All characters belong to E.L. James and the Fifty Shades of Grey Trilogy.
Chpt. 9: Christian's Point of View
"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" I yell trying to wake up Mommy. She is laying on the couch not moving and my cartoon show is over. Mommy said after cartoons I can have food. My belly is making funny sounds which I know means it wants food.
"Hmmmmmmmmm?" Mommy says without opening her eyes.
"Food…Mommy. Cartoon over" I say shaking her arm again.
"Okay…go in the cabinet and see what is in there" She says keeping her eyes closed.
I make my way into the kitchen, drag a chair to the counter so I can climb high enough to get to the cereal. The boxes are all empty but I find some O's on the bottom of the cabinet.
"No more Mommy," I say but she doesn't wake up.
The door opens fast scaring me and he walks in. I grab my cereal and hold it tight in my hands. Last time I saw him he took my food from me.
"Get up Bitch," he says to Mommy but she doesn't move.
"I said get UP Bitch!" He yells grabbing her by the hair pulling her off the couch.
"Don't hurt Mommy!" I say to him as Mommy cries out.
He drops Mommy on the floor and walks to me with a mean look in his eyes.
"What did you say you lousy piece of shit?" He yells right in my face.
I say nothing. I'm too scared to talk. He grabs my neck and pushes me against the wall. I'm scared and it hurts to breath. I look for Mommy; she is awake but not doing anything. Help me Mommy I try to say but the man's hand on my neck hurts too much. He takes the cigarette out of his mouth and puts it my chest. I try to scream but no sound comes out. He moves the cigarette around on me and the room goes black.
End Flashback
I wake up screaming and covered in sweat. I look at the clock and realize it's almost three in the morning which means I've slept for almost 4 hours tonight which is what I seem to average lately. I make my way to the bathroom and take a cold shower trying to slow my breathing down. It only partially works and I head down to my piano in the great room spending a couple hours playing which sooths my anxiety. Once my adrenaline returns to normal I check my email seeing that I have something from Seattle Independent Publishing wanting to schedule a conference call today. Realizing this must be important since it's a Saturday that they are requesting a call on, I fire an email back scheduling the call for first thing this morning.
I have breakfast and coffee before telling Taylor that I'm heading to the office. I give him the morning off since the office will be empty today but tell him I may need him later this afternoon after my appointment with Flynn as I'm not sure what my plans are for this evening. Arriving at the office, I unlock the doors and head to my office on the 16th floor. I take a few moments to stand in the lobby and look around truly appreciating how far the building has come since I purchased it a few years ago. When I first purchased the building it lacked any aesthetic features and looked like something you would see in a 1970's television show. This was the first project I had Elliot work with me on and I was so impressed by the work that he did that I gave him the money he needed to start his own construction company. He has an eye for design and knew what I wanted even before I did. Since then Elliot has been my right hand man for any acquisitions that Grey Enterprises takes over and intends maintaining.
After starting up my computer I start reading a few emails several of which are from Elena. She just won't let it go; she doesn't understand that I don't want a contract with a woman right now! Elena has set me up with nearly every sub I have had over the years in exchange I have paid her a sort of "finder's fee." Up until now, that has been enough. But lately I have realized it's not enough. In Elena's latest emails she has included pictures of several different girls all displayed on various BDSM equipment with a list of their limits. I delete all the emails without responding and throw the vase of flowers on my bookcase against the wall in frustration. I wish she would just listen to me!
I decide I need to cool down before the call with SIP and head to the local coffee shop around the corner. As I get my order I am about to walk out the door when someone walks right into me spilling hot coffee all over my dress shoes and splashing onto my pants. I am about to lay into them when I look down to find Anastasia Steele staring back at me.
We laugh at the situation as she insists on buying me a replacement cup of coffee. We chat for a few minutes before I realize I am late for the call with SIP. I regret that I cannot push the call back but I've been doing this long enough to know that you need to strike while the iron is hot and right now the iron is red hot! We exchange phone numbers and finally names before I return to the office.
I rush back to the office quickly and call the owner of SIP; as I thought he was ready to sell. We negotiated the price and I increased the retirement package for the senior staff member who has practically been running the business since the owner fell ill. While I think he made some bad business decisions it was the right thing to do given the amount of time he was with SIP. We agreed to the terms of the sell which include allowing them to inform their employees before a public announcement is made. I send a quick email to Roz, my second in command for Grey Enterprise, about the acquisition and the plans for a public announcement by mid week.
I work for a few more hours before heading home for lunch, then a meeting with Dr. Flynn and a session with my trainer. The afternoon flies by and I'm able to get some more work done in between appointments.
