Chapter 4

Christian was in a meeting in the conference room with his finance team going over the figures for the latest quarter. They had gone down slightly from last quarter and his finance team were trying to justify why and offering excuses. Christian was getting sick of these bullshit excuses and there were definitely easier ways to find out why than listening to his floundering accountants.

He was fiddling with his pen, his patience growing thin when he took notice of a flash of blue rushing backwards and forwards past the conference room. He continued watching and when the person reappeared, he realised it was Anastasia, dressed in a blue cardigan, going back and forth in what seemed to be a hurried state. He watched her face when she appeared again and noticed that she looked stressed and confused. She had her brows furrowed and was biting her lip. He wondered what was going on.

Christian announced a 10 minutes break and just as he stepped outside of the threshold to the conference room, the blue blur that was Miss Steele darted past him.

"Miss Steele." He called. Ana stopped in her tracks and turned around.

"Mr Grey?" She wondered if there was something she missed when she set up their meeting room.

"Are you lost? In the last 5 minutes, you've walked past here about 10 times." He stated while walking towards her.

Shit, did he sound angry?

"Oh! I'm actually looking for Mr Hyde's office but the room number I've been given seems to be wrong. I've been going back and forth from my computer to look for other potential room numbers, but I just can't seem to find the right room. That and to see if Andrea's back from lunch so she could help me out." Ana said sheepishly.

"Mr Hyde? His office was moved to the 18th floor recently so maybe you have the old room number."

"Really? I had emailed his secretary and she said it was on this floor." Ana said confusedly.

"She should know the right room number if she is his secretary. Why did she knowingly give you false information?" Christian frowned with irritation.

Ana could tell that he was annoyed, possibly even angry. She decided to try and diffuse the situation and hightail it out of there. "Maybe she didn't mean it. Maybe she was preoccupied and didn't realise what she had sent." Ana shrugged. "Anyway, thank you for your help Mr Grey. I would've been walking around like a bigger fool than already without your help." Ana smiled gratefully at him. Christian noticed that the way the overhead lights hit her eyes made it seem like they were sparkling.

"It's no problem Miss Steele." He was a little confused by her optimistic outlook on the situation especially when someone had tried to sabotage her essentially. "Why didn't you just ask someone walking past for help?"

Ana hesitated, looking around. Christian narrowed his eyes at her expression. His gaze was making her uncomfortable, so she told him the truth. "People here are nice to me on a whole but there are some who seem to really dislike me because they think I'm undeserving of this job and they think I'm not good enough for it. The encounters I've had with them haven't been the… best so I wanted to avoid any snide remarks today."

Christians jaw clenched in annoyance. Not at her, but at his employees. His face softened when he looked at her. "Anastasia, from what I've seen, you've been doing an excellent job and you have exceeded my expectations. I'm sure my opinion is the only one that matters here so fuck what everyone else thinks. You wouldn't be here if Andrea and I didn't think you could do this so you should be immensely proud of yourself." He said firmly. "If anyone here gives you shit, which they shouldn't be after I send out a strongly worded company email, please let me know or at least let Andrea know. I know she can put men twice her size in their place."

Ana felt her face get warm. "Thank you, Mr Grey. That means a lot coming from you." She said shyly.

"Grey!" Ros Bailey called from down the hall. Both of them turned to look at her.

Christian looked back at Ana. "It's no problem at all Anastasia and the next time you need help, you can ask me if Andrea's not around. I really won't bite." He grinned at her as he started walking back towards the conference room.

Ana was momentarily dazed by his grin. "I will, sir." She said quietly as he had already turned back around.

What was that?

Ana smiled to herself as she walked back to her desk.

He was proud of her.


She had finally found Jack Hyde's office, but there seemed to be no one around. Mr Grey was expecting the final report from their latest campaign from him by the end of the day, so Ana went to follow up on it. She decided to check one last time before she left for the day.

