Chapter 2: Christian's POV:

Two days after that fateful interview, my hell on earth began. I was determined to keep my word to Anastasia and to keep things professional between us, no matter how much I wanted her. And my God, I wanted her more and more everyday. She was even more beautiful when she showed up that first morning in a slate grey skirt and light pink cardigan. Her lip gloss was the same color as her sweater. I wanted to lick it off. Shit, I had it bad, and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it.

I thought Andrea had been doing a fine job keeping my schedule, but Anastasia's almost immediate improvements made my life flow more smoothly than it ever had. She truly was gifted at keeping things organized, even the most chaotic of schedules. She greeted me that first morning with my coffee in her hand, just the way I liked it, and proceeded to explain all of the necessary reschedules for the day. Even when Andrea was called away to deal with another issue in HR, Anastasia was there taking notes in my meetings, and then she had those notes typed up perfectly and emailed within the hour after each meeting, all without ever being asked. She had an eye... and ear... for detail, so she included details in her notes that I found extremely helpful in my ongoing business dealings. Just within her first two days, even while Andrea was still there, Anastasia had already made herself indispensable to me.

Without any words exchanged between us about it, Anastasia automatically referred to me as Mr. Grey when anyone else was present, including Andrea. The only time she ever called me Christian was when she was alone with me in my office with the door closed. Those were the most difficult moments for me, because it would have been so easy to have her sprawled out naked on my sofa in a manner of minutes screaming my name in ecstasy. But I resisted. I was very professional.

That weekend, Andrea went into labor, and so Anastasia started her job as my solo office manager and personal assistant with only two days of training. She and Andrea had been expecting to work together for the following week before Andrea took her leave, but Andrea's little brat had other plans. It all worked out fine though, because Anastasia was brilliant. She didn't need more training. She could handle everything I threw at her, and then some. She was even able to handle Olivia. For some reason, unknown to me, Olivia stopped her annoying eyelash fluttering, and her wardrobe even improved. She started behaving more professionally towards me. I knew Anastasia had been the one to bring about this much welcome change, but I had no idea how she'd done it. The two of them seemed to get along amazingly well.

During those three months, I was careful to keep things professional with Anastasia. It was hard sometimes, and Little Grey was hard a lot of the time, but I managed. Sometimes, I imagined that I saw her looking at me, but when I tried to catch her, she'd always look away before I could. I imagined that she wanted me as much as I wanted her, but neither of us would violate our own personal policies of never shitting where we eat.

I came close a few times, especially when I saw Anastasia put Elena Lincoln in her place. Anastasia, of course, had no way of knowing about my personal history with Elena. She only knew that Elena was a business partner, as I owned a majority share in Esclava Salons. She'd never met Elena, and she had no idea what she looked like.

Elena had started bugging me again to get a sub. By that time, it had been over four months since I'd terminated the last contract, but I'd gone longer than that before. Elena began calling and leaving messages, but I ignored her. She emailed, and her messages went unanswered. I was too busy to deal with her shit. But she didn't give up easily.

One Friday morning a couple of months after Anastasia started working for me, Elena showed up at Grey House with a fair-skinned brunette walking submissively behind her. Of course she didn't have an appointment. Of course she didn't let that little detail deter her. She should have been stopped by the receptionist on the first floor before she even made it to my private elevator, but somebody wasn't doing their fucking job. When Elena and the girl exited the elevator, Anastasia was busy giving Olivia instructions for a spreadsheet that she was preparing for me. I know this because I watched the security video afterwards, which to my amusement also had audio, so I got to hear the entire exchange.

Flashback: May 20, 2016:

Elena cleared her throat to get the attention of my staff. Anastasia looked up at her in surprise. I'm sure my girl had my schedule memorized, so she knew I wasn't expecting anyone. In fact, she knew that I was in the middle of a video conference and wouldn't be finished for at least another hour. She knew that I wasn't to be disturbed.

"May I help you?" Anastasia asked politely.

"You're not a blonde," Elena told Anastasia snidely.

Anastasia looked confused. And adorable. Then she perked up. "Oh, you must be looking for Andrea Parker. She's on maternity leave for another month. I can get a message to her if you need..."

"No," Elena cut her off. "He doesn't hire brunettes to work for him. What are you doing here?"

Anastasia looked shocked. And even more adorable. "Umm... I'm sure my hair color had nothing to do with Mr. Grey's decision to hire me. Now, if you need something, please state your business. Otherwise, I will need to call security."

