Ana

The first thing I see is Ireland who seems scared and is maybe even crying, but I can't tell since she is hiding her face against Gideon's chest who is holding her in his arms.

Gideon on the other hand is yelling at the two cops who are trying to get a woman in handcuffs to 'finally take that crazy person out of his sister's sight' and when I look at the woman she is pleading with the cops that 'they don't understand what is going on'.

I really have no clue what just happened, so I get out of the car and hurry over to Gideon and Ireland.

"Hey, what is going on?"

"I have no idea, I came home and that crazy woman was harassing Ireland. She kept going on and on about how everything was a huge misunderstanding and that he needed her and was slowly killing himself and she just wouldn't go away or let Ireland go into the building, so I called the cops." Gideon says and I turn around to look at the woman and gasp.

Can it? I mean it's been over two years and I only saw her once, but I am positive that I know who she is.

"Excuse me, please wait a second" I ask the cops who are reading her rights to her and when she looks at me she seems confused and looks over to Ireland and then back at me. Because yes, with her huge sunglasses on and the fact that Ireland and I are almost wearing the exact same outfit she must have mistaken Ireland for me.

"Ma'am please let us do our job." One of the cops says.

"Please, this is just a big misunderstanding. Mrs. Jones came here to see me, she must have mistaken me with my roommate over there." I point to Ireland and the cops both look back and forth between us.

"Well, I can see that this could be what happened. So, you know this woman?"

"Yes, she is the housekeeper of... a friend" Oh joy, now I even lie to cops, but what else was I supposed to say?

"I see, well in that case I think we are no longer needed here." he says and takes the handcuffs off Mrs. Jones, which of course alerts Gideon.

"What the hell is going on here, Ana? Why are the letting her go?"

"Gideon, please I know Mrs. Jones, please can you take Ireland up to your penthouse, so I can talk to Mrs. Jones alone at my apartment. I promise as soon as I have talked to her I'll come up to your place and explain everything to you."

"So, you know her?"

"Yes, and as it seems she came all the way from Seattle to see me, so can you please take Ireland to your apartment and tell her Mrs. Jones didn't mean to scare her, she just thought it was me."

"Fine, I'll see you in a bit" he says and disappears into the building with Ireland, so I turn my attention to Mrs. Jones who is still staring at me slightly confused.

"Are you alright Mrs. Jones? I'm sorry this happened, Ireland and I look very much alike, people mistake us all the time, especially when we are wearing sunglasses."

"I'm sorry Miss Steele, I didn't mean to scare your friend. I just need to talk to you, it is very important."

"Okay, please let's go to my apartment, as you can see there are already reporters here, and I hate to see my picture on the news" I say and she follows me inside and into elevator.

Neither of us says anything until we reach my floor and I let her into my apartment.

"Oh my, the view is stunning, Miss Steele." She gasps and I smile.

"I know, even after living here for over two years I still find myself gazing out of the windows for hours when I have a day off."

"It's beautiful."

"So, I can I offer you something to drink?"

"Yes, please."

"Good, so I am having a glass of wine, do you want to join me or do you want tea, coffee, a water..."

"A glass of wine would be lovely, Miss Steele"

Two minutes later we sit down in my living room and I am actually nervous, I know the only possible reason for her being here is that she wants to talk about Christian. It seems a little odd though, after all I am sure all of his employees have to sign a NDA, too.

"So, how come you are here in New York, Mrs. Jones."

"I needed to see you, Miss Steele. To be honest I am here to ask you to come to Seattle with me. You are the only person who might be able to save Mr. Grey."

She has got to be kidding, after everything that he has put me through she wants me to save him? And save him from what?

"Mrs. Jones, I am sure that I am the last person on earth Christian wants to see."

"He thought you had an affair with your friend, the photographer" she says and I stare at her. What?

"Excuse me, are we talking about Jose Rodriguez?"

"Yes, I believe that is his name. You see Mr. Grey was devastated after you left him. He went to that gallery opening in Vancouver to see you and saw all those pictures of you and then your friend told him that he is your boyfriend."

Oh. My. God. He wanted back... that doesn't excuse what he did, but still he wanted me back...

"Why didn't he came to me, why did he chose to believe Jose over me?" I ask.

"Well, you know how Mr. Grey is, he is a hothead and to him those pictures were all the evidence he needed to charge you guilty. Jason and he had some awful arguments about it."

"Jason?" Who is Jason?

