I smiled a little to myself. Hayden looked quite adorable when he just woke up. He was still sleepy; he had a bedhead, and his guard was down.


    "Are you going somewhere today?" I asked, realizing that I wished that he would have free time to spend with me.


    "Nowhere. We’re staying home…" Hayden replied without a second thought.


    "Should I cook for you?" I offered.


    The words slipped from my lips without thinking. For some reason, I was anxious to please Hayden. It was probably because I was overjoyed that he had decided to stay in with me today. I didn’t have anything to offer to him, but I could whip up a decent meal for him.


    "That’ll be nice…" Hayden repliedzily.


    I watched as Hayden got out of bed and walkedpletely naked to the bathroom. He was clearlyfortable and very rxed. It made me quite happy to see him that way. I stretched and also got out of bed with the nket wrapped around me before heading back to my bedroom to quickly take a shower.


    The day alone in the penthouse with Hayden went well. I cooked him brunch and we enjoyed it in each other’spany. Auntie conveniently called in sick, so it was just the two of us together and we didn’t mind at all. Things were going well, and we had a romantic and homey atmosphere going on when an unforeseen disturbance came in to shake up our day.


    Hayden’s phone started vibrating on the table next to his hand. Hayden nced over at it before he reached out and turned the phone over to silence it. Whoever was calling was beingpletely ignored. It was clear that Hayden had no intention of taking the call and that made me wonder a little about who was on the other end of the line. Perhaps, it was work and Hayden didn’t want to work today?


    As those thoughts were running through my mind, my phone began to vibrate in the pocket of my pants. Quickly, I pulled it out and looked at the caller’s name on the screen.


    Oh…it’s the boss.


    Now I understood why Hayden didn’t pick up the call. It must have been his father that was the one calling him before. Since Hayden didn’t pick up, the boss decided to call me instead. Maybe he knew that Hayden and I are together today. I hesitated a little but then decided to answer the call anyways.


    "Hi…" I said softly into the phone.


    "You’re with Hayden, right? He’s ignoring my calls…" the boss said, and it wasn’t really a question.


    "Yes…" I replied, trying to sound polite.


    I could feel Hayden’s eyes on me, and I suddenly felt nervous. He probably wouldn’t like it that I was talking to the boss.


    "I want you both toe over. Hayden knows where I am. I sent him a message earlier," the bossmanded.


    Before I could say anything else, the line disconnected. He just hung up on me after he had said all that he had to. I looked over at Hayden as I desperately thought of how to break this sudden development to him.


    "So? What did the old man say?" Hayden asked.


    "Umm…" I murmured in hesitation.


    Hayden already knows that I just got off the phone with his father and he was clearly irritated. His tone had gotten impatient and snappy. What a way to ruin a great and peaceful day…


    "Does he want us to go over?" Hayden asked needlessly.


    Why is he even asking if he knows everything already?


    "Yes…" I replied in short.


    "You should have just ignored his call…" Hayden said, sounding very annoyed.


    "You know that I can’t do that…" I muttered.


    "He probably wants to say some stupid things to you again…" Hayden said followed by a sigh.


    I smiled a little at him. To be honest, talking to the boss was hard and I never looked forward to it. However, the contract ising to an end soon and I had expected that he would call me in for a talk sooner orter. Frankly, I wanted to have an opportunity to thank him too.


    Entering me into the contract wasn’t really fair but it did lead me to meet Hayden, which was probably more of a good thing than a bad thing…


    Apart from that, regardless of the context, the boss did help me a lot financially in paying for my grandmother’s hospital bills and keeping her in one of the best hospitals. If it was just me, I wouldn’t be able to afford anything remotely close to it. I was thankful for his help and the treatment that my grandmother had received.


    "It’s ok. I’ll manage…" I replied before smiling bravely at Hayden.


    He only shook his head at me slightly before he got up from his seat. That was the signal that we were leaving to see the boss now. I quickly ran to grab my bag before following him out of the penthouse. During the ride to the boss’s mansion, I pondered what he wanted to talk to me about while I also thought about how to thank him politely and properly.


    Shortly after, we arrived at the boss’s mansion. The beautiful gardens and the huge building reminded me of the first day that I had arrived here after the men in ck dragged me away from grandmother’s sweet shop. So many things happened from that day onwards and it felt like a lifetime had passed by.


    That day felt so long ago, and many things have changed including my feeling and perception that I had towards this ce.


    Surprisingly, I felt less scared; however, therge building still intimidated me a little. The garden andndscape were truly beautiful in the daylight. Unlike the first time that I was here, Hayden was by my side this time. I nced up at his face to see him smiling down at me as he held my hand.


    How the light reflected off his light blond hair and how the shadow darked a portion of his face, made him look like a work of art. He’s a very beautiful man indeed.


    "Let’s go so we can quickly get this over with…" Hayden said before he dragged me after him into therge building.


    This time Hayden was the one leading me to the boss’s room. I walked along the same long hallway to where the boss was waiting for us. The first day that I was here, I felt so nervous and scared that I didn’t remember anything very well. Now that Hayden was with me, I felt quite calm and ready to ept and face whatever waited for us.


    Just like the times before, Hayden didn’t bother knocking on his father’s door before entering. We entered the room abruptly and found the boss sitting on the sofa waiting for us. He turned without surprise as he had been expecting us.


    --To be continued…