Groaning, Christian rolls to the other side of his bed and without opening his eyes he searches for his phone blaring on the bedside table. Slowly realizing his surroundings, the crisp black and white bed-linen, the light colored walls and the oak dresser, excitement pushes away the drowsiness. Shuffling out of the bed in record time, he smiles. Today is his first day at the new job.
After managing to take an awkward shower without getting his cast wet, he walks to the kitchen and sighs as he opens the fridge. Yup. Still empty. Reality check, get your own damn groceries. Thankfully there's a Starbucks on his way to work.
Getting dressed, in straight grey linen trousers, and a light shirt, he struggles with getting the sleeve to fit around his cast. Throwing the computer bag over his shoulder, he locks the door to his new apartment behind him, while mentally ticking off the list - keys, phone, and wallet.
Walking to the parking lot, he takes a deep breath of the crisp early morning air. He smiles widely as he presses the unlock button and the Audi blinks to life.
Half an hour later, as he is heading down the driveway to the Tech Inc. garage, he realizes that the gate is closed. Oh, just great. Locked out first thing in the morning. He presses the button for the intercom.
"Yes?" A voice crackles through the speakers.
"Hi, I'm Christian Grey. I'm sta…" His explanation gets cut short by the buzz of the gate opening.
"Thanks." He mumbles and drives through.
Parking his Audi in an unmarked space, he shoves the take away breakfast from Starbucks into the side pocket of his computer bag. Sipping his coffee on the way he walks over to the elevator.
The receptionist smiles her well trained fake smile at him as he arrives by the first floor desk, placing the coffee cup on the counter.
"Good morning, sir."
"Good morning. My name is Christian Grey, and this is my first day here. Mrs. Waters told me, that I should pick up my tag from here."
"Yes, of course, Mr. Grey." She shuffles her desk for some papers. "You'll just need to sign here, and here." She points out the empty slots on the form. She starts explaining how company policy requires this and that; he doesn't bother listening, after all the same rules applied in Portland.
Skimming through the form, he signs the papers, and the blonde slides over the keycard and the badge with his picture.
"I'll inform Mrs. Waters that you are here. You can take the elevator up to the fifth floor, and she'll meet you there."
"Thank you."
Somehow, he manages to carry all things handed to him, along with his bag and coffee cup as he walks over to the elevator. Pressing the button for up, he takes a few deep breaths to calm himself, his nerves are acting up.
An older woman, in a professional looking grey pant suit, walks up to the elevator and stands beside him. He nods and mumbles "Morning."
"Good morning. First day here?"
He chuckles. "Yes, how'd you guess?"
"When you've been here for as long as I have, you can tell." She winks, nodding at the stuff he's carrying. "Your starting pack, kind of gave you away."
They step into the elevator together.
"Which floor, ma'am?" He asks as he presses the fifth floor for his.
She laughs wholeheartedly.
"Well, aren't you a rare find? Polite and all. Eighth floor, please."
"My mother raised me well, or tried to anyway." He smirks, and sighs of relief as the elevator arrives at the fifth floor and he is saved from further conversation.
"You have a good first day, sir." The lady smiles as the doors shut.
Shaking his head, he heads over to the sitting area by the elevators. He doesn't even get to place his bag down, before a familiar face approaches.
"Mr. Grey, it's a pleasure to have you here." She holds out her hand, but pulls it back as she realizes that he doesn't have a free hand to shaker hers with.
"Good morning, Mrs. Waters. Please call me Christian."
"Susanna." She reminds him. "Oh my god, what happened?" She asks as she lays her eyes on his blue cast.
He shrugs. "Just some car trouble, that's all."
"Mm... Okay?" She doesn't sound convinced.
"It'll be ok, really, a few weeks and I'll be as good as new," he tells her as they walk through the floor over to a door with his name on it. He shakes his head and does a double take, yes, the sign still says Grey. He was expecting a cubicle of sorts.
"Here's your office, Christian. Please get settled, your current Tech login works here as well, so you can get started. It'll be a smooth transition from your current job, but between you and me," she taps the tip of her nose, "I have a hunch that you'll be added to a high profile project within a few days."
