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Corey's POV.

"I'm really sorry Corey but I have to let you go." My boss said softly. I just stood there staring at him as if I had not heard him. I knew that my little mistake had cost them dearly but I wasn't expecting them to fire me, at least not yet.

"But... But..." I stuttered, trying to find the right words to express just how I felt. "We can fix this, all I have to do is....." I opened the folder in front of me, flipping through the pages in search of the proposal I had spent the whole night drafting. "See... Here we could..." He shook his head sadly as he relaxed back into his seat.

"It's too late for all that now. You can leave your ID card here and submit whatever is left to your team leader."

"You can't do this Sir! Please let me fix this. I really need this Job. My wedding is a week from now, I can't afford to lose my job." I pleaded on the verge of breaking down into tears.

"I can't help you Corey, your mistake caused us an exclusive contract, and the director is so upset. He ordered me to do this, please don't make this any more difficult than it is already." I knew he was telling the truth, for him to do this then that sour-faced director must have been responsible but I am still determined to keep my job.

"Mr. Colton, you have to believe me. With this plan, we can get even more than the first..."

"Corey, do I need to call security?" He said with a firm yet gentle voice and a serious facial expression.

"But I don't deserve this, it was just a mistake with the technical unit..." I tried to defend myself but he cut me off.

"Which you were in charge of. I'm sorry that I have to do this before the wedding but you should leave." He stretched out his hands, I sighed and dropped my ID card into his open palm.

I kept rambling on, pleading with him to give me another chance but he just sat there looking right past me. The door opened and the security, a heavily built man, stepped in.

"You should leave Miss Corey before I have to throw you out." His large arms flexed under his shirt and his broad shoulders and wide chest looked intimidating enough to make me swallow hard.

I looked back at Mr. Colton on his chair as he swiveled around but he didn't look like he would give me a second chance.

"I'm sorry." He whispered as the guard led me out of the door, and towards my desk to pack my things into a box. Someone had already left a box on my table, they just couldn't wait to see my back, I hissed, grabbing the box in anger and shoving my things into it as the other workers stole glances in my direction.

"All done?" The guard asked as I turned around holding the box to my chest. I ignored him and headed straight for the elevator, he didn't follow me.

I stood in the elevator, counting every second that went by in my head, I couldn't believe it, I just lost my job. The elevator made a ding sound and slid open. I stepped out into the hallway leading to the reception hall still holding the box. Some of the employees gave me side glances as I walked past them. I'm sure they all knew, the brown big box only meant that I had just been fired. Some gave me sympathetic glances which only made me furious.

I stepped out through the door and took in a deep breath. The summer breeze in New Orleans suddenly felt so nice to me. I adjusted the box to balance on one hand and ran the other through my hair, pulling out the band that held it up in a large pigtail. I felt the wind in my hair, rubbing at my scalp gently as its length danced in the wind. I straightened my jacket and headed over to my car.

I drove my car out of the allocated parking lot for staff and into the busy road. The traffic wasn't bad at all, and before the next ten minutes, I was pulling into the driveway of our apartment on 3rd Avenue. I turned off the ignition and ran up the front steps, fished inside my purse for my keys, and opened the door.

"Babe!" I called out to him since I heard music blaring from the speakers upstairs then he must be home. I moved up the stairs picking up his clothes tossed across the floor carelessly, as I got closer to the bedroom I found a black bra, hurled on the railings. I frowned as I picked it up. I observed the pattern of the bra and clenched my teeth, I don't own any bra like this.

I moved cautiously towards the bedroom and met the door half open. Hiding my body behind the frame of the door, I peeked into the room and found my boyfriend laying on his back on our bed, while a blonde woman with large breasts, naked except for her panties bounced on him as his eyes followed her bouncing breasts hypnotically making her giggle at his expression. I couldn't really see her face because her hair covered most of it.

When she tossed her hair over her shoulders, I got a good look at her face, my heart almost stopped beating at that moment, I couldn't believe my eyes.

"Sarah," I whispered, blinking my eyes at the unbelievable scene. There was Ryan, in bed with Sarah, my best friend. My hands shook as I pushed the door wide open, my body trembling at what my eyes were seeing.

I caught them totally off guard as they had not heard me enter due to the loud music until I was right before them.

Ryan jumped up from the bed, trying to pull his pants up, while Sarah scurried about on the floor trying to cover herself with the sheets.

"How could you?" I screamed at Ryan. "How could you do this to me?"

"Calm down Corey, this isn't what you think it is." He said, moving closer and reaching out to touch me.

