Falling For My Playboy Boss
Chapter 82

Cora's POV

I feel bad for disappointing Gabriel. He hasn't come to "visit" my training like he had all last week. I know that he is upset with me, and that is why he is avoiding me. I hope to be able to see him today. He had avoided me all week and it is Friday again. All of the lunches went very well, and I only had to coach Louis on one thing, and it was something that I had covered first thing, and it was before he had come to my training. The four men; Morgan, Paul, Claude, and Louis had all excelled and had actually picked up new accounts this week from checking on their regular clients and, with getting their toughest cases solved, that had resulted in them getting additional clients from referrals. The one time I saw Gabriel and stopped him he was very formal and said, "Thank you so much for training our people. I know that they should be able to carry on and continue doing better after learning so much from you, Cora. Have a good day", and then walked away from me. I felt bad. I have never led him on, but seeing how hurt he was made me feel terrible.

I needed to go and get with Andre to see where we were meeting his client for lunch. I headed up to his office with Thomas about 20 feet behind me. I saw Camille come out of his office and give me a smirk and continue on down the hallway. I arrive at Andre's office and knock on the door frame.

"Where are we meeting your client for lunch?" I asked him.

"Oh, it is at a restaurant on the bottom floor of a local hotel. He didn't have a lot of time and he decided to meet us there as he was staying at that hotel. I will text you the address", Andre tells me, grinning at me. "What time do I need to be there?" I asked him.

"1 pm. I will grab a table when I get there and get drinks for all of us", Andre tells me, and I nod and leave his office.

"Andre didn't follow what I asked him to do. I asked him to pick a restaurant and not to have drinks with his client. We will see when we get there. I feel like something is wrong, but we will just pay attention while we are there and go from there.

I handled my accounts and responded back to the clients that needed me. I apologized for the time difference and that I would be back in New York this weekend. I texted Marlowe and Alderidge and told them that after my lunch meeting that I would be done with the training and that I would be going to see Gabriel and tell him where the last meeting was going to be and that I was done at that time. I still felt terrible as I didn't know he had feelings for me like that, and I wondered what would have happened if Collin hadn't been greedy and scooped me up when he saw that Gabriel was interested. My life could be totally different than where it is now. I could possibly be pregnant with Gabriel's baby and living in Paris. I got up and packed my things from the conference room and headed to Gabriel's office to let him know that we were about to be completed and where we will be going with the last lunch appointment. I walked up to Marc and asked him if I could speak to Gabriel. Marc nods and goes to announce me. I could hear them talking in low tones and then Marc came out with a check and said, "I am so sorry Cora, Gabriel is in the middle of something and didn't have time to talk. He wanted me to thank you so much for being willing to come and do the training and we appreciate it very much" he said as he handed me the check. I looked at the check and it was for $60,000 instead of the agreed-upon $50,000. So, I stopped and went back and told Marc, "The check is over what Gabriel was wanting to pay me, for like $10,000. I can wait until it can be corrected". Marc took the check back and went into Gabriel's office and I heard them again speaking to each other in a muffled way, as this time Marc had fully shut the door. When he came back out, Marc handed the check back to me and said, "No, it is correct, Gabriel added to your payment as the numbers from 4 of the 5 trainees were already climbing, and at a pretty good rate. You did a great job and he wanted you to have the bonus as his gift to you. You did such a great job, he will have one of them train the next time instead of bothering you with it, as he is sure that you will be too busy to come back".

Gabriel, being so upset, is getting me upset, and I am trying to calm down without crying. I see Marc looking at me trying to control my emotions and I know he is really uncomfortable as he knows that I am about to burst out crying.

I managed to get out, "Please tell him that I am sorry if I hurt him, and I wish him the very best. I just wanted to tell him goodbye as I didn't know when I would be back or be able to see him again. Thank you, Marc", before tears started to come out of the corners of my eyes. I feel terrible now and have lost a respected co-worker and friend.