"Do you have any idea who I am, little girl?" Elena shouted.

"Umm, no," Anastasia answered calmly. "I don't have any idea who you are, ma'am." She paused ever so briefly and then continued in the politest voice, but she sounded more like a kindergarten teacher than an office manager. "So let me introduce myself. I am Anastasia Steele, Mr. Grey's personal assistant and executive office manager. This is Olivia Beaudreau, the executive office assistant. Welcome to Grey House. How can I help you, Miss...?

"I am Elena Lincoln, and I need to see Christian now," Elena demanded.

Anastasia politely responded, "I'm sorry, Mrs. Lincoln, but that is unfortunately not possible. Mr. Grey is busy at the moment. If you need to speak with him concerning Esclava Salons, I would be happy to make an appointment for you. Unfortunately, his schedule is full for the rest of today, but he has some openings next week."

"No, I need to see him today," Elena insisted.

Anastasia answered her, still politely but more firmly, "Mrs. Lincoln, Mr. Grey is in a meeting until 12:30, and then he has another meeting immediately following that one. In fact, he has back-to-back meetings until 7 p.m. tonight. Unfortunately, he will not be able to see you today."

"He has to take a break for lunch," Elena snapped. The haughty look eyes said she thought she'd won the battle; apparently, she thought she'd caught Anastasia in a lie.

"His next meeting is a working lunch," Anastasia explained. "Really, Mrs. Lincoln, you must make an appointment. Mr. Grey's schedule does not permit him to meet with unscheduled visitors. He's simply too busy."

"Listen here, little girl, I've taken just about all the shit I can take from you," Elena said threateningly. She thought she could make Anastasia cower if she went all Domme on her, but she failed to realize that Anastasia was no submissive. Elena got up in Anastasia's face as she said, "Now, you get your ass in there and tell him that I'm here, and that I demand to see him. Do it before I hurt you, little girl."

"Mrs. Lincoln, as I have explained, Mr. Grey is not available," Anastasia stated more firmly.

The next thing that happened was a bit of a blur until I played it in slow motion. Elena had the nerve to slap Anastasia! She fucking struck her beautiful face! I wanted to rip her to shreds when I saw that!

"Olivia, call security. Now!" Anastasia ordered, holding her lovely face where the bitch had just slapped her, but still speaking more calmly than I ever would have in the same situation.

When I watched the surveillance video, I watched the next part in slow motion about a dozen times. And each time, I fell harder for Anastasia. I watched as Anastasia grabbed Elena by the ear and in a moment had Elena on her knees. On her fucking knees, like a fucking submissive! Anastasia must have been squeezing the shit out of Elena's ear. Elena had tears in her eyes as Anastasia said, still too calmly, "Mrs. Lincoln, my name is Anastasia Steele. Not 'little girl.' And nobody threatens me, Mrs. Lincoln, and certainly nobody slaps me and gets away with it. As I told you repeatedly already, Mr. Grey is in a meeting and cannot meet with you today. So make a fucking appointment." Still deathly calm, showing no emotion, except that she was speaking through her teeth. Shit, what a woman! I wondered what she'd say if I asked her to marry me. Shit! I don't do marriage! But God damn!

By the time Anastasia finished telling Elena off, Taylor had shown up. I found out later that the asshole had been watching from the security office, but he knew Anastasia well enough by now to know she could handle things. I gave him a good ass-chewing for that, because Anastasia could have been injured. The bitch slapped her, for Christ's sake! I threatened to fire him for allowing that shit to happen.

"Ms. Steele, what seems to be the problem?" Taylor asked her calmly. He could fucking see with his own damn eyes that Anastasia was still twisting the hell out of Elena's ear.

Hearing his voice, Anastasia let go of Elena. "Jason, would you please escort Mrs. Lincoln out of the building? She is causing a disturbance."

"Of course, Ms. Steele," Taylor responded. "Mrs. Lincoln, please come with me," he ordered.

"No, you can't fucking kick me out! I demand to see Christian!" Elena exclaimed.

Taylor said firmly, "Mrs. Lincoln, you can come quietly, or I can force you. It's your choice."

"I'll sue you, you bitch, for assaulting me!" Elena threatened Anastasia.

Anastasia snorted. "You assaulted me! If anyone has grounds to press charges, it's me!"

