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Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 25: Changes For the Better

Christian

"Leila - wait."

Christian approached Leila in the foyer just as the elevator doors opened to admit her. Christian quickly reached out and grabbed her arm before she stepped inside the elevator car.

"Let go of me Christian," she snapped, trying to tug her arm out of his grasp. "You said you wanted me to leave, so I'm leaving!"

"I'm not letting you go when you're this upset," Christian insisted. "Especially when I think you're about to do something you would seriously regret."

"Let go," Leila said angrily, still fruitlessly struggling to get her arm out of his grasp. The elevator doors slid closed behind an empty car, and Christian finally let go of her; Leila yanked her arm back while glaring at him.

"Ugh, I just can't win with you, can I?" Leila pouted angrily, crossing her arms in front of her chest and glowering at him. "I came over here, thinking that you and I can finally get a little closure, and you just shoo me away like I'm nothing! And when I actually want to leave because I find out you've replaced me with some secretary, you won't even let me go! What is your deal?"

Christian ignored her comments about Ana. "You came by because you wanted closure?"

"Yes," Leila snapped, looking annoyed for having to admit it to him. "I've been seeing a therapist, and she suggested I try to find some closure with you so I can move on with my life. That's why I came over here in the first place."

Christian raised his eyebrows. "You're in therapy?" he asked, unable to hide the skepticism in his voice.

Leila's eyes snapped up to his as she glared at him. "Is that really so hard for you to believe?"

"Of course not," Christian said quickly, though he was tempted to point out that she had just gone completely postal on his girlfriend barely two minutes ago, making him question the effectiveness of therapy on her. "I'm happy that you're trying to improve your life through therapy."

"It's not a big deal," Leila said, lifting her chin slightly in an attempt at nonchalance. "But Dr. Pregler says that I'm making a lot of progress - I haven't gone shopping for almost a whole week now, and I recently started taking up yoga. She said that having a hobby is a good way to stop destructive habits and to get your life back on track."

Christian stared at her, his previous anger slowly being replaced with sympathy. "Oh… I'm sorry, Leila. I didn't know you felt like your life was off-track."

Leila stared at him for a moment before glancing away, looking more upset than Christian had seen her today. "When you broke up with me, you said that you weren't happy," she said. "It took me a long time to finally accept that, but after thinking about it for awhile, I realized that I hadn't been happy either. I was sort of just going through the motions when I was with you, and after I realized that, I felt really miserable. A few weeks ago I finally decided to do something about it, and now I go to a therapist. She's been helping me a lot."

Christian raised his eyebrows in surprise: that was probably the most sincere, self-aware thing Leila had ever said in all the time he'd known her. He was rather impressed by her maturity. "I'm sorry you've had to go through all that."

"I'm better because of it," Leila said, a noticeable hint of her usual stuck-up tone back in her voice. "I know now that you and I were probably doomed from the start, and we wouldn't have been very happy together at all if we didn't break up. It was all for the best."

Christian didn't say anything - while he seriously doubted Leila truly believed any of that, he decided to keep his mouth shut and not risk getting her angry again. In fact, he had a strong suspicion she had just come by so she could show off to him how much better she was doing than him now that they were broken up, but he didn't really want to test that theory. There was a short silence between them.

"Well, you said you wanted closure," Christian finally said, shrugging his shoulders slightly. "Now you know how I'm doing, and that I'm seeing someone new… what else to do you want to know?"

Leila sneered. "Yeah, you're seeing your secretary." She spit the word 'secretary' like it was some nasty curse word, and Christian glared at her. "I mean what the hell, Christian? Her? You've dated supermodels and actresses and millionaires in the past, and now you decide to hook up with this nobody! I would think you were just having a random fling with her if I didn't already know you'd never do that with an employee."

"No, I wouldn't," Christian agreed, frowning at her. "That's not why I'm with her."

"Why, then?" Leila asked immediately, crossing her arms again.

"Because she makes me happy," Christian insisted. "She's smart and funny, and she likes me for me - not because of my family name or my wealth. She's beautiful and sweet and caring, and the fact that she's not rich and successful doesn't matter to me. I know that dating her doesn't come with all the prestige of dating a woman like you, Leila, but all that doesn't matter when she makes me feel the way I do."

Leila only stared at him as he spoke, and when he finally finished, her brown eyes regarded him with an unreadable expression. "She makes you happy," she stated after a moment.

Christian nodded. "She does."

"What I couldn't do for you."

