Who Would've Thought
Chapter One
Christian wrapped a hand around a glass of champagne.
"Where is my dashing brother?" exclaimed Elliot from across the lavish room. The partygoers not partaking in small talk laughed at Elliot's boisterousness. The older brother kicked his way through the confetti, searching the sea of people for his younger sibling.
"Ah! There he is, the handsome lad! Are you looking for your lover of the night?" Christian suspected his older brother had received his fill on champagne and beer for the evening.
Before Christian could answer, he felt his cell phone buzz in his pocket. He fished it out, glancing at the caller ID.
"Put that down!" Elliot ordered with a laugh. He swayed over to Christian, failing in an attempt to grab the cell phone from his younger brother's hands.
With an eye roll, Christian paced out of the room, chuckling as he heard Elliot's booing.
"Grey," he answered as he shut the door to his brother's home office. He swept his gaze around the characterful room, unfazed at the difference between their taste in interior decor.
"Christian, you know it's me, and yet you still answer like I'm some client of yours!" Christian bristled at the petulant caller's voice.
"I'm sorry, I didn't have time to look at who was calling," he lied.
"Christian," Leila whined down the line. He imagined her throwing a hand in the air in disbelief. He didn't have it in him to care.
"Did you talk to Andrea?" he inquired while moving to peer out the window. The sun was setting behind the mansions of Seattle, a beautiful sunset Christian had no inclination to admire.
"Of course I talked to Andrea! When do I not talk to Andrea? I've probably talked to Andrea more than you in the course of our whole relationship!" she huffed.
Christian sighed and brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose.
"Did you work out the flight details? I have a very important deal I am negotiating and I will need you here this upcoming weekend." One of the things Christian hated, among a few, was that Leila often traveled to Los Angeles to be with her mother. She would leave at a moment's notice, loving the fact that she had one of Christian's credit cards to spend money on whatever she desired.
"I do not appreciate being treated like I'm at your beck and call, Christian! I am not some girl who can be ordered around like one of your employees, especially when the call comes from your secretary!" Leila shouted angrily.
Christian pulled the phone away from his ear and counted backwards from ten in his head. He did not want to start a fight on the phone in the middle of his brother's house.
When he felt composed, he placed the phone back on his ear. He moved his other hand through his hair.
"I am sorry you feel that way," he gritted out the apology he learned from his therapy sessions. "I promise I am not trying to treat you like one of my employees."
"Well, that's the way that you make me feel. I don't know how much longer I can take it. I mean, have you even told your parents about us?" she challenged.
He stayed silent, having no reply for her.
"That's what I thought, maybe we should just break up…" she trailed off sounding unsure of herself.
Christian watched as the sun sunk deeper, almost disappearing under the horizon.
"Maybe we should."
"Maybe we should what?" Leila inquired. Christian rolled his eyes.
"Leila," he was losing his patience. "We should break up."
She sighed on the other end.
"Ok, we can discuss it when I get back to Seattle," she reluctantly agreed. He had no clue why she wanted to discuss it.
He paused once more, wondering if she would want to start another argument.
"Are you there?" he heard her demand.
"I don't think there's anything to discuss, Leila," he expressed finally.
"Fine, Christian, don't call me ever again. Goodbye." She hung up on him.
"Goodbye, Leila." he spoke to the empty line.
He shoved his phone back in his pocket, gazing one last time out the window. The sun was nowhere to be seen.
"There he is, the handsome lad!" Christian was not shocked that Elliot was at the point of repeating himself. He watched as his older brother grabbed another drink from a waitress passing them.
"Elliot, don't you think you need to slow down?" Christian inquired.
"And miss out on all the fun? Hell no! You need to drink more Christian." Elliot chortled. The older brother skipped away like a five year old. Christian shook his head in exasperation.
"I'm gonna head out!" He yelled after him, not bothering to find out if Elliot heard or not.
He called out an attendant, asking her to grab his coat and to meet him at the front door.
On his way down a couple of steps, he bumped into a girl, but he made no move to apologize.
"Christian?" he heard his name sung out. He turned back to the girl.