All this time, the submissive had stood quietly observing everything, with her head bowed. Even though I couldn't see her face clearly, I knew it wasn't anyone I knew. Elena had brought me a new girl, to my office! God damn stupid bitch! She knew damn well that I NEVER mix business with my personal life. Why the hell did she think it would be a good idea to bring the girl here to GEH? As Taylor began to escort (or drag) Elena to the elevator, Anastasia noticed the submissive. She apparently had either not noticed her until now or had forgotten about her.

"Who the hell are you?" Anastasia snapped at her, showing the first crack in her perfect armor.

The girl responded simply, "I'm Jennifer."

"What do you want?" Anastasia snapped at her.

"I'm here for Master," she answered.

Anastasia looked at the submissive like she'd lost her fucking mind, which she probably had. "Umm, Jason, we've got another one here," Anastasia called out.

Only a few days earlier, Taylor had hired a new guy to be my personal security on the weekends, when Taylor was off duty. That new guy, Ryan, choose that moment to appear and escort "Jennifer" or whoever the hell she was to the elevator. I made a note to myself to speak with Welch, my security director at GEH, about hiring a full-time guard for the executive office, because Ryan's being there that day had been a fluke, and Taylor sometimes needed to run errands for me or escort me when I was off site.

It wasn't until later that afternoon, once my lunch meeting had ended, that I learned about what had happened. I immediately called in Anastasia to make sure she was OK. I think I shocked her as I touched her face gently, making sure Elena hadn't left a mark on her flawless skin. At that moment, as I stood so close to her, touching her face ever so briefly, I am certain that I saw something in her eyes. She wanted me! I knew it!

Anastasia took a step back from me and assured me that she was fine. She also assured me that she would not allow Mrs. Lincoln's behavior to influence her work as I continued my business with Esclava Salons. She didn't ask even one question about the submissive or her strange behavior, although she must have realized that the girl had been there for me, for a very personal purpose.

(End of Flashback)

A week or so later, I found out that Anastasia had not exactly let bygones be bygones, but she'd gone after Elena in her own special way. In her down time, when she wasn't in meetings with me or typing up notes, or scheduling appointments or whatever other shit I had her doing... honestly, I don't know when she had time to do it... she'd gone over the books for Esclava Salons. Long story short, Elena had been embezzling from me, and even my own accountants, whom I pay well for this very shit, hadn't caught it. It made me wonder what else they might be missing. This revelation was one of the things that led me to the decision to hire a CFO, but I'll get to that.

The point is, Anastasia had once again proven herself to be invaluable to me. She had saved me a boatload of money, and she'd uncovered the deceit of someone that I had once considered one of my dearest friends. I owed Anastasia far more than I paid her, but I did give her a raise after that incident. And of course, I also ended my friendship... and my business relationship... with Elena. Since I still felt indebted to Elena for how she'd helped me when I was younger, I gifted my share in the salons to her, and then I wiped my hands of her. I made sure she was on the proscribed list from GEH and Escala, and I blocked her number. I also told my parents about her embezzling from me, which meant that Elena was in the doghouse with my mom, too. I would never tell them about my sexual history with her; that was shit they didn't need to know. The only person who knew about my past with Elena was Elliot, and he wasn't going to talk.

Another action I took after Anastasia broke the news to me about Elena's embezzlement and I consequently cut ties with Elena, was to hire a covert protective officer for Anastasia. Elena had made direct threats against "that girl," and I knew all too well from my own past experience that Elena was not only fully capable of carrying through with her threats but also very likely to do so. For that reason, I had Taylor hire a guy named Luke Sawyer to tail Anastasia and make sure she was always safe.

The three months of Anastasia's temporary position were passing quickly, and I began to panic as I realized that they were almost over. I knew that Anastasia's time with me would be ending soon unless I did something about it. Two and a half months after she'd started, I decided that I had to do something to keep her. So I offered her a new position, one that I hoped with all my nonexistent heart that she wouldn't refuse.

GEH was growing, and we needed to increase our executive staff. It was the right timing to promote Andrea to full-time office manager. Her previous position had outgrown itself. Ros was hiring a new assistant, and I also was hiring a CFO who would occupy an office on our same floor, and that CFO would need an assistant. Even if we promoted from within, we'd want to move the CFO and their assistant to our floor. Andrea would be tasked with hiring a receptionist for our floor as soon as she returned. So our administrative staff was going to more than double, and Andrea would be in charge of keeping the office going. The only people who would report directly to her would be Olivia, her assistant, and the new receptionist that she would hire. The various PAs would report to their supervisors, but they'd have cubicle spaces in the outer office, which Andrea would manage.

