A Life Worth Living

by Mrs.Gun4

Christian's life is well ordered but empty. Enter Anastasia, knocking him off his feet, literally and figuratively. He can't have her but can keep her close. When he can't take it, he makes a proposal she can't refuse. When he realizes the error of his ways, he has to let her go. Life isn't worth living without her. Will she be there to save him? TRIGGER WARNING: ATTEMPTED SUICIDE.

30. Finding Ana's Replacement at GEH

Chapter 30 Finding Ana's Replacement (Ana's POV)

February 23, 2017:

"Well, I guess it's back to reality," I told Christian with a sigh as we took the elevator up to GEH. Our honeymoon had been something from a dream, but I agreed with my husband that it hadn't lasted long enough. I was already looking forward to returning to Hawaii in June. Our new vacation house would be livable by then, and we were planning a two-week vacation, just the two of us (and security, of course).

Yes, we had found our perfect 7-bedroom Hawaiian vacation house, complete with a private beach and outdoor pool. There was even an oversized three-car garage with two apartments above it. One of those would be perfect for our security. The other would work well for the full-time house manager that Christian wanted to hire. Ideally, we would find a couple who could look after the property when we were away, keeping both the inside and outside looking nice and clean. They could also act as our housekeeper, cook, groundskeeper, and driver when we were in town. I wasn't sure we'd find a couple who could do all of that, but Christian was determined.

The only downside about our house was that it was a new build, and it wasn't completely finished yet. We had been able to choose some of the fixtures ourselves, though, and it would be completed by mid-May. Then we would need to furnish it in time for our return trip in early June. Christian told me that I had carte blanc when it came to decorating it, and I had already created a Pinterest page to collect my ideas. I wanted to keep the Hawaiian beach vibe going throughout the whole house. As it was our place to relax, it needed to be very comfortable and peaceful, just as our honeymoon trip had been. Christian had pampered me while showing me beauty that I'd never had a chance to see before. We'd had a wonderful time, and I knew we would spend many happy vacations in the future exploring all that the islands had to offer.

Sadly, our relaxation and peace had come to an end, and we were back to work, busier than ever. Today, I would begin interviewing for my replacement. It was time. I had about three dozen interviews lined up over the next two weeks, and I wasn't looking forward to weeding them down for Christian to choose from the top candidates. It had already been a daunting task to decide on which applicants to invite for an interview. There were about fifty people who received rejection letters. That had been difficult, and it had taken up most of my time in late January and early February before we left for our trip. I knew we had some great applicants among those I was interviewing, though, and I was optimistic that my replacement was one of them. But finding them wasn't going to be easy.

I realized that it was going to take most of March to get through all the interviews, so I knew my replacement wouldn't start until early April at the soonest. If we found a suitable candidate by then, I would continue working through April, just to train the new person and make sure they were working out. Christian needed someone who could do the job as well as or better than I could after I was gone from GEH. I would make sure that was the case before I went anywhere.

My plan, then, as soon as we returned from our vacation in Hawaii, was to work as an "intern" at SIP over the summer, just to get the lay of the land. I had talked it over with Jerry Roach, the current CEO, and he was aware of my plan to come in as an "undercover boss." I would only be there full-time for two months, from mid-June to mid-August. After that, I would work part-time at SIP while I completed the second year of my MBA.

After a week away from work, I knew I would need the first day back, which was a Wednesday, just to reacquaint myself with the applicants. For that reason, I didn't begin any interviews until that Thursday, and I had two interviews that day and three more on Friday. The following Monday, I had three more, and on Tuesday, I had four. By Wednesday, I was feeling sick and exhausted.

Wednesday, March 1, 2017:

It didn't help that the weather that day was stormy and gloomy, matching how I felt. As I looked out the office window at the pouring rain during my break between my two morning interviews, I remembered my grandmother, Ray's mom, always saying that if March came in like a lion, it would go out like a lamb. I guessed, then, that the end of March would be perfect weather, because the first day of March was terrible.

It also didn't help my mood that all three of my interviews that day were duds. They looked good on paper; otherwise, I wouldn't have bothered with an interview. But one of them had lied about his experience, which came out in his interview, and another had shown up wearing a leather miniskirt and low-cut blouse, no doubt thinking that Christian would be the one conducting her interview. She was lucky he wasn't, as I was too polite to literally kick her out on her ass, but he wouldn't have been.

My third interview was after lunch, which I took with Andrea at the new sandwich shop that had opened just around the corner. We each had the grilled cheese BLT and the tomato bisque, which was a good meal for this stormy day and my achy body. The more hours that passed in the day, the worse I felt, and the wind didn't help at all. Thankfully, I'd had the foresight to wear my heavy raincoat, as did Andrea, since the wind would have blown our umbrellas to kingdom come. Christian had left early to stop by his dad's office, where our immigration lawyer also worked. After checking with him about Louis's immigration documents, Christian would head to Ciel de Grey for his weekly late lunch meeting with Mia and Isaac, and I didn't expect him back until close to the end of the day.

As Andrea and I were returning to Grey House after lunch, being shielded as usual by my security, I was happy that the rain had lightened up, although the wind was still wreaking havoc. I noticed that the traffic signals were swaying because of the strong winds. As I was looking across the street, I could have sworn that I saw a woman who looked just like my mother, and she was looking right at me. Granted, I only caught a glimpse before a bus blocked her, so my eyes could have easily been deceiving me. Then, when the bus moved a few seconds later, she was gone. No, it couldn't have been her. Surely, my mother wouldn't be in Seattle and I not know it. My husband, being the over-protective control freak that he is, would have known if she were in town, and he would have told me. Wouldn't he?

