Chapter 110

Digging through the trash looking for a lost datebook wasn’t on my bingo card for this week. And if this moment was any indication of how the rest of the week was going to look, maybe I should have just turned it all in and went home.

As it was, I lifted the semi-clear trash bags from the office one at a time to peer inside. Maintenance had lent me some thick gloves, but I still wasn’t brave enough to actually open the bags. Only God knew what I would find inside.

The bits of my coworkers discarded lunches were bad enough. I could smell rotten fish straight through the plastic. I knew the stench was sticking onto my clothes.

The head of the cleaning department stood nearby, keeping an eye out for the garbage truck as he had promised. He made no effort to help me, and I wouldn’t be caught dead asking him.

This was my mess. I wasn’t about to pull anyone else into it.

I had taken off my blazer before I began and set it off to the side. From its pocket, I heard my phone ringing. I couldn’t answer it with contaminating my clothes. Hopefully, it wasn’t an emergency.

I’d looked through most of the bags by the time the garbage truck arrived. There were only three left and they looked the most food-stained, the absolute grossest. If the datebook was inside those bags, it would be ruined beyond repair.

The head of cleaning looked at me. “Well?”

It was time to admit defeat. “Thanks, anyway,” I told him.

“Sorry,” he said then turned to help the garbage truck back up to the loading dock.

I returned the gloves to maintenance, and then finally retrieved my phone from my jacket. I had three missed calls.

My stomach dropped when I realized they were all from Logan.

I rushed back to the office, stopping only once on the way to wash my hands and arms, and neck and face, trying to eliminate as much as the disgusting odor as I could.

When I returned to my station, the door to Logan’s office was open. Spotting me, Sabrina popped from her chair and rushed inside.

“She’s here!” she announced brightly. All smiles, she stood to the side as Logan exited. A frown covered his face.

He took two steps toward me, then stopped and sniffed the air. His nose scrunched in distaste.

“You reek,” Sabrina said as she moved closer to her own desk. She leaned against the side of it and crossed her arms over her chest, her feet at the ankles.

“Where were you?” Logan asked. “I tried calling you.”

“I apologize.” I lowered my head. “I misplaced… something, and I thought it might have fallen in the trash. I searched everywhere else.”

“Did you find it?” Logan asked.

“No,” I replied, a feeling of defeat overtaking me.

Logan looked between Sabrina and me. “Come into my office, both of you.”

“Shouldn’t she shower first?” Sabrina pinched her nose. “I don’t want to be anywhere near that stench.”

Logan stared at her until she wilted slightly. Without further argument, we both followed Logan into his office.

There, on his desk, sat the datebook I had been so desperately searching for.

Had it been here the whole time? How could that be?

Logan touched the edge of his desk with two fingers as he moved to stand behind it. He did not sit.

Sabrina and I stood in front of the desk. Sabrina not-so-subtly took a step away from me, waving her hand in front of her nose.

Logan picked up the datebook. “Is this what you had been looking for, Hazel?”

“Yes,” I said.

“Why were you searching for it among the weekend’s trash?” Logan placed the book back on the desktop.

“I opened my desk drawer and it wasn’t where I usually kept it,” I explained. “I searched everywhere for it, but I couldn’t find it. The only thing I could think was that it might have fallen into the trash accidentally.”

“Accidentally?” Logan asked. He wasn’t looking at me. With his cool CEO voice, I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

I didn’t like the way Sabrina was side-eyeing me, smirking like this was all some big joke.

“Yes,” I confirmed. “Accidentally.” I motioned toward the datebook. “Where did you find it?”

“I found it,” Sabrina said. “In your trash can Friday night.”

And she couldn’t have mentioned that sooner? She had wanted me to go dumpster diving and embarrass myself!

“In her trash can. You are sure of that?” Logan used the same tone of voice as he had with me on Sabrina. She didn’t seem to notice, too busy gloating in her perceived victory.

“Positive,” Sabrina said with a brilliant smile.

“That’s odd,” Logan said, suddenly looking at her. He lifted a single brow, feigning curiosity even as his gaze was sharp. “Since the security camera footage shows you stealing it from Hazel’s desk drawer.”

Sabrina’s smile dropped in an instant. Her eyes went wide. “I… That is…” She swallowed hard. “There were cameras?”

“There are cameras everywhere.” Logan nodded toward the door. “Clean out your desk and be gone in ten minutes, Sabrina. I won’t have liars and cheats working for me. You’re fired.”

Sabrina’s whole face went red. “But, Sir, I –”

“Don’t make me call security.” Logan lifted the phone. “I doubt that would look good with your temp agency. Oh, and don’t expect a recommendation.”

Sabrina continued to stutter. “I… But…” Eventually, after shooting me an accusatory glare, she turned and hurried from the room.

“Hazel, you stay a moment,” Logan said, when I had started to leave as well.

“Yes, Sir?” I considered him.

He lifted the datebook and coming back around the desk, he handed it to me. “Please utilize the lock on your desk drawer from now on. Don’t lose this again.”

I accepted the datebook and held it to my chest with both hands. “I won’t, Logan. Thank you.”

“Thank the footage,” he said, but his voice had thawed now. He wasn’t nearly as frosty as he had been with Sabrina just a moment ago. It was a warm comfort, knowing he at least viewed me in a different light than he did her.

Though I still worried. He had hired Sabrina for a reason, and that reason hadn’t resolved itself. He didn’t want to deal with me directly. I doubted that opinion had changed.

“Should I expect a replacement for Sabrina soon?” I asked.

Logan held my gaze for a long moment. I could not read his features and had no idea what to expect. The longer he stared, the more confused I was.

“No,” he said. “I suppose not.”

No? Did that mean I could have my old position back? As Logan’s chief assistant?

…Could I stop organizing these dates?

“Well discuss the shift in duties when you return this afternoon,” Logan said.

This afternoon? “Where am I going?”

“Home. To shower and change,” Logan said.

I blushed a little, embarrassed. Oh right. The dumpster diving.

“I’ll be back at lunchtime,” I said and saw myself out – though not before locking the datebook away in my desk drawer.

Logan watched Hazel leave his office, her swaying hips tantalizing him in a way he shouldn’t allow himself to see. He quickly closed his eyes and shoved away the memory.

He had thought this distance between her and him would help ease away some of his growing affections for her. Instead, he’d only come to realize just how much he depended on her.

Her work was exceptional, and her closeness gave him a steady comfort that he struggled to describe or understand.

If he couldn’t push her away, he had to find some other way to compartmentalize his attachment.

He had to squash these feelings for Hazel, no matter the cost.