Google Alert: Christian Grey

Seattle Weekly, May 28th 2010: Grey’s New Love Identified. The Mariners 5-4 win over the Detroit Tigers wasn’t the only source of excitement at SafeCo field this last Wednesday. Christian Grey chose the game to debut his new girlfriend to the world who Seattle Weekly can confirm is Katherine Kavanagh, the daughter of Seattle media mogul Alec Kavanagh. Pictured below: Grey and Kavanagh walking […]

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“You’re dating Kate,” I say, looking up from my phone and across the dining room table at Christian, who is reading the business section of The New York Times over an egg white omelette.

“What?” Christian replies, raising an eyebrow at me.

I click on the article and slide my phone across the polished wood surface of the table. “Someone saw you with her at the Mariners game on Wednesday. It looks like they got a picture of you two getting out of your car.”

He exhales, clearly annoyed, and shakes his head.

“You see what I get for letting Elliot take you in the Bugatti?” He asks.

“A new girlfriend?” I smile, teasingly and he glares at me before sliding my phone back across the table and picking up his own. I flip through the article again, wondering if I should send it to Kate because I know she’s going to think it’s hilarious, but my attention is caught by Christian’s phone call.

“Jacqueline, there’s an article in Seattle Weekly about me dating Katherine Kavanagh. Miss Kavanagh is dating my brother, Elliot. Take care of it,” He says shortly and then hangs up the phone and returns his attention to his paper.

“Who’s Jacqueline?” I ask.

“My publicist. She deals with all the press for GEH, she’ll have them issue a retraction.”

“Why would you want a retraction?” I ask.

“Why would I want the entire city of Seattle to think I’m dating Kate?”

“Well, A- because she’s not me, and B- she’s from a good family, she’s intelligent, she’s beautiful…”

“Beautiful?” He says, his face crinkling with distaste. “I think she’s pretty generic.”

I roll my eyes but before he can argue any further we hear the ping of the elevator arriving and when I peer around the corner, I see Luke walk out of the foyer.

“Hey!” I greet him and he smiles at me.

“Ready for work?”

“Does it look like she’s ready?” Christian asks, clearly irritated as he looks up from his paper.

“No, sir,” Luke replies. “I’ll wait for you in Taylor’s office, Miss Steele.”

He turns around and disappears back into the foyer and once he’s gone I frown at Christian. “Can’t you just be a little bit nice to him?” I ask, disapprovingly.

“He’s staff,” Christian dismisses me.

“He’s your girlfriend’s best friend.”

“I’m not nice to Kate either.”

“Yes you are,” I say and then hold his gaze with a pointed look.

“Fine,” He reluctantly agrees. I smile, get out of my seat, and walk around the table to kiss him. When my lips touch his, I can feel the annoyance he carries in his muscles relax and as I pull away, he gives me a small, sweet smile.

“I love hearing you call yourself my girlfriend,” He tells me, “I’ve really missed that.”

“I love saying it,” I tell him. “But I’m also your intern, Mr. Grey, and I need to get to work. I’ve been told that if you don’t arrive before the CEO, you’re late.”

“Well I suggest you hurry then,” He says teasingly. “I have it on good authority that he’s about ready to leave.”

“Right away, sir,” I tell him, and as I turn away from the table to go grab Luke, Christian reaches out and swats my behind, making me yelp.

I collect my purse from the couch in the living room and then wait for Luke to finish an apparently secret security conversation he’s having with Taylor. Once we’re in the car and on the way to GEH, I realize how much better I feel driving with him than I did with Prescott earlier in the week. In fact, everything is better than it was earlier this week. I’m a little surprised at how quickly I’ve reached this place of blissful happiness. Just three weeks ago I was in my room in Cambridge studying for finals and trying to prepare myself for everything that I was afraid of facing in Seattle. Now I’m here, and after only a little more than a week, I’m preparing for a real, important internship that won’t just look good on a resume but will give me invaluable real life experience for what I want to do.

Most importantly, I have Christian back. We’re happy together, in love all over again. Looking back, I can’t believe I wasted two years keeping myself away from him. Maybe that’s why it was so hard for me after we broke up. It wasn’t just the hurt, not just the betrayal… I’m meant to be with Christian and I’m not whole when I’m away from him.

