Chapter 4

Bennie and the Jets

One instance of crossing paths was enough, but to make it three? That's too much! Why did destiny decide to entangle our worlds together? Of all people in the world, why did he have to be my boss's son?

That's the question I had to ask Kate over and over again. I went home that night not shutting up about how Christian visits the office almost every day and that meant I was forced to see him every single day of my work life.

"Gee, this is pretty weird. How does he look like anyway?" Kated questioned.

That's how we started looking him up on Google.

"Are you fucking kidding me? This man's a total eye candy!" Kate had imaginary hearts on her eyes.

I snorted, "Not my type."

She rolled her eyes. I knew she kept quiet because this would turn out to be another argument of how bad my judgment was. Kate and Ethan always told me that I fall for the wrong men because I romanticize a guy's quirks too much or I had this weird thinking that I can change a bad boy and domesticate him like a cat. I disagreed with them. That didn't sound like me at all. I was undoubtedly realistic especially when it came to choosing a boyfriend.

"Ana, this man is ultra rich!" Kate gasped.

Christian had his own wikipedia page. His name was hyperlinked. We read about his background and yes, he was born and raised here in Seattle. He was a travel journalist before he decided to go full-time on business.

Hannah and Noel were right: Lotus Publishing was one of just Carrick's businesses. He had multiple. The biggest one was Grey Enterprises Holdings Inc. which was now managed by CEO, Elliott Grey with Christian as COO.

We also read articles about him on Forbes but they were really boring because talked about innovation and taxes. The words looked like French to me so only Kate read through the whole thing.

When we clicked on Google Images, there were tons of photos of him with gorgeous women at parties. These pictures were taken very recently and why was I even surprised? Even though he was serious and he came off as snobbish, he still was good looking, so it wasn't a shock to see him making out with random women.

PLAYBOY CHRISTIAN GREY SEEN MAKING OUT WITH NEW ACTRESS

"HE BROKE UP WITH ME!" BUSINESSMAN, CHRISTIAN GREY BROKE UP WITH UP AND COMING MODEL

CHRISTIAN GREY: A GUIDE TO BEING A CASANOVA

I just sighed at that. Men, right? They could be so serious at work but they're monsters in real life. They had this talent of appearing angels before you, but deep inside, they just wait for the right time to strike the devil in them. Christian's no different.

CHRISTIAN GREY SCANDAL

"What the hell?" I was confused. I asked Kate to click the link and screamed in disgust when the video loaded. It was clickbait! An old man in a suit and tie was smashing a fruit. Goodness! Christian's famous enough to have weirdos dress like him in porn videos? This was disgusting.

When we put the laptop aside, Kate sat next to me and started, "You know what I'm thinking?"

"What?"

She turned to look at me, "What if this was serendipity?"

"Huh?" I raised my brow.

"You know, you sat next to each other on a plane. You hit his expensive car. Then, you discover that he is your boss's son. How serendipitous can it get?"

"Ew!" I exclaimed louder than when I clicked that pornographic video.

"I mean, you want a rom-com, right? I think here it is."

"Kate, you were the one scrolling through the images, right? That man's a player! He will never be my Hugh Grant or my Matthew McConaughey or Ryan Gosling or Tom Hanks or-"

"Ana, you have too many actors in mind. You can't find them all in one person!"

Here we go again, I thought. Let Kate talk to me like a mom in her sermon.

As she kept on pointing out how my idealisms are too high but I end up dating losers, I just thought about the interaction I had with Carrick two days ago.

Two Days Ago...

"So, you already know my son?" Carrick asked as soon as we sat across each other. He just heard Christian remind me of the debt I owed him before he left the office.

"I really don't know your son, Mr. Grey. I just accidentally hit his car," I replied. Short and simple. He didn't need to know all of the embarrassing details. He also didn't need to know my whole tell-all moment in the plane. I wouldn't want my boss to know about Jose's favorite sex position.

Wait, what? Jose's favorite? So, it wasn't my favorite? I needed to process that.

Carrick got me away from thinking about it deeper when he said, "Miss Steele, you hit his Lamborghini? He just bought it."

"Yes, Mr. Grey, I did and I'm sorry. I owe him $4000." That ticket could get me a plane ticket to another country, but I had to pay it for denting an expensive car instead. Way to go, Ana!

"That's going to be quite challenging," he stated.

"Yes, but at least he agreed to let me pay fortnightly."

"He did?" Carrick's eyes widened.

"Yes," I said sheepishly.

Carrick sighed, "Look, that's really a surprise for me since my son's not the most generous businessman. As you can sense earlier, we had an argument."

I just nodded awkwardly.

Carrick expressed, "Ana, I'm already 64 years old and sooner than later, I'll have to retire. Christian will be the new CEO of the company, but I don't think he is ready yet. He has ideas that I don't agree with. He's missing the essence of this publication. I, uhm . . . I just . . . he's just not ready."

