Fifty Shades Deeper

The Interview

"Mr. Grey?"

He glanced up at the woman as she poked her head into the office, her glasses sliding down the bridge of her nose. For some reason her glasses always seemed to be too big for her face.

"Yes, Eliza?" His tone was more than a bit sharp. He was used to his assistants communicating with him via intercom, but his newest hire hadn't seemed to pick up on that yet. She insisted on always entering his office for the most minor things.

"That student reporter is here for an interview. Do you want me to send her in?"

The pale man sighed, raising his hands to his temples and closing his eyes. Usually he didn't do interviews. He had grown accustomed to just sending a press package with his remarks. Maybe the occasional press conference, but never a one on one interview. An old friend had asked him to do it as a favor and he reluctantly agreed, though he had forgotten about the ordeal until just this moment.

When he opened his eyes he was disappointed to see Eliza still leaning into his office, gazing at him expectantly. "Yeah, send her in," he relented.

Eliza ducked out of the room. He could hear her speaking to someone briefly before the door opened again. At first glance, the "reporter," if you could call her that, seemed unremarkable. She was very plain, with long brown hair, brown eyes, and pale skin. She wore an ill-fitting pants suit with necklaces that almost resembled costume jewelry. The older man noted that she wore cheap ballet flats, which she still managed to stumbled over.

Christian Grey rolled his eyes. This was the best they could send? Still, he stood to greet her.

"Christian Grey," he offered his hand. "And you must be Kate?"

"Actually," her voice shook when she spoke "I'm Ana. Kate couldn't make it, she's sick."

Grey jumped at the chance to cancel. "Well, if she can't make it I guess we'll just have to cancel the interview."

"No she left me a list of questions!" Ana turned her phone screen towards him excitedly.

"That's ... not how this works. I have an appointment with Kate, not Ana. If Ana wants an appointment then she needs to make one herself. You can do so with my assistant, or you can have your friend call and reschedule, like she should have done in the first place. Either way only one of you is getting the interview."

He gestured towards the door and resumed his place at his computer. With that out of the way he could focus on more important things, like running his company.

"But this is supposed to go in the next issue of the paper," her tone quickly became frantic. "I really can't leave without it."

"Well then your friend should have come for her appointment. Instead she sent a whiny, unprofessional child with no sense of how journalism works," his glare shot through her. "Now please leave before I have security escort you out."

Ana swallowed the lump that was quickly growing in her throat. She knew if she said a word she would burst into tears, so all she could do was nod and back out of the room, not bothering to close the door behind her.

"A bit harsh don't you think?" Eliza reappeared in the doorway. He took a moment to appreciate that while her glasses were many sizes too large, her clothes were always perfectly tailored. "She's just a kid."

"Kid's can't go to college, Eliza," he quipped back, not looking up from his monitor.

The assistant sighed and resumed her station at the desk just outside his office. This certainly wasn't her dream job - far from it in fact. Her father had gotten her this gig after her most recent fling threw her out and said it was the last favor he would ever do for her. After twenty-seven years he was finally throwing her to the wind.