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“Of course, you will, Sterling, sweetheart,” Ms. Eileen said.
“Definitely. You’ve never let us down,” Ms. Hattie added.
It was Ms. Annabelle who spoke with the most confidence, though, and cleared up Hayes’s irritation.
“If we can’t change the photographer, then we can change the designer to someone who will work with our new timeline. You can still provide side-by-side guidance and support since you know exactly what we’re looking for in the finished products.”
“Okay.” I dragged the word out slowly, not a hundred percent sure where this was going. It had to have something to do with Hayes, though, because his squirming and the darting eye glare that swung between me and his mother was a dead giveaway.
Annabelle continued, “I convinced Hayes to do it. Hayes is a brilliant graphic designer. He’ll do it. He’s excited to.” Her words said he was excited, but the tone she used as she forced her words through gritted teeth, while shooting not-so-subtle daggers his way had me confused. His response cleared things up immediately.
“Yeah, I think the verb you’re looking for is voluntold. The woman has never understood what I went to school for or what I did and suddenly I’m brilliant. More importantly, you’re going to find out that excited,” he raised his hands to make air quotes, “is a gross exaggeration.”
My head swayed back and forth between Hayes and the ladies. In my attempt to process, I didn’t notice him getting up or his abrupt exit until his shoulder knocked into mine as he headed out of the door.
“Hayes! Oh, I cannot believe that boy. This breakup has him acting way out of character. I am so sorry, Sterling,” Ms. Annabelle said, in an attempt to temper her son’s overtly aggressive actions.
“It’s all right. Truly, if this is something he really has no interest in or doesn’t feel equipped to handle, I wouldn’t push it. Things will be fine.” I was doing my best to appease her with my words, but my eyes were still on the door that the young man had gone through. I needed to regroup. Something in me was telling me to go and have a talk with Hayes.
“Ladies, again I am so very sorry for the issues with the photographer. I hope you all will accept these little gifts and spend some time relaxing and de-stressing on me.” I handed each of them a gift and immediately exited the room.
Chapter 3
Hayes
As soon as Sterling slipped out to take his call my mother pounced. “Hayes, isn’t this something you could do?”
I stopped looking at my phone for a minute so I could give my mother my full attention. Being half engaged was a quick way to be fully committed without wanting or meaning to.
“I’m sorry, Mother, I wasn’t listening. What is something I could do?”
Shit, the woman was on her feet and moving toward me fast. She couldn’t exactly give me a smack at my age, but I’m not ashamed to admit I pushed back further in my chair and sat up straighter. Tilting my head back, I looked up at her. In no other scenario would this even be possible since I’d grown past her by the time I was sixteen. I knew it was why she always made me sit down for her lectures.
“Hayes, focus, please. This is important. The designer won’t work with the photographer if he can’t deliver the images on deadline.” Mother was exasperated with me, and I swear I didn’t know why. Obviously, my tuning out was better than I thought, and it was grating on her.
“Okay, but you know I’m not a photographer, so what exactly do you think I could do to help?”
“Isn’t that expensive, fancy California degree in computer something or the other? I know you made programs for the theatre group on campus. I remember seeing some of them. They were good.”
Should I be offended that my own mother couldn’t specifically name my field of study? I know I told her multiple times.
“Yes, Mother, I have a BFA in Art and Design and I did more than programs for the campus theatre group. Still not sure that this has to do with your event or what your event has to do with me.”
Aunt Hattie and Ms. Eileen sat quietly watching to see who would prevail in this little exchange.
“Hayes, you are going to put your degree to use and take over for the designer. You’ll be in-house, so it’ll be easier to accept the late photos from the photographer. It’s not like you have anything else going on.”
The slow deep breaths I took forced me to count to at least twenty-five. She had just said I was hanging around, wasting time. Clearly, I was contributing nothing to society. Talk about being under attack.
“My God, Mother, it's been a couple of weeks. Graduation was literally three weeks ago. I have friends traveling around the world. Hanging out. Exploring and experiencing life and what it means to live it without a textbook in one hand and strong black coffee in the other. What do you want from me? I didn’t plan on getting dumped and losing a job offer all in the same week, but guess what? Things happen. I know I need to find a job and a place to live, but I already told you that I don’t want any part of this event or the Society. I am not about to be sucked in and then not have time to do the things I need and want to do for myself. Why can’t you understand that?”
“What I understand, Hayes, is that you do not have a job yet. You already have a place to stay, in my house, I might add. And this will be good for you and the event. You don’t have a reason to say no other than being difficult for the sake of being difficult.”
I didn’t have time to respond to her before Sterling walked back in. He looked between us trying to figure out what he’d walked in on. Maybe splitting my glare between him and Mother was unfair, but I couldn’t help myself. I didn’t want to be dragged into any of this. Now, on top of everything else going on in my life I needed to adjust to possibly working close to this smoking-hot man who was clearly out of my league. My mother had a knack for creating problems for me without even trying. I really didn’t need this. I got up to leave the room before I said or did something that couldn’t be taken back.
All I could do was pace in the foyer of the Club. I rode there with my mother and the aunties, so it wasn’t like I could go anywhere. I heard him before I saw him. The realization that he'd followed me stopped my pacing mid-stride. He wasn’t even raising his voice but the deep tone filled the space.
“You have a habit of overreacting and storming out, or was this a special circumstance?”
