"Ms. Steele. They are ready for you in the meeting room."
Ana gave a slight nod to her new secretary before standing.
"Alright, Jessica. Tell them I'll be in shortly."
The woman smiled and gave a slight nod before leaving Ana in her office. She was still in a daze about it. Talking about it with Christian on the way home from Croatia (which seemed months ago) She thought he was joking. She had no idea that he was so serious. Apparently, time away with him gave his staff enough of a deadline to clear out a brand new office which was down the hall from Christian and Ros's office. She even had her own secretary and official title: Anastasia Steele, Supervising Lawyer, Grey Enterprises. Christian of course wasn't in the office today, but he kept sending her dirty emails while doing chemo. She knew it was tough on him, but Ana was determined to take on this task. She could do it. He believed in her, but more importantly, she loved him too much to ever let him down.
Standing, she smoothed down her form-fitting black dress and took a glance in the mirror. She was happy that she was able to style her hair in a top knot with the help of chopsticks. And she liked the red lipstick that matched the shoes. Just because she was now one of the bosses, didn't mean she had to stop dressing pretty.
"You can do this," she said to herself. She squared her shoulders, steadied her breathing, and opened the door. Once she saw Jessica stand, Ana had her walk beside her.
"Do me a favor, Jessica. When I'm in this meeting, observe everyone in the room."
"Miss?" she said question in her voice. Ana stopped outside of the door and kept her voice low.
"This is a new position for me. I'm sure not everyone will be happy that I have it." Understanding suddenly lit her features.
"I want you to let me know who looks like someone I shouldn't trust. Don't be obvious, just-"
"Be covert?" she asked smile tilting her lips. Ana smiled.
"Yes. Something like that."
Ana opened the door and allowed her gaze to run across the room. Most of these lawyers used to be her colleagues. She saw a lot of smiles and nods of respect from them all except two people.
Jose and a red-haired woman.
Hmm. Must be the woman he cheated with, Ana said to herself.
"Good morning everyone. It's so good to see you all," Ana said in a friendly, yet professional manner. An African-American man, who is also a friend smiled at Ana before speaking.
"Anastasia."
"Malik," she said kindly. He smiled.
" I must say that it's good to see you in a position such as this. I was surprised to hear about it, but I want to personally congratulate you. You've worked so hard. I should know we partnered enough on cases," he said wryly. Everyone around the table chuckled and Ana laughed.
"Yes, we did, and thank you so much, Malik. This position was a surprise, but after looking into the incentives I couldn't turn it down. The reason I called you all here today is to inform you of a couple of changes. Since I am now the supervising lawyer all cases that we either take or who we represent must come through me. If you have any ideas or think we should do something different that would help Grey Enterprises please let me know. I am issuing an open-door policy. If you need time off, email me. If you have an emergency, don't come in." Ana could see the surprise and respect in their gaze and she was glad she went with the hands-off approach instead of micro-managing. Nothing ever good came out of it.
"You are all adults. You know your cases, you know when you're needed in the office and you know the paperwork deadline. I'm trusting you to use your own judgment." A hand went up and Ana smiled.
"Yes?"
"Um, I'm new here. It's actually my first day. I was only wondering if some of the cases required us to be out all day would I-"
" What's your name?" Ana asked.
"Brooklyn," she said lightly.
"Thanks, Brooklyn. And no, you don't have to come in. If you can do the work from home, then do it. When we have to represent a client or the company as a whole, I will have Jessica my secretary email you all the night before so you're made aware and we can present a united front. You will still get paid," Ana said jokingly, to which several people chuckled.
"Thank you," the woman said beaming at her.
"Now, I want to say this one time only. Mr. Grey will be out for the foreseeable future, due to medical reasons. If you would like him to know something personally, please email him, or if you feel that I can help, please feel free to let me know and I will pass it along. Ros is the interim CEO so also contact her if you have any concerns. That sounds good?"
When they all murmured in approval she continued.
"Now, I spoke with Mr. Grey-"
Ana paused at the snort from the other end of the table. She raised a brow when she saw it was from Jose.
"Yes, Mr. Rodriguez? And I should warn you before you speak think about your words. Because as a supervising lawyer I also have the right to hire or fire whom I deem fit to be here." Ana watched in satisfaction as Jose forced a smile.
"Yes, Ms. Steele. And I have nothing to add."
The two were in an intense stare until Jose broke eye contact.
Good.
"Now, as I was saying before I was interrupted I spoke with Mr. Grey. He informed me that he was willing to take on non-profit and underprivileged cases. Even from clients who couldn't afford it. It would look good for the company if we represent all types of cases. That is why I urge you all to do some investigating. See who needs help, or at least legal counsel." She turned to Malik.
"Malik. I would very much like you to be the head of non-profit cases. It comes with a slight bump in pay, but I've seen your work. I also would like you, Alvarez, and Ahuja to take on the racially charged cases. I will never be able to understand someone in their shoes, and instead of trying to relate, I would rather have someone who can actually relate to whatever issues they may have trouble with." Malik looked stunned and the other two, a slight woman and another man looked at Ana with shock. Her frankness was seeming to get more respect than ridicule, based on everyone's look of surprise.
