A/N: Thank you all for your reviews and support! I hope you enjoy this next chapter.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 14: A certain something in her air

~3 weeks later~

October slowly turned into November, and the days got shorter and colder as winter quickly approached. Ana got through her midterms, her last ones of her college career, and her final semester was soon coming to an end with only a month and a half to go. Graduation was looming, and Ana had already begun the process of ordering her cap and gown for the ceremony, making the end of her college journey feel more real than ever.

Ana was almost glad for the distraction of school and her graduation because everything else going on in her life made her feel utterly lost. She hadn't spoken to Christian at all since she came back from Seattle, not that she would've known what to say to him if she did get in touch with him. He hadn't reached out to her either since he sent that email - if Ana didn't have it on her computer as tangible proof, she almost would've wondered if that weekend ever really happened, or if him asking her out had been a figment of her imagination.

Ana's feelings toward Christian at the moment were still pretty confused. She now believed his version of events regarding Jack Hyde, and because of that she felt awful about the things she yelled to his face. She could also kind of see his point-of-view when he made the decision to separate Elliot and Kate, even though she didn't like it. Ana loved her sister dearly, but Kate rarely showed her emotions. She had acted very shy and reserved around Elliot, rarely allowing herself to show her true feelings toward him. Ana didn't notice at the time because she knew her sister so well, but she could honestly see how someone like Christian could have misinterpreted Kate's feelings for indifference.

However, Elliot still hadn't reached out to Kate, leaving Ana to conclude Christian hadn't told him about the events that transpired several weeks ago. Ana wasn't sure what to think about that, therefore her feelings toward Christian remained undecided.

"Ana?"

Kate now walked through Ana's bedroom door as Ana sat at her desk, working on her World Cultures paper. "Mom says dinner will be ready in five minutes."

"Okay, I'll be right down," Ana said, finishing up the sentence she was writing.

"How's your paper coming?" Kate asked, moving over to sit on the bed.

"It's coming," Ana grimaced, gazing at her screen. "Surprisingly, there aren't many sources about how the Irish Potato Famine of 1845 contributed to modern European literature."

Kate giggled. "I'm sure there's something out there. If not, just cite Bono as one of your sources. He's Irish, right?"

Ana laughed. "Oh yeah, I'm sure my professor would love me citing a U2 song as literature in my academic paper."

Kate smiled, but her smile faded as she turned to gaze at the doorway. Ana saw she was looking at Leila's closed bedroom door.

"Is she still grounded?" Ana asked, and Kate looked back at her.

"Yeah," she nodded sadly. "Mom and Dad are really mad about her sneaking out to that party the other night."

Ana shook her head, remembering the shouting match between their dad and Leila which had woken them up at two in the morning. "I feel like I don't even know that girl anymore. What's going on with her?"

"She's a teenager," Kate explained, grimacing. "Plus, she's always been the baby of the family. It kind of makes sense she's acting out like this."

"I don't know. I kind of feel like something else is going on with her," Ana shook her head, getting to her feet. "But maybe that's just me hoping she'll get over this whole bratty attitude."

"The most we can do is just be here for her whenever she needs us," Kate said, and the two of them made their way down the hallway toward the stairs. "But let's talk about something else… are you excited for graduation?"

"Excited and terrified," Ana smirked. "I feel like I'm both ready to finally be done with doing school and scared for what the future holds."

"You're graduating summa cum laude. I'm sure you'll snatch up a job in no time," Kate said assuredly.

"Yeah, but what if I hate the field that I'm in, or if I'm no good at it?" Ana said worriedly. "The future is unknown, which is what makes it so scary."

"Don't think like that," Kate said firmly. "Everyone gets a little shaky before starting a new job, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try to find one. Have you applied anywhere yet?"

Ana hesitated; she had applied for a few internships already, and there was actually one place who had called her back earlier today. She was waiting for the right moment to tell her whole family the news.

"Ana?" Kate asked, noticing her hesitation. They were now in the dining room, where Carla and Ray were busy setting the table for dinner.

