Chris and Hazel

'Can you drive faster?' Hazel complained annoyed as they made their way towards Hazel's house.

'Hazel, quit complaining! It's because of traffic' Chris replied looking at her.

'Chris, stop the car!' she said turning serious.

'What's wrong?' he asked quite confused by her sudden demand.

'Well I can't let you drive in this state' she said in a concerned voice.

'What state?' he asked as he looked at himself unsure of her remark.

'You are losing your eyesight Chris, so let me drive' she answered fighting back a giggle.

'Yeah! Very funny! For a moment I thought that something really went wrong' Chris said rolling his eyes at her finally realizing that she was teasing him the entire time.

'I am not wrong. I am not able to see even one vehicle in front of us but Mr. Christopher Finch has encountered such heavy traffic' she mocked sarcastically.

'Look Ms. Chatterbox, just zip it!' he told her trying to shut her up.

'Fine, talk slowly or you'll wake the kids' she told worried that the kids would get disturbed.

'You know what Haze? They really seem to like you' Chris said smiling slightly.

'Of course! Only fools will reject me…I meant won't like me' Hazel said proudly.

Chris looked at her dumb-founded for a second.

'What?' she asked looking at him.

'Nothing' he said looking away. After all he can't accept that she managed to hit the bull's eye. They both knew that she was talking about him.

'Do you happen to know someone like that?' she asked innocently.

'Enough!' he managed to speak out even after getting verbally hit by Hazel.

"This girl has already decided to take her revenge today so I have no option but to accept my fate" Chris thought to himself.

'Did I say something wrong...Mr. Finch?' she asked him naively.

Chris knew that she was asking that question on purpose but he had to accept, she was really good at acting. So he just decided to keep quiet till he drop her off.

'Well why aren't you bringing your wife anywhere?' she asked after some time.

'...'

'Chris? At least, can you show me a photo?' she questioned again as Chris seemed distracted after she mentioned his wife.

'…Hazel, I know that you know' he said looking at her.

'What? I don't know anything' she answered looking away.

'Really?' he asked hoping that she would come clean.

'Yes' she answered firmly. She was determined not to give in this time, she wanted to hear it from Chris.

'So you want to hear it from me, right? Fine I will talk' he said stopping the car at the side of the road.

Hazel turned to look at him, she looked into his eyes. For the first time in a while she sensed that Chris wanted to be honest with her.

'My wife…actually about my wife…it's…we…I don't…' he faltered.

'You don't live with your wife anymore because you are divorced' Hazel said completing his sentence.

'…Sure! Let's go with that' he murmured slowly looking at her.

'What?' she asked as the words he just mouthed was unclear.

'Who told you all these?' he asked her puzzled. From her firm answer he figured out that she did run some background check on him.

'No one…I just happen to know' she replied trying to avoid his eyes.

'You asked Ryan's help, didn't you?' he asked raising an eyebrow.

'Noo...maybe...Ok but just a little' she gave in finally.

'So are you sure that I am divorced?' he asked starting the car.

'Well kinda, but I know that you don't live with her' she replied quite confident with her answer.

'Well yeah that's true but I am not divorced' he answered her.

'Ohh…okk' she said as her face showed a hint of despair.

'What about Rob and Aurora? Are they fine without their mom?' she asked totally worried about the kids.

'Well they are smart, they understood' he replied taking a right turn.

'So what happened?' she asked him curious to know more about why they weren't together.

'I think that's a story for another day' he told her bluntly.

Hazel felt that she was invading into his private space more than required and so decided to keep quiet for now.

'Okk…hey can I work from home tomorrow?' she asked him trying to cool the atmosphere.

'Sure…its fine according to our office rules so it's fine with me too' he answered her and turned his focus back to the road.

'Well I have to pack my things…I am planning to move out by the coming weekend' she elaborated.

'Ohh…okk since there is no one to help you maybe I will stop by your place when you are shifting' he proffered.

'That's ok! Ryan said he will help' she replied denying his offer.

'...'

'Chris?' she called out as he was lost in his thoughts.

'…Good to know! Good to know!' he answered after a short pause; though his sentence represented optimism his face explained the opposite.

'Chris, careful!' she shouted as he took a sudden turn.

'Sorry, I was about to miss the turn there so I acted on impulse' he apologized coming back to his senses.

'Fine careful' she said emotionless.

'Sorry…are you hurt?' he asked worried.

'Nope I am fine' she said as she turned to see whether the kids were fine and she heaved a sigh of relief as she found them sleeping peacefully in the back seat.

'So are you kinda dating Ryan?' he asked her after he calmed himself down.

'What do you mean by kinda?' she asked him nonplussed.

'I mean are you planning to?' he simplified his question.

'Well…he's a good guy' she said smiling.

'But that doesn't mean he's the one' Chris debated.

'I won't know until I try' she argued back.

'But…'

'If I like him then I will tell him directly whereas there are some people who are so gutless that they don't confess at all' she said glancing at him in order to see his reaction on her remark.

"Who the hell told her all this?" Chris wondered while listening to her.

'What are you implying?' he asked her once she completed her sentence.

'Nothing!' she answered not wanting to explain the things he already knows about.

'Haze...look…' he started.

She looked at him waiting for him to continue.

'We have arrived' he said looking outside. They stood in front of Hazel's apartment.

'Ohh thank god! Concerning your driving speed I thought I will only reach tomorrow' she teased him smiling.

'Technically it is tomorrow. It's 12:03 a.m.' he told her looking at his watch.

'Are you self-trolling yourself?' she asked laughing loudly.

'Good night, Hazel' he told her smiling.