"Really?" He tries to hide his surprised smile, but it's too hard.
"Uh huh. Well I'll let you get comfortable, I'll come to fetch you to the weekly staff meeting at a quarter to nine."
"Thanks." He says and she leaves him alone. He slides his hands over the glass desk, as he sits down in his chair.
Oh yes, I'm back, baby! He grins as he lifts open his laptop and logs in to his account. Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye, business elite of Seattle, Christian Grey is back, with a vengeance. He thinks of all the past clients who left him sinking, when his partner screwed him over. He doesn't hold a grudge against the clients though, because in their shoes, he would've done the same, but Jack Hyde, well, that's a whole other story and lawsuit. Hyde hasn't been found; the trail behind him and Mia, which grew cold somewhere around St. Bart's, has stayed cold. This was all confirmed again by his old friend, a part time private detective, in their call last night.
Eating one of the sandwiches be bought and drinking the coffee that is now barely lukewarm, he scrolls through his email and fixes a few minor issues with a website. Before he even knows it, there's a knock on his door.
"Ready?" Susanna pops her head in.
"Yup." He closes his laptop and pushes the chair back.
"The MM, Monday Meeting, is basically just a casual gathering where we go through the main issues for the coming week. Usually it's pretty mundane, but today is special, because Mr. Callahan, is still here. Be prepared, he might introduce you to the staff." Susanna winks at Christian as they join the bunch of people walking in the direction of the cafeteria.
"So, this is the whole staff?" He looks around, the people are chatting about their weekends and laughing, while others are lost in their smartphones. Huh? He thought there would be more.
"Oh goodness no, this is just a fraction. Many chose not to come, but to get the details at the department meetings that are usually held after this. But it's a nice way to get to know your colleagues, and it gives an easy start to the week." Susannah says, leaving him to mend for himself, as she goes to catch up on gossip with a group of women by the coffee.
Yeah, I'm definitely not doing this every damn Monday. He tries not to roll his eyes as some of the women stare at him. Oh, for fucks sake, he thinks, as a blonde flutters her fake eyelashes and comes to introduce herself. He greets her with a polite smile, same time hoping that Tracy or Stacy, or what the hell her name was, would just vanish.
Suddenly the energy shifts. "The CEO is here", the blonde whispers.
Christian excuses himself and goes to stand near to the small stage, nodding to Mr. Callahan, who spots him immediately. Callahan, dressed somewhat casually in his trademark grey suit with a black shirt, picks up the mike and starts talking.
"Good morning everyone! I hope you all had a good weekend..."
Christian zones off, letting his gaze roam the staff of Tech Inc. There are some familiar faces, they must've visited the Portland office at some point, he thinks.
"So we have a new face among us, this morning. He has joined us here in Seattle, starting from today, after working for the last few years at the Portland office. Why don't you all welcome Mr. Christian Grey? Come on Chris, say a few words."
Some of the people applaud somewhat phlegmatically as he climbs to the stage. Callahan smiles widely as he shakes his hand.
Clearing his throat, Christian turns towards the crowd, that's waiting for him to speak.
"Hello. I'm Christian Grey, and I'm really excited to be here." He clears his throat again. "No one gave me a heads up, that I'd have to talk... So I'll just keep it short. I have a long and varied history in this field; for the last few years I have been designing CRM systems, as well as localized and personified applications for various clients."
He lets his gaze roam the audience, trying to hide his amusement at some of the women staring blatantly. Let's see what kind of people we have here, he thinks as he focuses on person after person. A tall blonde, an older middle aged woman with an ill-fitting dress, a beautiful brunette with blue eyes, a gothic chick, a god awful comb-over... Something snaps inside his head. The alarms are going off, telling him that he is missing something important. He returns back a few faces. No, nothing. See? You're fucking losing your marbles, he tells himself.
His talks on autopilot, as he repeats the words he had said in the interview. It's an honor, I'm excited, I can't wait to tackle the challenges, yada yada yada... But his focus is on finding the woman he just saw. He sees the top of her head, as she passes some people and almost stumbles as she speed walks towards the elevators. She glances back, and for a second the world stops moving. Un-fucking-believable.
