A/N:

The quotes taken directly from Book One are in bold.

Song: I Will Remember You by Sarah Mclachlan. The lyrics have been sprinkled ( and sometimes tweaked) throughout this chapter.

...

Chapter Three: I Will Remember You

Heart pounding, Ana stumbled out of the elevator as soon as it reached the first floor. Glimpsing an easily accessible restroom, she quickly veered inside.

Staring at her reflection in the mirror, she inhaled deeply.

What in heaven's name was that all about? No man had ever affected her like this. Was it all his looks? Perhaps his wealth and power as well, she wondered in an attempt to understand her irrational reactions.

She should know better than to go for an engaged man.

To be fair, though, she started nursing her crush on Christian WELL BEFORE his engagement to socialite Leila Williams was publically announced.

Her eyes grew suddenly tired, yet she knew it would be hard to sleep tonight.

as if...

she was Standin' on the edge of something much too deep.

Stepping back into the lobby, she blinked at the sight of Christian Grey hanging out by the main desk.

Feeling her eyes on the back of his head, he turned to look at Ana, leaving the receptionist's words hanging in mid-air.

"Ms. Steele?"

Her gaze lingered, captivated by his gray eyes, slowly drifting to survey the rest of his face and body.

Whoa.

He was clad in a traditional bellhop uniform, a long-sleeved red jacket with six double-breasted buttons.

When, at last, he spoke again, his voice was courteous yet firm.

"Please allow me to drive you home." Seeing the confusion on her face, he seemed to take pity on her and quickly added, "Please meet Taylor, my CPO. He and I always look for new ways to divert the paparazzi."

Ana turned to Taylor, who was standing by, wearing an identical uniform to his boss.

"Taylor? Can you please drive Ms. Steele's car to her residence? I believe it's out in the parking lot?"

"It's across the street, actually," Ana clarified.

"What's the make and model?" Christian asked.

"It's a silver Mercedes CLK." she paused, but Taylor spoke before she could say more.

"Certainly, sir."

But, I...I don't think that will be necessary..."

Ana knew her faint protest did not stand a chance even before she heard Christian's reply.

"I insist," he said. "I cannot in good conscience let you go."

She cocked her head but did not question him any further. She supposed it would be best for her NOT to drive, especially after her embarrassing little nap in his office.

"Thank you, Taylor," she said, handing him the keys to the Mercedes. "Sorry for the inconvenience."

"Not a problem, miss."

Taylor made a note of Ana's address and left almost immediately.

"That was a nice touch, the uniform, I mean," she said as they headed to the elevator and down to the parking garage.

"You should have seen when he and I dressed in a NASA suit."

He smiled at her, and she chuckled good-naturedly. She definitely liked this less uptight side of him.

His phone beeped, and he immediately fetched it from his pocket.

"Shoot! Would you mind?" Christian asked. "I need to head back to the office for a few minutes before we go."

Ana hesitated.

"You can wait in my office. This won't take long...although you're more than welcome to take another nap if you'd like."

Ana rolled her eyes and clucked her tongue, secretly amused by his comment.

Christian continued his text conversation as the elevator took them back to the 20th floor.

Once they reached their destination, he gallantly held the door for her before strolling to the conference room. Halfway there, he turned toward the sandstone desk.

"Andrea, please make sure Ms. Steele is comfortable in my office."

Andrea arched her brow, staring at Ana speculatively.

"Of course, Mr. Grey."

"Would you like me to bring you some refreshments? Perhaps cheese and crackers or a fruit tray?"

"Sounds great. And some water, please."

Once Andrea was gone, Ana made herself comfortable on the leather couch. This time, she pulled out her phone, intending to keep herself busy.

...

They left the parking garage half an hour later. Christian explained he had several vehicles in the lot. Today he was driving a Tesla Model S. He liked this model because of its powerful aerodynamic engine.

"Why did you insist?" she asked once they got the doors closed and the engine running. " Taylor could just as easily have been the one driving me home."

"And what will be the fun in that?"

She gave him a small smile.

"Every once in a while, I take long drives. Driving relaxes me. How about some music?"

"Classical?"

"Sure," he said. "Instrumental? Hopefully, it won't put you to sleep."

"I have chronic insomnia," she replied. "Nothing puts me to sleep."

He gave her a long sidelong glance that said that explains a lot.

