Her Own Undoing

Too Close For Comfort

Life seemed normal for the couple thereafter. Even with the hustle of getting the adjoining halls at the hotel ready with the racks of clothing, tables and chairs and having to work, they still found time to do the homework the Therapist gave them to work through their issues.
Gabrielle was never mentioned, it was as if she was never even an issue. There were no calls or messages to Morris neither did she return to Rochelle & Co.
It seemed as though she heeded Morris's threat.
The day for Suited for work arrived. It was scheduled to run from 11 am to 4 pm for the next 3 Sundays. Seminars start from the 2nd hour and would run for half hour with 15 minutes allotted for questions.
All board members were on time for a photo call, a group of up-and-coming bright young women who owned their own businesses and were successful in their own right.
Everyone wanted to meet the young woman to thank her for delivering this type of event. The manager of the hotel who lent the halls and even the mayor of the city made a visit and had opportune photos taken.
Things were going well after the meet and greets and Rochelle and her board settled down to don't the work. The 1st seminar was about to start with orderly lines going into the adjoining hall.
Rochelle was satisfied at the turnout. Almost an hour in and there were throngs of people shopping. Kacey was in control of the fitting rooms assisting customers with their needs, making sure that people were lined up and gave advice when needed.
The people looking for clothing had dwindled as they were going into the reproductive health seminar put on by a board member.
Rochelle surveyed the long lines going in and as Janiyah came up to her saying something her eyes caught sight of Gabrielle standing in line to go into the seminar.
She stood staring at her until the lady behind her gently touched her shoulder to let her know she should move along.
"Rochelle, that's her, hey Rochelle," Janiyah called until Rochelle looked toward her for a brief moment. "That's the girl from last week. I didn't see her for long but I'm fairly certain it's her. I told you you had a fan."
"It's her," Rochelle confirmed, "but she's no fan."
"So you know her?"
Rochelle walked away without answering to a quiet corner where she could call Morris.
With Francois back out he was able to get the next three Sundays off to help her with the events. He had left to do a last minute pick up and should be on his way back.
"She's here." She said as soon as he answered.
"What!"
"She's gone into the seminar. She was just standing there staring at me."
"Where's the hotel security?"
"There's one at the door controlling the crowd. He can't move from there. Morris why she here?"
"Don't panic I'm on my way."
Rochelle stood for a moment unsure of what to do with herself. Curiosity propelled her to the doors of the hall where the seminar was being held.
She entered just as Dr. Williams was introducing herself to the audience. As she saw Rochelle enter she sent all their attention Rochelle's way by saying, "We're here today at this fantastic initiative put on by a very bright young woman who has a heart for philanthropy and giving back to her community. Rochelle Andrews, take a bow."
The rousing applause stunned her. Rochelle stood against a wall close to the door scanning the audience for the blonde head and had found her when she heard her name mentioned by Dr. Williams. She knew the smile she gave would look disingenuous but it was all she could muster with a little wave to the audience.
Gabrielle was not smiling or applauding like the others. She just held Rochelle's gaze as Rochelle held hers daring her to do something.
Dr. Williams began her seminar causing Gabrielle to eventually turn her attention away seemingly listening to what the Doctor was saying. Once or twice she would turn to Rochelle and give an odd smile.
This continued the entire seminar. An Aide came to ask if she wanted to sit. She said no choosing to stand so she can observe the woman from that vantage point.
While the audience filed out when it was over both women stayed in place. Rochelle was greeted by many of the ladies as they left the room drawing her attention away. When she looked back Gabrielle was gone.
Frantically she searched the remaining women to see if she can spot her but she was nowhere to be seen.
Dr. Williams came up to her asking how she found the seminar. Rochelle barely heard any of it and was ashamed to tell the Doctor this.
"A lot of great information packed into a 1/2 hour."
"Do you think it was too much or should I keep it like that for the next session?"
"No, it was great, keep it like that."
"Are you OK? You seem nervous."
"I-I just lost sight of someone e-excuse me."
All of the people coming out of the hall was overwhelming. With no eyes on Gabrielle she needed to get to an open space to find her just in case she wanted to make any sort of move.
She eventually found her in the main hall coming out of a dressing room with items in her hand. Gabrielle looked over at her among the other board members and smiled.
"This bitch!" Rochelle murmured under her breath.
Soon they were calling for the next seminar to begin, she regretted immediately green lighting Doctor Khan's offering on sex. She watched as Gabrielle lined up and slipped into the room again for her second seminar with not so much as a glance to Rochelle again.
Rochelle felt broken and wanted to collapse on the floor in tears. This was supposed to be her event, her moment to shine at her first charity event but Gabrielle came and totally replaced those feelings with anxiety.
She saw Morris hustling through the doors and ran to him. He took her hand and led her to the main hotel area bathroom. She clutched onto him finally feeling safe.