There was the tiniest hint of regret in her voice, and Christian frowned at her. "I thought I was happy with you," he said truthfully. "Or at least as happy as someone like me could be in a relationship. It wasn't until I fell for Ana when I discovered what it meant to truly be happy with someone… and I wouldn't give that up for the world."

Leila blinked for a second before pressing her lips together, a melancholy expression marring her beautiful features. "And here I thought Christian Grey didn't do love."

Christian stared at her, surprised to hear her use the l-word in regards to his and Ana's relationship. However, he would have been lying to himself if he didn't believe that was the direction their relationship was going in. "People change," he replied after a moment. "I'm sure someone like you could appreciate that."

Leila didn't say anything, and Christian wasn't entirely sure what was going through her mind, but he felt fairly confident she wasn't about to start yelling at him again. She finally reached over and pressed the down button for the elevator, and the doors immediately slid open to admit her.

"I should probably go now," she said before glancing up at Christian. She hesitated a moment, looking like she was about to say something else, but decided not to. "Goodbye Christian."

"Bye Leila," Christian said, and without another word, she stepped into the elevator and the doors slid closed behind her.

Christian just stared at the closed doors, feeling a bit strange - he had intended to come over here and demand Leila not to tell anyone about him and Ana, but he ended up having probably the most sincere heart-to-heart conversation he had ever had with her, even from when they were dating. Because of that, strangely enough, he somehow knew she wasn't going to go shooting her mouth off to the media.

Trust… that was something he had never really had with Leila before when they were together. It was an odd thing to feel for her now that they were broken up.

Christian sighed; even though he was fairly confident Leila wasn't going to say anything to the media, he knew he still had to take precautions in case she did. The cat could proverbially be out of the bag now, and he had to make sure nothing would potentially happen that he couldn't control. Christian turned around and slowly made his way back to the kitchen, feeling utterly miserable - he knew that he was going to have to ask Ana to leave while his PR people sorted all of this out.

Well, there goes our weekend.

Christian walked into the kitchen just as Ana had finished scooping veggie stir fry out of a frying pan and onto a plate. She glanced up when he approached.

"Hey. I finished making lunch," Ana said, placing the frying pan back on the stove and picking up the plate of food. "There's okra in this - I hope you don't mind."

"Ana…" Christian began, unsure about what he was going to say to her. How could he tell her she needed to leave without him sounding like a complete jerk? Ana, however, gave him an understanding smile as she set the plate on top of the kitchen island.

"I know what you're going to say," she said quietly. "I have to leave while you sort all this out, right?"

Christian felt his heart break at the sadness in her voice. "I'm so sorry, Ana," he said honestly, unable to keep the sadness out of his own voice. "I promise it'll only be for this weekend - just until my PR people can get a handle on the situation. We don't know what's going to happen, but it's too risky for you to be staying here while they figure it out."

Ana looked down, fiddling with the sleeve of her shirt while mulling something over in her mind. "Would it really be so bad if people knew about us?" she asked quietly, glancing uncertainly up at him, and Christian felt his heart begin to pound in his chest.

Would it?

"Baby," Christian whispered, and he moved around the counter so he could hold her in his arms; Ana immediately wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his shirt, both of them holding tightly onto each other. "Of course I don't think it would be a bad thing - far from it. Hell, I have to fight with myself every day not to stand up on the rooftop of Grey House and shout out to the world how I feel about you."

Ana giggled against Christian's chest, causing him to smile - even muffled, the sound of her laughter never failed to make him happy. He pulled away from her so he could look into her eyes. "Until we find out what's going to happen, though, we probably shouldn't be seen together. But whether or not Leila ends up going to the media with the news of our relationship won't stop me from wanting to be with you." He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and placed his hand on her cheek. "Media scandal or not, I don't think I could ever keep myself away from you."

Ana leaned her face into his hand, closing her eyes for a moment before opening them and looking up at him. "Will you keep me informed about what's going on?"

"Of course I will."

Ana gave him a small, bittersweet smile before standing up on her tiptoes and pressing her lips to his in a sweet kiss. Christian kissed her back, holding her close and wishing more than ever that he didn't have to say goodbye.

"I really don't want you to go," Christian admitted once they separated, resting his forehead against hers while staring into her beautiful blue eyes.

Ana gazed back at him, a small smile playing on her lips. "'If you keep me in your heart, I'll be with you every mile you go away'," she recited, causing Christian's face to break out into a wide grin. He recognized those words from the note he had written her when she left for Portland last week, and the fact that she had memorized it made him feel elated beyond belief.