“How can you listen to this crap?” Luke asks, interrupting my thoughts as we idle in the typical morning traffic. I glare at him and reach over and slap his hand away from my radio.

“Oh, I don’t think so, keep your hands off,” I tell him. “Consider this payback.”

“Payback for what?”

“My car, my stereo,” I quote him and he frowns.

“Yeah, but I can say that,” He says. “There’s a difference here, Ana. My taste in music is awesome. Your taste in music is what’s wrong with America.”

I laugh and turn the radio up so that Ke$ha drowns out his complaints and then watch him shake his head and stare dejectedly out the window.

“What are you doing tonight?” He asks when the song is over. “There’s a cool band playing down at The Crocodile.”

“Sorry… Christian and I have, uh… plans,” I say, feeling my cheeks pink.

“Jesus, again?” He exclaims with disbelief.

“Hey, we went two years without having sex,” I argue, trying to sound incensed but failing because I can’t keep the ridiculous grin off my face. “There’s a lot make up for.”

“His dick isn’t going anywhere, Ana, you don’t have to get it all right now. Seriously, aren’t you concerned about chaffing?”

“Not with proper lubrication.”

“Oh, does Costco sell Astroglide in bulk?”

“I wouldn’t know. Christian is more of a… natural lubricant kind of guy.”

“Aaaaaaand that’s the end of this conversation,” Luke says, actually voluntarily turning the radio back up and I laugh.

Besides Ros, Luke and I are the first to arrive at GEH. So, while he heads back to the security office, I make my way around the office to turn on all the lights and then return to the front desk to take the phone off automatic voicemail. When Andrea arrives with Leila twenty minutes later, I’m reading through the material I have to go over with Ros this afternoon about SIP.

“Good morning, ladies,” I greet them and Leila looks at me seriously.

“You said you’re friends with Katherine Kavanagh, right?” She asks and I roll my eyes.

“Don’t worry, it’s not true. She’s dating Elliot Grey, not Christian Grey. Apparently they went to a Mariner’s game with Mr. Grey on Wednesday because they wanted to use his box seats.” I tell her, omitting the fact that I was also at that game…

“Oh, good,” She says, relieved, and as she settles down into her chair and I turn back to my work, I hear the doors to the office open again.

“Good morning, Mr. Grey,” Leila says brightly. Taylor holds open the door, while Christian enters carrying a vase overflowing with soft pink peonies, and I try to hide my smile.

Flowers, Christian? Really?

“Good morning, Leila,” Christian replies as he sets the flowers on the counter. “I thought these would look nice for when clients come through here.”

“They’re beautiful, Mr. Grey,” Leila says, “And they smell wonderful. Peonies are some of my favorite flowers.”

“Then I chose well,” He says, subtly turning to glance and me and I distract myself by looking back down at my computer screen.

“Can I get you some coffee, Mr. Grey?” Leila asks.

“Please,” He replies and then he turns and disappears down the hallway to his office. Leila turns back to Andrea, the look in her eyes a silent plea for her to cover the desk so she can get Christian’s coffee for him.

“Go,” Andrea says, rolling her eyes, and Leila smiles broadly before hurrying off for the breakroom.

“It’s strange,” Andrea says, once Leila is out of earshot. She sounds as if she’s simply musing aloud, but she turns to look at me. “He’s never personally bought flowers. I buy them for his mother and his sister and his grandmother… he’s never even so much as signed a card.”

“Well, it’s for the office,” I shrug. “You know how he likes to be in control of things here.”

“Or maybe they’re for his secret girlfriend,” She says implicitly and I raise an eyebrow at her.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s you, right? The girl that they keep talking about in the papers. I know it isn’t Katherine Kavanagh.”

“What?” I say, realizing too late that my reaction is a little too defensive. “I-I..”

“You have personal security, an apartment in his building, you know everybody, his brother treats you like family, every time you two look at one another it’s like you’re undressing each other with your eyes… and there’s a picture of the two of you together on his desk. It looks like it’s a couple years old but it doesn’t look like a picture of two people who are just friends. You said he had a girlfriend in college, it was you, wasn’t it?”