This time when she went down, she saw his assistant at her desk but still no Hyde. When she had asked the assistant, Liz, about Hyde's whereabouts, Ana got a very hostile response. This is exactly what she was telling Mr Grey about. Liz sneered at Ana and started saying how she should have been Grey's new PA not 'some inexperienced little girl'. Ana had to roll her eyes. She knew exactly why Liz wanted to be Grey's PA and it definitely wasn't for the work.

Ana brushed her comments off and asked about the report. At the mention of the report, Liz's heavily made up eyes went wide and her demeanour took a full 180.

"Oh fuck. I was meant to write up the final draft for Hyde today. Fuck fuck fuck." Liz muttered.

"So, you don't have it? Mr Grey wants it."

"No! Shit Hyde's gonna kill me. Mr Grey's gonna kill me. Shit. It's going to take me a few hours to write up." Liz was panicking. Ana wondered what she'd been doing all day.

"Listen Liz. Have it on my desk by tomorrow morning and I can cover for you." Ana really had no idea why she just said that. She owed this woman nothing. She was going to get into so much trouble.

"Really? You would do that? Thank you, Anastasia." Liz said and then started rapidly typing.

Ana got back to her desk and didn't know what to tell Mr Grey. She knew he needed that report ASAP. He was going to be furious. Ana had half an hour before she could leave so she sat quietly at her desk. Andrea was busy typing away and didn't pay her any attention. She hoped she could get out of the building before he asked for it.

Just as Andrea and her were putting their coats on to leave, Mr Grey stepped out of his office.

"Miss Steele, where is that report I asked you for?"

Shit come up with something quick Ana. "Oh…um.." She pretended to look through her in-tray and the other papers on her desk. She looked at him. "I think I might have misplaced it Mr Grey. I'm so sorry."

Grey looked annoyed and pursed his lips. "Well can you get me another copy before you leave then?"

"Um I don't think that'll be possible. Mr Hyde hasn't been in the office all day and his assistant has gone home." Ana looked contrite. "I'm really sorry sir. I can have it on your desk in the morning."

Grey just stared her down for a moment and shook his head slightly before he huffed an irritated sigh and ran a hand through his hair. He turned on his heel and nearly slammed the door to his office shut.

Shit what did I do? Ana let out a breath and put a hand to her cheek to try and cool her down.

Andrea turned to Ana with wide eyes. "Ana what was that? I find it hard to believe that YOU misplaced something. You're so meticulous."

They both started walking to the elevator. Once they were in Ana decided to explain to Andrea what she'd done.

"No, I didn't really misplace the file. Hyde's assistant was meant to write up the final report today, but she hadn't and I'm not sure why, but she was panicking and scared that she was going to lose her job. So I offered to cover for her with Grey if she promised to have the report on my desk by first thing in the morning." Ana stared off into space. "Although I really don't know why I offered, she was so rude to me."

Andrea looked at Ana blankly. Then all of a sudden pulled her in for a hug. "You Anastasia Steele have the biggest heart. Your kindness knows no bounds." She released Ana. "I can't believe you nearly put your job on the line for that woman. At least he didn't give you a verbal bashing or hell even fire you. He's fired people for less."

"Really? I'm thanking whoever's up in the sky right now for his reaction. I was preparing for the worst but a slammed door I can handle." Ana sighed. "I pray that report is on my desk in the morning otherwise I will be fired." Ana shook her head. "Why did I do it?"

"Ana stop beating yourself up over it. If it's not on your desk in the morning, I will personally go and give the woman a piece of my mind. And your saying she was rude to you? She'll deserve whatever I give to her." Andrea muttered angrily. Ana smiled at her.

"He looked so disappointed in me as well. Just earlier he said he was proud of the work I was doing."

"He must still like you since his reaction was pretty tame. I'd say don't worry about it and just keep your head down so you can get back into his good graces quickly." They got off the elevator and walked towards the doors. "And Ana. Maybe stop covering for other people's asses?" Andrea suggested. "I know you mean well but it's not worth it."

