Locked in Marriage

Chapter Eleven

"Your mother would be incredibly proud of you and the man that you have become," she said as she pressed the button to go down to the main floor. Colton smiled and nodded before the elevator door shut and then went to the receptionist desk.

"Hey Alice, do we have like an art floor or a design floor of some sort in the building?" Colton asked as he leaned on the desk. Alice looked up from her Apple computer; clearly amazed that Colton knew her name.

"Umm, yes I believe we do. It's on the twenty-second floor," Alice said politely back to him after checking her computer. She had thick black-rimmed Gucci glasses on and her black hair was pulled into a tight bun.

"Thanks! Let Anna know that I will be there," Colton said as he walked back to his office to change into a suit and then ran to the elevator. Alice looked at the other receptionists and they all looked back at her amazed that Colton actually spoke to her. Colton got into the elevator and pressed the button for the twenty-second floor and he realized that he had never been there before. When he exited the elevator all the rooms were made of glass, you could see straight into every single meeting room and every design room on the floor. Colton walked quickly to the end of the hall and as he walked everyone on the floor stopped what he or she were doing to stare at him. Obviously they were never expecting to see him on this floor before. He walked to the head office and walked right in. When he entered the woman behind the desk was on the phone. She had long blonde hair and bright green eyes. She had on a tight black dress that accentuated her curves and was very beautiful. Colton had to stop himself from staring at her too much, he was married and they worked together. She motioned for him to come to the chair in front of her desk and he sat there waiting for her to get off the phone. As he was waiting he read the name on her desk, which read Gabriella Andrews. A few seconds later she hung up and looked at him, clearly amazed that Colton was there.

"Hi Mr. Manning. So sorry about the phone call," she said excitedly thrusting her hand out to shake Colton's. Colton leaned forward and shook it and then leaned back into his chair.

"Just Colton please and no worries always happens to me too. Anyway I was wondering, I need a room down here to be able to design some new projects for a client," Colton began to explain.

"If you give us the plans we can get our designers on it and then send something up to you," she said. Colton shook his head.

"No, no I meant like a room for myself so I can design the project," he said with a smile. Gabriella sat back in her chair. He could tell she didn't like him moving in on her floor. Her smile was polite but he could tell that she was trying to hold some select words back.

"Oh, okay yeah I'm sure we can find you a room and you can get started. Did you want any of the designers to help you or are you going to do it mostly on your own?" She said as she stood up. Colton followed her out of the office and they began walking down another hallway to an empty design room. He couldn't help but stare at her as she walked in front of him and had to peel his eyes away from her body as they arrived at the room she picked out for him.

"I can just do it on my own for right now and if I need help or something I'll just let you know," Colton said smiling as he walked into the room behind her.

"Okay well, everything is here. There are pencils and pens in every drawer. There are markers and extra paper if you need it. The table can be turned on so the lights come on and you can trace your drawings if need be. If you need any help just let me know," Gabriella said smiling.

"Thanks, this is great," Colton, said looking around the room. Gabriella walked back to her office and Colton watched her as she walked back. After she went back into her office, Colton began to look around the room. All the walls were glass and every table, drawer and desk was white. Even the seats were white. He took his black suit jacket off and hung it up on the chair and rolled up his sleeves and took out his papers and began designing his brand new hotel. Kayla, on the other hand, was cooking away at home. She knew exactly how Colton liked his steak and BBQ'd both of their steaks to medium rare and brought them back into the house. She had the potatoes all done and ready and she went into Colton's wine cellar and grabbed a bottle of wine from Italy. She made their plates and set the table and waited for him to come home from work. She expected him to be back soon as it was already 6:30 and he was usually never later than 7 or he would have called.