CHAPTER 5 - The first day of the rest of her life - Part 1
This is it, today is Anastasia Steele's first day working for Mr Grey and his children; gosh, she still has trouble realizing that this is actually happening. It all went so fast, and suddenly all of her problems have been solved as if by magic. Well, not all of them but the most urgent ones at least; she now has a place to stay, a job for the next few weeks, and some money to fall back on when this is all over. Mr Grey had not lied when he said that she would be generously compensated.
Mr Grey and the Taylors wanted things to be done quickly, so they took care of all the paperwork yesterday, first directly after the interview and then Ana had to drive back to the agency to finalize it all. Brittany looked utterly shocked when Ana told her that she had been hired. After that, Ana went back to the youth hostel for one last night there. The Taylors are scheduled to leave for California in the afternoon, so after checking out from the youth hostel as early as possible this morning, Ana drives directly to Bellevue with all of her things, to settle in her new home.
As Ana arrives at the gate, the security guard lets her in, obviously aware of who she is and what she is here for. And as she parks her car Wanda next to the house, the younger man in black from yesterday, Luke Sawyer, is standing there to help her with her things.
Once inside, she is welcomed by Mrs Taylor or Gail as she is to call her now. Gail offers her some tea as Phoebe and Teddy are having their breakfast - pancakes and orange juice - in the kitchen. The children seem genuinely happy to see Ana again and undertake telling her everything they did yesterday after she left. When Phoebe and Teddy are done eating, Ana is introduced to their respective CPOs Samantha Prescott and Andrew Ryan as the four of them go for a walk around the lake. Then Ana follows Gail for a tour of the property, starting upstairs with Ana's bedroom.
Ana can't help but gasp as she sees how spacious and sublime this room is. The walls are painted in white, with some nuances of beige and grey for the curtains, the carpets, the bed linen and the wall coverings. Towards the center of the room, on her left when getting in, stands a king-size bed, with beige sheets, probably satin and quite a few grey pillows and beige cushions on top. On the left side of the bed, Ana notices huge empty closets. Her bags have been put next to it, on the beige carpet. In front of the bed and on the right side from the entryway, there is a luxurious ensuite bathroom with two pink marble sinks and a large bathtub carved from the same stone. But what catches Ana's eye immediately as she gets inside her new bedroom is a seemingly very comfortable window seat overlooking the meadow and the lake. It looks so cozy and inviting that Ana knows she will spend many an hour there, reading or simply relaxing. Gail tells her that this is the bedroom where Mr Grey's sister and mother sometimes sleep when they stay over to look after the children. And before Ana can really look around and take possession of the room, Gail suggests that they resume the tour. Ana.
The room next to Ana's is Teddy's with Phoebe's just around the corner. They both have very nice bedrooms, just a little smaller than Ana's. Teddy's bedroom is Cars-themed with blue and yellow painted walls and a red car shaped bed in the middle of it. By the window, there is a red child desk with one red chair and two bookshelves painted like a checkered formula one flag. A grey couch and a rocking chair are disposed around the room. There is also an ensuite bathroom, but smaller than Ana's and more modern looking.
Next door, Phoebe's bedroom is travel themed, mainly beige and brown, with a wooden map of the World on the main wall and four clocks marked London, Sydney, Tokyo and New York on the opposite wall, by the bed. Her desk also faces the window, with a suitcase-shaped bookshelf standing next to it. The couch by the main wall resembles plane seats stuck together. There is also the same rocking chair as in Teddy's room. The ensuite bathroom looks exactly like her brother's. This is a beautiful bedroom, very tastefully decorated. As she gets closer to the bed, Ana can't help admiring the very impressive patchwork quilt that covers it. Gail explains proudly that she made it herself with Phoebe choosing the square fabric pieces from around the World on the internet.
Mr Grey's bedroom is at the opposite end of the house, on the same floor, separated from Ana's by two unused bedrooms and a laundry room. Ana learns that only the Greys live in the main house, as the Taylors and the other employees live in cottages on the estate; one for the Taylors, one for Sawyer and Ryan, and one for Samantha Prescott. Plus a cabin by the main gate. Each of the cottages is fully equipped with a kitchen, bathrooms and all. Sawyer and Ryan's also contains a monitoring room and a fully equipped gym. Gail tells Ana that even though they all have kitchens, she usually cooks for all the CPOs and that she will be expected to do so as well during her stay. Ana confirms that like she said during her interview, it is not a problem for her; she even prefers cooking in large batches, which is also the case for Gail.
