Chapter 3

Ana walked into the huge office behind Andrea. It was like the rest of the building; white and glass. There were a few pieces of artwork on the walls which made the room a little more interesting. In front of the floor to ceiling windows, was a large dark oak desk and there was Christian Grey. All she could see was the top of his head however as he was bent down, furiously scribbling something on a piece of paper.

Andrea went up to his desk and put down the report she had brought it while Ana hung back a little. Grey proceeded to rapidly fire questions at and Andrea didn't miss a single beat in answering. He finished his scribbling, put his pen down and looked up at Andrea when he caught site of her in the back. His brow was furrowed.

"Who's this?" Grey asked, not in an unkindly but curious tone while gazing at Ana. It felt like his piercing grey eyes could see right through her and it was making her feel slightly uncomfortable and Ana's flight instinct kicked in.

"Mr Grey meet Anastasia Steele, Olivia's replacement. She used to work in PR but I thought she'd be a good fit here and practically forced her to come and work up here." Andrea smiled at Ana. Ana smiled as Mr Grey unfolded his tall frame and walked around the desk and offered his hand to her.

"Nice to meet you Miss Steele. I sincerely hope you will be better than Olivia but it's not as though there are very big shoes to fill." He remarked with a wry smile. Ana shook his hand and there seem to be static electricity or something when their hands touched. Ana thought she must have touched something and built up static on herself. She mentally kicked herself for zapping the man.

"Nice to meet you too sir, and please call me Ana. I'm sure Andrea will keep me on the right track." Ana spoke with a smile in what she hoped was a confident tone. At least she hadn't stuttered. Mr Grey released her hand and cocked his head slightly while looking at her through narrowed eyes.

"Have we met before? You look familiar." He asked her.

Ana's eyes widened slightly in surprise as her cheeks turned slightly pink. "You did a lecture a few months back while I was at WSU about working at GEH." Grey's eyes lit up with recognition.

"You're from WSU? Ah, I remember now, you were the one that walked in late, weren't you?" Grey questioned her. He was still stood in front of her and it was kind of scary. Ana wished he would take a step back or if only she could take a step back but that would not be good.

Shit now he probably thinks I have awful punctuality. Why on earth does he remember that?

"Yes, I was unfortunately. This apology is a few months late, but I am really sorry I interrupted your class." Ana said as sincerely as possible.

"No need to apologise Miss Steele. It was a welcome interruption from the professor's dull voice." He smirked. He then proceeded to grab a few files and give them to Andrea with instructions on what to do.

The two women walked out of his office and Ana let out a huge breath. Phew. She plopped down on her chair.

"That wasn't so bad was it? I know a lot of people think he's some ruthless monster and I'm sure you've heard stories but unless you really mess up and don't know your head from your ass, he's pretty tame. The workload is a lot he expects us to be good enough to be able to handle it." Andrea reassured Ana.

"I honestly don't know what I was expecting. My first impression of him in college was that he screamed authority. And he did kick my roommate out one time when she interviewed him." Ana said meekly.

"Wait, you know that woman? I remember Grey nearly shouting for me to come and get her. I never did find out why." Andrea sat down and turned her monitor on.

"Yeah, Kate. She had asked him if she was gay." Ana cringed. Andrea's mouth dropped open. "Kate doesn't know where to draw the line, but she means well." Ana tried to justify.

"I don't think anyone's every had the balls to ask him a question like that. She has guts."

Ana hummed in agreement.


Her first week went well. Andrea had taught her everything she needed to know. Andrea handled the more important things and Ana did more clerical things like making sure meeting rooms were set up, documents were filed and stored, answering phone calls and the likes.

She hadn't seen Mr Grey much but that could be because when Ana wasn't at her desk, she was most likely running errands on other floors.

She liked this job a lot more than the PR department. She didn't have any one to talk to over there unless it was small talk about the work, but here Andrea made it a lot more interesting. While she was very focused and efficient, she also joked around and her and Ana had gotten even closer.

Ana had just popped to Emily's café to grab a quick lunch for her and Andrea and just as she got to her desk and was in the processing of removing her coat, Mr Grey came out of his office holding a bunch of folders. Andrea was nowhere to be seen.

"Late lunch?" Asked Mr Grey as he stopped at her desk and placed the files down.

Ana gave him a shy smile. "Yes sir. Andrea said there was a lot to do so I offered to get us lunch so we can work through it and not fall behind."

Mr Grey furrowed his brow slightly. "Whatever it is I'm sure it can wait. You both need to take a break."

"It's alright, Andrea just wants to get everything done before the weekend and I don't mind working through lunch." Ana sipped her tea that she'd gotten.

"Is that from The Split Bean? I frequent that shop a lot, but I can't say I've ever tried the food they offer." He asked curiously, wanting to know her opinion on the food.

"I go there pretty often too actually. The food is really good, no 5-star meals but it's perfect for lunch. My friend Emily works there, and she bakes for the shop, so I always go to try her new creations. She's even tried some of the recipes I've given her and said they were a hit." Ana said with a proud grin.

Mr Grey's eyes widened a little as he stared at her smile. Ana was confused. Was there something in her teeth? God please no. She turned her grin into a closed mouth smile instead.

At that same moment, Christian figured out that Miss Steele was the same woman he had watched in that coffee shop a few weeks ago. She just shot him the very same grin that he was fascinated by.

"I'll definitely be trying the baked goods next time. Bonus if it's one of your recipes I can sample Miss Steele. I have high expectations and if it doesn't live up to its reputation, I will be holding you accountable." He teased. Ana blushed under his gaze.

"OH! I've actually got blueberry muffins today. Would you like to try some now? You can see if they live up to your standards." Ana offered him with a smile. She liked this weird banter they had going. She started to take the bag with the muffins out and pulled one huge muffin out.

