Note of Importance: Ana is OOC for sure. I've kept the rest of the characters pretty cannon. Let me know what you think of this, and I'll pursue it to its end if enough people are interested. I don't have a lot of experience with AU/OOC style writing. This is riddled with mistakes, I'm almost sure. sorry, kind of.
Today had been one thing after another. If it wasn't the gross incompetence of my top tier staff, it was my dear mother calling and asking for just "one more favor". She and Elena had gotten it in their heads sometime last year to start a nonprofit benefiting mentally disabled children. Surprisingly, it was Elena's idea. And while the idea of including an angel like Grace was a fitting project, the organization had become overwhelmingly taxing for her.
The last I had heard; Elena had finally hired a woman who had taken control of the one-on-one contact with the children being benefited and left the pomp and circumstance to my mother's big name. Which in Seattle is a smart move, but now it meant that Grace would need her son to use that big name to promote the pomp and circumstance.
Grace had called for the third time now, adding a name to the list of socialites who had yet to RSVP to the benefit at Bellevue, tonight. She needed someone within Grey house to make the call on behalf of the family, asking for their attendance. I would rather just cut her a check than have Andrea waste half her day calling around for exposure, but I knew better than to say that out loud. So like the good son I am, I took the names and passed them onto my assistant.
"I will get right on that sir. However, I do still have line one on hold for you. A Miss Sarah Porter, calling about in regard to a personal call she's returning. She said you would know what she was talking about."
"How did she get my direct line?" I ask, upset to even be dealing with this today.
"I… am not sure, Mr. Grey. Would you like me to ask her?" Andrea sounds scared. Which she isn't often. "No. Put her through."
Sarah Porter was a name I had not thought of in about eight months. She was before Leila. Before Susannah as well. She was one of my shortest contracted submissives. Sarah was a beautiful girl. Very flexible… physically. In most other ways she was ridged. We gave each other the agreed-upon three months to work out our kinks but by the end of our time together, it was a laughingly mutual decision that we would not continue seeing each other. Things ended well, better than well really. Which was why I was more than shocked to hear her voice come over my receiver.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Grey!" Sarah said enthusiastically.
"Good afternoon, Miss Porter. Far be it for me to start this conversation off on the wrong foot, but I do not appreciate you calling what is normally a private work number to come into contact with me over what I'm sure is very personal."
"Well, I apologize, Mr. Grey. Elena gave me this number herself when I asked her to get up with you for me."
Elena and I were not on great terms right now. She was pouting. One of her salons had been given an incredibly low inspection score for the month, and she assumed our friendship would keep her out of the professional fire with me. Giving someone I contracted out as a submissive my personal work number was a bit below the belt, but Elena always liked to keep me on my toes.
"I would appreciate it if you lost this number, and refrained from speaking my name to Elena. Or anyone for that matter." I said, angrily.
"Woah. I really wasn't meaning to cause any trouble. I knew you and Elena were kind of a package deal. I didn't mention anything to her except that I had been trying to get in contact with you. She just offered me your number, and that was it."
There was no sense in sitting here and arguing with this woman over why Elana and I were in fact, not a package deal.
"I would assume you are not calling in regard to the resurrection of anything between the two of us, as you know that is not an opportunity for you."
It was specifically stated within the submissive's contract that once terminated, there was to be no contact whatsoever.
"Oh, no! I'd… rather die." She said sheepishly. The feeling was mutual. "I actually had a friend I wanted you to meet."
She had a friend she wanted me to meet? Are you kidding me? What are we, buddies? Before I could decide just exactly what play pretend world Miss Porter was collect-calling from, she continued.
"Her name is Ana Steele. One of Carrie Klein's girls brought her to the club a couple of months ago. She moved here from Savannah for a job, I don't know… she's a schoolteacher or something. A Georgia peach is what she is. She's already done a scene for a few of the recruiters. I was surprised when Elena didn't snag her up, she's just your type."
"I'm not looking for anyone currently, Miss Porter." I said, trying to reign in my want to tell her exactly where she could take her reference.
