Chris And Hazel - Volume 1 Chapter 42 41

‘So Edwin, what do you think we should do?’ Grayson asked frowning as he flipped through the other files that Edwin brought over.

‘Mr. Grayson, I don’t think I should have a say in this’ Edwin replied humbly backing off from the table.

‘…Yeah! You shouldn’t! I just wanted to know whether you could suggest me some extreme methods than the ones I have planned’ Grayson replied as a cold smile crossed his face.

Chills ran down Edwin’s spine as he watched his boss smile wickedly replaying his plan in his mind

‘But boss, shouldn’t we be careful! After all, he’s Christopher Finch! He’s deadly than his brother ever was’ Edwin warned as he noticed how conceited his boss looked.

‘I know…you needn’t have to remember me what I have been through years ago, Edwin’ Grayson replied glaring at his secretary.

Grayson’s hands clutched on to the papers he was holding almost tearing through them as his eyes reddened with anger.

‘I…I…a…am…So…Sor….Sorry, Mr. Grayson’ Edwin stammered trembling as he staggered back to the door trying to save himself.

‘Christopher, even my secretary looks down on me and it’s because of you. I will come for you in ways you would’ve never imagined before. After all, now I know your weakness’ Grayson said as he picked Hazel’s photo from the file.

‘The game isn’t gonna be old school, Christopher! It is gonna be something new. Wait for it!’ he added picking up his phone to call someone.

The sound of sirens and cries filled the air. Paramedics rushing through the crowd, first aid kits in hand.

‘Doctor…’

‘I am sorry…we tried our best’

‘I am sorry…we tried our best’

‘I am sorry…we tried our best’

The sentence kept echoing inside his head as he fell onto the ground shattered from the news, his cold hands trembling as he looked up to see the crime scene.

His vision got clouded with tears as his mind slowly blacked out from reality. The color of violence slowly dawned into him as he tried to stay with the reality; he looked at his blood-wrapped hands before looking up at the crime scene again.

How did it come to this? Few minutes back everything seemed perfect but now…

‘It should be a dream…it should be a dream’ he told himself trying to wake up from the tragedy he was involved in.

He slapped his cheeks several times trying to wake up from the nightmare.

‘Just be a dream’ he shouted waking up from his horrible dream.

Chris looked around panting heavily trying to calm down.

For a moment, he was scared that he was really back there to the situation he wanted to move on from, the trauma he wanted to heal back from.

Tears filled his eyes as he recollected the events. Why again? Years back, he always had this nightmare and there were times he would wound up in the dark corner of his room, curled up into a ball praying for things to go back to the way it was, he was even ready to give up everything including his life to go back and stop the fatal accident but life was never easy…it was always brutal in ways people could never ever expect. At that time, life was the greatest villain for Chris…not Grayson.

But once he had his revenge on Grayson, things began to change or that’s what he thought. Well there it was again…and this time he didn’t know what would heal him back. His memories clouded with images of his brother, Adam; making him fall further into the pit of darkness.

‘You shouldn’t take rest, Chris! You shouldn’t, he’s out there and he will definitely harm Hazel. I can’t sleep’ he told himself slapping his cheeks choking on his tears.

He looked down at his hands and still could see the blood stains on them. He could still taste the blood in his mouth as that dreadful day visualized itself.

His face grew paler with fear as the past unfolded in his mind. Tears threatened to fall off his eyes; he sat there frozen up like a corpse;

‘I should have done something…I should have. I wish I could just change everything back to normal… Please god, let this all be a bad dream please!’ he begged holding on to the pillow next to him.

‘I can’t move on from it…it’s too much to take in!

Adam…just come back! If you come back everything will be all right! Why? Why did it end like this…? Adam…he’s back…I should have killed him back then when I had the chance, I let him go and now he’s back. Adam just come back…it was so much better when you were here! I miss you…so much!’ he continued choking up on his words.

‘I just miss you so much’ he said covering his face with his hands as tears drenched his face.

‘Chris…?’ Hazel rushed inside as she saw Chris clutching on to his pillow weeping bitterly.

Chris looked up through his moist eyes and all he was able to understand was that someone was rushing towards him.

It took some time for him to realize it was Hazel. Before that, he just felt a ray of light coming towards him to help him climb out from the darkness he was drowning into.

‘It’s nothing Haze! I am fine’ he said quickly wiping off his tears regaining his composure.