I stare back at her, dumbstruck. My head is screaming at me to deny it, to lie through my teeth, but I can tell by the look in her eyes, that it would be pointless. She knows.

“Yes,” I admit quietly, “But Andrea, please…”

“I’m not going to tell anyone,” She assures me. “He’s my boss and it’s none of my business. I get why you would want to keep it a secret, and you should. There are sharks here, Ana, and they’ll come to devour you if they think they can. It doesn’t look great, you know, with you being his intern…”

“I’m not using him,” I say defensively and she nods.

“I believe you, but that will be hard to prove. Especially with the announcement about SIP.”

“Tell me about it,” I say ruefully.

“Well hopefully with you being moved to the…” She begins, but stops when her attention is caught by a commotion on the other side of the room.

“Where is he?” Ros says angrily as she storms angrily out of her office. “Christian, is he here yet?” she demands.

“Uh, yeah, he’s in his office,” Andrea replies, slightly taken aback by the hostility in her voice. Even I’m surprised. In all the time I’ve known Ros, I’ve never seen her angry before.

“Good. Ana, can I see you in Christian’s office for a minute?”

Oh shit. Did something happen with SIP?

“Sure, Miss Bailey,” I reply, and I get up and follow her down the hallway towards Christian’s office. We pass Leila in the hallway, who is practically beaming with happiness as she slowly saunters back towards reception, but that changes when she sees Ros and I. She gives me a concerned, questioning glance but all I can do is shrug back at her as I’m pushed through the double wooden doors.

“What the fuck is this?” Ros asks Christian angrily, holding up a manilla folder as she stalks towards his desk.

“Yes, please, come in, Ros,” Christian says irritably.

“What is this, Christian?” She asks again and she throws the file onto his desk. He sighs, reaches out and begins to flip through it.

“This is the GEH non-fraternization policy,” He says and she glares at him.

“This is not the document that was drawn up by our lawyers,” She says. “HR just sent it back to me to let me know that you’ve made changes. I particularly like the part about how this policy applies only to employees having relations with their direct superiors. Is that why you gave me SIP, because you didn’t want Anastasia to be underneath you anymore?”

“That was a poor choice of words,” Christian says, as an involuntary smile crosses his lips but Ros isn’t deterred.

“I’m being serious, Christian. What the fuck are you thinking?”

I feel myself cringe at the way she throws her words at Christian like daggers. She’s really, really mad about this and I don’t really fully understand why… This really feels like more than just her concern for the company, and as I think about what she told me last Saturday night in the sushi bar, I think I realize what the problem is.

He’s one of her best friends, they’ve shared everything with each other for years, they took this gigantic leap into the business world together, alone… She cares about him as more than just a business partner. I don’t think this is the non-fraternization policy, I think this is us hiding our relationship from her, when she knows that we’ve been lying.

“Frankly, I don’t see what the problem is,” Christian says, his own voice terse now. “I think these changes adequately mitigate any concern you had about a relationship between Ana and myself.”

“She’s your intern, Christian,” Ros argues.

“No, she’s your intern,” Christian replies. “You’re taking charge of SIP.”

“Have you disclosed your relationship to HR?” She snaps and Christian’s face lights up with sudden recollection.

“No, but that reminds me,” He says, reaching into his desk drawer and pulling out a large envelope which he hands to me. “This is a relationship disclosure form, I’ve already signed it. Read over it, sign it and give it to HR as soon as you can.”

“You’re going to disclose…?” I begin hesitantly, but he interrupts me.

“It’s confidential,” He assures me and then he turns to Ros. “And will protect GEH in the event something should leak to the press.”

“You told me that nothing was going on between the two of you,” Ros says, turning to me and I blanch under her reproachful stare.

“When I said that, there wasn’t,” I tell her honestly. “I would have told you when that changed but… you freaked me out with this whole fraternization thing. You said I could be fired, and I didn’t want to put you in that position.”

She exhales sharply, but I think I can see the anger behind her eyes beginning to diminish. It looks as though Christian’s assurances are enough to assuage her doubt about our relationship’s effect on GEH because she eventually sighs and nods with conceit. She looks back and forth between the two of us for a moment and then, slowly, a nostalgic kind of smile crosses her lips.

