Chapter 7

Hayley

My alarm goes of at 4am and I press snooze. I do this two more times until I can’t put of getting out of bed any longer and finally pry my eyes open at around 5am, give or take a minute…or five. To say I love sleep is an understatement but unfortunately with my shifts at work, its really hard for my body to adapt to any sort of regular sleep pattern. I don’t have time to grab breakfast as I rush out the door at 6am but this isn’t anything new.

I get to work and two people have called in sick with the flu. We are so short staffed. My day goes by in a blur as I handle queries and try to process as many urgent patient samples as possible.

By the end of my shift , I’m mentally and physically exhausted and all I want is a hot shower, food and my bed. In that order. The last thing I’m prepared for is to see grandma Helen waiting for me outside my office building. How did she even know where I work, let alone where I park?

“Gran?”, I ask confused.

“Hello, dear…how are you?”

“I’m ok gran, are you ok? Did something happen?”, I ask worried.

“Actually, I was hoping I could talk to you. I know you must tired after a long day at work but this is rather time sensitive”, says grandma cryptically.

“Erm…sure", I reply, not having a clue what’s going on.

 She signals for her driver to follow us as she gets into my car. She directs me to a quaint coffee shop of the beaten path, where we both order something hot, she a cappuccino and me a hot chocolate. I feel uneasy as I wait to hear what this could possibly be about.

“I’m going to cut to the chase Hayley,” she begins.

“ I am very impressed with the caring young women you have turned out to be. You have shown up for an old women without knowing my background or if I could offer you anything in return. Well it turns out, I can offer you something. The most precious thing in my life in fact and I hope you will accept and appreciate it".

Huh? “ Gran? I don’t need or want anything from you. I'm here with you because I care about you and I enjoy your company”, I say wondering what has gotten into gran.

Gran smiles “ I know that dear but just hear me out…you are such a lovely girl, you shouldn’t be alone. I see the sadness in your eyes when we walk past the couples on the beach. I don’t know what put that hurt in your eyes, but I also know the way I’ve seen you look at my grandson and I think he could make you happy. I want you to give him a chance"

Wait.  What’s going on now? Seriously, what’s going on. She’s seen me “looking” at her grandson, I cringe and wish the earth would just open up and swallow me whole.

My cheeks are crimson as I stare at her embarrassed, “ As flattered as I am gran, your grandson is in a whole other league from me and I'm sure he sees things differently from you.”

“Nonsense Hayley. I know my grandson and I know you’re what’s best for him.” She holds her hand up as I’m about to open my mouth and I firmly close it.

“Now I am about to ask a lot from you and I want you to think about your life and if you’re really happy where you are. Doing the same thing day in and day out, refusing to let any member of the opposite sex in. I know you’re attracted to my grandson and I can vouch for his character, I did raise him after all. He will not hurt you intentionally. I'm asking you to not only take a chance on him, but also on me and trust that I have both your best interests at heart”.

“Gran…”, I begin “I'm not going to lie, your grandson is hot and whether I’m jaded or not, I would have to be insane not to want to date him….but that’s not how life works and whether you want to accept it or not , we truly aren’t even in the same league”

“So you agree that if there was a chance, you would be interested in my grandson?” she persists.

“Well ofcos I would, who wouldn’t gran..but…”

“That’s all I needed to hear. Now listen carefully. Trust me. I’m on your side. I’ve already spoken to Xander and he’s agreed to marry you but he doesn’t know that I know him better than he knows himself sometimes. He’s going to offer you some sort of contract marriage, the details I can’t be too sure about. What I do know is that it will be of benefit to you and will include keeping me in the dark about the ‘fake’ aspect of the marriage.”

I must be more exhausted than I thought, “Gran did you just say marriage?” I ask. This conversation is so beyond me right now, I don’t know what to do or say.

Gran explains to me that apparently I am the grand daughter-in-law she wants. That she believes once Xander gets to know me everything will fall into place as she puts it, but he needs to believe he is in control. She is convinced he will offer me a contract marriage to placate her and try and fool her into believing he’s really trying to obey her wishes. She wants me to accept and do nothing more than be me and allow her to do the rest. If it doesn’t work out, what do I have to lose she says?

I won’t lie that I haven’t dreamed that this would happen to me while reading my romance novels but its so unlikely its almost like a dream. My heart beats faster just thinking about Xander and the possibility that he could actually be my husband. Sure he’s gorgeous but its more than that. The few minutes I saw him interact with his gran, told me the type of person he is and I'm impressed by that. By him. I definitely don’t think I would fit into in his life or world but grans right. I've been hiding myself away from life and relationships since my breakup which was years ago. I'm never going to get another opportunity like this. If I’m going to crash and burn why not do it with Xander?

In that moment I decide, no matter how ludicrous the situation may be, I'm going to take this opportunity and run with it and before I can change mind I say “Ok gran, I’m in".