Countdown


    “Wee…” the boss said in greeting before he smiled at me.


    “Hello…” I said softly.


    “Why are we here?” Hayden asked, cutting to the chase.


    “I wanted to talk to Malissa and you’re just her driver,” the boss replied with augh.


    He seemed to be in a good mood today. Hayden didn’t find his joke funny, but I thought that it was a


    good attempt. We took our seat on the long sofa opposite the boss. Hayden sat next to me.


    “I told you just now that I wanted to talk to Malissa, right? So, why are you still here, Hayden?” the boss


    asked.


    “You want me to leave?” Hayden asked in annoyance.


    “Yes. Leave…” the boss spat.


    The two men stared at each other down. Seriously, these two father and son just never seemed to get


    along at all. I wondered what these two were like when Hayden’s elder brother was around. Did they


    get along better as a trio than as a duo?


    Hayden squeezed my hand softly as he looked closely at me. I could see the worry in his blue eyes but


    I felt quite fine with being left alone with the boss. Actually, there were somethings that I wanted to say


    to the boss without having Hayden in the room as well.


    “It’s fine…” I whispered to him softly before smiling reassuringly at him.


    “Ok. I’ll be waiting just outside…” Hayden said before he gave my hand one final encouraging squeeze.


    I watched as Hayden got up and headed for the door. The door opened and Hayden disappeared


    through it before the door closed again. Satisfied that Hayden was now gone, the boss turned his full


    attention on me.


    “How have you been?” the boss asked, it was the same question as always.


    “I’m fine. We’re both doing ok…I guess…” I replied.


    “I see. The contract ising to an end soon…” the boss said.


    I knew that to be true, so I just nodded. I was right, the boss wanted to talk to me because the contract


    wasing to an end. We only have five days left and not much is going to change between us at this


    point. Hayden did say that he wanted us to act normal until the contract came to an end. Although that


    meant that we could continue the way we were, that also meant that he was fine with everything


    He never talked about continuing our rtionship beyond the contract expiry date. Neither did he talk


    about wanting something more of our rtionship. Now that Ie to think about it, his mind was still


    unchanged regarding Amelia. Although, I still couldn’t understand that. Now I sort of understood the


    boss’s frustration at his son’s stubbornness. Maybe if I ask Hayden directly about it, he would tell me


    why he wanted to marry Amelia so badly.


    “Yes, there’s only five days left…” I said.


    “So, you’ve been counting down the days…” the boss said with a little amusedugh.


    Yes, I have but now I got more and more scared as the number slowly decreased. One day soon, the


    number would drop to zero. I didn’t know what the boss wanted to say but I knew what I wanted to tell


    him.


    “It might sound out of ce for me to say this but…I feel honestly thankful for everything that you’ve


    done for me and my grandmother. Thank you for covering her medical bills and making sure that she


    receives nothing but the best treatment and care. I truly appreciate what you’ve done for us,” I said,


    meaning every word.


    “What are you going to do from now on?” the boss asked.


    “Umm…” I wasn’t sure…


    Well, I still don’t have a job and no way to pay for her hospital bills if that’s what he’s talking about. That


    was another issue that I haven’t figured out yet. Perhaps, if her condition is stable enough, I can move


    her to take care of her at home…


    “What do you n to do with your life after this contract expires?” the boss asked again.


    Honestly, I’ve been so worried about the contracting to an end that I haven’ thought about what I


    wanted to do after that. I was probably scared of the changes that woulde with the contract’s


    expiry…especially concerning Hayden…


    “I’m honestly not sure yet. I haven’t really put in enough thought into it,” I replied honestly.


    “You don’t have to worry about your grandmother. I’m more than happy to cover for her expenses…


    until she won’t be needing it anymore…” the boss said as if he could read my mind.


    “Oh…thank you. I know it’s strange for me to say this but…I’m sorry that I couldn’t give you anything in


    return. I’m not marrying Hayden, and, in the end, I couldn’t do anything to convince him to take over as


    the next head of Torex. I’m sorry…” I said, feeling quite guilty although he was the one who started all


    of this and not me.


    Belonging ? N?velDram/a.Org.


    “I wouldn’t be too sure about that…” the boss said before chuckling a little.


    “Excuse me?” I said, not quite following what he had just said.


    “You may not realize it yet, but I think precisely because of you, Hayden will take over Torex,” the boss


    said, and his eyes twinkled at me.


    He seemed quite satisfied with the oue and I had a feeling that he knew something that I didn’t.


    Either that or he simply saw the world very differently from how I saw it.


    “I don’t think that he would…” I replied, feeling slightly confused.


    “Why do you say that?” the boss asked.


    Well, because Hayden told me quite clearly that he didn’t want to…


    “He told me that he hates this job…” I replied as I reflected back on the moment that Hayden had told


    me that.


    “Is that so? Is that why you didn’t want to convince him to do it?” the boss asked knowingly.


    I just nodded silently. That’s right. It just felt wrong to talk Hayden into something that he didn’t want to


    do. Well, it wasn’t like I thought that I could have convinced him to take over Torex no matter how hard I


    tried which was why I couldn’t understand what the boss meant about Hayden taking over. Did Hayden


    have a sudden change of heart?


    --To be continued…