His Forever (His #3) (9 page)

I’d left all my
fancy, expensive clothes behind at Henrik’s mansion.  He’d offered to have them sent to me, perhaps out of guilt, but I’d declined.  Instead I’d made him promise he’d donate them all to charity.  He’d grumbled about that a little, wondering what on earth a poor person would do with a designer gown or thousand dollar boots.  But I’d insisted and he hadn’t put up as much of a fight as I’d expected.  He was slowly but surely coming around, it seemed.

Now that I was back in Burlington, it
was back to my skirt suits and sneakers – or at least I hoped so.  Walking into the head of the Sociology department’s office unannounced wasn’t as daunting a task as one might have expected.  I was still reeling from Hayden’s second abrupt departure from my life, so a confrontation with Clancy the Snake didn’t faze me one bit.

Or at least it didn’t after I got a pep talk from Mina.

I didn’t tell her about the argument with Hayden.  That was still far too raw to talk about.  I couldn’t even
think
about it because I knew if I did I’d fall to pieces and be far too much of an emotional wreck to fight for my career. 

Instead, I
called her up and explained that I was back in town and hoped to reclaim my job.

“You were always the smartest
one in our study group,” she said with a touch of wistfulness in her voice as we chatted on the phone.  “I bet you’re the best damn instructor that department has ever seen.  You march right into that dimwit’s office and tell him he’d be
lucky
to hire you back!  Oh, and also, I hear Mark finally quit so he could be a full-time video game nerd or something.”

That was great news.  If both Mark
and I were gone from the department, then there would almost certainly be at least one job opening if not two.  And even better, if I got hired back I wouldn’t have to see him day in and day out.  At least something was going right for me.

So I put on my sneakers – no uncomfortable stilettos for me this time – and off I went.

“Daniella,” Clancy said when I barged into his office, looking up from a stack of papers on his desk.  “To what do I owe this pleasure?”  The trace of sarcasm in his voice wasn’t lost on me but I didn’t let on I’d noticed.  I wasn’t about to give him that satisfaction. 

“I want my job back,” I told him, my gaze firm and unwavering.
  It was hard to not wipe the smirk off his face, but I’d once heard you catch more flies with honey than vinegar.  I, personally, wasn’t convinced – mostly because it didn’t seem fair to the flies to lump Clancy in with them.  But I was going to give it a try.

“You resigned – and with no notice, might I add.  We don’t take kindly to that.”

“Is there a vacant position or not?” I demanded, getting right to the point. 

He let out a wheeze of
laughter as though my demand was somehow comical to him.  “That’s not exactly how it works,” he said as though he was talking to a two year old.  “You don’t get a job just because we’re hiring.  First you have to qualify and after your rather unprofessional conduct, it’s highly unlikely that you’d ever have a contract position here again.”

Okay, vinegar it was, then.

“Oh spare me your bullshit,” I said, rolling my eyes.  “You and I both know I’m more than qualified to teach.  You’d be lucky to have me back,” I said, remembering Mina’s excellent pep talk.  “Come to think of it,” I said thoughtfully, “There’s one other thing you and I both know.”

Clancy’s beady little eyes narrowed.  “You’re not saying what I think you’re saying, are you?”

“Well that depends,” I said, smiling brightly just to piss him off.  “If you think I’m saying I’ll go over your head and tell the dean and the ethics committee what you’ve been up to, then yes.  Because that’s exactly what I’m saying!”

He glared at me but I just ignored it and kept right on talking.

“I hear the college’s strange financial problems were miraculously sorted out.  Right now it’s thought that some mysterious oversight caused the budget crisis and I suspect it won’t be probed too closely due to mismanagement fears…but I could easily tell everyone the truth.”

Clancy was sweating now…sweating like a pig.  It felt good to make him squirm, not just for my own satisfaction but for all the instructors whose jobs he’d endangered when he’d stolen money from the college and nearly caused widespread budget cuts.  He swiped his hand across his forehead nervously. 
“If I give you your job back, you’ll keep your mouth shut?”

