Chapter one

chapter one

Shocking news

Hazel's Pov

It's incredible how fast the night changes, one moment, I am drinking champagne with my colleagues, waiting for the new boss to be introduced. The next minute I am running from the shadows of my past. I've always known this day would come. I know I could never hide from my past forever, the day I would meet Andrea freaking Giovanni. What I didn't realize is that I'll feel this terrified. I guess I never really had my cake.

Steering my Audi A4 compact sedan to the right, the familiar sight of my street comes in view. It's almost midnight, the road is tranquil, nearly every apartment is dark, and I can bet that almost everyone is asleep already. Everyone except me. Why am I always unfortunate?

I finally pulled up at the front of my apartment after seven minutes of driving with a heavy and troubled mind and noticed that her lights in the house were on. It can only mean one thing, 'my best friend and roommate, Maia is still awake. Oh, okay. I am not the only one awake, after all.

'Arghh, I just want to have a drink and go to sleep,' I groan loudly, already dreading the fifty questions game Maia is sure to start. I don't want to explain anything to anyone right now, and knowing the fact that Maia sees right through me, she'd pester me until I come out clean and empty. Like hell, she won't give me peace until I let out what it is that is bothering me. Stepping into the sitting room, I find her sitting on the floor in some yoga-like pose.

'Oh good, I can't escape this.' My subconsciousness sings aloud. 'Earth to Maia'

"Hey, how was the party?" Maia asks, maintaining her perfect pose, not even breaking a single sweat. It baffles and cringes the hell out of me each time I see a person in such positions and not screaming their lungs out in exhaustion. I mean, she's sitting like someone without a single bone on her body. How did she turn out to be this flexible?

"Oh well, I need a drink," I say, dropping my orange lambskin clutch on the sofa before trudging to the kitchen for a glass of Ciroc vodka. I empty a generous amount of the drink into a glass cup and pour it down her throat. After two shots, I discard the cup and drink straight from the bottle, my face squeezing from the burning sensation in my chest. But I still don't feel better. The Name of a certain man still haunts my memory. There's no way It could be another person. After a couple more gulps from the bottle, I turn to walk back into the sitting room and find Maia by the door watching me.

"Hazel, did something happen?" Maia asks, Her beautiful oval face laced with worry. She has long, brown wavy hair, but she usually wears it in a ponytail. Her skin is golden-brown with a subtle rosy glow around her cheeks.

We are really close to each other, and she can tell if I'm lying even if I am keeping a straight face! I don't know how she does it! Damn her and her mind-reading abilities. Or is it just with me?. This is why I was trying to avoid a conversation with her in the first place.

Maia is the only family I have, and she knows about Andrea. I might as well just tell her now, and I'm going to have to eventually anyway.

"I saw Andrea," a short but nerve-wracking answer. I feel my stomach knot onto multiple ties, and my lips tremble as I let out that three-worded reply.

And slowly but steadily, I watch as the realization hits her, causing her dark brown almond-shaped eyes to widen imperceptibly. Maia turns pale.

"Where?" She manages to answer after a few minutes pass by. Even though she tries to hide it, I can still see how the news affects her. Someone needs to between the two of us, though. Which very well can't be met, so the only thing I can do right now is to bask in her supportive glow, and maybe, just maybe, I'd be able to act as strong as she's acting.

"At the party, " my reply is short. I just pray she figure out the rest by herself.

"How?" She asks suddenly. Okay, I went too far. No one that knows about Andrea and me would ever imagine is meeting at some random party.

"he is the new management that bought stohlman," I add.

"Wait, what?" She flares, Her mouth forming an O

"Did you guys talk?"

"I ran away from the party like a coward that I am, "my voice quakes as I feel a fresh wave of tears fill my eyes.

" You are no coward, Hazel Moore. You are strong and brave, and nobody knows this more than I do, so believe me when I say this" Maia coos using the tip of her fingers to smoothen my hair, and I feel my body respond to her familiar touch of warmth and sincerity.

"Oh, Maia, what will I do without you" I reply and go in for a hug.

" Everything, you are not at a force to be reckoned with, Hazel." She says, looking directly into my eyes.

"Do you want to talk more about it, or do you want to go to bed?" She asks me.

"I d-don't know," I stammer truthfully. "I just want to forget.."

"Come, let's go to bed, we will talk about this in the morning, all that alcohol, and you might just fall on your face."

" I 'm fine," I say, trying to get her to allow me to take more booze.

"I know you are. All I'm saying is, maintain your record till dawn. Once it's daybreak, I'd personally bring in more alcohol to your bed" that's one other thing I like about Maia. She knows me too well, and she knows her to swerve through any circumstance with her rather annoying sense of humor.

