Author's Note: So this idea came to me reading some of the fanfics of Christian and Ana meeting earlier in life, in college or high school (though that's a bit too early for my taste but fun to read). This isn't related to any of those story lines but instead it explores the notion of Ana being alongside Christian as he builds up his multibillion-dollar business, and the sacrifices they both have to make along the way.

In my version, Ana is 18 and goes to school in Boston, while Christian is 21 and attends Harvard when they meet. Same Elena backdrop (though that's not a plot line) but he's left Elena behind and our favorite couple instantly have a mutual attraction and fall in love. Christian drops out and leaves for Seattle to start his company, taking Ana with him. Ana transfers to a school in Washington State, they get married when she turns 21, GEH becomes a major success, she graduates and a year later she finally lands a job at SIP. Five years after they met, that's where this story starts.

No kids yet. This is all about how Christian navigates Ana's desire to step out of his shadow to forge her own career path as both of them try to achieve a better work-life balance. Some lemons and HEA, but there is a more serious fight than the kind I usually depict as Ana begins to feel neglected and Christian, who is deeply in love with her but a bit dense, has to reassess his priorities.

If you like this, PLEASE review and follow — and also check out my main book, "Something Tangible," and follow that. Reviews keep me inspired so feedback is really appreciated! Thanks and enjoy!

Fifty Shades of Sacrifice

Ana burst into Christian's personal lobby practically skipping — and tripping over herself. For once in her slightly clumsy life, she was brimming with confidence.

"Hi Andrea! How are you?" she beamed.

"Morning Mrs. Grey. I'm great. Thank you for asking. He's meeting with a few associates in his office but go on in."

"No no, I'll wait," she declined.

"Mrs. Grey, you know he's left explicit instructions for you to interrupt…"

"I know Andrea," she pre-empted her husband's ever-efficient personal assistant. "But it's not urgent. Will he be finished soon?

"He should only be another 10 minutes."

"Terrific. I'll wait."

Ana took a seat on one of the sleek white chairs that graced the lobby but struggled to sit still, anxious to tell her husband the good news. As usual she didn't have to wait very long. Andrea had already surreptitiously emailed her boss alerting him to Ana's presence.

A minute later, Christian shooed the three men in drab, indistinguishable suits out of office before setting his sights on his wife, who was radiating joy.

"Hi baby," he greeted her wearing a huge, goofy grin.

"Hi Christian," she ran into his arms.

"What's up? To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"I have amazing news. I got the job at SIP! I'm going to be an assistant editor," she squealed, unable to contain her excitement any longer.

"That's wonderful baby! Congratulations. I knew you could do it." Matching her enthusiasm, Christian twirled his wife in the air and planted a loud, sloppy kiss on her lips before setting her back down. "Come on baby, you can tell me all about it," he clasped her hand and ushered her into his office.

"I got the call this morning. Oh my gosh, I knew the interview went well but I was trying not to get my hopes up. It's been almost a year since I graduated, which I know in the grand scheme of things isn't that long, but these temporary editing gigs were starting to get on my nerves. And this is exactly the type of publishing house I was dying to work for. Just think, I'll get paid to read manuscripts all day long!" She paced his vast, sparse office, flustered with giddiness.

"Whoa baby slow down," Christian chuckled, pulling her into his embrace. "That's amazing. SIP has a stellar reputation. I'm sure you'll skyrocket to the top before you know it."

Christian dipped down to nip her ear before moving down to suck on the delicate skin of her collarbone, her creamy flesh driving him wild with need. Jesus this woman is like a homing beacon. I get hard if she's within a 10-mile radius.

He had been swamped with the pending acquisition of a major Chinese port over the last few weeks and it had been two solid days since he'd been intimate with his wife. He needed his fix.

Ana felt his impatient erection pressing into her belly. "I think there's only room in the family for one CEO at the moment," she laughed. Her sweet giggle sealed the deal and Christian began hiking up her skirt.

Ana swatted his chest in a feeble attempt to resist his lewd advances.

"Come on baby," he crooned, kneading the soft skin of her thigh. "I'm so proud of you. Let me show you just how proud I am."

"Christian!" she screeched in mock outrage. "I know you love office sex but I'm always so paranoid someone will hear and …" — before Ana could finish her half-hearted protest, he began teasing the wet silk of her panties, an arrogant smirk playing on his face.

Fuck it, he can be as conceited as he wants. He's got the sexpertise to back it up.