"Susannah?" She smiled and twirled her hair. Christian smirked.
"How are you, anything new going on?" she touched his arm. Christian scanned the room for the attendant with his coat.
"I'm doing good, just heading out. How are you?" Christian didn't particularly care but he gave her a small smile when she giggled.
"Oh, I'm doing amazing, look, I just got married!" the brunette squealed while shoving her ring in his face. Christian's eyebrows rose up his forehead.
"Wow, congratulations. Who's the lucky guy?" his eyes scanned the room once more, hoping the attendant would save him from further conversation.
"I wish it was you!" she giggled. His gaze snapped to hers, noticing her dilated eyes. She was either drunk or high, or both. Why he had not noticed till that point was unknown. He pleaded to the universe for his coat, because if it was not in his hands in the next minute, he would leave without it. He was grateful that he kept his car keys with the valet instead of in his coat pocket.
"I'm sorry," she snorted," I mean, his name is Richard and he is so amazing, and rich," she whispered like it was some kind of secret."You might know him, he runs a huge skateboarding factory, and he's friends with Elliot."
"Doubtful," Christian replied under his breath. He finally caught sight of the attendant heading his way. "Look, Susannah, it was good seeing you again, I wish you all the best." He smiled as he reached for his coat.
"Thank you," he muttered in relief to the lady that brought him his coat.
Susannah chuckled, seeming to sober for a small moment, "Why are you leaving so early? The night just started."
Christian shrugged, not having an answer to give. She probably wouldn't remember anyway.
"Got a business to run?" she smirked, twirling her bracelet on her wrist.
"Something like that."
"Have a goodnight, Christian." She began to walk away.
"Hey Susannah?" he called one more time. She glanced over her shoulder at him.
"When you and I dated, did you talk to my secretary more than you talked to me?" he put on his coat watching her, genuinely interested in the answer.
She smirked, "Andrea was a bridesmaid at my wedding."
Before he could reply, she threw herself into the crowd, Christian quickly losing sight of her.
He took that as a yes.
"Christian Grey," he told the valet, who scrambled to retrieve his car. As he waited, he watched as guests arrived at Elliot's party. He felt no ounce of sadness at missing out. He would go home, work on a couple of spreadsheets, attempt to sleep, and then play the piano. C'est la vie, he thought.
"Here you go, Mr. Grey," the young valet handed him his keys. Christian strode over to the driver's side of his Audi R8 and jumped into his car. He reached for the door, preparing to bolt as soon as his door was closed.
"Mr. Grey, before you leave, I should let you know that the highway heading back into town has a traffic jam that could take, from what I've been told, an hour and most other main roads are under construction," the boy informed nervously.
Christian pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Fine, thanks," he gruffly responded. The one night he drove himself instead of letting Taylor drive him.
He shut the door, flooring the pedal out of the driveway. He was certain he knew a way home that would avoid the highway and main roads.
Christian was lost. He wasn't even sure if he was in Seattle anymore. He had pulled over to check his phone for directions, but his phone had died, and naturally he had no charger to use.
He ran a hand through his already messed up hair, and made a mental note to keep a surplus of chargers in his car.
"God Dammit!" he shouted into the empty space of his car. He steered his car back onto the road, deciding to travel to the nearest gas station, swallow his pride, and ask for directions.
Somehow he had started his company from scratch, yet he couldn't find his way home in the city he grew up in.
Around the fifteen minute mark of searching for a gas station, he finally spotted lights before him. He breathed out slowly, hunching forward.
The city he found himself in looked like it belonged in the late 1980s, neon lights and graffiti lining every building along the strip. He pulled into the first gas station he saw, the sign above flashing the name "Luckys," and parked his car next to a pump.
Christian stepped out of his car, noticing the leers from the teenagers smoking a joint in the shadow of the building. Not far from the stoners was a group of burly men standing next to their fleet of motorcycles.
He took a big breath, smelling the strong fumes of oil and marijuana. Christian suddenly felt uneasy, but he would never tell it to anyone. Stuffing his hands in his pocket, he surveyed the area and pulled his wallet out. He grabbed a credit card, and prepared to pay, only for the machine not to work. He scoffed, and turned back towards the building.
