Heaving a sigh, Hayley looked at her planner. It was empty of social work related plans. However, it was full of bills that needed to be paid. Had it really been a month? Holy shit, she had forgotten to pay the rent again. "No," Hayley muttered. Walking to her building she opened the front door and then stopped to knock on the door of her landlord's apartment with dread.
"Hayley? There a problem with your plumbing 'gain? I can send someone 'morrow," Crueger told her. He had only opened his door partially and Hayley wondered if he was drunk. His speech was also slightly more slurry than usual. Then she noticed that his nose was at an odd angle. If she was not mistaken she would say that it was broken.
"No," Hayley answered slowly. "I was here to talk about the rent," she felt confused as Crueger eyed her suspiciously.
"Why?" Crueger asked.
"Because I was late again and you told me that if I was late again that you would throw me out," Hayley replied feeling confused as Crueger shook his head.
"Nope. That's not a problem," Crueger told her and he started to shut the door.
Hayley was not sure why she was about to argue with him but she couldn't help herself. "What are you talking about?"
"It's paid," Crueger told her. "That's all. Now, please, go away." Closing the door, Crueger could be heard walking away from the door.
Hayley did not understand. Walking upstairs. She opened her door and then closed the door behind her. Davina had taken Hope to the park so Hayley had an hour to go over which bills still needed to be paid and which could wait a week. Sitting down at her desk, she picked up the electric bill and dialed a number. After fifteen minutes someone picked up to inform her that her bill was paid in full. Then she called the phone company. That was paid as well. Feeling confused, she called the loan company and was informed that her loan had been paid in full two weeks ago. "By who?" Hayley asked but the clerical could not tell her.
Hanging up the phone, Hayley sat back in her chair. Now, she was truly confused. She knew that she had not won the lottery and no one had sent her a check for a million dollars. So, what the hell was going on? Who paid her bills? Hearing a knock on her door, Hayley got up and headed to the door. Looking out the peephole she saw that it was Davina with Hope.
"Hey," Hayley greeted the two as she opened the door.
"You will never guess what happened today?" Davina said as she swept into the room humming a tune.
"You won the lottery," Hayley replied with a smile.
"Better," Davina said with a dreamy smile as she fell onto the couch. Hope climbed onto the couch and then on top of her babysitter's lap.
"Davina is in love," Hope announced in a sing-song voice. "With a boy with a wooden thingy."
"A wooden thingy," Hayley repeated with a laugh as she came to stand above the two.
Davina rolled her eyes with the same big grin on her lips. "Yes, a boy with a wooden thingy or as I would call it a violin."
"A vi-ol-in," Hope sang. "A boy with a vi-ol-in. He plays with it and looks goofy."
"He does not," Davina protested tickling Hope who giggled loudly.
"He does, too. He looks like a goofy guy with a wooden thingy. He's not as cute as Eli-jah," Hope told Davina.
"How is Eli-jah?" Davina asked. Ever since the night that Josh had come over and met him Davina had been trying to find out who the mysterious Elijah was and what he did and when he and Hayley were getting married. She seemed to think that it was as funny as Hope did.
"I have no idea," Hayley replied. "Haven't heard from him. I have too many things to do right now. And he's a very busy man."
"Why don't you call him? I mean it doesn't look like you're doing anything right now," Davina pointed out as she raised her eyebrows with a defiant look on her face.
"I do so have things to do. Lots of things to do. For one thing I plan to start up a catering business," Hayley told Davina who sat up straight.
"Really? That would be great. I'm so happy for you. When are you planning on beginning? Do you have any clients? Or employees?" Taking a breath, Davina's eyes widened. "And how are you going to get the money to start with?"
Smiling, Hayley shrugged. "Oh, I have my ways."
"You mean you have a mysterious benefactor?" Davina inquired. "All Cinderella like."
"Cinderella," Hope sang. "I want to watch Cinderella." Beginning to jump up and down on the couch, Hope clapped her hands as Hayley walked over to grab the DVD off the shelf.
