CHAPTER 19

After two weeks, Christian, Roz and Ana were sitting in conference meeting with Lawrence G. Harper of Harper Industries. It was a solar panel manufacturing company.

Mr Harper said, "After all the analysis was completed by my economic analysts they recommended that my company had potential asset recovery and gave an overall recommendation of $50 million dollars for sale."

Christian said, "You are a small to medium size company, Mr Harper. That recommendation is not realistic." Ana sat back keeping her mouth shut letting them do the back and forth thing.

Roz yawned and sipped her coffee. She looked steady straight into Ana's eyes as Christian started getting frustrated in talking. Roz told Ana before the meeting to show her stuff in this meeting. So once Roz allowed Christian to do his best to get the man to stop the inflation of his company value, Roz nodded to Ana.

Ana said over talking Mr Harper, "Excuse me…. Excuse me…. Can we have a reality check here, Mr Harper? This line of topic has gone on long enough and you're talking Mr Grey in circles."

Mr Harper said gruffly with annoyance at her daring to over-talk him, "And just who are you, young woman?" Ana thought, 'Your worst nightmare, asshole.'

Christian said proudly, "This is my Executive Acquisitions Consult, Miss Anastasia Steele, Mr Harper."

Ana said with military sounding authority standing up military straight and smoothing her blue dress suit, "Mr Harper, the cost analysis and the risk assessment takes your $50 million, down to a more realistic price of $28 million. Whoever your economic analysts are they should be fired telling you that ridiculous estimate. So, can we cut the bullshit and get down to brass tacks here? You overextended your company by expanding your production line during an economic rise in the cost of silicon and silver that are detrimental in the manufacturing of solar panels. The lost revenue is not recoverable due to you buying materials at higher prices gouging your revenue. Due to the fact that your company in its increased production volume of panels, at much higher cost in market value and not being able to raise consumer interest by rebranding, has left you with a warehouse full of solar panels going nowhere. So, now that you're stuck with a warehouse full of overpriced solar panels that you can't sell to anybody you took a huge revenue hit. Nobody is interested in buying overpriced goods in overproduction, which is what got you here to this situation. Am I not correct?" She walked over to the coffee carafe and poured more coffee and put sugar and cream in her cup. She sipped it, then walked back to where she was sitting while still standing. Christian and Roz wonder how she was going to dive it home to get Harper to stop his lies.

Mr Harper was frowning watching her move around the room with confidence and had his two monkey suited partners whispering in his ear. He was very unhappy with her telling him the "no holes barred" version of his screw up. He asked gruffly, "What would you recommend I do?"

Ana leaned over with her hands on the table towards him and said, "First thing I would do, is go back to my company and fire the dodo business advisor. The one that needs to go to school and pay attention this time to the classes. This person you listened to and who sabotaged your business by telling you to invest in the output of the product. The person who should have said instead to look for cheaper ways of finding suppliers to lower the cost of input to create them in the first place. Mr Harper, that is taught in the first basic business class in college Business 101."

Mr Harper said growling, "Ok, so after I fire my brother-in-law, then what?" Ana thought, 'Figures, nepotism is never a good idea in business, another Business 101 tip.' Christian and Roz have their hands up to their faces trying not to laugh or smile. They were holding it together.

She smiled at him and put her hands on the table leaned over and said frankly, "Do you want to get out from under this mess that has been created and save your peoples jobs and the company? Or do you want to sit there and tell us more made up cost assessments and takes of what you wish could have been? We have the capital to save your people and company from mismanagement. Are you ready to play ball honestly with us or do we need to walk away and watch you join the ranks of the bankrupt?" His eyes got big looking at her, as she flat lined his ass with her authority and the way she wielded it like a knife cutting through his bullshit. He knew that he was close to bankruptcy and she said it to his face pulling no punches, unlike his own people had been doing.

She thought, 'His people kept blowing smoke up his ass and not telling him the "strait of it" because he is a blowhard with a temper. She knew the type. She had to break through it to get his respect, telling him the truth of it.'

Mr Harper's monkeys were buzzing in his ears and he shoved them away because they were pissing him off. He knew this young woman wasn't blowing fluff up his ass. He said, clearing his throat, "Let's play ball. I wish to get out from under this and save people's jobs." Christian was impressed as was Roz.

Ana said smiling at him, "Good, because you came to the right company willing to work with you on this and make sure you walk away ok. I'll turn it back over to my CEO and COO." She sat down and crossed her sexy legs looking over at Christian and Roz. Ana gives them "the head move to the right" as a sign to pick up where she left off.

As they walked out the door of the conference room at the end of the meeting, Christian said, "I like how you stopped his spiel driving me crazy about how cost effective his company was and showed him the opposite."

Roz snorted while walking with them down the hallway and said, "I like how she took control of the windbag and smacked his ass for lying, then punched him in the head for being stupid."

Christian said chuckling, "That was pretty entertaining to watch a fathead deflate from being dumb enough to listen to his brother-in-law who didn't know jack shit." He slipped his hand around Ana's waist as they walked.

Ana leaned into him slightly and said sighing, "Never a good idea to go into business with family. Whoever the guy is, he needed to quit partying and actually learn something in his college class. He gave some seriously shitty advice to his brother-in-law. Harper is a fool for not knowing it was bad ruining his business when it was the bare basics of business."

Christian said seriously, "I think this one will go fairly quickly now with you there, Anastasia. The next meeting the day after tomorrow is with Emerson Technologies, a Mr Garrison Blackwell from the great state of Illinois in Springfield. Computer motherboards."

Ana said, "I'll be ready. They are suffering from rebranding a few times and not attracting new customers but losing old customer bases as I recall."

