APOV

I'm almost panting in the elevator after that, erm experience. Christian is by far more man than I have ever experienced. Those gray eyes… I shake my inner goddess silly and exit the elevator when it stops on the ground floor. I hand back my visitor pass, get my parking validated and head back towards home.

I give Kate a quick call via Bluetooth whilst waiting in traffic.

"Steel, how did it go?"

"Is Jasmine there?"

"No, she's currently napping. I'll wake her up in a moment, get her dressed ready for us to meet you at the restaurant."

"Perfect, then yes your interview went… fine."

"Hunk of a man, isn't he?" I could almost see her waggling her eyebrows.

"Something like that Kate. I'll Park the car at home and catch a cab over to the restaurant. I should be too far behind you."

"Alright Steel, I'll bring mini-Steele and meet you there. Italian?"

"Sounds perfect bye Kate."

"See you soon Steele." We hang up at the same time, I spend the rest of the drive listening to the radio singing along with current pop hits. It didn't take long to arrive at the car garage, park the car and head back up to the lobby and out on the street. I flagged down the first cab I see and advise him of the restaurant I'm after.

I sit in the back seat looking at e-mails from work, Ian had begun to ask for more notes added onto any work I pick up from him, the other editors don't seem to have an issue with the level or quantity of my work, but as a new journalist to the company he's out to prove himself.

I see Kate and Jasmine standing on the sidewalk outside, when the car pulls over, I hand him a few notes with a little extra for tip since his car wasn't disgusting and his driving was quite comfortable.

Jasmine lets go of Kate's hand and immediately runs to me, I pick her up and give her a big hug. "Hello little lady." I kiss her cheek, place her on my hip and begin to head in for dinner.

"Hi Mumma! Did you miss me?"

"Always baby, always." Kate grins at the little interaction, holds the door open for us and even helps me get the little miss situated in her high chair.

The waitress sits us down with a few menus allowing us to take our time, she was definitely nice enough for a waitress, not overly attentive but will come when she sees you're after her attention.

"I feel like a boscaiola, what about you Kate?"

"Risotto, definitely." She grins putting down her menu and picking up the wine list.

"What about you princess?"

"NUGGETS!" She exclaims excitedly, causing a chuckle from those around us.

"Of course, how silly of me to ask." She sticks her tongue out at me.

Another waitress came over to us with some colouring in paper and pencils, Jasmine grinned wickedly and took them off her. "Excuse me, what do you say?" I frown at her.

"Sorry Mumma. Fank yew."

"Thank you." I correct, Jasmine tries again.

"Thaaaank you." The waitress laughs and brings us over some glasses and then takes our orders.

"Holy shit." I hear Kate whisper; I look up at her only to see her gaze trained on the door behind me.

"What is it?" I ask as I turn around, I see both waitresses staring at the front door with mouths open and wide eyes, when I followed their gaze to the front door, I understood exactly why they were shocked. There in the doorway stood Christian Grey. "What is he doing here?" I ask to myself.

"Did you invite him, Ana?" I turned back towards her and shook my head, that is a big god damn negative Kavanagh. "Then why is he heading this way?" She whispers back.

I don't even have time to shrug my shoulders or hiss an answer. Christian stood beside our table, with a soft smile. "Anastasia, is that you?" I stood from my chair and greeted him professionally, with a firm handshake.

"Christian, fancy seeing you here." Fuck why did that come out of my mouth. I saw his lips twitch slightly. "What brings you here?"

"I was in the area; I was debating having dinner." Here? Fuck off Grey. This is Prime A family material.

"Oh? Are you with anyone?" I looked around, but only saw his security.

"Just myself tonight, although I believe this would be the infamous Katherine Kavanagh." He turned and shook Kate's hand firmly. "You look remarkably better, I'm glad to see."

"I came down with a stomach bug the other night, it was best to be cautious. Would you care to have dinner with us Mr. Grey?" Damn Kate and her good manners.

"Only if that's okay with Anastasia, and who ever this charming little girl is?" Oh god damn, that's smooth as fuck. Jasmine hearing something aimed in her general direction, looked up and locked eyes with Christian.

She tilted her head slightly, then smiled brightly at him turning on every ounce of charm her little body possessed.

"Mumma, is he having dinner with us?" Her big blue eyes turned on me.

"I think it's the nice thing to do, don't you?" She nodded in agreement, then turned back to Christian and pointed at the empty chair beside her and opposite me.

"Sit." She commanded; I could not have blushed any brighter in that moment if I tried.

"As you command." She smirks at Jasmine then back at me. Once he was seated the waitress collected herself and brought over a menu for Christian as well as plates, glasses and cutlery.

"Have you ordered ladies?" I shook my head trying to remain as silent as possible.

"No Christian, I was looking over the wine listing, anything you'd recommend?"

"A nice white wine would work I would think." Christian and Kate began to talk about the differences between white and red wines, I saw Jasmine looking at her drawing and then at Christian.

"Excuse me." Her little voice interrupted them; Christian turned to her focusing entirely on her.

"Yes?"

