Falling For My Playboy Boss
Chapter 35

Cora's POV

"Thank you, sir, I appreciate the compliments, but I am just doing my job. I would have been just as thrilled if I had gone to work with Jerry. I just wanted to mention to you concerning the fashion show. I go by another name, Shae, when I am working for Mateo. It is my middle name. Mateo made me a deal. I had to get my clothes from a secondhand shop, as I was just starting to work and when Collin and Maddie called me dowdy and frumpy and made fun of me, it was really embarrassing for me, but I couldn't really afford to get better clothes, just yet. My friends Iris and Olivia both work for Mateo. Iris is his PA, and Livi is his lawyer. Mateo gives me clothes to wear for work, and I model for him. So, really Iris and Livi are both blessings to me, Ava, and Emily.

"I knew that you were the one Collin was after called Shea from Marlowe. I was not aware that you worked for Collin as his PA, until last night. Him approaching me and telling me to be good to you makes a lot more sense to me now", Michael said. "What, he told you to be good to me, why?" I asked him.

"Oh, I had been planning on talking to you yesterday, but you were so busy after the show, and then I was planning on sitting by you at the restaurant and getting to meet you, but then Maddie ruined it. I told him his ex-girlfriend was terrible and that he had ruined my night by you leaving, when I wanted to talk to you and if we got along, to ask you out on a date. He wasn't a fan of it. He seemed pretty put out by it actually, but when Ava mentioned that his actions with women were bad and that he was going to regret messing around with all those girls, one day he finally realized that his own actions might cost him, by losing something important. I didn't get it because I thought that all of us had been told that Cora was Shea, so I almost messed it up last night in the kitchen, when Ava tried to tell him to stop dicking around with all these girls and pick a good one, I didn't realize that Collin didn't know. I heard him talking about Shea last night, with Nicolas and Dalton, and I was wondering why he wasn't using her first name. I went to say, "Collin doesn't know..." and thankfully Ava stopped me and gave me the hint that he didn't know. Do you have feelings for him? I haven't asked you out yet, so it wouldn't be weird if you did have feelings, so tell me now and save us both some embarrassment". Michael said

to me.

"Um, I do like your brother, but I am not in love with your brother. It is a difficult interaction that we have going on. I want to be more than a pretty face or arm candy. I want to be valued for being who I am as a person, not because I clean up well. I am kind of a nerd. I love math and finance, and there is a lot more to me than my face. I want to be loved for being Cora, just me. Ava told me you wanted to meet me yesterday. I am sorry I left, but I was really upset. Collin got angry with me for me defending Ava and Emily when Maddie told Mateo that he was out of his mind choosing them over her after the first show. I cost Maddie getting hired and she is really angry about not getting to work for Mateo. I have an issue with Collin that I can't get past. If he KNEW that I was Shea, he would want to date me in an instant. That is why he can never know. If he wanted to date Cora, I would totally go out with him. I will know when he replaces out that I am Shea, he will not be able to keep it to himself, and I am sure that he will try to press the matter. But I cannot forget how he treated me when I started as his P.A., and he took jab after jab at me. About my appearance, my clothes, my education, he even swore I lied and couldn't have an MBA because I looked like I was 21. He is always so quick to replace fault with my actions, to think the very worst of me without cause at every turn. I truly think I need to put my little crush down and walk away. I have put up with way too much for this job, including being assaulted and the H.R. Director suspending me for being assaulted", I tell them.

"When did this happen, and why didn't I hear about it?" Alderidge asks me.

"I told Catherine that I was okay, it was Lyra, the receptionist from H.R. She insulted me the first day, about my hair, clothes, and general appearance and when I asked her if she knew I could hear her, she flipped her hair at me and walked off. She wanted to deliver two interoffice envelopes to Collin the day before my first runway show. He had three bankers coming in for a meeting in just a few minutes and I asked her several times to give them to me and I would give them to him after the meeting. She didn't agree. When the elevator pinged its arrival on our floor, I looked towards the elevator to see who had arrived, and she hit me in the ribs with her fist and then shoved me out of the way. I had to go greet the guests, so she went into his office. I greeted the guests and went with them to the conference room, and she had gone into his office and kissed him. She is dating the Director of H.R. and it wouldn't have been a fair investigation. She reversed what happened when she reported it. I got suspended with no evidence. Catherine and Collin showed up as I was leaving Hamilton's office to go home, and they set him straight. Because Catherine was leaving, she told Collin to get some cameras and audio to record for my area to try to protect me from now on, because Lyra still works there. I had my first modeling show the next day along with a big bruise. I had to go to Eric and him cover it with foundation, loose powder, and a setting spray to cover the bruise up, so it did not show up in the pictures. Catherine never knew about the bruise, because I didn't tell her. I told Eric and he was mad about me being hit, but I had to tell him so he could cover it up. I was standing there holding up my t-shirt for Eric to cover it, Livi saw it, and she was pretty mad", I told them.

