MRS. COLLINS

21. the exact opposite

I gasp as I watch Victor punch Nick.

Oh. No, no, no, no, no, no.

"Nick!" I reach for his arm before he decides to hit Victor back. He can't do that. Not with everyone around us.

Nick touches his lip and looks at the blood on his fingers then he glares at Victor. "Hope that made you feel better." He sneers.

Victor narrows his eyes at him then lunges for Nick again.

"Victor, no!" I say, desperately.

He doesn't reach Nick because the bodyguards get to him before he can. They put their arms through Victor's arms and restrain him in place. Victor looks like a madman. It scares me to see him this way.

"You're fired." Nick tells him looking at him right in the eye. He takes a step forward, getting right in Victor's face. "I don't want to see you near my company or near my wife ever again." Then he nods his head and the bodyguards begin to pull Victor outside.

I watch as Victor fights them back but they're too strong. What just happened? I look around the room and see some people whispering amongst themselves. God. I hope no one took a picture of that. How are we going to justify this? Did Nick really just fire Victor? I know he deserved it. I'm just shocked.

I reach into my purse and take out a tissue. "Are you alright?" I ask Nick as I reach out and clean his lip.

"No, I'm not alright." He growls, angrily. "I'm fucking pissed."

I frown. "Nick, please, try to control it. You can't make a scene here." I'm so grateful for the music and the noise in the background. This would be a much bigger disaster if we didn't have those distractions.

"He's the one that made the scene!" He hisses under his breath.

"I know," I say placing my hands on his cheeks. "But you're the owner of the company. You can't give people a show. Think about your reputation." I beg. I'm scared he's going to run off and follow Victor outside. I won't be able to stop them if he does and then everyone will get the chance to see and take pictures.

"Nicholas! What happened?" Christina asks behind me before pulling me away from him.

"Nothing, Mom, I'm alright." Nick assures her taking a deep breath.

"What do you mean nothing? That man just hit you!"

"Mom, please," Nick says placing his hands on her shoulders. "I'm fine, okay? We'll talk about it later. We can't do that now."

There's no one in this room that cares more about reputation than Christina Collins. She closes her mouth and nods. That's all Nick needed to say to her. Nick grabs a glass of wine from one of the trays as one of the servers passes by and chugs it down.

I look back at the door, wanting to go outside and ask Victor what the hell was he thinking. Why would he punch Nick, his boss? It just cost him his job. Why would he give it up like that for a stupid punch? For stupid jealousy? What has gotten into him? I really don't recognize him anymore. He's like a stranger to me now.

"Mrs. Collins."

I turn around at the sound of my name. I feel the blood drain from my face when I recognize the man standing behind me. He's the same man that came to get me a couple of weeks ago to take me to see Dominick. Oh no. I can't do this right now. Not this too.

"You and your husband need to come with me," he says, his tone is final. I know there is no arguing. I told Dominick to wait till after the show and he kept his word. I would have preferred if he would have waited until tomorrow but that would be expecting too much from him.