Chapter 3

Ana

Another day, another eight hours that they really don't pay me enough for all this hostility I have to deal with when I'm not hiding in my office.

Maybe I'm just being a coward. Do I really care what other people think of me and Christian? Well, I certainly don't care enough that it bothers them to jeopardize anything between us, but it's clear that I care enough to simply avoid them rather than do something about their behavior. Something like what? Tell your boyfriend, AKA the boss? That's not a solution, that's an avoidance. He can't just swoop in and fix everything.

So, I guess for now, the other option is to look elsewhere. I've been doing that casually, not really expecting anything, until I got an email last night right in the middle of double dating from another publisher offering me an interview next week, and today, I responded to accept. And maybe that's just for the best. I've been a little worried that I might have a reputation as Girl Who Dates the Boss around the publishing world, but this gives me hope that I could leave this all behind. It really wouldn't change my life with Christian if I worked somewhere else, and it might just improve my mood.

I'm just packing up my things to leave when my phone starts buzzing in my desk drawer. A quick glance reveals that it's Marty. I smile to myself. It's been a couple of days since I've talked to her, but I could use her voice right now. "Hey."

"Hi, sweetie! I just barely made it until the end of work hours to call you. I'm just too excited for tomorrow."

"What's tomorrow?"

She's silent on the other end for a moment. "Babe, do you know what day it is?"

I pause. "Yes. Thursday. Oh, I get it. TGIF?"

"More like thank God the world has had twenty-four years of Ana." Holy fucking shit. I pull my phone away from my ear for a second to check the date and… September 9th. Wow. My life is so chaotic that I forgot my own birthday. "I thought we'd try a new spot for camping this year—"

"Camping? But… Christian." I've never gotten to spend a birthday with him, and this year, that's the most I could ask for.

"Well, duh, I assumed that he was coming, silly."

"Uh… I'm not sure camping is his thing." He doesn't exactly scream 'sleeping in a tent' to me. He won't even sleep in my studio apartment, complete with indoor plumbing.

"I feel like you're his thing. Just ask."

I mean, it's hard to argue with her there. "Okay. I'm just about to leave work."

"Ew, work. Has that been going any better?"

I sigh heavily. No hiding from her even if I wanted to. "I think it's time to go."

"And you're not just talking about for the evening?"

"No."

"Well… toxic work environments aren't worth it. Especially for something so obviously right for you as your relationship with Christian. They're just committed to misunderstanding you to make themselves feel better. It's on them."

I run my hand through my hair, a stress response I think I've picked up from Christian. "You don't think it's unethical to be dating the boss?"

"You're not dating the boss. You're dating Christian, a man that you love who also just happens to be in an upward position in the company you work under. He didn't buy the company for your sake. You didn't start dating him to get ahead. If you'll pardon the pun, you have to see that there's gray areas here."

Despite myself, I laugh. "That was bad."

"I know. Anyway, bring the mogul camping. He can handle it."

"I'll run it by him." I feel awful that it's so last minute. I don't know where my head has been. Yes, you do. Thinking about him nonstop. Oh, yeah…

"Yay! He'll say yes, and then we'll all have fun. I hope Christian knows how to fish. Ray will probably be wanting a chat."

Oh, God. My dad, his gun collection, and my love in the middle of nowhere… "Marty—"

"Don't worry, I won't let him bring his guns. But I think he likes this one. He held his own against him last time, you know that Ray respects that in someone."

I blush at the reference to this phantom 'last time.' The time that he told my parents that he's in love with me, before I even knew. It feels like a million butterflies are bursting out of my heart just at the thought of it.

Suddenly, I hope he likes camping. It's one of my favorite traditions that I have with my parents, and there's no one else I'd rather share it with.

I fidget in the elevator as I'm swept up to the penthouse at Escala. I was able to defer Christian from picking me up from work today, which gave me time to run home, change, and practice my camping proposal. Does he know it's my birthday tomorrow? I can't imagine he doesn't. He knows all sorts of things that he shouldn't. This would actually be a pretty normal thing to know.

I might play it cool in order to let him know that he can still have his life outside of me, which I know is bound to happen given how important he is, but I'm aching with how much I miss him by now. I'm really getting spoiled seeing him every day. The thought of having a few days in the middle of nowhere with him all to myself is more enticing than I can even describe.

As soon as the doors open, I take off running across the foyer and whip around the corner. I catch sight of him standing in the kitchen, and in an unbridled burst of excitement, I jump on him.

"Whoa!" He catches me easily, laughing and spinning me around in his arms a few times. "A man could get used to this sort of greeting."

With my arms wrapped around his neck, I pull his lips down to mine and kiss him like he's water in the desert. His smell, the feel of him wrapped around me, the edge of his hair tickling my fingertips, it's all an illicit addiction and a soft place to land, all at once.

But the bubble sharply pops when I hear a light chuckle just off to the side of our display.

I pull away and blink a few times, taking in the older, blonde woman standing in the kitchen where I'm garishly kissing my boyfriend. "Ana, you remember my housekeeper, Mrs. Jones," Christian says with humor in his voice.

