From: Christian Grey

Subject: AWOL Girlfriend/Editor

Date: May 20th 2012 – 10.04

To: Anastasia Steele

Miss Steele,

You are in fact not at your place of employment and nor were they expecting you, and yet… you left the apartment this morning to go to work. You're not picking up my calls and my palms are beginning to twitch. They're beginning to twitch with a vigour.

Call me.

Immediately.

Christian Grey

CEO, Grey Enterprises Holdings, Inc

Unimpressed and uninformed boyfriend

I wince.

Sometimes, my ability to read Christian's mind is a burden that cripples my shoulders. But I don't have time to analyze that right now, I only have time for the bomb that's just come out of Jason Taylor's mouth. He's finding this whole twilight zone thing funny, I can tell. His face is serious, but his eyes are flooding with laughter. I scratch my head, literally. Jason and Elliot, Elliot and Jason… there are unlikely pairings in life and then there is Jason and Elliot, Elliot and Jason…

Holy shit.

Holy shit on a stick.

"You... you're… uhm, you mean to say that…"

"That I'm gay?"

His voice is amused, gently so.

"Yes, Miss Steele, I'm gay and Elliot is, in keeping with his enthusiasm for life, bi-sexual. It's not something he has spoken to his family or friends about as of yet…"

He snorts.

"Well, I guess you could say he's confided in his brother now… in a way."

It dawns on me.

It dawns on me like the rising sun.

"Christian walked in on the two of you, didn't he? He saw you and Elliot… uhh, he came upon you and Elliot…"

He's shuddering with laughter. He pinches the bridge of his nose and tries to contain himself, still the consummate professional. He gives a swift, silent nod. He won't get into specifics, neither of us want that. My lips are twitching, I can't help it. Amusement is rapidly turning to downright hilarity inside me. I can just see his face, I can just see his widening eyes, his sense of misplaced proprietary interest over his staff and his brother. I can see it all unfolding, and I don't think I can keep it together for another second.

My laugher escapes me like a bat out of hell.

My poor, poor Fifty.

I can just imagine his shock, his indignation. Immediately, his problem is clear to me. Christian doesn't like the professional to come anywhere near the personal. To him, Elliot is on one side of his life and Jason is on the other. The two are never supposed to mix. And… I'd bet my bottom dollar that he's a little sour about Taylor caring about both the Grey brothers, even if in manifestly different ways. He likes to be the sole possessor of anything he values, he's not big on sharing. My eyes are watering, tears of laughter are threatening to stream down my face.

"Oh, God, Taylor… could you not have been a little more discreet?"

He shrugs unrepentantly.

"The other Mr Grey can be even more persuasive than his little brother. And, in my defense, we were in my quarters at Escala. Mr Grey, Christian, needed something in rather a hurry and burst in without thinking that I might have company and the rest is history, and so am I."

I sober.

Taylor is not losing his job just because he and Elliot are a thing.

Or did a thing.

"Taylor, do you really want to be history? Christian's complete and utter lack of tact aside, can you honestly say that you don't want to keep working at GEH? Because, you two are pretty close, even if you're both too stubborn to admit it and it'd be a shame for a… misunderstanding, to come between that."

He cocks a brow.

"I don't think Mr Grey is ever going to label the deflowering of his brother a misunderstanding, Miss Steele."

I giggle.

I can't help it.

"Elliot is a man-whore, Taylor, and we both know it. He isn't exactly a shrinking violet and I'm pretty sure his flower left the plot a long, long time ago. Besides, if this were to develop into something more serious, you two would be great together. You could help to calm Elliot down and he could help to loosen you up."

He grins.

"You think I need to loosen up?"

I roll my eyes.

"I think anyone who spends their days dealing with the man I love in an employment capacity, needs to loosen up. Look, come over for dinner tonight. I'll invite Elliot and we'll hash this thing out. You're both grown and consenting adults and Christian is just going to have to realize that he can't control everyone and everything. And he misses you and don't try and tell me that you don't miss him, too, in your own way. If it doesn't work tonight, then I'll drop it… but please give it, and him, this last chance? He deserves another chance, Taylor, you know that as well as I do."

He sighs and rubs a hand over his tired eyes.

"Mr Grey was right about you," he mutters distractedly, "Like a dog with a bone…"

So he talks about me to Taylor?

He sure doesn't seem to mind when I'm a dog with his fucking bone.

Hypocrite.

"He has a habit of being right," I reply dryly, "But not about this. He doesn't really care that you're gay or that Elliot is bi, he cares that you're gay and Elliot is bi… together. You know how he is about keeping the professional and the private on completely separate spectrums. That's all this is, his nose is out of joint because he didn't know about the lines being blurred and uhm… his manner of finding out was a little… jarring."

Taylor's grin makes him look ten years younger.

"Miss Steele, I don't think jarring quite makes the cut. You should have seen his face."

