Hayden pushed a button on the phone console in her office. The receptionist's voice came through the speakerphone.
"Hayden, there's a Brendan Kemp here to see you. He says he'll wait as long as necessary."
Sitting at her desk, Hayden shook her head. She hadn't expected him to stop by the office. As she stood up, she typed a quick email to her father apprising him of Brendan's appearance. "I'll be right there," she advised the receptionist.
In the office's entry, she found Brendan sitting and idly paging through a marketing brochure that was sitting on a side table. He placed the flyer down when Hayden walked over to him. As Brendan stood, she extended an overly warm and cordial greeting for the receptionist's benefit. Hayden motioned for him to follow her and they walked down the hallway.
They entered her office and she shut the door. Hayden offered him a bottle of water and a seat before retaking her seat. Brendan refused the drink and scrutinized her from across the desk. She met his intense gaze and challenged it with her own. A smile began to play on his mouth as he realized Hayden wasn't about look away.
"Does your receptionist always look at people like that when they arrive?" he asked.
"Most people don't tell her that they'll wait all day to see me."
"Now that you've made your decision about me, do I have to sign something?" he asked.
Hayden laughed causing Brendan's eyebrows to raise. "The matter is far from decided," she said.
"My rent has been paid for the next two months and you hold the purse strings, right?" Brendan said brashly.
"Food. Shelter. Basic necessities," Hayden said dryly totally ignoring his tone. "I know you have your meals covered, so rent would be your other concern."
"That's almost funny."
"I thought so," she replied with a smile that he returned as he leaned back in the chair.
"I personally did not pay for your rent. No one here did. You are the beneficiary of a subsidy, a scholarship you might say," Hayden told him.
"I didn't fill out anything."
"Paperwork has been filled out on your behalf," she explained.
Brendan's eyes narrowed in suspicion but before he could say anything, there was a tap on the door. The office door opened and John Garrison stepped inside. With a quick pointed look at Hayden, the older man greeted Brendan and requested to see him in his office.
An almost undetectable flash of annoyance crossed Hayden's face. John Garrison didn't see it, as his attention was focused on the visitor, but Brendan picked up on it. As he left the room, Brendan noted that Hayden had moved on from the visitors in her office and appeared to be engrossed looking at her monitor.
A little over an hour later, Brendan poked his head around the corner. Hayden was seated, right where she had been when he left. Even the bottle of water that he had turned down was still sitting on the end of the desk.
"I could use that water now," he said from the doorway.
"There are cold ones in the fridge," she said without tearing her attention away from the screen.
"Nah, this one's fine." He grabbed the bottle and retook the seat in front of her desk. "Now where were we?"
"You were concerned that your paperwork was filled out wrong. I can assure you it wasn't. I like to make sure the i's are dotted and the t's crossed. Did you enjoy your meeting?"
"He's an interesting guy," Brendan said. The non-committal answer wasn't lost on Hayden.
She finally looked up from the monitor. "You must've got the long version."
He nodded and began tapping his hand on his knee. Brendan twisted the lid on the bottle, took a sip and got up from the chair. He walked over to a bookcase and looked at the two framed photos sitting on the top shelf. Both were of a young girl and a woman. Brendan assumed the girl was Hayden and the woman her mother. There were no photos of her with her father on display that he could see.
He turned around to find Hayden watching him with interest. "Did you put something in my wine the other night?"
Hayden got up from her desk and shut the door. "You think I drugged you?"
"I woke up with one hell of a headache and don't really remember everything clearly," he replied.
They stood facing each other. Hayden's arms were crossed and her mouth was set. Brendan wasn't sure what to expect next or what to do. He was certain she was seething underneath the stoic exterior.
"We both had a bit too much to drink," she said.
Although she managed to be much more even-toned and calm than when she answered his initial question, Hayden could tell by his face that Brendan was not quite convinced. "If I had put something in your drink, do you really think you would've spent the night alone… sleeping?" Hayden asked in his ear before she returned to her chair.
His breath caught. Brendan's blinked a few times as he quickly considered possibilities. She could be serious in her flirtation or it could all be a game. Hayden had said they knew everything about him but John Garrison had mentioned that she wanted to know more. Brendan remained impassive and forced himself to breathe normally. "How come you don't have a photo with your father?"
Hayden matched her demeanor to his and became suddenly cool. She asked if her father had provided an overview during their chat and answered any questions that may have come up. Brendan nodded surprised by her change.
"Good. It's very important that you're comfortable with the way things will work," she replied with a nod and stood up. "If there isn't anything else… call if you think of any questions or have a problem with something."
Brendan was dumbfounded. He had been dismissed. As he was leaving the office, he took time to look back at Hayden. Brendan couldn't tell if she was watching him or looking at the monitor.
"This is a bit fancier than the last place we had a drink," Blake said to Brendan. It was the same spot he had dinner with Hayden. Only this time, they were seated at the bar.
"I have a little extra these days."
Brendan's words prompted immediate congratulations from his friend. Blake was happy to hear that Brendan had received some notice from Garrison and his colleagues. Blake was about to ask for some details on what it meant for his friend's future when he noticed Brendan's attention was focused elsewhere.
"She's… definitely eye catching," Blake said.
"That's Hayden Garrison. You sure you didn't see her at the party?"
"No. Aside from you, I only saw old, middle-aged men," Blake said as he took a sip of his drink. "So, that's the one that got away. Is that why we're here?"
Brendan turned. He grimaced and explained that he thought it would be nice to have a drink in a decent place for a change. Blake chuckled as Brendan's head turned to glance back at Hayden.
"Guess you're not the lady killer you thought you were," Blake laughed as a man was shown to Hayden's table. The newcomer greeted Hayden warmly and after a quick embrace sat down at the table with her.
The next day Hayden's direct line at the office rang. She picked up the receiver automatically and gave her usual greeting expecting to hear a client or vendor on the other end.
"I'm having a problem," Brendan's voice said. "I haven't had a nice dinner in weeks."