HAYLEY’S P.O.VI always thought I was very good at keeping my emotions in check but clearly that super power disappeared once my father was involved.I walked into the house, shocked to see my grandparents in the living room but also slightly relieved because it meant that they would keep dad’s attention off me, or so I thought. Instead, he took one look at me and crossed the length of the room until he was standing directly in front of me.“What happened?” he asked and I attempted to shrug it off but he wouldn’t let me. “Did he do something to you? Did he say something?”“He didn’t do anything, I’m just tired,” I lied but he wasn’t buying it. He took out his phone but I was quick to snatch it out of his grip. “Do not call him, please.”“Hayley-”“He didn’t hurt me, I promise you. You know that if he did, I wouldn’t protect him, right?”That seemed to calm him down a little because some of the tension in his shoulders disappeared. He still wasn’t completely convinced and I knew that n
HAYLEY’S P.O.VHe told me everything that he could possibly think of about her and from his words, she sounded exactly like the kind of person I would love to be around.I knew I was rude to her earlier and I could only hope that it wasn’t too late to fix it. I had nothing against her per say, I was just caught off guard and it scared me for a moment.We stayed in the park far later than we should have and as the sky dissolved into millions of colors, I found myself curled up in Jake’s lap, a blanket thrown over our bodies as we watched the sun set. It was quite possibly one of the most intimate things we had ever done and I couldn’t help but wish we could do it again.“We should get you home,” he whispered and I hummed.I knew he was right but suddenly, the idea of moving in with him didn’t sound so appalling anymore. I didn’t want this night to end, I wasn’t ready to all it quits just yet. I liked the solace, the quiet and the peace, I loved the gentle breezed that brushed over us a
HAYLEY’S P.O.VMy hands were shaking despite the fact that I tried to hide it.Jake had arranged for an afternoon dinner at his house. I suggested a restaurant but he reminded me that we hadn’t gone public yet and it was a Sunday. The chances of being photographed were high so we couldn’t risk it.I stood in front of his door, a bottle of wine in my hands as I tried to work up the courage to open the front door. I was nervous as hell because although Jake didn’t have any family, Carmine was as close to it as he could get and I needed her to like me- I wanted her to like me.The door opened before I could even knock and Kate stood there dressed in jeans and a lazy top. She looked me over and shook her head as a small smile played on her lips. I hadn’t gone over the top, just a little black dress and thigh high boots but then again, it was dinner.“She’s going to love you, you don’t have to worry,” Kate assured me as she took the wine from my hands. “She already loves you.”“She doesn’t
HAYLEY’S P.O.V“Hayley,” I heard Jake call my name but his voice sounded like a buzzing in my ears.I could hear my father speaking but I couldn’t make out his words. My eyes were completely fixed on the words on my screen. I knew it was Marie, it had to be her. No one else could have leaked the news to the press in record time.I wasn’t sure whether to be pissed or impressed. I had grossly underestimated her and that was my mistake. She was a cunning individual and I wish I had thought about that before I pissed her off and became her number one enemy.A warm hand settled on my shoulder and I nearly jumped. Jake looked pissed but also sad at the same time. He watched me with a fear in his eyes as if he thought I was going to run away and leave him. I could tell he wanted to do more than just touch my shoulder but he was holding back for my benefit.“She’s smart, I’ll give her that,” I said finally and I could see everyone’s faces twist with confusion. I lifted my phone to my ear and
HAYLEY’S P.O.VMy father was in my boyfriend’s living room.It took me longer than it should have it process what I was seeing because for a full minute, I just stood there staring and wondering if what I was seeing was an apparition or a figment of my imagination.Dad was in a tailored suit and he sat at the counter with Jake. They were looking over the files together and I just stood there watching until I felt a warm hand on my shoulder. Kate handed me a mug of steaming hot coffee with a smile.“You look like you’ll need that,” she whispered and I couldn’t help but laugh. I did need it.The sound caught my father’s attention and he turned to me with a smile. He walked over to me and placed a soft kiss on my forehead. I was suddenly so grateful that I decided to put on something before coming down. It would have been incredibly distasteful for my father to see me in nothing but Jake’s shirt.“Did you bring clothes for me?” I asked and his brows furrowed in confusion. “Work clothes,
HAYLEY’S P.O.VIt was amusing how many people were interested in my love life.I tried to keep my head screwed on straight, tried to focus on making my day run as smoothly as possible but everyone else had other plans. Everyone had an opinion about my relationship, even my clients would allude to it during our meetings. I tried to keep everything as professional as possible but by lunch, I was tired.As usual, Jake sent me lunch and Sienna brought it up for me. I had no idea why she chose to act like my personal assistant but I wasn’t complaining because I truly didn’t want to leave my office and face the crowd. It had little to do with fear and more to do with the fact that if I did and someone said the wrong thing, I was going to snap.“You can sit here if you want,” I told Sienna and her eyes widened in surprise. “Stop staring at me like you just won the lottery.”“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Hayley, but you are not exactly a people person. You don’t invite people into your off