"Well… I was waiting for the right moment to tell you guys, but I suppose now's as good a time as any," Ana said nervously, glancing over at her parents. "A few days ago I applied for an associate editor internship at Seattle Independent Publishing, and they called me this morning to set up an interview. I'm meeting with the acquisitions editor Mr. Roach next Friday up in the city."

"Annie! That's amazing!" Ray beamed. Kate and Carla both moved forward to hug Ana. "Congratulations!"

"Thanks," Ana giggled, smiling as she hugged her sister and her mom back.

"See? I knew you could do it," Kate grinned widely.

"Oh sweetheart, I'm so proud of you," Carla said, almost tearfully as she pulled away. "Oh! We should get you some new clothes so you'll look like a true working professional!"

"It's just an interview. It's not like I have the job yet," Ana said. "This may end up being nothing."

"Don't think like that," Ray chastised. "You'll do great at that interview, Annie. Just smile, be confident, and act like you know what the hell you're talking about."

Everyone laughed, and Ana couldn't help but grin. "Thanks Dad."

"Come on now, dinner's getting cold," Carla said, pulling out her chair, and the others followed suit. "Let's eat, and then we can talk more about Ana's future career in publishing."

The others chuckled, and Ana smiled, feeling both embarrassed and pleased by her family's excitement her.

The rest of the week passed by much faster than Ana expected. With all her homework, working extra hours at Clayton's, and getting ready for her first real-world interview, Ana hardly felt she had enough time to prepare. She had called up Charlie on Wednesday to let her know about her interview, and Charlie immediately got excited - she practically begged Ana to spend Friday night in Seattle with her so they could hang out, and Ana happily agreed. Even if her interview went completely south, Ana at least knew she had a fun night with her best friend to look forward to.

Ana and her mom went shopping on Thursday for a new interview outfit, and Ana picked out a white blouse with short sleeves, a professional-looking burgundy pencil skirt, and nude heels. Ana liked her new outfit since it went well with her coloring and made her feel pretty, which helped ease her nerves a bit as Friday morning approached.

Her interview was at 10:30 am today, so Ana made sure to leave before 7 in case she were to encounter traffic. She now drove along the freeway toward her destination, idly listening to a Billy Joel song on the radio, and she began to think about a person whom she hadn't had a lot of time to think about this whole week... Christian Grey.

With everything going on, she hadn't allowed herself to think about him too much, but now that she was heading toward the city - his city - her thoughts drifted to him. What were the odds of running into him while she was there? Probably slim to none, although he did seem to have an uncanny knack for turning up when she least expected him… although that was likely due to the fact he was trying to get to know her better so he could ask her out.

An unsolicited thought suddenly crossed Ana's mind. If Christian were to ask me out again, would I say yes this time?

She immediately shook her head, pushing away that idea. It would be ridiculous to think Christian still felt that way about her, especially after all the horrible things she said to his face. She wouldn't expect him to renew his addresses to her, so she ought to just push it out of her mind.

She continued to drive down the freeway toward her destination, forcing her concentration back onto her interview happening later that morning.

~/~

It was now hours later, and Ana sat in a chair within the lobby of Seattle Independent Publishing; she took a few deep breaths as she calmed her residual nerves, having finished the first part of her interview successfully.

I did it.

She was now just sitting and waiting for Mr. Roach and Elizabeth from HR to return with a copy of a proficiency test, which would gauge her level of skills as an editor. This would be the easiest part since this was sort of like a take-home test where she would edit a bit of copy for them, and she was eager to get it done she she could show them she would be the right fit for this internship.

SIP was a very bright and open one-story building, with polished marble floors and large bay windows overlooking the city street. The receptionist sat at her desk across the lobby, her keyboard clacking away as she typed away at her computer. This whole place had intimidated Ana when she first arrived, although that was due to her nerves for the interview, but now that her interview was over with she could really appreciate how pleasant and bright everything here was.

I could definitely get used to working here.

