Monday mornings were Anastasia Steele's favourite part of the week. She wondered if she was the only person in the country who thought that. She was certainly the only one in the building that did, but that was because she had the best job. Well, for at least two hours on a Monday morning she did.

Ana always stopped at the Starbucks across the street from their huge building at about ten to seven – the only day she was committed to getting good coffee and not the rubbish stuff from the cafeteria, usually barely making it to her desk on the top floor thirty seconds before seven, giving herself a full two hours before her shift officially started. She didn't knock before she entered the office behind a frosted glass door – it was hard enough carrying two coffees and she was expected anyway.

She'd smile at her boss, always already sitting at the desk. It had taken several weeks of this routine before he'd started smiling at her too after she'd complained once half-joking that he never seemed pleased to see her.

Christian Grey was much too attractive to be in charge of anything, Ana was sure about that – although since he was her friend she tried not to think too much about that. She always felt sorry for the women who announced to her that they had a meeting with him who asked what he was like, meaning they'd never met him before. They might have seen pictures but none of them were ever prepared to meet him in person. She wondered often if any of them managed to get words out for the first few minutes of their meeting or if they just let him talk while they attempted to compose themselves. Of course, having a good looking boss didn't hurt – apart from when he wore a particularly nice, well-fitting shirt and walked past her desk and ruined her productivity temporarily.

"You didn't knock." Christian would say as she entered every week without fail. Most of the time she'd roll her eyes at that, sometimes she'd apologise not meaning a word, occasionally she'd assure him that she would next week even though they both knew she had no intention of bothering to. She'd struggle to shut the door while keeping the coffees upright and every time he'd get up to take the drinks off her while she swung a foot aimlessly behind her, trying to catch the door and push it back. "You'll put your foot through the glass, Ana." She'd smile half apologetically and take her coffee from him and perch herself on one of the comfy chairs. "Tell me about your weekend then, Ana." Christian would say and she'd grin before she launched into an overly comprehensive account of Kate's latest drama which she had to say he kept up with exceptionally well. This week there was even more than usual – Jackson was back which meant Ana had received two drunk phone calls and four where Kate sobbed for more of the conversation than she spoke for.

"Wait, I'm lost. Which boyfriend of Kate's is Jackson again?" Christian asked.

"No, he's the one that's not her boyfriend, she was just seeing him casually for a while before she got back together with Matt but now he's obsessed with her." Christian nodded and motioned for her to continue her account. Considering he'd never met anyone involved, he always seemed genuinely interested.

She wasn't sure when they'd stopped having an entirely professional relationship and transcended into friendship. She remembered coming in early a few times and getting sidetracked having actual conversations with him as opposed to just telling him when his meetings were that day and asking if he wanted lunch ordered, becoming a weekly thing with neither of them acknowledging it before she'd teased him once about his only friend being paperwork and he'd replied 'that and you'. She'd tried not to let it show how pleased she was that he said that.

When the clock reached eight they switched over, Ana usually remarked on whether she had enjoyed her coffee or not too – she made a point of trying different types even though they were usually horrible and she lamented that she should have just made herself a cup of tea instead.

"Chai Latte is going on the never again list."

"Just drink black coffee, it's much better." Christian told her with a shake of his head. "Do you even know what chai is?"

"No actually." Ana took out her phone and typed it into google. "Oh no wonder I thought it tasted odd, it's not even coffee, chai's just another word for tea. Oh well, maybe I'll try it again, I might like it now I know it's tea. It was the absence of coffee taste that threw me." Ana could tell he was trying not to smile as he shook his head in exasperation at her. "How are things with you then?"

There were three topics Christian would speak to her about. One was the upcoming week – this happened if he was feeling particularly professional or had nothing else to tell her about. It was also the subject he was most comfortable talking to her about – their working relationship had stopped feeling strictly boss and employee quite a while ago when they'd first become actual friends but in the end she did still work for him. The second subject she enjoyed the most was anecdotes from the previous week, usually including various odd characters he'd had meetings with. The last and rarest subject was his family – she knew his mother was quite ill and that it had been difficult for him recently. It suited her fine because she didn't like talking about hers much either.