I follow her like a child to my bedroom. Maia tucks me in once I'm draped around my bedsheet. Soon, I feel her soft fingers on my hair, brushing them in a smoothing and soothing way, yet my heart and soul remain troubled, and it prickles my conscience. I feel guilty because instead of continuing with her exercise, she comes to soothe me, but I know I cannot be calmed. I know how dedicated she is to her exercise. She rather misses an important business meeting than missing her exercise.

I intentionally close my eyes, feigning to be asleep so she'd probably leave me and go, and it works. I feel bend and place a soft kiss on my hair before muttering, "it's going to be okay, Hazel. Just hang in there," and she switches off my light before going out. God, she even set my alarm for me.

The minute she's out, the river bank I've been trying to contain finally break out on their own accord. All the memories I buried these past years come playing in my head and numb every other thing in my mind so that I can think only about one man.

I don't even know when I fall asleep.

I wake up to the smell of fresh coffee and bright lights cutting through my eyes, and immediately my brain registers the massive ache in my head. "Thank you, Alcohol," I grumble, kicking off the sheets from my body. "How did morning come so soon?"

I feebly walk downstairs, and Maia is already having breakfast with her nose buried in her iPad. At the feel of my presence, she looks up, and her face lit up in a knowing smile.

"Seems like someone is in dire need of aspirin" her tone is mocking, but I don't pay her any attention.

"Aspirin and Coffee. Please " my voice is cranky, and my throat is dry. "A glass of water before those would very much be appreciated that," I add, feeling the need to dampen my throat.

"There is a fresh pot in the kitchen, and here is your bagel sandwich" she slides the Brown takeout paper bag towards me.

"Thank you." I breathe out before walking to the kitchen to get my coffee and a bottle of chilled water. Coming back, I take a seat at the table facing Maia before taking a generous bite into my sandwich, and I swallow. A satisfying hum leaves my mouth, and I adjust on my seat, ready to devour my breakfast and kiss the ache in my head goodbye, but Maia makes my wish a fantasy.

"Have you thought of what to do with Andrea?" She asks in a serious tone, and I gradually ease my chew and swallow. My mouth kind of felt weak at her question. I am at a loss for words. What is that word again?

"No," I reply dryly.

"So, how are you going to deal with this new development? You are going to need to talk to him eventually." Maia states her words are slow and deliberate, and she always takes a moment to think about what she wants to say before talking.

"Not eventually. . ," my voice breaks off before I manage to complete my sentence. However, The assuring nod from Maia motivates me, and I continue. " tomorrow, he has all the heads of various departments coming in to see him."

"Well, I think it's for the best. The earlier, the better; just rip off the band-aid so you can start at least a semblance of a normal works relationship, don't you think so?"

"I am quitting, Maia. I can't work for Andrea. I hurt him, I betrayed him, and I have to live with that for the rest of my life. Working with him will just be torturous and hilarious too. The whole ordeal is funny. My whole life is a joke." I blurt, looking anywhere but her face.

"Hazel, look at me!" Maia grabs my free hand and shakes me."You cannot quit. You just got promoted a few months back, and I know how much you love working for stohlman corporations being an accountant. Working long hours to get to where you are now, and now that you are here, in a position you wanted for three long years, you just want to give up on everything because of a run-in from your past? And what if your life is a joke? Some people in their whole has never made anyone crack up, and here you are doing that effortlessly. Don't you think it's a thing of pride"

Her sarcasm hit me like a brick, but I will myself to avoid it altogether.

"You don't understand, Maia. I am sure he hates me. I don't want to put us in an awkward position."

" I can't say I completely understand what you are feeling. What I can say is this, you need to stop running, Hazel," Maia cajoles, her voice matching the intensity in her eyes. "Have you ever considered telling him the truth?" He might not forgive you, but at least he'd understand" her voice is now gentle.

"what? No, that's out of the question. I rather he keeps on hating me," I cry out, alarm and panic evident in my voice.

" You can't quit, Hazel" Maia's voice sounds a bit more commanding than before."Promise me, at least try to see how things will go, get through the meeting tomorrow."Maia pleads and rises from her chair. She is dressed in mustard yellow pants with a navy blue chiffon top with half ruffle sleeves.

"I am heading out. I have a work date with a potential investor," Maia says.

"What's the name of the investor, and where is this dating venue?" I questions. Maia passes a note with a name and the address of a famous diner to her.

"There you go, mom."

"Cheeky," I chuckle, happy at the fact that we dropped the whole of Andrea's conversation."Be good"

"Always," she winks.

I watch her leave the house, and I pick up my sandwich to continue with my breakfast. Just at the first munch, my cell phone beeps. Checking it, I see it's a message from an unknown number. I open the news, and immediately my eyes fall on the worded lines. My sandwich falls from my hand. I catch a partial stroke!