“So, you two are really back together. Like for real?” She asks, and I nod. “When did it happen? How did it happen? No… wait, I don’t want to know that, but, GEH aside… I’m really happy for you guys. I can’t tell you how much he’s missed you, Ana. He hasn’t been the same without you.’

“Thanks, Ros,” Christian says, sharply. “Now, get out.”

“Fine,” She says. “I have a few pressing things to finish up this morning but we can meet in thirty minutes, Ana?”

“Sure,” I agree and just as we turn to leave, there is a long, flat tone that comes out of the phone on Christian’s desk and then we hear Andrea’s voice.

“Mr. Grey, Mr. Grey…er, your brother, just called. He said he needs a meeting with you. He’s on his way over from the construction site.”

“Let me know when he gets here, Andrea,” Christian says, as he turns back to the work in front of him. “Clear my schedule if there are any conflicts.”

“Yes, sir,” She says, and there’s a small clicking noise of her hanging up the receiver on her end and the phone goes quiet.

While I spend the next thirty minutes going over the business proposal I’m supposed to present on SIP for Christian this afternoon, Elliot arrives, looking flustered and holding onto a long cylinder as he strides his way back towards Christian’s office. Although he nods at me as he passes my desk, I know there’s something wrong. Something with the building maybe? I follow him around the corner with my eyes, wondering what could have happy-go-lucky Elliot so upset…

“Ana?” Ros asks, poking her head through her office door. “Ready?”

“Yes,” I say, pushing my concern for Elliot aside and trying to be confident as I pick up my freshly printed business proposal and walk towards her.

Throughout the week, Ros and I spent a great deal of time going over SIP and I made sure that I did not waste the time I had with her. She explained to me that GEH’s success lies in the simplicity of its business model. Christian invests in people, not in companies. What separates GEH from other conglomerate organizations is that Christian isn’t interested in size or a simple bottom line. He’s interested in innovation and the key to GEH’s success is finding the people with the will and the talent to create change and push forward. The subsidiaries of GEH aren’t simply the best in the market, they transform the market, and with that transformation comes profit and growth.

His agriculture division is revolutionizing the farming industry by creating technology that gives higher food yields while using less land, water and fuel. The focus of Grey Construction is to utilize only renewable and energy efficient materials to build homes and buildings so that eventually these structures could become entirely self-sustainable. His first project with the amalgamation of his fiber optics division with telecommunication security and software development has transformed the communication industry by increasing the speed and reliability of electronic transmissions and creating airtight security for encrypted information.

I have been tasked with finding a way to make SIP push the boundaries of the publishing industry, which has been difficult since what I’ve learned over the past few days of research is that the publishing industry is dying.

“Author focused publishing?” Ros asks once she finishes reading through my proposal.

“I know it sounds overly simple…” I say but she shakes her head.

“Simplicity is good. Tell me why author focused publishing will revolutionize the industry.”

“Well, traditional publishing isn’t sustainable. Self Publishing is on the rise. Any person with a laptop and an internet connection can upload their works online and sell it for a fraction of a cost while taking in all of the profit. Kindle’s are found everywhere, Apple just released iPad last month and there are hundreds of reading apps you can download right onto your smartphone… It makes self publishing not only viable but maybe even preferable. Especially with how difficult it is to break into the publishing industry in the first place. SIP has lost three major authors in the last year. I think if we invest in our authors instead of just speculating and chasing whatever the next big thing is going to be, we attract really talented writers, and keep the authors we have publishing through SIP. Then we invest more in ebook technology over traditional printing, and I think SIP makes it.”

“Well your organizational structure looks good, your financial analysis is promising. Overall, I’d say…”

“What the fuck are you doing here?” We hear a loud voice roar from the other side of Ros’s door. She looks curiously in the direction of the noise and we both get out of our seats to find out what the commotion is.

“Get off me, Christian!” Elliot shouts, and Ros and I both stare as Christian physically pushes an irate looking Elliot away from Elena Lincoln, who is sitting in the waiting area next to the reception desk. “She shouldn’t be here!”