"Sit down," Hayley ordered as she placed the DVD into the player. Hope flopped down and grabbed a pillow, placing it on top of her lap and laying on her stomach. Walking into the kitchen, Hayley pulled out a glass. "So, what's his name?"
Turning around, Hayley gave Davina a knowing look as the girl came into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. "Do you have any cheese? And his name is Tim."
"Top drawer," Hayley replied. "He plays the violin. Did you talk to him?"
"Yes, I mean a little. I had my eye on Hope the whole time," Davina was saying as she eased the top drawer open and pulled out a wedge of Swiss.
Hayley pulled open a drawer and took out a cheese slicer. "Do you want crackers with that?"
"Yes," a voice called from the living room. "And hot cocoa."
"Right," Davina added with another grin. "He was really sweet."
"First love," Hayley said knowingly.
Davina nodded, her grin widening as she began to slice the cheese. "Oh, yes, he is definitely first love worthy. Not like the guys in high school. Ugh, Oliver. He was so nice and then he turned into a jerk... But Tim is quiet and shy. He's just so..."
"Unique?" Hayley's eyebrows rose as Davina looked thoughtful.
"Yeah, I think so. I don't. I mean I guess we'd have to spend more time for me to figure out whether I'm right about him. But I think this could be awesome. I've never felt this excited about meeting someone before this. Have you ever felt that way?" Davina asked as she placed the cheese in a circle on top of a plate that Hayley placed in front of her.
"No, not really," Hayley told her with a shake of her head.
Then it occurred to her that she did feel that way about someone. She felt that way about Elijah. However, he was not someone that she could have something lasting with. He was her daughter's uncle. They were better off as either friends or nothing at all. If she spent too much time with him then that would mean that she would have to be around Klaus and he might decide that he wanted that she had not done a good enough job with Hope and that he and Caroline could do much better...
Shoving the thought out of her head, Hayley turned around and grabbed the empty coffee pot. Walking over to the sink, she filled the pot with water and then walked back over to the coffee maker to warm the water. Pushing the button to turn the coffee maker on, she moved to pull down three mugs.
'Chocolate, mugs, spoons, water,' Hayley listed in her head silently. Minus any bills that needed to be paid meant that she could actually sit down and relax for five minutes. But who was her mysterious benefactor and did she really want to know that answer. If she found out that it was Elijah she might begin to feel guilty. That would mean that he was looking out for her.
Rolling her eyes and popping a cracker into her mouth, Hayley walked over to the couch and began to watch Cinderella for the five hundredth time. Yes, this was exciting. What else could she want? She had her kid, her cheese and the coffee maker was going off. Getting up with a yawn, Hayley walked back into the kitchen and turned it off.
As Hayley poured the water into the three mugs, Hayley began to think about what Davina had said earlier. She did not have any employee for this new business venture. She didn't even have a catering license. How was she going to gather the money for those things? A mental picture of Elijah popped into her head and Hayley shoved it away only to have it pop back up. 'No,' she scolded herself. She had already taken enough from him. Coming back into the living room, Hayley set the mugs down.
"Chocolate," Hope cried with a happy smile as she settled into her mother's side and continued to watch her movie.
When Cinderella was over, Davina picked Hope up and took her to her room. The child was out cold and Hayley was having a hard time keeping her own eyes open. "Hey, Davina do you know anyone who has a license to cater?" Hayley asked her babysitter. It sounded funny but in New Orleans you never knew.
Davina nodded. "Yes, my friend, Monique, well, she used to be a friend, anyway. Her aunt, used to run her own catering company before she had to shut it down. She might know how you could start one up."
"Oh, do you know how I could find this aunt?" Hayley asked, placing her hand over her mouth as she yawned.
"Rousseau's. It's the quarter. That's where she works now as a cook," Davina told her.
There was just a little bit of information that Hayley needed before she could allow the babysitter to go back to her own apartment. "What's the aunt's name?"
"Sophie Ann. Sophie Ann Devereux." Davina supplied. "She's nice most of time. Unless she's stressed. Then she might get a little cranky. But overall she's always been pretty great to me even after Monique and I had our falling out."
