Twenty-one year old Anastasia “Ana” Steele is an English literature major at Washington State University Vancouver in Vancouver, Washington. When her roommate, Kate Kavanagh, catches a cold and is unable to interview Christian Grey, a twenty-seven year old billionaire entrepreneur for the college newspaper, Ana agrees to take Kate’s place. At Christian’s Seattle headquarters, she stumbles her way through the meeting. Christian, who is that year’s WSU commencement speaker, takes an interest in her, and she in him. Soon after, he visits the hardware store where Ana works and offers to do a photo shoot to accompany the article she had interviewed him for.
Christian asks Ana out for coffee, but leaves abruptly after she confesses to being a romantic, saying he is not the man for her. He later sends her first edition copies of two Thomas Hardy novels, including Tess of the d’Urbervilles, as a gift, with a quote from the latter book about the dangers of relationships on an accompanying card. Ana and her friends celebrate graduation at a local bar. After drinking too much, she calls Christian, saying she is returning the books, and berating him for his behavior towards her. He goes to the bar to find her, arriving just as her photographer friend, José Rodriquez, attempts to kiss her against her will. Ana, suddenly sick, throws up and passes out. The next morning, she wakes up in Christian’s hotel room, relieved that nothing happened between them.
After the two make out in an elevator, and he takes her for a ride in his helicopter, a romance starts to develop. He insists, however, that she sign a non-disclosure agreement preventing her from revealing details about their relationship. He explains that he is a dominant who engages in sexual bondage relationships, but only as defined in a contract between the participants. Ana reveals that she is a virgin. While considering the agreement and negotiating her own terms, and after briefly visiting his “Red Room,” a place stocked with a bed and a variety of whips and shackles, she and Christian spend the night together.
The next morning, after making pancakes and meeting Christian’s adoptive mother, the two go for a drive, during which Christian explains that he was introduced to his dominant practices at age fifteen by a woman Ana dubs “Mrs. Robinson”. His parents know nothing about this, even though “Mrs. Robinson” was and still is a friend of the family.
Christian bestows a series of gifts and favors upon Ana, including a new car and a laptop. After she and Kate move to Seattle, he insists that she go over his contract before moving forward. After looking into it in some detail, Ana initially says no, but is persuaded otherwise and finds herself willingly giving her consent.
During dinner at his parents’ home, Ana suddenly mentions she is leaving the next day to visit her mother in Georgia. This makes Christian angry, especially when she says she wants more than the one-sided relationship he’s proposing. She then goes to Georgia, visits a lounge for cocktails, and is shocked when Christian shows up. He meets her mother, takes her air gliding, then returns to Seattle to tend to a business emergency.
After returning home, Ana and Christian have a night in his “Red Room”. She consents to what he wants, but he remains emotionally distant, upsetting her. While still considering the contract, and in an effort to understand Christian’s psychology, Ana asks him to demonstrate the worst punishment he would inflict on her for rule-breaking. He whips her with his belt, making her count each stroke out loud.
Crushed, she declares her love for him, but says his behavior is unacceptable. He replies that he is too screwed up to have the relationship that she wants. Devastated and depressed, Ana leaves Christian, and he promises to send her a check for the car he sold without her consent. As he goes after her, Ana orders him to stop. Christian tries to plead with her, saying her name, and Ana cuts him off by saying his own name, turning his plea into a farewell as the elevator doors close.
