First attempt at FSOG story. This was a production of lockdown boredom. Slow burner. I own nothing.


It was the first day of her last semester at college. In just under two months she would graduate.

It was bittersweet, she mused as she was walking to her first class. She didn't want to finish education. It was the only thing she's ever known; she's been in education for as long as she can remember. The thought of having to get a job in the real world and work for the rest of her life was terrifying.

Ana knew she wanted to go into publishing, but she hasn't had any experience in that industry at all. She worked part time at Clayton's but that hardly qualifies you to work in an office and she wasn't even sure if she could do the basics that a secretary would do. She doesn't know the first thing about an office workplace. She could read for hours on end which is about the only thing about her relevant to the publishing world. She had a 4.0 GPA but that didn't mean much without experience.

You had to be a shark to succeed in that kind of industry and confident and not take shit from anyone. Ana knew she was very naive and gullible. She tended to just accept things as they are and not question them. You could tell her that you'd just killed someone, and she would literally just say 'oh okay' or you could be very rude to her and Ana wouldn't fight back, confrontation is not her thing.

Ana huffed a little laugh at her thoughts. 'Shit they'd eat me alive'. But she wasn't a total door mat, she knew when to stand up for herself and when she was being treated like crap. She just tended to pick her battles carefully.

She walked into the auditorium and spotted her friend Lily sat in the middle at the end of the row. All the English lit seniors were here so the place was packed. The first few hours were intro/basic lectures about deadlines and requirements left that needed to be met before they graduated. After two hours of being talked at, they were given a quick break before a guest came in to speak. Ana decided to run to the coffee stall in the buildings foyer to get a tea to tide her over.

"I'm going for a tea; you want anything Lily?" Ana asked while rummaging through her bag for her wallet.

"A black coffee please. You better hurry though you don't want to walk in after they've started." Lily warned, tying her blonde her back.

"Shoot me a text if they start before I'm back." Ana suggested as she stood up and started walking down the stairs.

"Will do!" Lily shouted behind her.

Ana walked hurriedly through the halls to the stall and ordered their drinks. Just as she was given her order, Lily texted her saying they've started. Crap, now everyone's gonna be staring at her as she walked in.

She rushed back through the building and as she got to the door to the auditorium, she paused and took a deep breath before she carefully pushed it open with her shoulder. Immediately all pairs of eyes turned to her as she walked in and the professor even paused for a hot second. Ana kept her head down and quickly walked to her seat and handed Lily her drink. She looked up once she was comfortable and saw a tall man standing just behind the professor.

He was leaning against the wall with one shoulder, dressed in a dark grey tailored suit and he was staring straight at her.

Her heart started thumping and her eyes widened slightly, the man was intimidating as hell. She lifted one corner of her mouth in a somewhat half smile at him and then quickly looked away. She was never leaving between classes again. The man just exuded authority and dominance. She sipped at her tea distractedly. When she looked back at him, he was staring impassively at the floor. Thankfully.

"Opportunities like this don't come around often, especially not for people in your position." The professor's voice drifted in. "I know not all of you will be interested in this position as English it majors but working for a fortune 500 company will gear you up for whatever else you want to go on doing. The experience and skills you will learn will be invaluable. Anyway, as I'm sure you all know, this is Mr Christian Grey, the CEO of GEH himself. He's going to give a bit of background on GEH and its background and offer more information about the jobs."

Christian Grey stepped forward with confident strides and thanked the professor. "This is the first time we are hiring graduates straight out of college. I know you guys probably aren't interested in the corporate world as English majors but regardless of industry, experience is invaluable and will put you well above others. I know how difficult it is to get internships out there and our goal is to teach you guys the skills needed to succeed. You might decide to stay with us for a year and move on or you might decide to stay on indefinitely. There will be at least one graduate in each department, and this is being offered to students on certain other courses as well. I figured as English majors you will be versatile in the jobs you will be able to do." He smirked to himself. He then went on to speak about GEH and himself a bit more.

Everyone had their eyes transfixed on him from the moment he started speaking, no one was moving. Ana didn't know what to think. It was astounding that he was so young and yet so successful. He built the company from the ground up all by himself and now he was helping students build their futures. She had a huge amount of respect for the man. He was also the most attractive man she'd ever seen but she didn't entertain that thought and was sure she wasn't the only one who thought that.

The class ended after they were told the application deadline was in three weeks. Most people started piling out but quite a few girls were lingering behind and taking a while to pack up. Ana rolled her eyes when she realised, they wanted to get Mr Grey's attention. Lily and she walked out talking about the job.

"So, do you think you'll apply? I know you were worried about your lack of experience for publishing." Lily asked as they stopped outside the building.

"I'm not sure actually. I was thinking of getting experience in a smaller office or something not at a billion-dollar company with over 20,000 employees. You know start small and then go big. Baby steps." Ana explained.

"Ana, you'll be great at whatever and wherever you work! You are the smartest person I know. Can you imagine all the doors working at a company like GEH will open for you! You'll be unstoppable. And you'd be learning from the best in the business. Hell forget working for a publishing company, after you're done with GEH, you could own your publishing company!" Lily was flailing her arms around and almost shouting with enthusiasm.

Ana grinned at her. "Thanks Lily. You're my own personal cheerleader." She sighed. "I just don't know if I'm cut out for a place like GEH. Maybe, we'll see, I have three weeks to decide so." They linked arms and started walking down the street. "You are so lucky you have your future sorted." Lily was travelling to various countries for the next few years and teaching English at local schools.

"Girl, in no time at all you will be the CEO of your own company. I can see it right now. I'm putting it out into the universe. You gotta have faith in yourself." Lily then proceeded to sing Hall of Fame by The Script to her as they walked home.