I pretended to consider the question for a long moment, secretly enjoying making Clancy squirm.  “Yes,” I finally agreed.  “I suppose I will…on the condition that you understand
that from here on out I do
not
take orders from you no matter what your job title.  And believe me when I tell you I’ll be watching you to make sure you don’t pull any stunts like this ever again.  Do we have a deal?”

Reluctantly, Clancy nodded.  “We have a deal.  I’ll see that your contract is reinstated.”

“And make sure my name is in the running for the promotion,” I interjected.  “Of course it goes without saying that you’ll have no say in whether I’m selected for tenure – you’ll leave that decision in the hands of your very capable and qualified colleagues.”  I could have insisted Clancy get me that promotion, but I could only justify so much blackmail in one day.  Besides, I wanted that promotion fair and square.  I wanted the satisfaction of knowing I’d earned it.

“Okay, okay…you can start tomorrow, same salary as before.”

“Your buddy Mark was paid more than me when he worked here.  I want what he was getting,” I informed Clancy matter-of-factly.  “After all, as experts in our field we wouldn’t want to perpetuate gender inequality in the workplace, would we?  I’ll see you tomorrow, Clancy.  Oh, and I want your parking space,” I added as an afterthought.  “It’s closer.”  Maybe I wouldn’t need to wear sneakers with my skirt suits after all.

With that, I turned on my heel and walked out of his office, my head held high.

It felt so good to stand up to my bully of a boss.  I was proud of myself for asserting my power the way I had.  My career was not only back on track, but I’d be returning to a better workplace than the one I’d left, with great things on the horizon. 

I just wished
Hayden was there to share my triumph with me.  He would have been so proud.

Instead, I returned to an empty house. 

The silence was deafening, so I called Mina.  She sounded exhausted – I could only imagine what being stuck at home all day with a young child and no partner was like.  But she was genuinely thrilled for me when I told her what had happened.

“You’re amazing!” she crowed in delight as soon as I’d finished giving her a word-for-word rendition of what had gone down.  “You’re seriously my hero
, Daniella.  I wish I had your career – and your guts!”

Her encouragement f
elt good, but there was still a vast emptiness inside me that couldn’t be filled.  It was the hole Hayden had left in my heart.  Instead of dwelling on that, I tried my best to focus my attention and energy on my friend.  She’d been nothing but supportive and I wanted to return the favor any way possible.

“
You could do what I do.  You could always go back to school and get the rest of your credits,” I pointed out.  “I think there’s an on-campus daycare, and I could help you with your research in my spare time, if you wanted.  I could even babysit a couple evenings a week.  It would probably be tough juggling school with work and a kid, but it wouldn’t be impossible, Mina.”

“I know,” she agreed.  “
And thank you for the offer.  To be honest, I’m not sure teaching Sociology was my true calling.  At the time I thought it was, but I was younger then and life was different,” she continued, sounding nostalgic.  “The thought of being on campus all day doesn’t appeal to me at all anymore.  But now that the kiddo’s getting older I do need to find a full-time, decent-paying job – and soon.”

“Well I’ll let you know if I hear of anything,” I promised as I
absentmindedly paced through my living room with my phone pressed to my ear.  Suddenly I stopped dead in my tracks, my eyes as wide as saucers.  I was so stunned that I nearly dropped the phone.  “Mina, I’ve got to go…Hayden’s standing on my front step.”

“Hi,” I said softly as I slipped out the front door and shut it behind
me. 

It had grown
cold and windy out like a storm was on the horizon and I wasn’t wearing a jacket.  My long hair whipped around my shoulders like a brunette mane of flames.  I wrapped my arms around myself to keep warm and tried to maintain some semblance of strength. 