"About what?" Hayley inquired although she was never one that liked to deal with any kind of teen drama but Davina was a friend so she could for once. And you can never tell when something like that could become important.
"It was about a boy. What else?" Davina said with a laugh. "Isn't it always about a boy when you break up with your friends?"
"Or because they were never your friend in the first place," Hayley replied knowingly.
"Truer words were never spoken," Davina replied as she headed toward the door. "Have a good night, Hayley, and try to get some sleep. I think that you need it."
"Thanks. See you soon," Hayley called as she got up to lock the door. Turning around, she went back to the couch and turned on a reality TV show. Sometimes they were funny. Sometimes they were just plainly stupid but she did not want to think. Laying down on the couch, she took one of the pillows and tucked it under her chin. Closing her eyes, she began to drift to sleep.
It was not long before Hayley's mind began to escape to dreamland. "Hello, Hayley," Elijah said. He was wearing one of those suits that fit him in all the places that made it harder for Hayley to leave him alone. "Why haven't you told Niklaus about Hope yet?" he asked her causing her to frown. She thought that he would be taking off his clothes and telling how much he loved her. This was her subconscious speaking and even it couldn't be kind to her.
"I... I'm waiting for the right time," Hayley attempted to explain. "And why am I trying to explain myself to you. You're not really here?"
"Because I know about Hope's connection to Klaus. And if you do not tell I will eventually. What will you do if he wants his daughter, Hayley? You took away his right to know her. You made the decision for him. Did you even give him a chance to show you what kind of father he would be to the child? Is that fair to Hope?" Elijah continued to speak as Hayley tried to walk away from him.
Hayley kept walking away from Elijah and he kept following her through the room. There were no doors. She could not escape him. "Hayley, do you really believe that you were doing what was in Hope's best interests? She had an entire family that would be thrilled to meet her but you have kept her all to yourself. What kind of woman does that? And this scheme of starting a catering company? How will that work out? Will it not be like the last failed adventure? Don't all of your adventures end in failure?"
"Get out of my head. You're not real," Hayley yelled at Elijah who simply smiled and placed his hand in his pocket. "You're not the real Elijah. You're just some stupid trick in my head." She screamed at Elijah who shook his head.
"And me. Hayley, are you kidding yourself? Why would I truly be interested in you? I only wanted you for sex. Then you would become pregnant and how would that look to my family? Dear God, what was I thinking? Rebekah is right. I do have the worst taste in women. On the bright side for both of us I can correct my mistake and find a woman worthy of my affections, not someone who only wants what is in my bank account." Elijah began to walk away as Hayley slunk to the floor, tears running down her cheeks as she began to rock back and forth.
Waking up in a cold sweat, Hayley ran a hand over her forehead. "It was just a dream," Hayley whispered to herself. "It was a horrible dream." Getting up, she walked into the bathroom and closed the door with an inch open to be able to hear Hope if she cried out. Turning on the water, she undressed, climbed in and wrapped her arms around her knees as she allowed all the emotion that she had let grow pent up, out.
Sobbing into her bare knees, Hayley felt her entire body shake as she let the despair, fear, rage and disappointment pour out of her. You could only be strong so long before you had to accept the pain and to let it go. Leaning back against the bathtub, Hayley dried her eyes. Tomorrow she would go and meet Auntie Sophie and she would figure out how to get this business running. She would talk to Klaus. And then she would figure out where she and Hope needed to go next. New Orleans had worn out its charm and she needed to find somewhere new for them to go. That is how she had always lived her life and probably always would.
Tomorrow she would find Elijah's number and she would rip it up because there was nothing that spending more time him would do other than get her hurt. Yeah, she would get rid of his number tomorrow. She would do a lot of things tomorrow. Getting up and out of the bathtub before she became one of those tragic stories about people who accidently drowned in their bathtubs, Hayley walked into her bedroom and laid down.
Hayley did not notice that her phone had needed to be charged. Otherwise she might have known that someone had been trying to call for the past hour but could not get through. The same person that she had decided to write off forever.