I got back to the hotel room, breathing heavily as I practically ran all the way up here, except for waiting impatiently in the elevator, even in there–I couldn't stop moving.

Good thing I dismissed my security after the meeting, because I just want to be alone, in my thoughts. I need to think about what's going to happen next.

Assuming that Chopard is long gone out into the city, considering how long the elevator took, he's going to be gone for a while. The city is so big and with the places he listed, even if it was just two, it's going to take him a while to get there and go actual sightseeing.

I headed into the bedroom as I walked over to the bed and carefully sat down, barely. I wouldn't even call it sitting, more like sliding off the edge of the bed, but not wanting to use your legs any longer. Like you have to move onto something else in the next few seconds.

Never having to truly relax, it feels like that. Just like that.

I breathe out slowly, trying to take in the moment right now. Okay, I thought, I'm alone, that gives me plenty of time and room to think about the next thing we–I should do on this trip.

As I'm thinking hard, so hard that I feel my brain is about to expand so far out of my skin and eventually explode.

I kept thinking until I came to the conclusion of nothing. The only reason I'm here is because of the meeting and that is all, nothing more and nothing less.

Suddenly the phrase popped up in my head, 'Stop thinking', I remember it clearly, so clearly that it's embarrassing and makes me want to crawl into a hole and never come back up, tucked away like a little rat.

My head turned slowly to view the other side of the bed, the side that Chopard slept on, the side that I begged for him to stay on. The side that made him have the courage to do the thing that he did last night, the thing I will not go into depth about.

The amount of times I thought about that moment over and over again, whilst I slept, woke up, and got ready this morning was an unhealthy amount.

Like a child with a fascination about a toy or movie and can't stop telling their parents about it.

It's that but ten times worse, the memory consumes my mind and my every thought, it's making me lose focus on things that actually matter.

Yet again, this reminder of the events has brought me to shame. I've never felt so much shame on something that supposedly lasted no more like a one minute or two, maybe three–I don't even know anymore.

And the fact that Chopard looks like he's not ashamed about what happened makes things a lot worse for me, he could do some serious damage with that information.

He could tell someone at the office, then who knows what would happen if the information got passed on to the wrong person. Or for worse, if passing the story on, someone could twist the information–Like the game of telephone.

Chopard is the golden receiver in the office after all, so anything he says would most likely be received well and people could trust him.

I want to forget it, I truly do, I want to move on for this. But my mind won't allow it. Anytime I try to forget about it, it replays the memory again–making sure that I remember every single detail, and also making up new ones, playing out what could've happened if I didn't stop Chopard from going any further.

Then I'm thinking, I can't exactly fire him for wrongful termination, even though I would love to make up a wrong for firing him.

It was different for my last assistant, that bimbo of an assistant made several mistakes that took time out of my day to fix.

For Chopard, if I fire him, then he would catch onto why. He may be slow but he's not stupid, he could sue me and my company for an amount, most likely saying why he's suing and reveal what happened between us.

And before I know it, I'm in the loop of the fire.

And it's even worse because, looking back, I pushed him to be in the same bed as me, my heart not wanting to leave him on the couch. I embolden him to get physical with me, not pushing him away nor telling him off.

My head drops down into the palm of my hands, my whole body curving inward as I lean forward, wanting to silently drag myself under the bed and never come back up in this cruel world.

But that's not going to happen.

I thought to myself, I need to pull myself together and handle this like a grown woman that I am.

Getting up from the bed, I retrieve my laptop that had been resting on the side chair, picking it up and sitting down at the desk, I check out the booking for the rest of this trip.

Because my god, if I'm stressed out about this trip after one night then surely, I wouldn't survive the rest of this trip–I don't care if Chopard will be in a separate room than me, I just don't want him to be near me when I'm most vulnerable.

Looking at the shared calendar that me and Chopard have together, I see that we are scheduled to stay in this city for two more nights.