I tried my best to put the unsettled feeling out of my mind as I began the third interview of the day, hoping against hope that she was a better candidate than the first two today had been. And the interview started out well. Marcia (pronounced Mar-see-ya, she insisted) Wang-Kerbell looked just as good on paper as the two from this morning had, she seemed to be telling the truth about everything, and she was dressed professionally. I was a little put off by her aggressive tone when she corrected my pronunciation of her name. I also found her last name and the way she'd chosen to hyphenate it rather unfortunate. I figured that if I'd been having a better day, I would have probably found her name hilarious, probably even more so than Professor Matilda Tremblay, who thankfully had returned to France before I had had a chance to embarrass myself. But I just didn't have it in me today to find anything funny.

There was just something about Ms. Wang-Kerbell that I couldn't pinpoint that I didn't like, and it had nothing to do with her odd name or her pronunciation of it. It took me most of the interview to figure it out. There was somebody that she reminded me of, but I didn't realize who it was until almost an hour had passed. Elena Lincoln. The unfortunate, dead but not missed by anyone, Elena Lincoln. Granted, I hadn't spent much time around Elena Lincoln, and this lady didn't look anything like her. Where Ms. Lincoln was a tall Caucasian blonde who wore too much make-up and tight clothes, this short Asian lady had naturally black hair and wore very little make-up and a conservative business suit. She was probably around Elena's age, but other than that, they didn't resemble at all in appearance. It was Ms. Wang-Kerbell's mannerisms that reminded me of Ms. Lincoln's. She was very domineering, at times seeming to forget that I was interviewing her, and not vice versa. I wondered as I was walking her to the elevator at the end of her interview if she were a closeted dominatrix. I had no idea how to identify such a person, but Christian would have been able to tell me. But no, I wouldn't waste his time like that. There was no way this woman would be a good fit as Christian's assistant, so he would never need to interview her.

"How did it go today?" Christian asked me when he returned from meeting with Mia and Isaac.

"Terrible," I replied. "Duds. A waste of time. So far, there are two possible people from last week. I don't like any of the people I've interviewed so far this week. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day."

He looked worried. "Your voice sounds funny, and you look like hell," he told me.

"Gee, thanks," I muttered. Yeah, I was feeling like crap. My head was splitting now. It had been hurting all day, and I'd taken Tylenol twice, but it hadn't done any good.

"Seriously, Ana, you're sick. Let's go home and get you in bed."

I didn't argue with that. As we were driving out of the underground parking garage at Grey House a few minutes later, I was reminded of the woman I'd seen earlier. The rain was just a light drizzle now, like it had been when we were walking back after lunch, and I could clearly see the corner where I thought I'd seen her. Of course, there was nobody there now.

"I thought I saw my mother today," I told Christian. "It freaked me out a little, but when I looked again… across the street as we were walking back from lunch… there was nobody there. Maybe I was just seeing things."

"I have somebody watching your mother," Christian assured me. "She's in Florida, selling houses in Pensacola. If she comes to Seattle, I'll know it. Don't worry, babe. You're sick. I think you'd better take off tomorrow."

I huffed. "I can't take off tomorrow, Christian. I have three more interviews."

"Ana…"

"No, you can't do that," I stopped him. "When you got shot, did you take off work?"

"That was different…" he started to say, but I interrupted him again.

"No, it's not," I insisted. "One of the people I'm interviewing tomorrow is flying here from Denver just for this interview."

He sighed, and apparently decided not to argue with me. Instead, he changed the subject. "How about when we get home, I'll fill the bathtub for you."

"Mmm, that sounds good. Will you join me and rub my feet?" I loved it when he did that.

"Of course," he agreed.

Christian did, indeed, pamper me when we got home. After my bath, he tucked me in bed, and I fell asleep a lot more quickly than I should have that early. I'm not sure how long I slept, but Christian was in the bed sitting up with his laptop in front of him when I awakened. Other than the light from his screen, the room was pitch black.

"What time is it?" I asked him before I started coughing. My throat hurt, and I felt worse than ever.

"It's a few minutes past nine. And you sound awful. You're staying home tomorrow, babe. I've already gotten Andrea to reschedule your interviews for tomorrow and Friday. The person that you're supposed to interview from Denver hadn't left yet, so she was able to reschedule her flight. Everyone else was local, and Andrea has already rescheduled them all."

I decided not to argue with him because I really was feeling terrible. No doubt, I needed the sick days. But I hated the idea of Andrea having to do my work while I was sleeping. She should have been spending time with her family instead of working from home after hours.

Christian continued, "I also asked Gail to make some of her homemade chicken noodle soup. Do you feel like eating anything? I'll go get some of it and bring it here. You don't have to get up."

This man… My God, he was so good to me. "Yeah, I need to eat something," I agreed. I had enjoyed my lunch, but it had been hours ago. I felt surprisingly hungry.

A few minutes later, Christian brought a tray with a bowl of soup and some of Gail's freshly baked sourdough bread that she uses to make her famous croutons. When I started eating, Christian watched me eat approvingly, but he looked worried.

"I need to tell you something, and you're not going to like it," he finally said.

I didn't stop eating. "What is it?" I asked once I'd swallowed the bite of bread in my mouth. Swallowing hurt a little because of my sore throat, but the food was so good! At least I still had an appetite, even if I felt like crap otherwise.

He sighed. "The person you saw today on the streets of Seattle after you ate lunch… It's very likely that it actually was Carla Adams. Your mother."

"Shit," I whispered. "I knew it. It was just a matter of time after the publicity from Dad's wedding. But how did she get here without you knowing she was on her way?"

