Chapter 131

Hazel looked taken aback. “Of course not.”

What was he thinking, accusing her? He sighed. God, he was just tired.

“Listen… It’s just –”

“You just think I’m responsible for Fillman’s Freight wanting to pull their accounts.” The hurt grew in her voice.

“You did talk to them. It’s natural that I would think –”

“You should leave.” Hazel turned fully away from Logan. “Stay too long and everyone will grow suspicious.”

Why did she say that last half so sarcastically? Didn’t she understand that he was trying to protect the both of them?

“We’re not done talking about this,” Logan said.

Hazel glanced back at him, over her shoulder.

Logan continued, “After I’m done with work –”

Hazel turned away again. “Just go, Logan. I’ll see you tomorrow at the office.”

“You are upset,” Logan said.

“I’m fine,” Hazel said. Softer, she added, “Work comes first.”

She didn’t seem like she truly believed that, but every moment Logan wasted here threatened his work at the office. The Fillman’s Freight account was important. Surely Hazel would come to understand that, once the initial hurt and disappointment wore off.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

Logan started toward her, for maybe a kiss goodbye, or at least a hug. But as he approached, her whole body tensed. He didn’t have to be a linguist to understand her body language here: touching would not be appreciated right now.

Instead, Logan turned himself toward the door and saw himself out.

Now alone in my new apartment, I covered her face and let the overwhelming disappointment of our ruined evening wash over me.

I knew, deep down, that this wasn’t Logan’s fault. His busy schedule was just part of the job. I would always come second.

But that still hurt. This was to be our first date since discovering we were married and choosing to stay together. He’d brought champagne. We were supposed to be celebrating!

Cameron’s phone call felt too perfectly timed, and for it to involve the Fillman’s Freight account also raised my suspicions. Our contact seemed nothing short of eager when I spoke to him this afternoon.

Did something change? How?

Maybe Logan would tell me tomorrow.

None of it really mattered right now, anyway. Our celebration was ruined, and now I was alone in my brand new house, with no one to help me celebrate, or drink this bottle of expensive champagne.

At least that part could be rectified. Instead of a date, what I needed now was a girl’s night.

I walked to where my phone was charging on the counter and sent off a quick text.

Got ditched for work. Needing my girls right now.

Their responses quickly chimed in one after the next.

Be right there!

OMG WTH OMW

Want me to stop for ice cream?

I really loved my friends.

Logan walked into the office expecting chaos. What was waiting for him instead was Cameron and Dawn having tea, their chairs pulled far away from the computer and the phones that were soon to be used for the conference.

Where was the urgency that Logan had heard in that phone call?

“Cameron? Dawn? What is the meaning of this?”

They looked up from their drinks as I approached. Neither seemed particularly alarmed.

“Ah, Mr. Hatfield, I was just about to call you,” Cameron said. “Dawn was able to speak with our contact at Fillman’s Freight and clear everything up.”

“It was a simple matter, really,” Dawn said, smiling. “They had heard of some of our scandals, but not of the resolutions we’ve made to resolve the issues. As soon as I explained to them the new rules, they immediately changed their mind and decided to stay with our company.”

“You spoke to them without me?” Logan asked, his anger growing. He had left Hazel, even argued with her – for this?

“Your presence didn’t seem fully necessary, given the topics at hand,” Dawn said. She sipped at her tea. “I hope you and Hazel were able to finish your out of office work?”

Of course Cameron told Dawn that she had heard Hazel and Logan together on the phone call.

“We finished,” Logan said.

“How nice,” Dawn said. “Though I hope you realize how unprofessional it is to work outside of the office, especially with one of your subordinates. I imagine you will contain your work from this point forward to the confines of Hatfield Supply.”

With that sharp tone of voice, this was clearly a threat.

Who here was the CEO?

“I determined it was necessary in this case,” Logan said. “As the CEO, I am in a position to make those calls.”

Dawn lowered her tea. “As a CEO, you need to set a better example for the rest of the staff. As your assistant, Hazel should also be making efforts to keep your reputation intact. I will be speaking with her first thing tomorrow.”

“Leave her out of this,” Logan snapped. Dawn was on a power trip, that much was clear. Logan would have to devise some way to knock her down a peg, but he needed time to think of a clear strategy. He’d been so busy lately, with work and with life, that he hadn’t given much thought or effort to this.

He’d seen Dawn’s ambition from the start. He should have made moves to keep her in check.

Now, she was basically a monster.

“Hazel is a hard worker and joined me at my behest. I will be the only one held responsible for this, am I understood?” Logan pulled out his CEO voice, deep and clear. He wanted no misunderstandings on this.

Hazel was to be working for Dawn from tomorrow forward, and there wasn’t a damn thing Logan could do to stop it. He would, however, do his best to shield her as much as he could.

Dawn, ambitious as she was, couldn’t raise her voice to a CEO, even in front of a friend. Cameron had her own ambitions, Logan suspected, and their friendship would last only so long until one of them needed to use the other to get ahead.

“Yes, Sir,” Dawn said, words clipped.

Logan pretended not to notice her distain. As CEO, many people disliked him. That was just nature of the position. He could carry Dawn’s dislike as well as anyone else’s.

“Now, if the matter is well and truly handled, I would like to head home for the evening,” Logan said. Perhaps he could still salvage his night with Hazel.

“It is handled,” Cameron said. “Have a good evening, Sir.”

Logan nodded and left them.

As he rode down the elevator, his phone chimed with a text. Logan opened it and found a picture sent from Hazel. It was a picture of the champagne he had brought to her house, mostly empty, as well as four juice cups.

The text beneath the image read, The girls thank you for the good champagne!

Ah. So in Logan’s absence, she invited her friends over instead. Likely his presence now would not be welcomed.

Though perhaps he already knew that, with how cold she had been to him on his leaving.

What a waste. He could have had his date, kissed Hazel and enjoyed a home cooked meal. Instead, he rushed into town for a problem that had already been solved before he got here.

If the problem was real at all…

Did he make the right choice tonight?

Work would always be important to him, but… look at the results. He could have stayed at Hazel’s place and nothing would have changed. The issue still would have been resolved.

Hazel probably knew that. She had said she had talked to the client that afternoon. He should have trusted her or, at the very least, listened to her.

Above everything else, Logan slowly realized, he really needed to apologize to Hazel.