“Elliot, calm down!” Christian says firmly, but the way Elliot fights against Christian’s hold on him, it’s almost as if he doesn’t hear him.

“I’m not here to see Christian, Elliot,” Elena says defensively. “I have an appointment with Ros about the new location.”

“Yeah, about that. You can take these plans and shove them up your ass. If you think I’m going to lift a finger to help you move into a location three minutes away from where my mother lives, you’re out of your goddamn mind. You can go to hell you over-botoxed bitch!”

Leila and Andrea both raise their hands to their mouth, shocked at Elliot’s diatribe, and while Elena looks over at them, a mixture of indignance and embarrassment coloring her face, Christian looks furious.

“Elliot!” He yells, gripping tightly to his brother’s suit jacket as he looks like he’s about to lunge at Elena. “Maybe you should take a walk.”

Elliot stares back at him shaking, but Christian holds his gaze, staring him down in a show of authority, and Elliot calms down enough to realize how inappropriate he’s being in the middle of Christian’s office.

“Fine,” he says darkly, and he shrugs Christian off. I watch nervously as Elliot stalks towards Elena, squaring up in front of her with a threatening look in his eyes, before turning and walking through the double doors.

“I’ll be right back,” I whisper nervously to Ros and then I turn and hurry quickly through the reception area, past a still angry looking Christian and a humiliated looking Elena.

“Elliot,” I say gently as the elevator doors open and he begins to step inside. He looks back at me and then takes a deep, shaky breath before reaching out to hold the elevator door open for me. Once I’m inside, he lets the doors slide closed and pushes the button for the garage.

“I can’t believe the audacity of that woman,” He says darkly. “She flaunting this business connection she has with Christian in all of our faces. You think it’s a coincidence that she chose a shopping center I could walk to from my parents’ house as her third location? She sent me plans, Ana. Me, not Grey Construction. Look, attention: Elliot Grey. I swear to god, I want to kill her, Ana. I want to strangle her to death with my bare fucking hands.”

“I know,” I say calmly. “So do I, but I think these plans are a sign that we’re doing something right. I think she’s nervous, Elliot. She’s trying to create chaos or force Christian into a reaction to scare us off because she knows that he’s pulling away from her. We just have to make he doesn’t play right into her hand. She’s already losing, Elliot. Christian hasn’t had the breakthrough he needs to in order to cut her completely out of his life yet, but he’s getting close. I can feel it.”

“I hope so, Ana,” Elliot says. I wrap my arms around him and he squeezes me, rubbing his hand over my back as the elevator doors open.

“Let’s hang out this weekend,” He says as he steps into the parking garage. “Maybe we can talk Christian into some family time.”

“Sure,” I promise and then wave as he turns and walks to his car.

When I get back upstairs, Ros has brought Elena into her office so I grind my teeth together and sit back at my desk to wait until my meeting with Christian, ignoring Leila and Andrea gossiping about the things Elliot said to Elena.

As I look through all the notes I took during my meeting with Ros and double check to make sure I have everything I need, there is a low buzzing sound and I look up to see a delivery man waiting on the other side of the door. Andrea gets up, takes the bags from him and hands them to me.

“This is for your meeting with Mr. Grey. He told me to send you back there once the food got here.”

“Really?”

“Mhm,” She mumbles, dismissing me, and so I take the bags and my files and walk down the back hallway.

“You ordered lunch?” I ask, once I walk into Christian office. He looks up, gets out of his chair and begins walking towards me.

“I’m in meetings all afternoon. I’m not going to have time to take lunch,” He says, and once he reaches me, he places his hand gently on the back of my neck and kisses me deeply, surprising me.

“Christian!” I exclaim as I pull away from him, “We’re at work remember?”

“It’s been a shitty day, Ana,” He says, and he leans down to kiss me again but I stop him.

“Well, we can work out all of that stress at home, tonight, but not here,” I tell him and he huffs with frustration and turns back to his desk.

“Then let’s get to work,” He says. “Please, have a seat, Miss Steele.”

I walk to the desk, taking out the containers of food for him to eat while I prepare. When I begin, he listens attentively, eating his salad and watching me carefully as I lay out my business proposal for him.

