I'd been sitting in the lobby of Apex Entertainment for four hours.
My back ached from sitting for long hours on the stiff leather chair. My stomach growled occasionally, reminding me I've had nothing to eat all day. It felt like years had passed since I went to the hospital and got the news that my mother had passed.
But it had only been a few hours.
The receptionist had made it clear that I couldn't see Hansel.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but for you to see Mr Ward, you need an appointment."
"Of course I know that, but I'm telling you he'll want to see me."
"I'm sure he will," she gave me a condescending smile. "But company policy is clear. No appointment, no meeting."
"Can you at least call him? Tell him Naya Rivers is here?"
She looked me up and down with derision, probably taking in my wrinkled clothes, messy hair and my duffel bag. I'm sure the name 'Rivers' must have rung a bell in her head, but of course, I didn't look like a 'Rivers'. I was a poor excuse for my family.
"Mr Ward is a very busy man," she finally stated. "And I can't interrupt him for every person who walks in off the street."
"I think you're mistaken…" I started to say, but trailed off when I saw the look in her eyes.
No matter how much I try to explain to her, I would not change her mind. I know they couldn't legally throw me out.
"Fine," I said, flashing her a smile. "I'll wait."
"You can't—"
"I'll wait in the lobby." I sat down on one of the fancy leather chairs. "Right here. Until he comes out."
The receptionist's mouth opened and closed several times; I could see she was conflicted about calling security.
But technically, I wasn't doing anything wrong. I was only sitting and waiting.
She couldn't force me to leave.
So, that is how I ended up wasting four hours of my time waiting for Hansel, my eyes trained on the elevator, watching every person who stepped out and hoping that one of them would be him.
The receptionist kept glaring at me from her desk. She'd already told me three times that I couldn't see Mr Ward without an appointment. He was a very busy man, so I should leave and call to schedule something.
But I had no phone. No money to use a pay phone again—I'd tried that already, spent my last few dollars on a call that went straight to voicemail.
I had nothing except the duffel bag at my feet and the clothes on my back.
I'd left the hospital in a daze and found a public restroom. Changed into the only clean clothes I had left, a simple black shirt and jeans. Washed my face and tried to make myself look presentable.
And came here.
Because I had nowhere else to go.
Caleb's apartment had been our home, and I'd walked out with nothing but what I could carry. I had no family either; my father didn't count as that anymore. I also had no friends. I'd lost touch with everyone while I was working three jobs to support Caleb.
So, it was just me and my duffel bag.
My stomach growled again, louder than the last time, and a few heads turned in my direction. I lowered my gaze in embarrassment.
The clock on the wall said 4:47 PM.
How much longer could I wait? What if he didn't come out today? What if he'd already left through some back exit?
As if on cue, the elevator dinged, the door opened, and there he was. Hansel Ward, in all of his glory, with a black suit fitted perfectly to his frame. He was talking to Mina, the woman from his penthouse, this morning, and they were laughing about something.
I grabbed my duffel bag, jumped to my feet and ran towards him.
"Hansel!" I called out.
He didn't hear me or pretended not to. He just kept walking toward the main entrance.
"Mr Ward, please wait!" I called out to him again, trying to reach him when a burly figure blocked my path, shoving me backwards.
"Ma'am, you need to step back."
"I need to talk to Hansel for a moment; he knows me," I insisted, trying to push past the guard.
Hansel must have heard all the commotion and turned as our gaze met. For a second, he just stared at me, without a reaction on his face, then he gave a slight nod to the guard who let me go.
I exhaled shakily and tried to fix the worst of the wrinkles on my clothes while painfully aware that the entire lobby was staring at me now.
Mina's smile had disappeared, and if looks could truly kill, I'd have died at this moment because she wasn't trying to hide her hatred.
"I tried calling earlier with a payphone," I started, taking a step towards him. "But you didn't pick up."
"What do you want?" he asked coldly.
"I—" I glanced around, noticing the lobby had gone quiet. Though everyone seemed to be working, I knew their ears were strained toward us. "Can we talk somewhere private?"
"Why?"
"I lost my mom." The words came out before I could stop them. "Apparently, she died three days ago."
His expression didn't change. Not even a flicker of sympathy.
"Did you come here hoping for sympathy? If so, it's a lost cause. If you have nothing better to say—"
"I do!" I interrupted him. "But I can't talk with everyone listening. I just need to speak to you in private."
His jaw tightened, and he was going to refuse, so I quickly added. "Please, I won't waste your time."
He stared at me for a long moment and then nodded at Mina. "Go ahead. I'll catch up."
Mina's face went hard. "Mr Ward, remember you have a meeting at 5:30 with the foreign rep from Greenville—"
"I know." He didn't look at her. "This won't take long."
Mina's eyes flashed to me, burning with intense hatred, before she turned and bowed curtly to Hansel.
"Of course, Mr Ward," then walked away.
As soon as she left, Hansel turned on his heels, throwing a "Follow me" behind his shoulders.
He led me to a conference room on the ground floor and ushered me in. As soon as the door closed, he turned to face me.
"You have five minutes."
I set my duffel bag down and took a deep breath.
"I need a place to stay," the words came out in a rush. "Just for tonight or maybe a few days, until I figure things out."
It would have been better if I had told Hansel I was an alien, because he would have believed me more.
"Are you insane?" He scoffed.
"I lost my apartment when I broke up with Caleb, and I have nowhere else to go—"
"And you think I would let you stay with me?" he laughed. "Is the grief from losing your mother making you delusional?"
My eyes misted with tears at the insult, but I blinked hard, trying to keep the tears back.
Don't cry. I told myself. Don't you dare cry in front of him.
But my mother was dead, and I had nothing. This man—this cold, heartless man was my only hope.
A tear slipped down my cheek, and I swiped at it quickly, but I couldn't help it as more rolled down my cheeks.
"For fuck's sake!" Hansel groaned, "I can't deal with this, Naya. A crying female trying to blackmail me."
"I'm not—"
"Why on earth do you think I would give you a roof over your head?"
"Because—" I scrambled for words. "Because we had sex."
The room fell into silence at my claim. Hansel kept staring at me blankly before his lips curved into a smirk.
"Wait!" his voice dropped into a husk. "Is that what's giving you the guts to make outrageous demands?" he moved closer, closing the space between us and forcing me to tilt my head back to meet his gaze. " You think we fucked? Let me be very clear, Ms Rivers. We did not have sex."
Heat flooded my face. "But I woke up in your bed naked and—"
"You went unconscious from drinking the drink you tried to poison me with. You were unconscious for three days. Did you really think I would sleep with an unconscious woman? What kind of man do you think I am?"
My ears were burning bright red as I hung my head, feeling ashamed. "I just thought—"
"You're not worthy to be fucked by me, Naya Rivers," He enunciated each word, jerking my jaw to meet his eyes. "I love my women with flesh here and there. What do you want me to eat? Bones?"
I jerked out of his hold, taking a step backwards. "Right. Noted. I was just… joking," I said lamely, forcing a half-hearted laugh.
"I knew you were going to waste my time." He sighed and pulled out his wallet.
He peeled off several bills, more than I'd seen in months and dropped the bills on the conference table, meeting my gaze again.
"I'm not charity, and I don't care what happens to you either. But out of respect for your deceased mother, Stephanie Rivers, who was a great actress, take this and leave."