"Grey," I answer my blackberry without looking to see who is calling.
"Christian! What's up?" Elliot responds. Ugh, I should have looked to see who was calling. He always wants something when he calls.
"How about we go out tonight? You've been bugging me to stop by your new club anyway," He says.
"Yes Elliot…I wanted you to stop by during the day so we can talk about some remodeling I want done to the main area and some minor upgrades to the kitchen," I answer.
"Oh come….come out tonight and I promise to come by tomorrow afternoon to go over your needs," He negotiates.
"Okay….fine. Taylor and I will pick you up at 9," I say before hanging up.
I can't say no to Elliot and he knows it. I opened this club about six months ago after purchasing it before it went into bankruptcy. Night clubs are usually not my thing but the location of this nightclub made me think it had possibilities. The previous owners had tried to open it as an underage nightclub; it did pretty good business the first month but after that the crowd died down. The owners realized they weren't making money on just admission fees so they started serving food but charged too much for the kids to pay. Elliot actually brought this business to my attention as he had done work on the building before it opened. I had my doubts but after touring the building and speaking with Elliot I began to see the potential the nightclub had. Elliot did some initial work to upgrade the dance floor, seating area, bars and added a VIP section before we opened it as a high end nightclub. Since opening six months ago business has been booming; if you are not on the guest list and not the first fifty people in line you likely won't get in but that hasn't stopped people from lining up outside the club hours before it even opens.
"Hey Elliot," I say as he climbs into the Audi SUV.
"Bro! What's up?" Elliot says as Taylor begins to drive to the club.
We chat for a while about business and briefly discuss some further ideas I had for renovations on the club which we would go over more in depth tomorrow. The ride to the club is relatively quick as traffic is light especially for a Friday evening. Taylor pulls up to the curb in front of the club and gets out to open the door for us.
"Oh….before I forget. I'm meeting someone here tonight. Now before you say anything, she is bringing her friend along for you to chat with," Elliot states quickly approaching the bouncer and walking into the club.
I knew something was up with Elliot suddenly wanting me to go out tonight. I hate that he tries to set me up with girls and I have asked him several hundred times to stop doing it. Of course I want to find someone but the girls Elliot hangs out with are mostly focused on money and sex. My family, including Elliot, thinks I am celibate because I have never brought a girl home as compared to Elliot who has brought a different girl over for dinner even with the same week. They all probably think I am gay, I chuckle to myself. This could not be farther from the truth; I enjoy sex with woman very much and have enjoyed it from a very young age. I am just finding myself wanting more than just sex from woman which is a complete opposite of what I've wanted in the past as Flynn and I discussed earlier today.
Flynn: Have you seen the mystery girl recently?
Christian: Actually I bumped into her again this morning (laughing)
Flynn: Literally bumped into her? I ask.
Christian: Yes…she ran right into me at a coffee shop and spilled coffee all over my shoes and the bottom part of my suit pants.
Flynn: (laughing) so what happened.
Christian: I let her buy me a new coffee and we chatted for a few minutes.
Flynn: Only a few minutes?
Christian: Yes (sighing) I ran out for coffee before my conference call with Seattle Independent Publishing was to start. (laughing) What should have been a quick five minute run for coffee turned into a fifteen minute discussion with a beautiful girl named Ana.
Flynn: How did the conference call go?
Christian: Huh? Oh, it went good. They agreed to sell and we close on Monday. The announcement will be made Tuesday to all employees and publically on Wednesdays.
Flynn: Her name is Ana?
Christian: Yes…we talked for a few minutes and exchanged numbers.
Flynn: You did? This is not your typical way of signing up for a new sub is it?
Christian: What?! No….I haven't thought about her as a sub.
Flynn: Are you going to pursue dating her then?
Christian: I don't know (pause) Maybe.
Flynn: But?
Christian: How will I know she is not just with me for my money?
Flynn: Has she given you any indication that she is?
Christian: No (sighing), she insisted on buying my coffee this morning. She doesn't seem like the type who is after money. She doesn't wear designer clothes or carry designer bags. She seems very down to earth. But is it possible she will still be that way once she learns how much money I have?
Flynn: You won't know unless you try Christian.
Christian: Yeah I guess.
Flynn: Christian I have to say I am very proud of you for starting to recognize that your previous lifestyle is no longer meeting your needs.
Christian: I am still worried about the lack of control I will have in the bedroom but I've decided if I want more than just kinky sex I'm going to have to come to terms with not having complete control in the bedroom.
Flynn: What is your biggest fear about losing control in the bedroom?