His feedback is very similar to Ros’s and that feels very encouraging to me, like I’m on the right track. We discuss financials and the different steps I need to take and how timing is important to each phase of this implementation. He signs off on everything I propose, adding a few of his own notes. He hands me some internal communication he’s had with the current directors of SIP and as I read over them, I have to ignore his overly attentive stare.

“What?” I ask, when I look up from the paper in my hands and see him staring at me. He smiles and then gets out of his seat, walks around his desk and stops in front of me, leaning over and placing both hands on either side of the armrests of my chair.

“You’ve got a little bit of salad dressing on your lip,” He says, and, despite myself, I’m suddenly enraptured by the sudden sexy timber in his voice. Keep it together, Steele.

He reaches out and brushes his thumb over the corner of my mouth, and I stare longingly at him as he sucks the small bead of moisture off his thumb. I inhale sharply at the erotic visual and then he leans down and presses his lips into mine. Slowly, his hand begins to inch up my thigh and under my skirt and when his fingers reach the tops of my stockings, he groans and tugs gently on the nylon.

“Christian,” I say, trying to sound disapproving as I pull away from the kiss, but my voice is so full of desire that I sound more needy than anything else.

“Go lock the door,” He tells me, and I stare back into his piercing gray eyes with hesitation. “Do it,” He commands me again and as reason gives way to yearning, I rise from my seat and hurry across his office to do as he asks. When I turn back around to face him, he’s pacing back around his desk, to his place of power.

“Come here,” He tells me and again, I obey his command. When I’m standing in front of him, he looks over my body once and then slowly reaches up and begins to unbutton my blouse.

“That’s better,” He says once he’s pulled the silky fabric off of me and I’m left standing before him in nothing but my skirt and bra. He sits down in his chair, leans forward and kisses my stomach.

“Get on your knees,” He tells me.

Reaching down to grip the desk so that I don’t fall in my high heels, I carefully lower myself onto the ground in front of him while he unbuckles his belt and then slowly undoes his fly. I breathe in deeply as he reaches into his pants and pulls out his erection and then smile when his hand twists into my hair and he gently pulls my mouth down onto him. As I run my tongue over the tip of his erection, I glance up at him, keeping my eyes on him as I envelop him in my mouth and I feel a rush of satisfaction watching him shudder with pleasure.

His fingers grip my hair tightly as I pull him deeper into my mouth, taking as much of him as I can manage until he’s in the back of my throat. He moans and gasps as I move my head up and down over him, alternating between licking and sucking until I bring him right to the brink…

“Stand up,” He tells me, pulling away from me just before he erupts in my mouth. I lick my top lip as I do what he asks and once I’m standing before him again, he reaches out and pulls my skirt up to my waste. All the muscles south of my navel clench as he leans over and runs his nose up the seam of my stockings on my inner thigh until he reaches the lace top, which he captures in his teeth and tugs on gently before releasing it and running his tongue over the line between the lace and my exposed skin.

“These are so sexy, Anastasia,” He whispers. “When we get home tonight, I want to watch you walk around my apartment in nothing but these and a pair of high heels. Do you understand me?”

“Yes,” I breath and he pulls away from me.

“Turn around and face the desk,” He commands and once I’m facing away from him, He pushes gently on my upper back to bend me over his desk, and then reaches under my skirt and slowly peels my panties down my legs. I step out of them and he tosses them aside. I feel one of his long fingers slide into me and I moan as he starts to move it in and out, adding a second, then a third, all while stimulating my clitoris with his thumb.

“You have such a magnificent ass, Anastasia,” He whispers reverentially. “I love looking at you, bent over and on display for me.”

“Oh…” I moan. “And I love feeling your fingers inside of me.”

He lets out a low breathy laugh. “Oh baby, that’s not all you’re going to feel inside of you. Spread your legs. I’m going to fuck you over my desk.”

I widen my stance, and as he stands behind me, he pushes me down completely flat onto the desk so that my breasts press onto the cool wood surface and my ass is in the air. He runs a hand up my back and grabs a fist full of my hair as he drives into me, pushing as far into me as he can before pulling out and slamming forward again. I gasp and my hands fly out over the desk, knocking a pencil cup noisily to the floor.

