Hailey's pov;I was dropped from my attendance for the second time in my life because I took two days off from college to let my wounds heal. The first time it happened was when Harry... I don't even want to think about those horrible incidents. I wish I had the power to erase those memories forever. I sighed and copied Riley's notes from her notepad quitely."What do you think you're doing in the middle of the cafeteria?" Riley questioned, taking my notebook. "Don't you see I'm eating here? Girl, if you don't want to eat, fine. But you're spoiling my appetite too!" "Well, my hands hurt after copying notes from every class, too," I inquired. "Are you going to write it for me, then?""Crap!" she exclaimed as she placed the notebook back on the table, "Do it by yourself." "Am I stupid to write notes twice in a row?" And she kept eating her lunch while I kept copying the notes. "Can't you do it elsewhere?" "I'm getting tired of looking at it."When I was finished, I got up from the tabl
Eight years ago,Hailey raced to her grandmother while yelling, "Granny!...Granny!... Granny!..." while clutching the drawing sheet in her hands. After finding her grandmother in the backyard sorting through a basket of vegetables. She sprinted over to give her a bear hug while exclaiming, "Granny! Look at what I drew!"Her drawing impressed her grandmother, who remarked, "My little rabbit drew so well." and pinched Hailey on the cheek softly. She looked over the illustration once more and inquired, "Why did you draw only you and me?" "Did they ask you to draw your grandparents?"Hailey shook her head a little and said, "Teacher asked us to draw our family, so I drew us, granny." And smiled at her. "Why are there just two of us? Where are your mother, father, and your little brother?" Hailey's grandmother repeated her question, "Why didn't you draw them, Hailey?" when she received no response."Because I don't like them, granny.""How many times must I urge you to stop speaking in t
Hailey's pov;Nearly every building on this street was familiar to me, yet I was unable to locate the cafe. Does it have some kind of camouflage ability? Or does it have a hidden entrance? Should I call once more? No, I already made two consecutive calls. What if they feel that I am bothering them? I also don't want to leave a terrible first impression. I heard my name being called out as I was seeking for the cafe. Alex was on a bike when I turned around to look at the person who called my name. "What are you doing here?" he questioned as he approached me on his bike."I'm trying to find a cafe. But I was unable to locate it."Can't you find it on the map?""There's a problem with my phone," I said as I held up my phone. "It intermittently shuts down now and then. Now, it ran out of juice and turned off for good.""Do you have an address?" "Yes." and handed him a piece of paper with the cafe address written on it. "Why are you looking for this one?" he questioned as he examined it
Alex's pov;The swimming meet. While changing into my swimwear in the locker room with other swimmers, I could hear the crowd cheering outside. As opposed to the competition, I was more focused on the phone awaiting a message. I was looking forward to Hailey's text. 'Did she show up? Did she start? Where is she? Why hasn't she called me yet? Is she already here?'I quickly finished changing into my swimsuit and headed out to the pool area. The sound of my flip-flops echoed through the empty hallway as I made my way to the entrance. The moment I stepped out onto the pool deck, the noise of the cheering crowd hit me like a tidal wave. Swimmers were warming up in the pool, their sleek bodies slicing through the water with ease.I spotted my coach, Rick, standing at the edge of the pool, waving me over. "Hey, you ready for this?" he asked, a hint of amusement in his voice.I nodded, even though my mind was somewhere else entirely. Where was Hailey? She promised she would come. I pulled ou
Hailey's pov;At the cafeteria, "It appears that your part-time work pays well." Riley made a remark after viewing my meal plate. "You've got a lot going on here." And ate my burger, continuing, "Did you already get your salary?""It's a tip. For being an excellent waitress." And I showed off in front of her while eating my food."Don't spend it all on food. Keep it for later." "Okay, mom." "Everyone on campus is talking about your boyfriend competition. Did you question him about why he did that?""I heard it as well. When I discovered he didn't get first place, I was surprised too. He put in a lot of practice time. Perhaps it wasn't his day.""How come you're acting as if you didn't go?""Because I didn't go.""I thought you were with him when I called you. If you didn't go to him then where were you that day?""Mom was hospitalised, so I was with her all day," I groaned. "What happened to your mom?""Working without rest, attending meetings without a break, and travelling for bu