Ana's head thumped back against the wall Christian had pinned her up against, her throaty moans fueling a primal desire to reclaim his wife.

"You're soaking just for me Anastasia. You want this as much as I do," he observed coolly, yanking the fabric out of his way to slip a finger knuckle-deep inside.

"Yes but…"

"You know it's soundproof. I'd never let anyone hear my wife in the throes of ecstasy. I need you baby," he cajoled her, the dulcet tones of his plea breaking down her resistance.

When he eased a second finger into her swollen folds, Ana finally dropped the last pretense of her inhibition and crashed her lips against Christian's, desperate for his taste and touch. Christian wasted no time plunging his tongue deep inside, dueling with hers as he ripped her panties to shreds.

And another pair bites the dust, she thought. Good thing I have a running tab at every lingerie store in town.

Ana vaguely heard the clatter of Christian's belt buckle in the distance but was too distracted by the thumb gently massaging her clit to notice or care. All of her attention was concentrated on the bundle of nerves that her husband was so skillfully manipulating.

She began to grind against his hand for more friction, frustrated when he abruptly removed his fingers and left her feeling bereft.

"Christian," she cried out, clutching his broad shoulders.

"Don't worry baby. This is going to be hard and fast — and good," he vowed, lifting her by the ass and impaling her on his engorged cock in one swift motion.

A soothing wave of bliss washed over both of them as Christian stilled to savor his favorite moment of their lovemaking. Sheathed inside her enticing warmth, he gave her time to acclimate to his size again as he slanted his lips over hers, devouring her in a fierce kiss.

"I've missed you so much baby," he groaned as he began to pump languidly in and out of Ana's drenched core, allowing her to feel every ridge and contour of his erection.

"Please Christian. More, more," Ana begged, her walls clenching around his throbbing cock.

"I'll always give you more baby," Christian panted, his muscles flexing with each delicious thrust that stretched and filled her to the brink.

Methodically controlled strokes quickly gave way to animalistic pounding as Christian fought to bring her to the pinnacle with him.

"Oh fuck baby. You feel so unbelievably good," he grunted, barreling into her like a man possessed.

Ana tightened her legs around him in a vice-like grip as she weaved her fingers in his hair to anchor herself against his unrelenting onslaught.

"I need you Christian," she mewled.

"I'm right here baby. I'll always give you what you need," he promised, bucking wildly into her.

Christian's slid his hand up to roughly squeeze her breast while he suckled on her neck, the sensation of his teeth puncturing her skin bordering on the edge of exquisite pain.

"Do you want this baby?" he taunted her, grinding and circling his hips into her, pulling out just before slamming back into her. "Tell me who you belong to Anastasia."

"You! You! Oh God, don't stop," she whimpered, every nerve ending on fire.

The tingling in his balls told him it was time to redouble his effort, so he snaked his hand down to rub her clit in tandem with his hot, wet kisses.

Ana's breasts tantalizingly writhed against the rock-hard expanse of his chest as her body bowed in unadulterated pleasure. She gasped every time he banged her up against the unforgiving surface of the wall, praying that his office really was soundproof.

"We're going to test that theory out Ana," Christian said, his odd power of telepathy giving her goose-bumps.

"Scream for me Anastasia. Scream my fucking name as I make you come all over me. Now baby," he commanded gruffly, ramming into her with all the strength he could muster.

Her high-pitched wail rent the air as she exploded in a mind-bending orgasm that clouded her vision. Her muscles contracted around his almost unbearably painful erection and sent Christian spiraling over the precipice right alongside her.

"Oh shit, that's right. Give it all to me damn it!" Christian let out a feral growl as he buried himself to the hilt, his cock pulsing and swelling as he erupted into hedonistic overload — the hot jets of his seed lashing her walls. Trembling from his own aftershocks, Christian held Ana's thrashing body down as she rode out the last of her climax.

Christian kept his arms firmly locked around his wife as he let out a guttural, gratified moan.

"Jesus baby, I needed that," he exhaled, tenderly nuzzling her neck with the coarse whiskers of his stubble.

"When don't you?" she retorted, a mischievous gleam in her eye.

"With you? Never." He gave her one last impassioned kiss before carefully placing his still woozy wife back on her feet.

"So do you know who your boss will be?" Christian asked matter-of-factly, resuming his business-like demeanor as if nothing had happened.