“Quiet, baby,” He warns me. “You’ve got to be real quiet.”

“Oh, Christian…” I whisper, and with the sound of his name on my lips, he releases my hair and moves both hands to my hips, gripping tightly as he increases the fervor of his rhythm. I lose myself in the sensation of him filling me, so much so that I’m completely oblivious to the destruction I’m causing by pushing files and loose papers off the desk and onto the floor, but Christian doesn’t seem to care. I feel his hand grip tightly to my behind, his thumb sliding around his erection moving in and out of me and collecting my slick arousal before dragging it up my behind and then rubbing slow circles around the entrance of my ass. I moan as, surprisingly, it feels… good. Really good.

“Do you like that, Anastasia?” He asks huskily.

“Yes,” I whisper and he moans his approval.

“How about this?” He asks again and his thumb pushes slowly inside of me… there. I cry out, trying to be quiet but it’s difficult now as this new sensation has ignited the flame that signals my orgasm is fast approaching.

“Answer me, Anastasia,” He says.

“Yes,” I tell him. “Yes.”

“Mmm baby, I really want to fuck your ass,” He tells me, and as his thumb begins to move in and out of me in synchronization with his thrusts, I feel my insides begin to quicken. “That turns you on, doesn’t it, Anastasia? Thinking about me, here…”

“Yes,” I breath and, when his other hand moves from my hip and smacks me, hard, on the behind, I detonate. Once again my hands fly freely over the desk knocking into his phone, sending papers flying…

“Oh, Christian! Harder, harder, harder…!”

“Oh, baby, yes… Fuck, I’m coming! Oh god, Anastasia!”

“Um… Mr. Grey?” Andrea’s nervous voice comes through the intercom on Christian’s phone and he stills immediately.

“Oh my god!” I say, looking over at the phone in horror and Christian curses under his breath as he reaches over to disconnect the call. I scramble off the desk, pulling my blouse back over me and begin searching frantically for my panties as I feel a wave of dread and humiliation coarse over me at the thought of me screaming out my orgasm being broadcast over speaker phone in reception.

“What do we do?” I asked panicked and he reaches down under his desk, picks my panties up off the floor and hands them to me.

“Calm down, Ana, we’re not committing a crime here. It’s going to be okay.”

“I’m not worried about being arrested, Christian. I have to go back out there. I have to sit next to Andrea for the rest of the day knowing that she knows that we were just… oh god, this is so humiliating.”

“You’re embarrassed?” He ask, a note of hurt behind his voice.

“No! I mean, yes… but not because of you, of course not because of you. Christian, we’re at work. You’re the boss… Think of how uncomfortable this is for Andrea and… oh my god, Leila. She’s going to freak out… Not to mention I now look like the girl who can’t make it through one meeting without getting naked for the CEO. Oh my god…”

“Who cares what they think?” Christian says. “Anastasia, I love you. I’m so fucking tired of this whole secret keeping bullshit. I want the world to know that you’re mine. You’re not some slutty intern fucking her boss to get ahead, you’re my girlfriend. Everyone else is just going to have to deal with that. I’m not ashamed that I can’t keep my hands off of you, you’re beautiful and sexy and being in this building doesn’t change how much I want you.”

“I know, Christian, and I want you too. All the time. Even here. I’m not trying to say that I don’t. I don’t mean that I regret… I mean, I just…”

“Do you want me to go out there?” He asks. “I’ll talk to them, I’ll put an end to anything being said before it can start.”

“No, I don’t think that will make it better,” I take a deep breath. “It’s okay. I’m sorry I freaked out… I’ll be fine. You’re right, you’re my boyfriend, this isn’t some sleazy affair. We had sex, people in relationships have sex. I can handle this, it’s fine.”

“You’re sure?” He asks and I nod and then lean over and kiss him softly on the lips.

“Thanks for the desk action, Mr. Grey. Per usual, it was fan-fucking-tastic.”

“Anytime, Miss Steele,” He replies, and he kisses me once more before I turn, gather my things and then walk with what I hope is confident conviction out of the office.

Once the door is closed behind me, I hear voices drifting up the hallway but they’re cut off by what sounds like, Luke.