Christian explained, "The covert detail that we had watching her fucked up and didn't do his job. He's been fired. Once you'd fallen asleep, I asked Simon to check with the person who was supposed to have been watching Mrs. Adams. When he didn't answer her call, she got Welch and Barney involved. It took Barney about ten minutes to find out that Carla and Bob Adams took a flight from Pensacola to Seattle yesterday morning. They had a layover in Charlotte, North Carolina, and arrived here yesterday afternoon. They're staying at the Holiday Inn downtown for a week. They're scheduled to check out next Wednesday."

"That's not far from here," I pointed out.

"It's several blocks away," Christian responded with a shrug. "It doesn't matter. Our security is on high alert. She won't get anywhere near you unless you want her to."

"Is she the reason you want me to stay home for the next couple of days?" I asked curiously. It was sweet that he was protecting me from her, but she wasn't dangerous, just a nuisance. She'd come for money. I'm sure she thought I owed it to her.

"No, of course not," he answered. "You're staying home because you're sick, Ana. I haven't made an appointment with the doctor for you yet, but if this doesn't clear up in the next day or two, that's next. Mrs. Adams is the least of our concerns. I just wanted you to know."

I nodded. "Yeah, thank you. I did want to know. And… when she comes calling, and she will, I should talk to her. It's the quickest way to make her go away."

"You're not going to talk to her until you feel better," Christian told me firmly.

"I agree," I said. "I don't want to talk to her until I feel better."

I'd finished all of my soup, and Christian removed the tray. I was full and satisfied, but I needed to use the bathroom and brush my teeth before going back to bed. Christian followed me into the bathroom. Since the toilet was in its own little room, he couldn't follow me there, thankfully. If he could have, he would have.

When I was washing my hands, Christian asked me, "What are you going to say to her?"

I sighed. "I don't know yet exactly, but I know that I don't want to give her what she wants."

There wasn't even a question as to what she wanted. Christian had heard enough from me and Dad to know as well as I did that she was here to try to get her piece of the pie.

"Wouldn't that be the easiest thing to do, though?" Christian asked. "I can pay her off, Ana. You don't even have to see her. I can make her go away if you don't want to see her."

I closed my eyes and sighed again. "If you pay her anything, she'll just be back for more. She's an opportunist. She always has been. And now that she knows that her only child has married the 'youngest self-made billionaire in America,' she's come for her share of those billions. And you know what? If she had been a mother to me, I would want her to have it. But she wasn't. She didn't protect me when I needed protecting. She kept me from spending time with Dad because she was jealous of our relationship. She wasn't there for the most important moments of my life. No. I'm not giving her a cent. And neither will you. Please, Christian."

"You don't have to beg me, Ana," Christian told me gently. "If you don't want me to pay her off, I won't pay her off. End of discussion."

I nodded. "There still a part of me that wishes she were here because she actually wants to have a relationship with me. That part of me wants to give her a chance. I'm guarding myself because I know she's going to disappoint me, just like she always has, but still… I want to give her a chance to either show me she actually has a heart… or show me she doesn't deserve me in her life. It's up to her."

Saturday, March 4, 2017:

Even after two days in bed, I still wasn't feeling better. If anything, I was worse. I had a high temperature, and my sinuses were completely stopped up, so I could only breathe through my mouth. I felt miserable, and I only felt like sipping hot tea with lemon and honey, which soothed my throat a little, but nothing really helped.

Christian surprised me by calling a doctor who showed up at Escala that Saturday morning. I was shocked because I didn't know there were doctors who still made house calls. Christian reminded me that money talks, and most people will do just about anything for the right price. OK, then. I guess it was a good thing he wouldn't let us give away all that money, just a few billion of it. The doctor was only there for a few minutes, but she took some blood from me to run some tests and left us with some over-the-counter cold medicine that she assured me would be better than the stuff I was already taking.

A few hours later, the doctor called and talked to Christian while I was asleep. It turned out that I had a fairly serious sinus infection, so the doctor had prescribed an antibiotic and an oral steroid. She said that I probably wouldn't start to feel better until I started taking the meds, but things should clear up quickly with them. Christian got the prescription filled immediately, and by the next day, I was already feeling a little better.

Over the weekend, things had been quiet with my mother. According to Kendra, Carla and Bob were sightseeing. They were acting like innocent tourists. Well, good for them, but they weren't fooling me. I wondered what Carla was waiting for, though. They'd been spotted outside Escala, and they had bought coffee at the Starbucks on the corner near us, but they hadn't come calling… yet. I wondered what she was waiting for, but I was glad she hadn't bothered me while I was so sick.

Monday, March 6, 2017:

I wasn't completely recovered by Monday, but I was well enough to go back to work. Christian assured me that he would be in his office all day, and he wanted me to stay close to him. This meant that between interviews, I was working at the little work table I had inside his office instead of at my usual desk in the outer office. I wasn't able to plug my laptop into the dock that connected it to the two desktop external monitors, which made it much easier to multitask, but that wasn't a problem today, as my focus was solely on the interviews. We had one of the interns checking my emails and forwarding important and time sensitive messages to Christian.

Lucky for me, the first interviewee of the day had cancelled. I still had two others, one at 11 and another at 2:30, but now I had time to get my head back in gear before meeting with them. I was able to review the two potentials from the first week and consider their qualities compared to the two new interviewees today. Tomorrow, I would have four interviews, making up for one that Andrea had to cancel from last Thursday. It would be a busy day, with a working lunch with Ros and Sebastian that I needed to attend with Christian. I wouldn't have much time to regroup between back-to-back interviews. So having some free time this morning gave me time to get ready.

