"Oh...Well, don’t overthink things. I’m sure Master Hayden appreciates what you’ve done for him, he just doesn’t usually eat breakfast. That’s all..." Auntie said but I could tell that she wasn’t confident.
"You’re the one overthinking things. I didn’t make breakfast for him because I thought he would eat it, I just figured that he wouldn’t be up in the morning so if I made breakfast then I wouldn’t have to see him," I stated quite bluntly.
When I turned to face Auntie, the sad and solemn look on her face made me regret my words immediately. Even if those words were an accurate reflection of what I was thinking and feeling, perhaps they were too harsh for Auntie to take. I knew that she wanted Hayden and I to get together and get married and so on. However, that was impossible.
"Miss Malissa..." Auntie whispered followed by a sigh.
"Good night, Auntie," I said, not wishing to extend this conversation any further.
I went to my room and started to prepare some materials for my sketching and painting session with my grandmother tomorrow. Taking out some sketching paper and pencils, I started sketching some possible poses that might work considering that my grandmother will be on the hospital bed.
I was so absorbed in my work that I was able to kill a couple of hours in what felt like a blink of an eye. By the time, I stretched and looked up it was late into the evening. I put my art materials away and headed for the bathroom to take a nice and relaxing shower.
When I got out of the shower, I put on my pajamas and used the towel to dry my hair. I shook my long brown hair to check that it was damp before I reached for my hair dryer. Just before my hand reached the hairdryer, I heard a soft tap on my door and Auntie’s familiar voice calling my name politely.
"Miss Malissa..."
It’s late, I thought Auntie already went back to her room. Is there something she needed help with? It was unusual for her to knock on my bedroom door. I put down the hair dryer and got up, heading for the door.
"Hi, Auntie. Do you need me for something?" I asked with a smile as I opened my door to see her standing in front of it.
"Umm...actually..." Auntie said hesitantly as her eyes darted around.
"Move. Malissa, come out here," a low voice said as a hand reached out and slowly shoved Auntie to the side, away from my door.
Hayden?!
I felt Aunties eyes on me, but she didn’t say anything and faded into the background as she watched the two of us leave.
"Stop panicking. We’re just going to watch a movie...together," Hayden replied smoothly.
Watch a movie...like...right now?
True to Hayden’s words, he began dragging me in the direction of the home theatre room where I knew there was a big screen, a large sofa...and a bed. When Auntie first showed me around the penthouse suite, I remembered thinking to myself why would anyone have a king-sized bed in the theatre room in addition to the movie seats and sofa.
Now that I was heading there with Hayden, I didn’t want to find out...
"Can we...do this some other time?" I asked, hopefully.
"Are you speaking back to me?" Hayden shot back, arching a brow at me.
Shit...the rules...
I hated his rules. I hated him...but I didn’t want to face his punishments either...
Without another word, Hayden pushed open the door to the theatre room and pulled me in after him. The door closed automatically behind us with a click. Did it just lock?
The theatre room was cold and the fact that I had very thin clothes on didn’t help. Plus, my arms and most part of my legs were bare.
Hayden let go of my arm, finally, and I watched as he strode to the sofa and sat down.
"Come here, Malissa," he said, crooking a finger at me, beckoning me to join him on the sofa.
--To be continued...