I am definitely in love with this girl.

"Very true, Ms. Steele," Christian smiled down at her, that familiar, exhilarating emotion filling his chest and washing all of his worries away. "Very true."

Ana

Ana drove back to her apartment, still feeling a bit upset that Leila's intrusion had caused her and Christian's nice weekend together to be cut short; however, she did understand why it had to end. It was only a matter of time before someone found out about her relationship with Christian, and if that time happened to be now, she and Christian might as well try to get a handle on the story before it became a mass media scandal.

Would Leila really try to ruin Christian like this though?

Ana didn't know Leila well enough to know for certain, but just based on her limited experiences with her, Ana honestly wouldn't put it past her. Christian felt certain that he could convince her not to go to the media, but Ana wasn't as confident.

Only time would tell, Ana supposed, but hopefully they would know for sure sooner rather than later.

Ana drove along the Seattle streets, thinking about what it would be like to date Christian in the public eye. Their particular work situation would probably be the first thing people noticed - a boss dating his secretary definitely had some negative connotations to it. However, Ana honestly didn't care that they were boss and secretary - it wasn't like Christian was married and having some illicit affair with her or something. Also, he had never once made her feel like a cheap tramp or some dirty little secret he was embarrassed to tell people about... she saw the love and tenderness in his eyes whenever he looked at her, or in the way he smiled when he was around her. Making love with him was her biggest reassurance simply because of the way he touched her, held her in his arms, and caressed her body like she was the most precious thing in the world to him. That told her more than words could ever say, and Ana knew in these moments that what they shared was real.

Ana was falling completely in love with Christian Grey, and no potential media scandal could ever stop that from happening.

Ana finally pulled up into her apartment complex and parked into her regular spot. She then went inside the building and up to her apartment, unlocking the door with her key.

"Hello?" she announced to the apartment at large as she stepped into the living room and closed the door behind her.

"Ana?" Kate appeared around the corner from the kitchen area. She was wearing an overlarge sweatshirt and leggings, a pair of reading glasses, and her blonde hair piled up on top of her head in a loose bun. She noticed the unpacked bag in Ana's hand. "What's going on? I thought you were spending the weekend with your boyfriend."

"Not anymore," Ana sighed, setting the bag down at her feet. "It's a long story, and I don't really feel like getting into it."

"Big fight?" Kate asked, gazing at her sympathetically.

Yeah, with his ex.

"No, nothing like that," Ana shook her head. "It's sort of complicated to explain, but everything's fine between him and me. I promise."

Kate nodded understandably and turned back toward the kitchen. "Alright then - I hadn't really made any big plans for today, though. I was just trying to get a little work done, but if you wanted to go out to a bar or something tonight, just you and me, I'd be cool with that."

Ana followed Kate into the kitchen and stopped in her tracks, surprised - the usually empty breakfast counter was currently piled high with books, papers and miscellaneous office supplies; Kate's laptop was perched on top of a small stack of books, while a yellow legal pad filled with notes lay beside it. It looked like Ana's dorm room back at WSU.

"Yikes," Ana said, walking toward the mess and picking up one of the books, glancing over the cover. It looked like some business consulting guide. "This is all for the appraisal firm? I didn't think that job went so in-depth."

"Um… this isn't for my job," Kate said awkwardly, moving over to stand by her laptop. "This is for something else."

Ana looked up into Kate's eyes and noticed her gaze had shifted down to her hands, looking uncomfortable. Ana stared at her suspiciously. "Kate, what are you hiding?"

"What?" Kate glanced back up at her, eyes wide. "I'm not hiding anything… I was going to tell you about all this sooner or later, but I just wanted to present something a little more concrete to you before I did."

"What are you talking about?" Ana asked, frowning. What the hell was all this "research" Kate was working on?

Kate hesitated another moment before taking a deep breath, as if steeling herself. "Okay… well, you remember last week, when we were talking about our careers, you suggested that I should start my own company?"

Ana's eyes immediately lit up excitedly. "That's what you're doing?"

"Sort of," Kate said, taking a seat behind her laptop, and Ana sat down across from her. "It's just an idea I had. I'm still in the research stages of it all, but I've got a pretty good idea of what I think I want to do."

"Kate, that's awesome," Ana said happily, and Kate smiled back at her. "So what's the company going to be?"

