Independence


    Despite my belief that Hayden would be gone the following day, Hayden spent the next couple of days


    living together at my ce. I liked having him around and I was getting used to spending my days with


    him; however, after a couple of days I realized that this wasn’t normal. He stuck to me like glue and


    followed me wherever I went. I didn’t want to tell him this, but he was getting in the way of my daily life.


    “Hayden…when are you heading back to your ce?” I asked one evening while we were having


    dinner together in my small apartment.


    “You don’t like having me around?” He asked as he ced down the fork that he had been holding.


    I sighed, knowing that he would say something like that.


    “It’s not like that. It’s just…you’ve been around me all the time and…I guess it affects my work…” I told


    him hesitantly.


    Hayden was silent for a while as he took my words in. I used that time to silently pray that he would not


    “Hi Malissa, sorry for calling you but there’s something that I want to discuss,” thedy’s voice through


    the phone was quite stern.


    I wondered what she wanted. Usually, she’s always in a good mood and I hardly hear her sounding so


    serious like this.


    “Hi. No worries. What is it?” I asked.


    There was a pause followed by a sigh from the other end of the line and that was enough to let me


    know that it wasn’t good news.


    “I’m sorry that I have to say this but we think it would be best if you stopped bringing your friend along


    with you to the sses,” she said hesitantly.


    “Oh…ok…” I replied.


    “The thing is some parents are concern with having an observer all the time and they think it’s


    distracting for the students,” she exined.


    “Right. Ipletely understand…” I said apologetically.


    “Great. Sorry about this but I thought letting you know would be better. See you!” thedy said and


    quickly hung up.


    Basically, it wasn’t a good idea for Hayden to be stuck to my side like glue. I knew that that would be


    the case. He did bother me a little so it wasn’t a huge surprise that his presence would be a bother to


    the others. His sparkly prince-like aura also attracted a lot of attention, but it was better than his dark


    mafia aura when he was in a bad mood. Regardless, he attracted too much attention.


    “I guess I’ll take my leave for now,” Hayden said defeatedly.


    “We can always meet up when I’m off work,” I said, trying to lighten the mood.


    “Malissa, watch yourself,” Hayden warned.


    Belonging ? N?velDram/a.Org.


    “Huh?” I said in surprise.


    “Be careful. If anything happens just give me a call,” Hayden insisted.


    “Umm…sure,” I agreed with a nod.


    I could tell that Hayden was worried, but I didn’t think that anything could happen. The frown that


    formed in between Hayden’s eyebrow told me that he was very concerned. That was when I finally


    understood why Hayden had been sticking to be like glue for the past few days.


    “Are you worried?” I asked.


    “Of course, I am,” he replied immediately.


    “Don’t worry. I’ll be ok. Nothing is going to happen. I have to try to live life normally too…” I said, trying


    to reassure him.


    I wanted Hayden to know that I had a life of my own that I was determined to live regardless of the


    various obstacles that the mafia and my past keeps throwing my way. To do that, I knew that I had to


    be stronger and better at dealing with the unexpected.


    “I know that Ethan met up with you at your exhibition,” Hayden stated darkly.


    It was like a dark aura had enveloped Hayden’s body and it gave me the chills. I hated where this


    conversation was going.


    “Yeah…nothing happened though. We just talked,” I said with a nervous smile.


    “What did he want from you?” Hayden asked straightforwardly.


    “What he wants?” I said innocently.


    I wasn’t sure if this was the right time to tell Hayden about Ethan’s ns of reuniting the gang. Hayden


    seems to be in a terrible mood. If I mention the n now, it will be smashed into a million pieces.


    There’s no way that it will go through.


    “Ethan won’t meet up with you unless he wants something…” Hayden said knowingly.


    “Umm…the thing is…” I said as I hesitated.


    What do I do now?


    “I’m listening,” Hayden said but his tone wasn’t very encouraging.


    I sighed loudly as his light blue gaze settled on me. It doesn’t matter how close we’ve gotten; Hayden


    can be very intimidating.


    “Ethan told me that he wants to reunite the two gangs together. What do you think about that,


    Hayden?” I asked, daring to hope just slightly that he might agree.


    “What do you think about that?” Hayden asked for my opinion.


    I thought it would be a good thing but…I wasn’t sure if that was the right choice. With the many facts


    that Hayden had revealed, I felt like that would make my father’s wish finallye true after so long.


    However, I wasn’t sure if that was something for me to decide. Hayden would head Torex after his


    father, so it was for him to decide and then he’s got to convince his father too.


    “I think that potentially it could be a good idea. Peace is better than violence, I think…but I also think


    that it’s best for you to decide. Perhaps, after you understand more about what Ethan has in mind…” I


    answered as honestly as I could.


    “I see…” Hayden said.


    After that he didn’t say anything else on that topic. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking or what was his


    thoughts to my opinion. Hayden just didn’t seem interested in the topic at all. He refused toment or


    talk about it. As for me, I didn’t have the courage to ask. It was a big deal so I could understand if he


    needed time to think it through.


    --To be continued…