Love Slave to the Mafia Boss's Passion

3:50PM

I made it!

Hayden is not back and the artwork which was supposed to be a gift for him is completed.

I looked down at the result of my sweat and tears and I couldn’t help smiling. Staring at this sketch on paper made me blush a little. I guess I wasn’t sure if Hayden would like or appreciate it but…I loved it!

Wiping a little sweat off my brows, I stood up and headed to the bathroom. I need to wash my face and touch up my make up a little. Hayden should be back soon. As I felt the water on my face, I started thinking of what I should say to him when I give him his gift. Why am I feeling so nervous? It wasn’t like I was presenting some valentines chocolate to my secret crush or anything.

Malissa, wake up!

"Malissa…are you home?" I heard Hayden’s voice calling for me.

Of course, I’m home!

"Yes!" I yelled back as I ran out from the bathroom.

He’s perfectly on time, I thought as my eyes glanced at the time on the clock.

Do I give him the gift now? Is that how it works? Do I just hand it to him…or what?

"Why do you look so flustered? You, ok?" he asked me with a mix of curiosity and concern.

I had run out of my room to see him, and I guessed that I must have looked quite flustered. The sketch was still in my bedroom. Should I give it to him now?

"Yes…yes…I’m ok," I replied.

He continued staring at me like he wasn’t quite convinced of what I had just told him.

"Are you…hiding something?" he asked.

How does he know? Seriously…

"It’s written all over your face…" Hayden said followed with a light laugh.

Great. He even answered my unasked question. Now this is getting scary…

"It’s nothing…really…" I replied.

"Really?" Hayden asked, sounding unconvinced.

"Ok. You’re right, there is something…that I want to give to you…" I said with hesitation as my eye darted around the room just so that I didn’t have to look directly at him.

"Ok…" Hayden said, sounding a little confused yet curious.

"Wait here…" I said as I gestured to the sofa for him to sit.

I urged him to sit down before I turned and almost ran to my bedroom to grab the drawing. Better give it to him before I lose the nerve! After grabbing the drawing, I quickly headed back to where Hayden was waiting. I approached him and literally shoved the artwork in his face.

"This is for you!" I announced a little too loudly. Why am I feeling so nervous and on edge?

Hayden slowly took the paper from my hand, and I held my breath as he stared at my drawing.

"Do I look like this?" Hayden said after a while of staring at the drawing.

"I guess. You don’t think it looks like you?" I asked, feeling unsure of how to react to his comment

I don’t know why I felt so uneasy about this. Truthfully, I knew that I did a decently good job. Actually, I did an excellent job of sketching Hayden from his bust to his face and to the very top of his hair. He looks like a dashingly handsome angel in the sketch and that was what I thought he looked like. I could be biased but I honestly saw nothing wrong with the sketch.

"I don’t know…" Hayden mumbled; his eyes still fixated on my drawing of him.

"Anyways, this is my gift to you…you know, since you got me many gifts…" I said before smiling at him.

"Thank you, Malissa. This is a wonderful present. I’ll make sure to treasure it," Hayden said with a very gentle voice before he smiled charmingly at me.

My heart skipped more than a beat when faced with that smile and for a short while, I couldn’t come up with any words to say to him. Hayden’s blue eyes smiled at me and then he stood up and thew his arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug.

"Hayden…" I whispered his name as I started to get very emotional about all this.

I hugged him back as I focused all the attention that I had to remember the feel of his arms around me and all the feelings that I was feeling in this very moment. When I completed the sketch, I had no idea how Hayden would react to receiving a sketch of himself as a gift, but I truly did not imagine that he would appreciate it this much.

The one thing that I realized for certain this time while I was sketching a picture of Hayden was that I was truly, helplessly, and hopelessly in love with him. I hugged him tighter to me as I felt tears sting my eyes.

Nothing could ever change the fate of our relationship. After all, when tomorrow comes, we’ll have only three days left together.

…

The next two days past by in a blur. It was a true struggle for me to act like everything was normal between us. For the first time since he made that request, I felt that the request was completely selfish, and I was paying a painful price for mindlessly agreeing to it.

Hayden acted completely normal and even carved out extra time for us to spend the remaining few days that we had together. We laughed; we did things that normal couples would do. Hayden enjoyed himself and I focused on surviving all the bittersweet moments.

Not once did he suggest that we had a future together after the contract expired. Even worst, because he wanted to act normal until the very end, he acted like there was no such thing as the contract and its binding expiry date. However, the fact that he no longer spoke of things beyond the horizon of these few days made me realize that there was no future for us beyond this timeline.

Being the stupid coward that I was, I played my role perfectly until the very end. I didn’t have enough courage to tell him how I honestly felt because I knew that it would just make things awkward between us without leading to any change. For some reason, I just watched as time slipped by as I waited for the end to arrive.

Unlike my time with Ethan, I didn’t get down on my knees and begged him to stay. I didn’t cry my eyes out in front of him to garner his sympathy.

Perhaps it was because deep down inside I knew that none of that would have worked with someone like Hayden.

--To be continued…