Jake was quiet. He stared at the photos but his expression gave away nothing. I hated how he managed to look so unfazed while there was a war going on inside of me. Those pictures could potentially ruin me and my father. We were not just innocently standing or holding hands. He was kissing me in the elevator and in front of my car.“I look like a whore,” I announced and his eyes snapped up to me. “He could have at least gotten a better angle where my ass was not on display for the entire fucking world. I would have preferred that, at least then I would know that-”“Stop, please,” he sounded exasperated. “You are not a whore and you need to stop fucking saying that.”“I am only preparing for what I am inevitably going to hear when he takes this to the press,” I pointed to the pictures in case he didn’t see them well the first time. “This is me and this is you and we are doing the fucking horizontal tango or whatever the hell you want to call it. My reputation is on the line here. You w
After the call with my father, I felt extremely exhausted. I felt like all the energy in me had been completely drawn out. Jake must have noticed because the next thing he did was to pick me up and place me in his lap. I curled up into a ball and just enjoyed the warmth of his skin. Neither of us spoke, he turned his attention to his laptop in front of him typing away furiously while I just stayed pressed up against him.Ever so often, he would place a soft kiss against my forehead and whisper words in a foreign language against my skin but that was about as much as he did but it was more than enough for me. I fisted his shirt and although sleep wouldn’t take me because of how worried I was, I felt slightly content.I didn’t mean to but I kept glancing at the clock. It was nearing eight p.m. and I was slightly amazed that my father was yet to call. He sounded worried earlier and I knew it was only a matter of time before my phone started blowing up. I shuffled in Jake’s lap and he loo
Charles followed me without any hesitation. I could feel the smugness in his step, he was happy with what he had done. Some sick and twisted part of him was proud that he had gotten me at such an intimate time. Once we were safely in the maintenance room, I looked around to make sure there was no one near who could overhear us before slamming the door shut.“What the hell was that?” I asked but his smile never eased. “Why the hell were you even following me?”“Is that really what you are going to ask first?” he mused. “I knew you were a whore, Hayley, but I didn’t realize it was this bad. Isn’t it bad enough to live off daddy’s name? You want to fuck an older man to get ahead now. I have to say, you are one shrewd-”A loud crack resounded through the room as I slapped him across the face. “Talk to me like that again, I fucking dare you.”He just stared at me with anger burning in his eyes. I probably shouldn’t have infuriated the man who had incriminating pictures of me but I was past
I hadn’t realized how much I missed spending time with my dad until we went out for dinner. With everything that had been going on with Jake and my grandmother, it was a miracle if we even got five minutes to ourselves on a daily basis. We lived in the same house but we were practically like roommates and I had missed him.“Are you ready to tell me about the guy that you are seeing?” he asked and I snorted. “I promise not to get mad, I just want to know who this guy is and if he is good enough for you.”“He is, you trained me well and I know how to pick good men.”He raised a brow. “Do you not remember that prep boy from college? The one that only spoke about how he wanted a house wife like his mother and how he was going to be president in the next five years?”I laughed so hard at that I snorted out my drink. “In my defense, I didn’t date him, we were just talking.”“That isn’t what he told everyone. I was responding to messages about the both of you for weeks after you let him down
We all slept at the hospital. Dad tried to get me to leave but as long as he was there, I was going to be too. He was so tired that he was out within a few minutes of hitting the cot. Grandpa fell asleep a few hours after as well but not before trying to fight sleep. I was wide awake for some reason, sleep eluded me. There was too much going on in my mind. Sleep was the last thing I could even think of.“Your head seems full,” I heard a whisper and I turned to my grandmother. She had a small smile on her face as she looked at me. “Why don’t you talk to me? I might be old and dying but that doesn’t mean I don’t give good advice.”“You’re old but you’re not dying. We won’t let you die. There are different things you can try.”She waved me off. “I accepted my fate a long time ago, it is about time that you all did too. It will happen whether or not you like it, you might be able to prolong it, but I promise you, it will happen.”“Why don’t we stop talking about death, hm?”“I will if you
I couldn’t speak. I had expected him to find out at some point but I had not expected it to be soon. I should have known that Charles wasn’t going to take an insult like that lying down. He was a proud son o a bitch, of course he was going to do something insane. I just didn’t expect this.“Aren’t you going to say anything?” dad asked but I stayed silent. I didn’t regret my actions, I just hated how they came to light. “What the hell is this, Hayley? For fucks sake, how did this happen? How long has he been doing this to you? Why didn’t you tell me?”“Wait a minute, Jake didn’t do anything,” I cut him off. “He didn’t come to me, I went to him.”“You are a child, Hayley, he should have said no- fuck. I brought him into our lives, I brought him into our house. You were sixteen when you met him. What the fuck was he thinking.”“I know you are upset but I am not a child. I know what I want and I went for it. Jake has never looked at me anyway other than platonically until this year. I was
“Wait a minute,” Alana sat up straight as she downed a shot of her drink. “You seduced Jake and had sex with him in this house.” I nodded and she scoffed. “How did I not notice this? I knew there was a boy but I didn’t think that Jake- he never let on that he paid any attention to you except- I always just thought he was annoyed by you.”“I am not annoying.”“Mija, you follow him around like a puppy. It was clear to anyone with eyes that you had a thing for him but he never paid attention to you. I would have never thought that this would happen. What were you thinking? Your father will have a heart attack.”“If he has a heart attack, it isn’t going to be my fault. What I do with Jake is none of his business.”“Jake is his best friend and you are his daughter, it is his business. This is the scandal of the century. Do you have any idea what will come from it?”“Yes, I am aware that I am a whore, you don’t have to tell me, my dad has made it abundantly clear,” my voice dripped with sar
I made it to the large gate guarding our estate when I heard a car pull up beside me. I knew it was my father but I didn’t care enough to stop. I wasn’t going back to him, not when he was going to treat me like this. I deserved better. I hadn’t stolen from anyone, I hadn’t done anything illegal. My only crime was daring to be with an older man and he was choosing to crucify me for it.“Get into the car, Hayley,” he said simply but I ignored him. “For fucks sake, you cannot walk the entire way to your grandparent’s house. You are being stubborn.”At that, I turned on him. “I am being stubborn? You took everything that I owned. You took my money, you took my car and you took everything that I worked my ass off for, including my salary. How dare you say that I am being stubborn?”“You clearly aren’t thinking straight if you cannot even see that you are being taken advantage of. In this state it is dangerous for you to-”“Would you stop?” I exclaimed. “I knew you were going to lose your m