Chapter 17
After finally tracking down the nearest bus stop, I stepped onto the bus and made my way to an empty seat. I leaned my forehead against the window and looked out. I noticed a large smear of something off- white just inches from my face and sat up quickly. I shuddered.
I hugged my purse to my chest and rested my chin on I had let myself get a little too carried away by this afternoon’s shopping trip. I liked that the employees thought we were a couple. I had almost felt like I was the woman he was spoiling. It was a nice feeling.
But apparently Logan’s sweet nature was reserved for his wife. A pang hit my heart at the thought. Logan’s driving off without me made me realize just how abandoned I felt. First my family and Chance, and now by my boss, who I thought I was making strides with in our professional relationship.
I pulled out my phone to message Maria. “Drinks tonight?”
“Yes please,” Maria sent back.
Later that night, after finally getting home and putting on my favorite little black dress, I walked through the doors of Chianti, a local wine bar Maria and I loved. The quiet atmosphere was much preferred to loud, normal bars. It was hard to hold a conversation in those.
I found Maria at a small table in the corner with two other friends of ours, Megan and Rachel. I waved and went to the bar to order a glass of wine.
“I’ll take a glass of merlot, please,” I asked the bartender.
Glass in hand, I walked over to my friends and hugged each of them before I sat down.
“So Hazel,” Rachel said with a grin. “Maria was just telling us about your hunky new boss.”
“Yeah,” I said glumly, the sting of his abandonment still fresh. “That hunky new boss left me stranded earlier today.”
“What?” Megan said, outraged.
I told them the whole story, from his crazy driving to the time he peeled out of the parking lot, leaving me in the dust.
“I just thought that we’d had some sort of breakthrough during that shopping trip, said. “He’d shown me another side of him.” I stared at my glass of wine, thinking about the sweet man I had shopped with.
“Uh oh,” Maria said, a grin beginning to form on her face. “Looks like someone is falling for him after she said she wasn’t interested.”
My cheeks burned. I covered my face with my hands.
“Oh, Hazel, I’m only teasing. It’s natural to feel something for him,” Maria said placing a hand on my arm. You have been spending a lot of time working one on one with him. You’ve just gone through a really hard breakup. You said yourself he’s very handsome. It makes sense that you would start developing feelings for him.”
“I hate that you’re right,” I said. “That’s part of the reason I wanted to go out tonight, to start looking for
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someone else so I can keep things professional with Logan. I’ve never had trouble like this with any other supervisor I’ve worked for.”
Maria laughed. “That’s because none of our other supervisors looked like that. Plus they’ve all been jerks.”
“Logan can be. He’s so hard to work with sometimes. Everything has to be perfect,” I said, taking a sip of
wine.
“So focus on that,” Rachel said. “We’ll find you
She winked at me.
someone else in the meantime. You are quite the catch.”
I laughed and placed my hands on my cheeks. “Oh, go on.”
I felt my purse begin to vibrate. I unzipped it and pulled out my phone. I almost did a double–take when I saw who was video calling: Logan. This had to be a butt dial.
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I answered. “Hello?” ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .
My friends gave me confused looks. They stood and moved in as close as they could without being spotted on Logan’s end.
Rachel gasped and Megan’s eyes bulged at the sight of Logan. I saw her mouth to Maria, “Who is this?” as she raised an eyebrow at me.
It’s just Logan,” Maria mouthed back.
Hazel? Where are you?” Logan asked.