"Yeah, no I won't be doing that again. Learned my lesson."

They both went their separate ways. Ana's mood had plummeted, and she just wanted to get home, pig out and drink lots and lots of wine.


That evening, she was lying across the couch in her pjs with a chick flick on. She definitely wasn't having a pity party. She did it because she didn't want Liz to lose her job. Ana wasn't heartless. Would she do it again though? Nope.

The look on Mr Grey's face kept flashing through her mind. He just looked so let down. She knew he had faith in her, and she probably just went and lost that faith. She couldn't be in a good mood after that ordeal.

She was alone in the apartment. Kate was out and had been out quite a lot recently. Just as well, she didn't want to tell Kate what had happened at work. Kate would literally rip her a new one for taking the fall. She was often on Ana's case about 'growing a pair'.

Ana did get a facetime call from Lily though. Lily was travelling through Asia as she had taken a break from her job. She looked carefree and just so happy.

As soon as Lily saw Ana's smile, she could tell there was something wrong. Ana proceeded to tell Lily and let loose about everything that's been going on at GEH including all her encounters with Mr Grey. Sure, she could tell Kate, but Kate was just too inquisitive and would ask a million questions.

The two girls talked for nearly an hour and Lily being the ray of sunshine that she was, told Ana that she was who she was, and that her heart was too pure for the business world and that she shouldn't change who she was. Lily still wholeheartedly believed that Ana would be CEO of her own company one day and gave her a few morale-boosting speeches. Ana felt 100 times better after that call.

She decided to just keep her head down and try to get back into Mr Grey's good graces again whilst she still had a chance.


The next morning the report was sat in her in tray when she got there. There was no thank you note or anything of such. Ana rolled her eyes to herself. Grey hadn't arrived yet, so she went and placed the report neatly on his desk. He was going to be arriving any minute and she wasn't ready to face him just yet, so she hid in the break room.

Ana started mindlessly making a coffee to make it look as though she was busy, just in case Mr Grey happened to glance in here on his way past. She heard the elevator ding and Andrea greeting him. Ana heard him ask where she was, and Andrea answered that she was here somewhere. Ana's heart was beating rapidly. She heard them both walk past and go into his office. As soon as she heard the door shut, she let out a huge breath she didn't realise she'd been holding.

Ana grabbed the coffee mug and ventured out of the room. She was nearly tiptoeing but then she mentally scolded herself for being such an idiot.

She got back to her desk and started doing her tasks for today. She took a sip from the mug and nearly spat it back out. Fuck, she didn't even like coffee. Very good Ana. Ana rolled her eyes at her idiocy.

Andrea walked out a few minutes later and smiled at Ana.

"Hey, what was-"Ana started before she was interrupted by Mr Grey who was behind Andrea.

"Miss Steele. I need to you accompany me to my meeting at 10 to take minutes. Andrea has other commitments." He said before he disappeared again, not waiting for her answer.

Ana's eyes widened. Crap there goes that plan of avoiding the man.


Ana got to the designated conference room 5 minutes early and checked to make sure that there was a plentiful supply of drinks and whatnot. She made sure the computer was set up and the projector was up and running. This meeting was with the marketing team which meant that Liz would be here.

People started arriving and Ana sat herself in the corner. She didn't know many of them. One man, tall and blonde strolled in casually and when he caught a glimpse of her, her looked at her up and down and licked his lips. Ana quickly looked away. The man was making her very uncomfortable, but she didn't want to make a scene. She tucked herself into her corner as tightly as she could, almost as if she was trying to make herself invisible.

Ana saw Liz walk in, dressed in what she sure wasn't office appropriate attire, and sit next to the blonde man. Liz didn't even spare her a second glance. She figured that the blonde man was Jack Hyde and was very glad that the man hadn't been in the office yesterday.