They knew it was nine because the phone system switched itself on, not allowing them to overrun because it usually started ringing instantly with people eager to get a hold of Christian after the weekend.

"When you've answered that, could I get another coffee please?"

"Of course, you don't have to ask my permission to get yourself a coffee!" Ana said sweetly which resulted in a glare she'd long since realised didn't actually mean he was annoyed with her. "I'll bring it straight up."

"Better."

She refrained from rolling her eyes; it was after all business hours now and a certainly level of professionalism had to be added into their interactions, less for their peace of mind and more just because other people around the building didn't know they were friends. Might spark a little resentment towards her, especially from the female employees who were always looking for a way into his good books.

After a long day of digitising files from a new company which had been absorbed into theirs, Ana left the office and dashed home to get changed. It was her best friend Kate's birthday the next day and even though it was a Monday Kate was insisting on having dinner that day because it was the closest to her birthday – on her actual birthday she was having dinner with family and, providing they were still together in two days, she was having dinner with Matt on Wednesday.

Once Kate was done filling her in on all her drama – and Ana was always amazed on just how much drama Kate always managed to find herself in in the short time frames between when Ana spoke to her – she asked Ana about her day which was just an excuse for Kate to look up pictures of Christian on her phone and embarrass Ana gawking over how attractive he was.

"So, when are you going to sleep with him?"

"Kate!" Ana squealed, turning bright red, fidgeting awkwardly in her seat. "He's my boss!"

"So what? You can't deny you've had a huge crush on him from the minute you started working there. Every woman that works there has had a huge crush on him since they started working there, and some of the men too! You can't deny being one of them."

"I can, because I don't. Besides, we're friends now so that's way off the table."

"Wrong! Being friends is an in to sleeping with him, you segue between them. Boss, definitely too difficult to make the leap, well, for you anyway. One morning you walk in to your little coffee meeting with no coffee a low cut top and start taking your clothes off."

"I think that's how you get sectioned, not how you seduce somebody. Besides, I don't even want to. He's attractive but he's not my type."

"Liar, that man is everyone's type."

"Can we please talk about something else, Kate, because I'm barely going to be able to look him in the eye tomorrow at this rate?" Ana said, wrapping a strand of hair around her finger, a tell that the conversation was making her genuinely uncomfortable. Kate smiled apologetically and thought for a moment about what to change the conversation to before her eyes widened and her voice lowered so she wouldn't be heard.

"Ana, I know we're supposed to change the subject but just so you're up to speed he just walked in with a really cute girl." Ana felt a lump in her throat and tried not to show that as she discreetly turned her head a little to check if Kate was relaying the correct information. She breathed an unperceivable sigh of relief when she saw him and the girl he was with.

"That's just Mia, she's his younger sister."

"Aww, were you worried, Ana?" Kate teased her, grinning. Ana rolled her eyes while her internal monologue screamed at her to keep a straighter face and give less away. "They're going to walk right past us, Ana." Ana's face suddenly fell, she'd been hoping they might be able to slip out quickly without being noticed. "Oh my god, I can't believe how hot he is in person. How do you get any work done? I wish my boss looked like that."

"Kate, please be quiet." Ana begged, flashing her a slightly desperate look across the table. Kate's gloating expression softened and she nodded. In lieu of pretending to be half way through a conversation in an attempt to act natural, Ana picked up her wine glass and took a small sip.

"Miss Steele, what a pleasant surprise to see you here." Lord, why hadn't he just walked past? Why had he stopped to speak to her? Oh right, that's what friends are meant to do. Ana didn't know whether to greet him or kick Kate under the table who was looking him up and down like a lion surveying prey.

He hadn't actually called her 'Miss Steele' since her first week, after which she had told him 'call me Ana' which he had misheard, resulting in her being called 'Annie' for two months and being too awkward to correct him. It had only been noticed because he'd heard a colleague call her Ana and found it hysterical that she was so worried about correcting him.

"It's Kate's birthday." Ana blurted out, gesticulating towards Kate as though he might have some trouble identifying who she was even though it was just the two of them sat at the table, answering a question that she was suddenly aware she hadn't been asked. "Not today, tomorrow, but, uh, she'd got family coming tomorrow so we're out tonight." Christian smiled reassuringly at her. She'd told him enough stories about her more awkward and clumsy moments that surely he would have expected an interaction like this?