"I did not know Cora; I am so sorry," Marlowe tells me and Ava nods in agreement and looked concerned.

"You have been through more than I thought you had," Ava said.

"I can see why your friends were upset, you are expected to be safe at work. Did Lyra get in trouble?" Michael asked me, and his father nodded, as he wanted to know as well.

"She was supposed to get a week's suspension, but I don't know if she did, and if she did get suspended, I can assure you Hamilton let her get paid for it while she was off, as they are dating. They get caught all the time in the parking garage. The biggest thing Hamilton was mad about was hearing from both me and Collin that Lyra had kissed Collin. Oh, yes, he also got mad at me for telling him I had no faith in him doing the investigation on me and Lyra, because he and Lyra had a relationship, and I didn't think I would come out well in it. I also told him I was going to get a lawyer, and he really got mad then", I told Michael.

"Yes, you should have. Catherine could vouch for you on both occasions from what I have heard, and I could have gotten it taken care of quickly. It sounds like we need a new Director of H.R., and a new H.R. Receptionist from the sounds of this dad", Michael says to Alderidge.

"1.

I agree, it sounds like you were harassed by her at least twice, and I won't allow her to stay if you could be hurt again, Cora. I had no idea that you had been assaulted like that", Alderidge said.

"I didn't tell them, I know Dalton and Nicolas knew because Dalton felt me jerk back when he gave me a side hug later that day and accidentally hit the spot she punched. You don't have to worry about firing them on my account. My area is now audio and video monitored, so if something else comes up, it will be able to be shown as proof. Only Catherine, Collin, and I knew about it as it was installed on the weekend, and it was weekend security that handled it. You never know, if I do transfer to another area, it would serve him right to have to put up with her. She REALLY wanted the job, and that is why she gave me such a hard time. Hamilton also referred her to the job as well. I bet if she ever gets it Collin will never have peace again. From all he does and ends up in the tabloids, Lyra appears to believe that she has a chance with him too. If he didn't allow so many attractive women to believe that they had a chance, he would have less of a hard time fielding women off of him. Michael is very attractive, and I have never seen or heard of him in the gossip columns", I told them.

"It sounds like you have already decided to transfer from where you are at Cora. Do you want me to have them post your job, so you can move over now?". Alderidge asks me.

"No, not yet. I am not a quitter, and I can do the job. But last night after the Maddie thing, I decided that if one more bad thing happened: like me walking in on Collin having s*x in the office again, me getting assaulted, something truly bad happening, I would let Ava know, and she could let you know that Jerry can go ahead and pull me over to the finance end of it and I can train the new hire before leaving. Well, as long as I can hold out on training, it depends though, as I don't know who the replacement will be and if it is Lyra, I may not be able to make it long. I do appreciate you letting me move over to work for Jerry. In fact, he is a great boss, and I appreciate the opportunity to learn from him", I told Alderidge.

"Well Cora, it seemed like your answer was kind of an "It's complicated" in answer to my question. How about we go out to have dinner one night this week? You pick which night I can work around you. In fact, I can come and pick you up from work that day, so you don't have to ride the bus home that night and change and me pick you up then. You can always wear what you are going to wear on the date to work. You pick where you want to go for dinner, and we can go from there. It will give us an extra hour on our date. Wait, how does Friday night sound to you, so you don't have to get up early the next morning? Is that okay with you?" Michael asked me.

"Friday night is perfect. I was just about to suggest that. I would love to go out with you. I have no preference about where we eat, you can choose the restaurant." I told him. I look over at Ava, who is grinning at me like a crazy person, and then see her motion with her head towards her parents, who are both beaming at us, but Marlowe has tears in her eyes.

"Marlowe, are you OK?" I asked her.

"Yes, honey, I am just so happy. Michael is a good man and listened to his mom when she spoke to him last night. I am so proud of him for making such a good choice for a girlfriend", Marlowe said.

"Mom, please, it is just a date to see if there is anything there for us to agree to start dating. Don't jump the gun, let us figure it out, don't rush anything. We are still young and have plenty of time to see where this takes us. I know you want grandkids, but you know you need to slow down on that, OK mom?" Michael told his mom. He smiled over at her gently to let her know he wasn't fussing at her. He then smiles at me and says, "Sorry, my mother has gotten grandbaby fever and is out of control with it".

"Well, we will see where the date takes us," I said to him and then smiled back at him.