"Taylor, he took your site and defended you, it nearly cost him his job. But in the end Mr. Grey listened and wanted to confront you... only to find you kissing Mr. Rodriguez outside of your apartment."

Suddenly, I feel sick. He thought I was cheating on him or that I had just moved on and all that he did... just because he came to the wrong conclusion?

"I thought it was him... I wanted it to be Christian" I murmur more to myself than to Mrs. Jones and take a large gulp of my wine.

"From that point on Taylor, too was convinced that you were with Mr. Rodriguez. And then of course Mr. Cross came into the mix." she goes on and I frown. What the hell does Gideon have to do with this mess?

"What?"

"Well, as you know Mr. Grey is the owner of SIP, so when you were attack by your former boss, the police informed the managed of SIP and they in turn informed Mr. Grey. Taylor was with him in New York when that happened, Mr. Grey left the meeting he was attending when he got the call and went to the hospital you were admitted to the previous night. But when he wanted to see you, he saw Mr. Cross entering your room."

"Oh for the love of god, this is one gigantic cluster fuck" I mutter I mean seriously how much bad luck or bad timing can one person possibly have?

"Mr. Grey was furious after that to say at least. More so when he discovered that you had moved to New York and were now in a relationship with Mr. Cross."

The moment she says that I get the sip of wine I was taking right that moment down the wrong pipe and start to cough.

"Oh my goodness, are you alright, Miss Steele?"

"Fine" I croak and motion for her to continue.

"Shortly before the wedding of Mr. Grey's brother things changed. You see, it was Mr. Grey who bought those pictures of you through someone he had hired. Mr. Rodriguez wouldn't sell them to him, so he had to find someone to get them for him. The man who did this for him contacted Mr. Grey that the police was asking questions about the pictures of you. And so he found out the truth, you know that Mr. Rodriguez is mentally unstable and took those pictures without your consent or knowledge. After that he cut himself off from his family and started to become even more difficult to be around. The only person who is still allowed to visit him is this vile woman he calls his only friend. It's as if he is punishing himself for making assumptions and what he has done to hurt you." she sighs and I have no idea what to make out of it.

"Why didn't he come here to apologize?"

"Well, Taylor and I can only assume what his reasons are, but Mr. Grey always had this self-loathing inside him, we believe he thinks that he is not worthy of you and that he is not worthy of your forgiveness."

"He could have tried, because believe me after what he did to me he owes me more than just a small apology."

"I know that Miss Steele and so does Jason. I wanted him to come here, but he was afraid after the way he treated you, you wouldn't even listen to him. So, I came here to see you. I wanted to talk to you this morning, but you seemed to be in a hurry, so I waited outside the building for you to return."

"Mrs. Jones, I really appreciate that you came here to tell me what happened, but if Christian wants my forgiveness he should be the one to come here."

She sighs again and looks at me almost pleadingly. "I know that, Miss Steele and I absolutely agree with you, but over the last year, ever since he found out he has changed and not for the better. He stopped seeing Dr. Flynn, his psychiatrist, he cut off his family and at first he would put all of his focus on his work, but now ... on some days he goes into the office for a couple of hours, but mostly he is at home either drinking himself into oblivion or playing the piano for hours on end. He doesn't eat enough, he stopped doing his workouts and it just gets worse every day. Miss Steele, I am here to ask you to come to Seattle with me and talk to him. I know you have moved on with Mr. Cross ...

"What? Oh my god, please don't tell me that he didn't approach me after he found out the truth because he thinks I am with Gideon?"

"Well, we assume that's the reason." she says uncomfortable and I get up to refill my wine glass. I have no idea if I should laugh or cry, this is almost tragic, I mean Christian is a bright guy and he really got everything wrong and worse he didn't talk to me when he was the one who told me over and over that we needed to communicate or our relationship wouldn't work...

I sit back down and this time it's my turn to sigh. "Gideon Cross saved my life, Mrs. Jones. All that I have and the person I have become over the past two years, I owe it all to him. When my former boss wanted to rape me, it was Gideon who stopped him and a little later we discovered that we have a very strong bond, a sibling bond, Mrs. Jones. Gideon Cross is my half-brother."

"He... but we all thought... and the news article?"

"My mother had an affair with her sister's husband. I am the result. She got disowned by her family because of it and was forced to marry an old family friend who was willing to say that he was my father. I had no idea until Gideon saw me the first time and I reminded him of my mother, his aunt. We never made it public because we agree that it would expose my mother to public humiliation and it would make me a target to every sick person that wants a piece of my brother's fortune. There are only very few people who know that we are siblings."

