Falling For My Playboy Boss
Chapter 39

Cora's

POV

Eric came over to me and said, "You already know this, but I forgot to remind you, be sure to come over to my table when you clear the stage with the 3rd outfit on. I will need to darken up your eyes and add some gold to them too", I nodded at him and went and took my place as the third girl in line and waited for Iris to give me the go ahead.

I step out and the pants feel great against my legs. They move and sway with each step that I take, and they look fantastic on me. The deep violet shirt is a great color for me, and I suddenly realized that Mateo doesn't just design the pattern with me in mind, he does my entire best color palette of colors that are best for me and my skin tone. It is also why I look so beautiful in his clothes. He is so thoughtful to me when he does his designs. I hit my poses and turned on my heel to go back up the runway. As soon as I am clear, I run across the back of the dressing area and take my clothes off to get the romper pants suit on. The romper fits perfectly for me, and my b**t looks fantastic in this outfit. I got back to my place and waited for my turn to go ahead. I take off as soon as Iris gives me permission and walk to the end of the runway, the romper is really cute, and I hear murmurs from the crowd. I hit my marks and did my poses before turning and heading back to the dressing room.

The third outfit is cute and a little younger than I usually wear, but I have some really cute combat-type boots with this outfit and am glad they had a zip up the side so I could get them tied ahead of time, and I just have to put them on and zip them up. The mini skirt was really nice and emphasized my waist and hips. The chunky sweater fell off one shoulder and gave a small peek at my waist on the other side as it raised up the other side a little higher from going off the shoulder. I hit my marks and headed back in and headed straight for Eric.

Eric touched up my makeup and then when he put his brushes and palette down and held my shoulders to make me stop and look directly at him and said, "You have been a little off today baby girl, you need to remember who YOU are. You RUN this runway. Get changed into your next outfit and get your head in the game. Put your head up, baby girl. There is a gamechanger outside sitting in the crowd and we didn't tell you because we didn't want you to stress about it, but she can make or break Mateo. Please go out there and give it your all, for the next two outfits".

I nod at him and head off to get changed, so thankful that Livi is here to help me. She already has the boob tape, and we get to work. I get the dress on and Livi looks at me and says, "This is going to do it. You look stunning Cora, really, you look stunning. Now go out there and rule the catwalk for us".

I get in line, and I have like 30 seconds left to get there and when Iris looks over at me, she does a double-take. "Cora. Oh my gosh, you look beautiful. You are about to blow some people's socks off", Iris says, and then gives me the go-ahead to take off down the runway. I heard gasps all over the room and I walked with my head high to the end of the runway. I hit my poses and turned and headed back up the runway. I heard someone yell out "I love you Shae" as I went to enter the dressing room and get my last dress on. The black one is my new favorite dress and I keep my fingers crossed because I have an image of me in it, but I have never seen myself in it, in the mirror yet, and I don't have time to stop for it today either. Livi tears up looking at me and I know right then I am the showstopper again. I hugged her really quickly and headed to Iris to wait for my cue to go. Iris's eyes get huge, and she makes a small squealing sound, and she smiles a huge smile at me. The girls start to line up behind me to go out after I hit the end of the runway, and Ava and Emily both do the silent clapping again.

"Mateo doing the same thing this week?" I ask and Iris nods, and then sends me out. I feel completely sexy in this outfit, it is made perfectly for me, my curves shine in this outfit, and I am covered, but I also kind of feel like I am not covered. I am glad for the n***** covers again, because we might have an incident as the cloth pieces on each side cover my breasts are about 2 inches wide and 5 inches tall, and my breasts are at least 3 inches wide and the lace is there to make it seem more modest. This dress is perfection, and I am proud to be wearing it for Mateo. I feel like the queen of the world in it, and I know that I look stunning in it. I got to the end of the runway, and I heard probably the same person who said they loved me last time around, now started to loudly wolf whistle as I hit my poses. I stood there and waited for all the girls to hit their marks and listen to hear Mateo's footsteps coming out to me.

I hear the familiar footsteps and as Mateo starts waving to the crowd, everyone is suddenly on their feet and cheering and yelling out. Mateo steps back and then points at the girls who start to exit the stage, and then at me, and the crowd goes crazy again. I place my arm in Mateo's bent elbow and we exit the stage.

