A/N: This is a new story that's been in my mind for a while now. I hope you enjoy!

C POV

What a fucking day! This was the longest fucking day ever! First, my assistant calls in and says she has the flu. Her replacement was a woman who I'm certain lived in the stone age. I had to check a few times to see if she was still breathing. The icing on the cake was those bastards who I've been dealing with for the past month telling me they need more time to consider my offer to buy their company. Time is something I don't do. Needless to say, I told those dip shits they could take their deal and shove it up their asses. I need a sub to ease some of this tension. Instead, I'm at a diner drinking coffee after one in the morning following the charity dinner that my mom insisted I attend. I wanted to tell her that I couldn't make it, but it's hard to say no to my mom. Where's that waitress? I need more coffee like yesterday.

"Taylor?", I ask my main security guy who's sitting on the other side of the table. His eyes are glued to the mounted tv where Sports Center is playing. "Taylor?" Turn you head from the baseball scores and answer me!

"Yes, Mr. Grey?" Finally!

"Have you seen the waitress? She hasn't been around in a while, and I need more coffee." The best thing for me to do would be to go home, but I'm not the least bit tired. I'm Christian Fucking Grey, and I do everything well except sleep. Even when I'm tired as hell, I can't sleep. My slumber is often invaded by darkness.

"No sir. I haven't seen her, but I will look for her." He stands from the chair and begins walking to the marble counter. While I'm waiting, I pull my Blackberry out to check my emails. Once all of my messages are checked, I look up to see if the waitress has been found. No such luck. Fuck this! Pushing my chair back so loud that it echoes throughout the empty diner, I walk over to the counter to see if I see anyone. When my eyes fail to find a single person, I walk around the counter and peer into the small window that looks into what I assume is the kitchen.

"Is anyone here?" A door on the left side of the kitchen opens and out steps a young brunette girl who's looks flustered and out of breath. She's not the waitress that served me.

"I'm so sorry. I got here as soon as I can could.", she says while walking out the door.

"Who are you!? Where's the waitress from earlier?", I hiss. immediately, I feel awful for my tone. I notice her blue eyes widen at my question.

"I'm Ana, and I'm your waitress now. Before you go on with your little tirade, I suggest you lower your voice and calm down. Your waitress Becky decided that she and our cook Max were going to ditch the rest of their shift so they could go to a party. It was only after she called me at home that I learned of her plans. So, Mr..."

"Grey. Christian Grey." This girl is beautiful with her blue eyes and porcelain skin. I flash her my trademark panty busting smile, but she seems unaffected.

"Mr. Grey. I apologize that you've been sitting here. I'm here now, and I will serve you." Baby, I would love for you to serve me, in all ways, in all positions.

"Very well. I would like some more coffee please." I catch a trace of a smile creep across her face. She turns from me and walks over to make a fresh pot of coffee while I head back to my chair. Taylor, who has watched my interaction with the lovely Ana, has a grin on his face. "What?"

"Nothing sir." He goes back to watching the scores as I keep my eyes on Ana who's moving around behind the counter. I suddenly feel my cock harden at the sight of her bending down and picking up a pack of napkins that's fallen. When the coffee is finished, she pours a cup and walks over to my table.

"Here you go. It's fresh.", she says. "Enjoy."

"Thank you Ana." Just as she begins walking away, I feel the urge to know more about her. "Ana?"

"Yes?"

"Would you like to sit down with me? I won't bite." Well, not right now. I can see the debate going on in her eyes over whether she should accept my offer.

"I can't. I have to take care of.."

"The other customers?", I interrupt her. "There's no one else here but you, me, and my security guy. Please just sit for a minute." Nodding her head, she takes the seat next to me. "I'm really sorry for how I talked to you earlier. It's been a bad day, but I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

"It's fine. I understand bad days. In fact, I have a lot of them.", she says with a hint of sadness. Her head drops and silence fills the diner. I've always been a able to get a good read on people, and this girl seems troubled which is something I know all too well.

"Hey.", I reach over and take her chin in my hand. She looks up with those eyes that are no longer sparkling. "All bad days eventually end. Tomorrow is a new day so smile."

"I wish it were that easy. My bad days are never ending." I just met this girl, but I feel a connection. "Enough about me. Tell me about you and why you had a bad day?"

"I have a billion dollar company that consumes me. Today was one of those days where I just wanted to crawl back into bed, but I couldn't because that would be giving up. I never give up."

"Nice attitude.", she smiles. Oh that smile.

"I've worked too hard to get where I am so I can't just throw my hands up. As much as I would love to say fuck it sometimes, I can't."

"I understand. Someone who I once knew used to tell me a quote from Les Brown that went, "When life knocks you down, try to land on your back. Because if you can look up, you can get up. Let your reason get you back up."

"Wow, that's nice." The smile evaporates from her face.

"It is. It doesn't work for me, but I thought it might be of use to you. Do you need some more coffee?", she asks.

"No, but thank you."

"I need to do some things around here. Let me know if you need anything else." She stands up and walks back to the counter. I should head home. Grabbing my jacket, I walk over to the register to pay for my coffee. "It's on the house."

"I insist on buying my coffee Ana." Once she rings up my coffee, I hand her the money and smile. "It was nice talking to you Ana."

"Yes, it was nice talking to you too.", she replies with a shy smile.

As Taylor and I walk outside the diner, I look back and see her standing at one of the corner tables. It appears she's refilling the ketchup. Even from where I'm standing, I can see the sorrow coming from her body.

I need to know more about this girl.