"Yes his name is Mike Staunton. I interviewed with him briefly a few weeks ago. He's climbed the ranks fast at SIP but he's really knowledgeable about publishing and has some discovered some real gems."

Christian's jealous ears perked up. A guy huh? And a young one at that. Don't spoil her good mood Grey. Wait until after you've run the background check before you ruin it.

"When do you start?"

Ana stifled a laugh. Nice deflection Grey but I know you're just saving this battle for a rainy day.

"Monday," she replied, readjusting her outfit in the well-practiced post-coital routine she had perfected over the years.

"So soon?"

"Yeah, I could've waited another two weeks but I figured what's the point? With you working long hours and me stuck at home, it didn't make any sense to delay the inevitable. Besides, I'm eager to start this next chapter of my life!"

A tinge of sadness flashed across his face. With two busy schedules, it's only going to be that much harder to carve out time for each other now. Will we become one of those couples who have to pencil in date night just to see each other? Christian shoved the depressing thought aside and refocused on his wife.

"Well then, I guess I'll have to take advantage of you while I still can," he said, trying to sound cheerful — and seductive.

"As if you don't do that already Mr. Grey?" she grinned.

"Yes but now my window is narrower. How about we celebrate this Saturday with something special — just the two of us?"

Ana was about to clap when Christian threw out a caveat that put a damper on her parade: "I may have an important conference call with the Shanghai team that day but I promise I'll do everything in my power to wrap it up and be free that evening. I just wanted to give you a heads up in case something goes wrong."

Murphy's Law — it always does. Ana tried to disguise her disappointment by giving him a reassuring peck on the cheek. "It's alright Christian, I understand." I always do. "You have an empire to run. I know you'll do the best you can."

Lately though, Ana couldn't shake the niggling feeling that his best wasn't enough for her any more.

"Thank you baby," he returned her kiss with indebted fervor. "I don't mean to sound rude, but I have a meeting…"

"Don't worry, I'm leaving," she said, sensing his imminent dismissal. "Have a good day Mr. Grey. Try not to bite off anyone's head off." She turned on her heels, knowing the fuck and duck drill.

"Baby wait, I'll see you out." He may be an absentee husband, but he's still a gentleman about it. Ana, where did that come from? Stop giving the man a hard time. Wait, did I just mentally berate myself for something I didn't even say out loud?

Ana's internal reprimanding was interrupted by Andrea's gentle warning over the intercom.

"Mr. Grey, Miss Abramson is on her way up to meet with you about the Statisnomal merger."

"OK send her up," Christian instructed, absentmindedly sifting through a mountain of paperwork on his desk.

Ah great, this impromptu visit keeps getting better and better. The mere mention of Stacie Abramson's name made Ana's skin crawl. By all appearances, Stacie was a model employee: She was a brilliant financial advisor and a hard worker who was unfailingly polite to Christian and friendly to Ana.

But she was also conniving — and unlike the usual women who shamelessly flirted with the billionaire tycoon, Stacie was too smart for that. She coveted her boss while courting his wife so as not to arouse any suspicions.

But Ana wasn't dumb — nor were Andrea or Ros, who dropped hints to Ana about Stacie's less-than-honorable intentions, not that she needed them. The only one who apparently hadn't gotten the memo was Christian. He was always diligent about maintaining his distance from the cadre of female employees who fawned over him, but he was oblivious to the cunning fox in his own hen house.

Are all men so clueless? Scratch that Ana. When it comes to women, yes they are. But I won't let my insecurities dictate this one. If Ros and Andrea can see through Stacie, then Christian will eventually too. Hopefully she won't be wearing a sheer nightie when that happens.

Ana snapped herself out of her morbid reverie and headed toward the door. "I should let you get back to work."

"Oh sorry baby, I'm coming," Christian mumbled, absorbed by the file he was reading.

As she waited for her distracted CEO, Ana was struck by another wayward thought.

"Christian," she began tentatively. "You won't interfere with my new job will you? I know we've discussed this before but I need to make sure…"

"Of course not baby," he reiterated. "I kept my nose out of your job search didn't I?" Despite my valiant efforts to butt in at every corner.

"Umm sure, we'll go with that," she scoffed. Even though you tried to use your influence at every turn.

Christian gave Ana a sound kiss and thwack on the ass before escorting her to the elevator. As soon as the doors closed, he turned to Andrea. "Get me everything you can dig up on SIP and Mike Staunton pronto," he demanded tersely before retreating back into his office.