Chris And Hazel - Volume 1 Chapter 45 44

‘Hey Haze!’ her colleague greeted as Hazel reached her office desk.

‘Hey Esther..!’ she greeted back smiling back.

It has been two days since Ed and Ava’s engagement and finally Hazel was out from her little vacation…well she particularly didn’t apply for any leave so she was back to being the workaholic she was.

‘Huhh…there’s so much to do!’ she sighed as she opened her computer to access her pending projects.

‘Wait a minute…something isn’t right!’ she told herself as she reviewed her work.

‘You are early’ a voice said behind her.

‘Chris…this isn’t my project’ she answered without turning back to look at him.

‘What’s wrong?’ he asked pulling a chair from the other desk to sit next to her.

‘Remember few weeks back, I wanted to show you my project demo and you were like “Leave it on my desk and I will have a look at it when I have the time” but after that you called me and gave it back saying, that you were hung up with other works and will see it after I complete it’ she answered reminding him.

‘Oh yeah…! Let me see the project’ he said as he looked over at the monitor screen.

‘Hazel, don’t panic! This pen drive is mine maybe it got mixed up…I think the other one must be in my office, I will have a look’ he said assuring her.

‘Oh okk..! Thank god…for a moment I thought I had lost it and it was a very important project’ she answered relieved to hear his reply.

‘So from when onwards are you working on this project?’ he questioned in doubt.

‘It began long before you bought this company. If things go right, it could bring us lots of profits in the market’ she answered elated.

‘Then I am looking forward to it Ms. White! Hope I won’t be disappointed’ he said getting up.

‘Of course you won’t, Mr. Finch!’ she replied determined.

She returned back to her work once Chris left.

“I can’t believe that I hadn’t touched this project for weeks! I was so focused on Chris, that I completely forgot about this project and I am hoping he finds the pendrive because it’s almost done” she prayed as she opened her file to complete the pending projects.

It was almost lunch break when Hazel decided to take a break before resuming her works.

‘Hey sweetie..! How are the shifting works?’ Hazel asked speaking over the phone as she reached the cafeteria to have lunch.

‘Almost done with the shifting…and I just have to unpack’ Ava answered as she took the last box of things from the truck inside Ed’s apartment.

‘Am so sorry that I couldn’t help you with the unpacking and I know it must be tough since Ed is not there to help you too’ Hazel apologized feeling bad.

‘No worries Honey! I am almost done and Charlotte promised to come over by evening to help me unpack’ Ava answered as she sank into the sofa in the living room.

‘Maybe I will come too. Three is better than two!’ Hazel offered.

‘Sure…but if you are tired go right up and sleep, ok?’ Ava told sternly.

‘Sure…sure!’ Hazel accepted laughing at her concerned tone. As she continued talking to Ava, she kept getting a second line and the screen flashed Chris.

‘Ava, I’ll call you back’ she said disconnecting the call abruptly.

‘Chris, what is it?’ she asked answering his call.

‘Come to my office!’ he said and disconnected right away without waiting for a reply.

‘What is it?’ she asked entering through his door in a hurry.

As she looked up at him she found his secretary, Jessica Quinn, standing there taking up some orders.

‘…Mr. Finch, you called for me?’ she asked quickly changing into her businesslike tone.

‘Jess…Ms. Quinn! You can wait outside’ he said looking up at his assistant.

Jessica nodded lightly and left this office.

‘You both seem close’ she said as she watched Jessica leave.

‘And you seem jealous’ he added smiling at her.

‘No I am not’ she said denying it as she looked away from him.

‘Ok fine! Here’s your pendrive. I have seen the demo, it looks good! Maybe if you finish it soon, I’ll consult it with the board of directors and recommend it for consideration’ he said showing his appreciation.

‘Thank you Mr. Finch! I will work hard’ she answered taking the pendrive from him.

‘Hey, since its lunch break how about we go out for lunch?’ he suggested as she turned to leave.

‘But I already had my lunch’ she answered quite disappointed in turning the offer down.

‘Then dinner it is’ he said turning back to look at his laptop to complete his work.

‘But…’

‘Stop wasting time and go back to your desk, Ms. White. Boyfriend, girlfriend time is up!’ he said still concentrating in his work.

‘Boyfriend..? Girlfriend?’ she asked raising a brow at him.

‘Aren’t we?’ he asked confused by seeing her muddled expression.

