[Where are you? Why haven't you answered my calls?] I sighed and set my phone away. That was Mr. Grey's millionth text this morning. Turns out that Paul stayed over last night; I found him asleep on my living room couch. The morning after last night was…. chaotic. Paul absolutely refused to let me go anywhere but the police station with him. He bought me a lovely French fruit tart for breakfast on our way to the station. Once there, my father was called, statements were made, and a warrant for the informant to be brought in for questioning was put out. All the while, Mr. Grey had been calling and texting me nonstop; Paul and the others kept me so busy that I couldn't even message him back once.
Like any normal boss, I half-expected Mr. Grey to simply up and fire me for such insubordination. But instead, his texts got surprisingly more and more concerned. Why would he be concerned over someone like me? We barely knew each other; should I take this as a warning sign? No, I don't think so; it didn't feel controlling. Still, I felt a little bad for letting him worry like this. Next time he calls, I'll make sure to answer- that is, if these bustling men will let me.
"Ok, so let me see if I've got this straight. You were walking to your father's place last night when you ran into the underground informant?" Officer Doyle asked me- yet again. Paul groaned and rolled his eyes irritated. "For the last time, yes. He approached Ana- twice. I was there the second time," he answered for me; I think Paul was growing tired of their ahem…. incompetence.
"Did he threaten you, Miss Steele?" "Well, not exactly but….." "He made an indirectly threatening comment to her; that's enough to drag him in for questioning." Ah, good old Paul; overprotective- just like he'd been since high school. Most women would probably find him controlling and unbearable, but I knew him. He had no ill-intent towards me, and never would; this is just how he shows he cares. If he's protective, he values you. That's how it works.
My own eyes gave an exasperated roll at the vibrating from my phone again. Ok, that's it; time to answer him. Paul was still arguing with Officer Doyle when I discreetly got up to go over to the side of the room; none of them would let me actually leave. Mr. Grey's name flashed on my screen- ok, here we go. I didn't even give myself time to breathe before I clicked the green phone button. "H-hello?"
"Miss Steele, where have you been? Do you know what time it is, or how many times I've tried calling you?" Boy, did he sound upset; not mad per se, but surely not happy. "I know, I'm sorry. I…." "Miss Steele! What are you doing? We still have more reports to fill out!" Paul and officer Doyle now had their eyes locked my way. "Who's that?" Mr. Grey sounded concerned. "Mr. Grey, I'm at the police station right now. I'm sorry but I won't be able to come into work today." "The police station? What are you doing there?!" Before I could reply, Paul waved me forward; he too, did not look happy. "Come on, Ana. We need you here." "Coming! Bye, sir." "Anastasia, wait. Which station are you at?" I accidently hung up by the time he finished his inquiry. It took me less than a second to consider…. Wait, did he just call me "Anastasia"? "Ana!" I went from gazing at my phone perplexed to going back over to the officer's desk.
The procedure was not fast. Officer Doyle would ask me or Paul something, I would try to answer, and Paul would get mad that this wasn't going faster. Rinse and repeat for like an hour. We unsurprisingly hadn't gotten much done by the time officer Jones opened the office door. "This way, sir." We all blinked to see…. Wait, what is Mr. Grey doing here?! I gasped while Paul's eyes grew in shock at the arrival of my new boss in the room. "M-Mr. Grey?!"
"Anastasia," Mr. Grey let out an audible shy in reaction to seeing me alright, I think. Within seconds he was by my side, rolling his eyes all over me nervously. "Are you alright?" "I-I'm fine!" "What are you doing here? We already got your statement and contacted your lawyer; there's no reason for you to be in here," oh boy, Paul…. He couldn't even wait five seconds. "Why are you, Anastasia? What happened?" You should have seen the look on Paul's face at Mr. Grey's total dismissal of him. I blinked worriedly from one man to the other, pursing my lips together. Gees…. Aren't we a little too old to behave like this? And since when did Mr. Grey start calling me by my first name? Did I give him permission to do that?
"Miss Steele had another run-in with some gangsters last night," officer Doyle announced. Mr. Grey's expression contorted to one of shock and horror. "You what?!" "Apparently one of them- an underground informant- spoke to Miss Steele with threatening language." "What did he say?" "That's none of your business," Paul firmly stated; his arms were crossed over his chest in a defiant manner. The look Mr. Grey and Paul gave each other….. Let's just say this was getting ridiculous.
"This also is none of your business, but I'm the one dealing with it; it's my case- my responsibility now. I'm the one who arrived at the scene last night; I'm the one who brought Ana to the station this morning; and I'm the one who will make sure that asshole never sees her again. So you can leave- there's nothing more for you to do here." If looks could kill… What Paul just said seemed to somewhat alarm Mr. Grey, probably the part with him bringing me to the station this morning. No one said anything for a long, tense moment; then Mr. Grey parted his lips dangerously.
"Since it's your "responsibility", I think it's only fair that you know that I'm Anastasia's current boss; she's my intern as of last week." "So what? You're her boss. Doesn't mean you have a right to be here." I really don't know why these two guys automatically hated each other so much. I mean really, they literally have no history with each other. I just couldn't wrap my head around it; it didn't help that the other policemen didn't seem to notice- like at all.
"Would one of you see Mr. Grey out? We have work to do," Paul then told officer Doyle and Jones. "What are you going to do about this?" Mr. Grey demanded, not budging an inch. Officer Doyle and Jones looked at each other. Meanwhile, Paul… "I told you I will deal with it," my dear friend hissed viciously. Mr. Grey's glare sharpened; you could clearly see the bent-up rage in his wonderful eyes. "I asking you how; I'm not about to stand by while Anastasia's in danger." Mr. Grey! I blinked over to him in astonishment. The way he said that just now… it's like… it's like he had some regard for me, some affection…. But….. that's impossible; he doesn't even know me. Even Paul looked taken aback by this unanticipated declaration. It didn't help things now that I was shyly blushing a little. This made me blush…. Mr. Grey made me blush in surprise… and delight.
I love her- I fell in love with my faceless angel the most she took a knife for me. I could never imagine myself with anyone else. This girl sacrificed herself for me, saved my life; how could I ever love another?
No one will touch her; no blade will ever pierce her skin again. Not with me around; no. I take one look at Anastasia, and I'm ready for war.
Only this time, I'll win.