"I can't stop for long, I see my parents are already at our table." Ana was relieved; the discussion felt like it had been going on for several hours now despite neither of them saying anything much.

"Enjoy your meal." Kate piped up just as Ana was about to say something similar, making her look even more socially inept by comparison.

"Enjoy your birthday." Christian said politely to Kate in response.

"Thank you so much." Kate smiled at him in the way that showed off how full her lips were and Ana noted that she'd lowered her voice the way she did when she was trying to chat someone up. Ana could have melted from embarrassment. A quick look up at Christian confirmed he was trying not to laugh; at least if he was finding it comical her job probably wasn't at risk.

"I'll see you tomorrow." In favour of tripping over another sentence, Ana just nodded in response to what he said and looked down at the table when he walked away, aware but unwilling to acknowledge that Kate was checking him out from behind as he walked away.

"I'm finding a new best friend first thing tomorrow." Ana told Kate when she'd finally built herself up enough to look up again.

"What did I do?"

The rest of dinner passed without a hitch; much to Ana's relief Christian and his family were sat fairly close but she'd discovered if she kept her head tilted a certain way then she couldn't see them and the resulting ache in her neck was probably going to be worth it.

"Have a good birthday, I'll call you tomorrow so you can vent about spending time with your mother." Ana assured Kate as they left which resulted in Kate flinging her arms around her friend and grinning before she hailed a cab over to them. "You take this one."

"You're such a good friend." Kate said with a smile that said she would have taken it even if Ana hadn't offered.

"You're a terrible one."

"Yeah, have fun at work tomorrow!" Ana groaned audibly and Kate laughed and blew her a kiss before she got into her cab, waving to Ana as it drove off.

"Ana?" She turned around and saw Christian behind her. She felt less much less awkward being approached this time, for one thing they were both on the same level and she felt a little less blocked in than she had sat down while he stood over her and for another, Kate, whose behaviour she had been so conscious of earlier, had mercifully already left.

"So I'm back to Ana again now, am I?" she teased him, praising herself inwardly for managing to be so much more casual in her speech than she had managed earlier.

"Yes, sorry for the formality earlier, I just thought you might not want your friend to think your boss was being overly friendly." It was quite rare at this point that he would refer to himself as her boss and she thought from his expression that he regretted saying it as soon as it left his lips. "I mean, I didn't know if you'd told her we were as friendly as we are." She could almost feel his relief at finding a slightly better way of putting it.

"It's fine. I'm sorry for being so awkward, it's just Kate has absolutely no filter and I was anxious she was going to say something stupid and it just spiralled out of control into me being…"

"Extremely awkward?"

"Exactly." They both laughed which relieved the last of the tension between them. "I don't mean to be rude but, uh, why did you come out here, were you looking for me or…?"

"You left your phone on your table, I thought I'd see if I could catch you before you left." He pulled it out of his pocket and she took it gratefully and slipped it into her purse. "And I needed to get some air, told my family I needed a cigarette."

"I didn't know you smoked. When did you start?" She tried not to sound overly concerned. In all the time she'd worked for him, Ana was sure she'd never seen him take a smoke break.

"I didn't. It's just a good excuse to have when you need a minute to yourself." Ana nodded understandingly.

"Family stuff?" she asked, attempting to be as vague as possible with the question so he wouldn't feel compelled to give her details.

"Family stuff." he said with a nod. Ana looked at him sympathetically, not wanting to say anything, worried she'd make it even worse if she did. "Look, I know we have our chats on Mondays but if you don't mind, I'd really appreciate if we could talk tomorrow. I could really use a friend right now." Ana's lips parted a little as she nodded in agreement.

"Yeah of course I will." He looked relieved that she had agreed and she smiled at him softly. "You gonna be okay tonight, though?"

"Don't worry about me."

"I'll try not to." A cab pulled up to the street and Ana looked to Christian apologetically. "I'm gonna go grab that, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodbye, Ana."

Ana gave the driver her address and tried not to make it look to obvious that she was glancing out of the window back to Christian who pushed his hair back from his face and visibly sighed before walking back into the restaurant.