Jenalyn: From the Inside (#3) [Complete]

Chapter 85: Hayden

Sunday, 12:14 PM EST

“Hayden? Evan would like to see you in his office.” Krista, one of the nurses interrupts Dan’s guitar performance to tell me.

I’m about as surprised as Ren, who sits across from me on the opposite side of the room, appears to be! 

“Evan is in today?” she asks, her voice panicked as she pulls herself to her feet. “It’s the weekend, he shouldn’t be here! Why does he want to see her?”

Krista furrows her brows and shrugs her shoulders. “I don’t know Serenity,” she exclaims with little patience. “He’s the Ward Lead, and Hayden is leaving tomorrow?”

I can’t help the laugh that escapes my lips.

Ren sits back down, crossing her arms over her chest with an angered expression.

“Tell him I would like to see him if he’s here today, Hayden,” she demands of me. “I’m sure he hasn’t forgotten about me.”

She says the last part in a way that’s supposed to remind me of their relations or something. Little does she know about how much I know!

“Sure thing,” I mumble under my breath, scooting past Sarah and Ella to make my way to the door.

Evan is waiting in his doorway when Krista and I make it to where his office sits hidden at the end of the hallway. He smiles, thanking Krista for escorting me before motioning for me to enter the room.

“So you’re out of here, huh?” he asks, shutting his door before making his way over to his desk.

I follow him, taking the seat across from him before responding.

“You’re the Ward Lead,” I tell him as I cross my leg over my knee. “That shouldn't be a surprise to you, should it?”

Evan laughs, staring at me in a way that I’ve grown accustomed to over our last couple of visits. “That’s a Reyborn thing,” he says matter-of-factly. “Ward Leads don’t do nearly as much as you would think we do. I get to call a couple of shots here and there. But my job is just to take the fall if anything goes wrong in there.”

Well, that’s a way to end a conversation. What am I supposed to say to that?
“Well… yes,” I stammer after a few moments. “I'm leaving tomorrow, actually.”

Evan shakes his head as if to be disappointed. “That is such horrible news to my ears,” he says. “I was really enjoying your company; I can’t deny that!”

I’m sure he can’t. What man wouldn’t love Jena’s company?

Evan stares at me as if I’m supposed to say something, but he didn’t really give me anything to go off of. When I don’t fill the silence, he takes it on himself.

“May I taste you one last time, Hayden?” he asks all of a sudden. “I came to work today after reading my emails, and finding that it may be the last chance I get.”

I’m in shock again, but it doesn’t take long before I feel Jena and her monster trying to inch their way to the front of my mind.

“That was forward,” I respond after a second, unable to keep the shock from showing on my face.

Evan laughs. “I think our whole relationship has been, has it not?” he asks between his laughter. “Am I wrong to ask? Should I just… do?”

I roll my eyes, annoyed. I can feel that Jena is on a whole different page than me though, and question if my feelings matter anymore.

I don’t want her to have control of me. The conversation I had with myself last night, about the mother I want to be for my daughter? It stuck in a way that has me questioning Jena’s presence. 

“It’s definitely better that you ask,” I tell him, trying to seem nonchalant though I find myself at war in my mind. “You didn’t make our meeting discreet though, and Ren is onto us. So-”

Evan interrupts, standing from his chair to walk around his desk until he meets me. “Don’t worry about Serenity,” he tells me in a stern tone as he stands over my body. “I’ll take care of her.”

I’m not going to lie, there is a part of me that grows nervous. I’m not sure what I could do to decline his offer when he’s already met Jena.

“I- I’m supposed to go do something for Sarah after music therapy!” I lie when I notice him reach out his hand, and attempt to lead me to the edge of his desk. “I don’t really have time tod-”

He cuts me off again, this time with a laugh. He turns to me with his brows flat before responding. “Sarah can wait,” he tells me. “Stop being difficult and get on that desk.”