Chapter 6

Anastasia had stayed late one evening to finish arranging the documents for Mr Grey's meeting with the execs tomorrow. Andrea had left earlier as she had promised to go see her niece's school play. She'd been hesitant and didn't want to leave all the work to Ana, but Ana had just waved her off saying that her niece was counting on her and she really didn't mind doing this since she had no other plans. Kate was with Elliot more than she was at home, so Ana really had nothing to go home to.

The conference rooms were currently being cleaned since it was long after the end of the day. Ana needed a big space to spread out all these documents to arrange them, so she decided to move to the waiting area floor. She had moved the glass coffee table to the edge of her little square space she had arranged.

She thanked her past self for not wearing heels today and sticking to flat black boots instead. She spread out and got to work. Just because she was willing to stay, didn't mean she wanted to be here past 8pm. As far as she knew, she was the only one on the floor apart from the cleaners and when they left, she would be alone, and that was kind of a scary thought.


Christian had been stuck in his office all afternoon trying to figure out a way to save a company that had been subjected to very bad management. He might have been known to be ruthless, but he didn't want over 500 people to lose their jobs for the wrongdoings of 5 people.

He ran a hand through his hair and heaved a sigh. He decided to leave everything as is and call it a day. He could bring it up in his meeting tomorrow and see if his staff had any ideas.

Christian texted Taylor that he was on his way down and put on his suit jacket.

The lights on the floor were still on. He figured the cleaners were still here.

His attention was focused on his phone as he walked to the elevators when he heard a shuffling sound and what sounded like a female humming. What the…? Christian furrowed his brow and looked towards the waiting area where he saw one black boot peeking out near the sofa. He quietly crept up to the waiting area and nearly laughed at what he saw.

The floor had documents scattered all over and the coffee table had been moved to the edge. Anastasia had crawled under the table and was reaching for something. Christian cleared his throat and Anastasia's head hit the top of the table with a mighty bang. Damn bad timing.

"Ouch…shit." She retreated on her hands and knees whilst clutching her head. Christian had to smirk at her choice of words. She turned around and once she spotted him, she gasped, and her pretty blue eyes widened. Christian really tried not to laugh or smirk at her demise but he felt the corners of his mouth turn up. "Mr…Grey! What..are…uh..you..doing…here?" She stuttered as she scrambled to get up

"I own this place Anastasia." He deadpanned. He smiled at her softly to let her know he was kidding when he saw her face rapidly turning pink. "Are you hurt? Your head hit the table quite hard. I really didn't mean to scare you Anastasia, I'm sorry."

Ana started shaking her hand at him. "No Mr Grey, really its fine, don't apologise. I thought I was the only one here. This is a pretty regular occurrence for me, and I didn't hit it that hard. I'm completely fine." She smiled at him to further her point. Her hands were flying all about the place as she spoke, and Christian found it endearing. He really was baffled at all these thoughts he had about her.

"What are you doing here so late and, on the floor, no less?" He asked, walking around the couch.

"I needed to get the documents for your meeting tomorrow morning ready. The photocopier was being temperamental earlier, and we didn't have the documents ready to sort. I offered to do it and sent Andrea home." Ana looked down at the documents. "There was a 6-year-old girl counting on her." She looked up at him with a small smile. At his raised brow, she clarified that it was Andrea's niece.

Christian was blown away by her selflessness. He wasn't sure he knew anyone else who would have done what she did. In the business world, it was every man for themselves and people rarely gave a shit about others.

"Anastasia, you really didn't have to. I admire the fact that you did but I'm sure you and Andrea could have completed this in the morning. Or I could've pushed back the meeting." Whilst Christian knew that a lot of his employees stayed after hours to finish up work and he was grateful for that; he didn't want Anastasia to sacrifice her life outside of work. She had already done so much more than he or Andrea have ever asked.

"It's okay sir. My roommate has been staying at her boyfriends a lot so it's just an empty apartment waiting for me. And I'm almost done so…" She trailed off. She was aware of how pathetic she sounded.

Christian looked at his watch. It was nearly 7pm. "Well Anastasia. Tell me what to do. I can help."

"Oh. Mr Grey that's really not necessary. I can finish this by myself in no time. I'm sure you have other commitments to attend to."

He sat down on one of the couches. "Like you said yourself, there is nothing waiting for me at home so come on, two pairs of hands are better than one." He said earnestly.

Ana started to frown but then caught herself. What about that women from the magazine? Another Susannah maybe? "If you insist." She said warily. She explained to him her process and handed him a bunch of papers. They worked in silence for a few minutes, both concentrating on their tasks. Ana sat on the floor leaning against one sofa while Christian sat across from her on the other. Christian slyly glanced at her and saw that she had a small frown on her face from concentrating so hard.