"Good Lord, Miss Steele, please. You have to come to Seattle and talk to Mr. Grey. I am afraid the self-destructive path he has chosen is going to kill me."

"Mrs. Jones, I agree that Christian needs help, but don't you think that you should ask his parents for help?" I just don't know if I can do this, drop everything to go to Seattle. He did this to himself, I had to pick up the pieces after what he did to me, too. So why should I be the one to help him? Though, deep down I know that I won't be able to live with myself if I leave him to his self-loathing.

"Miss Steele, I agree he needs his family around, but what he really needs is you. I believe you are the only person to get through to him."

"I... I don't know if I can do this. I can't just drop everything here and go to Seattle. I have responsibilities and..."

"Just think about it, that is all I am asking. I'll leave now. I have given you a great deal to process. Here, my number and Jason's are on this card. Should you decide to come to Seattle just give us a call. Goodbye Miss Steele, and thank you for giving me some of your time. I know you are a busy person and I am in awe of all the good you are doing."

"Thank you" I watch her get up and leave my apartment, but I just sit there and think about everything she's just told me. Can I do this? Do I want to this?

"Ana?" I look up and see Gideon standing in the living room.

"I was worried, you said you would come up as soon as this woman has left. But I was informed that she left the building almost an hour ago. What is going on?"

I look at him and I know I have to tell him about Christian. Gideon always has the best advise and I desperately need it now.

"Mrs. Jones, the woman you saw earlier, she is the housekeeper of my ex boyfriend."

"The one who treated you like shit?"

"Yes."

"What the hell Ana? Why would you even talk to her?"

"Because she is a nice person and she did nothing to hurt me."

"So, what did she want?"

"She wants me to go to Seattle and talk to him."

"Over my dead body, Ana. I still don't know what he did to you exactly, but I know what a mess you've been when we first met, no way I will let you go to Seattle to see him."

"Gideon, it's complicated."

"Well, enlighten me then." he insists and so for the next hour I explain him how I met Christian and just everything that happened between us, except for the BDSM part and the belt incident.

"Fuck me, Ana who is that guy, I mean I thought your ex was just some average Joe, but if his company is important enough to..."

"It's Christian Grey." I blurt out and for the first time ever my brother seems to be speechless.

He stares at me for a while, then gets up and starts to pace. "Fuck Ana, Christian fucking Grey? Seriously?"

"Yes" I murmur.

"Look, I've only met him a couple of times years ago, but even then he was an arrogant ass. Which actually made me like him, because I know what it's like to go into a meeting with a dozen old farts who think just because you're young you have no idea what you are doing and Grey really knew how to put the fear of god into those fuckers. But lately there are rumors."

"Rumors?"

"That he has lost his edge or to be more specific, he likes to drink a bit too much. Misses meetings, comes in unprepared. So far his COO covers for him, but I know many of the guys he fucked over on his way to the top have heard of it and they are getting prepared."

"Prepared for what?" Maybe I had too much wine, but I don't get his point.

"They want to bring him down Ana, they are ganging up ready to take over Grey Enterprises and shred it to pieces the second he fucks up again. If he keeps his drinking up, a year from now you can visit him living under a bridge, because that's what they want for taking over their companies and selling the pieces to the highest bidder."

Holy fuck! Christian losing GEH ... the company he has worked to build to what it is today so hard... and all because of his self-loathing. If he loses GEH they might as well just kill him.

"Look Ana, you are a big girl now, you've learned how to deal with just about anything that is thrown your way and I know that you can stand up to Grey. This cluster fuck of assumptions and misunderstandings that has led him to start this vendetta against you is not justifying what he did, but if you want my advise... Take a couple of days off, go to Seattle and talk to him. Not for him, but for you. You deserve closure. I have seen you date guys who would have moved heaven and earth to be with you, yet you have chosen this friends with benefits deal with Arnaldo. And I don't believe it's because you just didn't like any of the guys you went out with, but it's because deep down you are still hanging on to Grey. You never had the closure you need to finally move on and as it seems, he needs closure as well. Just think about it, Ireland is going out with friends tonight, so take your time and really think this through. I can have one of my jets ready and waiting for you within an hour." he says hugs me and leaves.

Oh, what am I going to do?