‘But…you never proposed me’ she answered looking at him.

‘Well…anyways it’s understood…right?’ he asked as he went deep into thought.

‘Yeah…cool! It’s understood!’ she answered leaving his office wearing a sarcastic look on her face.

‘Mr. Finch, if you are ready we can go to the board meeting’ Jessica informed as she opened the door to his office.

‘Give me a minute, Ms. Quinn’ he said as he dialed Ed.

‘Hey Chris…! I am currently at a meeting…so is it something important?’ he asked as all his stakeholders stared at him for taking a call, interrupting the meeting.

‘I am in a lot of trouble Ed’ Chris answered in a serious voice.

‘Hey, what’s wrong?’ Ed asked worried by his tone.

‘Am I supposed to propose Hazel to officially become her boyfriend?’ he asked still not getting the point of it.

‘Yes you idiot’ he answered lowering his voice so that the others don’t hear about the “important convo” they are having.

‘But she’s practically living with me’ he said not sure why he had to propose and stuff.

‘Chris, you are just being stupid here’ Ed said as he further sank down in his chair hoping that others would stop staring at him.

‘You proposed Ava?’ Chris asked as he couldn’t see the reason why it was so important.

‘We both did!’ he answered annoyed by how dumb Chris was in this subject.

‘So, should I?’ Chris asked still unsure.

‘Get out from your dumb mind and open your eyes!’ Ed yelled forgetting his surroundings for a minute.

‘Cool, meet you in the evening’ Chris said hanging up before Ed explodes with anger.

‘This guy…’ Ed sighed as he looked up to find all the members of the board staring at him with a troubled expression on their faces.

‘I am sorry! Let’s continue with the presentation’ he said with a smile trying to cover up the embarrassment he was going through.

‘Sure…it’s understood’ Hazel mumbled as she went back to her desk.

‘This guy he always assumes I understand…maybe that’s a mistake I am making! Always being understandable…’ she kept murmuring getting annoyed with each passing moment.

‘Hey, talk to me ok? Tell you whether you want me to come or not? Stop with the puzzles’ a voice yelled next to her. She noticed her colleague shouting over the phone wearing an annoyed expression on her face.

‘This guy he never tells me what I should do but expects me to do what he wants and how am I supposed to do that if I don’t know what the HELL HE WANTS!’ she yelled disconnecting the call as she got up to leave her desk.

“Not telling what they want but rather wants them to understand…why do I feel like I know someone like this?” she thought to herself before returning back to work.

‘He’s just being unreasonable Ava’ Hazel said as she placed Ava’s clothes in the hanger.

‘Why do you feel like that?’ Ava asked as she took all her things from her suitcase.

‘Well…whenever I ask something he’s like you’ll understand…understand’ Hazel replied annoyed.

‘So you want him to propose you?’ Ava asked discontinuing her work to look up at Hazel.

‘Ava it was never about the proposing’ Hazel clarified as she hung her dress in the cupboard.

‘Then..?’

‘He always assumes that I will understand even if he doesn’t explain things to me’ she answered looking at Ava.

‘Remember when he tricked us into thinking that he had a wife? And when I happened to find out, he didn’t see the need to explain it to me instead he was like “Hazel I know you know” and stuff’ she explained imitating him as she went to grab the next set of hangers.

‘…So you are mad because he feels like you understand him better than anyone and hence doesn’t see the need to explain things?’ Ava asked trying to hide her smile.

‘When you put it that way…it doesn’t feel so wrong but…’ Hazel answered as she went into a dilemma.

‘There’s nothing wrong in her asking you to propose, Idiot!’ Ed said looking at Chris who was sitting in front of him staring down at his cup of coffee.

‘But Ed I kinda feel like it was never about the proposing’ Chris replied placing his cup down.

‘Then..?’

‘I am guessing that she thinks I am not feeling the need to explain certain things to her’ Chris answered looking up at Ed.

‘Well that makes sense! Maybe you should explain things more’ Ed suggested.

‘Idiot..! Why will I explain things she already knows about?’ Chris asked sighing heavily.

‘I understand things but that doesn’t mean it’s correct? He can at least ask me whether I assumed it correctly or not but he doesn’t! Sometimes I feel like he doesn’t tell me everything’ she answered as Grayson’s image popped up in her mind.

