Chapter Two:
"Shut up!" Kate's face says it all, "SHUT UP!" She falls back and kicks her legs in the air like a little kid.
"Maybe it's not like that," I say, dismissing the feeling of excitement I also shared. I don't want to get my hopes up over something that may not even be a thing. "Maybe he wants to talk about future business plans and or features." Kate shoots back up and scowls at me with those green cat eyes of hers.
"You will not ruin this for me. Now come on." She grabs my arm and drags me to the hotel bathroom counter, "We need to start getting dressed. You promised me a night on the town!"
All dolled up and ready to go. We stood side by side in the mirror and we couldn't be more polar opposites. Kate stands at a crisp 6' with her black fuck me pumps, as she calls them. Her platinum blonde hair is set on top of her head in a purposeful messy bun. Her emerald green dress not only brings attention to her striking eyes but her full chest. She is reapplying a coat of her lip gloss and smacking her lips together for an even application. I on the other hand with my black heeled boots stand at 5'6. I am wearing a charcoal mesh dress, with a matching black bra and bottom set underneath. I put on a pair of tight knit fishnets to compliment my rock star attire, as Kate likes to call it. She truly has a name for everything. I decided to style my hair with loose waves. I do resemble a better dressed grungy teenager, 'it's not a phase mom', type of kid.
Stepping out of the cab and on to the busy street, Kate and I walk arm and arm to the long line waiting outside of the newest club in downtown Seattle. The line almost wrapped around the building. We got here just in time because 5 minutes later, we would have been at the very back. "ID." A tall, broad, and gruff man demands at the door, I fumble through my wallet for Kate's and I's ID. Passing them off to the man who scanned them into his handheld computer system. "Anastasia Steele?" He looks at me with a skeptical eye as if there is no way I could be me.
"Yes?" I sag into myself not understanding what is going on.
"Right this way ladies," The man ushered us into the club, passing us off to a well dressed woman. A tall blonde, of course, they seem to be everywhere. Well dressed for a club, black dress slacks and a beige blouse tucked into them.
"Ladies, how are we doing tonight?" She turns her head slightly to the side to insinuate eye contact.
"We are doing well, but we would be doing a lot better if we knew what was going on." Kate hollered at her over the music. It was so loud and dark. I could feel the vibration of the base shake through my core.
"You are on the VIP list, when we scanned in your ID's it popped up notifying us that you are to be escorted to the VIP lounge." She yells to us over the music, "Per owners request."
"Who is the owner?" I ask loudly into Kate's ear and she shrugs in response.
"I don't know Steele, but you can only assume one of the many people you hook on day to day bases did you a solid." Kate laughs and throws an arm around me. "Never look a gift horse in the face, my dear!" Following the lady to a set of black spiral stairs, as we started making our way up, the music began to ease. Entering a room that felt domineering, the intense crimson red walls with extravagant chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. The lights were dimmed and you could see everyone dancing down below through the double paned glass windows that took up one complete side of the room. The music that was playing down stairs was the same that played in here as well but it was at a slightly lower volume. VIP was still crowded but the people were definitely of a different class. They were dressed in outfits that showed wealth, like businessmen, lawyers, and or doctors. Some were gathered along the bar chatting and drinking; others were on the dance floor. Our guide led us to one of the many black velvet couches in the room. Immediately I noticed two taller men who were standing with their backs to us, I stopped mid step, halting Kate in her tracks. The woman we had been following walked up to the copper haired man. She started whispering in his ear, probably letting him know that we had arrived. Grey turns slightly to the side, his gaze catching mine. I see that panty dropping smile spread along his stone expression. "Well, Anastasia, Mr. Grey is our hookup." Kate giggles and looks at me with a mischievous look, "And he doesn't want to fuck you? Please!" Kate starts forward grabbing my hand and dragging me along with her.
Christian looks as yummy as ever, messy copper hair, nice dark denim jeans, and a charcoal v-neck sweatshirt. His friend had well styled blonde hair, he was a tad shorter than Christian, a little wider than him also. His muscles are more prominent. Dressed in designer distressed jeans and a crisp white button up with the sleeves slightly rolled. His smile was warm and welcoming, his eyes were on Kate in an instant.
"Ladies," He start with me, "My name is Elliot, it is a pleasure to meet you." Elliot extended his hand out to me, I took it meeting his warm smile with my own.
"Hi, I am Ana." Elliot turned his attention to Kate, requesting her hand. Kate gave him her signature, fuck me eyes as he brought her hand to his mouth brushing her knuckles with his lips. The gesture was sweet but also it felt intimate. I looked away as a flush of heat rose to my cheeks, public displays of affection made me uncomfortable. I look up and find Christian staring at me with intense, glared eyes. It was so intimidating I looked away as fast as possible.
