I stood behind Hayden as my eyes scanned around the room. Suddenly, the door at the other end of the room began sliding open. My eyes imdiately focused on the door, knowing full well who was supposed to walk through it.
"Ethan…" I whispered so softly that I hardly heard myself.
Hayden definitely saw him too because his hand that held mine tightened. Ethan walked in alone and the door behind him began sliding close. I could feel his eyes on us, and I started feeling extrely uncomfortable under his confident gaze. Ethan was dressed in an all-black suit as if he knew that Hayden would turn up in an all-white one.
He had a confident smile on his lips, and he seed very much at ease.
"The rules…" Hayden hissed softly.
"Ok…" I whispered back to reassure him that I was well aware of the rules that he had set.
"Let’s go," Hayden said emotionlessly as he tugged on my hand for
to follow after him.
We walked towards the extrely long table that was positioned in the center of the room. One look at how the chairs were arranged at the table and I knew what Hayden ant about ensuring that I was at least three ters away from Ethan. The table was definitely longer than three ters and three white leather chairs were positioned strategically at the table.
One at each end and the third one next to the chair on our end of the table. The first two seats at the ends of the table were for Hayden and Ethan and that third seat was for .
Hayden pulled out the chair for
and gestured for
to take a seat before he took the seat at our end of the table. At around the sa ti, Ethan took his seat. Even though Ethan was quite far away from , I felt his presence like he was sitting next to . I could feel his eyes on
as he observed
closely. My body froze and I was instantly scared to move.
"Relax," Hayden whispered as if he could sense my discomfort.
I turned to smile a little at him. Hayden did not share my nervousness at all. If anything, he continued to look bored like he couldn’t wait for this to be over so that he could go ho.
"Thank you for agreeing to this eting," Ethan said with a pleasant smile that sent a shiver down my spine.
"Sure," Hayden replied coldly.
"Thank you for bringing, Malissa," Ethan continued diplomatically.
"You’re welcod," Hayden replied flatly.
"How are you, Malissa? Has Hayden been treating you well?" Ethan asked with slight concern in his voice.
I knew that those questions were directed at
but under the rules that Hayden made, I couldn’t answer them unless I got his verbal permission. My eyes glanced over to Hayden who didn’t even spare
a glance. His mouth remained shut. I bit my tongue, knowing that I was not allowed to answer those questions.
"She’s fine. Is that all?" Hayden asked like he was more than ready to get up and leave.
"You seem well. I’m relieved. I was honestly worried about you when you suddenly disappeared. The other teachers at the art school and your students are very worried too. I went to visit them a couple of tis…" Ethan said before he smiled at .
He went to the school and t the other teachers and my students? Really?
It had been such a long ti since then that sowhere at the back of my mind I had completely given up on returning. To them, I must have been ’very sick’ to disappear for such a long ti. Without a doubt, no one knew the truth about my sudden disappearance. I wondered how the school was doing and if business was still going well. I wondered how my students were doing.
Are they continuing to do well as they studied under a new teacher?
I thought back to those busy days when I just started teaching at the art school. Everything was quite new to , and it was challenging. My grandmother was sick at the hospital and Hayden had disappeared from my life. I was alone and fighting hard to build a future for myself.
The smiles and encouragent from my students and the other teachers gave
so much joy and gave
the strength to continue pushing forward.
Suddenly, I wanted to know more about what was going on in the world outside. I wanted to know more about the people who were a part of my life.
I felt a cold stare and my eyes t Hayden’s when I glanced over at him. His gaze snapped
back to reality and I realized that I must have been thinking exactly the things that Ethan wanted
to think and feeling exactly how he wanted
to feel. He could do all that to
just through his words? Suddenly, I began to understand why Hayden wouldn’t let
engage in a conversation with Ethan.
What would happen if I spoke to him? Would he control my body and soul…or sothing?
My hands clenched together tightly on my lap as I tried to get a hold of myself. Not knowing how else to focus my mind, I began reciting the three rules that Hayden made in my head. If I followed them, I won’t be a burden to Hayden in this negotiation, right?
"You didn’t call
out here on this private island to talk about Malissa’s old life, did you?" Hayden asked.
I didn’t’ miss him stressing on the fact that what I was daydreaming about was my ’old life’. Rule number three indeed. I’ve already made my decision and I’ll rember which side that I’m on. Hesitantly, I glanced at Ethan and saw that he was smirking as if he also caught Hayden’s ssage.
"You’re right. Let
get straight to the point. I want a partnership between Torex and Silva," Ethan stated.
The room suddenly felt very cold, but I was sweating from the pure tension between the two n who sat so far apart at opposite ends of the table. We both knew that Ethan was probably going to talk about this. However, I had no idea how Hayden would respond.
--To be continued…
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