"Yeah," I dumbly said in my unsure tone. I had tons of bad things I wanted to say about his son, but at the end of the day, that's still his son. I better zip my mouth.

"Anyway, to help you with your debt, I'll make this offer-"

"Oh, you really don't have to pay the $4000, Mr. Grey, but if you insist, thank you," I smiled at him, my hopes held up high that he took sympathy in me.

He raised his brow and in a clarifying tone he continued, "I'll make this offer to let you work overtime organizing the archive room. Elizabeth will discuss the details of the overtime payout."

"Thank you," I forced a smile. Oops, that was embarrassing.

The rest of our conversation was all about the company and how he was the chill and cool type of boss even though he 'secretly' didn't know how to use a computer. He said he wanted me to feel welcomed so he gave me a Starbucks gift card.

Present Day . . .

I was glad that Kate stopped nagging like an overly caring mother. The two of us decided to watch 27 Dresses and right on cue, she sang to Elton John's 'Benny and the Jets'. Only this time, I did not join the singing.

"B-B-B-BENNIE AND THE JETS! BENNIE! BENNIE! BENNIE!" With each Bennie, Kate sounded like a dying walrus. Why did I only realize that just now?

She halted her singing (thankfully) and then she asked, "What's going on? Why aren't you singing?"

"Well, I'm not feeling it," I truthfully said.

"You? Not feeling the Bennie and the Jets scene from 27 Dress? That doesn't make sense!"

"Kate, I-"

"Spill it! What happened? Just spill it out!"

I paused the movie during a close-up shot to James Marsden's face. It was wrong timing. He looked like he wanted to puke.

"James Marsden can wait. Spill it, Ana!"

Then, I told her about last night.

Last Night . . .

While I was grateful that I was given the chance to earn more so I can pay the money I owed Christian, my shoulders can't help but get all droopy from the papers I needed to sort. The archive was a mess. This company started out over twenty years ago and no one dared to clean this whole thing up? I had to rearrange every document alphabetically and five hours in, I was only at letter E.

I checked my wrist watch and muttered a curse under my breath. It was already 1o p.m. I went out of the archive room and it was just me and the nice janitress. I waved goodbye before exiting the building.

I cursed louder when I got outside, the rain was pouring hard. It was 10 p.m. and I didn't have a car. I bought a new phone, but I bought it so cheap that my rideshare app won't even open. I cursed again as the rain poured harder.

It was hard to hail a cab because I stood by the building entrance since it had this tiny roof; it was wide enough to keep my dry. Each time a cab passed, I shouted but to no avail. I tried to hail, but I only got wet. Getting back to stand by the entrance door, I couldn't help but feel helpless. It was fifteen minutes past 10 already and I didn't think I could go home. I tried calling Kate and Ethan, but they didn't answer.

I stared at Jose's number on my new phone. If only he were here, he would have reminded me to bring my umbrella. I stifled my tears. Should I dial him or not? Before my thumb can press the call button, headlights from a car that stopped before me blurred my vision for a while.

When my eyes finally adjusted, I recognized a Lamborghini. Then, a call from Stranger flashed on my phone.

I pressed answer and he immediately said, "Get in the car." Then, he hung up just like that.

I rolled my eyes and ran to his car. The passenger door was unlocked and I took a seat next to him.

"You're getting my car wet. Wipe yourself," he sounded annoyed as he handed me a handkerchief.

I glared at him first before taking it from his hands. I wiped myself dry the best I could.

"What's your address?" he asked curtly.

I told him the address of my apartment and added, "All you have to do is turn right then-"

"Turn right," the sound of his GPS interrupted me. That's so rude! He'd rather listen to his Lamborghini's GPS than follow my instructions, like me . . . the actual human who lives in that apartment.

As he drove with such serious facial expression, I just felt really awkward. He didn't seem like he wanted to give me a ride. I mean, after all, I gave his car a dent just a few days ago. I looked out of the window and I felt oddly relieved that for some reason, he was kind enough to offer me a ride. The rain just poured harder now and I would've been soaked under that little roof if he didn't stop his car.

He must be sensing the awkwardness too because he cleared his throat and turned the stereo on. Right of the first note of the song, I yelled excitedly and almost leaped out of the shotgun seat.

"AHHH!" He screamed too completely surprised by my reaction. Gladly, he was still a cool driver.

"Oh, I'm sorry! It's just that I love this song!" I said this as if I was an aspiring actress who just got the news of getting my own Broadway lead role.

He grimaced at me, but I didn't mind his dark soul. The song pumped me up too good to make me feel bad.