"Anastasia," Christian greeted me with a tender voice that didn't match his expression at all. "You look lovely tonight."
"Thank you," My eyes combed his body, "You look very nice as well," mouth wateringly so.
"Ana, Elliot and I are going to go dance, okay?" I nod at her and tell her not to do anything I wouldn't do. Christin puts his hand on the small of my back and leads me to the couch, I can feel the warmth of his hand through my mesh dress. It sent a shiver through my body. Sitting alongside him, he puts his hand in the air, requesting the cocktail waitress's attention.
"What would you like to drink?" Christian asks, ducking his head low, feeling his hot breath on the side of my face. I cross my legs, feeling that familiar throb between my thighs.
"Margarita on the rocks, extra salt on the rim, and clear tequila please." I say softly turning to face him, our mouths only inches apart. I swallow hard and I can basically taste him from here.
"A margarita on the rocks, extra salt on the rim, and top shelf clear tequila," He turns his eyes to the waitress, "And a bourbon neat." Christian turns his attention back to me and the leggy redhead smiles longingly before heading to the bar.
"Thank you Christian for putting me on the VIP list," I can feel his eyes burning into the side of my face, "How did you know I would be coming out tonight?" I turn to study his features, he leans back into the seat. Crossing a long leg over the other while resting his arm along the back of the couch.
"I didn't know you would be here," Christian slightly raised an eyebrow while giving me a knowing smirk, "but I know with how often you visit there was a good chance you would at some point enter the club. Therefore even if I am not here, I added you to the permanent VIP list, so you can enjoy a more," He hesitated, almost as if searching for the right words, "intimate experience." The cocktail waitress comes back to us with two drinks on her black tray. She hands Christian his drink, he thanks her by replacing the drink with a 20 dollar bill. She then places my drink in front of me. I look up from the drink and meet her stunning icy blue eyes, "Thank you very much, also you have the most gorgeous eyes." It's the sales person in me to notice, I never lie to people but I do point out and compliment when it is true. She places her hand over her chest and gives me a big toothy smile.
"Oh my god, thank you so much," she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, "You made my night!" She continues to smile from ear to ear as she returns back to the bar.
"That was certainly kind of you to say." Christian states with a soft smile on his lips. Bringing the drink to my lips, I lick the salt rim before sipping the margarita, I wave my hand to him, brushing off his comment.
"It shouldn't be a rare and special thing to compliment people. It is not that hard to be a kind person." His face lights up with amusement as he sips his drink.
"There are some people who know me that would say I am not kind," I watched as his tongue ever so slightly traced his bottom lip, lapping up the remnants of bourbon. My heart ached for him slightly, how lonely that life must be. To not have many people know you, the real you.
"Why do I get the feeling that that's not true?" Christian cocked his head to the side, "I just mean, I bet your heart is bigger than you let on." There it is, self loathing dances in his eyes. Just for a quick moment before he replaces it with mock amusement. He can't hide that with me though, I know that look well.
"I don't have one of those Ms. Steele," taking a bigger swig of his bourbon we are interrupted by Kate grabbing my wrists.
"Mr. Grey, may I please steal my friend for a couple of dances?" She looks at him with her puppy dog eyes. Christian gives her a stiff nod, Elliot sitting back with his drink in hand. I follow Kate to the dance floor. I can't stand feeling squished in large groups of people like this. I also hate dancing in front of strangers. Talk Dirty to Me by Jason Derulo blaring through the speaker systems. Kate was always so confident with her body and movements. On the other hand, I just kind of sway back and forth to the beat. Kate does all the serious work, I look like the stiff boyfriend who stands there getting danced on by their girlfriend. We stay in this routine until one of our favorite songs from our college days starts playing. Shake It by Metro Station, this is my guilty pleasure song. Kate and I turn into typical white girls when this song starts playing. We let out a tiny scream of excitement. The crowd seems to feel the same way I do, in unison we all scream, "Let's drop." I start theatrically singing to her and she laughs while doing it right back to me. Thrashing around to the beat with no cares. It feels so nice just having a fun time with her, it's been a while since we both let loose. When the song ends we are wiped from putting our whole heart and soul into that dance. We decide to take a breather and head back to the couches, where I see Elliot sitting alone.
"Where's Christian?" I ask Elliot over the music.
"Oh, he had a work emergency," he shrugs as if this is a normal occurrence, which I'm sure it is when you run a multi billion dollar company. "He told me to tell you that he is looking forward to Sunday morning though." Even though it shouldn't have been, that is where my good time ended. Part of me was bummed that Christian had to leave.