Well, that was what I'd thought, but it wasn't how things turned out. No, this morning was when my mother decided to make her appearance. No phone call. No email. Not even a visit at our home, and she obviously knew where we lived if she was hanging around Escala over the weekend. No, she decided to show up at Grey House without an appointment. It was only because security was on the lookout for her… and because Christian had given them orders to send her up if she showed up… that she was able to get inside.

If my interviewee hadn't cancelled, I would have been busy when Carla arrived. Christian was on a call, but he ended it pretty quickly when Olivia announced Carla's arrival in the main lobby on the ground floor. She was on her way upstairs, with security, and Olivia would stall her until we were ready for her.

"You don't have to talk to her if you don't want to, Ana," Christian told me. "I can have her escorted from the building without her even seeing you."

I shook my head. "No, let's get this over with," I responded. "Do I look OK?"

He answered honestly, "Your nose and eyes are still red, but you look a hell of a lot better than you did a couple of days ago. Your lips look kissable with that pink gloss."

That brought a smile to my face, ever so briefly. I usually wore my pink lip gloss to work because it was a nice neutral. It helped a lot that I knew Christian loved it. But I didn't want to kiss Christian while I was sick, and he knew it. I didn't want to make him sick. So I just smiled at him and promised him plenty of kisses when I was better.

I had instructed Olivia to take my mother to the same conference room where I was conducting the job interviews. A couple of minutes later, that is exactly where Christian and I went. I carried a cup of tea for myself in one hand and a cup of coffee with two sugars and about a quarter cup of milk… just the way Carla liked it… in the other hand. Christian carried his own black coffee.

"Hello, Mom," I greeted her nonchalantly as we entered the conference room.

She looked up and seemed surprised. "Anastasia! You look… good. And is this… my new son-in-law?" She smiled flirtatiously at Christian, and I knew from the expression on his face that he was already getting pissed off.

Christian didn't even acknowledge her. He simply sat down at the conference table and took a sip of his coffee.

"Yes, this is Christian Grey," I told my mother, as if she didn't already know it. Still, Christian didn't speak. He was wearing his stoic business face, completely neutral. He didn't look angry or anything except maybe a little bored. He was paying close attention, though, but I knew he wouldn't speak until he had something to say. Perhaps not at all.

"You aren't surprised to see me," Carla noted. "Did you already know I was in town?"

"Why are you here?" I asked her. I wasn't going to answer her questions unless she answered mine first.

"I wanted to see you, of course," she told me. "It's been… what? Three years?"

"It's been almost six years, Mom," I reminded her. "I haven't seen you since the summer before my freshman year of college. I was going to spend part of the following summer with you, back when you lived in Georgia, but you were going on an Alaskan cruise. From then on, I spent my summers working, and I couldn't afford a trip to the East Coast. Then, I invited you to my graduation, but you couldn't make it."

"Bob had broken his ankle," she said. I didn't need the reminder.

"Where is Bob, anyway?" I asked her. "Did you leave him back at your hotel?"

She nodded. "We thought you and I could use some mother and daughter time."

"At work, Mom?" I questioned. "Without calling first? I was supposed to have been in a meeting this morning that got cancelled at the last minute, so you're lucky I was even free. If you really wanted mother and daughter time, why didn't you tell me you were coming to Seattle?"

She was studying my face more closely than was normal for her, and she didn't seem to be taking offense to my question. Granted, I was using a curious tone, not an accusing one.

"Have you been crying?" she asked me, sounding more curious than worried.

I sighed. "No, Mom, I have a cold. A sinus infection. I'm on meds now, so it's going away, but that's why my face looks like it does. Look, Christian and I both have work to do, so can we get to the real reason why you're here?"

"I told you…" she started, and I knew it was going to be more of that "mother and daughter" bullshit.

I cut her off. "Spare me, Mother. You're not serious. You didn't come to Seattle to spend time with me. If you had, you would have called before you came here today, and you would have contacted me earlier, before even flying to Seattle. You've been in Seattle for almost a week now, and you only have a couple of days left before you return to Florida. And today is the first we're hearing from you. What do you want?"

She looked surprised when she realized we knew when she and Bob had arrived in Seattle, what they'd been up to since arriving, and that they were leaving soon. But instead of denying or admitting any of it, she changed tactics. "When I saw in the news that you'd gotten married, I was surprised. And then, I felt sad that I hadn't been invited, Anastasia. I mean, I would have loved to have been there on your special day. I would have loved to have gone dress shopping with you beforehand."

I snorted. "Dress shopping, Mom? When was the last time you did anything like that with me? I don't remember even one instance of going dress shopping with you. You never took an interest in 'spending time' with me, as you call it."

"Well, I was wrong," Carla admitted. "I should have spent more time with you." It wasn't an apology, but it was an acknowledgment, and that was something.

"We agree on that," I told her calmly but bluntly.

She looked surprised again. I guess she wasn't used to me speaking so frankly to her. No, I'd usually gone along with whatever she wanted. But I was an adult now, and I was tired of her bullshit.

I continued, "I hope you've enjoyed your time in Seattle, and that you enjoy the rest of your vacation. Christian and I need to get back to work. If you're serious about wanting to spend time with me, I am open to that idea, but you'll need to make an appointment."

She knew I was getting ready to ask her to leave, so she once again changed tactics. "Why hasn't your husband spoken to me even once since he walked into the room? What have you told him about me, Anastasia?" Her tone was accusing.

"Very little, Mom, because there wasn't really much to tell," I answered, still very calmly, I thought.

"You always make me out to be the bad guy. You always have," she accused. "What lies have you told your new husband about what a horrible mother I was?"

"Nothing that isn't true," I told her. "And he isn't speaking right now because he doesn't have anything to say."

"Nothing to say to his own mother-in-law?" she asked incredulously.