As soon as we get backstage, everyone is yelling and cheering and we are all taking pictures. I had Livi take one with my phone too, because I want to remember this moment, as being the best that I have ever looked in my life. I asked Franco to help me get my hair down. I brush it and spritz it with water to take the curls out of it. I get two makeup wipes and wipe my face clean again. I get out of this beautiful dress and into my regular jeans and a t-shirt.

I go out to see my friends and Catherine comes running up to me and gushing about how beautiful I looked. She also said that she had news for me and that she would text me tips for it as well later on today, so I would have them with me. I sat down with her in the second row, and she told me that we had been invited to a Finance house in Paris, France and that we had to go because we had won an award, and to keep on friendly terms with the private equity firm that was hosting it, we needed to attend even with the short notice. She explained that they had not known that she had retired, and they only noticed that we had not replied to say that we were attending on Friday night, so they sent out the invitation straight to Collin.

"He did try to call me earlier, but I wasn't having a good day, and I declined the call. He gave me some bs report to write up yesterday and made me stay late to do it, so I couldn't go out with Michael when he could have given it to me two hours previous", I told her. "Well, that is terrible that you couldn't go out last night, Cora, but Michael is a good man, and I am glad he asked you out," Catherine said to me.

"Well, actually, after he barged into Collin's office last night, something happened. I don't know what, no one is talking about what happened in the office and I already know he is calling it quits with me. He hasn't said it, but I know we are not going to be dating anymore" I tear up as I tell Catherine what happened last night.

"Honey, do not give up. I think you may have someone bigger and better interested in you", Catherine tells me.

"But what if I didn't want bigger and better? Because of how he has behaved when I first started, and what he has done. What if I don't want him? What if I actually wanted Michael? I think I am done with trying to date, I think I will just get some cats". I tell Catherine to try to make her laugh, even though I don't feel like laughing.

"I am sorry honey, I actually do not know what is going on, so I can't help you. I have faith that you will end up where you are supposed to, though, honey. Now just put a smile on your face and I will text you the information you need to know about Paris and what to pack. As we are winning an award, you will need to pack an evening dress. So, mention it to Mateo and he should be able to tell you which one. It would be a good thing for you to do, because with him bursting onto the fashion scene, it could really help him for you to wear one of his dresses for the event, especially if you are taking pictures with Collin. That alone could get you on a lot of sites and newspapers around the world and be a gamechanger for Mateo. They are fashionable, but usually, on a more modern and elegant level than us, we tend to be trendier here in America", Catherine said to me. I smiled and thanked her for the help. She said my office wear would work just fine for the workday there, and some regular clothes for site-seeing. I try to look at this as a positive. A free trip to Paris, my first flight, but helping Mateo become internationally known, would be the cherry on top for him, and for Mateo, I would do it. But I am so sad about losing Michael, that I just don't care about anything really right now. I went to speak to Mateo about which gown I should take with me to represent him, and his clothing line and he told me that he had been working on a dress for the next show, but that he could have it ready by Tuesday for me to take it to wear on the trip, and I can come by after work Tuesday to try it on. This would be the best part and Collin would not have ever seen it on the runway, so he wouldn't suspect anything. He is really excited because this is an excellent opportunity to show off his work at an international level. He also tells me that we had a special guest at the show today, Anna Wintour, Editor-and-Chief of Vogue, who had been here and enjoyed the show. Mateo hopes that this might lead to an interview or something and I hope it does. He really deserves it. I love his work. I saw Alderidge and Marlow standing with Ava and went over to say hi to them. Alderidge tells me "You looked absolutely stunning out there today, Shea". Marlowe hugs me and tells me how beautiful I looked up there. I start to tear up because I am so upset because I can already tell that Michael is gone, at least for me he is. I try to stop crying, but it just gets worse, and she hugs me and pats my back until I calm down. I know she already knows something, but if I speak about it to any of them, I am just going to start crying again. My eyes were red, and I already knew that I looked horrible, so I just ducked out and took the bus home.

I went to lie down because I just wish today was over with. I wake up at 6 am on Sunday, and go ahead and get up and start some laundry and put in my earbuds, and start cleaning, as I didn't do anything yesterday. I don't feel like going out to eat brunch either, so I message Iris and Livi and tell them that I am just going to stay home. I see 4 missed calls from Collin, but I don't feel like calling him back. I am not on the clock, and I have to go to Paris with him too, so I will not be giving him any extra time from me right now. As far as I am concerned, this was all his fault. It all went sideways when he made me stay late to try to keep me from going out with Michael, and it has been straight downhill since then. I just don't care about anything right now.