"Don't touch me". I shrieked and pushed him away from me.

Ryan stuttered, trying to come up with some kind of explanation, but I wasn't having any of it. I charged at him, throwing punches left and right, fueled by a rage that I had never felt before. My punches were weak and pathetic just like how I felt at the moment. Ryan caught my wild fists and held it tightly, I winced in pain.

"Calm down Corey, you're going to hurt yourself." He snapped as if he was irritated at me. The tears began to fall, rolling down my cheeks as I looked up at him. The words I wanted to say were unable to roll off my tongue as I felt a lump in my throat, it hurts really bad.

"You don't have to embarrass yourself." Sarah rolled her eyes at me as she played with a strand of her hair.

"You," I seethed, turning my attention away from Ryan to Sarah. "I trusted you. I confided in you. And this is how you repay me?" I felt my blood boil under my skin and anger creeping up my face.

"It's not my fault that you've such a pathetic and dumb personality. All these while, I have been sleeping with him right under your nose and you had no idea." She said, her lips curving into a smile.

I tried to free myself from Ryan's grasp so that I could pounce on her but he held on tightly while she laughed, in a low sultry tone at how pathetic I looked. I looked up at Ryan's face and realized that he didn't even feel sorry for what he did, he didn't want me and he wasn't even trying to defend me.

I finally stopped struggling, panting and exhausted, I looked around the room, at the two people who had betrayed me in the worst way possible. He released me when I stopped struggling, without saying a word, I turned around and walked out of the room admist Sarah's harsh words.

As I walked out of the apartment, I felt a sense of relief. Relief that I had found out the truth before I invested any more of my time and energy into it. Relief that I had stood up for myself.

But mostly, I felt a deep sense of sadness. Sadness that the two people I had trusted the most had let me down so completely on the same day that I lost my job. I couldn't take it anymore.

I returned to my car but didn't drive out immediately, the tears that rocked my entire body the moment I sat back down in the car were too heavy to be suppressed. I cried for what felt like hours with my head on the steering wheel. When the tears subsided, I pulled out a napkin from my bag and cleaned my face.

"Shit! I need a drink." I said to myself as I pulled out of the driveway. I drove down to the pub downtown, Sarah had Introduced me to the place a few years ago. I stepped in and choose to sit closer to the bar on a bar stool.

"Hey! The usual." I said to the familiar waiter as I took off my jacket. Shortly after, he slid a glass of vodka and a slice of lemon to me. I grabbed it and gulped it down, "Another!" I yelled, the burning feeling of the alcohol holding back my tears.

"Just pass us the whole bottle." An unfamiliar voice said behind me. I turned around to find a man around six feet tall, with a well-built body and the most beautiful grey eyes I had ever seen. He walked over to the counter and slipped some dollar bills to the waiter, who grabbed it too quickly and stuffed it into his pocket. He slid the bottle towards me and another glass towards the stranger.

"Thanks but you shouldn't be sitting this close to me?" I gulped down another shot of vodka and passed him the bottle.

"Why is that? Is there a boyfriend or husband nearby?" He poured himself a glass and sent the bottle in my direction.

"Yeah right!" I laughed sarcastically, the events of the day playing in my head. My phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out to find a message from Ryan, it read;

"I can't get married to someone that doesn't have any self-control. I'm calling off the wedding and taking out the money I paid for the hall. Your things would be on the front porch when you get back." I stared at the screen, unable to believe what I had just read. I grabbed the bottle and took a swing directly from it.

"Looks like I am not the only one having a really bad day." He said as the waiter refilled his glass.

"You won't believe the load of crap I just had to go through..." He turned around to look at me when his eyes met mine, I just started narrating all that had happened that day, how I lost my job and my man, and now the sick bastard wants to cut me off.

Surprisingly, he is an amazing listener, he paid attention to every single word and didn't interrupt until I was done.

"No offense but he sounds like an asshole."

"None taken," I replied with a smile.

"I had a VIP room reserved before coming here so maybe if you're up for more drinks, you could join me." His dreamy eyes held mine and I just couldn't resist. I nodded and he led me upstairs.

The alcohol was already taking a toll on me and I couldn't think straight, I kept wondering why Ryan and Sarah would do something like that to me and then I started wondering what cheating on your spouse feels like. The moment we stepped into his room, my eyes went to his lips, they looked soft and inviting.

I slammed the door shut and pulled him to me, his lips meeting mine. At first, he looked startled but when my tongue pushed its way into his mouth, he relaxed and pulled me closer to himself.