Christian still didn't change his facial expression, and he still didn't speak. But I knew that he was losing patience, as was I.

"No, Mother, nothing to say to the woman who flew to Seattle almost a week ago without contacting me first, has been a tourist for the past week, and only decided to show up here today. I don't know what your game is, but I'm not interested in playing it. We're done here, so I suggest that you go back to your hotel, get Bob, and enjoy your day doing more of the same touristy stuff you've been doing since you arrived."

Christian and I both stood up and moved towards the door. Carla had no choice but to also stand, but she didn't move to leave.

"You're making a mistake, Anastasia," she warned me. "I'm not happy at all to learn that you're having me followed. Bob isn't going to be happy about that either. I'm not sure when you turned against me, but if I'd known, I wouldn't have come here today."

"And once again," I told her, "a phone call would have saved you a lot of time. I haven't turned against you, Mom, but we haven't had a relationship in several years. That was your choice, not mine. Whenever I've tried to reach out to you in the past, you were always too busy. So that's fine. I don't need you in my life now, so go and be happy. I'm not angry at all, and if you are serious about wanting to spend time with me, I'm just a phone call away. You can pick up your phone and call me, can't you?"

"I don't have your phone number," she blurted out.

I just stared at her in confusion. Of course, she had my phone number. It was ludicrous to try to make me believe that she didn't.

She continued explaining, "I got a new phone last year. I lost my old one with all my contacts so I had to start over from scratch."

Even if that were true, she could have easily found me. She could have sent me a Facebook message. My Facebook settings before I married Christian were easy enough for her to have managed to send me a message through Facebook Messenger. Granted, she would probably have difficulty doing that now, but what about the past several years before I met Christian? I wasn't that hard to find even before I married Christian and put a spotlight on myself. Now, if anyone in the country wanted to get a message to me, they could do it through GEH. Our security would filter it, but it would still eventually get to me.

I glanced at Christian, who I could see wasn't buying my mother's bullshit either.

Well, OK, then. I was probably making a mistake, but if it was, I could block her number later. I took out my cell phone, which I kept in my pocket on silent mode while I was at work, and I looked her up in my contacts. When her phone started ringing, because her number was still the same as it had been last time I called her, I told her. "This is my private cell phone number. Feel free to use it anytime to call or text. But know that if I'm at work or asleep, I won't answer. I keep it silent when I'm working or sleeping."

"You're trying to get rid of me," she accused. "You're just giving me this number so I'll leave your office and let you get back to work."

"Yes, I admit it, I am," I told her. "You showed up at Grey House, to speak with the assistant to the CEO and the CEO himself, without an appointment. That's not done at GEH, Mom. We're busy. We both have meetings today that we need to prepare for. So, yes, I am trying to get you to leave. If you want to spend time with me, we need to do it when I'm not at work. We can have dinner tonight, all four of us."

Shit, what did I say that for? I didn't want to have dinner with Carla and Bob.

"Bob and I already have other plans this evening," Carla told me unapologetically. "We have tickets for a dinner boat cruise. But maybe you and I can have lunch tomorrow?"

I knew without looking at my calendar that tomorrow would not work. It was one of my busiest days this week. "We aren't free for lunch tomorrow," I told her. "We have a working lunch meeting. What about Wednesday?"

She shook her head. "No, we fly home on Wednesday morning. Bob has to work on Thursday, so we can't stay longer. I was able to take off two full weeks, but Bob couldn't. But surely your husband can spare you for one hour tomorrow."

"He isn't just my husband, Mom, he's also the CEO and I'm his assistant, and we have a work meeting. Plus, I have back-to-back meetings the rest of the day tomorrow." No way was I going to tell her that I was conducting interviews for my replacement. That was none of her business.

"Well, what about today, then?" she demanded.

"Today?" I repeated. "You want to have lunch with me today?" Was she serious?

"Yeah, why not?" she asked, still in that demanding tone that she's always used to get her way.

I sighed. Yeah, she was serious. "Mom, listen to me, and listen closely. You don't show up out of the blue while I'm at work and demand that I drop everything just to spend time with you. Where have you been for the past six years? And where were you for the twenty years prior to that?"

I didn't give her time to answer, and they were rhetorical questions anyway. It was obvious that I'd completely run out of patience as I told her, "No, I am NOT having lunch with you today. And if you want to have lunch or dinner or coffee or drinks or anything at all with me in the future, then CALL ME FIRST! You have my number now, so you don't have any more damned excuses! Don't just show up and expect me to do what I've always done and drop everything to do whatever you tell me to, just because I want your love and attention, which you never seemed to have enough of. I'm an adult now, and I'm not doing that anymore. I don't need your love. I don't need your attention. I don't need you. And we're done here."

I didn't wait for her to respond to that massive unloading. I left the conference room and headed immediately for Christian's office, with him on my tail. He followed me to the door of the ensuite restroom, where I stared at myself in the mirror. Holy shit! I'd just told off my mother! I had never done that before, and it didn't feel good. It found downright horrible. I wasn't crying, though. I probably would cry once my adrenaline wore off, but I was more shocked at myself than anything.

"Are you OK?" Christian asked me worriedly. He'd been standing there at the door watching me, and I'm not sure how much time had passed.

I shook my head. "That's the first time I've ever said anything like that to her," I admitted. "Shit, is she still here? Did somebody see her out?"

He shrugged. "I'm sure security have escorted her from the building by now. So no, she's not still here. Why? You're not thinking of apologizing, are you?"

I shook my head again. "No, no, I don't think I have anything to apologize for. I just realized that we left her standing there."

"She wasn't going to leave otherwise," he pointed out. "It was fine, the way you handled that. In fact, I think you were brilliant."

