Falling For My Playboy Boss
Chapter 26

Cora's

POV

I miss Catherine. I am handling the job, but I am lonely, and I miss her terribly. I am going to have to see about setting up a brunch or lunch with her on Saturdays or at least trying to see her twice a month. It has been over two months now since she left, and it is now almost the middle of August. The only upside I have is that Maddie isn't traipsing through her like she used to, but she still drops by like every other week and tries to get Collin to go back with her. She glares at me when she comes through and acts like I am the problem, but we both know that I am not the problem.

There have been no problems with me running the show at work so far, as I have handled everything that Collin has thrown at me, and the one thing I was unsure about. I called and told Catherine what I had done, and she said that I had been correct. I just wanted to confirm with her as it was the first time that it had come up since I got here. She had told me when she left at the end of the third week of training to call her if I needed her, as there were a few things that could happen that you have to watch the process to get it done correctly. We both cried and I hugged her tight before she left. I love her and I wish she would do some "drop-ins" to come and see me.

I look forward to getting to see the guys every Friday and, frankly, they are the highlight of the week. Thankfully, today is Friday, and I look forward to seeing them this afternoon. Thankfully, Lyra has not come back here, but even if she did, she wouldn't know about the cameras, so, I am still thankful for that. Collin has actually been a lot nicer to me and has completely gotten off my back since the altercation with Maddie after the show. I hated that he got left with Maddie, but it was his choice to pick the losing team, as I consider any time with her being on the losing end. As far as I am concerned, she insulted his sister, Emily, and me. He should have at the very least stood up for his sister when that happened. Maddie is not a nice person and I wonder, for the hundredth time, why he is with her. There are a lot nicer, beautiful people out there if vanity plays such a big part in his life, that he had to pick out his date solely based on their appearance.

I had gone out with Christian about a week after the show and he was a great date; attentive, handsome, and nice, but when we kissed goodnight, I didn't have the excitement that I thought I was going to have, with me being breathless and not able to wait another minute to kiss him again. Frankly, that has me worried. When I feel Collin's eyes on me, I get a tingle, it is like I feel excited waiting for what he is going to do. The anticipation of what he could do to me leaves me breathless already, and he hasn't even touched me. I would love to just once grab him by the shoulders and let him kiss me breathless. I know I would be, and I don't even know how I would know that, I just do. Something about the possessive way that he looks at me with his beautiful green eyes, just makes me want to shudder and let him do whatever he wants to me. I jerk myself out of my naughty images and tell myself that I have to stop with these thoughts, he is my boss, and I cannot have a relationship with him. It is forbidden by the handbook, and then I think of Lyra and Hamilton in H.R. and wonder why I have to follow the rules if they don't have to.

I think Christian was disappointed as well, because he does find me attractive, but I know that he doesn't feel a special excitement either, that thrill when you are with someone that you need to make the relationship last. But we remain good friends and I think he might ask me out again at a later time just to make sure that we are not compatible, and I will, of course, give him another shot. He is charming, smart, and easy to be around. If I felt that spark, I would probably be all in to marry him. He is an excellent catch, but right now we are just good friends.

In the 6 weeks since the show, I have gotten closer to both Ava and Emily and I love them both. I have also gotten to see more of Ella as she is working very closely with Mateo on his vision. I know he is super busy right now as the pre-fall show will be coming up on the third weekend of August and there is only one week left before the show. I was talking about the show last Sunday at our brunch with Livi and Iris. Iris said that I was going to love my clothes for the next show. She said that he already had all the pre-fall clothes done and he was working on his vision for the official Fall show in a month, in the middle of September. I have no idea why there are two shows pre-fall and fall, but I also know nothing about the fashion world, and I have to say that being on the runway was exhilarating and I actually missed it. I will be going in tonight to try them all on, for any last-minute changes to be made. I have already been paid twice from work now, and I took some of my second check and got my hair done by Franco two weeks ago, and I have to say that I would pay him just to wash my hair every day, it is just the best. I keep it up in a bun, either at the back of my head or at my neck, and I watch what I wear to work. Since Collin and Maddie were at the show and I knew that she would notice it before he did, I also spent some of my money to get shirts to make the original clothes that Mateo gave me; the black pencil skirt and pants suit, go further and have not worn my new ones to work yet. Well, I did wear the black romper jumpsuit out when I went on my date with Christian, and he thought I looked beautiful, but I just wore it with a naked face and a high ponytail. I still love it and it did look fantastic on me. I may try to wear it to work one of these days and just not take my jacket off. If anyone asks me about it, I will say I got it at Saks was my thought on that.

