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I consoled myself with this, but as the moments passed and there were still no signs whatsoever of either of them returning, I rose to my feet. After setting the device down, I took off my jacket and started to head over to the restroom. Just before I exited the restaurant’s floor, however, I realized that she was coming out. I stopped in my steps as I looked at her and didn’t miss the sad and almost furious look she had on. She, however, didn’t notice me until she was almost in my face, and instantly her expression turned to that of surprise.
“Lucien!” she called, and then she quickly corrected herself. I didn’t miss her quickly looking over her shoulder.
“Sir, I mean,” she smiled. “Are you going to the bathroom?”
I watched her closely, trying to read and understand her. However, before I could ask any further questions, my gaze moved to the man who was also emerging from the restroom area hallway. He was adjusting his suit, and for a moment, the sudden urge for me to drive my fist into his face arose.
However, I managed to control myself, thankfully because it wasn't exactly easy to harass her there. This was a very high-end establishment, and there were cameras everywhere, so mostly he had only tried to talk to her and was adjusting his clothes because he had gone to the bathroom.
“I'll be right back,” I said as I moved past both of them and continued on my way to the restroom. In there, I was worried once again that I was leaving her with him, and I truly didn't like this. There had to be a better way to set my mind at ease, and so the moment I was done in the restroom, I pulled out my phone and called Felix.
“Sir?” he picked up almost immediately.
“Hey,” I greeted. “I have something I need you to help me do urgently. “ I said as I noted the time on my watch.
“Sure, sir,” he said.
“I need the surveillance footage of the restroom area at Per Se, Ten Columbus Circle. ”
“Okay,” he said. “Timestamp, please?”
“Between three-fifteen and three-thirty pm.”
“Okay, sir.”
“Can you get this to me before the end of the day? It’ll be difficult, but don’t consider the expense. Just send the bill to me.”
“I most definitely will, sir,” he said. “Anything in particular I should be looking out for?”
“My personal assistant, Sophie. You know her, right?”
“Yes, sir, I do,” he replied.
“Well, I’m currently working with a man called Gregory Walters from Charles Nioly’s company. I want to see if between those frames there was any interaction between them, and if there was, I need to see exactly what it was. So make sure the footage is as clear as possible. I don't want any ambiguous clips or images.”
“Understood. I’ll contact you again before the end of the day,” he said.
With this taken care of, I ended the call and put my phone away. Once again, I was exerting quite an intense level of concern for her, but I told myself that this wasn’t the same type of mundane concern about her well-being. This was concerning the safety of my employee, and as her employer, especially as I was the one that brought her into contact with this particular douchebag of a client, it was my responsibility to ensure that she was safe. Otherwise, I and perhaps even my company would end up paying for the consequences at the end of the day.
After this, I returned to the restaurant, and as I did, I was sure to watch out for both of them. His eyes were on her while she, on the other hand, had picked up my iPad and was scrolling through. She was still speaking to him, I could tell,but was trying her hardest not to give him her attention and to discourage his advances in any way.
I could very clearly see from this distance how uncomfortable she was, and it made me wonder why she didn't immediately come to me with this. It was as though she didn't trust me, which I couldn’t understand because we had worked together for so long. And there was also the fact we had been extremely intimate with each other, and for lack of a better word, we were more or less on good terms. So what was the problem? Why bear this annoyance alone?
This was the question I kept asking myself as I returned to the table, and afterwards, I couldn’t bear to remain any longer. I sat with them for a little while, confirmed my suspicions, and then I stood up ready to leave. He did the same as well, and after shaking my hand, he tried to pull her in for a kiss on the cheek again, but she turned quickly with the excuse of packing up our things. I didn’t miss his dark state directed at her. I also made sure that he was well aware that I didn’t miss this, and when he eventually returned his gaze to mine, I could see that he was startled by the way that I was watching him.
I decided then that if she didn't have the courage, for whatever reason, to come to me about his unwanted advances, then there was nothing stopping me from confronting him about it.
“Sophie, go ahead and get Michael to bring the car around,” I told her, and she met my gaze. Then she looked at Gregory, and I was sure she knew that I was going to interfere. She didn’t seem happy about this either, which confused me, but she didn’t say a word in protest. She nodded in agreement and made her way out of the restaurant.
“My assistant seems uncomfortable with your presence,” I pointed out directly to him, refusing for any reason to mince my words. “Is there anything untoward I should know about?”
“Untoward?” he asked, acting dumb. “Uncomfortable? She told you that.”
I was instantly irritated. “We’ve been seated here and interacting together for hours, so you’ve heard every word she's said to me, haven’t you?”
“So, where are you getting that idea from?” he asked. “She seemed mighty fine to me.”
“I know her,” I said, “and therefore, her discomfort is very hard to miss.”