"I just yelled at my mother," I told him, and then I repeated it, because I was still so shocked at myself. "I just yelled at my mother. I've never raised my voice, even when she did with me, when I was a kid, when I was annoying her. God, am I turning into her?"

"No, Ana, you're not turning into Carla," Christian assured me. "And you're going to be just fine."

He looked worried, so I wasn't sure he meant those words. Was I going to be just fine?

I checked my watch. 10:42. "Shit, is that the time? I've got less than twenty minutes until my next interview. I need to get my head in gear. Yeah, you're right. I'm going to be just fine." I'd just put Carla out of my mind and focus on work.

"Ana, why don't I do this interview, and you take the rest of the day off," Christian suggested. "We can probably schedule you an emergency appointment with your therapist. I think it'll do you some good to talk with her now, while this is all fresh."

"No, Christian, that won't work," I responded. "This morning, you're meeting with Sebastian and Ros to go over the results from the internal audit. And even if you could reschedule that meeting, you can't reschedule the one this afternoon. My interview is at 2:30, and you wouldn't have time to finish it and be ready for your video call with Olam International that you've got scheduled for 3:15. Peter Zhou is coming in early, at 7:15 his time, just to talk to you. That potential partnership will be important for feeding the poorest parts of Asia. And it'll be too hard to reschedule."

Olam International was a large agricultural firm based in Singapore that was already producing food for most of Asia, and this video call had been planned for several weeks. I knew how important it was to Christian.

He nodded. "Yeah, but are you sure you're OK to do this interview? We can postpone it if you're not up for it."

"I'm fine," I told him. And I was. I still hadn't needed to cry. And I didn't have time right now to think about Carla. I needed to focus on the next interviewee. Her name was Annalisa. "My focus right now is on Annalisa Cherrington. She's the next interviewee."

"I'm not sure I want to have an assistant whose name is so similar to my wife's," Christian commented dryly. But I knew he wasn't serious. If Annalisa Cherrington was a good candidate, her job skills would be what mattered. Knowing Christian, he would call her "Ms. Cherrington," anyway, so it didn't matter.

Somehow, I got through it, and Ms. Cherrington turned out to be an excellent candidate. Her references were some of the best I'd seen of all the interviewees, and her organization skills were impressive. She was young and pretty, but she was engaged to a doctor according to her background report, so I wasn't worried.

The second interview that afternoon wasn't as impressive, so he didn't make the short list, which was fine. I still had a dozen interviews this week to get through, so there would be more top contenders. Narrowing them down to the top three was going to be challenging.

That night, I had the emergency appointment with my therapist, at Christian's insistence. And I had the good cry that I needed. Once it was out of my system, I was ready to move on. My therapist warned me that I would probably hear from Carla again, and that I should prepare myself emotionally for it. So I was trying to do that. And I think I was doing well, all things considered.

I'm not sure whether I was happy or disappointed that I didn't hear from Carla again during the rest of her week in Seattle, nor when she returned to Florida with Bob, which I knew she had, according to Kendra. I wondered how long it would be before I heard from Carla again. I wasn't going to contact her. Like I'd told her, I didn't need her. If she had been a mother to me, then I would have dropped everything for her, the way she still expected me to. But she had failed me in ways I would never recover from. My therapist reminded me that I needed to be kind to myself, first and foremost. Being kind to myself meant distancing myself from negative people in my life. And my mother was a negative person, always making me feel less than worthy.

The rest of the week passed quickly, and now that I was recovering from the sinus infection, I was able to put all my energy into the job interviews. From the dozen interviews that remained this week, I found three more potentials that I added to the short list. There were only half a dozen more interviews at the beginning of next week, and then I would be done with the first stage. There were some excellent choices here, and I felt very confident that Christian's new PA was among them.

Friday, March 10, 2017:

That Friday night, Christian and I went out on a double date with Kate and Sebastian. I hadn't had a chance to talk with Kate all week, so we made up for lost time. I filled Kate in on Carla's surprise visit. Kate had never had a chance to meet Carla in person, but she'd been there for me during college every time Carla had let me down. Kate's advice was to let it go and fill my life with positive people, which was what I was already doing. Good advice, I thought.

I had a wonderful family. Patrice would never be like a mother to me because she was too close to me in age, but that was OK. She was already a very good friend, and she and Dad had dinner at our house at least once a week, sometimes more. I absolutely loved watching her baby bump grow, which it had been doing a lot lately. I could hardly wait to find out if she was having my baby brother or sister, which they should be able to find out soon. And to see the joy on my dad's face, and the love that he and Patrice had for each other... it was beautiful. Yes, I loved my family. I had an amazing dad, and his wife was pretty awesome herself. They were so excited about the baby, and I knew Patrice was going to be a fantastic mother to my little sibling.

Mia had also become a very good friend, whom I loved dearly, and I knew she felt the same. Elliot was already like a brother to me. Even Grace was growing on me, although there was a part of me that would probably never fully embrace her because of the abuse she'd allowed Christian to suffer at the hands of her supposed best friend. But still, nobody was perfect, right? And Grace was certainly trying. She clearly loved her children, and she included me as one of them. She had meant those words, and her actions since then had made up for any rudeness from before she'd gotten to know me. Carrick had gotten closer to me, too, especially after his apology about the pre-nup comments he'd made on our wedding day, which I hadn't even known about until Carrick himself told me with a heartfelt apology. I knew he loved me and was only looking after his son's best interests, so there was no offense there. Neither of Christian's parents were perfect, but I loved them both.

