ONE
Brenda couldn't believe he did it.
He actually married her.
She never thought he would go through with it.
No one had to tell her what happened at the wedding, she saw it.
She was there, looking through the windows of the church.
She stood there and watched the entire thing.
She heard every word, all of the promises he made.
Their vows blasted through the speakers of the church.
With each word uttered a tear fell from her eyes.
She watched the man she loved with all of her heart, marry someone else.
After the ceremony, she walked back to her car, went back to Kelly's and packed whatever she could fit into a couple of suitcases, and left..
She had no idea where she was going.
She knew she was leaving Port Charles.
She didn't tell a soul.
She just left.
She wanted to get as far from Port Charles as possible.
She drove for almost two full days.
She only stopped to sleep and shower.
She didn't know why or how, but after two days she ended up in Seattle.
It was such an odd place for her to end up, but she didn't feel like driving any longer, so Seattle it was.
She found a decent motel and decided to call it home.
She had saved money from her modeling jobs, but she knew she needed to find a job quickly.
The money she saved would not last her long.
If she could book jobs in Port Charles, she knew she could find work in Seattle.
The only problem was, she had connections in Port Charles.
There was no Lucy in Seattle.
She also had to be careful, because she didn't want to end up at a porn audition.
She wasn't naïve, she knew some "modeling" jobs were not legit.
She decided to look for a steady job first and then look for modeling jobs later.
It only took her a week to land a job waitressing at an upscale restaurant.
She had no waitressing experience, but within two weeks she caught on.
She even met a friend while working at the restaurant.
Her name was Kristina, and she was close to Brenda's age.
Brenda didn't give her too many details, but Kristina knew she was dealing with a bad breakup.
They got close fast.
Brenda was a girl's girl, so she never had a problem making friends.
She spent a lot of time with Kristina.
They worked hard and partied just as hard.
Brenda did whatever she could to keep her mind off of Sonny.
It was hard.
She thought about him every day.
In fact, she ached for him.
It was the reason she tried to stay so busy.
She stayed busy, by picking up extra shifts at the restaurant.
Everyone knew that she would work their shifts, if they couldn't.
She didn't just work to keep her mind off Sonny, she also needed the money.
She made good money at the restaurant.
Her tips were always good and she needed that money, because she wanted to get an apartment.
She had been living in that motel since she arrived in Seattle.
That was four months ago.
She sometimes couldn't believe how quickly time passed.
She never thought about going back to Port Charles.
She missed her friends, but she had no desire to go back there.
She eventually called Robin and Lois to let them know she was fine.
She called them three weeks after she left.
She didn't want to end up on a milk carton.
She also didn't want them to worry about her.
Lois was the only person that knew where she actually was and Brenda made her promise to not tell a soul.
Brenda eventually started booking small modeling jobs.
She even joined a legit agency which helped out a lot.
This is how she ended up at Grey Enterprises.
The tall building, she is currently standing outside of.
She looked up.
It had to be one of the tallest buildings in Seattle.
A casting call was being held there for an opportunity to be on a billboard.
It was for spa services.
She knew little about it, but enough.
She looked at the time and headed inside.
Brenda made it to the floor of the casting call.
There were so many girls there.
She gave her name and was told to have a seat.
She looked around the room at all the bare faced girls.
They wanted to see their faces without makeup. That was one of the requirements.
They also needed to wear just a white tank and jeans.
No heels.
Brenda knew that meant height was going to be a factor.
That is something she lacked.
Eventually, they called her name.
"Brenda Barrett."
She heard her name and followed the lady with the clipboard.
She was led into a room.
There were a few people inside the room
Two ladies and one man, who seemed uninterested.
He was on his phone.
One of the ladies asked her to state her name.
"Brenda Barrett."
The two women stared at her for a moment.
The lady with the clipboard took a polaroid of her and handed it to them, not before writing her name on it, and stapling it to a piece of paper with her contact information on it.
Christian was answering emails.
He heard Elena say, "Her face is amazing, but she is too short."
He looked up briefly.
They thanked her for coming and said they had her information.
Brenda knew what that meant, she didn't book the job.
She thanked them for their time and left…
Brenda is waiting for the elevator, watching the numbers.
The bell went off and she got on.
The doors were just about to close when a man got on with her.
The most beautiful man she'd ever seen in her life.
She didn't stare.
She just looked briefly at him.
He looked like the man she'd seen in the casting room.
