I'm a wino tonight and have already written a good bit of a chapter 3 for this so… I'll probably upload it as well. Thanks!
The girl thanked my mother once she made it to the microphone on the stage. She lowered the stand to fit her petite size and began her speech. She was passionate, that much I could tell. She had a sweet, southern voice. And a delicate mannerism about her. A Georgia peach. That is what Miss Porter had called her.
She spoke of the program as if it were a child of hers. Telling the beginnings with a hopeful tone. She spoke directly to the children, at one point. Calling them each out by name and saying a few words on their behalf. Then, she spoke about the future of the program. Their plans to create a safe and enriching space for these children to thrive. She spoke of how everyone deserves a chance at an education.
If I could actually focus on the words she were saying, and not on making sure I kept my ass upright in this chair, I'm almost sure she'd have me reaching into my pocket pulling out my checkbook like the rest of the room.
What was Elena thinking? What was she playing at? Hiring a submissive to oversee my mother's foundation. Not that I didn't believe people in the lifestyle couldn't hold down successful jobs. I mean, I was doing fine. But why was she just my type, and Elena had decided to give her a job instead of introducing her to me?
I felt bad as soon as I'd thought it. Grace says we have two voices in our heads. Our voice that speaks before it thinks, and our voice that thinks before it speaks. I'm thinking with my thinking voice, instead of thinking with my speaking voice. Perhaps the girl needed a job more than she needed a dom. But I would have taken care of her.
It wasn't uncommon for me to provide for a submissive I was seeing. I'd bought cars, and jewelry, cell phones, and tuition for women in the past. If this girl had needed a financial hand, I surely would have provided that to her. Elena knows this. So why did she deliberately keep her name from crossing paths with me?
She works for my mom, I reminded myself.
But she was only in that position because of Elena. Did Elena know what she was when she hired her? I'm sure, what are the odds that she didn't. She'd seen her scene at the club, that much I was sure of.
Elena frequented "The Box" more than she liked to admit.
I'd always had a sneaking suspicion that she used me as an excuse to go. If she told any of the ladies at the exclusive club's front desk that she was there to scout for Christian Grey, they would let her in in a heartbeat. But I'm sure she was there for her own perverse reasons. Perhaps Elena liked to beat little brunette girls just as much as I did.
If I threw up anymore in my mouth this afternoon, I was going to my doctor to see about my reflux.
"That's my friend! I'm so proud of her!" Mia whisper-screamed into my ear.
My eyes almost fell out of my head at the new layer of the Ana Steele mystery. I turned to Mia, sharply only to receive a "pay attention" look from Carrick.
So, I turned back around.
I might be a shark in the business world, but I'm one of three guppies in the Grey household.
Her friend?! What kind of friends were Mia keeping these days? Friends with a submissive. That was just my type. That my old domme hired to work for my own mother. I always knew my extra curricular activities would catch up to me.
I should have shut it down right then and there. Played the good boy and left The 'Ana' situation alone. But as soon as the beautiful girl left the stage, and the first round of our meal began to reach our tables, I turned on Mia.
"She's your friend? The teacher?" I ask.
Mia smiles a sweet smile and nods her head. "She's my new friend. We've only been out for lunch a few times, and once to get our nails done. She works a lot, so we haven't spent a lot of time together yet, but she's very responsible in that way, you know. We've become fast friends, she's nothing like those girls I used to waste my time on." Mia's cheeks got red, and she found a sudden interest in staring at her plate instead of up at me.
Mia had always been a popular girl. But her friends growing up were less than encouraging. They were catty, they cut each other down in public ways, and I had a sneaking suspicion her once best friend, Lily Washington, was the main cause for Mia's body issues. They'd all had a falling out with Mia not too long ago, and it was heartbreaking to see my otherwise outgoing baby sister chose instead to stay at home on the weekends and spend her free time in isolation.
"Well that's wonderful, Mebo. That's the kind of friend you should have. She sounds very mature." I say, hoping it encourages Mia's smile to come back to her lovely face.
"Ana said she used to come to Seattle for the summers when she was younger. Her dad lives here, and so she'd come to visit. We've agreed that we are just shocked it's taken us this long to cross paths."
I peered up at Elena once more. She was taking in every word Mia was saying, and squirming in her seat while doing so.
"Is that so?" I ask, hoping to encourage Mia to speak about her new friend, but also hoping it causes Elena to choke on her rack of lamb. "When did you meet?"
"Oh, I believe it was sometime early spring, wasn't it Elena?" Mia asks. Elena nods her head with a tight smile, and a look of constipation on her face. "Mom and I had gone to Elena's for brunch, and Ana was there going over some paperwork with Linc." If Elena was constipated before, she had shat her pants at this point. "She stayed and had brunch with us, and the rest was history! We all got along so well. It wasn't two weeks later, and she was working with mom."
Eric Lincoln was Elena's ex husband. After a nasty divorce that resulted in assault charges on both ends, Elena should have wiped her hands of him. But they still did business together, and he still lurked around her home, and if I was a betting man i'd bet they still slept together.
