Jake never returned and I was left worrying all night. I was unable to fall asleep because I couldn’t help but worry that something terrible had happened to my dad. I ended up cleaning because I couldn’t sleep and I couldn’t bring myself to get out of the house the next day. I knew I would hear it from Greg and the others about missing work but for once, I was leveraging my status and Michael Davis’ daughter.Alara came early in the morning at her usual time but I asked her to go back home. She was confused but I promised that I would explain it all later. I didn’t want anyone in the house, I just wanted to sit and wait for my dad in silence.My dad returned sometime around noon. He looked like he had been through hell. The bags under his eyes were dark and I knew he hadn’t been sleeping properly over the last few days. When he saw me, he sighed deeply and just collapsed into the chair. I rushed over to his side but he waved me off to assure me that he was fine.“I’m not going to let
I was at work religiously the next day and I tried to ignore the weird looks and whispers that I got as I walked in with my dad. When I first started working, I always made sure to stay as far away from him as I could, I didn’t want people to think that I had gotten to where I was because of him. I was grateful for the opportunities that his name gave me but I was also smart enough to know that part of what brought me so far was my own brain.Dad walked me over to my office door but stopped me from going in. “Is there a reason that they are all staring at you like you kicked their puppy?”I just shrugged because I didn’t really feel like talking about the issues I was having with Charles. My father was nothing short of overprotective and the last thing I wanted was for him to go ahead and fire Charles or start up something even worse with HR. It was something he could do and unlike Jake, he didn’t take no for an answer where I was concerned.“I’m sure it is nothing, don’t worry about
The next Friday rolled around quicker than I would have liked and the thought of being locked in the same place with my co-workers for another night was exhausting. The only good thing was that this time, we were asked to dress casual. The bad news was that we were not told anything about where we were going. We were simply given directions and a time.I arrived five minutes before six and found that there were only two other people there. The person in charge of the event was one of the nicer workers. I had never spoken to him before but he never gave me shit for being my father’s daughter. If I was being honest, I didn’t even know his name.When I arrived, he just gave me a blue tag and asked me to stand in one corner. The only other people there were Jenna and another paralegal but they had different colored tags. It wasn’t until six thirty that everyone else arrived and I soon realized that we were being split up into three groups. I cursed when I realized that both Charles and Gr
It took us a minute to realize that Greg and Charles had used the distraction to grab the stuff and run. I didn’t know whether to be pissed or impressed. I could have also bet my kidney that one of them was responsible for pushing the innocent girl into the water. Speaking of her, she was shaken but fine and thankfully, her phone wasn’t on her when she fell.“I just called them,” the other female paralegal said. “Apparently they found the next container and took off with it. We are stuck in the middle of nowhere with no way to go. Fuck them.”There was a grumble of discontent between the people and I couldn’t help but feel the same way. They had screwed us over and now we had nowhere to go. I ran my hands through my hair in frustration when I saw something glistening in the water. It was close to the bank and it had a blue sheen to it. I carefully reached out for it only to find another blue container similar to the first one we found.“Guys,” I called out and everyone turned to me. I
I loved talking to Jake because he always listened. It didn’t matter what I was talking to him about, he would stare at my lips the entire time as if he were hanging onto my every word. I wasn’t used to getting that kind of attention from men. Maybe it was the men I dated, or maybe it was the fact that he was older, but he seemed more interested in what I had to say. It seemed pathetic on hindsight but it was one of the most endearing things about him.“Where did you go just now?” he asked tapping the side of my head and I shrugged. We had moved from the living room and I was sitting on the counter while he made me something to eat. I made the mistake of mentioning that I didn’t have anything for dinner and he immediately sprung into action.He was so attentive and I couldn’t help but wonder why he was still single. I vaguely remembered my father saying something about him having a bitch ex wife but I never probed because I never wanted to draw attention to my crush on him. I wanted t
Jake took the seat next to me and I couldn’t stop myself from grinning from ear to ear. He placed one hand behind my back and draped it over my shoulders. We were alone for the first time in almost a full week and I couldn’t help but place my head on his shoulder. It felt like our very first date and I was excited. I tried to hide it because I didn’t want him to see how much I loved it.He reached across my lap and stole some of my popcorn making me frown. “What movie are we watching?”I raised a brow at him. “Why did you come here if you don’t know what movie this is?”“You’re a smart girl, why don’t you figure it out?”He did it for me. It was obvious but I couldn’t bring it to myself to say the words. “Thank you,” I whispered and he shrugged.The movie started and I barely paid attention to it. All that mattered was Jake’s presence around me. The fact that he was here and we didn’t have to hide was more than enough for me. His hands never strayed from touching me, in fact, I would