During our dinner out, I learned that Kate had been applying for jobs internationally. I wondered how that would work, if she and Sebastian were as serious as they seemed, and he was settled here in Seattle at GEH. Kate's opportunities in Seattle were more limited, though, especially because of everything that had happened with her father and Kavanagh Media. She explained that although she wasn't limiting the possibilities and was applying wherever there was a job, her dream job was in fashion journalism. She was using her fashion blog as her portfolio, and she felt very optimistic about her future in this industry, as she knew she was gifted at it.

Sebastian and Kate also asked Christian for permission as their landlord for them to move in together while Diane officially moved into Kate's apartment. Diane was willing to pay rent, even though Christian had given Kate the apartment for one year rent-free after losing the bet with me. Again, I wondered how things would work out with them if Kate got a job in another country. Was she planning to work remotely as much as possible? I guess she would need to figure out all those details when the time came.

We already knew Diane's back story. Eamon had squandered their fortune, taken out a mortgage on their multi-million dollar home, which he had then lost in foreclosure. All of that had happened before his death. Since his death, Kavanagh Media had closed its doors for good, and any remaining assets had been auctioned off to pay Eamon's debts. Diane was still wading through the mountains of debts he'd incurred. Their divorce hadn't been completed before his death, so she was still legally responsible. It was a mess.

Knowing all of this, and having gotten to know Diane pretty well in Aspen when she'd helped with our wedding, Christian was quick to agree to giving the apartment to Diane for the remainder of the year. She could start paying rent at the end of the year, when Kate would have according to the agreement Christian had made with her.

Kate also had news from Ethan, but none of it was good, except for the fact that he was still alive. Kate seemed to be preparing herself for the inevitable, that he probably wouldn't be alive for much longer. She clearly felt just as helpless as ever. According to the short conversation she'd had with him, he was still in hiding. She had no idea where, or how far from Seattle he was. He was using a burner phone to call her. And he was still desperate for money to pay off the bad guys who would kill him if he didn't pay them, if they could find him. But neither Kate nor Diane had the money to pay, and Kate made it clear that she wasn't asking us for money to pay off crime lords. It was drug money, and as terrible as I felt for Kate… and Diane, too… I just couldn't fathom paying off the debt Ethan had incurred by being a drug dealer with a drug addiction, who had used or given away to friends the product he'd been meant to sell. No, Christian and I wanted people like that off the streets, so we couldn't help Ethan. It just wasn't the right thing to do.

Wednesday, March 22, 2017:

Exactly three weeks had passed since that day I'd seen my mother standing in the drizzling rain on the streets of Seattle looking my way as I walked back to the office after lunch. And we still hadn't heard a peep from her. Hopefully, she'd gone back to her normal life and forgotten again about the child who had remained forgotten for most of her life. I was OK with that, really. It was better than having her showing up demanding my time… or worse yet, her share of Christian's money.

It was Christian who remembered the significance of today. That morning at breakfast, he surprised me with a pair of stunning aquamarine and silver earrings and an anniversary card, in which he had written the sweetest personal note. I loved both gifts, and I loved my husband for remembering this day. Exactly one year ago, I had walked into his office and embarrassed myself at my job interview by landing him on his ass when he'd walked up behind me and given me an ever so brief fright, followed by instant humiliation. Amazingly, he had insisted on hiring me, and the rest, as they say, is history. Now, we were married and going back to that very office for a meeting in which I was happy to report to him regarding the person he would soon replace me with in the office, and only in the office.

Yes, after much work over the past three weeks, I had narrowed down the candidates from the first interviews. There were three who stood out far above all the others, and those were the three that Christian himself would interview this coming Friday. I would be there, but only as his current assistant. He would take the lead.

The first candidate was none other than Annalisa Cherrington, the person I had interviewed directly after my mother had surprised us by showing up and demanding that I spend time with her. According to Ms. Cherrington's background report, she was exactly one month older than me, and she was engaged to be married to Dr. Adam Wade, a resident at Seattle General, in September of this year. She had long curly brown hair, and she was about my size. More importantly, she had the best references of all of our applicants, and she knew how to do the job. She would make a great personal assistant for Christian.

But knowing Christian, he wouldn't hire Ms. Cherrington simply because her name was similar to mine, which was the first thing he had noticed about her when I'd mentioned her name a couple of weeks ago. In fact, everything about her was similar to me. Maybe that was why I liked her so much. Anyway, if Christian didn't want to hire her, the other two candidates were just as good. Mildred Hamm was older, in her mid-forties, which meant she had more job experience, which was certainly a plus. Her references were also very good.

The third finalist, Duncan Rogers, had studied in the same MBA program that I was now doing at U-Dubb, and he'd done his undergrad at WSU in Vancouver, like me. He'd majored in Business Management. He'd also finished both degrees a few years ahead of me, so that was why we had never met. Anyway, Duncan was also the son of one of Carrick's work colleagues, and he had worked at their firm while completing his degree, so Carrick himself had a strong reference letter. Duncan had been working as a personal assistant for the CEO of a smallish tech start-up for the past five years, and he was only leaving that job now because his boss was retiring in June and there weren't any other open positions for him with that company. According to his background report, Duncan was in his mid-thirties, married to Megan, and had toddler twins named Jayden and Brooklyn.

Friday, March 24, 2017:

In the end, it seemed to be a very simple decision for Christian. It seemed like a no-brainer, in fact, for him to go with the guy.

I knew as soon as Annalisa Cherrington walked in the room for her interview that there was no way Christian was even going to consider her. I should have known and saved him the time of interviewing her, but part of me was glad I hadn't. It was interesting to see how my husband responded when he met with someone who reminded him of me. He was very professional, but he only asked her half the questions I knew he'd planned. He glanced at me questioningly a couple of times. I knew he was worried that I would be insecure if he worked with her because he considered her attractive. But no, I trusted him. It didn't matter, though, because there was no way he would hire her.

