Ana

Who am I kidding? I knew it would come to this, the moment Mrs. Jones told me what happened I knew I wouldn't be able to move on with my life knowing that the man I once loved is ruining his life because of what happened. It's my nature, I'm a fixer, if I see someone who is a bad place or hear about it, I want to help. And so I tried for a couple of hours to remind myself how poorly Christian treated me and that he needs to come out of his funk by himself, but it was to no help.

And now I am here in the lobby of Escala, dialing the number of Mrs. Jones on my phone. I wanted to ask her if she wanted to go back to Seattle with me, but Gideon's security found out that she went straight to the airport after visiting me.

"Gail Jones"

"Hello Mrs. Jones. It's Ana Steele."

"Miss Steele, it's so good to hear from you, have you thought about coming to Seattle?"

"Actually, I'm in the lobby."

"Lobby?"

"Here at Escala, can you give me the elevator code so I can come up?"

"Oh my goodness, oh that is wonderful Miss Steele. The code is 0910" she says and I frown.

"Did Christian pick the code, Mrs. Jones."

"I believe so, why?"

"September 10th is my birthday. Anyway see you in about 2 minutes" I hang up get into the elevator and type the code in.

As the elevator makes his way up to the penthouse I start to get this really sick feeling in my stomach. It's not so much that I am scared to see Christian again or of all the memories this place holds for me. I am afraid to see the state Christian is in. It must be really bad if Mrs. Jones felt the need to reach out to me. But then again if he doesn't even care that GEH is going down how could he possible be in a good place?

Gideon told me to tell Christian that he is willing to come to Seattle and see what he can do to help with GEH, but I am not sure Christian will be willing to accept his help. At least it is not like they are business rivals; Gideon has made his fortune with hotels, casinos and night clubs, while Christian's company is all about modern technologies.

When the doors of the elevator open I see Taylor and Mrs. Jones. While she is giving me a warm and thankful smile, Taylor avoids to even look at me.

"What's the matter Taylor, feeling guilty?" I ask. I know this is not the time to give him grief about his behavior, but I just can't help it. I really liked him and it hurts how he treated me.

"Miss Steele, I want to apologize, I..."

"Taylor, let's settle this some other time, where is Christian?"

"Still in bed."

What? I check my watch to make sure I am not confused because of the different time zones, but sure enough it really is after eleven in the morning.

"Okay, I will check on sleeping beauty in a couple of minutes, first let's get rid of the alcohol he has here, shall we?" I ask and Mrs. Jones and Taylor nod.

I am not sure if Christian is going to kick me out the moment he sees me, but at least I can make sure he can't get drunk again right away. But what I find is shocking. He has a cabinet full of brandy, whisky and other liquor in his study, then there is a bar in the great room and two fridges full of wine in the pantry.

"Okay, the wine is too expensive to just pour it down the drain, Taylor can you pack all the wine into boxes and have it delivered to his parents house and maybe the old whisky too?"

"Certainly, Miss Steele."

"Perfect, it has to be gone before he wakes up" I roll the sleeves of my shirt up and start to empty all the bottles from the bar and his study in the sink. Christ, even the smell makes me sick. I mean I like a glass of wine in the evening and if I go out with my friends I have some cocktails and shots too, but Christian has enough alcohol in this place to kill himself without having to go out to get more.

After almost an hour we finally have made sure that there is no more alcohol in the penthouse and Taylor send someone to bring the wine to Bellevue. I called Grace and she was crying, she was so relieved that I came to Seattle to help Christian getting better.

I hope I can live up to her hopes, because in five days I have to be back in New York for the annual Crossroads Foundation Gala and there is just no way that I can miss it.

"I am going to see Christian now" I let them know and walk towards his bedroom. Okay, I can do this!

I open the door and the room is completely dark, so I open the blinds first and open the balcony door to let some fresh air in. Christian is sprawled across the bed and if it wasn't for the fact that I can see the rise and fall of his chest I would worry that he might be dead, because his skin has this very unhealthy almost gray undertone to it.

"Rise and shine, sleepy head, it's time to get up" I say loudly, but the only reaction I get from him is a grown.

"Come on, get up it's the middle of the day Christian!" When he doesn't react to that either I grab the comforter and pull it off him.