"Is that why you think you're invisible?" he said, his voice laced with disapproval. "Nyquil usually conks people out. It says so right there on the bottle, I'm sure."

"Like I said, NOTHING puts me to sleep."

"You're too young to be an insomniac." He said after a long while.

"I don't think age matters. I've tried everything, but nothing works. Most nights, I sleep less than five hours."

"There's a book or two I can recommend."

She cocked her head like a birdwatcher who'd just spotted a new species.

"You like to read?"

"Yes, I like to read."

"Really?"

The surprise in her voice caught his attention. "What is so surprising about that?"

"Well, how do you find the time to read?"

He seemed amused by the question. "How does anyone find the time to do what they love?"

He smiled, glancing sideways at her before turning his eyes back to the road. He spoke again before she had the chance to reply.

"How does a fisherman find the time to fish?"

"Are you in the habit of answering a question with a question?"

She smiled, and he smiled back, and they settled into a short, companionable silence.

Looking out her window, she noticed it was pouring rain now.

"I love books too," she said after a while.

"What kind of books?"

" I read a bit of everything," she replied non-committedly. "I'm the only reader in the family. My mom says I was born with a book under my arm."

"Tell me about your parents."

"They're your average parents. Nothing exciting, except they're divorced and live close to one another in Montesano. And they never remarried."

He cocked his head. "Unusual."

She nodded. That was more than enough information, she thought. Carla and her eight-year affair was not something she liked to discuss.

"Are you an only child?

Why does he want to know this?

"Yes," she shrugged.

He frowned. "You're not giving much away, are you?"

"Neither are you."

"Except You interviewed me already, remember? I'm just trying to make conversation...we have a long drive ahead of us still."

"Speaking of which...I wonder what your fiancee will think of this...I mean, you driving me home."

"She understands."

She gave him a doubtful look.

"Leila is not a jealous woman. As a matter of fact, I texted her and told her of your predicament. She thought nothing of me driving you."

Ana bit her lip furiously.

I wanna be the one for you.

"Besides, driving you today served a double purpose. I needed to take Model S for a test drive. I'm constantly testing their performance for breakthroughs and innovations," he clarified, oblivious to her screaming heart.

"I see," she mumbled weakly.

Her inner goddess presented her with a measly Kleenex. You might as well give up, Steele; all the hot men out there are already taken.

"What about her that's so special?" She asked before she could censor her words.

At first, he didn't respond, his eyes glued to the road.

"I knew when I met her that was one," he paused introspectively. "The truth is the playboy lifestyle had left me feeling empty and unhappy for a long time...and then, I met her."

Her eyes widened at his candid confession.

"Too bad I didn't get that on my tape recorder...can I still use that quote for the interview?"

Much to her surprise, he let out a laugh.

"What about you, Ms. Steele? Do you have a boyfriend?" He asked.

Her first instinct was to answer with the truth. But then again, the truth was so lame. In all her twenty-one years, she'd never had a boyfriend. Kate was right when she said she was too darn picky.

"Yes," she lied.

He raised a brow. "What's his name?"

"Jose."

Part of her regretted mentioning Jose herself and her need to make herself sound like someone interesting. In reality, Jose would never be more than a friend; he was her safe standby guy.

"So, Ms. Steele, what about this Jose that's so special?" He asked smoothly.

She smiled a thin smile. That was quite the comeback remark... wasn't it?

"He's someone I can count on...in good times and bad."

Once again, they fall into companionable silence.

Christian turned his attention to the road. Once or twice, he furrowed his brow in concentration. Traffic was a bit heavy, even though it wasn't raining as hard now. Eventually, he relaxed enough to remove his bellhop cap. He then ran his hand through his messy hair.

Oh, my.

Hmm... I'd like to do that.

He looked so comfortable, so at ease with his body. She continued to watch him, mesmerized, content to admire him from afar.

"A Penny for your thoughts?"

This time, he took his eyes off the road for several beats too long and stared at her as if she were a mystery he was trying to unravel.

Ana chewed her lower lip, wishing she had a witty response. But the more she searched her brain, the more it betrayed her.

Until she was certain her entire being could no longer hide what she was feeling inside.

When he realized he narrowly missed hitting a reflector pole and veering into opposing traffic, he immediately self-corrected.

Ana let out a gasp.

Neither one spoke until ten minutes later when he turned into the nearest pullout and shoved the Tesla into Park.

By now, the rain had morphed into a light drizzle.

"Is everything okay?" She asked.

