Hello, I was originally going to post this story today but as valentines was yesterday, I decided to bring it forward. To say thank you for all your lovely reviews and messages, here is chapter two. Chapter three will be up during the week.

I hope you enjoy it.

APOV

I knew there was a chance I would see him there as soon as Kate had told me about the interview and I did, standing on the steps in front of his building as Kate started to walk my way. I couldn't let on how nervous I was seeing him in person again when she got in the car, seeing him standing right there instead of in the many magazines and newspapers I had seen him in over the years as Kate had no clue how close the man she had just interviewed and I had once been.

Christian had done well for himself, I always knew he would do, I also knew back then that I could never be a part of that.

He'd been my best friend, the one who held me when I cried, Luke too. Christian had been my first crush also and the first I really cared about, to break my heart. I'd idolised him back then, daydreaming just as teenagers do about a future that would never come. My fault really as being starved of affection and attention by those around me, I didn't stop him when it came my way. Had things been different, things wouldn't have ended the way they did.

We were two different people growing up, him seen as the bad boy to most, me, the good girl. And just as we're two different people now, like then, I refuse to be treated as second best.

"Earth to Ana, are you alright," Kate asked me bringing me from thoughts of the past.

"I'm fine Kate, you scrub up well" I teased, seeing her all dressed professionally when I knew she preferred to live in her jeans. That's all she owned in college and seeing her in a dress now is a bit of a shock.

"Unfortunately, one has to blend in to do one's work if one wants to do well in daddy's company."

"Shut up and speak properly" I laughed.

"It's good to see you Ana, good to see you when you're not knee-deep in mud and shit and look at your tan."

"Mud and shit is all part of the job, the tan, I've just returned from working in Africa" I laughed.

"I hope you going over there, it was not just work and no play."

"You know me" I smiled.

"Yes, head in a book if you're not at work."

"I explored, I got to meet and help some amazing people out there and took a great team of people with me. I played hard but not the playing you're thinking about."

"The hundred-year-old-virgin" she groaned, having no clue about the truth. "They will make a TV show out of you, I'll write the script" she laughed.

"As opposed to the twenty-seven-year-old slut."

"Bitch" she laughed.

"Back at you."

We parked up outside the restaurant we were eating dinner at, both getting out of the car still laughing.

"Whose car is this anyway, I thought you still drove that little red sporty number."

"I do when it's not broke. Its been in the garage for over a week because of engine trouble so I borrowed grandma's car. It gets me from A to B and she wasn't using it."

We entered the restaurant, being shown to the table that Kate had booked. I didn't look too bad against the upper-class that were seated having dinner and the only reason for that was because I had been to visit a client on behalf of my grandmother and I had to dress up for that.

I thanked the waiter who gave us the menu, opting for water as I still had to drive home. Kate though was straight on the wine.

"Are you sure you can't just crash at mine tonight?" she asked, taking a sip of her drink.

"I have work in the morning, a busy week ahead," I told her. "Besides if I'm not there in the morning to give Barnard his breakfast, he will wonder what is up."

"How's is the gorgeous Barnard doing, is he sexy as ever," she asked, causing me to nearly spit out my drink.

"Sexy, I'm getting worried about you Kate" I laughed. "Barnard is, Barnard. He has the ladies falling over themselves for his attention, especially considering he's got two of them pregnant already."

Our attention was focused on the table next to us then and the woman who was having her back patted as she choked. That will teach her for listening in on other peoples conversations.

"He's a good boy" Kate laughed before smiling at the woman.

"He is that" I replied as the waiter returned for our order.

…

"How was he," I asked when we were halfway through dinner unable to stop myself anymore.

"Who."

"Christian."

"What, you know Christian Grey," she asked.

"Yes."

"Why didn't you stop when you picked me up, he was there."

"It was a long time ago Kate and I doubt he would've remembered me" I replied

"Why do I think there's a story here," she asked.

"Maybe because you're a reporter and you think there is a story in everything."

"There is" She stated. "What was he like, back when you knew him."

"Kate, I'm not giving you an exposé on Christian Grey as a teenager" I sighed.

"A teenager, ok, off the record then, friend to friend because I can tell by the way you speak about him that there is a sadness there."

She didn't know the half of it.

"By what I read in the papers," I said. "He's pretty much the same. Christian was always a person of two halves."

"What do you mean," she asked.

"I mean the person I, Luke got to see and the person he showed everyone else."

"You know Luke Sawyer as well," she asked.

"We were all neighbours. I lived in the middle house of three with my mum and stepfather, Luke lived on the left and Christian on the right. The boys are a couple of years older than me and as they used to walk through my back yard to get to each other's houses I got to know them well or so I thought. I thought they were just ordinary boys until I went up to high school, there I saw them in a different light."

"How so," she asked.

"The boys I knew from home, the boys who would sit on my porch with their guitars, laugh and smile were the same boys at high school that left a trail of broken hearts behind. They didn't like that, me knowing what they were like with everyone else. They would speak to me different in high school, only letting on when no one else was around. They had an image there, a life within those walls that they didn't want me to be apart of and believe me, I didn't want to be apart of it. They would always apologise of course and for a while, I ignored them at school and just focused on the time when I saw them at home. He had everything Christian, a real family, not a broken one like my own. He had money and plenty of it but he could never relax like he was waiting to self destruct. I used to wait for him on the back porch, Luke too but the times they did come around, Christian especially became few and far between, probably spending time with one of the girls desperate for his attention. The only time he did come was when he needed me."

"How would he need you," she asked. I just shrugged my shoulders, not wanting to go into it any more as it was bringing memories back of that night. "I'm sorry Ana, I didn't mean to upset you," she said squeezing my hand.

"It's ok, I miss the friendship that we had then but we all grew up and it's been years since I've seen either of them."