Kate and I spent Saturday doing fun stuff like brunch, spa day, and shopping. Late afternoon Kate took off for home and I headed to the store to check in with the crew. Saturdays and Sundays are my typical days off but I only get a week up here so I like to be as present as possible. I was starting to get antsy for tomorrow morning though, I was too excited for my coffee date with Christian. My phones rings bringing me out of my thoughts,
"Mom! How was your honeymoon?" I love my mom. We definitely don't have the typical mother daughter relationship. She just got back from Bora Bora with husband number five, she is what you call a helpless romantic. She's not the making it work no matter what kind though. She's the, the moment it gets rough you get out kind. Growing up she always said it was because life was too short for any unhappiness.
"Oh sweetie, it was wonderful!" She gushes on the phone, telling me all about the sun, beach, and bottomless drinks.
"That is amazing mom, I am so happy you had a good time."
"What about you sweetie?" She asks
"Well work is no Bora Bora but I did land a pretty big account." I tell her while I am walking out of the store turning to wave goodbye to the crew. "I will see you guys next month, reach out if you need me!"
"What honey?" My mom's voice dripped with confusion.
"Oh, nothing mom," I pull out my car keys pressing the unlock button on the fob. "I was just leaving the store, I was saying my goodbyes and telling them I would see them next month."
"Honey, I am going to have to call you back, Bob is trying to burn my kitchen down I swear!" I chuckle at the idea.
"Okay mom, no worries, love you."
"I love you most." She says before ending the call.
Sunday morning I sit in bed going over emails. I would love to sleep in just once but my nightmares wake me up and once I am awake there is no going back. My alarm starts to go off, alerting me it is time to start getting ready for my coffee date with Christian. I truly don't know why I even set alarms considering I am always awake when they go off. The coffee shop is right across the street from my hotel but I wanted to make sure I could take my time getting dressed. I start the shower turning the knob to hot. Just the idea of seeing Christian again turned me on, the familiar throb pulsing through my thighs. Getting into the shower I soak up the warmth of the water. I pour grapefruit scented body wash into my palm. I begin to lather the product over my skin, I start from my shoulders traveling down stopping to concentrate on my breasts. I massage my breasts firmly, tugging, and pitching my nipples. I picture Christian's hands on me while I continue the tease. A soft moan escapes my lips, knowing it would feel even better if it were him. I keep one hand playing with my breast as the other travels south. I brush my fingertips over the sensitive flesh, a shiver runs through my body. I begin to firmly press circles over my swollen clit. I need this to be able to sit across a table and have a normal conversation with Christian. If I don't all I am going to think about is how his mouth would feel eating me out. I lean my back against the cool shower wall for support as my legs begin to weaken, I can feel my orgasm building. I push two fingers in and begin pumping, my release coming soon. I am about to climax when my work phone starts ringing. That pulls me right out of my fantasy and back to related. Anger and frustration ripple through me.
Wrapping a towel around me I grab my phone, "Hey Kate." I say breathlessly into the phone trying to hide my annoyance.
"Hey, you working out?" She asks, obviously hearing my lack of breath.
"Uh, yeah," Pushing my wet hair out of my face. "I was doing some cardio." Not a total lie.
"Oh cool, a tad early but I guess blowing off some steam before seeing Grey is necessary." She laughs not knowing just how true her statement was. "I just wanted to wish you luck. I hope you guys click so then you can have all the sex." I roll my eyes at that, knowing damn well that sex with him is going to be the only thing on my brain now.
"I just hope I don't bore him to death, I haven't been on a date in a year." I felt so uneasy just thinking about it. I sure could have used an orgasm.
I stood in the mirror examining myself, I picked out a pair of light wash jeans, a baggy blue Van Halen t-shirt, and gray thick socks peeking out of my combat boots. I play with my hair using my hand to hold it up in a pony and then letting it fall over my shoulders, trying to decide whether I want it up or down. I decide on wearing it down, I throw on my aviator glasses passing on my contacts. I drop off my room key at the customer service desk, I bring my suitcase with me to the coffee shop, deciding to wait to load it into my car. As usual it is an overcast day but it is pretty warm considering. I bring my gray chunky cardigan just in case the coffee shop is cold, I hurry to keep pace with everyone walking along the crosswalk. My smaller sized suitcase making that rattling noise as it rolls across concrete, up ahead outside the coffee shop I see Christian leaning against a large black Audi. I make my way to him, giving him a small smile and wave.
"Good morning Anastasia," Pushing himself off the car and walking over to me, he looks down at my suitcase. "Here," leaning to grab my suitcase, "Let's put that in the trunk and then when we finish up we can take you to your car. That way you don't have to roll that around with us." Watching him pick it up as the trunk pops open, though it's a nice gesture I don't know how comfortable I am with him just deciding that.
