All characters belong to E.L. James and the Fifty Shades of Grey Trilogy.
Chpt. 6: Christian's POV
I can't believe I let my mother convince me to attend this dinner party tonight; as if I have nothing better to do. I love my mother to pieces and will forever be in debt to her for saving me when I was young but I dread attending these events. At least this one is only about a hundred people; her larger parties aggravate me too much to even attend them anymore. They are always filled with people who either want to get me involved in their business or with woman who swoon over me all night because they know how much money I have. My mother wants to see me settle down with a woman and be happy, and I want the same thing however I know it's not realistic. I am constantly in the public eye which means most people are aware of my business and the obscene amount of money I have. How could I ever trust someone and know that they are not only with me because of money? My mother understands this but she is a romantic at heart and is convinced that someone will come along who will not be interested in my money and will see me for who I truly am. That in itself scares the shit out of me. Who would want to be with me once they really know who I am? Even my family doesn't know my deepest darkest secrets.
"Taylor! Let's go," I call ask I walk out of bedroom.
"Yes sir, I will have the car waiting" Taylor responds disappearing to the garage.
As we drive to some Italian restaurant my mom chose for tonight's dinner, I allow my mind to drift and I find myself replaying the day I bumped into the beautiful girl on the sidewalk. I have found myself thinking about her many times over the last several weeks and still kick myself for not getting her name. I tried to have Welsh, my head of security at Grey House, find out who she is but there were no traffic cameras or business cameras nearby that he could access. The way she looked at me that day still haunts me; it was as if she could look right into my soul. I am still stunned that she touched my chest and I didn't freeze or lash out at her. Dr. Flynn, my psychiatrist and I discussed it that afternoon when I called him for an emergency session:
Flynn: Hello Christian. What brings you here today? We were not scheduled to meet until next week…
Christian: I sort of met someone. She bumped into me on the sidewalk and she put her hand on my chest.
Flynn: That must have been very startling for you as you go to great lengths to insure people cannot touch your chest and back. How did you react to her touch? Did you push her away?
Christian: That's just it. For several minutes, I didn't even notice she was touching my chest!
Flynn: You didn't notice?
Christian: No! What the fuck does that mean? Am I losing my mind? I actually sort of held her close to me to make sure she was okay because she almost fell. She glanced up and it was as if she was looking deep inside me. I looked down and saw her hand lying flat on my chest! How did I not notice? What if she tried to hurt me? How could I be so stupid?!
Flynn: Take a couple deep breaths Christian. It sounds as if your guard was temporarily down because you were concerned about this young girl therefore your mind was elsewhere.
Christian: And because of that she could have hurt me! Or worse, I could have hurt her!
Flynn: Do you think she would have hurt you? Before you answer, close your eyes and think back to that exact moment.
Christian: (taking a couple minute to picture the beautiful girl in his mind) No. She wouldn't hurt me. There was something I could see in her eyes that told me she wouldn't hurt me I think. But what if I hurt her? She touched me! I could have fucking hurt her! I have punched people who have done the same thing she did. She put herself in danger by touching me!
Flynn: Why do you think you didn't punch her?
Christian: I don't fucking know! Isn't it your job to tell me? I told you, she was falling so I put my arm around her to insure she didn't fall on the hard sidewalk and hurt herself. What else was I supposed to do?
Flynn: It sounds like you were more concerned about her safety than your own issues, which is perhaps the reason you let your guard down in the first place.
Christian: How could I be that concerned about a stranger? I think I'm fucking losing my mind. If this is going to continue to happen with random people on the street how will I insure I don't hurt someone?
Flynn: I would like you to think about what it was that made this woman different than the other people who have accidently touched your chest.
End flashback
"Sir, we have arrived" Taylor says breaking me from my daydream.
Taylor and I enter the private banquet rooms and immediately find my mother. She initially lectures me for missing the cocktail hour but easily forgives me when I promise to stay through dinner tonight. She knows me too well; I typically stay for an hour and then come up with an excuse to leave. I chat with a few people throughout the evening mostly about business which gets old very quickly. People want to find out what acquisitions I am working on or what my plans are with the business. I started my business by myself after dropping out of Harvard and since then have grown it into a billion dollar industry. I pride myself that I do not have a board that I need to report to and the only person I answer to is myself. This has allowed me to make various investments or acquire companies that cross different business lines. I have invested a portion of our profits into charities aimed at feeding the homeless or developing infrastructures for third world countries. Too many people suffer in the world and I have too much money thus I invest in opportunities to help others. My mother taught us from a very young age that giving back to the community is key. She hosts many fundraisers or dinner parties, like the one tonight, to convince influential members of the community to donate to various charities. Tonight's dinner is a thank you dinner to some of the top donors to a charity that she sits on the board of which helps children who have been abused.
I end up in a conversation with Elena as I'm trying to leave.
"Christian, I have the perfect woman for you," she says.
"Elena, I'm not interested. Can we please not have this discussion here?" I firmly state.
"Darling, you have been ignoring my calls and you seem very tense," she responds grasping my upper arm. "Please allow me to introduce you to Candy, she's perfect for you. She has is exactly what you look for in a—"
"Enough!" I again state firmly. "We will not have this conversation here!"
I glance up looking for Taylor to see if he has left to get the car yet when suddenly someone catches my eye. I swear she looks exactly like the beautiful woman I bumped into while walking to get lunch weeks ago. She has been haunting me ever since and I swear the waitress on the other side of the room is her. What would she be doing here? She obviously works here….