Christian said, "Yep. That's the one, baby."

Roz turned to her office and said, "Here's mine. Talk to ya both later." She went into her office.

Christian and Ana went to theirs. He has rearranged his office to have her desk in one of the corners with the glass wall. Her desk faced the left side of his desk standing at the door. There was a printer stand, another tree and wastebasket and her very own door locking key fob in her desk drawer like his. They rearranged some of the artsy things in the room to make it more aesthetic. It was the all glass corner of his office and it had plenty of natural light. Ana liked it and she could see Christian in front of her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A month had passed and Christian was taking her to a charity philanthropic fundraiser dinner and auction at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel for YouthCare. It is a charity dedicated to helping runaway and homeless youth in Seattle, offering services like shelter, counseling, and support for transitioning to independent living.

She wore a Crystallini long sequin and velvet evening dress Zephyra CA46. It was a long bordeaux wine color evening dress made of velvet, sequins and satin with a mermaid skirt made of velvet with a built-in push-up cup support. There was only one long sleeve leaving her neck, shoulder and arm bare. She wore her Jimmy Choo Ixia 95mm velvet pumps in a berry red that matched and a Versace Kleio quilted mini bag in a burgundy color. Her hair was done in a wide fishtail braid with a matching wide velvet bow at the bottom. Ana wore a filigree gold Garnet and diamond jewelry set that Christian bought her. She did her makeup in smokey eyes highlighted in a wine color and her dark burgundy lipstick. She wore her burgundy fluffy fur coat with the cowl hood she wore for Christmas Eve at the Grey's. She had her corset gun holster on as always.

Christian was in his black Armani suit with his black double breasted peacoat. He had his hand on her lower back as they went down the elevator to get in the SUV with Taylor and Sawyer with Ryan and Reynolds following in the second SUV

When they pulled up to the Fairmont Olympic Hotel, they were walking down the red carpet into the lobby as cameras were flashing and reporters were shouting. He had his arm around Ana with his hand on her hip. The reporters were shouting, "Mr Grey! Is that your girlfriend?!", "Christian Grey! We thought you were gay?" and "Mr Grey! Over here! Is that your beard?!" Christian stopped, wrapped his arms around her and kissed Ana in a romantic kiss as they went wild snapping pictures exploding. She smiled, reached up and wiped his lips and hers of lipstick. He put his arm around her waist and continued on.

Once they were inside, Ana said, "Was that to prove a point, baby?"

He said growling, "Yes, to show them I mean business and you are mine." She stopped, wiped off her mouth and pulled him down to her lips kissing him deeply as the cameras outside were snapping through the windows into the lobby.

She broke the kiss and said, "There now I showed them your mine also. Bitches beware and bastards too." He started chuckling. They walked to the stairs leading down to the event and stepped aside. She took out her compact mirror and reapplied her lipstick then put it away. They descended the stairs slowly. Ana noticed people turning to look and whispering or talking about them.

She said softly for only him to hear, "Boy, people sure focus on you."

He replied softly, "They are looking at you. I've never been seen with a woman in public at events."

She quietly said smiling, "Oh goody, I'm the pretty betta fish in the fishbowl with the handsome hot shark on her arm."

He smirked, shaking his head replying, "Yeah, something like that. You got that pretty part conquered."

Ana said soft sultry, "Mmmm… I like conquering tough Dom CEO cookies like you. They taste so damn good pinned down on the bed."

He said growling low, "You naughty girl, you're gonna get it later for tempting me." She giggled as the stepped to the bottom and went to the staff organizer escorted them to their table.

They followed as they had everyone in the room eyes trained on them. Ana figured she was going to have to get used to being gawked at being he is a local celebrity being a bachelor billionaire. Christian pulled out her chair and pushed it in for her as she smiled up at him being such a gentleman.

He sat down next to her and the most assertive older man at the table looking Ana up and down a bit lewdly said, "It's a pleasure to see you again, Mr Grey. Who is your incredibly lovely companion?" Christian knew him and out of the ten people at the table, there were four men and their wives or girlfriends. This man in particular was a renowned skirt chaser even in front of his wife it seemed.

Christian replied flatly, "Eamon and Elaine Kavanagh, this is my beautiful girlfriend, Anastasia Steele. Anastasia, Eamon and Elaine Kavanagh of Kavanagh Media."

Eamon said leering at Ana, "My, my she is very pretty indeed. Our daughter, Katherine, is here tonight too, but has stepped away to the ladies room at the moment." The servers took their drink orders.

Right then a tall blonde girl with long curled hair in a bright red long dress that had a large panel cut out that wrapped around her from her mid left thigh across her hip and stomach on an angle to wrap around her right side to her right shoulder blade. It was cut so wide that it looked like she wasn't wearing underwear and you could see the bottom of her breasts just under the nude sheer see through mesh. It exposed way too much skin to be tasteful as far as Ana was concerned but that wasn't what bothered her. It was her mouth and attitude.

Katherine Kavanagh sat down at the table by her father and said arrogantly, "I thought you said he would be alone tonight, father? Who is she anyway?"

Eamon smiled at his daughter impassively and said, "This is Christian Grey and his lovely girlfriend, Anastasia Steele."

Katherine said in shock, "Girlfriend? He has never been seen with women before. I thought he was single?" She acted rudely like they both weren't sitting there.

Christian didn't like this girl's attitude and replied, "Yes, well not anymore. Anastasia and I are exclusively together."

Katherine said perturbed, "Whatever. You were supposed to me gay anyway."

Ana said smirking, "No, he is most definitely not gay. He's just… discerning and refuses to date just anyone."

Katherine said snobbishly, "Then who are you anyway?"