Gail shows Ana around downstairs as well: first, the main room where the interview has been held the yesterday; it usually serve as a dining room when there are guests over. It is connected directly to the kitchen on one side, with a second laundry room and a small storage room for the food at the back and to the very large TV room on the other. Then, back to the main entrance corridor where Ana had been waiting for the interview yesterday. On one side of the corridor, there is Mr Taylor's office, which is actually the secondary security room. On the other side, Mr Grey's office is another very impressive room, but you would not expect less for someone like Mr Grey. Despite being in the middle of a meeting, Mr Grey gets up to welcome Ana as she and Gail get inside the room. He formally welcomes her into his home and tells her that she is in good hands with Gail to show her around and to explain to her everything she needs to know. Even during this brief exchange, Ana cannot help but feel her heart beat accelerate in his presence; she hopes that this will pass, because it would quickly become a problem if it were to happen each time she is in the same room as him. Ever since she had clumsily fallen into his arms yesterday, Ana could not help thinking about him; his eyes, his hands, his smell. Which is something that totally surprises her, as she had never felt this kind of attraction for anyone before. Why does it have to happen with her new boss, the father of the children under her care? It is so inappropriate and she feels ashamed about it. As Mr Grey turns his attention back to his meeting, Ana and Gail resume the tour.
In a building adjacent to the house, Ana discovers the indoors pool and the gym. Gail tells Ana that she is welcome to use it as often as she wants. Then Gail takes her to the rest of the property, through the meadow, by the lake and in the different cottages. Then, when the visit is over, Ana and Gail go back to the main house, in the kitchen, to go through everything methodically.
Gail Jones is an extremely organized lady, in addition to being one of the nicest persons Ana has ever met. She has prepared lots of things for Ana, instructions, lists and tips. For the next two hours, she explains to Ana how things work in this household. At the end, Ana's head starts to hurt a bit with the ton of information she has gathered. Gail Taylor also looks exhausted, and Ana feels for the poor lady, torn between her duty towards her mother and towards the children she cares for.
When it is time to prepare lunch, Gail proposes that Ana helps her, which she gladly accepts. Gail then calls Prescott on the phone and soon after, two very excited children enter the kitchen area and volunteer to help the two cooks. Gail, who had decided to prepare stir-fry for Ana, the children and herself, and sandwiches for Mr Grey, Mr Taylor, Mr Sawyer and the other CPOs, assigns Ana and Phoebe to the stir fry preparation, and herself and Teddy to the sandwiches'. The general atmosphere is nice and fun and Ana truly enjoys this time together with the children and their beloved nanny.
After everyone's lunch is over, the children are sent napping as Ana and Gail discuss laundry and schedule. Once they're up again and after a quick snack, it is time for Phoebe and Teddy to say goodbye to the Taylors.
Out of respect, Ana watches the scene from a distance; Mr Grey is standing next to her, and when she catches his eye, he smiles reassuringly. When the car is about to leave, Mr Grey joins the children and soon after, the four of them get back into the house in silence. The atmosphere has definitely changed with no more smiles or happy chit chats.
Once inside, Mr Grey tells Ana that he will stay with the children for the rest of the afternoon so if Ana wants to take some time for herself to settle down, she can. She accepts as she is aware that the children do need some time with their father after such a meaningful separation. And she definitely needs some time to herself after such an eventful two days before officially being the one in charge.
From what Gail had told her, Mr Grey is actively preparing for a lock down in the Washington state; most of the employees from his company Grey Enterprise Holding have been sent home on Wednesday and have been working from there since then. The main problem now concerns all the employees working at his shipyards in Bremerton or Puget Sound. Gail explained that Mr Grey's main focus is his employees' safety so for the moment, he is trying to find a way to limit unnecessary contacts between his employees all the while ensuring the optimization of the production. But all this requires discussions with the governor, the unions and the employees themselves. On top of that, Mr Grey also has to deal with his partners from around the World, keeping an eye on the evolution of the situation in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Spain and Italy to name only the places where the virus seems to be propagating at a faster rate.
Gail told Ana earlier today that she was happy to have found Ana, as she knows she will be there for the children full time, allowing Mr Grey to focus on work when needed. So Ana knows that she will have to be extremely present for the children as soon as she steps up and become their nanny. Gail even anticipated the possibility of Mr Grey travelling when necessary, which would have been impossible without Ana's presence here; this remark made Ana realize that Gail really trusted her, which boosted her self-confidence to a level not reached for quite some time.