"I don't know," he retorted, popping the hood. "I'm getting a code on the dash that I don't like."

While Christian messed with the vehicle, Ana enjoyed the view of Mt. Rainer and its surrounding mountains. This was definitely a place to take your time and enjoy the experience.

"It shouldn't have happened. This model was engineered to self-correct, exactly to prevent..." he exhaled deeply.

Ana was surprised to see him visibly shaken. His ego was tightly wrapped up around that car. She supposed this was not the right time to bring up once again her mechanic friend, the one who'd told her about the many issues with electric vehicles.

Next thing, Christian was dialing Taylor, cradling the phone to his ear.

"No, everything is fine. I decided to stop...I felt the engine might be starting to overheat. No, everything is fine. I was being cautious. Hmm? Yes, let's have it towed...and make sure everything is fine before getting it back on the road. How soon can you get here?"

Ana stepped outside, strolled to the handrail, and posed for a selfie.

A little while later, he joined her, and she immediately dropped her phone in her bag. Her eyes nodded appreciatively, glad to see he'd discarded that ridiculous bellhop jacket.

"Christian...is it okay if I call you by your first name?"

He nodded. Ana's gaze traveled across the length of his crisp button shirt to his arms with the sleeves rolled up showcasing his built biceps and triceps.

"When do you think they will be here?"

"It shouldn't be long now. Taylor should be here any minute now." He bridged the distance between them with a pained expression. "I'm sorry."

"Well, at least it stopped raining now," she said, trying to lighten things up.

"I don't know how I can make it up to you... what happened back there was unacceptable. I lost focus on the road and..."

"Hey, it could have happened to anybody," she stated sincerely. "And please, mechanical failures happen. So I won't hold you responsible...unless of course you personally built that car with your own bare hands."

He shook his head, refusing to take the bait of the easy way out.

"You don't understand. Ninety percent of Americans associate Tesla with my name ...and I expect nothing less than perfection."

"Are you always this hard on yourself?"

A gust of wind whipped strands of hair from her ponytail. The wind was mixed with dust, and the dust just happened to blow into her eyes.

"What is it?" He murmured barely above a whisper.

"I think I got something in my eye," she replied, blinking furiously.

He motioned for her to move further away from the edge of the ridge. She crossed the distance between them.

"Don't rub your eye," he cautioned.

"It feels like sandpaper."

He furrowed his eyes.

"Let me see," he said, slipping one hand behind her, cupping her head just enough to bring her a shade closer to him.

The heat of his touch made her weak in the knees. At once, her eyes connected with his hot gray gaze, her previous discomfort suddenly forgotten.

This was definitely one of those fabled trembling knees, heart-in-my-mouth, butterflies-in-my-belly- moments she'd always dreamed of.

It all happened like magic. He lowered his head, and her lips rose to meet his. They kissed each other softly, tentatively, perhaps fearful of what they might discover.

Then, suddenly, he moved away and stared at her wide-eyed as if he'd been at the edge of the precipice below them, scrambling for equilibrium.

She blinked twice, upset that it was over so soon.

"Anastasia, you stay clear of me. I'm not the man for you," he whispered, gently pushing her away. His eyes were filled with regret. "I admit, I'm attracted to you...and under any circumstances, I would...but the thing is, I'm in a happy relationship right now."

He's in a happy relationship.

Great! She fumed.

So they had no future together.

What had she been expecting? The classic I love her, but I'm not in love with her speech?

She shook her head, reminding herself that they'd only met five minutes ago, and he'd been with Leila Williams far longer than that.

Well, at least he's being honest.

I just want to go.

Wrapping her arms around herself, Ana turned to face the road and noted with relief that Taylor had finally arrived. Unfortunately, not in time to save her from making a fool out of herself.

Funny how she could feel so much but couldn't say a word.

She will always remember him.

But would he remember her?

Of course, he wouldn't.

Life would pass right by them, and she would be nothing more than a faint memory.

A/N:

SPOILER ALERT:

My plan for this story is to make it into a novel-length story. If you enjoyed For a Thousand Years I think you will enjoy this one too. There are a few similarities in the two stories. Just like Teddy, Bella will become the heart of the story. However, before we circle back to where we left off in the first chapter, Christian and Ana have some growing up to do. I hope you enjoy the journey.

P.S.: I love CG too much to write him as a complete jerk. So I hope you bear with me a little longer.