"Christian, I'm telling you she is perfect. She hardly has any limits…" Elena starts yet again.
"Elena I will not tell you again. I am not looking and we are not continuing this conversation. Good bye," I turn and walk out the door.
Taylor pulls up and I get in the car leaving a stunned Elena standing in the doorway of the restaurant. I can't believe she tried to have a conversation about this at dinner! What if someone overheard her? I make a mental note to have a long discussion with her in private about this. She completely disregarded what I was saying and refused to end the discussion. I think back to the beautiful woman standing by the kitchen door and can't help but want to know more about her. She was wearing a black skirt that fell just above her knees and a white button down shirt; she looked beautiful even in a waitress uniform. I immediately recall her deep blue eyes from our first encounter and can't help but wonder if we were closer today would I feel as if they were looking through me again? Her full pouty lips have haunted my thoughts ever since our first meeting and after today I know that I just have to taste them. What would it feel like to kiss her? I've never thought about a woman like this; my initial thoughts always focus on how I can fuck them. Yet here I am thinking about kissing this woman…
"Taylor…there was a brunette waitress working tonight at our event. I want to know everything about her by morning. Have Welsh run a background check," I direct.
"Yes sir. Do you have her name?" Taylor asks.
"No. If I did I would have told you her name. She was working tonight and I saw her as I was leaving. Beautiful young woman with long brunette hair that was pulled back; she was wearing a black skirt. I couldn't read her name tag from where I was standing" I say.
"Yes sir. I will look into it and have Welsh complete a background check," Taylor responds.
We return back to my penthouse at Escala and I find myself sitting on the balcony with a glass of white wine. I cannot stop thinking about this woman; I should have pushed Elena away and spoken to this woman. I wonder if she is the same woman from the sidewalk? She has to be; the resemblance was there. She looked tired and a little thinner today but I only saw her from a distance so I can't be sure.
"Grey" I answer the ringing phone as I sit eating breakfast that Gail prepared.
"Mr. Grey, it's Welsh. I have the background check you requested," Welsh responds.
"Send it to me" I direct. "Is it complete?"
"I'm digging around her for current address; the address on file is a post office box. I will send you her physical address once I obtain it," Welsh explains before hanging up.
Background check:
Name: Anastasia Rose Steele
Social Security: 458-45-1234
Date of Birth: 07/23/1992
Address: PO Box 393 Seattle, Washington
Mother: Carla Steele (Maiden name Thompson)
Married to Raymond Steele (deceased)
Married to Bob Smith (divorced 11/2003)
Married to Scott Jones (divorced 3/2005)
Married to Michael Sanford (divorced 4/06)
Married to Stephen Crawford (divorced 8/2010)
Father: Raymond Steele (deceased 06/01/2000)
Siblings: None
Bank Account: First National Bank combined balance of $1349.58
Education: Current student at Washington State University majoring in English Literature
GPA: 3.9
Student Loan Balance: $0.00 (Education funded via scholarship and self pay)
Occupation: Waitress at Campenilla's Italian Restaurant in Seattle
Previous address: 675 Second Street Seattle, WA
Current address: None on file.
I sit back after reviewing the background check on one Ms. Anastasia Steele; after seeing the driver's license picture that Welsh included in the background check I am certain this is the beautiful woman I bumped into on the side walk. Her mother seems to have serious commitment issues having been divorced four times following the death of her first husband. I find myself wondering about the effect of all this on Ms. Steele. Were any of these husbands abusive to her? I cringe at the thought. My childhood was rough before I was adopted by Grace and Carrick, but I was lucky because my abuse ended when I was adopted. Looking at Anastasia's background check I can't help but wonder what she went through in her childhood after her father died. I am concerned that Welsh can't find a current address on file other than a post office box.
"Taylor!" I call.
"Yes sir?" Taylor quickly responds, as always he is nearby.
"What do you know about the area around 675 Second Street in Seattle? I've never heard of this street," I ask.
"Well…sir…" he mumbles. "Permission to speak freely sir?" I nod. "It is an area that struggles economically; many abandoned homes and businesses, illegal drug use is rampant throughout the area, it is a high crime area, so on. It is not an area I would recommend traveling in or through which is why you are not familiar with it."
"Thank you Taylor" I say dismissing him.
Taylor has been my head of security for the last 5 or 6 years now. Once my business picked up and I started getting recognized I decided to hire security. I went through a few different people before finding Taylor and trust him with my life. I am concerned with Taylor's description of the area that Ms. Steele previously resided in. Since I saw her walking close to my office which is quite a distance from this second street area I can only hope that she has since relocated to a safer place that is much closer to campus. I fire an email off to Welsh asking if he has found any additional information on a current physical address as well as point out that her cell phone number is missing. Welsh quickly responds that he is still looking into the address issue however there is no registered cell phone number associated with Ms. Steele's name. Odd, who doesn't have a cell phone today?
Now that I have her name and know a little more about her, I hope that my obsession with her with decrease. However as the day progresses I find myself continuing to think about her and worry about her living situation. Even after going to the office and the gym, I find myself still thinking about Ms. Steele. I try to think of ways to contact her and decide it's time to pay a visit to the Washington State University. Perhaps I will run into her on campus somewhere, I think to myself before firing off an email to my PR staff requesting them set up a meeting with the University's Agricultural center as they had recently submitted a grant request.