God, I wish I'd seen his face.

"Be that as it may," I laugh, "He will get over it. He loves Elliot and he values you. He doesn't want to be without either of you, and I'm sure he's giving his brother just a hard a time as he's given you. The only difference is, he can't fire his family. Please, hold off your job interviews for one more day and if tonight is a bust, I will wish you the best of luck with whatever new employment you might accept. But please don't give up on him, Taylor. He's the best person I know, he just needs a little more time to get his head around this… that's all."

Taylor's face is suddenly the softest I've ever seen it.

"I wish he'd met you years ago, Miss Steele. You've done wonders for him."

I blush.

It's a habit I still can't break.

"Well, I don't know about that," I deflect, "He did fire you."

Taylor snorts.

"Miss Steele, Mr Grey has threatened to fire me once a day, every day since I met him. And yes, he did, but if we were in a previous time period, he wouldn't have just fired me. He would have tried to break several of my bones before doing so."

I raise a brow.

"Tried?"

He gives me a conspiratorial grin.

"He's never beaten me in a sparring match yet, Miss Steele."

That right there, that is why I'm doing this. They're friends. Christian and Jason are friends, they just don't know it. And they're going to continue being friends, hell, maybe even brothers in law in ten year's time, who knows. What they're not going to do, is allow an unfortunate breach of privacy come between them, I won't let it.

"Dinner will be at seven, we'll see you then."

He opens his mouth to argue.

"For me, Taylor. Do it for me?"

Leaning back against the kitchen pillar and groaning, he gives a short nod.

"If the evening ends with me punching his judgemental lights out… don't say I didn't warn you. I don't work for the man anymore and my professionalism isn't something that I'm going to be too concerned about if he kicks off. Deal?"

I grin brightly.

"Deal!"

With a quick peck on the cheek, I'm leaving, and I have a completely different world view of Jason Taylor and Elliot Grey. Now all I have to do is implant that new world view into my Fifty's brain and get him on board with it. No small task. My cell beeps again as I hail a cab and I groan when I see an angrier version of his previous email. No sense in delaying the inevitable. I give the cabbie the address of Grey House and brace myself.

No one said being the other half of Christian Grey was going to be easy.

No one ever said it would involve the brokering of international peace.

I don't know what all those haggard looking European officials have to be so upset about. So they have to negotiate trade deals worth trillions of dollars… I have to get Christian Trevelyan-Grey to admit he was wrong. Who has the rawer deal? I ask you? Who?

Me.

That's who.

Andrea lets me in with a pleasant smile. The no interruptions rule doesn't apply to me, but right now… I kinda wish it did. He's behind his desk and he's scowling. He's glancing at his Blackberry, waiting for me to call. His computer is bearing the brunt of his ire as he stabs at the keys. His palms look completely ordinary, but I know they're doused in an electric current that is somehow going to conduct on my ass before the night is over. It's a small price to pay and besides… I've given up lying to myself about loving it, life is too short. Damnit, now is not the time for these thoughts. I put the delicious thoughts in the delicious thought box in my brain.

I cough and announce myself.

He's on his feet like a jack-in-the-box.

"Close the door."

His voice is icy, it could literally repair the damage that global warming has wreaked upon the ice caps. I roll my eyes when my back is safely to him.

"Stop rolling your eyes! You're in enough trouble."

At least I know that when I die… I have priority boarding on the plane to heaven.

I'm a frigging saint.

I close the door, and wonder would Andrea testify against him at the murder trial.

Probably not.

She really is an excellent PA.

He opens his mouth to ask me where I've been, but I beat him to it.

Offense is the best defense and all that.

"I went to see Taylor. He's told me everything and I do mean everything. I listened, and I've invited him and Elliot to join us for dinner tonight. They've both accepted, and we will be sitting down with them this evening, come hell or high water. I have learned to listen to you on matters that I never thought I'd entertain a man on, so it's your turn to listen to me now Christian Grey. Your brother and Taylor are interested in each other in a sexual capacity and you're going to get your beautiful head out of your beautiful ass and get on board with that… or you're going to answer to me about it."

I take a deep breath, an empowering breath.

I can do determined and dominant as well, Grey.

Ok, maybe not dominant… but whatever.

"What do you have to say about that? Are you on board, or aren't you?"

His mouth is open and he's gorgeous when he gapes. It doesn't happen often, very little catches him off-guard. He rubs his temples and I know I'm causing him a migraine. Take an Advil and man up. Silence bounds around the office like a hare and I don't break it, I just let it mount and mount. The ball is in his court now and his next words will be telling. He takes a deep breath and his angry summation of events is so loud that Andrea looks up from her outer desk in shock.

"The hell I am! He put his dick in my brother without my permission, damnit!"

…..

TBC

A/N: Obviously, Christian has no right to be this annoyed, it's just a lighthearted exaggeration of his possesive streak!

Until next time,

Inks x

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