["Something the matter, Clayton? You seem distracted today," the chief officer asked Paul, who was currently sitting at his desk with his chin resting in his folded hands. "It's Ana; I'm still a bit worried about her." "Ana? Oh, the Steele girl! The hot one." "No! You can't call her that," Paul fired back defensively. "Right; not in front of you." "Not ever!"
"Jesus, what's the deal with you, Clayton? You gave her the taser, right?" "Yeah, but I don't know how helpful it'll be….." Paul gazed down at his hands. "I don't know what you're so worried about. She's a grown woman; not some teenager." "It's just….. the Dollars have been acting up lately. Incidents have been happening near her neighbourhood." "So? She'll call if she has any problems." "She did have a problem, and no, she didn't call," Paul countered unimpressed. The chief frowned, rolling his eyes exasperated. "Ok, if you're so worried about it, we can think of something else. I don't understand why you're bothering so much though; she's isn't even your girlfriend." "No, she's not! But that doesn't matter- I want her safe. Period."]
God, Ana; you are such an idiot. I kept scolding myself the whole way to the break room. Why did I bring that phone? Ok, I know why but seriously! I'm an adult- I don't need to be constantly babysat. Ugh! And they're not even checking in on me; they probably want something. Man! I didn't even want to imagine being their boss….. or being married to their boss.
There was only one other person when I got there; one of the blonde women. This one was a bit older than me and very well-dressed; I looked like a fashion-inept troll compared to her. She was currently sipping on a cup of something- probably coffee- and checking her phone, only glancing up to me when I entered. I tossed my backpack on a chair and turned to the coffee machine. Of course, as if to make things worse, it had to be the most complicated coffee-maker in the universe. Oh god lord, I don't know how to make coffee; I'm a tea-drinker. Could this get any worse right now? "That's the "on" button." I blinked over to the woman who was currently smirking sinisterly at me. I had to ask…
"Uh, thanks; I think I can figure it out," I quickly gazed back to the machine, trying my best to not make the situation any more awkward than it already was. "Who are you?" She had to keep pushing… "Anastasia Steele; the new intern." "Mmmmm," she had the audacity to scan me once over in the most judgement fashion. The ugliest smirk rolled across her red-lipstick mouth. "Boy, he'll hire anyone these days."
"Excuse me?" This earned a sharp glare from me. I could already tell this woman was horrible; pretty on the outside, ugly inside. Your typical office drama queen. "Listen, you're new here, so I'm gonna share a little tip with you." "No, thank you; I can manage," I really didn't want to keep "talking" to her. "Oh, sweetheart; you're not going to get anywhere here with that attitude." "Well, it's a good thing I'm staying in the academic world. I'm just here until I start PhD."
"Mmmmmmm, an educated girl, I see." "Yep!" Come on, coffee; brew faster! "Then you're obviously smart enough to see that Mr. Grey isn't into little women like you." Oh…. oh boy; here we go. I had to look at her by now; she was wearing the most punchable expression. "What?" "I'm sure you've noticed by now. You stick out like a sore thumb here. Don't get me wrong; sore thumbs can be attractive in the right setting too. But dear, your brown hair, your clothes…. Oh well. I'm sure he hired you on because you're not permanent. Don't worry about sticking out in your cute, little way, dear." Cute? Did she just call me cute?
"Um, ma'am; I'm pretty sure Mr. Grey hired me because I'm a PhD student. My education is extensive… and valuable. If you mean "sticking out" in that regard, well I understand." Her smug grin began to fade; I think she was used to being the unchallenged bully around here. Her stupid arms crossed over her ugly grey blouse; she gave her stupid blonde hair a little toss.
"Oh no, love; it looks like you misunderstood me. Your education- however extensive it may be- doesn't make you more valuable around here. You're just an intern; a temporary position." "If education doesn't matter, why did Mr. Grey only interview PhD candidates?" She was full-on scowling by now. "It really wouldn't be wise to act smart around here, darling. Some people might think you have a high opinion of yourself." "If being well-educated means have a healthy confidence, then yes. You're absolutely right, ma'am."
She didn't respond right away, glaring daggers my way. Yeah, I don't think she was used to dealing with people like me. "Well, I'm sure there's nothing to worry about. Mr. Grey will have his time with you, and then you'll be off. No worry at all, really." You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say she was threatened by me; which was ridiculous. I literally just got here today. The only way she'd be jealous is if Mr. Grey said something about me before….. wait. He didn't… did he?
"Once again, you're right; I will be leaving soon," thank goodness- I definitely was not made for this corporate world. "Oh, you are precious. Maybe Christian just wants something new to "light" up the office for the summer." "Could be," thankfully the coffee was done brewing by now. I poured it into two cups and went to get the milk from the fridge; you put milk in coffee, right? "Best not to get attached, dear. He'll forget about you soon enough; he always does with "little" employees like you."
Ok, I've had enough of her. I reached for the cups before my bag started to buzz again. Ugh, not now; why me? I tried to ignore it for a second, when blonde brat looked at it. "Your bag is ringing." Fantastic. I spun around to fetch it, pulling out the dreaded burner phone. It was a restricted number, though I knew who it was. With the upmost bravery, I turned to face blonde brat. "Um, would you give me a minute, please?" "What's wrong, dear? Private call?" Oh frik; she's not going anywhere. "N-nope!" After turning the volume really low and taking a deep breath, I flipped it open. "H-hello?"
"Celestial! Celestial, come quick! We need your help! Masterpiece isn't around and we need your help with something asap!" Could they be any louder; I had to hold the phone away from my ear. "Can't you get Hound to deal with it?" "No! Masterpiece said we're supposed to ask you when he's not around." Of course he did, my eyes internally rolled. Just another way to manipulate me into accepting the succession. "I can't come right now; I'm… busy." "But we really need to get this figured out! Tell me where you are; Switchblade come get you." "Switchblade?" Blonde brat asked behind me.
I immediately hung up and threw the phone into my bag. Blonde brat looked all too pleased with this; her callous smirk returning to her plump lips. "Who was that? Your brothers?" "You could call them that," I didn't even look back at her. God, why me? Why me? "Sounds like they really need you. You should go to them; I'm sure Mr. Grey will understand." "It's fine!" My feet spun back around to the counter. My hands angrily grabbed the cups and my bag, and I stormed out of the room. That's it! From now on, I'm leaving that phone on silent! And I hope I never see blonde brat again either. Once those two things are rectified, then life will be so, so much better.