Ana didn't feel like dressing up, but she hated going into GEH in casual clothes — she was the CEO's wife after all. So she threw on a smart skirt — for easy access — and plain white blouse. Nothing fancy but the clothes were just going to be tossed into the corner anyway, she thought wryly, picturing her impatient husband clawing at them.
Hopefully he'll let her get a word in about her post-pregnancy concerns before he pounces on her, she smirked.
Ana kissed the top of Phoebe's head, gave Mrs. Winston a few final instructions and began to leave when the phone interrupted her.
"Hey Kate, I was just heading out to visit Christian at GEH. What's up?"
"A little office nookie eh?" Leave it to her best-friend-super-sleuth-reporter to hit the nail on the head.
"Kate your mind is always in the gutter," Ana laughed.
"Right there along with you," she shot back. "Am I wrong?"
Ana giggled. Kate was always a keen observer, especially when it came to bedroom matters.
"Hey aren't you at six weeks? Shit, you and Christian must just be getting back into the swing of things aren't you?"
Too keen. Ana wasn't in the mood to delve into the subject any further, so she dismissed Kate's unrelenting curiosity. "Sorry Kate I'm really running late…"
Undeterred, her sister-in-law pressed on. "Oh man I remember when Elliot and I started back up again after Ava. Rough going — everything felt different, you know? The shit babies do to your body that no one ever tells you about. We eventually got over it but he complained..."
"Kate," Ana interjected. "I'm really sorry but I've got to go. We still on for lunch on Saturday? Teddy misses Ava."
"Course. I was just calling to see if we could switch it to 1 o'clock."
"No problem," Ana replied. "You'll be late anyway. I'll see you then."
She hung up, her worries back in full force. Why the hell did Kate have to bring that up? But Ana wouldn't let her well-meaning friend's nonsense deter her from her mission, so she walked out the door before her resolve could waver.
Ana strolled into the vast lobby of GEH, still overwhelmed by its sheer scale, and was grateful to see a friendly face in Calvin, the sweet security guard she had grown fond of. Ana wasn't sure why Christian kept him on — he was nearing 80 and didn't offer any actual security — but she suspected it was because Calvin enjoyed the job and deep down Christian was a sentimental softie. No hearts and flowers my ass, she thought.
"Hello Mrs. Grey. Wonderful to see you. How are you?" he greeted her enthusiastically. He always made her feel at ease, like a caring grandfather. "How are the two little ones?"
"Tiring," she replied honestly. "But wonderful. I'm still getting used to having a newborn in the house again but I can't complain. How is Monica? Did she get the banana bread recipe I emailed her?"
"She certainly did and I have to compliment both you and my wife for making some of the best banana bread I've ever tasted."
"Glad to hear it. Tell her I still expect her to send me that secret barbeque recipe in return."
"I've been waiting 50 years for that one, so good luck," he joked as Ana headed toward the elevator, giving him a friendly wave.
She smiled to herself as she rode up the sleek elevator to the 20th floor. Calvin was a nice change of pace from the army of efficient blondes Christian usually employed.
Speaking of blondes, Ana didn't spy Andrea when she stepped into Christian's private lobby. Must be out to lunch, Ana assumed. That intern — Linda, Lydia, what was her name? — should probably be here though.
The fact that she wasn't manning her post didn't bode well for the newest intern's chances, Ana mused. She felt sorry for the girl who was sure to be another casualty or Christian's wrath. "Another ones bites the dust," she muttered.
Ana heard women's voices through the closed door and figured Christian's meeting was still under way, so she began wandering around as she waited for her husband to finish up.
She poked inside the newly built boardroom that jutted off the lobby area. Sparse, contemporary and stylish, like the rest of GEH, it boasted an expansive wall of one-way glass so that the occupants of the room could see the lobby outside but no one could see inside.
"Useless," Ana observed. "I'd sit here distracted watching the people outside the whole time instead of paying attention to the meeting."
In the adjacent room, the company's CEO sat in his enormous office, annoyed and anxious. Christian Grey was not a patient man and what little he had was wearing thin as he listened to the two women in front of him drone on about their burgeoning telecommunications software invention — all while desperately trying to get his attention.
Angelique, the well-dressed brunette, calculatingly undid the top buttons of her blouse to reveal her breasts, while Tiffany, the bouncy blonde, was just outright drooling. Subtlety was not her strong suit. Christian had to refrain from rolling his eyes. He feigned interest in what they were saying — their software was technologically impressive — but the entire time his eyes were transfixed on the array of photos that lined his walls. Ana smiling shyly. Ana looking off into the distance.
He drew circular patterns on the desk where he envisioned Ana sprawled out as he pounded into her mercilessly. No, the couch first — he wanted to look into her eyes as he made love to her. Then he'd fuck her into oblivion from behind on the desk, hands tied behind her back. He grinned mischievously, adjusting himself to hide the massive erection now straining his pants.
Angelique mistook his avoidance for attraction, hoping she was finally getting to the rakishly handsome billionaire. "So if you examine the stats, no comparable software on the market offers the same benefits for the cost," she said, rattling off her well-honed spiel while leaning over to offer him a generous view of her exposed cleavage. Tiffany just nodded vigorously in blind agreement.
"Yes I'll have my numbers man Mike go over everything in detail and get back to you next week," Christian replied curtly. He was accustomed to flirty women but they were a tiresome distraction that he didn't tolerate for very long. Ros was busy with her own projects, so he was going to pawn them off on his number-three man.
"If you excuse me now ladies, I have an important pending appointment," he said, ushering them out the door without a second glance back. Fuck, where was Ana!
Once outside, Angelique and Tiffany assessed their progress.
"I think I'm winning him over," the beautiful, cunning brunette told her dubious colleague.
"Maybe. If you don't mind me saying, though, he seemed pretty aloof and cold. He is married, remember? Seems absurdly devoted to his wife based on that shrine of pictures he's got in there."
"Please, that's all for appearance sake. Wives don't mean much to men like that," she corrected her naïve friend. "They certainly don't mean much to me and rarely get in my way. Just give me some time Tiffany," she said as they stepped onto the elevator, oblivious to the fact that the boardroom door was ajar and its occupant was none other than the wife of the object of their desire.
On the other side of the glass wall, Ana just heaved a deep sigh, her body drained. She hadn't meant to eavesdrop but found herself frozen when she overheard the two women plotting to seduce her husband. Angelique, Tiffany and the whole lot of them were a fact of life, and she never once doubted Christian's fidelity, but the episode was still an ugly reminder of the gorgeous competition Ana would forever face. And it came at a particularly inopportune time.
Great, now I've got to go in there and tell him I'm not the tight young thing I once was!
She was beginning to lose her nerve and, quite frankly, her appetite for sex. Anxiousness had a bizarre, unintended side effect on the nursing mother. It made her lactate. Ana looked down at the milk seeping through her blouse.
"Jesus, you've got to be kidding me! Now?"
Fortunately, she carried a spare T-shirt in her purse for just such an occasion and quickly changed. But if she hadn't felt dowdy in comparison to Angelique and Tiffany before, she sure as hell did now.
She hedged for a moment, staring at Christian's door, before hightailing it out of there.