"Get the fuck out!" he yells, but it's muffled by the fact that his face is still planted into his pillow, so I walk around the bed and take his pillow away too.

"You have ten seconds to get up or so help me Christian, I will get a bucket of ice water!"

He looks up at me, squints his eyes and sighs. "You are not real" he mutters and I had enough so I land a firm smack on his naked behind.

"How real was that? Now will you get up or do I have to get that bucket of ice water?"

Suddenly he seems to be very awake, because he jumps out of the bed and stares at me wide-eyed.

"You can't be here. No, you shouldn't be here." he mutters and I roll my eyes.

"But I am here, so you better get used to it. Now, take a shower and get dressed, I expect you in the kitchen in 15 minutes."

"No, you have to leave!" he says and grabs me by the shoulders.

"Look at you, you need help Christian. I am not going anywhere until I am sure you are no longer trying to kill yourself by drinking yourself into oblivion every day."

"That is none of your... fuck..."

"What ..." and I try to jump out of the line of fire, but it's too late and he is vomiting all over what are now no longer my favorite boots.

"Sorry" he mutters sounding so pathetic that I have to snort.

"Yeah, I guess now we are even in that department. Go get a shower and get dressed, I'll wait for you in the kitchen." I mutter and take my boots off while he makes his way into the bathroom. As soon as the door has closed behind him, I hear him throw up again. Oh boy, I have a feeling that the next five days are going to be a nightmare.

Leaving my shoes in his bedroom, I make my way into the kitchen where I find Gail.

"He's up, not too happy to see me and he ruined my boots by vomiting on them, so is this him having a good or bad morning?" I ask and she shrugs.

"Miss Steele, I... you know ... maybe a little more compassion is what Mr. Grey needs right now" she says cautiously and I sigh.

"Mrs. Jones, he has issues with self-loathing and he has alienated himself from everyone who showed compassion or love towards him. He doesn't want anyone to care, not right now. I have seen this many times over the last couple of years both with the children and young adults I am working with. If I try to baby him, he will kick me out. As harsh as it may sound, but what he needs to snap out of his funk is tough love, because sadly that is the only form of love he accepts. I once told him that I love him and he was absolutely horrified, so let's see how he reacts to some good old tough love."

Mrs. Jones does not look happy at all, but I really believe that the moment I show him the slightest affection he is going to kick me out... well that's if he doesn't kick me out the moment he has stopped to vomit his guts out. So, I decide it is best to get step two into motion right now.

I walk over to the window and dial the number I found online before I flew to Seattle this morning.

"You have reached the office of Dr. John Flynn, how may I help you?" A woman answers.

"Hello, my name is Anastasia Steele, I need to talk to Dr. Flynn in an urgent matter."

"Are you a patient, Miss Steele?"

"No, please just tell him that I am calling on behalf of Mr. Christian Grey."

"Certainly, Ma'am. Please wait." Less than 30 seconds later I hear the voice of a man with a British accent.

"Miss Steele?"

"Yes."

"My assistant told me you are calling me because of Christian, is he in trouble?" he asks sounding very concerned.

"I guess, he is spiraling out of control. I know that you were his therapist, so I would like to ask you to come to Escala today."

"Does he know that you are calling?"

"No, but he is not really in a state of mind where I would ask for his opinion on anything."

"That bad, well I can reschedule some of my appointments, so I can stop by in about an hour."

"Perfect, thank you, Dr. Flynn" I hang up. Okay, let's just hope he doesn't kick me out before the good doctor arrives.

I was just about to check if Christian went back to bed when he arrives in the kitchen dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt.

"Look at that you are up" I cheer and he glares at me.

"Get out, you have no business being here."

"Yeah, and if you continue your little drinking habit you won't have any business at all in a couple of months." I mutter and lean against the breakfast bar.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean"

"That means all those guys you fucked over on your way to the top, they know that you are fucking up deal after deal and that you don't even care. So, they have ganged up and as soon as you fuck up some more, they are taking over GEH."

"As if" he huffs and strolls over to the bar.

"Gail! Where is the all the alcohol" he yells.

"Welcome to the new reality, Christian, because as of this morning your penthouse is officially alcohol free."

"Who the hell do you think you are? This is my home, you don't get to come here and take over. And do you have any idea what some of the stuff was worth, especially the wine?" he hisses.

