Hayden and I were on our way to the lawyers, more specifically, his personal lawyer who was specifically assigned to him in the Whitehall family.
To my understanding, they had their own private lawyers specifically hired to serve the Whitehall family. Or as Hayden liked to put it, everyone has at least one lawyer to use personally for any situation or problem.
Now how do you win over a family like that in any court? I asked myself, I definitely counted my lucky stars that Hayden offered this plea than actual court.
We were both silently sitting in the back-passenger seats of a luxurious car I could not recognize, it wasn't Hayden's expensive looking car from yesterday, and there was a chauffeur who seemed to be completely fine with not knowing who I was. The interiors of the car were composed of expensive leather and had a large space for legroom. Apparently, the Whitehall's lawyers were all located in an office complex at the heart of downtown core.
Hayden looked fashionable as usual, sometimes I wonder who helps him with his personal style, but quickly dispersed my thoughts. He was rich, he probably had personal stylists anyway. Contrarily, I was wearing a hoodie, a pair of skinny jeans, and my old lilac Converse shoes. In my defense, I was instructed to not spend too much time on getting ready anyway.
On second thought, maybe this was too casual.
Hayden was playing Dessert Smash on his phone while I dozed off to the beautiful autumn street view. Busy intersections with local pedestrians always fascinated me ever since I was a child; I was always curious about their life and even made up stories in my head about interesting strangers.
Looking back at the vehicle, our chauffeur Tony was focused on the road, occasionally looking into the rear-view mirror to check up on the both of us.
"I just wanted to remind you that we're not really dating," I said, breaking the silence between Hayden and me, "I'm willing to put up an act for Scarlet since you got her involved, but not anywhere else."
"Breaking up with me already? Damn," Hayden made a sad puppy face as he looked up from his phone and then turned back to his gaming. I groaned at his reaction, this joke was no longer funny and had become more of a tease for Hayden, Margaret, and Scarlet.
But Scarlet was six years old, how could she even understand that this was a joke?
"We were never dating in the first place," I said with emphasis, crossing my arms in contempt, clearly annoyed at the situation.
"You didn't think I was serious?" He smirked and flashed his phone, "I will literally change my relationship status to reflect ours, I'm that serious."
"Ha-ha," I laughed sarcastically, eyeing him.
"I'm serious, a click of a button and we're official," he offered, "last chance."
"Thanks, but no thanks," I sighed.
"Suit yourself then, you're missing out," he broke into uncontainable laughter.
To be truly honest, Hayden was ideal, he was everything anyone could ask for and more in a potential boyfriend, handsome, rich, and most importantly he wasn't a dry individual and can actually hold a conversation. However, I wasn't the materialistic type, I didn't care about riches, nor did I care about physical appearance. Hayden could be everything I wanted in life, a rich potential husband with power, but that means nothing to me, at least personally. He can have all of these qualities and be an ideal candidate, but I wasn't romantically into him nor do I actually see him as someone I can spend my life around, we're simply from different worlds and have too many differences.
We pulled up in front of a large building that literally screamed seriousness, there were business people walking hastily on the sidewalks and into the building. There was no clear sign that indicated Hayden's law firm was inside, but who was I to ask? Tony quickly exited the car and offered to open the car door for us, we accepted and exited the vehicle. Hayden quickly exited before me, and I followed him out of the car, trying not to step anywhere I shouldn't.
"Thank you, Tony," I said and he smiled.
Hayden was already halfway inside the entrance by the time Tony had left with the car, he didn't look too content but I didn't bother to ask him why either. I quickly followed him into the main entrance where multiple receptionists were seated. As a receptionist noticed us walk towards the reception counter, he stood up and greeted.
"Good morning Mr. Whitehall, and I assume this is Ms. Hayes?"
"Yes, this is her, she's a feisty one so you may want to be careful," Hayden joked, causing me to glare at him and slap his arms.
"Mr. Donalds is expecting you on the thirty-sixth-floor boardroom," the receptionist smiled.
"Thanks," Hayden said and led the way to the elevators. I blindly followed him into the elevator, the lobby was too complex and crowded with people for me to bother looking in the right direction anyway.
We reached the designated floor with lightning speed, where Hayden's lawyer, Mr. Donalds, had been waiting casually while he looking through some papers as we opened the door to the boardroom. He was a balding middle-aged man with a frail-looking frame but certainly looked more intelligent and capable than the both of us combined.
"Mr. Whitehall," Mr. Donalds said as he stood up to greet us, "and Ms. Hayes, welcome."
"Please sit, Rémy," Hayden insisted as he gestured for all of us to be seated, "there's no need for formalities, she's not a typical client or anything."
"Okay, no problem," Mr. Donalds sat back down and turned to me, "so, Ms. Hayes, are you ready to see the contract?"
"I guess so," I responded, slightly nervous in my tone.
The lawyer took his time and walked me through every notable clause written on the twenty-page contract laid on the table. Overall, it seemed like a normal contract between a personal assistant and their boss. There were specifics about working hours being agreed upon and the type of work allowed, which only included legal activities and nothing shady as far as I could tell. The wage was non-existent, but instead an agreement to fund all our family's expenses by the Whitehalls. Mr. Donalds had let me review the entire contract once again to make sure I understood my rights and responsibilities for the personal assistant role, I looked through the contract and tried to decipher as many legal terms as possible, when finished, he handed me an expensive looking pen.
"Sign here, please," Mr. Donalds said as he pulled out a second copy of the contract, "you need to sign both contracts, one to keep for yourself, and one to keep with us."
"Okay," I agreed and signed two copies of the contract.
"Thank you Ms. Hayes, I will need to take both copies back to the office and finalize it with Mr. Whitehall's family and have them sign. Unfortunately, his signature alone is not sufficient as he is using the family's money."
"That's fine, I guess I can come and pick it up once you're done with it," I responded politely.
"There's no need for that," Hayden added, "they can fetch someone to personally deliver them to you."
"Alright," I said, "I guess this means I'm your assistant now."
"Yeah, we have lots of work to do," Hayden smiled.