"So, Anastasia tell- "Christian abruptly stopped talking when he heard the elevator ding. Ana looked at him with wide eyes. Who was that? Neither knew who it could be this late. The cleaning staff had come and gone. Christian slid off the couch and sat on the floor in a bid to hide himself.

Ana nearly jumped a foot in the air when Taylor's heavy footsteps thundered as he passed by them without a glance.

"Fuck. I forgot to text him that I'm not coming down." They heard Taylor shouting 'Mr Grey' from Grey's office.

"Taylor! I'm here." Grey shouted. Taylor ran back down the hallway and with frantic eyes as he took in the scene. Anastasia and Grey were both sat on the floor surrounded by paper.

"Mr Grey. Are you okay? I thought something had happened since you didn't show up after your text 10 minutes ago." Taylor's deep voice rumbled.

"My mistake Taylor. I saw Anastasia here and thought I'd stay and help her. I'm sorry I forgot to text you." Christian looked genuinely apologetic for nearly giving Taylor a heart attack.

"It's my job to be worried about you sir." Taylor gave a small smile. "I'll be downstairs for when you are ready to leave." He turned around but then looked at Ana.

"That cinnamon bun was out of this world Miss Steele. Best I've ever had." Taylor smiled at her and then left swiftly.

Ana was confused for a moment. She looked at Mr Grey and he had a sheepish look on his face. "You gave him one?"

"Yes. As much I would have liked to have both of them, I decided to be nice."

Ana just chuckled in response.

"So, Anastasia what made you decide to work here? Business doesn't seem like your thing. Don't get me wrong you are great at all this but I can tell this isn't your passion." Christian asked.

"I don't think business is my thing either. I actually want to go into publishing and become an editor one day. Getting paid to read all day, everyday? It's my dream. But that industry is really hard to get into as a college graduate. Even just for an internship. They want people with experience and from what I'd been told, there was no chance of me getting a job there." She sounded resigned. "I actually applied here because I thought I'd learn some basic things since I had no previous experience and that would help me get a foot in the door in publishing maybe." Ana looked at him with an impish grin. "I never expected to be working for the CEO himself though, but so far it's been a blast."

Christian returned her smile. "Are you happy with how it's going?"

"Yeah of course. It's exceeded all my expectations and I'm so grateful to be in the position I am today. "

"But it's not what you want to do with your life." He stated rather than asked.

Ana shook her head. "No. Honestly Mr Grey, I don't know what I'm doing or where I'm going. Getting rejected from all those publishing firms has kind of crushed my confidence. Who knows. Maybe I might even decide to stick to business and then build my own publishing company. My friend Lily is always telling me that I'm going to be the CEO of my own company one day." Ana smiled as she thought of Lily.

"I think that would be wise. You know what they say. If you can't join them, beat 'em." Christian grinned at Ana. She chuckled in return. "You know if you are interested in business, I'd be willing to teach you." At Ana's incredulous look, he continued. "Yeah. You can start by sitting in meetings and interviews. I can teach you everything you need to know."

"Thanks Mr Grey. It's nice of you to offer but not right now. I just need to think about it for a while. This would be so much easier if I wanted to teach. I've even been considering applying for jobs at newspapers or magazines. Maybe I could write for them. At least then I'll be in that world you know." She looked up from her papers. "What do you think I should do?"

Christian looked thoughtful for a minute. "I think, Anastasia, that you are capable of extraordinary things. If publishing is your dream, then keep at it, because it will happen. Don't give up on it. No matter how many times they say 'no'. Don't settle for anything less." He said passionately. "As long as in ten years' time you can say that you chose your life, and you didn't settle for it, then that would be a win in my book."

Ana was mesmerised by the look in his eyes. They were so open and showing so much conviction. They stared in each other's eyes for a moment, the work momentarily forgotten.

Christian shook himself out of it first and picked up a piece of paper. "As much as I like having you work here Anastasia, I don't want you to be sacrificing your dream for it. I'd say don't go work at a tabloid company or something like that. It's not what you want so you would be wasting your time. You should start to build connections. Network. Come to the GEH balls and other events. You can speak to people and get your name out there."

"Am I even allowed to go to those? I mean I'm just an assistant."

"Yes. I can get you on the guest list or you can even come with me to some of the events." He said casually. He didn't register Ana's shocked face. "The whole point of this programme for college graduates was so that they can get a head start and give them a chance. When I was younger, I was just waiting for someone to give me a chance, before my dad finally put his faith in me." He gazed at her again. "if I can help you achieve your dream, then that counts as a success in my book." He smiled.