Mildred Hamm didn't impress Christian as much as she had impressed me. It didn't help that she was a bit overweight and frumpy. I think he was concerned that her work would be frumpy, too, but nothing had given me that indication. I could tell that Christian also wasn't as impressed with Ms. Hamm's work background as he would want to be with a mid-career person, and he did have a good point.

Anyway, Duncan Rogers got the job, and I knew he would excel at it. Duncan was a very friendly guy, and I looked forward to training him over the next few weeks. I knew with him that I would be leaving Christian in good hands.

Friday, March 31, 2017:

I was reminded again one week later, on the last day of March, of my Grandma Steele's words about March coming in like a lion but going out like a lamb. Weather-wise, that was certainly true. There was a cool crispness to the air, but the sun was shining brightly and the sky was bluer than it had been all month. We had successfully hired a new PA for Christian, and Duncan would start work on Monday. My sinus infection was long gone, and I felt healthier than ever. Life was good.

I was looking forward to getting off work and getting home to prepare for our evening out with Elliot and Holly. They were officially dating exclusively now, and I enjoyed spending time with them together. Holly was very different when with Elliot outside of work than she was at work. She was always very professional at work, but she knew how to let her hair down, and she was just as laid back as Elliot was outside of work, as I had learned on Valentine's Day when we'd double dated at Ciel de Grey. Honestly, I thought Holly was perfect for Elliot. They were perfect for each other, now that Elliot seemed ready to settle down and have a family. I knew now that it was what Holly was also looking for. They certainly fit each other better than Mia and Louis did. I had already told Christian that I doubted things would last between them if they started dating when he returned in the summer. Christian seemed happy to hear my opinion since he didn't like Louis at all. I liked Louis, but I just didn't think he was compatible with Mia.

Christian and I were discussing his siblings' love lives over lunch in his office when we were interrupted by Olivia, who told us that Morgan Ackerman, one of the publicity team members, was in the executive office and needed to speak to us urgently. Well, shit, what now?

"Your mother has started talking to the paparazzi, as of this afternoon," Morgan announced with no preamble, looking at me as soon as she walked into the room. Yeah, afternoon because Florida was two hours ahead of Seattle. Morgan probably hadn't wasted any time, so it was probably happening now.

"Oh, God, what's she telling them?" I asked worriedly.

"It's not good," Morgan responded.

"Ms. Ackerman, could you please back up and tell us how you discovered this?" Christian asked. Damn, he was always so formal, even at a time like this.

"We're constantly on the alert, Mr. Grey," Morgan answered. "If anything about either of you is posted anywhere online, we know it almost immediately. I got a ping. So, here we are. Normally, we just put out a statement if it's needed. It's often not needed. But it's needed today. In fact, if there's anyway to stop her talking, that's what needs to happen. She's already done damage, just in the past half hour."

"Show me," I requested. I knew I wasn't going to like it, but I had to see what she was saying about me.

Morgan had an iPad in her hand already. She unlocked it and brought up the video footage of my mother talking to a reporter. I guessed that they were in front of her house in Florida, but I couldn't be sure, since I'd never been there. It was a residential area, anyway.

"Are you Carla Adams?" the male reporter asked.

"Yes," she responded with a flirty smile. "How can I help you?"

"Are you the mother of Anastasia Steele Grey?" the reporter asked.

Carla looked crestfallen for a moment, but then she looked at the camera. Not at the reporter, but at the camera. "Yes, I'm Anastasia's mother, but I can't really answer any questions about her because I'm not welcome in her life." She sounded very bitter.

"What do you mean, you're not welcome in her life?" the reporter asked.

Carla paused, but then she glanced at the camera again, and told the reporter, "Well, you tell me. I wasn't invited to her wedding. I found out with the rest of the world in February that my daughter had gotten married in December. And when I went to visit her earlier this month in Seattle, I was thrown out of her office. She told me, and these were her exact words, that she didn't need me in her life. Now that she has a billionaire husband, she doesn't need her poor nobody of a mother."

Morgan stopped the video and said, "That's the worst of it. The rest is just more questions that Ms. Adams didn't answer. She went inside shortly after that."

I sighed. "Well… we've been expecting this, haven't we? I'm just surprised it took her as long as it did."

"What do you need me to do?" Morgan asked. "Do we make a statement?"

Christian answered, "Yeah, no comment."

I nodded. "Yeah, because the only statement we could make would either confirm her bullshit or make her look like a lunatic."

"Or like we're trying to make her look like a lunatic, which is even worse," Christian added.

"You told us what really happened that day when she showed up here," Morgan reminded us. "Why not send out an abridged version of those facts?"

Christian and I objected at the same time. No, we didn't want to do that.

Christian explained, "We prefer to keep our private life private. There will be no comment for now. We won't issue a statement unless she drives us to it by saying something truly slanderous. So far, nothing she's said is inaccurate. It's just her version of what happened."

Morgan nodded. "If you change your minds, you know where to find us."

"Thanks, Morgan," I told her.

When she'd left the room, I told Christian, "I knew it was too good to last. She was quiet for a few weeks, but I knew she would do this. She's trying to force me to pay her off to keep quiet. And part of me wants to."

"Just say the word, and it's done," Christian assured me.

I shook my head. "Once we go down that rabbit hole, there will be no return from it. She'll expect money for silence for the rest of her life."

Christian shrugged. "We can afford it. But if you've got the stomach for her nonsense, we can also weather it. You've had negative publicity before. We both have."

I sighed. "I knew today's weather was too good to last long. Anyway, no, I don't want to pay her off. This is one storm that I'd rather weather."