Christian: They will touch my chest or my back and what my reaction will be. What if I hurt them? I would never forgive myself if I hit a woman if we weren't in a scene.
Flynn: Do you remember your first meeting with Anastasia?
Christian: Of course (confused)
Flynn: You told me that she touched your chest and you didn't react?
Christian: Yeah…what's your point?
Flynn: My point is I think if you find the right woman she may be able to touch you without you having a fight or flight reaction.
Christian: I seriously doubt it. Anastasia was just an in the moment situation. Besides my shirt was on; my reaction may have been completely different if my shirt was off.
Flynn: Or it may not have been any different.
End Flashback
I stop and chat with a few of the employees including the manager on duty tonight. I had previously called and requested they reserve my usual table in the VIP section for us this evening. I make my way to the VIP section stopping to look out on the dance floor which is packed from wall to wall with people dancing. From the VIP section, the view is absolutely picturesque hence the name of the club. The view is not as good as from my penthouse but the VIP section is high enough that it allows beautiful views of Seattle which is one of the things that I think attracts people to club. The VIP section has reservations for every night that it is open over the next eight months according to the manager.
As I reach the table I am shocked to find Ana sitting there with Elliot and a blonde woman. I cannot believe my luck today! Running into her twice in one day is more than I could ever hope for. Ever since our run in this morning I haven't been able to stop thinking about her. We order drinks and an array of appetizers as the conversations begin to freely flow.
"So what do you do Christian?" she asks and I grimace.
I know there is no way that I can avoid telling her who I really am. Perhaps if my brother wasn't sitting right there I could lie to her but since he is here I'm forced to tell her the truth. I try downplaying my business and the success I have had until Elliot's date, Kate, realizes who I am. Of course it's my luck that this is also the person who is interviewing me in a couple weeks for the student paper at the University of Washington about the grants I provide some of the departments. I am left with no choice but to tell Ana the truth my company and the work we do. She seems impressed but doesn't start asking hundreds of questions about the business or make comments about the amount of money I must have which is what some people have done in the past. I am relieved that she seems as down to earth as I hoped she would be.
We make our way to the balcony dance floor and I am truly surprised at what a great dancer she is. As the music changes, so does her dancing. She becomes more seductive in her dancing which is turning me on big time. I slowly start to grind up against her with her back against my front and if she feels my growing erection she doesn't say anything. I slowly start kissing her neck; she smells amazing! It's like I can't get enough of her. Her hands fly up to the back of my neck as we start kissing and she is running her hands through my hair which is turning me on even more. I can't remember the last time I was this turned on from just kissing a woman! I put my hands on her hips and turn her so she is facing me. Her hands return to my neck and she pulls me closer to her to deepen the kiss. With one hand on her hip, my other hand moves to the center of the back to pull her closer. As soon as my hand reaches her lower back I feel an indented area of skin in the form of what feels like a straight line. Before I can say anything or think of what it might be she suddenly excuses herself and runs to the lady's room. I'm left standing on the dance floor confused when I see Kate look over and realize Ana is gone. I mouth "bathroom" to her and I see Kate take off just as fast as Ana did.
Elliot and I return to the table and talk about business, sport and our meeting tomorrow to discuss renovations while the girls are gone. I look at my watch a couple times noting that they have been gone awhile now. I can't help but worry what I did to cause her to run out on me so quickly. I don't think the kissing was moving too fast for her because right before she ran she was pulling me closer to her. That's when I remember the feeling of her skin on her back; it was as soon as I touched that area that she bolted.
I don't have much time to think about it before the girls finally return from the ladies' room commenting about the long line. Elliot of courses jokes about the fancy ladies' room as a way to lighten the mood as I'm sure he can feel some of the anxiety that is obviously radiating off of Ana. As we are leaving the club the lights come on brightly and I risk a look at Ana's back as I hold out the jacket for her. I cough suddenly to try to hide my shock. As I feared, the indentation on her back that I felt while dancing is a scar and there are several others in the same area. I decide against asking her about the scars or what happened on the dance floor as I know if that were me I wouldn't want to talk about it. In fact, that has been me on occasion I think sadly. Which just makes me wonder what the hell happened to Ana? Did someone hurt her? Who could hurt someone so beautiful?
I vow to have Welch dig deeper into her background for me. I have to know what happened to Ana!
Monday Morning: Still Christian's POV:
"Andrea!" I call through the intercom to my assistant.
"Yes Mr. Grey?" Andrea immediately responds.
"Get me Welsh," I direct.
"Of course Mr. Grey. One moment" she says. "Mr. Grey I have Mr. Welsh on line one for you," she says after a few moments.