HAYLEY’S P.O.VI woke up with the knowledge that someone was in my room.I didn’t know who it was but there was a feeling at the back of my neck that alerted me to the fact that I was being watched. I couldn’t brush it off no matter how hard I tried so I reached out for the nightlight and turned it on casting the room in a warm orange glow. I found the person staring at me seated right opposite my bed.I glanced over at the clock beside me. It read one thirty a.m. “How long have you been here?”“In your room or in your house?” Jake asked not missing a beat.To his credit, he didn’t seem to be drunk but then again, he never drank that much. Even if he did drink at whatever time he arrived here first, chances were that the alcohol was already out of his system and he was sober.“My house,” I responded to his earlier question.“Eleven.”“My room?”“Twelve.”I raised a brow. I wondered how I didn’t realize he was here earlier. I was the kind o child who woke up the minute someone opened m
JAKE’S P.O.VThe bottle of whiskey almost seemed to mock me as it sat on my dining table.A few years ago, I would have drank the entire bottle until I forgot everything and taken the first plane out of the city- maybe even the country. I had a knack for running away from my problems. It was what I did when Marie left me for the first time. I was living in California at the time and I got on the first place to London.I stayed there for a few weeks and by the time I returned, I packed everything up and moved to Las Vegas. I moved around a few times before finally deciding on New York because I remembered that Michael stayed here.Now, however, there was nowhere for me to run. It wasn’t because I couldn’t, I had too much to leave here. I could always leave the office and go to one of the many branches over the country so it wasn’t about work, but I had Hayley. I wasn’t completely sure if I had her, she seemed ready to run but I couldn’t blame her.I had to leave her in bed this morning
HAYLEY’S P.O.VGrowing up I always thought about what it would feel like to see my mother.My dad had no pictures of her, it had been a stupid fling and she never reached out to him. He could have found her if he did but he never wanted to. He told me that if I still wanted to find her when I turned eighteen then he would.I went through all the stages of grief. There was anger at the fact that she had abandoned me and never tried to come back. There was the sadness and the feeling of not being enough for my own mother. By the time I turned eighteen, I didn’t care anymore and I told my father not to bother. It had always been me and him and that was how I wanted it.Seeing the woman in front of me brought back all those feelings of anger and betrayal bubbling up to my chest“I don’t have a mother,” I said finally. “You should leave.”“Please,” she grabbed my arm. “I just want to talk. I came all the way here to find you.”“I didn’t ask you to come here,” I spat jerking my hand out of
HAYLEY’S P.O.VI sat next to my grandmother in silence.I had her hand in mine and listened to the rhythmic beeping of the machines that were hooked up to her. The doctor said that it was only a matter of time but he had given her something to help with the pain.In the midst of all this, I couldn’t get a grip on my own emotions. There was so much swirling inside of me, too many things that I couldn’t get a grip on them. I hadn’t felt this conflicted in a very long time, probably not since I was a teenager.There was anger and pain and guilt. Guilt that we had all the money in the world and I couldn’t stop this, guilt that I was so focused on my own issues that I didn’t even see that she was dying right in front of me. She came back so we could spend time with her and I barely spent any, I spent it running around with Jake and worrying about Marie and his potential child that didn’t even end up being his.I felt stupid and incredibly foolish to say the least and I hated feeling stupid
HAYLEY’S P.O.VMy hands were shaking but I fisted them by my side until I got home. I needed a minute to myself to catch my breath, what I was not expecting was to find my father and Jake in the living room. They were discussing something but they immediately stopped as soon as they saw me.I was glad that they were getting along again but for fucks sake, I wished they took their business to Jake’s house because I knew that between the two of them, nothing ever went unnoticed.“We had the meeting with Marie,” Jake began as soon as he saw me. “She was pissed to say the least but-”“You should be going home,” I told Jake and his brows furrowed in confusion.I knew I was being rude but right now, I didn’t have the patience to be nice. He needed to go home because I wasn’t sure if the question from the police was mere curiosity or if it was a threat but if they were going to follow the trail then chances were that they might officially ask me who I was with and that would mean implicating