Ava and Emily are super excited about the show and couldn't have been happier about working on it with me. Ella was surprised that I suggested that she model the clothes as well. She had a gorgeous figure and is very tall, almost 6', so her size 12 frame actually looks like an 8 when you are looking at her, but she has curves for days. I know Mateo was ecstatic about measuring her and making her clothes. She was hesitant at first as she felt like she shouldn't model, but I told her she "was the perfect person to help show the world that we are all not all the same size, but we are all beautiful. That no matter your size, you can be stunning right now at the size you are today, and that it also showed off Mateo's talent even more by making us all look beautiful and special, even though we are all assorted sizes, heights, and colors".

I think Mateo is happiest of all, because he had a thing for Ella, and was scared to pursue it because he didn't want her parents to be angry if he asked her out. I could tell he wanted to, and I remember watching him following her around with his eyes, and then looking away when she looked back at him. They were both pretty shy about their interest in each other, so I made it my goal to see what I can do to help encourage them to both let go of their fears and go out on a date together. I got Eric and Franco to help me out with this plan of mine and I am thankful that it worked. I think that they are perfect together and seeing them dating makes me happy as I am living vicariously through them.

I hear a throat clear, and I come out of my daydreams. I see Jerry standing in front of me smiling and he says, "I just wanted to thank you for helping Victoria and me with the Adams investment problem. Neither one of us would have thought about the option that you came up with, and it shows the good head you have on your shoulders. That you are really great at thinking the problem through and coming up with a solution that was outside of the box. They are both incredibly happy with how we helped them find the perfect investment for them and they are telling their wealthy friends about us as well. So, in the last two months, our business has picked up a great deal, 5% in fact of our yearly profit, solely due to you. To that end, I have two checks for you. The first one is from Victoria, who wanted to share half of her bonus with you because she would never have thought of it, so she would have missed out on this account entirely. The second check was totally due to your resourcefulness. I hope that you will continue to assist us with some of our harder cases. Of course, I know that you have your hands full with Collin. But we appreciate you and I am thankful for your help. I know it goes without saying, but if you ever want to transfer, I am sure that Collin might have a problem with it, but I would take you on still, and at the salary, I quoted you in May, plus bonuses", Jerry said and turned to walk away before stopping and turning back to me, "Oh, and good luck next weekend. Margo is completely excited about the show. I know you will look beautiful, and we all look forward to the show". Jerry waved at me and walked back to his office.

I put both the checks into my purse and zipped it shut. I will look at them later. It is Friday, and I am going nowhere but home on the bus and getting some extra sleep tonight. I can always take the car and go by the bank tomorrow, so I was in no hurry to see them. I just appreciate actually being appreciated. That was what the value was to me. That they were in a bind, and I helped them figure out the problem. I like thinking up ways to be innovative and progressive in doing my accounts, to go over and above solving problems, that is what makes me feel good. People know that they can trust and depend on me because I care about their business and the goals that they want to achieve with their investing. I guess I miss Account Manager more than I thought I did. I went to use the restroom quickly as we still had an hour to go, but I had Coleman keeping an eye out on my desk. No one was expected, but after Lyra just showed up that last time and busting into Collins's office, I wouldn't put anything past her anymore.