Mr Grey strolled in last and sat himself at the head of the table. He nodded at Ana and introduced her to everyone.

They took a short break halfway through the meeting and Ana was silently glad. She needed a break from hearing these men's droning voices. She walked over to the refreshment table and poured herself a cup of tea. Liz was standing next to her pouring coffees but yet still refused to acknowledge Ana.

Just as Ana went to take a sip from her nearly overflowing cup, she suddenly felt a large hand grab her dangerously close to her bum. She jumped and twirled around to see who the culprit was. She turned around so fast however that her tea flew out of the cup and on to Liz's clothes.

Ana gasped in horror just as Liz started screeching at the top of her lungs. Oh no.

"You stupid little bitch! What have you done! This dress is probably worth more than your pathetic life! ARGH! Are you that incompetent that you can't even carry a drink for 10 seconds! I will-"Her screeching was interrupted.

"ENOUGH." Mr Grey bellowed. Ana was still frozen. This was her worst nightmare. Everyone in the room was staring at them in shock. Liz froze in response to Grey's voice.

"Mr Grey. Sir. Have you seen what your assistant has done to me? She purposely did this and-"Liz's whining was once again cut off.

"Miss Morgan stop. I will see you in my office in five minutes. You should use that time to try and clean yourself up." He then turned to Ana. "Miss Steele. Return to your desk. I will deal with you soon enough." He then turned to address everyone else in the room. "Everyone, we will resume this meeting at a later date." With that he walked out.

Liz ran out and Ana saw her go into the restroom. Other people started filing out, most people staring at her as if she was a wild animal while some gave her looks of sympathy. Her face was bright red, she knew it.

Ana nearly ran back to her desk and searched through her bag for her bottle of water. She gulped most of the bottle down. Shit, she was probably going to lose her job. Shit shit shit. This is it. You've done it now Ana. Everyone was going to be so mad at her when she tells them why she lost her job. She can imagine it right now. In the background she could hear Mr Grey shouting from his office.

She just had to go and fuck things up. To make things better, everyone who was in that room probably thinks that she is an imbecile. Eh who cares what they think. She wasn't going to be here much longer anyway. She sat at her desk staring out the windows at nothing, in a state of silent panic for god knows how long.

She didn't even hear Andrea come back. "Ana…" Ana snapped out of it and refocused her eyes and looked at Andrea.

"Oh Andrea. I'm going to be fired today. I'm so sorry. I know you entrusted me with this job but me being me I've fucked it up and Mr Grey is never going to want to look at me ever again. I've shamed him in front of his employees and he's just going to yell at me and kick me out of the building. I might as well start packing my belongings. It's been really nice working with you Andrea but- "

"Anastasia. Stop. Take a deep breath. Now sit down and tell me what happened." Andrea demanded.

Ana let out a shuddering breath and told Andrea about what occurred in the conference room. Andrea was silent through the whole speech, but her narrowed eyes showed that her mind was running a mile a minute.

"Wait, hang on. What did you just say? What made you turn so fast?" Andrea's eyes narrowed further. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Someone grabbed my-"Ana was cut off by My Grey's door opening, Both women turned their heads and watched Liz come scrambling out. Liz glowered at Ana and Ana scooted lower in her seat. She rushed past them to the elevators where a men in black lookalike was waiting. Once the elevator doors closed, both of them turned to look at Mr Grey standing in the doorway of his office.

"Miss Steele." He held the door open a bit wider. Ana quickly stood and she felt Andrea give her hand a quick squeeze. She kept her head down as she walked past Grey and into his office. "Take a seat Miss Steele." He gestured to the chairs in front of his desk.

Ana sat down slowly and started fiddling with her hands. When he hadn't spoken, she looked up at him and found that he was just staring at her thoughtfully. Almost calculating. She bit her lip out of nervousness and the pain distracted her from his gaze. They sat in silence for what felt like hours. Him just staring at her and her looking at her hands while not making eye contact with him.