"Well, we are excited to have you here, Chris." Callahan says, patting his shoulder, effectively snapping him from staring at her. When he looks back, she's gone.
As Callahan continues talking, Christian exits the stage, ignoring everyone on his way to the elevators. He stares at the buttons, as if they would somehow reveal which one she pressed.
The older lady that he spoke with in the elevator earlier walks up to him.
"Hope you'll enjoy working here, Mr. Grey."
He manages to wring a polite smile to his lips.
"I'm sure, I will, ma'am."
"Just call me Judy, you make me feel like I'm ancient with that ma'am business."
He chuckles. "Okay, Judy." He can't help himself, his eyes dart to the hallway and back. Perhaps she went that way?
"Searching for someone?" Judy asks.
"Um... Sort of. I thought I saw someone familiar, but I didn't see where they went."
"Whom?" She asks, her curiosity peaked.
"You know, I probably imagined it all." Christian brushes her off.
"Well, I've better get going, Callahan has his whole day scheduled back to back, and if he's not briefed, he tends to get a bit grumpy." Judy winks and presses the button for the elevator.
"Oh, you work with him?" Christian asks, leering down the other direction.
"When he is here, yes."
"He's not always here?"
"No, no. He works mainly at the Los Angeles office." The elevator arrives with a ping, and as the doors slide open Judy steps in, saying, "Well, it was nice talking to you Christian, have a good day."
"You too." He replies and saunters in the direction of his office, mulling over that piece of information. Callahan. Los Angeles. The image of Anastasia in the arms of that other man pops unwelcomed into his mind. He shakes it off.
The hallway is quiet, as most of the people are still at the meeting, when he arrives at his office. The door is cracked. He frowns, trying to remember if he closed it behind him earlier, or not.
He pushes the door open quietly and sees her standing by his desk, leaning over, scribbling on a piece of paper. She jumps, surprised by the sound of the door clicking shut behind him.
The pen falls from her hand, as she turns around, her hands trembling.
"Anastasia." Her name rolls off his lips as he closes the distance between them.
She looks up, her beautiful blue eyes wide of shock. Her perfect dark red lips are parted and he can't hold back. He crashes his lips onto hers, holding her tight as he kisses her deeply. It takes her only a second to reply, her lips parting, and their tongues entwining in a lustful tango.
But then she pushes him away.
"Not here, Christian."
He strokes her cheek, and closing his eyes, he kisses her forehead, still holding her tight. God, she smells like paradise.
"I've been wanting to do that since…" He fades off, knowing that the sentence will end in revealing that he saw her with someone else at LAX. She steps out of his hold, desperate to get some room between them.
"We need to talk, Christian. But not here, not now." She says, her eyes darting to his door as they hear someone passing.
"Tonight then? I'll make you dinner…" He is basically begging, desperate to get her somewhere private.
She gives him an amused smile.
"You cook?"
"Well, no." He chuckles. "But I do a mean takeout."
"Dinner sounds perfect," she smiles.
"I didn't know you worked for Tech Inc." He says, examining her face, caressing her soft skin with his gaze.
"Well, I do... I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, it just... Everything's just..." She bites the inside of her lip, trying to figure out what to say.
He reaches out, and catches her hand.
"We'll talk tonight, okay?" He knows, sorting this whole mess will need a whole other level of privacy than what the dingy lock on his office door can provide.
"Okay." She gives him a faint smile.
They both jump as there's a knock on his door. Her eyes widen as she watches him wipe off the lipstick smudge from his face and walk up to the door. He nods for her to stand behind it, so that she will not be visible for whomever it is.
"Yes?" He opens the door.
"If you've got a minute Chris, pop over to my office at the eight floor will you?" Callahan stands outside Christian's office.
"Yeah, sure. I'll come right away." He grabs his phone and closes the door behind him, leaving Anastasia undiscovered in his office.
Walking behind Callahan he texts his address to Anastasia. He adds, see you at 6, before he presses send.
AN: Thank you all for reading and reviewing!
H xx