I wonder what shade of red I am, scarlet or firetruck? I try to put some space in between us, but Christian just holds on tighter. "Yes, of course. Hello, Mrs. Jones," I just barely manage not to stutter.

She laughs. "Hello, Miss Steele. Please, don't be embarrassed on my behalf. It's quite a joy to see such… well, joy in this house! Anyway, dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes."

"Thanks, Gail." Christian smiles at me wickedly and takes my hand, pulling me out into the other room. As soon as we're out of sight, he pushes me against the wall and grabs my face, kissing me even more roughly. "Miss me, did you?"

I giggle self-consciously. "To the degree that I forgot that you have servants. I'll never get used to that."

"It's just her job, Ana. It's normal." He brushes my hair out of my face and smiles down at me with such adoration, it makes my chest ache again. "Now, while we're alone, I have to talk to you about something."

"Okay, what's on your mind?"

"The fact that tomorrow is one of the most important days the world has ever known."

"Oh. Friday?" I say innocently.

"Perhaps. But the call of the weekend is even stronger for me this week, because I get to celebrate the anniversary of the best person I've ever met coming into the world. It might be my new favorite day, in fact."

"I don't know. For me, it's got nothing on this one day in June when my favorite person came into the world."

He chuckles and shakes his head. "So, tell me, Ana, what do you want?"

I shake my head back. "You give me everything I've ever wanted and more just by giving me you. I'm supposed to think of more?"

"Endlessly more. But for now, my jet is waiting to take you wherever you want to go. If you can't decide, I do have ideas, but this is all about you.

Holy shit. "Jet?" Of course he just casually has a jet. "I can't just leave, Christian, I have work tomorrow."

He starts nibbling on the side of my neck, and my train of thought is history. "Well, I know your boss, and he's agreeable to giving you your birthday off."

"Christian—"

"But, unfortunately, he knows how stubbornly noble his favorite employee is, and we wouldn't leave until tomorrow evening." He switches to the other side of my neck now, brushing my hair back behind my shoulders. "So, any ideas? Requests? Dreams to come true? I want to get to work on them all."

I sigh shakily. "You already came true." The beauty of this moment is only hindered by the… opulence of it. Here, I want to ask him to go camping with me, and he's talking about private jets. And with that, the questions I came here with die on my lips. It's almost like a metaphor for the way we are. Will I ever quite measure up?

"What are you thinking about, baby? You always crinkle your forehead like that when you're thinking too hard."

Goddamn. He doesn't miss anything. "We can go wherever. As long as it's with you, I know I'll love it." It's not a lie.

Now it's his turn for his forehead to crease. "Ana. It's your birthday. You don't have any thought to what you might want to do?"

"I'm not much of a birthday person." Also not a lie.

"You don't have any… usual plans?" he asks pointedly.

Well, there's no way to half-truth my way out of this one. And something tells me that this is another case of him knowing things that he shouldn't. "Well… my parents and I usually go camping, but I get it if that's not your thing. Honestly, I'm happy to do whatever you want to."

"Usually? And what about this year?"

"There is a camping plan…" I hedge. "But like I said, you don't have to," I add quickly.

He almost scoffs. "Ana, I grew up with a love of the outdoors. I've been camping before."

"Okay, but… it's real camping, like in a tent in the woods, with bugs and no toilets. And my dad likes fishing."

"So do I. Freshwater and deep sea." Damn. Why is that kind of hot? I don't even like fishing. "Do you want to go camping?"

"Christian, you don't like my apartment full of modern conveniences because it's too simple."

"I don't like your apartment because it means you're away from me," he says matter-of-factly.

My eyes widen, stunned by this, then I look down. I don't quite know how to respond. What's the alternative? "You must have better things to do this weekend. I mean, you're you." He's Christian Grey, and I just try to fit where I fit into all of it.

"And I'm going to be celebrating my girlfriend's birthday."

"It's fine, we don't—"

He puts both hands on either side of my head against the wall, crouching down to meet my avoidant stare. "Do you want to?"

I shrug weakly. "It's a tradition."

"Then that's what we'll do." I catch a flicker of something in his eyes, but it's hidden again before I can decipher it. "If you want me to come."

He thinks I don't want him to come? Whoa, whoa, whoa. "I'd love for you to come. I just don't want you to be miserable the whole time."

"You and me in the middle of nowhere? That sounds like a vacation, baby. We're going camping."

I stretch up on my toes and kiss him again. Part of me still wonders how much of this is just for me and how much is because it's something he actually wants, but I'm sure there's no arguing with him about it now that he's set on going. And, honestly… "You took the words right out of mouth."

This should be interesting.

A/N: Guys, there's going to be drama along the lines of figuring out how to have a healthy relationship and trust each other. Not breakup, cheating, uncontrollable jealousy kind of drama. If you can't stand any ups and downs at all and you wanted them to ride off into the sunset and never have any issues, then go back and pretend that the first book was the end.