Though I wouldn’t let him know it after the way he’d left,
I really just wanted to crumble at Hayden’s feet.  It had been such a long day full of ups and downs, and seeing him made me realize just how exhausted I was.  I looked at his arms longingly, my teeth chattering.

Hayden, as in tune with me as ever, immediately saw that I was shivering.  He
immediately took off his jacket and put it over my shoulders.  His hand brushed lightly across my neck as he did so.  It was probably unintentional but it nonetheless sent a shiver through me.  The sparks were still there – and why wouldn’t they be?  It had just been a stupid fight.  Or at least that’s what I’d thought until Hayden had up and disappeared in the middle of the night.

He looked as pained and unsure of himself as I felt.  “You left,” he said.
  His accent was stronger than usual – I’d noticed it had a way of creeping to the surface during times of stress.  It was clear that Hayden was emotional.  I saw that his shirt was wrinkled and his eyes were bloodshot, like he’d been up all night – or maybe crying.

“Me?  You’re the one who left,” I replied, hoping we weren’t on the verge of having yet another fight.  I didn’t think I had it in me to get into it with him again.  “
When I woke up and found out you were gone…well there was nothing left in Malibu for me.  So I came home.”

“Gone?  I wasn’t…oh, Daniella.” 
He smacked his forehead as a look of understanding came over him.  “You didn’t see my note?”

I stared at him blankly
.  “What note?”

“I w
rote you a note before I left,” Hayden explained, sounding relieved.  “I know I usually leave notes on my pillow but after our argument I wasn’t sure you’d take too kindly to me just barging in on you.  It kind of seemed like you wanted space.  So I taped it to the outside of your door.”

“I didn’t see any note,” I said as I felt
a crushing weight begin to lift up off of me.  I finally felt like I could breathe again.  “What did it say?  Your father said you told him you were headed for the streets…”

“I was,” Hayden nodded.  “
But only for a few hours…or at least that was the plan.  I couldn’t sleep and I wanted to talk to Steve, both to get some more money to him and to get advice after our argument.”

“Steve?”

“Uh huh, but I went down to where he’d been sleeping and couldn’t find him.  That really worried me.  I thought something bad had happened.  I spent the entire night walking the street looking for him until a shop owner in the area was able to point me in the right direction.  I guess,” he said with a wry grin, “that’s what I get for breaking my phone.  Had I just called you, I could have saved myself the sore feet and anxiety.”

“
I was going to tell you but I didn’t get a chance…”

“
It’s okay.  Steve filled me in.  He told me how you pawned the jewelry I gave you so he’d have enough money for a deposit on an apartment.  Thanks to you he hasn’t had to sleep outside.  He’s been comfortable and well fed, with a roof over his head and a bed to sleep in.  I love that you did that for him, Daniella.  I’m sorry I got mad when you told me you’d pawned the jewelry.  I should have let you explain.”

“I really did love it,” I told him with a twinge of sadness.  “I hated having to give it up but
I didn’t know what else to do.  That jewelry set was the most valuable thing I owned.  I could see how much Steve’s situation was bothering you and I wanted to help him…for you.  Your father wasn’t watching me as closely as you.  That meant I could do things right under his nose that you couldn’t get away with…like helping Steve get back on his feet.”

“
After talking to Steve, I had a feeling you might be sad about giving the jewelry up,” Hayden said.  He slipped his hand into the pocket of the jacket he’d draped over my shoulders and pulled out a small velvet pouch.  “After I found out what you’d done, I went down to the pawn shop and bought the jewelry back.”

Unable to mask my surprise and delight, all I could do was stand there
, speechless.  I pulled the necklace out of the pouch and admired the way it sparkled.  It truly was gorgeous…and so was the man who’d given it to me.

Hayden leaned in and kissed me, his lips brushing mine gently.

My face was flushed when he pulled away.  I looked at him.  “Does this mean…?”

Even though I didn’t finish the question, Hayden nodded.  He seemed to know exactly what I was asking.  He knew
me
.  “I’m sorry for our fight.”