"Do you like my drawing?" It was cute, as in that's a cute picture a four-year-old did… This will either go very well, or very terrible.

"It's magnificent." He held out his hands for the paper which she gladly handed over. "I think this is by far, the best drawing I've ever been given." He promised her.

She lit up under his words, I nearly choked on my drink of water, Kate had to pat my back. What the fuck, does he secretly have children or something? "That's yours." If she ever went to his office, she would expect to see it having a pride of place.

"Thank you little one." He accepted it, folding it a few times and placing it inside his wallet before making eye contact with me and smiling sheepishly.

"Jasmine, my name is Princess Jasmine." Kate snorted.

"May I call you Jasmine?"

"That is my name." I almost expect to hear her saying Duh.

"It's a very pretty name, who picked that out for you?" She pointed directly at me. "Your mother has fantastic taste, don't you think?" She nodded.

Thankfully our waitress arrived with our meals, I cut up Jasmine's food carefully placing the tip of my finger in the centre of the nugget to ensure it wasn't too hot for her, thankfully it was warm. I gave her a thumbs up then started on my own meal.

We made small chit-chat as we ate our meal, I felt Christian's foot nudge mine under the table and I had to hide a smile. He's playing footsie with me, a grown ass man.

I didn't realise how much time had passed until I noticed Jasmine had begun to struggle holding her eyes open. We had spent time drinking a little wine and talking as if we'd known each other years.

"Ana I'm going to have to run to the office, apparently a big story has hit." She stood from the table, kissed my cheek, Jasmine's cheek, shook Christian's hand and ran out.

"I really need to be getting home too, thank you for coming to dinner with us Christian." I signaled the waitress over for the bill, she began to hand it to me when Christian snatched it quickly and paid the bill in cash.

"Dinner is on me tonight, I interrupted after all." He stood up, came around the table and held out my chair and helped me up. I got Jasmine out of her highchair with no issues and began to walk out of the restaurant with Christian walking behind me.

When we walked through the door, I noticed it was later than I originally thought, luckily Jasmine had a jacket with her. We stood opposite one another, Christian staring from jasmine to myself. "Thank you for today Anastasia."

"I should be thanking you, first for the interview then for dinner." Christian got out his wallet and handed me a card, I accepted it with my free hand and saw it was his business card. I gave him a confused look.

"Anastasia, I understand you're a mum and that little girl is your first and only priority… I know we just met, but I would like to see you again. This card has every possible way to get in contact with me, I'd like for you to contact me any time of the day or night with an answer." I looked at him as if he were insane, he is a single billionaire, as well as an extremely handsome man. Why would he even want to talk to me or be part of my life?

"Uh… I will Christian. Goodnight." I began to turn away from him only for him to stop me.

"Can I walk you to your car?" I turned back to him a slightly embarrassed by the question.

"I uh, don't have a car. It's not a long walk, we'll be fine."

"Can I walk you back home then?" I gave a small nod and he let out a huge huff.

"Thank god, my mother would kill me if I didn't. She raised a good-mannered son, or at least that's what she'll tell you." He grinned and together we began to walk back to my apartment. I hadn't held Jasmine for this long in a while, I felt my arms begin to go dead with the weight of her.

Christian held out his arms for her, and let him hold her, he was holding his arms stiffly out in front of him when he began to hold her. I made him stop walking and showed him how to hold her properly.

"She won't wake up now, let her head rest against your shoulder either facing your neck or away from it she won't care either way. Let her legs go on either side of your body and have one hand under her bum against her thighs, the other just behind her lower back for support. Otherwise, your arms will go dead with the weight very quickly." He gave me a scared look but did as instructed, I heard him gasp when he body made contact with his chest and stomach, I worried for a moment that she might have had an accident.

"Sorry, I was worried she'd fall for a moment." I chuckled at the admission.

"I still remember holding her for the first time, I was terrified I'd drop her. I understand." I rubbed her back softly and then we began walking again, Christian was continuously looking down at her and looking over her at every little step in front of him.

I snickered quietly earning me a little glare. "She's tiny…"

"She's bigger than she was when she born, for me she's huge." We walked in silence, when we got to my apartment building, I didn't bother stopping outside to take Jasmine from him but allowed him access to the building.

We were waiting by the elevator when I heard two women talking amongst themselves. "Oh my god, is that Christian Grey?"

"No, what would he be doing here? Besides, he's holding a small child."

"That's Ana's child! Maybe they're dating?" I refused to look at them knowing the next comment to come from the ladies mouth. I pressed the up button several more times causing Christian to frown at my actions.

"Why would he be interested in a bastard child? Don't be daft woman." She cackled at her remark and began to walk away, I felt the prick of tears starting, a lump caught in my throat, but I refused to look anywhere but the button for the elevator. When it finally pinged for it's arrival, I held out my arms for Jasmine, he reluctantly let her go.

I didn't say much beyond goodbye to him, I pressed the button for my floor and refused to look back at him knowing what would already be in his eyes – pity, comprehension. Why would he be interested in a bastard child? An unwedded mother, a bastard child, what a mix we make together.