“Okay everybody just needs to relax,” He says. “He’s your boss. He pays you to do a job, not to sit around and gossip with each other. Get it together and get back to work.”

Everybody? Fuck, who’s out there?

I take a deep breath and come around the corner, and to my horror, I find not only Andrea and Leila in reception, but also Leila’s friend Suzannah, Luke, Taylor, Ros and… fuck.

“Well, I better be going,” Elena says sharply, her eyes flashing malevolently when she sees me. “Esclava doesn’t run itself. Thank you for the meeting, Ros. I’ll be in touch.”

“Good-bye, Mrs. Lincoln,” Ros says with a tight smile and then she gives me an irritated look before turning around for her office.

I glare back at Elena as she leaves through the glass doors towards the elevator and then make my way back to my seat behind the front desk, trying to maintain a sense of composure as I settle down into my seat.

“You okay, Ana?” Luke asks, concerned, and I nod.

“I’m fine, Luke,” I reply, smiling up at him as I open the lid to my macbook.

“Fine,” Leila scoffs. “Of course she’s fine. She has a great new job, a company car…”

“Leila,” Andrea says, her voice a warning and I take a deep breath and turn to face her.

“Is there something you need to say to me, Leila?” I ask and her nostrils flare.

“Oh there’s a lot that I need to say to you,” She replies angrily. “Tell me, Anastasia, did you fuck him to get the whole internship or just the SIP deal?”

“Leila!” Andrea exclaims.

“I think you need some time to collect yourself, Miss Williams,” Luke says harshly. “Why don’t you go to lunch?”

“Shut up, Sawyer. I think I’d like an answer to the question,” Leila says, not looking away from me. “Seriously, Anastasia. What did he promise you to make you whore yourself out to him?”

“Excuse me?” a voice says darkly from behind us and Leila whips around to see Christian standing at the end of the hallway glaring furiously at her.

“Mr. Grey!” Leila exclaims.

“What did you just say?” Christian asks, stalking threateningly towards the desk. “Did I just hear you call Miss Steele a whore?”

“I-I…”

“Pack your things,” Christian growls. “You’re done here.”

“Mr. Grey, I-,” Leila stutters but Christian ignores her pleas and instead turns to look at Suzannah who is watching the scene in front of her with eyes as wide as dinner plates.

“Who the fuck are you?” Christian asks.

“I’m- uh, I’m Suzannah Evans, sir. I’m a marketing intern.”

“Why are you here?” Christian barks at her. “There is a reason those doors have security permissions on them. My office is not a place for you to be loitering, Miss Evans.”

“I’m sorry, sir,” She says and she turns around and practically throws open the glass door in her attempt to get away as quickly as possible.

“Does anyone else have a problem they want to discuss?” Christian asks, looking around the room but under his irate gaze, no one so much as breathes let alone speaks up. “Good.” He snaps. “Now get back to work. Andrea, you can post the position for a new receptionist.”

“Mr. Grey!” Leila says, sounding as though she’s on the edge of tears.

“I said you’re fired, Miss Williams. Pack your things and get the fuck out of my office.” He turns and storms back up the hallway.

We hear his office door slam closed and then Leila, after standing and gaping at the hallway in silent shock for several seconds, devolves into tears, her breath coming in harsh, gasps as she falls back into her chair. I turn away from her, knowing I’m not a person who can comfort her right now. She just lost her job and I’m partially to blame… so I say nothing. I log into my laptop and quietly begin incorporating the notes Christian gave me into my business proposal.

It’s incredibly awkward when Andrea retrieves a brown, cardboard box from the copy room and begins to help Leila gather her things. I try to focus solely on the screen of my laptop, to not even look in her direction, but once she’s packed up and ready to be escorted out of the building by Ryan, she stops and turns to face me one last time.

“This isn’t going to turn out well for you, Anastasia,” She says menacingly. “You have no idea what I’m capable of. I’ll ruin him. I’ll ruin you. You’re going to regret ever coming here.”

“That’s enough,” Ryan says. “Let’s go, Miss Williams.”

She gives me one last examining look and turns toward the door and as I watch her step into the elevator and disappear from sight, I feel a cold shiver of trepidation wash over me.

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