Hailey's pov;Mr Matthew asked while rubbing his hands using a cloth, "What do you want to talk to me about?" "I know it's not even a month, but could you please lend me some money in advance?" "I'm in desperate need of money." I said. "Okay." As he was looking into his phone, he asked, "Is it for paying your fees?""Um, No. Actually, Taxi is robbing me blind. Additionally, there is a distance from the cafe to the bus stop. Therefore, I'm thinking about getting a bicycle for transportation. And, you have an advantage as well. I can do deliveries if I get a bicycle." He put his phone back in his pocket as he said, "I transferred the money to your account. But I'm not lending it to you expecting you to do deliveries for this cafe. This cafe does not require deliveries to be well-known." "Because students need more time to focus on their studies and money for the fees, I'll give you your wage in advance for that bicycle so use it . But don't count on it every month." I accepted the c
Riley's pov; Mr Anderson, "Does your friend enjoy working at my friend's cafe?" "How is she doing?""Looking at how well she spends her money, yeah, she's liking the job, boss." I replied to him. "You make it sound like she's spending irresponsibly.""Yeah, I gave her some guidance because it was her first time getting paid. I hope she receives it and uses it wisely." "All right, get back to work." And he walked away. For the seventh time in a row, my phone rang. Should I turn it off? Someone stole it from me when I took it out to turn it off. When I lifted my head to see who it was, it was Charlie.Charlie, "How long do you intend to ghost me?""I have work to do," I said as I snatched back my phone from him. "Please don't bother me while I'm working." "Then when will you have time to talk to me?""Would you please leave before anyone notices us?"He took my hand in his and asked, "What if they see?" "What's the problem with that?" "I'm sick and tired of playing hide and seek, R
Hailey's pov;Riley clutched my hand as Mrs Smith's class ended and asked, "Class is over. Now tell me what happened. How did you obtain these?""Last night, While I was returning home, someone pushed me to the ground, and that's how I bruised my hands, okay?""Who pushed you?""I'm not sure. Because it was dark, I couldn't see their faces." "Their?""Yeah, there were many of them.""Why didn't you report it?""They all appeared to be members of a gang. Furthermore, the incident was not intended. They were following someone, and I got caught in the crossfire.""Still, they're the ones who pushed." "By the way, why didn't you call me when you bought the bicycle?" "Because Alex was with me.""Choosing boyfriend over best friend, huh?" "I didn't even invite him! He's the one who offered to help." "I'm not sure why you're riding bicycles when your parents own a lot of cars.""However, I don't own any of them. It's their money.""You will not use their money, car, or anything else they
Hailey's pov:I drove away from the house as soon as I saw those images from the old diary. I dialled Mr Perez's number, and he answered, "Yeah?" "I'd like to see you. Where are you? Are you at your place? Please send me the address.""It's 3 am.""What's the big deal? I need to see you straight away. Please send me the address.""Is something wrong?" I hung up with him and dialled Jane's number to get his address from her. I went immediately to Mr Perez's house after having the address from her. I knocked on his door and stood in front of it, expecting him to open it. I walked in when the door opened. "Did you fight with your parents?" he inquired. I handed him the diary and asked him to open it. He was clearly astonished to see those photographs. "What is our relationship?" I questioned as I approached him."We're friends.""Do friends kiss like this?" I inquired, pulling up the kissing image. "Hailey… I'm sorry I didn't mean…" "Why didn't you come back to me, Alex? What took
Hailey's pov:When i came to the company, I saw Mr Perez talking with my employees. I ignored him and walked to my cabin. While i was working, Jane, my personal assistant, came in and informed me, "Mr Perez is here to talk with you about the production, mam. Shall I let him in?"When I nodded, Mr Perez walked in with a big smile on his face. After he sat down, I asked while looking at my laptop, "Jane told me you have something to talk about the production. What is it?" "Since we're going to take the scenes today, I thought you might be interested to join us…"I cut him off saying, "I'm sorry about that, Mr Perez. I have other work to look at.""Alright." When he was about to leave, I asked, "Send me the clips once the scenes are done, Mr Perez." He gave me a nod and walked out of my cabin. Shit! Why do I feel like I was rude to him? I really want to be there and look at the production process but I don't want to see him. Why is it so hard to ignore someone? I have never ignored s
Alex's pov:After getting the residential address from Hailey's personal assistant, I took Hailey to her house. When I knocked on the door, the door was opened by Mrs Walton. When I walked in holding Hailey, Mrs Walton asked, "Do I know you? You look familiar to me.""I'm Alexander Perez, I'm working with Ms Walton for an advertisement." When she showed me the room, I made her lay on the bed and walked out of the room. When I tried to leave the house, Mr Walton walked in asking, "What are you doing here?" Mrs Walton, "He's working with Hailey. I think she got a little drunk so he came to drop her."Mr Walton, "He's not working with Hailey." And turned to me asking, "What are you doing here? How did you find her?" I sighed and said, "We met at a success party which was held in Dallas. Hailey's the one who asked me to do an advertisement for her new product. If you don't believe me, you can ask her personal assistant."He made a call to Hailey's personal assistant and talked to her.