I didn't hear him calling my name, the tears finally began to fall when the doors finally closed. Seems a fitting ending to an otherwise perfect night.

CPOV

Why would he be interested in a bastard child? I felt cold as the words hit me, too many times in my childhood was I called a bastard child, not worthy of any kind of love or affection. It shocked me to the core that anyone could say such a horrid thing about Jasmine, she was a perfect happy little girl, the world should be bowing at her feet not trampling on her.

I didn't even notice handing over Jasmine to Ana, nor the look on her face until it was too late. I saw the tears falling down her cheeks as the door closed. I yelled out her name, but the doors didn't open again.

I turned on the two older women, my back straight with the tension and fury burning through me. "Excuse me!" I yelled out to them, they both turned around shocked at the tone of voice. "Where the fuck do you get off, calling that little girl a bastard child?"

"She is a bastard, her mother got knocked up as an unwed teen." She spoke as if she was talking of how the sky is blue or how she likes her coffee.

"Do you understand how fucking hurtful that is? You are applying a horrible fucking title to a little girl who has done absolutely fucking nothing to you. She is the happiest, more perfectly happy child I've ever met. Do us all a favour, if you can't keep your god fucking awful opinions to yourself, keep your mouth shut. You cannot comprehend the work that girl has gone through to not only support herself through work and school, but also to ensure that child as a happy home and a chance at a normal life." I growled at her.

Her face went deathly pale as I spoke, her friend looked down at her shoes. I didn't bother waiting for a reply, I heard the elevator ding open, I ran inside and selected Ana's floor. It took entirely too long for the damn thing to travel to her.

The second the doors opened I ran out and hunted down for her apartment and managed to just stop myself from pounding on the door. "Anastasia, please open up the door." My voice cracked on her name.

I heard the deadbolt lift and the door open up when I saw her my heart broke. Streaks were running down her cheeks, her nose was red from her sniffling. I walked through the door closing is softly before I pulled her in for a tight hug, ignoring the moment of fear as she touched my chest.

She fit perfectly against my body; her head tucked in just beneath mine, so I was able to smell the shampoo in her hair. It was an apple scent, fresh and crisp. Her whole body shook in my arms as new tears came forth; her arms wrapped around me as her fingers dug into my back.

I managed to hold back a gasp by holding her closer. "Shh" I sooth the woman in my arms, the strong mysterious woman from the interview was now the broken woman seeking any kind of support from a stranger.

I picked her up and set her down on the couch, she nestled back into my body crying her heart into my neck. I merely rubbed her back letting her get it all out. I don't know how long we sat like that, but when she finally sat up and away from me, I could see how blood shot her eyes were, how flushed her skin was.

Her hair was messy as it framed her face, she was never so beautiful. I moved my hands from her back to trace them up her arms, up the side of her neck to allow my fingers to run through her soft hair.

I saw her eyes flick from my eyes down to my lips and back, her lips were slightly parted a soft sigh escaping them. Just as I was about to move towards her, she dipped her head and placed her lips against my own.

I tightened my grip in her hair and kissed her back, caressing her lips with my own. I opened my eyes slightly to see hers closed, lashes resting against her cheeks.

She came up for air and I could see she was flushed from more than just crying. "Ana…" I unwound one hand and traced her lower lip with my thumb.

"Christian…" Her eyes were glassy.

"I want to do this right, but I want to tell you I don't care about who Jasmine's father is, not because I was adopted, but because it doesn't change what a fucking fantastic mother you are. I want to be a part of your and Jasmine's life because of who you are as a person."

"Okay, I believe you. You really don't mind?"

"No, not at all."

"Thank you, Christian." She got up off my lap and excused herself to go into the bathroom, I remained in where she left me and pulled out my phone to let Taylor know I wouldn't be too much longer. When she came out, she was no longer in the same clothes as before, now she was in comfortable track pants and a tank top.

"Feeling better?" The redness in her face had faded somewhat.

"Yes, much. Would you like a drink?"

"No thank you, I should be leaving anyway." I stood from my seat and went over to her, the smile she had when she came out of the bathroom is gone instead, she's looking unsure of herself.

I walked over to her and made her look up at me by tilting her head by placing a finger under her chin. I kissed her softly, which suddenly turned to a much more heated kiss between us when she ran her fingers in my hair and tugged.

I couldn't help the groan that escaped me, or the blood running straight to my cock when she moaned, her tongue tracing my lips requesting entrance. I pulled away from her. "Ana you could kill a man with those lips." Her voice dropped slightly with a husky tone.

"Shall we try and find out?" Fuck, fuck, fuck. GO DOWN BOY

"I would like to see that; I would REALLY like to see that. But Miss Steele." I stepped away from her, held her hand in mind, bowed and kissed the top of the hand. "I would request to take you out on a date first."

"Oh poo." She pouted playfully. "Fine, then I accept dear Sir Grey." I straightened, kissed her lips once more softly then headed to the door.

"Will you say goodnight to Jasmine for me?" I saw her eyes go glassy again.

"I will. Goodnight Christian."

"Goodnight Anastasia, sleep well."

"You are too." I didn't move away from her door until I heard the deadbolt engage.