Two more nights, two–two nights where I have to be in close quarters with Chopard.

I mean, after last night, something will definitely happen if I decide that we should stay for the rest of the nights. I know I shouldn't put that out there, but considering that Chopard was so unbothered by what had occurred, I don't think otherwise.

Maybe that was his plan after all, he knew that I would practically beg him to return back to the bed with me, that's why he fell asleep in the first place. Then he got me in a vulnerable place, getting me to open up about my feelings. Comforting me into a place where I thought it was right in the first place.

He knew that I would be against all this, he has been around me–observing me and my behavior towards other people. He must have known that I don't take emotions very comfortingly.

Even if I tried to hide it underneath.

Afterwards, in the morning, he would have known that this would eat me alive, making me feel shame and embarrassment by the fact that I've let myself down. Consequently, he's acting like it's not bothering him at all, and making me feel shitty by rubbing it in...

I'm overthinking, but I'm usually right about these things because most of the time–I am.

And plus, who would want to spend time with someone that you think is plotting against you in a city that you're not from?

Certainly not me, but unfortunately for Chopard, he's going to suffer real consequences that he has to face.

Remembering that I ordered Chopard to book the trip, I didn't think twice before dragging my mouse to the cancel bottom, canceling the rest of the trip.

Standing up, I thought to myself, If I have to spend another night with Chopard, I think I would die–Even if he's sleeping in a completely different room than me.

Besides, what is the point of staying the rest of the days? What we came here for is already done, I don't know why I decided that staying more than one day was a good idea.

Especially when I have to get back to the office for even more business.

Maybe because you want to spend more alone time with Chopard, my brain said without a second to waste.

I shake off that ridiculous thought as that's not the reason.

Like I said, it's unnecessary and there is nothing left to do here. I have no more meetings, so staying here would waste precious time that I can't get back. I already wasted time by even letting Chopard go and explore the city.

Now, I don't even know when he's going to come back–It might be hours or even the entire day, we don't know.

Whatever, I'll just text him about the sudden change of plans, making that a plan in mind, I closed my laptop as I went to grab my solid green suitcase.

Placing it on the bed to grab my belongings, before I even had a chance to put anything in my suitcase, the hotel phone rang loudly in the room–Making it hard to ignore if I wanted to.

I groaned as I went over to the bedside table, not wanting to answer the phone but knew it had to be important. It is a rare occasion that the staff or managers want to talk to the clients/ guests that are staying at the hotel.

I assume for the longest time that the only way to talk to someone that works here is room service, the front desk when you're checking in or out, or you call the front desk.

I also thought the phone was for decoration for children to play with so that the parents don't have to watch them all day whilst on vacation, but guess I was wrong about that.

Picking up the phone, I shuffled onto the bed close to the table, trying not to knock my whole suitcase over. The cord dangling as I put the phone to my ear, waiting for the other person on the line to talk.

It took a second and a half before I heard, "Hello, Is this Ms. Cantrell?"

Not recognizing the voice, I replied with a demand, "Yes, this is she–Who is this?"

The person stuttered, not expecting the demand straight off the bat, "This is the manager that you spoke with about the incident regarding with a staff that was unfortunately disrespectful to one of your employees"

Now recognizing him and the voice, I say in a now tone down voice, "Yes, I remember, what would be the topic regarding this phone call?"

"Yes, well–I have some great news! Along with the termination of the employee, we seem to have found an extra room for you, like you requested. It is on the same floor as the current room you are in right now and it is just across the hallway"

I don't say anything as he continues, "If you want, I can send some movers to the room, in case you want to some help moving your bags and–"

Cutting him off as I don't want to get this guy's hopes up that he did me a 'favor' in covering up for the situation that occurred.

"That won't be necessary" I said, getting more comfortable in the bed as I faintly play with the phone's cord, wrapping it around my finger, "In fact, me and my assistant are leaving today"

There was a moment of silence as the only thing I could hear over the phone was a deep inhale and exhale, like the manager was trying to calm down like I told him the worst news that he could have possibly heard.