"Ok well, I'd regret it if I didn't put a good word in for her. She's a sweetheart, and she's very private. I know that's the first thing you look for. She's been getting a lot of attention in the community. It's only a matter of time before someone catches her eye. I think you'd be good for her. Or really, I think she would be good for you."
"Well, I can't say I appreciate the sentiment," I said harshly. "Don't call this number again, Miss Porter."
Sarah Porter huffed loudly into the receiver. "Yes, sir." She said in a condescending tone, followed by the dial tone.
If I wasn't already dreading tonight, this would have put me over the edge. Not only did I now have to sit through hours of charitable schmoozing with my family, and related socialites, I now also had to find the time to pull Elena aside and ream her out for giving my office phone number out to short-term submissives.
Pulling up to Bellevue, I swung open the front door and debated going straight up to my childhood bedroom and hiding.
"There he is! Light of my life!" mother was tipsy.
She and Mary Ann Collins, a geriatric millionaire made their way across the foyer, drinks in hand. I took the half-full drink from Grace's hand and shot it back before leaning down to kiss her on the cheek.
"The party can start now, all my favorite people are here." Mom said, sweetly as she cupped my cheek.
Mary Ann stuck her chin out and tilted her face as if she were waiting for me to greet her with a kiss, but instead, I vomited slightly in my mouth and made my way out into the backyard with the excuse of "seeing what they'd been working so hard on."
The yard was decorated to the nines. I'd expect nothing less from Grace Grey. The large willow trees were filled with tinkering lights, and a tent the size of a basketball court was set up yards away near the water. Under the light of the trees, there were old fashioned games set up. A vintage cornhole box, a horseshoe set, and even an area blocked off to play badminton. It was a scene out of a nursery rhyme. And immediately took me back to my childhood.
However, it could have been my brother's loud booming voice, that had triggered this moment of nostalgia. Elliot was tossing a boomerang out into the sound, with as much force as a fastpitch baseball player. He was surrounded by children.
No, not just children.
Mentally challenged children.
While I am by no means an ableist, I have had little to no exposure to any child… let alone children with mental disabilities. The children appeared to be having a wonderful time. They were screaming and laughing right along with my oaf of a brother, but what made me most uncomfortable is their lack of personal space. They were hugging and hanging all over Elliot any time he turned around from a toss of the boomerang. He was loving it, it seemed. But the idea of one of them approaching me, and putting their hands on me without realizing the effect it would have had me swiftly walking in the opposite direction.
And unfortunately walking directly into Elena.
"Well hello, stranger." She said with a hint of irritation in her voice.
"Not tonight Elena. I don't talk business at my parent's home, you know that. What I do want to talk about is what universe you landed in when you decided it was alright to give Sarah Porter my office number."
Elena chuckled to herself and shifted her weight to her other foot to keep from her heel sinking too far into the grass.
"She's a smart girl. I knew she wouldn't do you any real harm. I just wanted to tease you a bit," she said flirtatiously. "what did she end up wanting? Mr. Grey to take her back in the playroom, and show her a good time?"
I looked around at the crowded yard. Once I was convinced no one was listening I leaned into Elena's ear.
"No, actually. She had a "friend" she wanted me to meet."
I knew she'd get a laugh out of that one.
"A friend? How delightful. Miss Porter the matchmaker. If she was so concerned with finding you a submissive, why didn't she get it together eight months ago? Or for that matter, if she had found a 'friend' for you, why didn't she approach me with the subject?"
There were so many things in Elena's response that irked my nerves. How does she have such a good memory of the timeline of my submissives to rattle off the time frame Sarah Porter and I were involved? And why does she just assume that all prospective submissives must go through her? Perhaps this was why we were suddenly being referred to as the 'package deal'. For the second time tonight, I vomit a little in my mouth.
I decided to play with her ego a bit.
"Who knows Elena. She really did just cut you out of it, it seemed. She even mentioned when she asked you for my number, she deliberately omitted the reason."
Elena was staring off into the sound, grinding her jaw and nodding her head, so I continued.
"But anyway, I thought I'd catch you up. I'm supposed to be meeting with the woman next week sometime."
Elena's eyes got as big as saucers. She was offended, that much I could tell.
