Round Six

The door beside the wall she was leaning on suddenly opened. One of the girls stepped out, looking like she just emerged from a hot sex, which was actually trye. The girl's eyes widened for a moment and then, it was replaced by irritation and envy. Pulling her eyes off Hazel, the girl looked up at Chase.

"Chase." She half-whined and half-whispered.

"What?" Chase gritted.

"The bed's cold without you." The girl said.

Hazel immediately took advantage of Chase's distraction. She checked if her mask was firmly on place first before gathering her things up. She could hear Chase talking to the girl but she didn't pay attention to what he was saying. She had to get away from him, from the place. After gathering her things up, she quickly evaded him and ran towards the stairs.

"Hey, wait!" He called.

"Chase!" The girl whined again.

Hazel ran faster not daring to look back. As she was out on the street, she quickly hailed the taxi she saw. She only relaxed and leaned back when the vehicle started moving. She didn't dare take her mask off. Weirdly, she could still feel his eyes on her, she could still snell his scent, and she could still taste him at the tip of her tongue.

She felt... exposed even though she wasn't. That right there shook some nerve inside her. She wasn't comfortable with it.

"Stupid guy." She murmured under her breath. She must say, for a moment she thought he'll find out who she was.

Her plan would've been ruined again. Upon remembering her mission, she suddenly snapped to her senses and fished out her phone from her bag. She dialed the number of her client and informed her about the development in her mission.

She closed her eyes after the call ended and leaned back on her seat. She squeezed her eyes tightly upon remembering what happened a while ago. Chase's disheveled look was tattooed on her mind that she was left with no choice but to open her eyes again.

"Damn it!" She muttered under her breath.

Why was she so affected by his sexuality? It's taken that he really IS sexy and everything about him screamed for sex; his voice, his face, his lips, his eyes, his smile, his hands- everything! And her stupid body was biting all those. She's not so innocent to be ignorant about stuff.. She's inexperienced and a virgin, yes, but she's aware of THINGS. Her curiousity wasn't of help, either. A part of her wanted to know how it... feels to be really intimate with someone.

Eventhough her job requires her to be 'close' with somenone, she never felt the need to really go beyond that closeness. Actually, due to her experiences before, she swore off all feelings to be intimate with any guy. Her trust and faith about the presence of goodness towards the opposite sex were long gone. But... the part of that she thought died a long time ago was slowly coming back to the surface because of Ethan... and Chase.

There were differences, though. With Ethan, it was like he's asking her to trust men again; it was like he's asking her to have faith in them that not all guys are as bad as she thinks they are. On the other hand, Chase's a total off-the-hook case. The guy was bringing out her passionate side- the side she doesn't want to admit she have.

She shook her head. She shouldn't be bothered with these kind of hints, she shouldn't think of any of these AT ALL. She's already happy with her simple life, there's no need for her to think of anything to complicate things. She didn't need a man before; she won't be needing one right now. Not ever.

Life taught her that mostly, a woman can live without a man but a man can never live without a woman behind or beside him. And she'll make sure it'll remain that way.

**********

Hazel Wyatt.

It was a pretty name, just like the owner. It's quite unique, too. He snorted. No, he never thought he'd come this far. It wasn't his style to get some people to know someone's name or class schedule. Mostly, girls would willingly give him their names, number, address, etc so he didn't really have a problem in that aspect.

Who wouldn't willingly give some personal information to him, anyways?

Since he was the eldest and his a male, it's already written that he'll inherit most of his family's riches. Cheryl will inherit too, of course but it win't be as big as to what he'll get. That's just how it works. Men are always the dominant gender over women.

Some of the girls on the other hand admitted that they got curious about him after hearing his reputation in bed. But look at him now, he's actually doing things he doesn't usually do. But he promised himself this would be the farthest he'll go. He'll get the rest about the doll from herself. He wants her to surrender to him, to bend to his will.

He glanced at the clock. The doll will be out at nine in the evening. He smirked upon finding out that it'll be less than a minute before the said time would come.

"You'll be mine in no time, doll." He chuckled.

He was still frustrated about the masked girl but he was more frustrated with Hazel. His doll was of greater challenge that he actually skipped the dress rehearsal for his sister's upcoming wedding. He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel while keeping his eyes up ahead. He started whistling under his breath upon seeing some men becoming alert to the time.

A few minutes later, he saw a familiar figure from afar. She was heading towards the darker part of the place. He smirked then quickly climbed down the car the same time his hired men closed in on her. His smirk grew more pronounced. He quickened his pace. Just then, the men started bullying her and touching the doll's arms.

"Get your hands off me!" The girl hissed.

"It's pretty late, miss." A man said. "MInd to accompany somewhere private?"

"If you don't get out of my way, you'll regret it." She threatened.

"Come on, don't play hard to get."

"Hey!" Chase joined in. "What are you doing?"

"Mind your own business." One of the men turned to him.

"I'll if you leave the girl alone."

"Why would I?" Another one said. "She's my girlfriend."

"Yeah, right." Hazel snorted.

Chase was a bit surprised and pissed with the girl looked so calm. It's as if this was just a normal situation and they're casual friends having soem casual talk. He hired these men to bully her just so he could act the role of a hero but how would he be a hero if there's no damsel in distress to save?