"That is mammoth. Are you sure Miss Steele? I don't want to take any of your treats." He said, but internally his mouth was watering.

"Of course, I'm sure. I've bought another for Andrea. It will be the best thing you've had all week. I'm certain. And please call me Ana."

"How about I call you Anastasia? Middle ground." He stated while staring at the muffin. "Go on then, I'll try just a little bit."

"No way! Have the whole thing or your mouth will be watering the rest of the day and I don't think you want to be walking around drooling." Ana chuckled.

"But you- "Grey started.

"Mr Grey. Please don't worry about me. I want you to experience the test of heaven from that muffin. Besides I go nearly every day, I think it's time I limited myself with those sugary goods." She was basically shoving the muffin into his hand. He took it from her just as her phone beeped.

"Oh, Andrea needs my help." She stood up and looked at him. "I better go. Enjoy that Mr Grey. You'll be thanking me." Ana grinned at him as she started walking down the long hallway.

Grey bit down into the muffin and nearly groaned from how delectable it tasted. He stared at Anastasia's ponytail swinging behind her as she walked away.

So much tenacity behind that shy demeanour. She was a force to be reckoned with.


"I'm home!" Ana shouted as she let herself in.

"How was your day honey?" Kate jokingly replied back from the kitchen.

Ana walked in and put her bag on the couch. She looked at Kate stirring something on the stove. "It was fine darling. What are you making?" Ana asked as she walked over. Kate now got home earlier than Ana as her hours had increased since working for Mr Grey.

"I felt like making chilli today. And I got home pretty early so had the extra time." Kate shrugged. Ana had taught Kate how to cook during their freshman year and now Kate could make just about anything. They alternated who cooked each day, but Ana tended to make dessert since Kate despised baking.

A few hours later they were both sat on the couch with a glass of wine, when Kate asked her how Grey was at work.

"He's actually really nice. I have yet to see him shout or lose his shit." Kate's brows slowly rose higher and higher. "We even had a pleasant conversation today and I gave him my muffin." Ana said smugly just as Kate had taken a sip of her wine.

She watched with amusement as Kate nearly choked on her wine in surprise.

"Ana what the hell." She spluttered. Kate stared at Ana with wide green eyes. "Explain right now and I know you didn't mean what you just said."

Ana laughed at her reaction. "There was no double meaning there Kate." Ana shook her head, "Anyway, I got a muffin from Emily's coffee shop and he asked me about the food there. So, I offered him my muffin to taste test. I don't know what his reaction was though, I had to go."

"Wow. Are you sure it's a different Christian Grey that you work for? He actually sounds tolerable." Kate mused.

"He is tolerable. He was even concerned when I told him we were having a working lunch." Ana did wonder why he was nice to them, when to everyone else it sounded like he was awful. But she wasn't one to judge from rumours. From her impression of him, he was a good guy. "I haven't seen him interact with many other people this week though. I only saw the man twice. So, I guess, we'll see."


Ana and Andrea were both sat at their desk when the elevator pinged. They were both a little preoccupied and Mr Grey wasn't expecting anyone according to his schedule so neither of them glanced that way.

When a throat cleared in front of them, both of them quickly looked up. A stunning brunette was stood in front of them, dressed head to toe in designer. She looked like she had just come off the runaway. Ana's self-esteem went down a notch.

"Hello. May I help you?" Andrea asked pleasantly.

"Yes, if you wouldn't mind." The woman had a patronising undertone to her voice. "I'm here to see Christian." She acted like she owned the place. Her attitude just turned her ugly, Ana thought.

"Can I get your name?" Andrea asked. Ana knew her well enough now to know that Andrea was getting annoyed. She hated when people acted superior to them.

"Susannah Miller. Can you hurry up, I don't have all day. Just let me see him." She almost whined.

"I'm sorry Miss Miller but you do not have a scheduled appointment and Mr Grey doesn't want to be disturbed." Andrea replied with a smile full of pity. Ana wondered how this woman got past the reception downstairs if she didn't have an appointment.

"What!" She all but screeched. "I don't need an appointment to see him, we have a personal relationship!"

"Miss, I really do not care what kind of relationship you have. You need to have an appointment to see him, he is a very busy man. As I'm sure you would know if you know him so well." Andrea matched the woman's snide tone.

Lo and behold, Mr Grey stepped out of his office and saw the woman standing there. Ana could have sworn she saw him slyly roll his eyes when he saw Miss Miller.

"Susannah. What are you doing here?" Grey asked.

"Christian! Finally. Your secretaries are forbidding me from seeing you because I don't have an appointment." She said dramatically.

"No Susannah, they are doing their jobs." Grey said tiredly while rubbing his forehead. "We can talk in my office."

Susannah looked at both Ana and Andrea with a victorious smirk and strutted away behind Christian.

As soon as the door shut behind them, Andrea and Ana both looked at each other then started sniggering behind their hands.

"God, I hate when girls like her pop by and think they own the damn world." Andrea complained.

"What do you mean? Who are they? Why do they all come here?" Ana asked curiously.

"They are all Grey's dates to events and things like that. They have one date with the man and think he's going to propose to them or something." Andrea shook her head. "I don't know where he finds them." She muttered.

"So that was his girlfriend?" Ana chided herself as soon as the words were out of her mouth. It really was none of her business.

"No, I don't think so. I haven't seen that one before but usually he only goes on one date and its always a public date. He always gets papped with them." Andrea said turning back to her monitor.

Ana hummed in response.

About half an hour later, she got back from running an errand and as she got off the elevator, Susannah and a huge man that looked like he worked for the FBI, got on. Ana glanced at Susannah's face and saw smudged makeup around her eyes and mascara trails running down her cheeks.

Ana wondered just what went down in that office.