Chapter 95

The Office

Taylor POV

Taking a deep breath, I knock on Grey's office door. I'm not sure how well he's going to handle what I'm going to tell him. Hopefully, he will deal with this with less anxiety or control issues.

"Come in Jason." Christian's voice comes through the door, his tone sounds melancholic. I certainly can't blame him for that. Emotions are high right about now and I'm sure he's got a lot on his mind.

Opening the door, I see him sitting at his desk with a bottle of scotch and an empty glass on his desk, a full one is tucked snugly in his hand.

"Care for a drink?" He offers, nodding to the bottle. "It'll help with the delivery of whatever you're about to say."

I nod. "Thank you. That would be great." I walk over to his desk and pour a glass of the amber liquid and turn to sit down in one of the chairs across from him. I take a healthy drink, welcoming the burn. We're silent for a few moments, looking at each other in silence.

Breaking the silence, I figure I'll just get right to the point. "I've spoken with the guys regarding this… situation." I take another drink. Not that I need courage, I just need the burn and the numbness that comes with it.

Christian sighs, "Jason, we both know this is not only a situation but it's a fucked up situation." He chuckles, lifting his glass to me, "Call it for what it is." I chuckle along with him, raising my glass in answer.

"According to Ryan and Reynolds, they both say Luke has snapped out of whatever funk he was in." I can't tell by his expression what he's thinking so I continue, telling him everything we talked about. "They both don't think he should be fired but did agree that he needs to have at least one session with Flynn. Luke even agreed so he can figure out why he reacted the way he did with her."

He doesn't say anything for a while but he turns his chair around so he's facing the window that overlooks the city. "What do you think, Jason?"

I answer quickly. "I agree with them. Luke's a top CPO and this shouldn't reflect his job ability. I'd like to protect his reputation as much as possible too." I'm not sure how this next part is going to be received but I push forward. "This might sound a little insensitive but the only person that was harmed was some girl that we don't know anything about." As soon as the words left my mouth I felt like a piece of shit.

Christian's chair swings around to face me quickly. When I see his face, it's frozen in shock. "Jason, I don't think I have ever heard you say something like that any female, let alone someone Kate and Ana know." I raise my eyebrows in question. "OK, OK, OK. We haven't met anyone other than Jose Rodriguez so that's not a an accurate statement. That's different. You and I both know that he has the hots for Ana, but that's irrelevant." He pauses, "So, what gives?"

How do I answer that without sounding like a cold heartless prick? I have no idea so I finish off my drink and refill it. "Sir, if we had information on her, who she is and where she came from, there would be more of a personal connection for us." I take another swallow of my drink before continuing. "She's sort of like collateral damage, in a sense." That sounds cold and fucked up, even to me and I'm the one who said it.

Christian doesn't say anything, his eyes remain focused on me, his eyebrows pinched together with concern. "Jason, that doesn't sound like you. I'm surprised you would say something so… cold."

Yeah, I'm surprised myself. "The guys have seen her in person, Elliot has too. We haven't. This goes completely against protocol and normally you would be thinking the same thing." I sound like an ass even before I say what comes next. "According to the guys she's a really nice person and didn't deserve to have any of this shit to happen, granted Luke was the catalyst in this. If we hadn't been there in the beginning…" I trail off, hoping he gets the hint. I'd prefer not to call my boss out on the shit he started but it's the truth. I'd like to keep my job and not get my clock cleaned.

He sighs, audibly, and finishes his drink and chuckles. "You can come out and say it, Jason. It's my fault their vacation was ruined. It's a good thing I didn't get off the plane. It's bad enough that I left the guys there."

I smirk and my silence is an indication that I want him to continue. He seems to pick up on that pretty quickly because he continues, breaking things down.

He rolls his eyes, "Had I not been jealous and worried Anastasia would find someone else or that she would forget about me, I wouldn't have sent the guys there. My insecurities got in the way and my anger did too because I knew nothing about this trip or Rhiann. I felt like Anastasia was being deceptive and hiding the whole thing from me."

Nodding in agreement, I comment, "There are a lot of variables that came into play before this all started."

Christian looks resigned in his admission to his personal issues hindering things. Making eye contact with me, he says, "Jason, did you know that Ana was a virgin when she came here the first night?"

Uh…nope. Totally surprised. I raise my eyebrows, "I was not aware of that." What the hell else am I supposed to say?

He laughs, "You sound as surprised as I was. She's gorgeous and twenty-one. She has men falling at her feet and doesn't even know it; me included. I'm smitten with her and have done things that I'd never do with anyone else just to get her attention."

Why do I get the feeling I'm going to be surprised at what he says next?

"I don't want to lose her. I need her. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make her mine." He looks determined. "I need your help and guidance. Please."

Yep. Totally surprised and caught off guard. I'm silent for a few moments, trying to collect my thoughts. I think I'm in shock from what he just said. Never in a million years would I imagine Christian Grey needing my help with love and romance.