"Thank you, Mr Grey. I needed to hear an outside perspective." Ana thought for a moment. "I won't be applying for tabloids or anything. Don't worry. I've never wanted to write anyway. I'll take your advice."

"You can call me Christian when its just us. And just let me know what events you are interested in and I will get you there."

"Don't you have dates or a girlfriend that you need to take to events?" Ana blurted without thinking. She blushed furiously. "I mean I'm just saying won't it be odd if I went with you?"

Christian smiled at her ruefully. "No Anastasia, I don't have a girlfriend. And it's embarrassing to say but my mom actually makes me take a date to these events, but I've never been romantically interested in any them. If I had my way, I'd go solo."

"Oh." Ana thought about that magazine cover for a fleeting moment.

"What about you? Are you involved with anyone? Mr Rodriguez?" He asked nonchalantly.

"Uh no. No one special in my life. Jose's just a friend." Ana couldn't look at him as she answered him. Who knows why.

They went on to talk about their families and their interests outside of work and a few things in between. They had gotten to know quite a bit about each other in that small amount of time. Christian couldn't remember the last time he'd laughed this much and enjoyed the company of someone that wasn't family. Ana felt like she was seeing him in a more normal light. He wasn't some fancy CEO of one of the biggest companies on this planet. He was a regular guy; with possibly the corniest jokes she's ever heard.

Ana clipped the last wad of papers and threw it on the completed pile with a flourish. She slumped against the couch. "Thank god! I'm exhausted. And I have so many paper cuts, I might bleed out soon."

"Occupational hazard. Though your head hitting the table wouldn't be classed as one." Christian chuckled at her. He had taken off his suit jacket and loosened his tie. There was a 5 o'clock shadow on his face and he looked so relaxed and just so good like this. It made her feel some type of way. Her stomach started fluttering.

Little did she know that Christian was feeling the same somewhat confusing thoughts as her. Half of Ana's hair had escaped her ponytail and she'd taken her shoes off earlier, so her legs were folded beneath her. She looked worn out, but still managed to look much more enticing than all those typical model type beauties that he was forced to take on dates. There was something about her looking so tired and rumpled that was so inviting. This was Anastasia. Stop it. He shook himself out of his stupor and got to his feet. He grabbed the pile of clipped and collated documents and deposited them on Anastasia's desk before coming to stand in front of her. Ana just peeked up at him through weary eyes. He took his phone out, typing something on it very quick before pocketing it.

He extended a handout to Anastasia. "Come on. You look like you're going to pass out on me any minute. Let's go." He said. Ana grabbed his hand. Both of them felt a shock but ironically, they both thought they'd collected static from sitting on the rug. Christian pulled her up and she put her shoes back on while Christian put on his jacket. While Ana was tidying up her hair, he put the coffee table back in its place.

They took the elevator down whilst talking about their plans for the rest of the evening. The lobby was deserted when they arrived. "Did you drive in Anastasia?"

"Yes. My car's in the staff car park." That was underground and Christian didn't feel comfortable with her going down there by herself this late.

"I'll walk you to your car." He stated. As she made a sound of protest, he held his hand up. "I don't want you down there by yourself. I'd feel better seeing you safely in your car."

Christian signalled to Taylor who was standing at the entrance to wait a few minutes. They both started walking in comfortable silence while secretly glancing at each other. Both hyperaware of the other.

"Thank you for your help Mr Grey. With the documents and the advice. I really do appreciate it all. It was nice talking to someone about it." Ana said sincerely.

"Anastasia, you thank me too much. I say no problem to you too way many times." He chided. "Anyway, it's nice giving career advice to someone. I think that was the first time I've done that." He also found that he really liked talking to her in general, but he wasn't about to tell her that. "It was possibly the most interesting evening I've had in a while."

"Well, this is me." She said pointing to a white civic. She opened the door while Christian stood just off to the side. "Have a good night Mr Grey."

"Likewise, Anastasia. I'll see you tomorrow." He smiled crookedly at her. His eyes were once again piercing, even through the window.

Ana waved at him as she reversed out of her spot. The way he was staring at her was making her heart race. She let out a deep breath as she drove out. She glanced in her rear-view mirror and saw that he was just stood there with his hands in his pockets, watching her drive off.

Why did it get so intense all of a sudden?

Christian was bewildered at all these thoughts. He had never thought about anyone like the way he thought about Anastasia. There hasn't been a single quality about her that he didn't like. That was a rare occurrence. Everyone managed to annoy him in some way, shape or form at one time or another. He really enjoyed her company and their conversations. They talked about insignificant things, but they meant so much.

Who was this girl and why was she starting to have such a large effect on him? He needed to sort his thoughts out ASAP.