18

18
Jake couldn’t take me home because we couldn’t risk my father looking through the cameras and seeing Jake drop me off. He was angry about that because he didn’t want me driving alone but I assured him that everything was fine. I was thankful he didn’t drop me off because Alana was there waiting when I arrived. She raised a brow when she saw me walking in with different clothes.
“Do I want to know?” she asked and I shook my head. “I hope the guy is treating you right, whoever he is.”
“He is,” I assured her and she raised a brow waiting. I knew immediately what she wanted and I sighed. “I can’t tell you anything about him right now. You just have to trust me on this one.”
She huffed under her breath.
“Any man who makes you his dirty secret is not worth it. Is he married or something?” my face contorted into a grimace. “What did you expect me to think when you said you couldn’t tell me about him?”
“He isn’t married or in a relationship. I don’t even know if we are in a relationship. I don’t want to say anything unless I am certain that what we have is going to last.”
That was the worst lie I had ever told. I knew there was no one else for me after Jake. He had ruined me for every man and he knew it. Judging by the things he said, I was it for him too but I couldn’t help but be a little skeptical sometimes.
“I just hope you know what you are doing,” she whispered and I waited until she had walked away before I spoke.
“I hope so too.”
I waited for my father to return all day. I caught myself up on some work and spent the rest of my day reading a book in the living room. Alana left sometime in the evening but I couldn’t bring myself to go upstairs until I knew my dad was safe. He came back sometime around midnight when I was already falling asleep. It was his hand gently removing the book from between my fingers that woke me up.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he said softly as he placed the book on the table. He didn’t bookmark my page and I could already tell how much of a bitch it was going to be to find my page again. “Go up to bed, Hayley.”
“A simple ‘thank you for waiting up for me’ would suffice,” I murmured unable to keep the annoyance out of my voice as I sat up and rubbed the remnants of sleep from my eyes. “I was actually worried about you. You have been working nonstop for the past few days. You can’t blame it on money because you have more than you could possibly need.”
“Thank you, Hayley, I just want you to go to bed, please.”
“Not until you tell me what the problem is.”
He lifted his eyes to mine and I stopped short. My father was exhausted with bags under his eyes and stress lines all over his face. He didn’t look like himself anymore and for a second, I was worried that he was going to keel over out of exhaustion I reached out for him but he shook his head and I reluctantly pulled my hand back to my side.
Heaving a defeated sigh, I stood to my feet and placed a kiss on his cheek. “Goodnight dad.”
“Goodnight, Hayley.”
Dad went to work on Sunday and he didn’t even return. By this time, I was completely worried but Jake kept telling me to be calm because he was going to figure it out. By the time Monday came around and dad told me he was traveling, I wasn’t even surprised. I wanted to tell him to stay back but I knew he wouldn’t listen so I started making my own plans to ensure that he got the kind of rest he deserved when he was back.
Because of how hectic my weekend was, I had completely forgotten about Charles and the incident on Friday. It wasn’t until I had stepped out of the elevator and our eyes met that I remembered. He tried to speak to me but I held up a hand and stopped him with a firm look. That normally would have dissuaded him but this time, he stepped closer to me.
“You can be such a bitch, do you know that?” he spat and I raised a brow.
“It is not like I have ever denied it before but I am shocked as to what gave you the revelation. Is it because I turned down your advances? I expected better from you if I am being honest but then again, coming from an overgrown man child who doesn’t understand the word no, I don’t think I am surprised.”
“You-” he began but I cut him off.
“I am done with this conversation. My warning still stands. If you come close to me, I will make sure I ruin your life. Am I understood?”
“There isn’t much left to ruin after what you did.”
“Excuse me?”
He didn’t respond, he just brushed past me and made his way to the stairs. I was confused because I didn’t do anything to him yet. As I walked into my office, my confusion became greater because I noticed that everyone was staring at me. They stared every day but today was worse, almost as if they were judging me- especially the men. A few of the women looked impressed but I had no idea what they had to be impressed about.
I wanted nothing more than to stop and ask questions but I decided against it. If it were truly important, then I knew that the story would find its way to me. I was just grateful that dad wasn’t in the office because I had a feeling that when it exploded, it was going to be terrible.
The explosion came around lunchtime. I was getting myself a donut when I noticed that Jenna was giving me the stink eye. I was content with ignoring her because if there was one thing I did not do, it was boy drama. I got my coffee and snacks and was making my way back to my office when she bumped into my shoulder making my drink spill all over my white shirt.
To make matters worse, she began to walk away without an apology. I was already in a shitty mood so I didn’t realize when I grabbed her upper arm and dragged her back to stand in front of me. When faced with her action, she had the decency to look anxious and scared.
“You have eyes, use them and you have a mouth, there is this thing called manners. When you bump into someone, you say sorry. Do I need to break it down further or do you understand?”
Her cheeks heated as the lunch room went quiet. I didn’t care that everyone was watching, I was tired of the constant stares and whispers that had been going around all day.
“It was an accident,” she began in what was supposed to be an innocent shrug. “Don’t make it into a bigger deal than it needs to be.”
“Listen Jenna, if you have a problem then say it. This whole mean girl thing isn’t working. I will out do your mean girl façade in a second if I wanted to. You’re a goldfish, stay in your tank. Am I clear?”
She nodded. “Crystal.”
“Good girl,” I pushed the now empty coffee cup into her hands and walked away.
I didn’t have an extra shirt but I was trying to clean mine off when my door opened and Greg walked in.
“Knocking is a courtesy,” I drawled as he made his way further inside.
“I think we are past the point of courtesy,” he placed his hand on my table and I finally looked him in the eye. “You do not want to go to war with me, little girl. I will ruin you.”
“Threatening someone half your age is not attractive and it will not make your dick any bigger.”
His face flamed in anger. “First you ruined my Friday and then you ruined my paralegal.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I know that you were the one who leaked Charles’ affairs to HR. Cyber stalking is a crime.”
My brows furrowed. “I still don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You’ve been warned, Hayley Davis. Tread carefully because I never lose.”
I didn’t know what he was talking about but I hated being threatened so I crossed my arms over my chest. “That’s funny, because neither do I. You can get out now.”
He walked out of my office and I waited until he had shut the door before I allowed the mask to drop. I didn’t do anything to Charles and there was only one other person who knew what Charles had done. I muttered a small curse under my breath as I grabbed my phone and called Jake.
“Is everything okay?” he asked as soon as he picked up but I ignored him and went straight to the point.
“What did you do?”