We went out for dinner and somehow, I ended up seated next to Jake. I knew grandma had a hand in it because I was meant to be seated next to dad but she had jumped in at the last minute. We tried to keep our hands to ourselves for the most part but whenever no one was paying attention, he would slide his hands up my thighs.Halfway during lunch, someone walked up to our table and I barely repressed a groan. I didn’t know if the world was against me or something because it made no sense that Charles would have somehow been at the exact same restaurant that we were. Dad smiled up at him while I tried my best not to stab him in the eye with a fork.“Mr. Davis,” Charles said flashing his brightest smile. “I didn’t realize I would be seeing you here.” He turned to my grandmother and gave her a wide smile. “I presume you must be Mrs. Davis, it is an honor to meet you.”Grandma chuckled. “Who is this young gentleman?”I snorted before I could stop myself and all eyes turned to me. I could fe
I walked into work on Monday to find Charles standing in front of my door with a cup of coffee in his hands. He shot me a wide smile and I rolled my eyes at him. I knew what he was doing and I had no intentions of playing his game. Everyone was obviously still pissed off at him and he was hoping to use me to restore his lost reputation. With Greg, they couldn’t outrightly ignore him, but Charles was fair game.“I don’t know why you’re playing hard to get, Hayley, I was literally with your family this weekend,” he added the last part out loud and I stared at him blankly.“You barged in on a family dinner and forced a seat for yourself when no one wanted you there,” I shot back equally as loud and I heard a few snickers. His cheeks heated in shame and I dropped my voice to a whisper. “I can play this game a lot better than you can, Charles. You should know better by now.” I took the coffee from his hands and took a spit. “At least it isn’t black like the last time.”“Look, it was a stup
HAYLEY’S P.O.VJake and I had settled in a comforting routine and I had to admit that it was wonderful getting to wake up next to him every morning.He was the perfect partner even though we both had no idea what we were doing. A few night, I had woken up to find him reading a pregnancy book but I never commented on it. He doted on me, making sure I ate and rested all the time. It was cute and I secretly loved it but there was the elephant in the room.We were yet to do an ultrasound.It wasn’t due to lack of time. If it were up to Jake, we would have done it the minute he found out but I just couldn’t. I knew I was pregnant, I knew nothing would change that and yet, I didn’t want it to be real just yet. For the past week, I shut down every discussion surrounding the doctor’s appointment and avoided it as much as possible.It was Friday and I was already dreading the idea of being forced to interact with people I didn’t like and couldn’t stand. I was tired of the team building exercis
HAYLEY’S P.O.VThe moment I woke up, I knew I wasn’t alone.I was always able to tell when someone was watching me, even from a young age. The hair on my neck stood on edge and I just felt this sensation all over me. Dad always told me it was normal but some people found it weird. They said it was some kind of sixth spider sense or some shit like that.To an extent, I agreed, because not only was I able to tell when I was being watched, I was able to tell who was doing the watching. Each person felt different: with Jake, his gaze was always heated, it felt like someone was trying to brand my skin with their eyes. With my father, it was softer, more loving but that didn’t make it any less intense.“Hey dad,” I whispered as I sat up slowly.I looked around the dark room and found him seated in the couch facing the bed and I had never been so grateful for Jake dressing me before now. It would have been very uncomfortable if I was still naked in bed.Dad didn’t respond, he just stared at
JAKE’S P.O.VI blinked once then twice, staring at Hayley in front of me and wondering if I had misheard.“You what?”I wasn’t proud of my response but I was convinced that I had misheard. Hayley was nowhere near ready to have a child, she had all but said so herself, she wanted to live first, she wanted to grow first.She must have mistook my words for something else because her eyes grew dark and she stepped back from me. “You don’t have to be involved.”“Excuse me?”“If you don’t want this baby then I am more than capable of doing it on my own. I have my grandfather and my-”“Stop.”She either didn’t hear me or didn’t care. “I have the money and this will fulfill my grandmother’s inheritance clause. I have more than enough to take care of my child.”“Our,” I corrected and that was what caught her attention.“What?”“Our child,” I repeated stepping closer to her. “If you had let me finish earlier, you would have known that I want this baby.”“But you-”“I was surprised and I didn’t