“There’s definitely more to that man than Chris projects” Hazel thought to herself as she felt a sharp pain in her heart as she remembered the day how Chris broke down after meeting Grayson.

‘Maybe just tell her that she already knows and that’s why you don’t feel the need to explain things’ Ed said hoping that it was the best solution right now.

Chris looked up at Ed still not sure what he should do. Was Hazel really worried about him not proposing? But he knows that she isn’t like that, there’s something else bothering her and what was that?

‘Haze..! Just tell Chris how you feel’ Ava suggested looking at Hazel’s perturbed expression.

‘I am afraid that if I do that he might think that I am not as understandable as he thought I was’ Hazel answered as a new fear rose within her.

‘I think you are just overthinking it! Why do you feel like that anyway?’ Ava asked as her explanation didn’t make any sense.

‘Ed, we are talking about a girl who understood my incomplete explanation years ago. There’s definitely something else bothering and she just expressing it wrong’ Chris answered getting up from the chair.

‘What do you mean by incomplete explanation?’ Ed asked confused as Chris has never mentioned anything about it before.

‘It’s nothing, it happened years ago but she understood my silence and waited for me. I think I will just talk to her and ask about it and just in case I will get a ring too’ Chris answered leaving Ed’s office trying to cover up the conversation they had years ago.

It wasn’t his intention to keep it away from Ed or the others but he somehow felt that it was something so amazing that he and Hazel shared even before they got into a relationship, it might be a simple and a plain conversation but it was the main reason that helped these two hold on for this long. It served as ray of hope in their relationship. No matter how many obstacles came in their way that memory remained fresh in their lives for years. He just didn’t know whether other people would get the conversation if he told them. For them it would just be a conversation only the two of them will know in what kind of situation they were in when it happened.

‘It’s just that I understood the reason behind his silence years ago and now I am just asking explanations for simple things. It feels weird!’ she said looking into a distance as her memory flashed the scenes that happened six years ago.

‘What silence?’ Ava asked puzzled.

‘It’s nothing…! I guess it would be better if I just ask Chris directly. I don’t want to make things complicated like before. Just give me a moment’ Hazel said as she walked out of Ava’s room.

Hazel too didn’t want to hide it from Ava or the others but she knew it was something special that they both shared…and she knew it would remain that way only if they kept it to themselves.

Six years back…

May 22, 2013.

‘Hey Haze, do you have a minute?’ Chris asked as Hazel was about to walk out of the big brazen gate in her college.

‘Ohh…you are talking to me? I am sorry I thought I don’t exist in your world anymore’ Hazel answered as she made her way towards the gate not stopping to look at him.

‘Haze, just stop, please! I really need to talk to you’ he said holding her hand stopping her from leaving.

‘Here?’ She asked hesitating as she looked around the place.

‘Yeah, maybe somewhere inside the college’ he answered pulling her inside the college.

‘Do you wanna go to the canteen?’ she asked as they stopped in a secluded place near the canteen.

‘Look I don’t have much time so please listen to me’ he pleaded looking around the place hoping that no one sees them.

‘Seriously..? You haven’t been talking to me since I proposed you and you haven’t been returning any of my calls and you rarely came back to college since. It has been months since we spoke, Chris’ she answered as her vision got clouded with tears without her realizing it. But she managed to swallow it back as she didn’t want to look weak in front of Chris.

‘Are you mad at me?’ He asked as she continued to avoid eye contact.

‘What do you think?’ She asked rolling her eyes at him.

‘So you are mad!’ he confirmed by looking at her expression.

‘Why should I be?’ she asked still not wanting to face him as she kept remembering the day he rejected her.

‘Because I…’ he started hoping to explain things.

‘Oh since you rejected me? Don’t worry! I really don’t care anymore’ she answered interrupting him.

‘You don’t?’ he asked not expecting this reply from her.

‘NO!’ she replied firmly.

‘Then I guess there’s nothing to talk about. Bye!’ he muttered turning to leave the place.

‘What do you mean?’ she asked shocked as he turned to leave.

‘Well… I wanted to talk to you regarding that but since you don’t care anymore, I guess there’s no need for that’ he explained looking at her bewildered face.

‘Wait! Are you an idiot? How do you think that I would move on so easily?’ she asked perplexed by the way he was behaving.

‘You said so!’ he responded bluntly getting annoyed.