Finally, he broke the silence.

"Why did you do it?" He asked in a surprisingly soft voice.

Ana looked up sharply. "What?" She asked confused. "I didn't do it on purpose Mr Grey-"

"No Anastasia." He held up a hand. She shut her mouth with an audible snap. "I'm asking, why did you cover for Miss Morgan yesterday?" He cocked his head.

Ana blue eyes widened so much she knew she looked like a cartoon character. "How…How did you know about that…?" Ana asked in a breathy voice.

"Andrea told me Miss Steele. And I'm very glad that she did. I just want to know why." He was still talking in a soft tone. Ana really couldn't tell if her was pissed or not.

"Um… She said she would've lost her job and I didn't want that to happen and it seemed like she genuinely just forgot. We're all forgetful sometimes." Ana shrugged.

He raised an eyebrow. "I know you were looking for her all day yesterday and that she purposely gave you the wrong room number. And maybe she did genuinely forget but would you like to know what she was doing when she wasn't writing up that report?" Ana frowned at him.

"My security team found that she spent all day on the 10th floor yesterday. Flirting with all male members of staff. Distracting everyone. Gossiping. She took a 3-hour lunch break. She came back and resumed her flirting. So that's why she 'genuinely' forgot to write up that report Miss Steele. Now, do you think that is acceptable? Would you have taken the fall for her if you knew that?"

"No sir." Ana had no clue where he was going with his. He still hasn't yelled.

He stood up and walked around the desk and perched on the edge of it. "I was watching you in that conference room. I know you just turned around a bit too fast. And she happened to be standing very close to you. I am aware that it was a genuine accident and I know you don't have a malicious bone in your body. What made you turn around like that?"

Ana gulped. "Someone had grabbed me close to my… you know. I got scared."

Christian's jaw clenched. "Do you know who grabbed you?"

"Um no. I got distracted by her screaming and forgot to look." Ana shrugged.

"I will find out who grabbed you Anastasia. It is highly inappropriate for my employees to be…molesting…my… another employee." He went silent and Ana watched him grind his teeth almost. He stood up and started pacing.

After about 5 minutes, he stopped and looked at her. "Anyway. I know Miss Morgan's reaction was not a genuine mistake and there was no reason for her to speak to you, or any other human being for that matter, the way she did. No reason. She put all the malice she could into her little fit. And after that favour you did her, you would have thought she wouldn't have been so derogatory." He sat back on the edge of his desk and crossed his arms. "Her behaviour has been less than stellar, her attitude is awful, her work ethic is non-existent and its clear she only has one agenda working at GEH." He looked at Ana's wide eyes. "She's been fired Miss Steele. There is no place here for someone like her."

Ana's mouth open and closed like a fish. She really didn't know what was going on. "What about me? Am I fired too?"

His brows furrowed. "Why would you be fired?"

"I lied to you? I embarrassed you in that meeting room in front of your employees?" Ana said like it was obvious.

"No Miss Steele you are not fired. I know why you lied, and you meant well. It was a very selfless thing to do and I admire that about you, oddly enough. As for my employees, you didn't embarrass me. I really don't care what they think. I know what really happened and you know what really happened. That's all that matters."

Ana slumped in her seat slightly and stared out the window. "Huh."

"What? Not what you were expecting?" He tilted his head at her trying to catch her eyes.

"No. Definitely not. I came in here expecting to be fired straight away. And I was expecting a verbal lashing with lots and lots of yelling." She said bashfully.

Mr Grey shook his head amusedly and chuckled. "Not today Anastasia." He stood up and walked back to his chair. "Not today."

Just before she walked out of his office, he called out to her. "Oh and Anastasia? No more covering for people."

Ana walked back to her desk in a daze. Andrea smiled at her sheepishly as she approached. Ana just shook her head at her and grinned at her.

I love this woman. She might just be my fairy godmother.