One of the men then put his arm on Hazel's shoulder. He wasn't sure what happened- it was like a blur. He just knew that the man who boldy draped his arm over her shoulder ended up flat on his back on the ground, groaning.

His eyes then widened when his doll stepped on the guy's 'private property' with her heel making the other men cover and run away. He, on the other hand, could only swallow hard with what he just saw.

"I hope this will serve as a lesson to you." She hissed at the moaning guy on the ground. With a flip of her hair and without even giving him a glance, she started leaving.

Chase was too surprised with what just happened that it took him a while to recover. He whispered an urgent sorry to the guy as he walked past by him to go after the girl. He DOES feel sorry for the guy, like sincerely sorry. He shook his head to drive the thoughts of him being of the poor man's position. He'd rather kill himself than continue living knowing his little one could never be... the same.

"Hey, wait!" He called but the girl didn't even falter in her steps. "Hazel Wyatt!" She stopped.

He grinned at this. When she turned around to face him, he can't help but feel annoyed at the look on her face. She looked like the mere sight of him makes her vomit.

"What?" She snapped.

"Let me give you a ride." He offered. "With what happened a while go, you shouldn't be-"

"As you witnessed, I can handle myself." She said with slight impatience in her voice. "And as I saw, you weren't able to do anything. It's you who needs to be careful."

"I can handle myself." He gritted. "And I can do the same to you... where did you learn that move anyway?"

She was thoughtful for a while. "It's none of your business." She then answered. "Go home, little boy. It's not safe for you to play around dark places. Mommy might be looking for you now."

"What's wrong with you?" He demanded, ignoring her mocking tone. "I'm already offering you something that your other... customers won't offer."

A playful smirk curved her lips. "Aww..." She mocked again. "He's pissed. I'm sorry but I don't like you."

"You... what?"

"You heard me." She shrugged. "Now please, leave me alone."

"Damn it!" He cursed when the girl turn away again. He kicked the ground. No, he's not going to follow her anymore, well at least not tonight.

He's been humiliated enough. And besides, he still needs to fix the casualty he left behind . He'll pursue her some other days. Oh yes, he won't give up. He's never been challenged like this, most especially by a girl.

**********

Hazel Wyatt arrived at her apartment later. She wearily dropped herself to the bed and stared at the ceiling. She closed her eyes tightly as what happened a while ago bought unwanted and long buried memories back to the surface. She bit her lower lip. No, she's not going to cry- not now, not ever, not ever again. Her tears ran dry already.

If she's going to cry now, she's not going to shed tears but blood. She thoughts she forgot everything already. She promised herself she won't look back anymore but when those guys closed in on her, she found it hard to breathe. It was like she was brought back to the very day when he started hating men in general.

Chase asked her when she learned that move. She would've said that she enrolled herself in a self-defense class before. She was always so close to being sexually harmed that she decided it's only right for her to lean to protect herself because no one else was going to do that for her.

She was an orphan. She had nobody. She only got herself. But if she told Chase that she enrolled herself in a self-defense class before, he'll be curious. And she doesn't want that. He was already curious about her; she can't handle to have anyone prying on at her past. She can't afford to let people know about her past, it's a liability. It's like being exposed, like a cadaver being studied and examined by medical students.

She opened her eyes and shook the unwanted thoughts away. She then pushed herself up and went straight to the bathroom. Without bothering to take her clothes off, she turned the shower knob on and sat down on the tiled floor. Wrapping her arms around herself tightly, she started rocking her body back and forth.

As much as she tried to stop it, memories of her past started flashing before her closed eyes. She could still remember everything so vividly, it's as if everything happened just a few seconds ago.

She could still hear her mother crying so clearly... she could still hear her scream in pain... she could still remember how relieved she was when her father died from heart failure... she could still remember when her mother remarried... she could still remember the dark circles in her mother's body... she could still remember how blank and dead her mother's opened eyes were... she could remember the cold look on her stepfather's eyes right after her mother's funeral... she could still remember how afraid she was when she heard the door of her room opened... she could still remember the cold hands of her stepfather going up and down her tiny arm.

She was just a child then but she managed to escape. She ran and ran and ran until she grew tired and fell asleep on the gutter. She felt so cold and hungry that she didn't have the strength to even sit. Then, she saw a woman's face hovering above her. At first, she thought it was her mother.

The woman had a husband but they don't have a child so they took her in, everything was fine for the next two years until that night when the woman and her husband had a fight. It all happened again.

It rain that night. The heavy pounding of the rain on the roof woke her up. That's when she noticed the light footsteps getting nearer. It was dark so she wasn't able to see who the person was. When the lightning strikes, she realized it was the woman's husband.

The look on the man's face reminded her of the look of her stepfather when the latter went inside her room.

She escaped and started running again. But no matter how far she ran, she always ends up in the same situation. There were times that she was close to being raped but luckily, she still managed to escape. She then thought that maybe life pitied her that's why she always manages to escape.

After a lot of attempts pn her, she decided that it would be better if she'll live on her own. She also started believing what other people call her; a curse, a menace. Every family or home that took her in ended up in wreck. So yeah, she really is a homewrecker, literally.