"Welsh, I need information," I say picking up the phone.
"Yes Mr. Grey. What do you need?" Welsh asks.
"I want more information on Anastasia Steele. Where do we stand with her finding out her permanent address? I want a copy of her complete medical history. I want to the details on her education; how is her tuition being paid? What is her current balance with the University for the spring semester?" I fire questions away.
"Of course Mr. Grey. I will gather the information and email it to you shortly. I checked on her physical address this morning and there is still nothing current coming up anywhere but I will dig further," Welsh says before ending the call.
As much as I want to sit and wait for Welsh's report on Ana, I have back to back meetings and conference calls. I meet with Roz and discuss the events of Saturday morning involving SIP with her. We then meet with the public relations department to begin preparing a press release which will be issued first thing Wednesday morning. Shortly before lunch I meet with the owner of SIP and my legal team and the sell is complete. This is the first publishing company I own however I am excited about the potential it has and eager to see the new direction it takes under GEH leadership. I want to infuse technology into SIP which it is currently lacking. They have not yet tackled the electronic readers which have gained popularity over the last couple of years. Honestly if SIP does not begin to move with technology it will quickly be left behind which is at least in part the reason they were close to filing for bankruptcy.
"Mr. Grey?" Andrea says knocking on the door.
"Yes Andrea?" I ask barely looking up from my computer.
"Mr. Welsh is outside and would like to meet with you for a few minutes if you have time," Andrea says.
"When is my next appointment?" I ask.
"In fifteen minutes," she responds, "with human resources to discuss the staffing needs for the SIP takeover."
"Get Roz to meet with HR, she knows what needs to be done. Then send Welsh in," I request. If Welsh is looking to see me in person I expect the information he has is not good. Normally Welsh sends my reports via email and we may have a follow up phone call but rarely do we meet in person to discuss background checks.
"Mr. Grey," Welsh says entering my office.
"Welsh, please have a seat and tell me what you have found," I request not wanting to delay in the inevitable.
"I have looked into Ms. Steele further as you requested," he begins. "Her medical history is unremarkable-"
"Wait?" I interrupt. "Unremarkable? What do you mean unremarkable?"
"Just that Mr. Grey, it's unremarkable," Welsh answers. "Her medical history shows she broke her arm twice as a child and once had a broken nose. There is nothing else on her medical history sir."
"There's nothing else on it?" I ask surprised. What about the scars on her back that I felt? Something traumatic happened, I'm sure of it given her response when I touched that area. Maybe no one sought medical treatment for her? I shudder at the thought.
"No sir" Welsh responds.
"Okay," I sigh. "I know you didn't come up here to tell me there is nothing in her medical history."
"Right, sir," Welsh begins taking a deep breath. "As I mentioned earlier I cannot find anything with regards to a permanent address for Ms. Steele. The only address I can find is her post office box which is still current and she appears to pay the monthly rent on it regularly. I did look into her last known address…"
"And? Spit it out Welsh!" I say impatiently.
"It was a rooming house that was raided by the Seattle Police Department for illegal drug use about a month ago," Welsh says.
"What?" I ask shocked.
"I contacted a buddy of mine who works for the Seattle Police Department who happened to be one of the lead detectives on the case that night. According to him they had been watching the house for a few weeks and had enough evidence to arrest several residents for illegal drug use as well as the selling of illegal drugs. They raided the house in the early evening hours and found nearly every sort of drug you can imagine scattered throughout the house. They caught several people in the middle of selling drugs while others were nearby using drugs in the common areas of the house," Welsh explains.
"Where was Ms. Steele during this drug raid?" I ask. "She does not seem like the type who is involved in drugs."
"No, you are correct Mr. Grey. According to my buddy, Ms. Steele had been renting a room in the rooming house but a search of her room came back clean. She was not at the house during the drug raid but showed up just as they were finishing the arrests. According to the notes from one of the officers that evening, Ms. Steele had reported that she spent the night with a female friend the night before and was just returning to her room that evening. The officer accompanied her inside to allow her to gather some of her belongings and then gave her a list of nearby shelters," Welsh explains.
"Shelters?" I ask. "As in homeless shelters? Are you saying that is where she lives?"
"I believe so Mr. Grey," Welsh answers. "It would explain why I can't find a physical address for Ms. Steele. These shelters are typically not long term and most people will stay at different shelters throughout a week especially once the colder weather hits as shelters will fill up fast."
I take a deep breath and slowly let it out as I sit back in my chair. Homeless; I never would have guessed. She seems so strong but I can't imagine her sleeping in a homeless shelter. She could be hurt; someone could attack her! I feel my heart rate begin to increase and start thinking of how I can fix this. I can't let her continue living in a homeless shelter!
