Chapter 14
Natalie bolted upright. Half a second later, Chance also groggily sat up. They were both - it seemed by the way they rushed to pull a blanket over themselves - completely naked under those covers.
My covers.
I was suddenly wide awake.
“What the hell Natalie?” I picked up the clothes off the floor one by one and started throwing the items at them. “Get out of my bed! Or is that the next thing you’re stealing from me? Was it not enough that you won? Do you have to rub it in my face every damn chance you get? What’s next? Huh? What the hell else of mine are you going to take?”
“Ha,” Chance said. “Every chance…it’s funny because my name is Chance.”
Natalie rolled her eyes. I wanted to choke him. I opted for throwing a shoe at his head instead. “Yeah, you’re a joke alright.” I said.
“Woah!” He ducked. “You’re crazy!”
“My god Hazel, it’s almost two in the morning,” Natalie said, seeming to have not heard any of the words I had just said to her. “Can’t you just let us sleep? I believe the couch is open for you.”
I shut my eyes and clenched my fists. “Get. Out.”
“But we were sleeping…” Chance started.
Natalie cut him off. “It’s my house too. You get out!”
“GET. OUT. OF. MY. ROOM. NOW!” I screamed as loudly as I could.
I heard a door down the hall slam and feet pounding towards us. A moment later, my parents entered the room.
“What is all the yelling about?” My mom asked, placing her hands on her hips and stomping her toes.
Natalie and I started yelling at the same time.
“I just got home from work to find these two…”
“Hazel just came in screaming and she woke us up and…”
We screamed over each other for several minutes until my dad placed a finger and thumb on his lips and let out a loud whistle.
“QUIET!” He yelled in a deep, booming voice. I’d only ever heard that voice a couple times before. I was pretty sure it was Natalie’s first time ever hearing that voice, being the sweet angel my father thought she was.
“Hazel, let them sleep. If you’re going to keep such late hours you can sleep on the couch when you get home,” mom said.
“That’s what I tried to tell her!” Natalie said.
“I was working. And of course you take her side. You are always taking her side. No wonder she grew up to be such a bitch, you let her get away with it her whole life,” I snapped.
Natalie gasped.
“Oh, sorry Nat. Did I spill the beans on that little secret? Has no one ever told you what a conniving, backstabbing bitch you are?”
“Don’t call your sister that,” mom said.
I shook my head. I don’t know why it surprised me every time my parents took up for Natalie. I started to say something else, but thought better of it. Nothing I said would ever get through to them. Instead, I turned around and headed back down the stairs. Part of me hoped someone would stop me, but I knew better.
I got in my car and turned it on. Tears streamed down my cheeks and I laid my forehead on my steering wheel.
I had no idea where to go. I didn’t want to bother my friends, their living situations weren’t great either. Maria, Megan, and Rachel all lived together with two other roommates. They certainly didn’t have room for one more.
I pulled out my phone to scroll through my contacts list, to see if I could find anyone I was maybe forgetting that could take me in for a few days. But most of my contacts were work related, I couldn’t ask any of them for help.
I opened my map app to look for local, cheap hotels. As I searched, I remembered suddenly that our company actually had some rest areas for employees that needed them if they were working late.
“Guess I’m going back to work,” I muttered, shifting my car into gear. “I sure don’t see that place enough.”
I walked into the office and dropped my purse onto my desk. I was wide awake now. Trying to sleep would be pointless.
I gathered my notebook and pen and walked down to Logan’s office to grab some documents. I needed a distraction, and planning this ceremony seemed perfect for that. Maybe I’d score some brownie points with Logan too, for working so hard to get this done.
I opened the door to Logan’s office and jumped. At the same time, Logan, shirtless and lifting weights, also jumped.
“Oh!” We both exclaimed in unison.
I lowered my eyes. “Sir, I am so sorry, I had no idea you were in here.”
“What are you doing here?” He set the weights on the ground and picked up a towel to pat his face dry. He didn’t say it angrily, like I expected. It sounded more like…concerned?
I snuck a peek back up at him. His bare torso was glistening with sweat, which only enhanced his chiseled features. His firm pecs and six-pack abs heaved in and out with each breath Logan took. I had no idea this perfection existed under the suits he normally wore.
I looked away again. This felt so invasive, liked I’d glimpsed a side of Logan no one else was supposed to see. No one at work anyway. And besides, if I kept looking at him I was afraid my eyes and tongue would pop out of my head like a cartoon animal.
“I…I couldn’t sleep, so I thought I would start working on your welcome ceremony,” I said. “You’re here late.”
“Working out at the office helps me to be prepared mentally for whatever the next day has to throw at me,” he said. “Go get some rest, you’ll need it for tomorrow.”
“Yes sir,” I said, exiting the office and pulling the door shut behind me.
I sat at my desk, the image of a shirtless, ripped Logan still fresh on my mind. I shook my head, trying to get the image out so I could focus on work. I opened my notebook and made a list of everything we would need for an amazing welcome ceremony: catering, decorators, musicians…
Sounds like I’m planning a wedding, I thought glumly. I was beginning to wonder if I would ever get to plan an actual wedding.
Mine, that is. Not my sister’s. I imagined she would have several weddings, the way she ran through men.
The thought brought the evening’s events flying violently back to me. And the events in Vegas. And the memory of every single relationship I’d had that Natalie had a hand in ruining.
I wanted to scream and throw everything that was on my desk across the room. But Logan was still within earshot. If he saw me lose it, I might lose my chance at becoming his secretary. So instead I ran to the bathroom to splash water on my face to help me cool down.
After I returned from the bathroom, I laid my head on my desk. I couldn’t hardly keep my eyes open now. Since the adrenaline from the evening wore off, I found myself suddenly physically and mentally exhausted.
I’ll just rest my eyes for a moment, I thought, closing them.
“Hazel,” Logan, shirtless, stood in front of me.
“Yes Logan?” I said nervously.
He grabbed my hands. “I have something I need to say to you. I can’t hold it in anymore.”
“You can tell me anything,” I whispered.
He pulled me close to him. Then, he grabbed me by the shoulders and began shaking me. “Hazel, you need to wake up.”
“Huh?”
“My god Hazel, wake up.”
I jolted awake. Logan’s hand was on my shoulder, shaking me. “Hazel. Wake. Up.”
I pulled my head up off my desk. I guess my eye-resting turned into a little more than that. I slowly blinked my eyes and looked around. It must’ve been close to 8am, people had started shuffling in for their shifts.
Logan thrust a tissue in my face. I looked at it, confused, then turned to look at him.
“You’ve got drool on you,” he said.