"Where is she? Is she still here?"
Rochelle was crying and couldn't quite answer him but she nodded.
"Hey, it's alright. It's going to be alright. She can't hurt you. I'm here." He held her tightly, speaking to her in comforting tones. Allowing her to let it out, he got a napkin and gave her to dry her face when she composed herself.
"Did she say anything, do anything?"
Rochelle shook her head, "Just kept staring at me and smiling. She's here trying on clothes and going to seminars as though everything is cool. She's ruining my day Morris!"
Morris was feeling totally responsible for the way Rochelle was feeling right now. "I'm sorry. I thought we wouldn't see or hear from her again. Let me see if I can get her out of here."
"What are you going to do?"
"Just talk to her, get her to leave."
"What? Why don't you get the security to escort her out?"
"That's going to cause a scene Rochelle. Trust me alright."
They went back to the auditorium and walked into the seminar in the midst of laughter. Doctor Khan seemed to be doing a good job of entertaining her audience.
They surveyed the crowd, finding her on the other side of the room at the end of the row.
Gabrielle had seen them as well, the smile falling quickly from her face when she saw Morris.
Morris whispered in Rochelle's ear that he was going over to speak with her. Rochelle's and Gabrielle's eyes locked on one another as he did so.
Gabrielle looked down at her hands nervously as he walked away from Rochelle knowing he was coming over to her. She had not seen him since last Monday when he was so harsh to her. Never would she have expected that out of him but SHE was there and SHE brought out the worst in him.
"Can I talk to you outside?" He said softly in her ear as close to her as he was to Rochelle making her heart beat race.
"Hi, Morris. I can't right now. I'm in the middle of something." She whispered back sweetly, running her hand through her hair.
"You need to leave,"
"Why? I'm not doing anything. I'm just enjoying these wonderful seminars and taking advantage of some free clothes. It's really a wonderful event." She was smiling the entire time.
"I don't care Gabrielle you need to go, come on." He said forcefully trying his best to keep his tone down.
She leaned in closer to him and whispered in his ear, "If you don't leave me alone I'll scream to everyone here that you raped me."
Morris jerked back and looked at her, her blue eyes flashing. Her demeanor said she would do it.
With a threat like that he had no other choice but to walk away. He took Rochelle's hand and led her out the doors.
"What happened?" She asked once they got to a quiet spot.
Morris looked distressed.
"She said she's just here to enjoy the event. She's not doing anything."
"What? She's disturbing me with her presence."
"That's not a crime babe. Let's just leave her alone and hopefully she leaves us alone."
"So I can expect her next week and the week after that. This is shit!" She said angrily storming off back to the seminar doors.
"Rochelle, what are you doing?" He asked reaching up to her and grabbing her.
"I'm going to drag that bitch out by her hair."
"You want negative attention coming to you, your business, your charity? Just leave her alone. I know it's not fair to you."
The doors were opened and people started filing out of the room talking and laughing as they recalled parts of the session.
Morris led her away to the area where the board had their seats. He made her sit down and gave her a bottle of water to drink so she can calm down.
The board members took notice of the depressed demeanor of Rochelle and her fiancé to the point where Dr Williams took her aside to talk with her.
"You look very glum for someone who has put on such a successful and beneficial event. You can loosen up now, everything is going so well, even better than I expected and my hopes were high!"
Rochelle decided that it was a good thing for them all to think she was nervous and left it at that. "Maybe when this first one is in the bag."
"Nooo, start now because there's nothing that can go wrong at this point. I don't want you regretting not enjoying it." Dr Williams wrapped Rochelle into a warm embrace.
Rochelle took the advice from both Morris and Dr Williams. She reasoned that Gabrielle really wasn't doing anything. As annoying as her presence was because it felt like she was rubbing her nose in her indiscretion with Morris, she was not threatening to her in any way.
Her presence however, will still leave a scar in the memories of this first event.
Once she was able to control her feelings again Gabrielle sightings were fleeting and bothered her less than before.
When Nicole arrived after her shift she was filled in on everything. While she wanted to take the girl into one of the dressing rooms to deal with her she helped Morris instead to get Rochelle's mind off Gabrielle.
Gabrielle noticed the change in Rochelle's attitude. She was ignoring her, there was no evidence of the reactions she had been getting all day.
Being ignored was fine, it was the PDA Morris was showing Rochelle while standing against the wall was what she couldn't stand. It was nothing extreme, just talking in her ear, kissing her cheek and her hand as he held it during the last seminar. Seeing it all hurt her feelings alot.
When it was over she moved with the crowd and disappeared into the evening.
After the seminar Rochelle took the board, Morris, Nicole and Kacey to an early dinner to celebrate the success of the first event then retired at home for the rest of the evening exhausted.