More than anything, I wanted Anastasia to be my full-time personal assistant. I knew that I was only giving myself more hell, since I still couldn't have her, but I needed her near me. I also knew there was a strong possibility that she would turn down the job offer because it wasn't what she wanted to do long-term. I needed to give her some really good incentive.

I insisted on having a working lunch with Anastasia that day, and we met in my private room at the Mile High Club. I could never tell her about the dreams I'd had of bringing her here under much different circumstances. Instead, I explained to her that Andrea would need to work more regular hours when she came back to work since she now had a new baby at home, and that I would be traveling more in the near future and would be in more need of a personal assistant in my numerous interstate and international meetings, which was something that Andrea would not be able to do. Besides, both jobs had become far too much for one person to do.

Flashback: June 2, 2016: Lunch meeting at the Mile High Club:

"Anastasia, you have become a very valued member of my staff over the past three months." I wanted to tell her more. I wanted her to know how much I wanted her, but I knew it would push her away.

"Thank you, Christian," she answered. We were alone in my private room, so she was calling me Christian.

"I mean it, Anastasia, and I'm not ready to let you go. I have a new offer for you," I told her.

She looked surprised. "What kind of offer?" she asked tentatively. Why was she looking so shy all of a sudden?

"I want you to be my permanent personal assistant. I'm making Andrea the Office Manager. The two jobs are too much now for one person to do."

"What would this... new position... entail?" she asked, still sounding very hesitant. She bit her lower lip, and Little Grey got hard, just like that. Thank God the tablecloth hid him.

"Basically the same thing you're already doing, minus the office management shit," I answered. "Andrea and Olivia can handle that. I'm going to be hiring a CFO, and they'll need an assistant. We'll need a new receptionist, too."

"You should move Olivia to that position," Anastasia suggested. "She'd be good at it."

"I'll keep that in mind," I told her.

"So... you want me to just keep doing what I've been doing?" Anastasia questioned. "Nothing... more?" Damn, what was that look in her eye? I couldn't read her to save my miserable life.

"Well, yes, there's a little more," I answered. "I want you to travel with me."

"Travel with you?" she repeated, sounding surprised.

"Yes. As you know, I have meetings scheduled in the coming months in Taiwan, Hong Kong, London, Paris, Munich, and Dubai. There's still a possibility that I'll need to make a visit to the Congo or the Central African Republic, depending on how cooperative the governments there are. I'll need my personal assistant to sit in with me in my meetings on all those trips. To take notes in meetings and keep me organized. I need you, Anastasia."

"You want me to go all those places with you?" she gasped. I loved seeing the excitement in her eyes, and knowing I'd put it there. "London, Paris, Munich... Wow! Will there be time for sightseeing?"

"If it gets you to say yes, then yes, I'll make sure of it," I promised. "Also, I will need you to attend certain social functions with me."

Her eyes shot up. "You mean, as your date?" she asked.

"No, no. I don't date. Besides, I know your policy of not shitting where you eat. I wouldn't dream of violating that." I only dream about it every fucking night. That is until I fall asleep and am plagued by the same damn nightmares as always.

"Well, that's appetizing," she quipped as she took a bite of her Cobb salad. I ignored her inquisitive look. She probably was wondering about my comment about not dating, but I knew she wouldn't ask that personal question.

I explained, "I want you to attend with me as my assistant, of course. I do a lot of business at these functions, and I need your brain and attention to detail." No, not as my date, baby, although that idea was more appealing to me than I ever would have imagined. "I will provide a clothing allowance, and even throw in spa treatments."

"Damn, you really want me to do this, don't you?" she asked.

"More than you can imagine," I answered honestly.

"For how long?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I told you when you interviewed me that my career goal is to run a publishing house. I'm not opposed to the idea of working for you a bit longer. I like the idea, actually. I still have a lot to learn, and you're the best teacher." Oh, baby, the things I could teach you.

"You flatter me, Anastasia," I said.

"It's not flattery," she insisted. "You are the youngest self-made billionaire on the planet. You got there by being the best businessman on the planet. I'm learning from the best. It's not flattery or exaggeration."

At that moment, it was all I could do to restrain myself from throwing all the food off the table and having Anastasia for lunch instead. But I needed to focus on how to keep her, not scare her away.