There was a Chinese restaurant that sat next to the station, and on the other side, a cheap motel.
He walked into the station, the fluorescent lights blinding him momentarily. As quick as could, he paid for his pump, and walked back out into the night.
The first thing he noticed was that another car had parked in the gas station lot, music blaring from its clunky windows. Three scantily dressed women stood by the car. The stoners barely gave the newcomers much attention, while the bikers started whistling at the girls.
The second thing Christian noticed was the short haired blonde touching his car. She wore a short sequined dress, with two holes cut out of the material around the sides of her abdomen. The dress clung tight to her skin, so much so that Christian almost felt guilty for admiring her before he remembered he was freshly single.
Despite his admiration, he couldn't help but feel like he had been transported into the red-light district. Christian watched as a raven headed girl strolled over to the bikers giving her catcalls, and started flirting with the older men.
The fuming and exhausted billionaire reached his car, readying himself to get the hell out of the city he stumbled upon.
"Step away from my car," he demanded with what he liked to call his CEO voice.
The girl, unfazed, simply continued admiring his Audi.
"This car is awfully fancy for this side of town, you lost or something?" the blonde turned towards him.
He gasped softly. Christian normally was not attracted to blondes, but he definitely was to the one in front of him.
She stared at him, and from where he stood, he could see her bright blue eyes. He didn't know how to reply, not wanting to show all of his cards at once.
He surveyed the area once more. He noticed the other women he saw had dispersed. Two went with the bikers, and one was slyly accepting money from a stoner.
"Are you going to answer me or are you going to stand there gaping like a fish out of water?" she pressed.
He glanced back at her, suddenly feeling very constrained. He grabbed onto the collar of his shirt, loosening it slightly. She looked innocent enough, he guessed.
"I, uh…yeah, I'm lost." He had no idea where CEO Christian went. He cleared his throat. "And I need to get gas."
The girl moved slightly to the side of his car, and he made his way to the pump, popping the tank and inserting the nozzle.
While he waited for the tank to fill, he moved to sit on the hood of his car and figured he minus well ask if the girl knew directions into town.
The girl hung around, appearing intrigued by him, or at least his car. He couldn't blame her; money appealed to everyone. In a small way he believed she was brave for approaching him, although he was still unsure of her intentions.
"What's your name?" he inquired.
She turned her face towards him, meeting his stare. Her thigh high boots tapped against the concrete as she inched her way over to him, stopping two feet away.
"I'm Sally, do you work with the police?" she twirled a ring on her finger, a nervous habit he surmised.
"A bit of an unoriginal name to choose," he smirked, but his smile fell when he realized she could be telling the truth. "Do I look like I work for the police?" He gestured to his Audi.
"What do you do?" She continued her questioning. He briefly wondered why he was entertaining the girl, but then remembered he needed directions.
He smirked, "What do you do?" He was curious to see how far he could interrogate her, and followed her tactic.
She, too, smirked. "Whatever you want me to do," she hotly replied, but her giggle transformed her into an innocent girl. If she wasn't a blonde, he would have been heavily tempted to take her home with him.
"Well I need directions, can you give me any?" he heard the pump click, indicating it was done. He rounded the car.
"Where are you headed to?" she questioned.
"Seattle."
"Yea I can help you get to Seattle," she nonchalantly shrugged.
"I didn't say I needed your help, I only need directions," his voice was flat.
"Well I can give you directions, simple as cake, but did you see those girls over by that car earlier?" She pointed to the clunky car, and he nodded. "We each have a quota, and I wouldn't mind hitching a ride to Seattle." He admired her tenacity.
Christian weighed his options, glancing at his Rolex. It was nearing midnight and he wanted to get home as fast as he could.
"I'll pay you 1,000 cash if you can direct me home in less than two hours."
Her eyes widened in surprise. She gave him a lopsided grin. "Sounds good."
"Get in the car."
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Hello! Here is my new story! Thank you for reading :) Please review! Also, let me know if you see any mistakes so I can fix it right away! Much love!