"What else did you find?" I ask almost afraid to know the answer.
"The last piece of information I have is about her education," Welsh explains which makes me breathe easier; that can't be worse than Welsh telling me she is homeless. "Ms. Steele receives several scholarships each semester for her high GPA in high school and a couple for essays she has written. However the scholarships barely cover her tuition and she is left it a balance of around $2,000 each semester. It looks like for the upcoming semester her balance is higher at $3,500 because there are graduation fees and an additional course that she is taking which allows her to graduate in May. The balance has not yet been paid but is due next Friday."
"Thank you Welsh. Please let me know if you find anything else; continue checking daily on her physical address" I request.
"Of course Mr. Grey" Welsh says leaving my office.
"Andrea! Get me the president of the University of Washington on the phone immediately," I request without waiting for her response.
"Yes sir," Andrea responds.
After a few minutes Andrea informs me that the president of the university is on the phone for me as I requested. It may be winter break but with the amount of grants I sponsor at the college Mr. Smith knows to take my call immediately.
"Mr. Grey, what a lovely surprise. How are you?" Mr. Smith asks as I pick up the line.
"Mr. Smith I'm doing well and you?" I ask.
"Trying to get ready for the holidays and the upcoming spring semester which starts in a matter of weeks," Mr. Smith explains.
"Yes, that is what I wanted to talk to you about," I begin. "I recently met with the head of your agricultural department and approved the grant request which should begin progressing in early spring. I am excited to see where the department takes this project as it has tremendous potential."
"We are forever grateful to you for allowing our students to work on such life changing techniques," Mr. Smith says.
"I would like to talk to you about a particular student at your university," I begin getting to the purpose of my call. "Anastasia Steele."
"One moment," Mr. Smith says as I hear him typing away on his computer. I did not expect him to know her by name since she is a good student and seems to stay out of trouble. "Yes I see her account in our system. She should be graduating in May and is currently an English Literature major."
"That's correct," I say. "I would like to reward her with a scholarship for her high GPA average however it is imperative that she not know the scholarship came from my company or is associated with me in anyway."
"Ummmm….of course Mr. Grey," Mr. Smith replies, clearly surprised at my request. "We can apply the scholarship directly to her account and notify her that she received a scholarship sponsored by several local benefactors after one of her professors nominated her. This way it does not appear that there is one individual responsible for the scholarship. I see she currently has several scholarships that cover the majority of her tuition but she has a small balance due of $3,500 that is due within the next two weeks. What are the terms of the scholarship?"
"The scholarship will be in the amount of $13,500," I say having carefully calculated this figure.
"Mr. Grey," Mr. Smith begins "You understand that her balance is only $3,500 correct?"
"Yes, I heard you correctly. However what you did not tell me is that this student does not live on campus because she has no means to pay for room and board in your dorms. She works as a waitress to save up enough money to pay her balance to you with no financial assistance from anyone. She has no student loans and no family support. My scholarship for this student is to cover her remainder balance of her spring tuition and assist her in finding appropriate housing as she begins her career following graduation," I say sternly. How dare he question me after the money I have given the university over the years!
"Of course Mr. Grey," Mr. Smith says quickly recovering. "It's just very unusual to hand over such a large sum of money to a student especially money from a scholarship."
"Well Mr. Smith as I'm sure you've learned over the years working with me, I am a very unusual man," I state. "I can trust that this will be handled as I requested?"
"Yes Mr. Grey. I will apply the scholarship to her account today and she will be notified via mail of the scholarship reward," Mr. Smith explains.
"I want her to have immediate access to the funds. I don't want her to wait until the spring semester starts before she receives the funds. I will have a cashier's check hand delivered to your office within the next two hours," I direct.
"Of course Mr. Grey. I will have our billing department contact Ms. Steele today to notify her of the scholarship. She will be informed at that time that she can pick up a check for $10,000 at any time," Mr. Smith replies.
"Thank you Mr. Smith, I appreciate you understanding this situation and assisting me in having this scholarship remain anonymous," I state before hanging up.
I meet briefly with Andrea and explain what is needed; Andrea is very competent in her responsibilities and immediately begins the process of obtaining the check from our financial department. I sit back and wait; I have to hope that Ana doesn't find out that the scholarship came from me. Although I know very little of her it's obvious from her background check that she is very strong and independent. It's the only explanation I can think of as to the reason she is not living with Ms. Kavanaugh. They are obviously best friends and would appear to get along well if they were roommates therefore I can only assume that Ms. Kavanaugh is not aware of Ana's living situation.