HAYLEY’S P.O.VI wanted to take the test as soon as possible but I couldn’t.I had to wait until the morning because I needed accurate results.It felt like torture to just wait. I hid the tests in my bag but it was an ever present worry at the back of my mind. I could barely go a minute without thinking about it to the point that even Jake realized that something was bothering me.“Are you alright?” he asked and I nodded slowly. “You don’t look okay.”I just shrugged and turned away from him. He sighed and made his way over to me. He was still in his outfit from work but he had ditched the tie and the jacket. I was slacking off on my work terribly, I knew that for a fact and it was my day to plan the team building exercise tomorrow. I still had no idea what to do.“Hayley,” he crouched down in front of me, both hands on my thighs as he stroked my knee gently. “Talk to me, baby. Did something happen to Kate?”“No, Kate is fine. She’s having fun in school. She’s good, this isn’t about
HAYLEY’S P.O.VShe looked around in a panic, as if to ensure no one was watching outside before shutting the door behind her.“So,” I implored. “Who is he?”“He’s older, like Jake’s age.”I hummed. “Where did you meet him?”“At a club,” that had my brows rising. The club was not the ideal place to meet a guy. She must have seen the look on my face because she quickly added, “he’s not a typical club goer.”“I’m not judging.”“I know,” she ran her hands through her hair. “I know I should stop seeing her and I want to but,” she sighed deeply. “I know it is pathetic.”“There is nothing pathetic about being in love with someone.”“I’m not in love with him. I don’t think I am. He’s fun and nice but I don’t think he wants anything serious.”“Do you?”She went silent and turned away. “Can I get cleaned for a second then I’ll be back out.”I waved her off. I knew that pushing for an answer wouldn’t yield any positive results so I watched her leave instead. I sat cross legged on her couch waiti
HAYLEY’S P.O.VThe smell of breakfast was what woke me but it was the light streaming through the windows that had me sitting up in a flash- I was late.“Relax,” I felt a hand on my shoulders as Jake gently guided me back into the bed. “You don’t have to rush anywhere.”“But I’m late-”“Your dad gave you the day off, rest, Hayley, you’re not a machine, you are not a robot, you need a break once in a while.”I wanted to protest but he just shot me a look that clearly told me he wasn’t taking no for an answer no matter what so I reluctantly found myself resting against the pillows. It was only once I was back in bed that I took the opportunity to look at Jake.He was shirtless showing off his toned chest, he had a tray of food in his hands that he placed in my lap. It smelled delicious and my stomach rumbled, reminding me that I didn’t have a chance to eat last night.I mumbled a thank you under my breath before shoving a forkful into my mouth while Jake excused himself from the room. I
HAYLEY’S P.O.VI stared at her for a moment.If anything, I was actually proud of the fact that she came all this way to ask that her mother’s charges be dropped. It was a ballsy thing to do, especially for a fourteen year old and that was the only thing that kept me listening to her.“You don’t understand how these things work,” dad began but she shot him a bored look.“I’m fourteen, I know how things work. I heard what she did, I know she assaulted someone but I don’t know who.”“Don’t you want to know?” I asked and she groaned.“Look, I’m not going to defend her because I know what she did was wrong. It’s clear you didn’t want to see her, I saw how you reacted at the funeral. I know my mother and she can be a bit much sometimes but she has issues, okay? I found out she went off her meds-”“What meds?” she fell silent immediately. “Look, Kayla, if you want me to help you then I need to know why.”“I can’t tell you her business. All I will say is that she is a good mother. She has ne
HAYLEY’S P.O.VI registered the slap before I even knew what was happening. I was on my feet in an instant and rushed over to the door.I couldn’t think of anyone that would dare hit Jake and yet, Andrea stood there. She looked furious, her chest rising and falling rapidly as if she had thrown everything she had into that hit. I glanced over at Jake and a gasp left my lips. His cheek was red and angry but he didn’t seem upset, he looked more shocked than anything.“Did you get all your anger out?” he asked and she lifted her hand again but he stopped her with his words. “I would choose my next actions wisely. If you hit me again, you will go to jail for assault and I will make sure you stay there for as long as possible.”She was smart enough to drop her hand but the anger didn’t leave her face. If anything, it got even worse.“You little bastard,” she spat. “You’re the one poisoning my daughter’s mind. Aren’t you ashamed of yourself? You are closer to my age than to hers. You’re a fu
JAKE’S P.O.VThe last thing I wanted to do was talk to Marie again after everything.As soon as I got the news that the child wasn’t mine, I blocked her number and didn’t bother to seek her out again. I had no intentions of ever talking to her again, she was a part of my past and I intended to leave her there but I should have known that she wouldn’t be willing to step down so easily. Marie had never been the kind of person to accept defeat.With a sigh, I dialed her number. It didn’t take long before she picked up, her nasally voice filling the room.“I was wondering when you would call,” she drawled. I could hear her nails tapping against something and could almost see the smirk on her face. “Have you gotten tired of her yet? Is that why you are coming back to me? I knew that sooner or later, you would tire of her problems.”“Why don’t we cut the bullshit for a second,” I hissed and she clicked her tongue.“That’s no way to treat the woman that you spent most of your life with, Jake