Alex's pov:Back in Kansas in Hailey's meeting room, Hailey introduced the production team members along with their designations, "That's Jeremy, he's the director. Elisabeth, she's assistant director and cinematographer, Mason, Location manager. Patrick, costume designer and Cyrus from the accounting department. I picked out the best ones from each department, Mr Perez." I got up from the seat and said, "Don't want to beat around the bush, so I'll jump right into the story I made." I showed the storyboard I prepared for the brand and explained it to everyone in the meeting room and asked for their suggestions. They were more responsive than I expected. I felt relaxed after hearing about their ideas and the enthusiasm they showed for the project. After everyone left the meeting room, Hailey asked me, "Why didn't you say anything about the team? I thought you'd pick whoever you want and discard the others. Or did you take them because you're feeling that I'm forcing it on you?" "I'
Alex's pov:When I talked about the proposal from RJ industries for making an advertisement for their new product to Mr Torrez, he immediately talked with Hailey and made a deal with her in an online meeting. When Mr Torrez ended his speech with closing words to Hailey, "We're glad to work with you, Ms Walton." Hailey thanked him back and said, "Thanks for collaborating with us, Mr Torrez and Mr Perez." And ended the call with hailey. Mr Torrez said to the employees, "I'll check the list and update who will be going to Kansas for the project in the group. Now, you may disperse."After everyone left, I stayed and asked Mr Torrez, "Can I go to Kansas and take care of it in person?""Let's send someone from the production team." He said as he was looking into his laptop. I sighed and said, "Antonio, let me go to Kansas."He leaned back on the chair asking, "Why are you so persistent? Is it because you're the one who brought up this proposal?""No.""Then what's the deal? Why do you wan
~ EIGHT YEARS LATER ~Alex's pov:"Good morning, Perez!" When Ms Sanchez greeted me, I greeted her back by saying, "Good morning Ms Sanchez." "The President asked you to meet him when you're here, Sir.""Okay, I'll go ahead. Thank you for informing me." And headed to the president's cabin. When I entered the cabin, the president said, "I heard the campaign went pretty well. As expected, you gave your best even though it's not your position. Thank you for your hard work, Mr Perez." And placed a letter on the table saying, "And, I want you to do me a favour. While I was thinking about a person to send for our latest advertisement success party, you came to my mind, Mr Perez. I hope you're free this weekend to attend this party on behalf of me." He pointed to the invitation saying, "I attached the flight tickets, hotel room details and the place of the party with the invitation for your reference." "I have an important meeting to go to. Otherwise I would have gone by myself."He didn'
Hailey's pov:A week later, Since I felt bored and alone, I couldn't stay home any longer and came to college.As I walked in the hallway, everyone stared at me but I didn't give attention to any of them. In the classroom, I became invisible from my own friends and classmates. No one talked with me or asked for my help on anything. The teacher who asked me to run an errand for him everytime now forgot my name. People in the canteen treated me like trash so I walked out without eating anything. I went to Alex's classroom, but he wasn't there. His classmates said he's on leave today. When the second bell rang, I was on the way to the next class, I saw Alex walking somewhere. Didn't they say he didn't come today? I walked to him and called out his name, "Alex." He looked at my bandaged hands and asked, "Why didn't you stay home and rest until you recover?"I hugged him as soon as I realised he still cares for me. He broke the hug and said, "I have to go. Take care." I held his hand
Hailey's pov:When I woke up, I was in the hospital. When I tried to get up, my hand felt heavy to even lift it up in the air. When I took a look at it, it was bandaged well. What happened to my hand? I touched it to feel the pain and I remembered what happened. Riley?! I removed the trip's needle from the back of my hand and got out of the bed. And when i came out of the room, mom and dad were sitting on the three seater chair. Seeing me they came to me calling out my name, mom, "Hailey! What are you doing out of the bed?" I peeked through other rooms asking, "Where's Riley? What room is she in?" Mom held my hand saying, "Calm down. Calm down, Hailey. Come on, let's go to your room first."I brushed her off asking, "Where's Riley? I want to see her." And started looking inside every room I came across. "I want to see her right now."Dad, "Hailey, listen to me." When I ignored him and kept looking for Riley, she grabbed both of my shoulders and said while looking into my eyes, "She
Hailey's pov:After I arrived at the street where Riley sent the address, I messaged her that I reached and got a reply from her that she's nearby. I put my phone back in my pocket and waited for her looking either side of the street. It looked empty which scared me a little. As I was waiting for her, I saw Riley walking towards me from my right. I ran to her and gave her a hug. She returned the hug asking, "What's the emergency? Why did you ask me to come see you? What happened?"I opened the zip a little and showed her what's in that bag saying, "One million dollars like you said. Is this enough for them or do you need more?" Riley closed the bag asking, "Are you insane? How did you get this money? Did you ask your parents? Did you ask them?" I looked away from looking at her and said, "No. I didn't ask them." "I got it from… it doesn't matter who it is. Just take the money and give it to them. And, stop hiding yourself from them from now on." And gave her the money. "I can't ta