Little did my girl know it, but I'd already been thinking about her career goal. I reached into my briefcase and got out a document. Handing it to her, I said, "This is my proposed job contract for you. In addition to the job duties that we've just discussed, there is a 5% pay increase. And, more to the point, it also has a provision of two years. You are free to continue working for me at the end of two years if you so choose. In that case, we will negotiate a new contract. However, if you are ready to move on to accomplishing your own career goals, I will be ready to help you do it. At the end of two years, including the three months that you've already worked for me, if your job performance has been satisfactory... and believe me when I say it has been well beyond satisfactory so far... then I will help you with either a start-up or an acquisition of a publishing company."

She looked dumbfounded. And adorable, of course. Her mouth hung open for a moment, and I wanted nothing more than to kiss her, and feel my tongue against hers. I just knew that she tasted divine.

"Let me make sure that I've got this straight," she began. "You want me to travel with you to places all over the world that I've only ever dreamed of going. You want me to attend your fancy dinners with you, and you want to pay for my fancy dresses. And shoes."

"Definitely shoes," I agreed. Only the best should ever go on your feet, baby.

"And at the end of all that... after only two years... you will help me get my own business started. Seriously? What exactly does that mean? You're willing to finance me?

"More than willing to finance you," I answered unreservedly. "I was thinking that sometime during these two years that I could acquire a publishing house, and then turn it over to you when the time comes. I will also be available to mentor you."

"Seriously?" she squeaked.

I wasn't sure what she found so shocking. "Anastasia, you know I wouldn't say it if I weren't serious."

"Wow! I love you! I mean... I don't... shit! You know what I mean!"

No, baby, I don't know what you mean, but I'd give my right eye to hear you say those words again. Of course, I knew she didn't really love me. That was impossible. She was just filled with emotions because I was promising to make her dreams come true, and she was responding to that.

Of course, she couldn't really love me. But it sure was nice to hear.

"So, does that mean that you accept?" I asked her.

"Well, I need to read the contract first, but if everything checks out like you've just described, then I'd have to be a fool to say no," she answered. Smart girl.

(End of Flashback)

That was three and a half months ago, and yes, Anastasia did sign the contract. Two weeks after that, Andrea returned to work, and Anastasia helped her reorganize the office to make room for new staff. They even arranged for Elliot to install the cubicles we needed in the front office. He pissed me off by flirting with Anastasia, but I think he was doing it just to provoke me, to get me to act.

Elliot was the only person who knew about my true feelings for my assistant. I'd confided in him when he'd come over to my penthouse one night mainly to get away from the skank who he'd been stupid enough to have a second date with, who was now stalking him. We'd had one too many shots of Patron, and my lips had gotten too loose. Thankfully, I knew that even though he acted like an idiot a lot of the time, Elliot was trustworthy. A couple of years ago, I'd even told him about Elena. He had kept that secret, so I knew he'd keep this one too. The problem was, even Elliot didn't know just how fucked up I was, so he didn't realize that there was no way I could act on my feelings for Anastasia.

Elliot did a great job, as always, remodeling the office, and it only took him a couple of days to finish everything. This was a good thing because the staff was quickly expanding, and everyone needed a space. Over the past month, Ros and I had been interviewing candidates for the CFO position, and we'd hired Jack Hyde, or more accurately, we'd promoted him since he already worked for us. He moved upstairs as soon as his office was ready, which was one week after Andrea's return. That same week, he hired an assistant, which was also an internal promotion. One of his first tasks was to hire replacements for his and his assistants' previous positions, but their offices would remain downstairs, one floor below ours.

Anastasia had made a good call about moving Olivia to the receptionist position; it really was a good fit for her. Again, I was amazed by the change in Olivia, and I detested her a lot less now that Anastasia had worked her magic. Andrea insisted that she didn't need another full-time assistant, that a couple of part-time interns would be sufficient. I made sure there was space for three part-timers at any given time.

The spacious outer office took on a whole new look. As you entered from the elevator, Olivia's desk was front and center. Behind her was Andrea's desk and three other desks for interns. Behind all of that, in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, we had four cubicles installed for Anastasia, Ros's new assistant Troy Geitens (whom she'd hired a couple of weeks before Andrea's return), and Jack Hyde's new assistant, Elizabeth Morgan. There was also an extra cubicle for the future, as we continued to grow. I suspected that Anastasia might need to hire her own assistant before long, but I didn't mention it to her yet. Since the cubicles only had half walls, there was still plenty of light pouring into the front office area.

