Chapter 26
Peter raised his index finger and gestured for me to come to him. I looked back towards Logan and Dylan. If only they could save me from Peter too.
I walked as slowly as I possibly could to his office. I didn’t have any answers for him yet. I was hoping if I dragged my feet enough some miracle would save me and Logan both from this slime ball of a man.
He got impatient waiting I guess, because next thing I knew he threw open his office door and stormed over to me.
“Well? Have you decided yet?” He demanded.
I looked at Logan through the glass of his office. He was nodding his head at Dylan, but his eyes were focused on me.
“I…I…” I looked at Peter then back at Logan. Help me! I tried to send telepathically to Logan, but to no avail. He just looked away from me.
“I guess I’ll just send the email and video to the board members then,” he turned on his heel and started for his office.
“No, wait!”
He turned back.
“I’ll help you,” I said quietly, hanging my head. “But I need time. A couple weeks at least.”
“You have until the end of the day Friday,” he said.
“But that’s only two days!”
“If you’re as good as you’ve tricked everyone into believing you are, a couple days won’t be any problem for you,” he said, then headed back for his office.
I looked towards Logan’s office again. This time, both he and Dylan were watching me. I quickly looked down and headed towards the rest area. My mind raced as I walked. There had to be another solution to this, I could just feel it.
So why couldn’t I figure it out?
The next morning, I sat in the pantry, waiting for Maria. She had agreed to meet with me before work so we could go over some ideas for how to get out of the Peter thing. She arrived right at the time we agreed on, two to-go coffees in her hands.
“Oh, blessings on you and yours,” I said when she walked in.
“Oh, this isn’t for you. These are both for me, since I had to get up a couple hours early for somebody,” she winked at me as she sat at my table, and placed one of the coffees in front of me.
“I know, I’ll make it up to you. Unless you fail me and I end up living on the streets, jobless and broke,” I said.
“That’s not going to happen,” she placed her hand on my arm. “Peter won’t get away with this. Now, have you considered hiring a hit man?”
I laughed. Maria always knew how to make me feel better about any situation. “I thought maybe we could try some less drastic measures first.”
“Boring. But fine. What did you come up with?”
“Not much,” I pulled a sheet of paper from my purse and handed it to her.
She picked up the list. “Oof, you weren’t kidding. Just two things?”
I shrugged. “Do you think either one will work?”
“I dunno, Haze,” she shook her head. “I like the one about giving Peter false information about Logan, but I feel like that could really backfire on you if he figured it out.”
“What about the other one?”
Maria snorted. “Uh, no. I don’t think ‘crying in the fetal position’ is a viable solution, either.”
I laid my head on the table. “I am so screwed.”
Later that afternoon, Logan watched Hazel from his office chair. She seemed off today, frazzled and nervous. He hoped she wasn’t beginning to crack under the pressure of being his assistant.
He saw Dylan walking towards his office. Right on time for their meeting. It annoyed Logan that Dylan was never early for anything, it made him anxious to wait until the minute something was scheduled for.
Dylan stopped at Hazel’s desk. Logan noticed a significant change in her the moment she saw Dylan. She sat straight up and smiled wide, playing with her hair as she spoke. Logan wished desperately he could hear what they were talking about.
Logan looked at his watch. 12:02. Now Dylan was officially late for their meeting. He stood, walked to the glass wall behind Hazel’s desk, and knocked on it. Both Hazel and Dylan jumped and looked at him. He looked at Dylan and tapped his watch.
Dylan gave Hazel a little wave and walked into the office.
“You’re late,” Logan said and sat back in his chair.
Dylan, confused, looked at his watch. “Uh, so sorry I’m like two minutes late.” He set his briefcase on the desk and sat. “What’s your deal?”
“I’m just ready to get this divorce behind me,” Logan said. He knew that wasn’t why he was so irritated. But he wasn’t ready to admit to himself or Dylan how much it bothered him watching his friend flirt with Hazel.
“Well, I got a hold of your wife. She said she’ll call me as soon as she’s free on set,” Dylan said. “Don’t worry, we’ll make your first divorce as quick and painless as possible.”
Logan let out a small laugh. “One and done for me, man.”
Dylan opened his briefcase and pulled out a stack of papers. “Here’s the divorce decree I came up with. Why don’t you look it over until she calls?”
Logan skimmed over the packet. He was only interested in one thing: getting his mother’s ring back. As soon as he came to that in the decree he handed it back to Dylan.
“Looks good to me,” he said.
Dylan’s phone began to buzz. “Oh! This is her.” He pushed the ‘accept’ button. “Hello, Natalie! I have Logan here with me. I’m going to put you on speaker phone.”
Dylan set the phone on the desk and pushed the ‘speaker’ button. “Natalie, can you hear me?”
“Yes,” she replied.
Logan’s heart sank. This was not how he expected or wanted this marriage to go. Even though it had been quick and short-lived, he had really hoped to make it work. Despite his former bachelor reputation, he had grown to like the idea of being a husband.
“Hello Natalie,” Logan said.
“Did you get a chance to look over the decree I sent you?” Dylan asked her.
As the two talked, Hazel caught Logan’s eye from outside the office. She had jumped up suddenly, as though something had launched her from her chair. She turned, looking at something behind her. Her eyes were wide and she was visibly shaky.
She walked quickly with her head down towards Peter’s office. Peter was standing outside of it, waiting for her from the look of it.
Logan stood and walked to the corner of his office to get a better look. Dylan, still talking to Natalie, watched Logan, confused.
Peter was talking to Hazel, but she was not looking at him. Her eyes were mostly on the ground, and occasionally she snuck a glance over towards Logan’s office. He had never seen her look so nervous and jumpy before. What was going on?
“Okay Natalie, thank you for speaking with us today, we’ll be in touch,” Dylan said and hung up the phone. He turned to Logan. “Dude, what are you doing?”
Logan points to Hazel. Dylan walked over next to Logan to see what he’s pointing at.
“Was Hazel acting strange to you?” Logan asked.
“Not that I noticed,” Dylan shrugged. “Who is that guy?”
“Peter, one of the supervisors,” Logan answered. “They’ve been talking a lot lately. I don’t trust him.”
He began to wonder if Hazel was just as untrustworthy as well.
