"Hayden...what do you want to do?" I asked bluntly.
"About?" he asked as if he was playing innocent.
"All this. What do you want to do...with your future?" I inquired as my eyes pleaded desperately for him to answer my question.
I knew that he hated his job because he told me so himself. However, does that necessarily mean that he still wanted Harvey to take over? If Harvey decides to take over, what will happen to Hayden?
"I don’t know. I haven’t decided," Hayden replied without any struggle.
Had he been thinking about this for a long time already? Probably.
What surprised me more than the fact that he seemed to be so at ease about it was the fact that he didn’t seem at all bothered about not knowing what he wanted.
"But you’ve thought about it, right?" I asked softly.
I felt like if I pushed him too hard, he would escape and sink back into his shell without ever coming out. If that happened, then I would be locked out again and I would never get any answers from him. I bit my lower lip as I tried to pick my words wisely. If I stirred the water too much, the goldfish would swim away, right?
It wasn’t like I thought that Hayden resembled a goldfish or anything like that...
"Of course, I have. I’ve been sort of forced to think about it ever since my brother decided to ’die’," Hayden replied with a dry laugh.
"Right..." I mumbled, without knowing what more to say.
"Don’t look so stressed out about it. Just be honest to yourself and think about it," Hayden advised.
I wished I didn’t have to stress out about all of this too, but the pressure that was being placed on me was immense. Just look at what the boss said to me, for example.
"The boss told me that I’ll be replaced..." I mumbled softly.
"Did he?" Hayden asked before he started to laugh.
I gasped loudly when I realized that I must have said that out loud. What am I thinking? I wasn’t going to tell him about that. Now Hayden probably thinks that I’m just worried about being replaced by some other woman...and maybe I was worried about that too...
"You shouldn’t be laughing. It’s not a funny matter!" I retorted before I started pouting to gloss over my feelings of embarrassment.
"You’re right. The matter isn’t funny but you’re the funny one," Hayden said while he continued to laugh.
He’s so carefree about all this, seriously. He’s laughing and talking so casually like none of this truly concerned him and I can’t even tell what he’s really thinking or feeling.
"He didn’t tell you anything?" Hayden repeated his question in disbelief.
"Not about this..." I replied.
"I don’t mind telling you but it’s not as interesting as you think," Hayden said.
Although he said that he would tell me now, I doubted that he would have told me had I asked before and I doubt that it was something uninteresting.
"Please...tell me..." I requested.
What deal did these two brothers make and why? What does it have to do with all this?
"Move over there," Hayden said as he pointed to the end of the long sofa.
"Ok..." I mumbled before I scooted over to sit where he wanted me to.
Since this wasn’t the first time that he’s given me an order like this, I had a pretty good idea of what he had in mind. When his head landed on my lap and a satisfied smile curved his lips, I found out that I was right, and I couldn’t stop grinning a little to myself.
"The story is a little long so I might as well make myself comfortable..." Hayden said sleepily.
"Aha..." I mumbled.
"Your lap is comfortable. I’ve always thought that..." he said as he snuggled his head closer to my belly.
"Really?" I couldn’t help but ask.
"Yup. Ever since the first time..." he replied quite honestly.
If I remembered correctly, the first time that he laid his head on my lap was...
Was he trying to distract me just now?!
"Please tell me...everything..." I demanded firmly before I lost my train of thought again.
"Let’s see...where should I start..." Hayden said with a little evil smirk.
I glanced down at Hayden anxiously as I waited for him to tell me what I had been yearning to know all along. My instincts told me that if I could get my hands on this information, then I could unlock more than a few mysteries about the two brothers.
--To be continued...