"Hey kids, shake it loose together! The spotlight's hitting something that's been known to change the weather..." I began singing, feeling like I was a star in a stadium. My hands were up in the air and I closed my eyes, completely feeling the song. My gosh! If Kate were hear, we'd be having the time of our lives.

"B-b-b-Bennie and the Jets!" After the chorus, I opened my eyes and looked at Christian's direction. He was staring at me with amused eyes.

"What?" I asked.

"You like this song?"

"Yes, I do!" Duh?!

"Really? I thought you only liked Celine Dion?" He raised his brow.

"Hey, I love Elton too! This song especially. It was played in one of my favorite movies!"

For the first time ever, Christian smiled as I continued on singing the second verse. I really didn't care about what he was thinking at all. I just needed to jam.

And to my surprise, he sang the chorus with me. I paused for a while but continued singing. Throughout the song, we just had our duet. It was strange but somehow it felt like we were having so much fun. I heard him laughing the first time when I imitated the instrumental sounds. He looked at me like I was crazy at first, but he gradually laughed. Oh yes, I knew I was silly, but it was so much fun.

Together we sang the last chorus, "She's got electric boots, a mohair suit. You know I read it in a magazine. B-B-B-Bennie and the Jets!"

When the song ended, he cleared his throat again and told me, "I didn't know you have it in you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Was he trying to initiate an argument again?

He explained, "I just thought you're sad all the time. I mean, it's like a breath of fresh air to see you this way."

I didn't know why but I smiled at that. I replied, "You just met me at the worst day of my life. I am naturally cheerful."

"I can start to see that now," he said while keeping his eyes on the road.

"I'm glad you do," I uttered. I cringed at the impression I gave him on the plane. I was too heartbroken that the natural happiness in me just disappeared.

He changed the topic when he asked, "Why were you staying late in the office anyway?"

"Because I love my job," I answered sarcastically.

Before he can ask why, I threw a question first, "And, what are you driving this late? Don't you have a chauffeur or something?"

"There was an emergency meeting at Grey Enterprises. Urgent matters on statistics needed to be looked into. And yes, I do have a driver. Taylor. I gave him a week off. He needs to spend time with his family," he said with a somber tone.

I immediately got curious. So, he's the kind of boss who's chill with letting his employees go on vacation? That's odd. I had this first impression that he wasn't really nice to them at all because of the way he spoke to Andrea over the phone back on our flight.

"That's nice," I sincerely said. Taylor must be relaxing his family right now.

"You've arrived at your destination," the GPS told Christian and his car was stationary in front of my apartment building.

"Here you are, Ana," he said in his usual serious voice.

"Thank you for the ride, Christian. Here's your handkerchief." It was wet.

He rolled his eyes and then eventually smiled, "You can keep it."

"I was just waiting for you to say that," I laughed and he did too. Now I had two of his expensive handkerchiefs. I just had to wash this one like I did with the other.

When the laughter faded, he turned serious again, "Ana, I know you love your job, but don't stay that late anymore. The streets aren't safe and you don't even have a car right now."

I rolled my eyes and honestly told him, "Look, I do not love my job that much to stay five more hours at the office; I'm only doing overtime since I need to pay you fortnightly. Mind you, $1000 every fifteen days is not easy."

He just looked down. I wasn't able to see his expression because I said one last thank you before getting out of his car and into my apartment door.

That whole ride home felt odd ... yet good.

Still, I rendered five more hours the next day, but this time, a cab was parked in front of the building.

It was one of those lucky coincidences.

Present Day . . .

After telling Kate about the story, she squealed like a tween and kept insisting that it was serendipity and that he was my James Marsden because we had a 27 Dresses moment with the Bennie and the Jets duet.

Okay, maybe she had a point, but Christian just didn't fit my criteria. He's a serious workaholic who might be a snob. Okay, maybe he wasn't really a snob, but he just wasn't my type.

"And, what were you thinking when you almost called Jose, huh?!" Kate hit me with the dog-shaped pillow (a freebie she got from work) and we weren't able to finish watching the whole movie because she nagged like an overbearing mom.

Later that night, before going to sleep, my phone buzzed.

It was a text message from Christian. Wait, this looked like a formal email.

From: Stranger

Hi Ana,

I hope this message finds you well.

Considering the recent workload on the archive room, I would like to propose an alternative arrangement in place of working overtime.

Instead of rendering five hours of overtime every day, I kindly request for you to consider cleaning my house for five days. This ensures-

What the hell?! I was getting mad but when I finished reading the whole message, I felt rather…bewildered.

This ensures the cleanliness of my living space and maintaining a work environment since Gail, my housekeeper and also Taylor's wife is also on vacation.

Your two hours a day will guarantee a $1000 reduction from your debt.

Please let me know if the arrangement is feasible.

C.G.

Oh, it was feasible! Really feasible!