"Did you leave, or did they."

"They did at first, going off to college although they came back for the holidays. It was me who made a permanent move and although I spoke to Ray often back then, I didn't go back as he always came to see me" I said, sadly of my late stepfather. "My mum had moved onto her next victim, husband by then and the offer was there to move too and although I said no originally as I was settled where I was and living with her and all the mess that surrounds her was the last thing I wanted to do, I needed a clean break, a change of scenery so I left."

"I asked if he was gay," she said, amusement in her voice at what I had just told her as she tried to lighten the mood. Her comment made me choke on my drink as I let out a laugh.

"No, he's certainly not gay," I replied.

"Are you sure" she teased, receiving silence as her answer. "Ana did you and him..."

"A kiss" and more. "He told me it was a mistake and then left."

Him ignoring me in the days that followed was all the answer I needed to the question I'd asked myself over and over, I was just like all the rest.

"Bastard" she spat.

"Kate, it's in the past, please let it rest."

Throughout the rest of dinner, we spoke of anything and everything but Luke Sawyer and Christian Grey. When I arrived back home, late that night I was surprised and happy to see my car had been returned and that someone was waiting to see me.

"You should be in bed" I spoke, running my hand across his head before I felt his nose, his face against my cheek.

"He was waiting for you" I heard as grandma joined me.

I continued to stroke Barnard's fur as we were approached by the others.

"I'm glad to be back" I sighed, giving the girls some attention.

"The city that bad" grandma asked.

"No, not really."

"Penny for them then."

"I saw him when I went to pick up Kate."

"Did you speak to him?" she asked.

"No, there was no need to do that."

"Really."

"We've all moved on grandma, grown-up and dredging up the past would do none of us any good," I told her.

"You could have seen him and given him a clip round the ear from me," she said, making me laugh as we patted the Alpaca's one last time before making sure they were locked up for the night.

Making our way into the small house, I was too tired for the tea that was offered to me. Kissing grandma on the cheek, I said my goodnights before I headed upstairs to bed.

I washed up, brushed my teeth and got into my comfy pj's. Instead of getting into bed, I got comfortable on the window seat.

My life has changed so much since my high school days, since being with Christian and Luke, mostly for the better, and for a while, a little for the worst. I no longer had a relationship with my mother, although come to think of it, I don't think I ever really did. She was all for herself and I was only brought forward in her life when it benefited her.

Texas was where I found myself when I left, living in a grotty apartment with my mother as I tried to finish high school. When I had arrived there she had already gotten married to husband number three and boy was he a creep. The only good thing she ever did back then was to listen to me when I told her he made me feel uncomfortable. I didn't realise at the time that she used me as an excuse to leave the man when in truth she had already set her eyes on someone else.

Moving around the country, husbands number five and six arrived although I never saw a ceremony or a ring. Had she married them, three either or was she still married to Ray, the only man I ever knew as my dad. I didn't know because I refused to stick around because with husband, boyfriend, whatever he was number six, came the back of his hand. Taking with me the little money I had hidden that Ray had sent me over the years, I left to go in search of my real family and the truth.

My mother had always told me that my real grandparents, my birth fathers parents were dead. My grandfather was, Grandma's second husband too but she, she was still alive and with many tears shed, she welcomed me into her home.

Carla Adams or whatever her name was now had lied to all of us, even telling my grandmother that I had died as a baby so she could sever contact completely with her. Grandma knew the second I knocked on the door who I was because I look just like her son.

Grandma is a country girl and even though she only has a small plot of land compared to some of the larger farms in the area, it was still large enough for chickens and old Spot the cow. That was until I had told her about the alpaca's I had helped look after, volunteering on a community farm. Two weeks later, Barnard and his harem appeared.

...

Morning soon arrived and I was up early to feed the animals before hopping in the shower and getting ready for work. I enjoyed the cooked breakfast that grandma made, taking the sandwiches and hot flask of soup that she had made for my lunch with me.

The drive into work took about twenty minutes, the car park already filling up. Heading inside the building, I said good morning to all that I passed, receiving many good mornings back.

Stepping into my room, there were many here that had already taken a seat, the last few quickly joining us. It was at their suggestion that we met today, even though I knew in an hours time they all had more important places to be.

"Who's going to take the floor," I asked of them, this was their show after all.

Standing up, it was James and Oliver that approached.

"We just wanted to thank you" James spoke.

"Yes, thank you because without your constant kick up the backside but more importantly encouragement, I doubt some of us would pass. I took this course to help my old man out because I felt pressurised into helping out on the farm. I never wanted to work the land before but you've shown me that I can find enjoyment in what I do, pride also at what I have achieved and from what my dad said last night, made him proud. I will bust a nut to pass that exam" James spoke earning a few laughs and smiles from the rest of the class.

"We all will" Maisy replied, "Although I don't have any nuts to bust."

Her comment made me laugh as the group stood in a circle, arms around each of their shoulders as I was pulled within the group.

"To the class of 2019" was shouted around the group. "And may we long continue to be friends" Oliver added.

I thought that was it as the time for their final exam approached but no, they brought out a bunch of flowers for me. Along with that came a cup for my tea with my name engraved upon it.

Not many people wanted to take on this class as even though they all scraped through the admission stages, all coming from poor homes and gaining a full scholarship meant they were looked down upon by some.

I relished the challenge even if I was only teaching them about dirt and what goes into it, and how to feed themselves.

"Professor Lambert" I whispered, running my finger over my name on the cup. I took my own pride in that title because I too once arrived at this university with only the clothes on my back, my intelligent mind and a full scholarship and not a lot else.

Thank you for reading, and thank you to those who had followed and favourited too.

Until next time when a reunion will take place.

Take care.

Caroline.