What was Mia's friend, the little submissive schoolteacher doing at Elena's house speaking to Linc?
In just one short afternoon, Ana Steele has become the forefront of my curiosity. As dad changed the subject to quiz Elliot about a downtown building he was renovating, I decided three things.
First, that I was getting out of this hellscape fundraising event without another word to Elena Lincoln. Second, that I was going to do a bit of digging around on Ana Steele. And third, I was going to call Sarah Porter the second I made it through the doors of Escala.
By the time I was stepping off the elevator, Taylor had done what he does best and handed me Miss Porter's cell phone number on a post-it note.
I was walking through the foyer, taking my shoes off with the phone already ringing to my ear.
"Hello?" Miss Porter answered.
"Sarah? This is Christian Grey." I paused waiting for a response. When I received none I continued, "first, let me apologize for the way I've spoken to you today. I had been having a stressful workday, and with no other excuse I would like to tell you that I should have treated you with more respect." A little buttering up never hurt anyone.
"Oh, well. That's fine. I honestly didn't expect you to act any other way." Sarah Porter responded. She seemed genuine, but I felt as if I had been backhanded somehow.
"Yes well, I have been thinking. And I really would like to meet with your friend you mentioned. If possible, would you be able to tell me her schedule for tomorrow, and I'll see what I can work out."
Sarah huffed, exasperatedly. "Mr. Grey. I'm sorry to say this but I believe I might have jumped the gun with calling you today. See, I spoke to Ana about you and come to find out… she's not interested."
"Not interested?" I'm not shocked. If she made the connection between Grace and I and had any sense in her head at all… she ought to be not interested.
"Yes. Not interested. I didn't mention that you and I had had an arrangement, I knew that was confidential. But I did tell her I knew of you, and you were trustworthy. I really talked you up you know. But as soon as I told her the process, she bowed out."
"The process?" I ask. The process of what?
"Yes. I told her that Elena picks your girls, and if she was interested, she should get in contact with her. I don't think she'd mind if I told you, she said it in front of the whole group we were taking in. But she said Elena hated her, and she'd rather not stick her toe in that water."
What? This just continues to get more confusing as I investigate it. This is honestly the most thought I've given to anything outside of business in years. Who was Ana Steele for me to even know if she'd be worth all this trouble? Yet, I kept talking.
"Miss Porter, can I trust this conversation will stay between the two of us?" I asked before I began to speak of 'what I know'. I felt like Mia, gossiping to her friends over the phone. After Sarah confirmed her confidentiality. I gave caution to the wind and began speaking.
"I spoke to Elena today about Miss Steele. I was a bit irritated that you had mentioned that Elena had watched a scene of Ana's and never brought it up to me. She gets into The Box under my name. If she's down there under personal business, I don't want my name attached to that."
"Sure," Sarah replied. "Well I can tell you she's there often. She comes in with the recruiters, or she'll come to meet Carrie to see about specific subs. Sometimes they're women. Sometimes they're not. She brings that man she's seeing, quite often. I can't think of his name to save my life."
"Isaac?" I ask.
"I guess? I've never spoken to him. They don't mingle. We've all just assumed they were looking for a third. He really put Ana through her paces when she scened with them. I mean, I didn't see it. It was closed to sponsors and recruiting audience only, but I know Ana didn't come back to the club for weeks after, so we all figured she got her ass handed to her."
"She scened with Isaac?!" Isaac is Elena's sub. None of this made any sense.
"Yes, I guess. He was the only one that went in the showroom with her. Listen, Mr. Grey I'm really not trying to get Ana in any kind of trouble by talking to you about all this…"
"No, I can assure you this is not going to get Ana in any trouble. I'm more concerned with Elena at the moment." While Sarah's lips were still loose, I pushed for more information. If Ana scened for Elena specifically, what makes her believe she hates her? And why didn't Elena bring any of this up at the benefit?
I decided to continue to share, feeling a bit like a conspirator, "Elena told me that Ana runs in the same circle as she does. She said herself, as well as a few other mutual friends had close relations with Ana outside of the community, and that was her reasoning for why she hadn't brought her up to me. She did, however, make it seem like she also had been steering clear of Ana. I can assume that isn't so?"
"Well," Miss Porter backtracked. "Honestly other than the one time, she really hasn't been around Ana. They are hardly ever there at the same time. It's like they know the other one is going to show up. Really, I can count on both hands the amount of times Ana has come to the club. We've become friends outside of the lifestyle, that's really why I felt comfortable enough to approach you about her. The scene she did? That seemed like a one-time thing just to get her name out, Mr. Grey. Like I said, it was a closed scene."
"Well. I won't bother you anymore Sarah, but I will leave you with this… if in the future when you run across Elena Lincoln at the club. Know for certain she is not there under assignment for me."
Sarah laughed and gave her salutations. I made one more quick phone call to see about getting a background check done on Miss Steele, and then I poured a stiff drink and went to bed.