Ana got to the apartment that she shared with Kate. She's pretty sure Kate did an interview with Mr Grey before, but she can't be sure, she'll ask her once she gets home.

Her and Kate were sat on the couch watching mindless TV and she decided to get Kate's opinion on everything.

"Hey didn't you interview Christian Grey before?" Ana asked.

"Yeah for the school paper a few months back. It was like pulling teeth to get that interview. And it didn't even turn out how I wanted it to. Why are you asking?" Kate questioned.

"He was a guest in one of my classes today and is offering a job to some of us at GEH. I don't know whether to apply or not."

"Wait really!?" Kate exclaimed. "That man was so cold and formal and strict and he all but kicked me out when I asked if he was gay." Ana's mouth dropped open, but Kate carried on. "I can't believe he's being so generous. Or is it really him or did his PR department force him to do this to make them look good..." Kate trailed off in wonder.

"Kate what the hell. Of course, he'd kick you out for that. That was intrusive and he probably took offence. It's his private life." Ana defended him for some odd reason, but sometimes Kate just didn't know where to draw the line especially if it was for a story.

"Eh whatever. He could've been more gracious about it. Any way you want to apply? What happened to publishing?"

"Most publishing companies don't want to hire people fresh out of college. And I don't have any experience so I figured I could work at GEH for a bit, build up my portfolio and then move on to publishing. I was gonna try to get a job at a smaller place though, GEH is huge."

Kate stared at the TV thoughtfully for a few minutes. "Yeah GEH is huge and honestly, I'm not too sure about the employees there, considering what the CEO is like. I just find it hard to believe that a company like that is willing to take on graduates and take the time to teach them. I would've thought that would be beneath them but guess not." Kate murmured.

Ana was wondering the same thing. It was also a bit ironic how just this morning she was worried about getting a job after graduation because of her lack of experience and now the opportunity was literally being handed to her on a silver platter. Her and Kate were planning on moving to Seattle anyway and the job was in Seattle. It couldn't be any more perfect.

"I say go for it you know. The chance to work a place like that won't come around often. The connections you could make!" Kate gushed. "And I'm sure Mr Grey would have more important things to do than hang around college kids, so you probably won't have to see him much anyway."

Ana mulled this over. "I have three weeks, so I'll think about it."


Ana eventually decided to just apply the day before the deadline, after much convincing from her friends. She'd still apply to publishing jobs because she didn't want to completely close that off. She really had nothing to lose from applying for GEH. She doubted she'd even be successful. Besides her GPA there was nothing remarkable about her.

She decided not to worry over any job prospects for now after she'd applied for them. There was nothing she could do now so no point in stressing over them. She just wanted to get through finals right now.


Christian Grey sat in his 20th floor office whilst rooting through the applications from the students.

Usually, he wouldn't be part of the hiring process and would leave it to HR but this was his own initiative and no one had convinced him to hire graduates, he had a plan.

He wanted the next generation of business moguls to learn from the best and go on to do great things themselves. His company would teach them as many things as possible and set them all up for success. He knew there were many people out there who had a business mindset and great ideas but didn't have the funds or confidence to do what they wanted. Best case scenario, these hires would stay on and become valuable assets to GEH, or they would move on to greater things and they would see GEH as an ally. He wanted to give them a chance.

Despite the widespread belief he was heartless, he didn't want to see people fail. Sure, he was impatient and had no time for stupidity, but he knew potential when he saw it. He also didn't give a shit what people thought about him.

They were college students so not all had experience or the necessary skills, so he wasn't hiring based on their past qualifications. He wanted to hire them depending on their mindset, their drive, their ambition.

Christian also had a feeling Olivia, his second assistant wouldn't be here much longer. She failed to do basic tasks and she was constantly trying to flirt with him and any other men that came to the floor. But finding her replacement would be Andrea's job and it was up to her whether she hired from within or outside the company.

The HR team would be conducting the interviews and he would let them know the kind of people he was looking for. He trusted his team to make the right decisions for the company.


A few weeks later

Ana and Kate had just moved into their new apartment in Seattle and were in the process of unpacking. They'd both graduated with honours and celebrated with a night out with all their closest friends at the university. One last hoorah before they became real adults.

Kate was due to start her job at Kavanaugh Media next week and Ana had gotten the job at GEH, shockingly enough and she saw due to start at tomorrow. She had nearly cried when she got the call offering her the job as she had gotten rejected from all the other jobs she'd applied for.

She had her interview in between her last exam and graduation. She didn't feel the most confident after her interview. She'd never had one before and just spoke from her mind. She didn't have rehearsed answers and most questions were scenario based and what she would do in certain situations.

She would be working in the PR department which was mostly due to her English background. The pay and benefits of GEH are the things she dreamed of. She couldn't believe how lucky she'd gotten.

Kate was helping her rummage through their unpacked boxes looking for an appropriate first day outfit. When Ana had went for her interview, she felt inadequately dressed in comparison everyone else and Kate had told her she needed to show everyone there she meant business and was ready to kick ass.

After multiple outfit changes, Kate threw her a plum coloured sheath dress and some nude heels.

When she came out, Kate started nodding rapidly. "Yes yes yes! That's it. It's the one. Shit Ana you look hot in that."

"Are you sure it's appropriate. I don't want to give them the wrong impression." Ana worried.

"Who cares if its appropriate. You look like a boss woman. You're representing the PR department so your kind of the image for GEH so you do need to look the part.

Before Ana went to bed for the night, Kate gave her a pep talk and she had to admit, it actually worked. She went to bed nervous, but excited for her first day.