Rules? He made rules?
Is that what he had been thinking about all this time?
I was stunned into silence, and I didn’t know what to say. Taking my silence for acknowledgement, Hayden began informing me of the rules that he thought up for our meeting with Ethan.
"Sit down properly," Hayden said as he motioned with his hand for me to take the seat close to him.
With a slight nod of my head, I did what he wanted and settled down onto a comfortable leather seat close to him. Suddenly, the atmosphere around us became even more tense than before and I found myself holding my breath as I waited for him to speak.
I already knew that Hayden didn’t want me to meet Ethan; however, he had decided to respect my wishes and along with his brother’s encouragement, he had decided to let me join the meeting.
"The rules are simple. Firstly, you will not speak to Ethan unless I give you verbal permission to. In case you don’t understand what that means, let me further explain so we are clear. If Ethan speaks to you or asks you anything, you are not permitted to answer until I tell you that you may," Hayden said before pausing to ensure that I understood.
His blue eyes settled on my face sternly as he watched me take in his word. The first rule wasn’t complicated for me to understand; however, I had a feeling that it would be strange at best when we put it into action. Regardless, if that was his terms, then I was willing to adhere to it.
"I understand," I replied.
"Second, you will always maintain a 3 meters distance between you and him. I have arranged the meeting set up in such a way that this is possible. Don’t worry, if during the meeting he makes a move, I will intervene," Hayden stated the second rule as his eyes watched my reaction.
Hayden didn’t say anything although he did nod his head at me in acknowledgment of my response. Now that he was done with what he wanted to say, Hayden lapsed back into silence. This time, I let him go willingly as I also retreated back into my mind to prepare myself for what was the come. Hayden’s third rule and warning played itself over and over again in my mind.
I could hear his voice like it was haunting me all the way until the end of our flight.
...
The announcement from our captain telling us that we will be descending down to our destination soon was what snapped me back from my thoughts. After stating his rules, Hayden and I didn’t share another word of conversation until the end of the flight. I had been too wrapped up in my own thoughts and worries that I didn’t pay any attention to my surroundings.
Now that my mind was partially back in the present, I peered out the plane’s window to see that we were flying quite low above bright greenish-blue sea water, and I could see small islands down in the sea below. The islands looked small from where we were up in the sky, but I was sure that they weren’t small at all in reality.
Where are we?
The sun was bright and that made the colorful scenery of the sea and island seem that much brighter. I watched the beautiful scenery of the view until we touched down at our destination, wherever that was. The captain spoke through the speaker again to inform us that we have arrived. Hayden got up from his seat wordlessly as he prepared to disembark from the plane.
I gathered the few things that I had brought along and shoved them into my handbag as I readied myself to follow Hayden.
The door of the plane slowly opened, and Hayden led the way out. To my slight surprise, Hayden turned around to offer me his hand when he was standing in the doorway. I blinked rapidly before I slipped my hand into his much larger one.
--To be continued...