'Good night, Chris'

'Hazel?' he called out as she opened the car's door to get down.

'What?' she asked turning towards him.

'Nothing' he said turning away.

'Chris, just say it. You have been trying to swallow it right from the beginning' she told him trying to tell him that it was ok for him to ask her whatever he wanted to.

'Will you...' he hesitated.

'Will I?' she asked waiting for him to finish.

'Will…you…ma…' he stammered again

Hazel froze right after hearing that no matter how much ever she resisted but her mind kept wandering off to the thought that he was gonna propose to her which seemed totally wrong as he was a married man.

'Will you manage on your own this week without Ava?' he asked finishing his sentence.

'Seriously!?' Hazel cried in disbelief.

'Why? What were you expecting?' he asked ginning maliciously.

'Nothing but I do know that this wasn't what you wanted to ask' she said managing to divert the topic. She quickly got down from the car.

'Fine…' he said getting down from the car. He walked over to Hazel's side and stood in front of her.

Hazel moved a few steps backward but Chris closed the distance before she could look up at him. They were just inches apart and Hazel grew uncomfortable.

'Chris?' she called out not sure what he was trying to do.

'Haze will you forgive me if you find out that I hid something from you?' he asked her.

Their eyes met, though Hazel didn't understand the reason behind his question she was able to trace out that her answer was every much important to him.

'Well if it's your personal then I don't have the right to know' she said looking away.

'Well what if it's related to you?' he asked her.

It was really important for Chris to know, he wasn't gonna let Hazel get away with this.

Hazel tried to walk past him attempting to go inside her apartments.

'I didn't get an answer for my question' he said holding her hand.

'Chris, leave my hand' she said looking at him.

'Answer me' he said pulling her closer.

'...…'

'Hazel?' he called out looking at her.

'What if it's something really serious?' he questioned firmly holding her.

'I don't know, Mr. Finch, because I am not the same anymore' she said pulling away from him.

She turned away from him and walked inside her apartment.

'Chris you still have a long way to go' Chris told himself getting inside his car.

'So why didn't you tell the truth about your wife?' Ed asked Chris sitting in the gatehouse as his flight had been delayed due to weather issues.

'Wait, don't shout! My kids are sleeping so wait let me connect this call to my Bluetooth' he said disabling the loudspeaker mode.

'Ed?' he called out after connecting.

'Yes man, I am there on the line' Ed answered him skimming through a sports magazine that he just bought from the nearby magazine stand.

'What were you asking?' Chris asked again.

'Why didn't you tell her the truth about your wife?' Ed repeated his question.

'Well I did tell her half of the truth' Chris answered him.

'Why didn't you say the complete thing?' Ed asked unclear of what Chris was planning to do.

'Because when she guessed about my wife I noticed that she seemed kinda proud and I sensed a hint of accomplishment in her tone and so I didn't have the heart to tell her man and she looked so cute at that time so…'

'So you didn't want to tell her?' Ed said guessing the remaining.

'Yeah plus she did say that I didn't live with my wife and that part was true' Chris defended himself.

'That's because your wife…' he stopped

'ED?' Chris called out as he suddenly grew silent.

'Wait, Ava is here' he said slowly getting up from his chair, moving away to the otherside from his seat.

'...…'

'...…'

'...'

'Chris?' Ed called out.

'Yeah?'

'Listen now, actually the maximum I can elongate this trip is a week because my company won't give me a leave more than that' he informed Chris.

'Well I can work with that' Chris said sounding calm.

'Really?' Ed asked quite surprised on how Chris took this news well.

'Yeah, the best idea is that you quit your job and join my company' Chris suggested teasing him.

'Ha-ha, funny! Idiot, you run an IT company and I work in a human resources company. How can you offer me a job?' Ed asked on hearing Chris' offer.

'Well you could run my company. I can find another company' Chris answered still calm.

'Yeah! Way to rub it in, Mr. Millionaire! And you also know the reason why I am doing this job' Ed commented.

'Fine…fine quit whining like a married women. I will try and do something within this week but whenever I ask her if she wants any help she will be like no thanks, Ryan will help!' he said imitating Hazel.

'Ooh…Ryan' Ed said in a spooky voice.

'Yeah…I know right! I know why she's doing this, she wants to irritate me and so guess what am gonna do? I am gonna let Ryan help her. I am not gonna interrupt them but I know soon she will start missing me and ask for my help' Chris said quite confident about his plan.

'So you don't have a problem with Ryan helping Haze?' Ed asked him.

'Yup'

'So it means that you won't be bothered that Ryan helping her' Ed told him stressing on each word so that Chris would give up on his stupid plan.

'Yes and yes' Chris told him emphatically.

'Well that's a smart move, my friend. Because, it will be so great to see them alone in her apartment, you know getting to know each other for…like HOURS! Wow, that's gonna be fantastic! They will spend quality time together and I guess that's what Hazel wanted too, right? Soon the top news will be Ryan weds Hazel. Awesome it's just awesome' Ed said smiling sardonically.

'It's…it's just a day' Chris tried defending.

'Yes what can one day do, right? After all it just took a day for Mr. Christopher Finch to fall in love with Ms. Hazel White, so I don't think a day will make any difference' Ed said calmly showing absolutely no pressure in his tone.

'What the...! I am so going there tomorrow' he said as reality dawned on him.

'And...Any updates regarding your flight?' Chris asked concerned about how long they were waiting for the flight.

'No Man. Not yet! But I guess we will be able to board soon, so don't worry!' Ed assured his worried friend.

'Ok..Bye!' Chris replied hanging up.

Chris drove home completely clueless on what to do now as his previous plan was crushed by the weapon called reality.