To the left of Olivia's desk was a comfortable seating area. Anastasia had long ago insisted that we get rid of the "hard, ugly, uninviting" black chairs that had been there since we'd moved into the new building. She'd purchased red leather arm chairs, and I had to admit that the splash of color looked good, especially due to how they coordinated with the new artwork she'd had installed. Beyond the seating area was a hallway that led to the large executive conference room, a smaller conference room, and a file storage room. My own office was at the end of that hallway.

To the right of Olivia's desk was another hallway that led to the public restrooms, the copy room, and a staff break room, and then to Ros and Jack's offices. Before hiring our CFO, Ros had used the extra office for storage, but we'd had all those files, as well as part of the files from the storage room near my office, moved to another floor. Anastasia had been instrumental in organizing all the files and moving more than half of them to a new file room one floor below us near the Accounting department. I agreed with Anastasia that it made more sense to store them there.

Anastasia insisted that another reason the front office seemed more inviting now was because of the cubicles. Their addition left less room in the front office area, which was "ginormous" in Anastasia's words. Due to the arrangement and design of the cubicles, there was still plenty of sunlight. Anastasia convinced me that the guest area was a lot less intimidating since it was no longer too large. I admitted that I actually had wanted the office to feel intimidating when we moved into the building. She reminded me that I'd already made it. GEH was now a thriving multibillion-dollar corporation, and that fact alone was intimidating enough. The office space, she insisted, should be inviting. I decided not to argue.

As Ros and my idiot brother were quick to point out, my behavior had apparently changed since Anastasia came to work for me. It was true that I felt more... relaxed. I still worked 12-hour shifts on a regular basis before going home and working more, but I didn't feel as... uptight. Was that the Anastasia effect? I wasn't sure. I knew that I felt confident in her abilities to keep me organized and make sure I didn't overlook any important details. And I felt... safe... with her. Just her presence alone somehow comforted me.

Of course, I still wanted to fuck her. That desire wasn't going to go away. At times, I felt that I should just go for it, fuck her really good, and get her out of my system. But I didn't do it for two reasons. One, I didn't want to ruin my work relationship with her, and two, I did not believe that I would ever get her out of my system. She'd become as important to me as the air I breathe.

And as the next month passed, I became increasingly convinced that she felt something for me as well. I saw it in her glances. She wanted me. I heard it in her soft little breaths, at how her breathing hitched if I brushed her arm or got too close to her. Or maybe that was all in my imagination. Just wishful thinking. Maybe. Maybe not.

Anastasia wasn't too happy about the media coverage about us that broke after I took her to our first gala. I was glad that I'd hired Sawyer to tail her when I had, because without her ever even realizing it, he was able to thwart the attempts of some of those assholes to get close to her. Of course, the vultures printed all kinds of lies about her being my secret girlfriend that I'd hired just so I could fuck her at all hours of the day. The assholes didn't realize how much I wished their words were true. But Anastasia was purported to be a gold digger, and that pissed me off, because she was the furthest thing from a gold digger that I'd ever known. To appease Anastasia, I had my PR team release a statement that our relationship was professional only. That pissed me off too, because I wanted... more. With her. Only with her. I hadn't had a sub since two months before I met Anastasia, and I didn't want one. Anastasia was all I wanted.

I had never enjoyed attending those fancy events before, but Anastasia made them enjoyable. She was so beautiful dressed in her sexy evening gowns or cocktail dresses, depending on the event. She showed more cleavage and leg than she'd ever have been willing to do in the office. My girl was magnificent, and I loved having her on my arm, even if she was "just my assistant." And she still did an amazing job as my assistant. She had an uncanny ability to remember entire conversations, so the day after each event, she emailed me detailed reports of the conversations I'd had that related to business. These proved extremely useful later.

I even danced with Anastasia at these events. She'd refused at first, claiming that she wasn't a very good dancer, but I was able to persuade her... and teach her. As with everything else, she was a quick learner in dancing too. And it was in those moments that I knew the look I saw in her eyes was not just my imagination. She truly did feel the sizzling attraction between us too. But I knew Anastasia; she would never act on her feelings for me. She was too professional for that. If anything were ever going to happen between us, it would be up to me to make the first move. But how could I? I only knew Dom/sub arrangements, and Anastasia was no sub. Could I teach her that, too? I began to wonder if she would be open to the idea.