Bye-Bye Jerk, Hello Mr. Right

I didn’t move right away. Hayden was already on the scissor lift, calling out to me, “Come on, let’s go up together.”

I squeezed the lollipop in my hand, debating.

He added, “We still need to check the adjustments.”

It was the same excuse he used earlier to get me up there, but what had I actually seen last time?

“This is work time. Don’t use work as an excuse to mess with me,” I warned.

“Oh,” he said, acting all innocent, but he stayed put, clearly waiting for me. This material belongs to NôvelDrama.Org.

With no real way out, I got up and started walking toward him. Just as I was about to step onto the lift, he reached out to help me, but I pulled away.

But the second I put one foot on the lift, it wobbled, and I instinctively grabbed his arm.

My face heated up instantly with embarrassment, but he just looked around and muttered, “We should get this lift checked out. Why does it keep shaking?”

I had nothing to say to that.

This time, though, Hayden didn’t pull any stunts. Once we were on the lift, he got straight to work adjusting the lights, while I watched the effects and he made real–time tweaks.

We hadn’t even been working for thirty minutes when my phone buzzed, and Jace’s name lit up the screen. I instantly got this sinking feeling in my gut.

This wasn’t gonna be a work call. Tanya must’ve run to him, whining.

But Jace was my boss now, so I couldn’t just ghost him. I stepped a little farther away from Hayden on the lift and answered, “Mr. Johnston.”

“Keira Kay, you’re so damn spiteful!” Jace barked as soon as I picked up.

He didn’t have to say more–I already knew Tanya had snitched.

“I think my arrangement is totally reasonable. If there’s a problem, it’s because of your choices,” I shot back. “You’re the one who put them both here at the same time. I just made it work.”

Jace was probably fuming because he went silent for a few seconds. I jumped on the chance to say, “I’m busy. If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up.”

“Reassign someone else to Tanya right now. You’re gonna handle her personally,” Jace demanded. “Are you kidding me? Me, babysit her? What do you think she is, royalty? And what about the lighting setup at the park?” I snapped, not even trying to hold back.

“I’m ordering you to do this. The rest isn’t your problem Jace tried to pull his boss card on me.

clenched the railing of the scissor lift. “Jace, if you wanna be the knight who loses his head over some girl, go for it, but I’m not signing up for your drama.”

“Then you’re off the project lead for the amusement park. Get back to the office, now,” Jace shot back, catching me off guard.

I froze for a couple of seconds. “You’re serious?”

“Do you think I’m joking?” Jace sneered. “Don’t think the amusement park can’t open without you.”

Hearing that, I knew he wasn’t bluffing.

As I stood there, looking down at the amusement park from up high, a wave of sadness crashed over me. After Jace’s betrayal, I’d pushed through the hurt, determined to see this project through and make my dream come true. But now? It seemed like that wasn’t gonna happen.

Maybe this was what regret really felt like. Like how my parents wanted so badly to see me grow up, get married, and live a full life, but they passed away way too soon.

I couldn’t help but think, ‘Life doesn’t always go your way, so why fight it?‘

“Fine,” I said, keeping my voice steady. “I’ll head back to the office.”

After I hung up, I felt this slight tremor in my body, but then Hayden moved closer.

He didn’t say anything, probably because he’d overheard the whole conversation with Jace.

We stood there in silence for what felt like forever before I finally spoke up. “I’m going back to the office. I won’t be able to help with the adjustments anymore, but I hope you can finish them.”

His brows knitted together, and judging by his expression, I had a feeling that once I left, he might decide to walk too.

It wasn’t me thinking I had that much pull–it’s just the vibe he gave off.

*This amusement park is my dream. I wanted to see it through to the end,” I murmured softly.

After what felt like an eternity, Hayden finally said, “Okay.”