"I-I would be honored to take the position."
"Great!" Ana said with a smile on her face. She looked over at the other two.
"I want you all to partner on any issues you think would work, but Malik will have the final say." Ana turned to Brooklyn.
"Brooklyn. I want you to work with my secretary. She has my schedule for the upcoming corporate cases we may be faced with. I want you to speak with Jessica, and take two cases. Look them over, reach out to the potential clients and whatever they need, and you think we can provide, let them know Grey Enterprises is the only way to go. I will trust your judgment." If possible, Brooklyn looked as if she would go into shock.
"Um, ye-yes. I won't let you down," Brooklyn said conviction in her voice. Ana smiled.
"Good. If anyone feels that they can help on Malik's team-"
"Team Malik," he said causing people to laugh, and Ana as well.
"Then let him know if you want to help in his cases. There are a lot of discriminatory cases that expand more than just race. So let him know."
Ana looked about at the rest of the table, finally landing on Jose and the red-head.
"I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name?" Ana asked kindly. The woman swallowed and glanced at a stone-faced Jose before answering.
"Cassandra."
"Hello, Cassandra. How long have you been here?"
The woman answered.
"I've been working for Grey Enterprises for two years. I work in finance."
"Great. Jose is into financial law as well. You two can work on the financial aspect. Let me know the clients and cases. See if we can get more clients to financially commit to Grey Enterprises." Ana was satisfied to see the surprise and gratitude flush over Cassandra's face. Even Jose looked surprised. Ana inwardly smirked.
Oh, I know I'm good.
"Okay. That was all I needed to discuss with you all. If there's nothing else, Malik, I would suggest you head down to HR and let them know of your new promotion. I already sent over my part last night."
Once everyone stood and walked out, Jessica spoke.
"Ms. Steele?"
"Ana," Ana corrected gently. The woman nodded before stepping closer.
"I would watch out for Jose."
"I know," Ana said before running a hand over her face.
"No, Ana. You looked away several times and the look of hate came across his face. I just wouldn't be left alone with him," she said her eyes conveying how she felt. Ana nodded.
"Thank you, Jessica. I will make sure to be vigilant with him."
As soon as Ana arrived at Christian's place she heard thumping above her, which let her know he was in his upstairs gym. She dropped her bag and took the stairs. Ana walked down the hall and into the large room that Christian converted to a gym. She smiled at seeing him jogging on the treadmill. He was shirtless and with the sweat dripping down his body he looked as if he should be in a magazine ad. Christian smiled when he saw her and took out her ear pod.
"Ana."
"Christian," she said smiling at him. He hit the emergency stop before grabbing a towel and wiping his face. When he stood in front of her he leaned over and kissed her lips.
"Hmm. Ana flavor. I missed it," he said to which she blushed. It had been a couple of weeks since they had sex. Not because they didn't want to, but Christian had been tired after chemo and Ana had been at work all day so they would only crawl into bed and see who could beat the other in the snoring category.
"I missed it too," Ana confessed, before following him out of the gym and down the hall to his room.
"Say, when are you going to move in with me?" he asked cheekily. Ana froze in the center of the room when the man continued walking into the bathroom. She blinked before following him and watching him remove his pants and underwear since he already kicked off his shoes in the hall.
"Um, I'm sorry. Did you ask me if I would move in?"
He smiled over at her before standing, now completely naked, and gorgeous before he hovered over her.
"I just did."
Ana rolled her eyes when he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her flush against his body.
"Christian, I just moved into my place. Remember? We even talked about it, you know the day you hired me," she said sarcastically. Christian leaned over and kissed her deeply. Ana sighed and wound her arms around his neck. When he pulled away, he leaned over and spoke in her ear.
"You know what I want?"
"What?" Ana asked breathlessly.
"I want to hear about your day running my company later. But right now, I want you to-" Suddenly, Christian's face froze and he ran to the bathroom. She saw him slam the door shut and when she heard the retching, Ana heart squeezed. She toed off her shoes, changed into her sweats, and pulled out the necessary items for a tub. She was grateful that in Christian's room his toilet was a separate room, otherwise, he would probably be embarrassed at getting sick in front of her. After a while, she heard the toilet flush and it gave her plenty of time to run a warm bath, light some candles, and start the air humidifier. It would help him to relax. When he stepped out, he sighed before he leaned back against the door.
"Ana-"
"Hush. Now I want you to get into the shower, wash off then soak in the tub."
His lip quirked at her command.
"The point of a bath is to get clean."
"Christian, how are you clean if you're sitting in your own dirt?"
He snorted but gave a nod and pushed off the door. Before he walked into the glass shower he spoke quietly.
"Thank you, Ana."
She smiled and ran her hand over his back.
"Anytime, Mr. Grey."
It wasn't until Ana walked down the hall that she allowed herself to take a deep breath and break down a bit. She wouldn't tell Christian that he looked smaller.
Or that his eyes held a slight dullness.
Or that his grip wasn't as strong on her as it was four weeks ago.
No, she would be strong. Because they both needed it.
A bit of angst, but it can't all sunshine and rainbows. LOL don't worry, he's NOT going to die and they will live HEA. I don't want you all jumping ship. haha