Kate hesitated again, looking uncomfortable, and Ana wondered what she was going to say. "Well, that's the thing… I didn't really have a clear idea about what I wanted my company to be, because I've never really had anything that I was particularly passionate about. But then I thought about you and I remembered you said books were your passion, and I started to form an idea…"

Ana simply stared at Kate, confused. What on earth was she getting at?

Kate looked right at Ana. "I think you and I should go into business together."

There was a short silence following that. Ana continued to stare at Kate, not sure if she had heard her correctly. "What?"

"I know it sounds crazy," Kate said quickly. "And I realize you probably want to go find a job at a publishing house or something first, but think about it... you told me yourself that you haven't figured out what you wanted to do in life yet. This could be it - you and me starting a company together!"

Is she being serious?

"I don't know, Kate," Ana said hesitantly. "What would our so-called business be, even - a publishing company?"

"That was my first thought," Kate said quickly, picking up her legal pad and flipping through a few pages. "I figured since publishing is what you went to school for, and I have experience in marketing, we could start up a small independent publishing house or something. However, publishing is a bit of a dying industry in today's day and age, and turning a profit with that sort of business wouldn't be feasible."

"So what was your idea?"

Kate held out her legal pad for Ana to see, and she read the words that were written along the top of the page: Seattle Independent Bookstore & Publications.

"'Bookstore and Publications'?" Ana glanced up at Kate, her eyebrows raised. "You want us to run a bookstore together?"

"A combination bookstore and publishing house," Kate clarified, setting the legal pad back down on the table. "The main part of our business would be the bookstore, which I could manage, but then you would also work on publishing and marketing the manuscripts of local Seattle writers who can't get a publishing deal with a bigger company and who don't want to self-publish. It wouldn't be anything too fancy, but I think it would appeal to a lot of people who are trying to make a name for themselves in the literary world."

Ana continued to stare at Kate - she really seemed to have thought all this through, but Ana was still trying to process everything. This all seemed like too much right now.

"But what about a location?" Ana finally thought to ask. "You can't run a bookstore/publishing company out of a tiny apartment like this one."

Kate looked at her nervously. "I told you before that I'm still only in the research stages of starting this company. I wasn't going to consult a broker until I knew for sure if you were on board with going forward with this idea with me."

Ana blinked a couple times before glancing away, thinking. While a part of her did sort of like the idea Kate had presented her, she knew she had to be realistic about all this. "I don't know the first thing about running a business, Kate," she said honestly, looking back up at her. "I may have gone to school for publishing, but that doesn't mean I know how to run an entire company."

"That's okay," Kate said immediately. "You and I can learn as we go along. I took a few business classes in college, and I've been reading a lot of books on starting a company, so I've got a basic idea on how to do all this… but I also don't want to do it alone." Ana looked at her, and Kate smiled softly. "Back when I was working for my dad, and my coworkers kept giving me crap, all I could think about was how my job would be about a million times better if I got to work beside you everyday. Now, I feel I actually have a chance to."

Ana was touched by that, and she couldn't help but smile at her friend. However, doubts about all this still lingered in the forefront of her mind, and her smile faded away after a moment. Ana knew she needed to think about this for a bit before she considered moving forward.

Could this really be what I'm supposed to do with my life?

"This is a lot to take in, Kate," Ana said truthfully, glancing around at the mess of books and papers on the counter. "I need to think about it first."

"Of course," Kate said quickly. "And if you decide that you don't want to do this with me, I completely understand. Just promise me that you'll think about it."

"I promise," Ana nodded before getting to her feet. "I'm going to drop my things off in my room right now, so I'll see you at dinner."

"Okay," Kate agreed, turning back to her laptop.

Ana couldn't help but think, as made her way into her room, that what with Leila's arrival at Escala, a possible media scandal, and this new business venture Kate proposed to her, that the universe just seemed determined to pile as many things as possible onto her mind right now, intent on driving her nuts.

A/N: Okay, so I have two confessions to make: 1) I didn't mean to imply last chapter that Leila was pregnant with Christian's child, and 2) I never intended to reveal what was in the folder Christian gave Ana because it wasn't actually relevant to the plot. I've had many of my reviewers asking for answers to both of these issues, however, so I decided to clear the air in this chapter. I hope you're all satisfied with the answers I provided, and I do apologize if I was being misleading :( I assure you it was unintentional.

Anyway, if you liked this chapter, please leave a review! And follow my pinterest board at www dot pinterest dot com/strawpaj/inalienable-circumstances/