Ana now checked her watch, noticing that nearly ten minutes had passed. Just as she began wondering if Mr. Roach and Elizabeth had forgotten about her, both of them appeared in the doorway leading to the rest of the office.

"Anastasia… so sorry for the wait," Mr. Roach smiled as they approached her, and Ana got to her feet. "Our printer has been on the fritz lately, but we managed to get your test printed out for you."

"Thank you so much," Ana smiled, accepting the small packet of papers from him.

"Just finish up that test within the next week or so, and send it back to me or Mr. Roach," Elizabeth explained. "You can mail it, or if you prefer, you can scan each page and email it to us as an attachment."

"Will do," Ana nodded, smiling at them both. "Thank you so much for this opportunity."

"You're very welcome, Anastasia," Mr. Roach smiled, and he and Ana shook hands. "You'll be hearing back from us within the next two to three weeks."

"Have a safe trip back to Portland," Elizabeth smiled as she now shook Ana's hand.

"I will. Thank you," Ana smiled, and with one last goodbye, she turned and walked out the front door.

It was a beautiful sunny day out today, and Ana couldn't fight her smile as she walked over to her car, which was parked in the company parking lot. She felt that that interview had gone very well, and now all she had to do was take this editing test, which she knew she was going to ace. For the first time all week, she allowed herself to feel hopeful she could actually get this internship.

Once Ana got in the car and set her things down on the passenger seat, she checked her phone. She was still planning on staying overnight in the city with Charlie at her apartment, but it appeared Charlie was still in class:

Charlie: Hey girl! Sending u good vibes for ur interview today :) My last class today should be out by 1:30 so I'll meet u at my apartment around 2. Can't wait to see u!

Ana checked the time, noticing that it was a little past 11:30, so she and Charlie couldn't meet for several hours at least. Ana wondered how on earth she was going to fill that time, and her first thought was she could go grab some lunch. She searched Google Maps for a nearby fast food place where she could eat something, and saw that three blocks away was a small deli that had good reviews. Ana decided that place was as good as any, but just as she settled on that, she noticed another pin placed right next door to the deli indicating another business.

Grey Enterprise Holdings, LLC

Ana blinked in surprise. That was Christian's company headquarters… she had known it was in the city, but she didn't realize it was so close to SIP. She was unsure about how she felt about that, but then realized it probably didn't even matter since it was unlikely she and Christian would actually run into each other.

Ana was suddenly very curious as to what Grey Enterprise Holdings looked like, and she couldn't help but smile slightly to herself as she considered the possibility of stopping by just to look. Since the deli was so close, she decided to just walk the three blocks there and maybe make a stop at Christian's building as she did so.

Oh what the hell?

Resolved, Ana gathered up her things, making sure to leave her work bag and her documents on the passenger seat before stepping out of her car. She began to walk down the sidewalk with all the other pedestrians, her high heels clicking on the concrete as she went. Seattle was a very vibrant and beautiful city, and Ana felt excited at the prospect of possibly moving here if she got this internship at SIP.

Ana finally reached the city street with the deli, and right next to it was a tall glass skyscraper that made her almost stop in her tracks. That must have been Grey Enterprise Holdings… she slowly walked toward it, moving up a few of the steps leading to the front doors, gazing up at the huge building in wonder. Dozens of business people were making their way to and from the building, pushing through a revolving glass door as they went; right above the doors was a large stainless steel sign reading GREY HOUSE in big letters.

This place was at least ten times the size of what Ana was expecting, and she could do little more than stare at the building in wonder and surprise. Through her dazed mind, she couldn't help but think about how strange it was that the owner of this gargantuan company had actually wanted to go on a date with her.

Will wonders never cease?

Just as she was thinking that, however, a voice from behind her spoke her name:

"Ana?"

Ana turned around and froze in place when she saw the man himself, Christian Grey, standing on the front steps of Grey House, staring at her in utter surprise.

A/N: Yay for cliffhangers! :)

I hope you all enjoyed that chapter! Next up, Christian and Ana's unexpected reunion leads to their first conversation since the last time Ana was in Seattle.

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