Chapter 10: Moving in with Him

"Miss Malissa, the boss wants to see you now," the leader of the men in black said as he poked his head in through the opened door.

"Ok…let’s go," I said as I walked towards the door.

I wished I had gotten to speak with my grandmother, but she was still asleep. I wanted to talk to the boss too. Perhaps, he had already given up on the wedding based on what happened earlier today.

…

"You want me to what?" I said as my eyes widened in shock. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

"Hahaha! You don’t have to act so excited. It is as I said, I want you to move in and live with Hayden. He’s handsome, isn’t he? Just like me when I was younger…" the boss said cheerfully as he sipped red wine.

"Umm…what he looks like isn’t the main problem here…" I muttered.

"You will do as I say. It’s part of the deal. You will move in to live with my son for 30 days. If you both decide that you don’t want to get married at the end, then I’ll set you both free and you can leave. Simple, isn’t it?" the boss said with a satisfied smile.

"I can’t…live with him…" I stated firmly as I enunciated every syllable.

"I’ve already prepared everything. Don’t worry, I’m not forcing you to sleep with him or anything like that. I’ve prepared a two bed-room penthouse suite at the most prestigious condominium in the city for you two so that you can both start out fresh!" the boss said happily as he clapped his hands together excitedly.

Hmm…so we’ll have separate bedrooms. It’ll be like living with a male roommate. I could shut myself in my bedroom forever for 30 days. That didn’t sound too bad, to be honest. There were plenty of people who decided to room with people of the opposite sex and didn’t have any issues. Plus, Hayden seemed to have a girlfriend already so there should be no problem…

"Umm…are there other conditions?" I asked cautiously.

"Yes. Every day for the 30 days that you live together, you must either do something for Hayden or grant him a wish. Of course, the two of you will have to choose between you doing something for him or you granting him a wish for each day. That’s it," the boss stated.

That’s it?

"When you say do something…you mean like normal things, right?" I asked, still feeling cautious.

"Certainly. You can just listen to what he has to say, cook for him, give him a massage, take out his trash, accompany him on a walk…anything," the boss said.

"What if Hayden makes unreasonable requests?" I asked skeptically.

"Then you just have to turn him down and convince him to agree to let you do something for him instead," the boss said as he shrugged.

"I see…" I said softly as my mind thought about all this.

"Good. We have a deal then!" the boss shouted excitedly as he clapped his large hands together.

"Wait…not so fast," I protested.

"I’m older than you think I am, little miss. I’m not going to sit here and wait forever. Now off you go, you’re moving in with Hayden today!" the boss declared as he stood up proudly.

I blinked rapidly in surprise. This old man and his ’having the wedding tomorrow’ and ’moving in together today’ is driving me insane.

"Wait…one more thing. It seems like your son has someone that he wants to marry already. I think…her name is Amelia…?" I asked, curiously as I bit my lower lip. If Hayden would just marry Amelia, then there would be no need for me.

"Amelia won’t marry Hayden…she can’t," the boss answered dispassionately as a dark shadow fell on his face, darkening his expression.

What does he mean by that?

Before I could ask him any more questions, two men in black came in and escorted me out of the room.

30 days. I just need to hang in there for 30 days…then I’ll get my old normal life back.

Hayden has someone that he loves already so he would never fall in love with me. We can both call it quits after 30 days and the boss will have no choice but to keep his words. Plus, if I can talk Hayden into taking over the mafia group then perhaps, I could leave even earlier…

…

Oh wow! I knew that the penthouse would be luxurious, but I didn’t expect it to be this luxurious. This penthouse was on the highest floor where I could see the unobstructed view of the city. This place was also extremely spacious, and the interior design was truly a piece of art.

After the men in black dropped me off and led me to this penthouse suite, they immediately left. However, I was not alone in the penthouse. A smiley auntie with grey hair and a very round face greeted me enthusiastically as she introduced herself.

"Welcome dear! My name is Sarah, and I am your housekeeper. Well, that’s my formal title but I’m actually more like Master Hayden’s babysitter…caretaker…or whatever you want to call it. Please just call me Auntie," she said happily and proudly.

"I see. Nice to meet you…Auntie. My name is Malissa Maxfort," I replied with a polite smile.

"It’s a pleasure to finally meet you! Let me show you around this place. All of your stuff has been sent here and I’ve already arranged it in your room which is over there. This is Hayden’s room. This is the living room…dining room…theatre room…fitness…the pool is outside…the kitchen for your personal use.

The staff has another set of kitchens for, you know, heavier cooking…" Auntie said as she showed me around the place.

I dutifully followed her as she took me around to see all the rooms in the penthouse suite. I knew that the place was huge, but I didn’t expect it to pack in so many facilities, most of which I probably won’t use such as the gym and the swimming pool. Well, you never know…

After the walking tour around the suite, Auntie brought me back to the dining room as she motioned for me to have a seat. While we were walking around together, someone must have arranged the dining table and served food. There was so much food on the table, and they all looked so delicious. Apart from that, there were also candles on the table.

A candlelit dinner on our first day here, isn’t that a bit much?

I almost laughed out loud at how forced this whole set up seemed.

"Miss Malissa, you should take a seat. I’m sure that Master Hayden will be arriving soon," Auntie said reassuringly as if I was anxiously waiting for his arrival.

I was about to open my mouth to tell her that I didn’t mind if he never turned up when the door to the suite opened with a loud bang.

Someone should check for cracks in the wall later tonight, I thought.

"Master Hayden!" Auntie exclaimed as she headed over to greet Hayden.

I tried my best to keep my face emotionless as I stared straight forward at the still-empty seat opposite to where I was seated at the dinner table. Within a few minutes, without uttering a word to Auntie or to me, Hayden entered my view of vision as he plopped himself down in the chair opposite to me.

Hayden was dressed in a black leather jacket that he wore on top of a white T-shirt and a pair of black jeans. His light blond hair shone in the candlelight and so did his bright blue eyes as he stared at my face.

I didn’t know what else to do, so I just stared back into his captivating blue eyes.

--To be continued…