72
HAYLEY’S P.O.V
It 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 office to just sit.”
I rolled my eyes at her. She wasn’t wrong but that didn’t mean I had to accept it. “Are you going to sit or not? I can’t eat all this by myself.”
She hurried to shut the door behind her and sat down opposite me. Jake had ordered Chinese food and it looked like he had bought the entire store for me. Even on my worst days, I couldn’t eat this much.
“What do you think?” I asked and Sienna turned to me in confusion. “My relationship, you clearly have an opinion, don’t you?”
“I don’t, actually.”
I snorted. “Everyone does, even you.”
“You might be used to everyone caring about what you wear to sleep but I don’t. I truly couldn’t give two shits. I see you Monday through Friday and you’re not that interesting, you’re basically a loner.”
I should have felt insulted but weirdly, it felt nice to know that someone didn’t care. She was right in the sense that I was used to people being in my business. She was the first person I was meeting who treated me like everyone else.
“That’s such a backhanded compliment,” I drawled and she shrugged.
“I don’t care who you date. You seem smart enough to make your own decisions but it makes for good office gossip,” I groaned and she laughed. “Greg has been blowing a fuse all day. He is in such a terrible mood.”
“I hate him.”
“I think everyone does, but he is a damn good lawyer and even you have to admit that.”
I merely shrugged. She wasn’t lying though, he had won almost every case that he took on and I think that’s why my father kept him around. His ferociousness in court made up for his shitty personality sometimes.
“Is he as mean as people say he is?” Sienna asked after a beat of silence. “Of course he won’t be mean to you, you’re his girlfriend, but people say he is colder than ice. He gives you a run for your money if I’m being honest.”
“I wouldn’t know, I haven’t seen him at work. I’ve only ever known him on a personal level, but he is the kindest person I know and the sweetest.”
“He sends you flowers and lunch every day, I think we know just how kind he is. I’m kind of jealous because how did you manage to date the last good guy on the planet and be pretty and smart and fucking wealthy at the same time.”
I laughed. “Honestly, I have no idea. I guess karma is just on my side.”
Surprisingly, I enjoyed having lunch with Sienna. It beat sitting alone in my office in silence. By the time she left, I found myself missing the company. I hadn’t realized just how lonely I usually was until I had some company.
I managed to get through the rest of the day without offloading on anyone and as soon as it was time to leave, I grabbed my bags and all but high tailed it out.
“They haven’t left,” Nick told me and my brows rose in surprise. “Most of them have but there are a few eager ones. The car is waiting for you in the garage. We will get out undetected.”
“Okay.”
I knew better than to argue after what happened earlier today.
We were on our way to the elevator when someone cleared their throat behind me. “You finally decided to show your face.”
I turned to Greg who was leaning against the wall with his hands crossed over his chest. “If you wanted to see me, you could have simply come to my office. What do you want?”
“Nothing, I just wanted to congratulate you on the new relationship. It’s everywhere,” I stared at him blankly, waiting for him to get to the actual point. “I would never have pegged you for the type to go after older guys.”
“Hayley-” Nick started to step in front of me but I held up a hand to stop him.
I was more than exhausted with Greg’s passive aggressive comments and outright misogyny. It wasn’t my fault that I was born the way I was, neither was it my fault that I had all the advantages that I was given. I was tired of walking on eggshells around him because I didn’t want to come off looking like a spoiled daddy’s girl but if he wanted to go low then I would go lower.
“Does it make you hard when you say things like that?” I asked and his cheeks turned a bright shade of pink. “You sounded a little jealous when you spoke.”
“Jealous?” he spluttered. “Why would I be jealous?”
“You tell me. If you want, I can get Jake to call you, although I don’t think he swings that way.”
His cheeks turned even brighter. “I am not gay and I am not interested in your boyfriend.”
“You seemed interested five seconds ago. I was simply trying to help,” I shrugged. “Seeing as you’re not, stay the fuck out of my business and I’ll stay out of yours, okay?”
He didn’t even respond, he just turned on his heels and walked away. Once he was gone, I turned back to Nick who was watching me with a slight smile on his face.
“I think I like you,” he mused and I laughed.
“You’re probably going to regret saying that.”
The drive home was a lot smoother than the drive to work. We were able to get out undetected but I did see a few people in the bushes outside our estate. I wanted nothing more than to return to Jake’s house but Nick said they were under strict orders to bring me home instead.
I was pissed but there wasn’t much I could do about it. I knew that either my dad or Jake was behind it and I planned to find out why but I was too tired to fight.
As soon as I walked into the house, Alana was by my side. “You’re in a lot of trouble this time. Every news article is carrying your name and picture.”
“I know,” I sighed dropping onto the couch. “You would think that people would be less concerned with my love life.”
“You’re dating your father’s best friend. What did you think was going to happen?” she snorted.
“Speaking of my father, where is he? Did he ever come back home?”
“No, he has been with Jake all day but he called. They are going to see his child today. That’s why he didn’t want you there.”
I sighed deeply. “I don’t want to be a step-mother, Alana.”
“I know, darling, you’re much too young for that. You have your entire life ahead of you.”
“What now?” I asked and she turned to me. “I don’t want to leave him but I can’t.”
“You can’t have both, Hayley. If that child is his then it is part of his life. You can’t have him without the child and if you can’t have the child then you can’t have him.”
“What do I do?”
“I can’t tell you that,” she stroked my cheek softly. “Whatever you do, I know you’ll make the right choice.”