She couldn't be sure, because he was busy on his phone, and his head stayed down.
Maybe it was him, because this man was on his phone too.
Maybe she should ask him why she didn't get the job?
Who was she kidding?
She knew that she was too short.
They probably wanted someone with legs for days for their billboard.
They did say it would be a full body shot.
She inhaled.
He smelt like heaven.
They made it to the bottom floor and as soon as the doors opened he went in one direction, and she went in the other…
It's a few days later and Brenda is at the restaurant working the evening shift.
Kristina was there too.
It was a steady night.
They liked when it was busy, it made the time fly by.
Brenda had four tables.
Three had customers and one was empty, well until he walked in.
She was talking to Kristina when he walked in and sat right in her section.
Kristina whispered. "Isn't he gorgeous?"
Brenda knew instantly, he was the guy from the casting call. "I've seen him before. He was at the casting I went to."
"Don't get any ideas. He is gorgeous but he is also gay."
She turned to Kristina. "How do you know?"
"He used to come in here all the time. The women would just fawn over him, but they didn't get anywhere. The waitresses and patrons. He is not interested in women, but he tips well. He's rich too. I think his name is Christian Grey. He owns Grey Enterprises."
"Really? That's exactly where my casting was."
Kristina decided to give her a few pointers. "He doesn't talk at all. Just give him what he wants, and he is good."
Brenda nodded and walked towards the table.
He didn't even look up at her.
"Hi, I'm Brenda, and I'll be your server. Would you like to start off with a glass of champagne or wine? "
"I'll have a glass of Dom Perignon."
He went on to order his entrée.
She could tell he was familiar with the restaurant because he didn't even look at the menu or her.
Brenda didn't mind.
She liked when people weren't too fussy.
He was on his phone as usual, and she didn't even bother mentioning the casting.
He probably didn't even remember her anyway.
She made sure he had everything he needed and left him alone for the most part.
She knew when customers wanted attention and when they didn't.
And he didn't.
He ate his food, paid, and left.
Kristina was right, he tipped great.
That wasn't the last she saw him.
He started coming to the restaurant multiple times during the week.
He would always sit in her section.
Maybe it was because she didn't bother him?
She didn't know, and she didn't mind, because again he was a great tipper.
She learned his patterns just like she had for all of her other regulars.
He didn't have to ask for hardly anything, she anticipated his wants.
He never said much to her.
Hardly ever looked up.
She could tell he was filthy rich.
He just looked like money.
And Kristina was right, he did not pay attention to any of the women, and there were plenty who tried to get his attention.
The waitresses didn't even bother, not the ones who had been there for a while..
The new ones would just melt when they first laid eyes on him, but they learned he was gay, and saw there was no hope, and got over it fairly quickly.
Every now and then Brenda would catch one gawking.
She thought it was funny, because he could care less.
One night it was close to closing time.
Brenda had only three people in her section.
Mr. Grey and a couple of her other regulars.
Mr. Grey was sipping on his after-dinner drink and looking over some documents, which was not uncommon in that restaurant.
A lot of businessmen and women frequented that spot.
She was chatting with a couple of regulars.
One was an owner of a chain of cleaners.
He was the type of customer who liked to talk. "Brenda, when are you going to marry me?"
"Mr. Brooks, that would be difficult because you are already married."
He laughed. "You can be her sister wife."
"No thanks, I don't like to share."
"I guess I could divorce her."
"You would never divorce her. You've been married for thirty years. You'd be lost."
"If I had you, I'd be found."
Brenda laughed and walked off.
They eventually left and only Mr. Grey was left.
He would often stay until almost closing, but he eventually paid and left.
She picked up his credit card slip and noticed a card on top.
It was a business card.
It had something scribbled on it.
She read it.
"Give me a call, I have a job for you."
She looked up, just as his driver was opening the door, and he was entering his suv.
She looked down at it again.
"What in the world?"
Brenda's eyes widened.
Maybe he decided to book her for something else?
Brenda would get cards from men all of the time.
She ignored all of them, but this one was different.
He was gay, so she knew he wasn't interested in her.
This had to be a real job opportunity.
Kristina could tell something was up, so she rushed over..
Brenda showed her the card.
Kristina smiled. "Call him. This could be your big break. You know he isn't trying to hit on you, because he is gay. Call him. I mean, even if he wasn't gay, I'd call him. The man is gorgeous, but I know you are not interested in anything like that. Call him."
Brenda nodded. "I'll call tomorrow…"