Falling For My Playboy Boss
Chapter 74

Cora's

POV

Ava and I had a great time at the beach. We got extra clothes, bathing suits, and some beach shoes and sandals at a local store while we were there. The weather was a lot nicer than I thought it was going to be. I thought it would be cold, but it was actually really nice lying out on the beach. I would get work done until my laptop battery died, and then put it up to layout with Ava in our full sunscreen. This was an almost daily occurrence for us, and we had a great time there. There was something so very relaxing about hearing the waves hit the beach, with the sun on your skin. I felt toasty warm in the sun, and happy for the first time in a long time. In March, the weather got even nicer, and we rented bikes to ride around the town. Thomas got a scooter, because he didn't want to ride the bike, so he kept having to pull off for us to catch up with him. But it was really fun, and the houses there were painted so cheerfully. So many beautiful colors that just really stood out as we rode past them.

The only downside was that we were at the beach, and I was pregnant. I really had to watch the type of fish I ate, because of mercury. I called my doctor and she said scallops, shrimp, squid, and tilapia were all good for me to eat, so one time a day I would have something from her list, and we made breakfast at the little apartment they had there in Key West. I say it is little, but it is a three-bedroom apartment that has been renovated recently, with lovely views, and is really close to the beach. Ava said that they used to come here all the time when she was a child and each one of them had their own room. Well she did, the boys had to share with each other.

I always had a zoom meeting each week with Jerry to discuss where my clients were and for me to be advised of what had been happening at the company, as I don't come there for meetings. I was on my Monday zoom call the Monday before the Spring Fashion show with Jerry when he suddenly asked me, "When will you be back in New York, Cora?".

"I am flying back this Friday night, as the Spring fashion show will be this coming Saturday," I told Jerry.

"Great, we need to have a meeting here on Monday, and you have been requested to come to the meeting by Gabriel Dubois from Eurazeo. We will all go out to eat after the meeting if that is OK with you? I know that you want to avoid Collin, so I set the meeting for here during his lunch hour, Cora. So, we can meet from 1230 to 120, so we can leave before Collin comes back", Jerry tells me.

"I will be there, Jerry. I really do appreciate all you do for me to be able to work from home. It will be my pleasure to come to the meeting. I will help in any way that I can. Gabriel was really nice to me when we were in Paris", I told Jerry, and then winced thinking about the Paris trip.

'Cora, you are invaluable to me, and I am glad Christian suggested you interview with me. You do excellent work, and we know that we can depend on you to handle tough cases. You have a job with us for as long as you want to work here", Jerry told me. "I will be there, and since it is at the office, I will have Thomas with me, just in case, as things have changed since you saw me last," I told him, and I plan on making sure Thomas stays right with me as I feel safer with him by my side, especially if Maddie is at the office. I check my emails to see if anyone else needs any help from me, as I like to make sure that my clients are taken care of. There were no problems in my inbox, so I put the laptop down and enjoyed the sea breeze on my face and the sun's warmth on my body. Even though I am pregnant, I decided on two pieces, as it was easier to go to the bathroom in it and I wanted my little baby bump to get a little sun too. I let my mind wander and I thought I might just text Alderidge to see if he could come to the meeting too, as that would help keep me from worrying too much over this meeting. Thomas is pretty easy about it, as he gets paid the same, whether at the beach or in the boardroom. He goes where I go, I give him a day or two's heads up on my plans.

"Alderidge, are you going to be included in the meeting at work on Monday?" I texted him.

"Which meeting are you talking about on Monday?' Alderidge texted me back.

"Jerry said that Gabriel Dubois, from Eurazeo, would be coming in for a meeting, and Jerry scheduled it from 1230 to like 120, to avoid Collin. But we all know he could come back earlier, and I will have Thomas with me, but I have heard that Maddie has been hanging out at the office too. I would prefer not to run into either one of them at the office if I can avoid it", I texted him.

"No, I understand honey, I will be coming, and I will let Jerry know that I will be coming too. I will bring Marlowe with me, and you let Ava know that she needs to come as well, even if she doesn't want to, and tell her where you are going and why. I know that she will want to be with you if there was any possible way for Maddie to try to get to you. You may have to use the restroom, and they can go with you to protect you, as Thomas can't go in there with you. Thank you for giving me a heads up on this. I didn't know that Gabriel was coming in from Paris, let alone a meeting requesting you. Did Jerry say why?" Alderidge texted me.

"No, I have no idea why. Jerry didn't say, and I think he may not even know. So, I guess we will find out next Monday. Thank you for coming with me, it could go badly if Maddie and Collin are both there." I texted back to him.

Since Ava and Thomas were both sitting there with me, I told them both about the meeting at Lauder Financial on Monday that I needed to attend.

"I am going to go with you and Thomas, Cora, because you might have to use the restroom and I know Maddie. You will not be going anywhere alone, plus we are going to get a free lunch out of it too, and I heard Gabriel is an attractive man, so a little eye candy and a free lunch are great, but keeping you, and my niece and nephew safe, that is priceless" Ava tells me and smiles at me and then goes back to her magazine. I lucked out with Ava being my friend, she is the sweetest and, since she is a pretty talented graphic artist, she gets her work done quickly, and then she has plenty of free time. We have gotten it down to a science. We set up at opposite ends of her dining room table and we get our work done every morning, and then we have time to shop or do whatever we want to. "Huh, that is weird?" I said out loud a short time later and Ava and Thomas looked over at me. I continued to speak, "I just tried to pay for my student loans for this month, but it said that they had been paid off. I didn't do it and I don't want to be hit with a penalty for a late payment as it is due this Friday".

"That is weird, you should call them, they should have a reason why, or at least be able to make a payment over the phone, in case they make a mistake," Ava tells me.

"It has to be a mistake. I have paid $3000 a month on it for the last 10 months to pay it down, but I still owe $170,000 on it, as it was almost exactly $200,000 that I owed. I am going to call them right now. I don't want the penalty. I need to get this cleared up", I told them and made the call.

I was on the phone for a total of 11 minutes, as I kept getting transferred to different people until I finally got to someone who could help me. But the answer was frustrating when I heard it. Collin had paid off the remaining $168,340.48 that I owed on my student loans. They only said that, as far as they were concerned, that no further payment was owed by me, and that I should be happy about someone loving me enough to make a payoff like that for me. I was not happy about it, and I didn't want to be in debt to Collin in any sort of way. I guess I will just put the money aside and when I have the full amount, I will give it to Collin. I don't want to call him or discuss this with him at all. That may have been the reason why he did it in the first place, and I will not fall for it. My heart literally hurts when I think of him. How could he not see that his reasoning for why he slept with Maddie because he wanted me, was completely disgusting? He wanted me but slept with her because she was easy and there, and now he is caught literally by his balls. I can feel bile coming up and have to just let it go. I don't want to think about him or see him, so I will pray that I can dodge him for this meeting. We are all in this mess because Collin literally could not wait to get to know someone first, that he just had to have s*x with Maddie, as the consolation prize. Well, he won her. I hope he is happy with her because I don't know if I can get past this or not. The thought of it literally makes me sick.

I know that he told me once that I was confusing him as I always wanted to pay my own way, that is how I was raised and how I like to operate. He told me he spent money on them to keep them happy. I never wanted him for his money. I only wanted him, because I love him. I want him to want me because he wants to be with me, because he loves me, and wants to be loyal to me. That was it, but it was expecting too much from him apparently. It was not ever about what I could get from him, it was always because I loved him, from the bottom of my heart. But, apparently, any port in a storm will do for Collin, and that is what hurts me the most.