared of you and no reason to think twice about you. In fact, even if she was a sub she would have done the right thing by telling me because no way is it your business what is happening between me and my subs."

"But that's just it," Elena stood, eyes flashing with fury, "she's not your sub! I have let this go on for too long. I understood after you let Suzannah go that you needed some time. You wanted something different, you've had the same type of girl for the past half a decade. I figured you would come to me when the time was ready and I'd send you a girl who was taller, or maybe had brown eyes instead of blue. Heck, I'd even send you a redhead! Then, next thing I know, I'm out getting lunch with a dear, dear friend of mine and we decide to stop by her sons briefly because she hadn't heard from him in a while to find him with not by himself as he's supposed to be, but with another woman! I would understand a one-night stand Christian, but a girlfriend? What on earth are you thinking? Or is that just it, you're not thinking at all."

Christian leaned over his desk, eyes dark with fury. "What this is Elena, is none of your business."

Elena scoffed. "Please, Christian. Every woman you interact with is my business."

Christian straightened and stepped closer to Elena, using his height to his advantage. He still towered over her despite the heels that she was wearing. It was a move that Elena had liked to use on him when he was younger, before he had grown himself, and continued to use by making sure that he was on his knees whenever they were in a scene together.

It wasn't something that he liked to do often, he saw others using their height to their advantage all around him, especially in the male dominated world that he worked in. Employers towering over their assistants as they had them fetch coffee or a male board member stepping closer and peering down at the women that he claimed to be equal to, but showed what he really saw every time he made sure that she had to look up at him.

"Not this one," Christian said back, taking a small amount of pleasure and forcing away the self-disgust when he saw the way Elena's eyes wavered.

"Please," Elena moved back and stood taller, "you need someone like me to be looking after you. What do you think is going to happen with this… Anastasia?"

"I think that it's none of your business."

"Christian, darling," Elena replied, switching tactics, "all I'm trying to do is look out for you but I can't do that if you won't help me.

"I don't care what you think you're doing, Elena. I need you to leave Anastasia and me alone. Do you understand me?"

"You don't need to be so domineering." Elena waved a hand in the air dismissively, knowing that she'd overstepped but Christian doesn't budge. She picked up her purse that she'd left on the couch. "Come now, let's go get lunch."

"I won't be doing lunch this week Elena."

Elena froze. "Oh, please, don't be so dramatic Christian. It was just a little misunderstanding between me and your girlfriend."

"A misunderstanding is not you approaching Ana at her place of employment as if you had a right to talk to her. How did you even know where she worked?"

"You know I always run background checks on all of your potential subs," Elena replied dismissively.

"Ana," Christian said in a hard voice, "is not a potential sub."

"Well I know that now." A light laugh and another flutter of her hand.

"No. You knew that before when I introduced her to you and Grace as my girlfriend. What you did was a power play and I do not appreciate it. As your friend or as a dominant."

Elena laughed long and hard. "Oh, Christian, Christian." She walked closer and ran her hands up Christian's arms, fingers dancing when they got close to his no-go area before yanking them away with another laugh. "You have no idea what game is being played, do you?"

"It's time for you to leave Elena." Christian glared, and stepped back, refusing to say anything else. He knew that he'd given himself away though the second that he said those words, Elena's smile turning pitying, but her eyes mocking.

Christian hated not knowing what she was talking about. He had no problem reading everyone else that came into his life as long as they weren't close to him. The second he was across the room from a potential new partner he would know their major tells and what they wanted. But when it came to the people close to him, he always had a hard time reading them. Elena the most because while everyone helped him with their words, Elena seemed to get a sick sense of pleasure when she realized that Christian had no idea of what she was talking about.

"Lunch next week?"

Christian didn't respond and Elena only smirked and walked out of his office. Christian waited until he was sure she would be in the elevator and long gone when he pressed the button on his phone that rang Andrea.

"Yes, Mr. Grey?"

"Elena Lincoln is no longer allowed on immediate access list."

Andrea's response came after a short pause. Christian had a very small list of people that he allowed to see him without needing an appointment and it had never changed in the time that Andrea had worked there. "Yes, Sir. Shall I revoke her access to the elevator?"

Christian almost said no, catching himself at the last minute. "Actually, yes Andrea. Thank you."

"You're welcome, sir."

Christian turned in his seat and stared out the window, his thoughts immediately returning to Ana and the weekend that they had spent together. The boat had been his own idea from one too many late nights at his piano, staring at the couch he'd taken Ana on her very first night there. He hated the fact that she was always willing to come over any time he called, but refused to spend the night. He had multiple scenes planned out for waking her up nice and slow in the morning, none of which he'd been able to enact due to her stubborn refusal to use the guest room.

He had been thinking of other places he would like to take her, to feel her warm around him as he came inside her, many of which had to be dismissed for simple practicality. She didn't work at GEH and he did not need any rumors flying when Ana entered his office once again no matter how discreet Andrea was.

Christian's thought flew back to the night after he took Ana out on the Sound. He had meant for Ana to spend the night, it had been part of why he made sure to tire her out on the boat ride and continued to when they got back to Escala. What he hadn't counted on was tiring himself out. Ana hadn't said anything about waking up in his bed but he could tell that she was surprised when she first woke up and realized where she was. Christian always had a strict rule about women sharing his bed with him. Yet, like everything that was Anastasia Steele, she blew that idea completely out of the water.

The first night that she had slept beside him had been a fluke. The entire night had been a fluke if he was being completely honest with himself. He had let her stay because she passed out before he could say anything else and he was more than ready to talk with her in the morning. He hadn't planned on falling asleep when he laid out beside her but then the next thing he knew he was blinking awake to sunlight in his eyes after one of the soundest night's sleep he had in his memory.

He hadn't thought twice about it but apparently he should have if the other night was any indication. He'd woken up just as rested, not waking once in the middle of the night to night terrors, his piano staying silent for once.

Christian was more than eager to see if both times had been coincidences or Ana wove even more magic over him than he had originally known.

Reaching for his phone once more Christian pressed redial, unsurprised when her voice mail clicked on. "Ana, it's Christian. Please call me back when you get this message." He wasn't pleased with Elena's actions but maybe he could use this to his advantage.

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