HAYLEY’S P.O.VThe sound of whispers woke me up.I tried to ignore it at first but it only got more urgent and I felt the covers shift as Jake got out of bed. With a small groan, I peeled my eyes open, the room was still dark, the only source of light was from the moon that spilled in through the drawn curtains.“Are you sure?” I heard Jake ask, the urgency in his voice taking away whatever remnants of sleep were left in me.I dragged myself up into a sitting position and my eyes found Jake. He was standing with his back to me, shirtless save for the boxer briefs he wore to bed and he was pacing. That was never a good sign because Jake never paced, at least not when everything was fine.“What’s wrong?”He turned to me, almost surprised and cursed. “Go back to bed, Hayley. Don’t worry about me.”“You’re pacing like a mad man and you look like shit,” I leaned over to turn on the bedside lamp drowning the room with a soft orange glow. “What’s wrong?”“The results are in.”If I wasn’t ale
JAKE’S P.O.VThe bottle of whiskey almost seemed to mock me as it sat on my dining table.A few years ago, I would have drank the entire bottle until I forgot everything and taken the first plane out of the city- maybe even the country. I had a knack for running away from my problems. It was what I did when Marie left me for the first time. I was living in California at the time and I got on the first place to London.I stayed there for a few weeks and by the time I returned, I packed everything up and moved to Las Vegas. I moved around a few times before finally deciding on New York because I remembered that Michael stayed here.Now, however, there was nowhere for me to run. It wasn’t because I couldn’t, I had too much to leave here. I could always leave the office and go to one of the many branches over the country so it wasn’t about work, but I had Hayley. I wasn’t completely sure if I had her, she seemed ready to run but I couldn’t blame her.I had to leave her in bed this morning
HAYLEY’S P.O.VI woke up with the knowledge that someone was in my room.I didn’t know who it was but there was a feeling at the back of my neck that alerted me to the fact that I was being watched. I couldn’t brush it off no matter how hard I tried so I reached out for the nightlight and turned it on casting the room in a warm orange glow. I found the person staring at me seated right opposite my bed.I glanced over at the clock beside me. It read one thirty a.m. “How long have you been here?”“In your room or in your house?” Jake asked not missing a beat.To his credit, he didn’t seem to be drunk but then again, he never drank that much. Even if he did drink at whatever time he arrived here first, chances were that the alcohol was already out of his system and he was sober.“My house,” I responded to his earlier question.“Eleven.”“My room?”“Twelve.”I raised a brow. I wondered how I didn’t realize he was here earlier. I was the kind o child who woke up the minute someone opened m
HAYLEY’S P.O.VIt was amusing how many people were interested in my love life.I tried to keep my head screwed on straight, tried to focus on making my day run as smoothly as possible but everyone else had other plans. Everyone had an opinion about my relationship, even my clients would allude to it during our meetings. I tried to keep everything as professional as possible but by lunch, I was tired.As usual, Jake sent me lunch and Sienna brought it up for me. I had no idea why she chose to act like my personal assistant but I wasn’t complaining because I truly didn’t want to leave my office and face the crowd. It had little to do with fear and more to do with the fact that if I did and someone said the wrong thing, I was going to snap.“You can sit here if you want,” I told Sienna and her eyes widened in surprise. “Stop staring at me like you just won the lottery.”“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Hayley, but you are not exactly a people person. You don’t invite people into your off
HAYLEY’S P.O.VMy father was in my boyfriend’s living room.It took me longer than it should have it process what I was seeing because for a full minute, I just stood there staring and wondering if what I was seeing was an apparition or a figment of my imagination.Dad was in a tailored suit and he sat at the counter with Jake. They were looking over the files together and I just stood there watching until I felt a warm hand on my shoulder. Kate handed me a mug of steaming hot coffee with a smile.“You look like you’ll need that,” she whispered and I couldn’t help but laugh. I did need it.The sound caught my father’s attention and he turned to me with a smile. He walked over to me and placed a soft kiss on my forehead. I was suddenly so grateful that I decided to put on something before coming down. It would have been incredibly distasteful for my father to see me in nothing but Jake’s shirt.“Did you bring clothes for me?” I asked and his brows furrowed in confusion. “Work clothes,
HAYLEY’S P.O.V“Hayley,” I heard Jake call my name but his voice sounded like a buzzing in my ears.I could hear my father speaking but I couldn’t make out his words. My eyes were completely fixed on the words on my screen. I knew it was Marie, it had to be her. No one else could have leaked the news to the press in record time.I wasn’t sure whether to be pissed or impressed. I had grossly underestimated her and that was my mistake. She was a cunning individual and I wish I had thought about that before I pissed her off and became her number one enemy.A warm hand settled on my shoulder and I nearly jumped. Jake looked pissed but also sad at the same time. He watched me with a fear in his eyes as if he thought I was going to run away and leave him. I could tell he wanted to do more than just touch my shoulder but he was holding back for my benefit.“She’s smart, I’ll give her that,” I said finally and I could see everyone’s faces twist with confusion. I lifted my phone to my ear and