Marc seemed very upset now, looking at me crying and I nodded to him and turned to leave. Thomas was looking questioningly at me when I passed him in the hallway, and I just shook my head and we headed out to go to the last meeting.

We went into the lobby of the hotel and looked around for the entrance to the restaurant. Thomas gets a text and stops in the lobby to send a reply while I enter the restaurant to find Andre. I saw him sitting at a table for four and walked over to him.

"I am sorry we are a few minutes late, but I am glad that we beat your client here. Do you have your questions prepared to go? Do you still have any questions for me, before he gets here?" I asked Andre.

"No, I am good. Are you alone?" Andre asks me.

"No, Thomas is with me in the lobby. He had something he needed to do, but he will be here shortly. Thomas stays with me. Which one of your clients is meeting us here?" I said to him.

"None of them, I was just going to meet you here and see if maybe you wanted to sleep with me too? I was told that you had slept with Gabriel, so I figured I would give you an opportunity to be able to have a shot at me too. Since you like sleeping with colleagues. Camille told me you were pregnant by one of your bosses in New York. You are already knocked up, so I can't get you pregnant. I have a room upstairs, so we can just run up and have a go at it. You are pregnant, but you are also a beautiful woman, and I have slept with a lot of pregnant women before. You will just have to ride me for maximum penetration. I can take care of your needs just fine, honey, I have never had a complaint", Andre said to me.

"Are you out of your mind? I am here to help you do better at your job, not sleep with you", I told him.

"He must be out of his mind" I heard coming from behind me. Before I could turn to see who was behind us, Collin was pulling Andre out of his chair by punching him in the face.

I hop up and go to grab Collin and try to pull him back from attacking Andre when Andre punches me in the shoulder as he goes to hit Collin and I get knocked to the floor. I cried out as I tried to grab the chair that I was just sitting in to slow down my fall, but it still hurt. Collin takes one look at me on the floor and yells out to Thomas, who was still in the lobby, and he then jumps onto Andre and starts beating the s**t out of him.

I tried to get up, but I couldn't from the angle I was presently at on the floor. Thomas hurries up and I see Camille behind him. When she sees me on the floor and Collin beating up Andre, she takes off. Thomas helps me up and off the floor and helps me into the chair and asked me where I hurt. My shoulder hurt as I put my hand out to catch myself with the chair and the other hand kept me from fully hitting the floor, but my back and hip hurt from the side I landed on. There is a lot of yelling going on, but I am scared for my babies, and I start crying, which stops Collin from beating up Andre and comes to me to hold me, and then asks where I was hurt. I told them both where I was hurt and then the police arrived to arrest Collin and Andre for assaulting each other. Thomas asked them to call for an ambulance and take me to the hospital to be checked out. I am so upset, and I cannot stop crying. I hurt, and I am scared for my babies. Thomas waits with me and apologizes to me as Camille had approached him in the lobby and was talking with him about something when Collin arrived. That is who the text was from. Collin wanted to surprise me by picking me up after the lunch meeting was over. Collin had overheard what Andre said to me and lost it. I figured out really quickly what happened. I asked Thomas for my phone, which had fallen along with my purse when I fell, as all I was worried about was protecting my stomach when I fell. I didn't want the babies to be hurt, and I think I protected them, but I was not sure and I was terrified at this time. I was worried about Collin, and I was scared for my babies. The ambulance arrives and the EMTs start checking me out and getting my vitals. I asked them which hospital they would be taking me to.

"Marlowe", I cried out between sniffles, "Please come to the Hospital Saint-Louis. I got hit and knocked to the ground. They are going to take me to the hospital in an ambulance, and Collin has been arrested and I don't know where they are taking him. I am so scared that something could have happened to the babies and to Collin, and I just can't stop crying", I tell her as I cry.

"We are coming now. I will have Alderidge go to get Collin. See if Thomas can ask one of the officers where they are taking Collin?" Marlowe told me.

"Central Police Station is what Thomas said the officer told him," I told Marlowe.

"We are on our way now," Marlowe told me, and I calmed down a little because I knew that they were going to help us.