Page 89 of The Way I Hate Him
Hayes:And for the record, I denied you because I’m looking out for you.
Hattie:Whatever you need to say to convince yourself.
The bubbles on his side of the text thread pop up and disappear. I’m about to tuck my phone away when it starts ringing in my hand.
Ughhh . . .
“What?” I answer.
“Surprised you answered,” he says.
“What do you want?”
“Tomorrow, I have to drive down to San Francisco for work, and I need you to come with me.”
“Uh . . . why?”
“Ruben won’t be there, and I’ll need an assistant on set.”
“Set?” I ask.
“Shooting another fragrance commercial. It’s last minute, hence why Ruben can’t get there.”
“What am I supposed to do?”
“Assistant things. Whatever production asks, whatever I ask, just be helpful . . . and not scowling with your headphones on.”
“I wasn’t scowling today.”
“Did you look in a mirror?”
Growing irritated, I say, “You know, just when I thought you were a good guy, you change my perspective so quickly.”
“Good, that’s the way it should be,” he says. “Since you don’t want to be seen with me, meet me at the barn no later than five in the morning.”
“Five? Have you lost your freaking mind? That means I’m getting up at . . . I don’t even know what time.”
“It’s either that or we leave tonight and spend the night at my condo.”
“Well, Jesus, I choose to leave tonight. What is wrong with you that you’d want to leave so early in the morning?”
“How about the fact that you wouldn’t even look in my direction today? How the hell was I supposed to talk to you about it?” he asks, proving a point.
“You could have tapped me on the shoulder rather than sending passive-aggressive texts afterward.”
“And risk getting my arm chomped off by the snarly beast? Yeah, I’m good.”
“Aren’t you just freaking humorous?”
“Speaking facts,” he replies with his annoyingly quick wit.
“I have dinner with my brother and sister, but after that, I can meet up. I’ll just have to grab some overnight stuff.”
“Fine, but don’t be too late, it’s a two-and-a-half-hour drive.”
“I know how long it is,” I shoot back. “Just to be clear, do I need anything special to wear tomorrow?”
“Comfortable clothes. I’m sure you’ll be running around.”