Clearing my throat, "I think those answers are going to be on hold until Ana returns from Vegas." I shrug. "In the meantime, I think we should start with one issue at a time. Luke is the priority right now. He's the biggest threat to anything between you and Ana."

He laughs, "You're surprised." It's a statement. He then frowns and sighs heavily. "You're right though. It seems there are more threats to that than I imagined."

"What are your thoughts on the situation with Luke?" I ask, needing to push this into the right direction. I'm the worst person to ask about romance bullshit. I don't have time for it.

Refilling his glass, he lifts the bottle toward me and I nod, setting my glass in front of him to top off. "Jason, let me ask you this. Do you think we will be able to trust him with any CPO and security issues? Considering he got emotionally attached to someone he was supposed to be protecting."

I raise both my eyebrows, "Protecting?"

He laughs, "Sort of."

I shake my head and smirk. "That's an interesting way to describe it." I chuckle. "To answer your question about Luke. Yes. I still trust him. He's a top CPO and an asset to the team. Yes, he fucked up and yes, there seemed to be something that triggered it, but I don't want to lose him or ruin his career and reputation."

He looks lost in thought before he looks at me, "Taylor, he did intentionally seek Rhiann out for his own desires. He caused the injury to her, maybe not directly, but if he hadn't scared her she wouldn't have retaliated and hit him." A smile breaks out on his face, "I would love to have seen that. Luke is huge and apparently this girl is little so her doing that kind of damage would have been a sight to see." He chuckles.

I smile at the image and laugh. "Yes, that would have been fun to watch. According to Ryan it surprised them so much they didn't have time to stop him. She went off on them too for not controlling him in the first place. He said she snapped and retaliated for what had happened earlier at the pool." I chuckle, "Both of them said they wouldn't mess with her. For such a small thing she can kick ass. Especially when she's pissed."

We both start laughing at the images we're conjuring up. It feels good to laugh at Luke's expense. "He's never going to live that down either. Consider it an extended punishment. Especially if they ever come into contact with each other again." Christian grins, chuckling. "So, what are your plans to deal with him?"

It doesn't take me long to reply. "I will definitely be having some words with him when I see him tomorrow. Don't think for a minute that he's not getting some kind of punishment from this. I'm not sure what yet, but I will also be making an appointment with Flynn so we can figure out what the fuck happened."

He nods, "I think that's a good idea. Something triggered it and he needs to know why." He looks at me intently, "Have you really talked to him about this in depth?"

Shaking my head, "Just briefly to get an idea of what happened. I'm going to get deeper into it when I see him in the morning. Talking to someone in a situation like this are just words. I need to see him to read his expressions and body language."

"You know, if she didn't feel so threatened by him, she wouldn't have hit him and gotten hurt, needing a cast on a vacation. She also wouldn't need surgery when she returns to her home." He's quiet and I can't tell what he's thinking.

"What are you thinking?" I ask, wondering where this is going.

"I can't imagine her being able to support herself while she's recovering. I'm sure she has a job and monthly expenses that she can't ignore." He pauses, "I wonder if Ana and Kate would be willing to help me give her some money to survive on while she's recovering."

I sigh, "I think that's the last thing you should worry about right now. It's honorable, and appreciated, but right now I think it would seem like a payoff. From what I've heard, the feeling I get is it wouldn't be warmly received." I laugh, "After all this, would you like to be next in like to brawl with her?" His eyes widen and I laugh. "I didn't think so. Besides, you need to work on getting Ana to talk to you without killing you." I laugh harder at his expression.

He laughs, "Jason, you're correct." He sighs, "That's going to be the biggest challenge I've ever had." We both laugh knowing that Ana won't just give in to him.

I need to get an answer on Luke so I bring it up again. "Are we OK to chew Luke out, kick his ass, have him meet with Flynn and still retain him?" I'm trying to show my irritation with a little sarcasm about kicking his ass. I really want to but Rhiann already did that.

He's quiet for a minute, tapping his chin then takes a drink and sighs. "Yes, we can keep him on the payroll. However, he will be required to see Flynn." He smiles widely, "We will also bust his ass both physically and mentally. I'm sure he already knows his fuck up will cause him to be punished in some way."

I can't express my relief at him saying that. Luke is like a brother to me and I was serious about wanting to keep his reputation intact. "Thank you. I'll make sure to let him know the stipulations, but I think I'll wait until I see him tomorrow." I smile, "Let him stew in his own misery tonight. On another note, I have everything set up for me to fly out tomorrow at 5am. Are you sure you will be OK by yourself while I'm gone?" I worry about his safety, no matter who he's with.

He smiles, "Yes, I'll be spending the day at my parents in Bellevue. I could use some relaxation right about now. I need to prepare for Ana's return."