There the desperation came.

He calmly asked, "Was there any issues with the room at all?"

"Nope" I said blankly, not offering him any more information.

Without a second breath, he starts to get really desperate, and not the good kind of desperate, but the annoying kind.

"Again, I am so sorry for the inconvenience of the staff, I would never let someone like that into our building, I wouldn't even hire someone like that in the first place–Please accept my apologies, the hotel is extremely strict about these type of things and–And we don't take these things lightly–"

I pull the phone away from my ear for a minute, feeling tired from listening to this sad excuse for a manager. I sigh as I bring the phone towards my ear again, being surprised that he's still talking.

"–Again, I am very sorry, as I said before, we can add more free nights on top of the ones that you already have when we first met. Hopefully, that can provide full satisfaction for the problems that you encounter and–"

I cut him off, annoyingly saying, "Our business in this city is done" That's the only thing I said before hanging up on him, not giving him a second to say anything else.

Rolling my eyes as I got off the bed, my hand still lingering on the phone. I looked down at it as the room was filled with silence again, compared to the voice begging into my ear like a cat wanting more food.

All I felt was pity for him. Many people may like him but he's not going to get far in life. Not with that mindset.

I'm only saying that out of observations of a business owner, just like him–the ones that beg and question the decisions of a client, not realizing that they are pushing them more away, not all of them are like that though.

There are some people out there that love owners that will beg for them to come back and give them whatever they want, just for the customer to stay and lots of people eat that shit up–Knowing that they have the power in their hands instead of the other way around.

Owners like that, desperate and pathetic, will not survive and eventually get pushed to their breaking point.

Speaking of breaking point, I'm about to be there if I don't get to packing. The sooner I'm on that plane, the better.

So I do, I continue my packing, no thoughts of Chopard in mind, not caring if I gave little to no time for him to pack. I shouldn't have to, he should have everything in a neat, organized manner before we left for the meeting.

All though, I still wonder where he is right now.

Whilst in the middle of packing, my suitcase being half full, I pay attention as I'm in a trance of going back and forward between the bathroom and bedroom. That comes to an end when I hear the hotel door being unlocked and it being shut–Indicating that someone is in.

I assumed that it was one of the bodyguards, so I didn't think much about it. They must've got word that we are leaving shortly and wanted to make sure that we got out safely.

So I continue to pack until I suddenly look up and Chopard is standing in the doorway, bags in his hands as his hair is disheveled, like the wind went crazy with it.

My heart skipped a beat, now beating out of sync and out of control, mostly due the shock I have. My movement pauses, I stop walking as I'm holding my belongings in my hand like I just got caught doing something I wasn't supposed to be doing.

We kept looking at each other in a thick silence, as I slowly continued my way over to my suitcase, quietly putting my things in their correct spot.

The only thing Chopard said is, "I got some souvenirs" He held up the bags in his hands, he followed that with, "Why are you packing?"

I don't look up at him as I simply answered, "Because we are leaving, you need to pack as well" Zipping it my suitcase, moving to grab my carry on bag which was stored under the bed, "The reason only we came here is for a meeting, nothing more Chopard"

The only he need to say to get me to stop packing, "But–"

I dropped my things onto the bed as I walked over towards Chopard, stopping short as I don't want to be any closer, as I state, "Chopard, I'm the reason we're here, do you understand me? You wouldn't be here without me, what I say goes and that is final"

He doesn't say anything else, he doesn't retaliate, the only thing he does is swallowing nervously as he tries to avoid my eyes.

I take that silence as an understanding as to what we need to do. Going back to packing my carry on bag. The last thing I said to him as he was still standing in the doorway, "You need to be packed in fifteen minutes before we leave for the airport"

The only two words he quietly said was, "Yes ma'am" As he moved away from the door and began his share of packing.

Wonder what going to happen when they head back...

-Summer Roe