‘… That’s cause… I didn’t…I didn’t want you to assume I was weak’ she answered biting back her lips in grief.

‘I will never think you are weak Haze! You are so much bolder than I was. At least, you had the courage to tell the guy you like that you like him but in my case… even though I knew she likes me I couldn’t just go for it’ he confessed feeling dejected.

‘Why?’ she asked as all she could understand was he seemed disappointed but she couldn’t fish out the reason behind it.

‘Because I am caught up in such a situation and I don’t want her anywhere near it’ he answered looking into a distance.

Hazel was able to understand that there was so much more to it than he told her.

But the only question running inside her mind was why is he taking the time to explain things to her? He just finished his final year and during the period he didn’t bother to come and explain things to her but he chose now? It wasn’t a good time for Hazel as well because her parents were leaving town and she had to send them off and she was already running late. But when Chris showed up…though she had to leave she didn’t want to.

Maybe she was afraid that if she refused to talk to him now, it might be the last time they were ever gonna talk.

‘Does that mean the girl you like confessed too?’ she asked as things still seemed unclear and this was the only possible question she could think of right now.

Hazel’s phone buzzed as she got a call from her mom.

‘Maybe… ‘

‘Maybe..?’ she asked in disbelief on hearing his insincere reply.

‘Look Haze, the situation I am in now…there’s no way I can explain right now but… I hope you can understand’ he said looking right into her eyes hoping he could just make her understand with just a glance.

‘What do you want me to understand?’ she asked hoping to understand by just looking into him but she couldn’t.

‘As I far as I can think it might take years to resolve everything and the minimum I need is three years…so…’ he elucidated but couldn’t get himself to complete the sentence.

‘Why are you telling me all this and what do you expect me to understand from it? Just tell me what you want me to do?’ he asked losing patience as she disconnected her parents’ call for the fifth time now.

‘I can’t Haze! Definitely, now’s not the right time!’ he answered feeling helpless.

‘Fine whatever and just for a clarification… Why are you telling me all this? Shouldn’t you tell this to the girl you like?’ She asked muddled, as this question kept popping up since the beginning of their conversation.

‘Yeah I know! Now listen up’ he said focused ignoring her last question.

‘Wait up! Does that mean….’ she started as she looked at the situation from a different view and it started making sense this way.

“Is Chris telling me that I am that girl? But how could that be? If I was the girl then why did reject me?” her mind kept debating with itself failing to arrive at a solution.

‘It doesn’t mean anything! I am neither meaning something nor promising anything. All I want you to know is, after today you might not even see me for years and it will be a waste of time if you… And it’s not like I am forcing you to but… You know what I mean, right?’ he asked cautious of his words because by chance if he manage to say something that could trigger Hazel’s suspicions then there’s no way he could get away easily.

‘Are you asking me to wai…?’ she tried to complete her question but her phone buzzed again making her stop mid-way.

‘I am not asking you to do anything for me, am just asking whether you are willing to?’ he asked closing his eyes hoping that things could turn back to normal because he was in a situation where he could neither explain anything to Hazel nor just ignore her…only if things were the same as before.

‘Chris you are confusing me again’ she answered as she started to doubt again whether there was some other person or was he talking about her. For a minute, she thought that Chris wanted her to help him talk to the “girl” he liked and that’s why he was trying to explain things to her.

‘There’s no confusion here Haze. Just relax and answer’ he told her waiting for a reply.

Hazel knew that her previous assumption didn’t make any sense now. He was definitely talking about HER! But why isn’t he telling it to her directly?

‘Do you want me to?’ she asked going with the flow. She wanted to know what game he was playing.

‘… I don’t know. I don’t think anyone will be able to but… I am willing to’ he answered looking into her eyes.

Hazel right away sensed a spark within herself and she felt stupid for feeling that way, it seemed too unreal but who knows if you meet the right person, it can correlate with reality too. She knew that she could’ve assumed wrong but she was cent percent sure that there was so much love in his eyes when he said those words to her.

‘Just for a clarification, are you talking about someone else or m…?’ she asked just trying to clear things in her end. Though she already knew that Chris was talking about her, she wanted to be sure just in case.

‘Bye Haze! Take care’ he said turning back as he walked towards the exit trying his best to not look back at her.

Hazel’s phone rang again, as she watched Chris leave.

‘Yeah mom?’ she answered picking up the call.