‘Chris…’

‘It’s nothing Haze! I was just tired’ he said interrupting her. He didn’t want her to see him in such a state. In his mind, he always wanted to be strong for Hazel and wanted to protect her before any harm could befall her. But, now the situation was entirely different. He was at his worse and he was afraid that she would think that he was incapable of protecting her anymore.

‘It’s fine Chris! It’s okay to cry…I am here! You are not alone anymore. I am here!’ she said reaching out to hold his hand.

Hazel had no idea what was going on with him but she didn’t want to know. Looking at Chris in such a state made her heart ache. What did he go through to fall into such a state? Did it have anything to do with the man they met last night? So many questions left unanswered but she didn’t seek answers anymore.

The most important thing in her mind at that moment was;

‘I need to be there for Chris’

‘Hazel…I am fine’ he answered looking away from her.

He didn’t want her there; because he knew if she stayed any longer he would break down completely, and that was the situation he feared she would see him in.

‘Chris, look at me’

‘Chris, LOOK AT ME!’ she said in a decisive tone as she slowly turned his head to face her.

Hazel knew what was wrong with him; he didn’t want to look weak in front of her. But he failed to understand that their love will only grow much stronger if they embraced each other’s insecurities.

‘I don’t want you to be strong! When you are weak, I want to be there to support you and I expect the same from you. So you needn’t act like you have to be strong every time. It’s ok to be weak, I know you have been strong for too long’ she consoled wiping off the tears streaming down his cheeks.

‘It will be okay, right?’ he asked in a low voice leaning into her arms.

‘Yes, it will be! I am here. We’ll face it together’ she assured taking him into her open arms slowly rubbing his shoulders trying to comfort him allowing him to completely lose himself in her arms.

Hazel always had her way with Chris. No matter, how much strong he was his soft spot will always be Hazel! And it goes the same way for her too!

Chris tightly hugged her back hoping to get off the things weighing him down. But the more he closed in, the more he felt like crying. He slowly immersed himself in her scent letting everything flow out of him.

Hazel patiently held him as he cried like a 5 year old in her arms. Her eyes whelmed with tears as she watched Chris silently sob in her arms. This was the first time Chris ever seemed vulnerable in front of someone.

But she was kinda happy that she got to see this side of Chris, she knew this was a major leap in their relationship. Chris completely lost himself in her arms. He didn’t care about what was going on around him. He felt good getting things off his chest. He needn’t hold back anymore, Hazel was here, and that soothed him.

‘Haze…!’ he called out slowly pulling back from her.

‘It’s okay, Chris! Don’t worry, I won’t judge you’ she answered before he could ruin the moment by changing back to his usual self, well she means ‘cold-hearted’ self.

‘No…it’s not that!’ he corrected smiling lightly.

‘Then…?’ she asked surprised.

‘Well…I never said this to you when I first returned, but you deserve to know’ he said getting up from the couch.

Hazel’s curiosity level reached its peak as Chris kept building the suspense.

‘What is it?’ she asked getting up to face him.

He slowly leaned towards her right ear; her breathing grew heavy as Chris closed in further with each second.

Well though it wasn’t the first time he was close to her something about him always managed to make her feel like a teenager again.

‘I really missed you’ he confessed pulling her into his arms without any prior notice.

‘What’s up with him and his instant hugs?’ she wondered in awe as he embraced her but she didn’t hate it.

Though Chris made the sentence sound rather casual, she knew that he was serious. It sounded special! Chris wasn’t so great at expressing his feelings to anyone but this new approach seemed to surprise Hazel very much. She wasn’t looking forward to this at all.

Hazel lips beamed with a smile as she heard those words come out from Chris.

This was the moment Hazel understood the true magic of those words. To her, these three words seemed thousand times better than ‘I Love You’.

‘I missed you too’ she whispered back as she enfolded her arms around his well-toned back.

‘I know’ Chris replied as he moved away from her, his eyes still on hers.

‘Are you okay now?’ she asked gently stroking his cheeks with concern.

The situation changed quickly, Chris was back to his usual self and the barrier Hazel felt between them were long gone. She didn’t know whether it was his down pour right now or something along the way. But it eased up the depressed atmosphere around them.

The atmosphere was filled with love as they gazed into each other’s eyes

‘I am’ he answered nodding at her as he wrapped his hands around her small waist.