"Actually, yes I do know that you have had some pretty expensive stuff here, but don't worry I didn't throw it away, it's all still there. Only if you want to have a drink now, you have to go your parent's house, because that's where I've sent all of it."

His expression turns murderous and then he calls out for Taylor. "Taylor, escort Miss Steele out."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Grey, but I can't do that."

"What?"

"Oh, haven't I told you Christian? When I arrived today, I decided I need some staff and good staff is hard to find, so I made Taylor and Mrs. Jones an offer they couldn't refuse, they are working for me now" I give him a big smile and take a step back because he looks like he is ready to throw a fit.

"So, you are here to get back at me? For what I've done."

"Maybe" I lie.

"Well, then by all means, be my guest." and with that he storms off to his study and slams the door shut, but I get the feeling that this was far too easy, so I follow him and find him getting a bottle of whisky out of his safe.

"Really, are you kidding me?" I yell at him and take the bottle away from him. He tries to get it back and in the end I throw it against the wall where is shatters into a million pieces.

"There, are you pathetic enough to lick it off the floor? Is that how low you have sunk since the last time I saw you or hey, why don't you go into the bathroom and try to drink some of your after shave, or maybe you can try Mrs. Jones' perfume, it has alcohol in it, you know?"

"Anastasia, just say what you have to say, okay. Let's get it over with." he says at that makes me so mad I want to shake him.

"Oh no, believe me, if I am going to have a conversation with you about how badly you fucked up, it's not going to be now. Because I want you to remember everything that I've told you. I don't want you hung over or drunk, and I think you owe me that much for all the shit you've put me through just because you've made some stupid ass assumptions" I yell my voice getting louder with each word.

Okay, Ana calm down, he needs your help. Just push your feelings aside for a while, right now he is just trying to get rid of you so he can get drunk again. I try to calm myself and take a deep breath, before I look at him again.

"So, can you do that for me, not drink for one day so we can sit down and talk tomorrow? Or do I have to search the entire penthouse for alcohol that you've kept hidden?"

"I guess that would be okay" he mutters.

"Good, you should eat something, Dr. Flynn will be here shortly."

"What?"

"I've called Dr. Flynn. I wasn't kidding Christian, you are about to lose your company. You need to get it together or step back as CEO and let your COO deal with GEH until you are able to work again. So, starting to see your shrink again is a step in the right direction."

"I will never lose my company I am Christian Grey and..."

"Christian, your days as master of the universe are long gone, people talk, especially the ones who come into a meeting and see you drunk or not even knowing what the meeting is about. Yet, you are not giving your COO all the authorities she needs in order to run your company for you. If you want to lie to yourself, by all means do it, but this is not just about you. Think of all the people who are working for you and how they are going to support themselves and their families when GEH goes down."

"I don't know who told you that I am in trouble, but everything is fine with GEH." he says and I sigh.

"Fine, while you are in denial I am going to fix lunch. If you are hungry meet me in the kitchen"

I decide I need to try something different, so I make my way into security office.

"Taylor, do you know how to contact Christian's COO?"

"Of course, do you want to call Miss Bailey?"

"Can you do that? Just ask her to come here and tell Christian exactly what is going on with GEH at the moment."

"Will do, Miss Steele... How bad is it?"

"Well, he is about to lose his company and he is in complete denial." I tell him and leave to fix some lunch.

I am actually surprised to find Christian sitting at the breakfast bar when I am just finished to make lunch.

"Hungry?"

"Not really, but it looks good" he shrugs so I place a plate in front of him and sit down next to him.

"It's good" he says after taking a bite.

"A friend of mine is the chef of a famous New York restaurant. It's his recipe."

"How long are you planning to stay in Seattle?"

"I have to be back in New York on Sunday." he just nods and we finish our meal in very uncomfortable silence, so I am actually glad when Taylor comes into the great room to announce that Dr. Flynn has arrived.

Thank the Lord, Christian gets up to greet Dr. Flynn and they walk towards his study, but Christian stops and turns to look at me.

"You can stay here until Sunday, Ana" says Christian and goes into his study with Flynn.

Somehow, I have a feeling that the next couple of days are going to be the most exhausting days of my life.