"you're meet- you're meeting with the woman? You're actually going to meet her? Have you gone ill?" she asked, reaching up as if she were going to put her hand on my forehead.
I leaned back, away from her touch.
"She described her to me." I shrugged, " Says one of Klein's girls brought her in, they met at the club to scene. She says she's a sweet girl, from out of town. Very discrete. Just my type. She even went as far as to say she thought she'd be good for me."
I shrugged innocently.
"Met at the club, you say? I've never missed a girl Carrie's brought in, I just spoke to her the other day. You really think if a girl that was 'just your type' was parading around down at the club that I wouldn't have already brought this up to you?"
"Well I'd hoped you would, as my friend, you know. But Miss Porter said you knew of her and didn't make any move to recruit."
Elena laughed pompously. "Who is this girl? I've not sat in on a scene in months!"
"Ana Steele."
If a heart could fall out of one's ass, judging by the look on Elena's face right now… her's would be laying on my parent's lawn.
So, she did keep the existence of this girl from me. I had felt crazy for half the afternoon, in my conspiration.
"It doesn't ring a bell?" I ask, innocently.
"Your mother does business with Anastasia. That's the only reason I withheld anything from you."
Oh. I suppose that is a good enough reason. However, I was not going to lose this petty argument, now.
"My mother does business with you. What, may I ask you is the difference?"
Elena was silent.
"I allowed you to chose submissives for me under the pretense that it would save me time. I gave you a physical description, and my list of hard and soft limits, and allowed you to choose prospective submissives for me. Not cherry-pick whom you would like for me to be with. You, adding your personal preference for who I fuck is why girls like Leila Williams unfortunately make the cut. We are not a package deal, Elena."
I walk off from her before she can plea her case. I know I've blown this out of proportion, but Sarah's comments about Elena and I have really thrown me off. And judging by the look on Elena's face at the mention of Miss Steele's name, she's cut the girl out of the running based on more than some girlish social connection to my mom.
As we all make our way to our dinner seats, mom walks up to the stage to make her opening announcements.
The amount of respect in this room for Grace Grey is astounding. All eyes have fallen upon my beautiful mother, as she begins her speech.
Mia reaches over to grasp my hand, always such a sentimental girl.
"On behalf of everyone at Hope for Voices Foundation, I would like to thank you all for being here tonight. Over the last eleven months, we have been able to do incredible things within the special needs community. This is an organization so near and dear to my heart, and I consider each and every child within our now, three different programs to be a child after my own heart.
We have a lot of very special people to thank for our first year of business. I would like to thank my partner in crime, and partner in love, Elena Lincoln for pouring her heart into the program right alongside me."
If I could roll my eyes harder, they would fall out of my head. Elena doesn't give a shit about these children. She's a bored divorcee with only one friend left in upper class Seattle. She'd do anything for Grace to sing her praises.
"I want to thank these nine very special children we have here with us tonight. Guys stand up!" Mom gestures to the table of children directly in the front. A petite brunette girl stands and walks around the table urging the children to follow suit. She has on a beautiful cream-colored dress, that meets her figure until the waist, and then flairs out into a tulle skirt stopping right above her knee. It gives her a younger look, or perhaps she's just young. I try to crane my neck to get a better look at her, but the children get in the way.
As I divert my attention back to our table, I can feel Elena's eyes on me.
"These children are in our premier class at Seattle Precision Institute, and they have worked hard all year building our social media platforms and bringing awareness to our wonderful program! Thank you, sweet babies." Mom begins clapping her hands and the room follows suit.
"And finally, I would be remiss if I did not thank our star player. This wonderful girl came to us only six months ago, and she took what for a moment there we believed to be a failing school system and single-handedly turned it on it's head for these children. We jokingly call her our prized fighter, I am so honored to introduce our first speaker of the night, Miss Anastasia Steele."
I can hear clapping. I swear I can. Only it sounds distant and disassociated. I watch the petite brunette in the beautiful dress make her way to the center of the stage and have half a mind to check under my chair for not only Elena's heart but mine as well.
I slowly turn my attention across the table to Elena. She's trying very hard to keep her eyes on the stage, but I know she can feel the daggers I am shooting into her.
Tonight just got so much more interesting.