‘I am glad you are fine’ she said as she enclosed his face with her warm hands.

Chris slithered his fingers around her waistline making her quiver under his touch.

‘Are you blushing, Ms. White?’ he asked slowly moving locks of her silky hair behind her ears.

‘N…No…’ she stammered with her reply, turning red.

‘Well, you were quite bold last night to kiss me back’ he teased playing with her hair.

‘Well, it was you who initiated it…I just…just went with the flow’ she protested turning away from him.

The tension between them seemed to rise, but both of them knew this wasn’t leading to any conflict.

‘Then maybe I will initiate…this time too’ he said as he slipped his hands inside her shirt as his cold hands wrapped around her skin.

‘….’ Hazel froze as she felt his hands on her bare skin. Her mind went wild with thoughts, she couldn’t think straight. She didn’t know whether she was ready nor did she know how much further Chris wanted to go this time.

As she battled through her thoughts, she unconsciously felt her hands slowly clenching onto his grey t-shirt giving in to this over-whelming moment.

As Chris slowly moved further upward, her heart beat grew even faster. She shut her eyes closing in towards his neck as her body surrendered to his touch. She slowly closed herself around him embracing the moment.

Chris slowly kissed her ear removing his hands off her.

‘Don’t worry I will not do anything till you are ready’ he said moving away from her.

Hazel gave him a perplexed look.

‘I know you were nervous and plus you look tired too. Take rest’ he added as he kissed her neck.

‘You don’t look good either, Chris! You are sweating’ she said quite worried looking up at him.

‘Really, I haven’t noticed’ he answered laughing nervously.

‘What just happened?’ Hazel asked herself as she looked at Chris walk off in a hurry.

‘Oh boy…! I have never been this nervous in my life’ Chris told himself as he walked out of the room.

‘Look who finally decided to show up’ Ed said as Chris entered the living room.

‘Hey man! What are you guys doing?’ Chris asked sitting next to Ed.

‘That’s a good question. I and Ava are getting divorced, so we are celebrating’ Ed answered smiling sarcastically at his best friend.

‘Stop fooling around! You guys are just about to be eng…hold on! Oh my god! I totally forgot it’s your engagement tomorrow’ Chris said in an apologetic tone as he slowly remembered everything.

‘Where the hell were you last night?’ Ed asked slightly worried about Chris’ behavior.

‘Well, he was definitely busy with Hazel’ Charlotte answered her brother’s question rolling her eyes.

‘Yeah I was! But it isn’t what you guys think, ok? We went on a date’ he clarified as they continued to shoot suspicious glances at him.

‘Ohh!’ they all exclaimed at the same time listening to his clarification.

But he knew none of them believed him, so he decided to give up.

‘Anyways, is everything ready?’ Chris asked turning towards Ed.

‘Yeah, almost…! We still have to check the venue in person to see how the decorations are being done’ Ed answered as he worked through the plan on his tab.

‘Maybe I will go check on that then’ Chris offered getting up.

‘I will go with you’ a voice said behind him.

All the other three turned to look at Aurora and Robert standing behind Chris smiling excitedly.

‘Sure sweetie! Get ready’ Chris accepted smiling at his daughter.

‘Are you guys going somewhere?’ Hazel asked walking into the room.

‘Yeah, we are going to check on the engagement venue’ Chris answered looking at her.

‘Yeah right..! I totally forgot about it’ Hazel said holding her head recalling the events that happened before last night.

‘Of course you did! You are a committed woman now’ Ava teased smiling at Hazel.

Hazel’s cheeks flushed pink with Ava’s comment.

‘Enough with the teasing, it’s getting late! We need to go’ he said looking at Hazel.

Hazel nodded at him and ran upstairs to grab her phone from her room.

‘I thought you were going with the kids?’ Ed asked as he saw Hazel run upstairs.

‘Yeah I am! I am just giving the three sometime to bond’ Chris answered managing to come up with a good excuse.

‘Yeah…! Totally! We get it, it’s for them’ Ed joshed smiling understandingly at his friend.

‘Anyways, I better pull the car out from the driveway. Just tell the kids and Hazel to meet me there’ Chris informed trying to escape from the judgmental eyes surrounding him.

‘He’s smitten’ Ed said as he watched Chris run away to the driveway.

‘So is she’ Ava included looking up at Hazel, who came downstairs wearing a broad smile on her face totally lost in her own world.