Little Treasures

Summary: Ana owns a small bookstore in Seattle. Christian is the CEO of GEH. Their children are in the same class and spend a lot of time at the bookstore after school. Both lonely and feel lost without their partners. Characters do not belong to me.

Chapter 1: Introduction

Ana's POV

As I walk into work on a rainy Monday morning, I think about the heavy piece of cardstock my daughter's teacher has given me. It is April and the school is having their annual "Bring Someone Special" dance. They no longer hold "Father/Daughter" & "Mother/Son" dances, since there are many different types of modern families now. Phoebe is at the age where she is asking me about her father. Sometimes, I can distract her with going to the park, watching her favorite movie, or acting out parts of her favorite stories with her. Her father, or sperm donor, as I would like to call him, left me high and dry when he found out I was pregnant. We were seventeen and have been together since we were fourteen. We were going to graduate, go to college, get married, and have kids… well that changed when he walked out on me after I told him about carrying his child. He had his dreams, and I was no longer apart of them. Thank goodness for my dad, Ray, and best friend Kate. They have been through it all with me, finishing High School and College, starting my own business, and my greatest achievement, being a mother. I look down at the invite, decorated in hearts and flowers, and sigh. I wish I could give my baby girl the family she deserves, a mother and father who love each other, siblings who fight and protect each other. Maybe one day.

Little Treasures, my bookstore, is my second pride and joy. In college, I majored in English Literature and minored in Business. I have always wanted to be an editor, however, this opportunity landed in my lap and I couldn't say no. It is a small store, however, busy. A lot of students come in throughout the day to study, stay at home moms will bring in their children for story time, and surprisingly, business men and women come to relax and forget about their hectic meetings. After school, high school and college students tutor the younger children here in exchange for credits. My daughter and some of her classmates come to be read to or help with their homework. I notice that a lot of the children are from families of businessmen and woman, who may not have the time to work on homework due to late night dinner meetings or traveling. My door is open to anyone. Everyone that comes in is welcomed with a smile and a book.

I am cataloging our new books before putting them on the shelves when I hear the door chime. I walk out to and am welcomed with a well-dressed businesswoman. She is beautiful, fair skin, short, red hair, and eyes the color of mocha. "Hello miss, my name is Ros Baily, and I am the COO of Grey Enterprise Holdings. I am hoping to speak to the owner."

Christian's POV

Monday morning meetings, as always, take me away from dropping off my son at school. Theodore, or Teddy, as he now likes to be called, is in the first grade. He is my mini me from my copper curls to my mood swings. Taylor, my CPO, just informed me that my son has been dropped off at school and class is beginning. He hands me a stiff piece of paper glittered with hearts and flowers. Hearts and flowers, the last time I tried that, my heart was broken into a million pieces when Teddy's mother up and left us with some younger guy she met online. I am a twenty-eight year old, single father. Married and divorced by the time I was twenty-five. I am the "King of Seattle", according to the tabloids, and yet, I couldn't hold onto my queen. Or, so I thought she was my queen. She never wanted to be a mother, never wanted to be tied down. We married because it was the right thing to do, according to my parents, Grace and Carrick Grey. After holding Teddy for the first time, I realized that a family of my own is what I really want in life. A wife and mother we can love, maybe another child to love and watch grow, the house on the sound filled with laughter and the pitter patter of the kids running around. An alert on my phone reminds me of my meeting with Ros, my COO, about a small bookstore in the area. We have a publishing company, Grey Publishing, and would like to use the bookstore for book signings, and book release parties. Usually this isn't the type of thing we would do here at GEH, we buy companies or merge with companies to make them better. Looking over Little Treasures bookstore, the profits are good, the public enjoys going there, and the work that is done within the community is great. Ros requested to look into it as we need a place to have local authors release their books. As of now, we have them at the Mile High Club, however, it is too large and some editors have been complaining that it doesn't seem to the right fit for every author. After speaking to Ros, she goes to the bookstore, as I once again look over the files.

I open the background check of Little Treasures Bookstore given to me by Welch. There are pictures of the outside perimeter and inside areas. Reading the reports, I realize that I know this place, because my son likes to go there after school to do his homework with one of his classmates. His CPO, Sawyer, takes him there for an hour or so each day. I flip through the file and my eyes stop on the owner. Her ocean eyes pull me in and I get a feeling in my stomach that I haven't felt for a very long time. I place my finger along the words of the page and stop at her name: Anastasia Rose Steele.