"Uh thank you but I didn't mind having it with me. That works though, I guess." I cross my arms over my chest rubbing my arms with my hands. Christian closes the trunk and we head into the coffee shop, he opens the door for me and gestures for me to go ahead. I start reading the menu, like I don't already know what I'm going to get. After the man in front of us orders, we move forward to the register. The girl, no older than 18, stared at us with confused eyes. I couldn't agree more, we probably look so strange together. He is dressed more casual than usual, a brown leather jacket with a white shirt under it. His dark denim designer jeans were tight in all the right places but still next to my more youthful baggy attire it just didn't make sense. He looked as though he modeled for Gucci and I looked like I modeled for H&M.
"What can I get for you guys?" She asked, finally fixing her face into a smile.
"Um, can I get a tall iced coffee with almond milk with 2 packs of stevia, please?" I asked and then curiously looked to Christian to watch him order. Just simply watching him talk was sex, the way his sculpted lips curved and moved. I start to picture that mouth working its magic on my clit. I shake my head and lean my hips from side to side, trying to get rid of that all too familiar sensation in between my legs.
"I will take a small Americano and a blueberry muffin," He is so precise and confident. Like he knows what he likes and wants with no hesitations. It is kind of sexy of just how in control of every situation he is.
"Okay, that will be $13.75, are you doing cash or card?" As she asks I start to dig into my purse for my wallet, Christian puts his hand on my arm as he extends his card out to the girl. His expression reads, 'are you crazy'.
"Thank you." Trying to show him I didn't expect him to pay, he smiles and shakes his head in disbelief.
"I asked you to coffee," He moves his arm from my arm to my back leading me a couple of steps out of line. He grabs his Americano and muffin, I follow suit grabbing my iced coffee as well. We walked to a small round table in the corner of the shop furthest from the front door and windows. Christian put everything down and then pulled out my chair as I set my drink down next to his. "So Anastasia, how was Saturday for you?" Christian asked, leaning into his seat.
"Oh, it was lovely. We did a typical girls day, we got a late start to it though Kate was so tired after Friday night. Thank you again." Taking a sip of my coffee, I watch as uses his long fingers to slowly unwrap the muffin from its lining. It was like watching literal food porn. This is why I needed to masturbate because now I can't help but be a complete horny mess.
"Ofcourse, I'm sorry I had to take off early, something came up." Christian says while bringing his fingers to his mouth to softly suck a piece of muffin off his thumb. I feel my mouth go dry so I take another sip of coffee.
"It was no problem at all, I hope everything was okay." I try so hard to keep the strain out of my voice.
"Everything is fine." His answer was blunt and abrasive, I was slightly taken aback, it was as if my concern annoyed him. "If you are hungry feel free to have some of my muffin." Christian said while tearing a piece off and popping it into his mouth.
"I am okay, thank you though." I give him a small smile, I am not much of a morning eater. Plus sitting in front of this Greek god, I couldn't be less hungry for food.
"Eat Anastasia." He ordered more than asked, "Breakfast is the most important part of the day." Adding to try to push past his demanding request.
"Actually, there are plenty of studies to prove that breakfast is in fact not the most important meal of the day, but thank you for your concern." Christian slowly nods and studies me with skeptical eyes as a small side smile creeps on to his face.
"Hm," a small huff leaves him, "My apologizes Ms. Steele, so tell me about your family." That was a fast turn around. How do we go from breakfast to family?
"My, my family?" I look down at my hands as they play with the lid of my coffee. "We are going with the hard hitting questions. My father died when I was a baby so my mom, Carla, and her second husband Ray raised me. My mom has been married five times. She loves love." I laugh looking up at Christian through my lashes. I continue, "Ray is great, he's the only father I have ever really known."
"And what about you?" Christian asks and I look at him confused.
"What about me?"
"Do you love love?" I'm taken back by his question. I inhale slowly while thinking of my answer because the truth is I haven't even thought about love since Connor.
"I used to," I nod slowly looking past Christian a bit. "Before I dropped out of college I was an English major. I kind of had to be a hopeless romantic but," I look into Christian's daunting gray eyes, "I gave up on the idea of the whole thing." His features relaxed as if relieved.
"Why did you give up on it, Ms. Steele?" I didn't know how to respond to this. I hadn't told this story in years. I try to forget about the whole thing, I was young and my first love destroyed me. I adjusted my glasses while looking back at him. Part of me wanted to keep my eyes glued to the table while I told him. Part of me even wondered why I was going to tell him. I didn't owe this man anything.
"When I was 20, my high school sweetheart left me at the altar."