Chris and Hazel

'Are you ready?' Chris asked entering Hazel's room.

Hazel was sitting on her bed alongside her open suitcase checking if she had packed everything for their trip.

'Yup, did the kids arrive?' she asked looking up at him as she closed her bag's zip.

'Yeah! Mom just dropped them off a few minutes back, I asked them to get ready we have to leave by 5:30 p.m., so that we could reach there early' he answered looking at her; he seemed like a secretary reciting the day's schedule to his boss.

'Oh okk, did you get the tickets?' she asked as he was about to walk out of the door.

'Ohh…we don't need any' he said turning to face her.

'Why?' she asked confused by his quick answer.

'We will be taking my family's private plane, so don't worry' he clarified noticing her muddled expression.

'...…'

'Hazel?' he called out a few seconds later seeing her ashen face.

'…Okk' she answered turning away from him waking up from her thoughts.

Chris descended downstairs thinking about Hazel's weird reaction before but soon thought it was just his imagination as he reached the ground floor he found the kids running out in the hall playing around.

'Rob and Aurora settle down, we will be leaving shortly' he said walking inside his room.

He entered the room looking for his luggage which was packed and placed beside his wardrobe along with the kids' luggage.

As he came outside with the entire luggage, he found the kids sitting with Hazel in the living room.

'Shall we?' he asked walking towards them placing the luggage at one end of the corner.

'Yay, no school for a week' Rob shouted happily.

'Who told you that you will be skipping school for a week Mr.?' Chris asked looking at his excited son.

'Hazel did' he replied quickly in an innocent tone.

'What?' Hazel asked stunned by the sudden accusation.

'Please Hazel, save me' Rob whispered in a slow voice.

'…Yeah I did' she said looking at Chris hoping to save the little from his mean daddy.

'Don't save him, Hazel' Chris said staring at her obvious from her expression that she was trying to protect him.

'…No, I am not. I told him that we will be staying there for a week, maybe you can ask Aurora' she said winking at Aurora when Chris turned away from her.

'…Yeah dad, she did' Aurora supported grasping Hazel's hint quickly.

'Fine…but make sure that you don't plan to take anymore leave after coming back from Ed's' Chris told firmly looking at his kids.

'Yes dad' they both nodded obediently.

'See, I won the bet so all your chocolates for the next week will be mine' Rob murmured to his sister giggling with excitement.

'Well, you just got lucky' Aurora answered not able to take the fact that Robert won their little bet.

'Well I did tell you that dad will do anything until Hazel's name is there and see…I was right' He answered boosting with pride and happiness.

'Well…fine I lose' she said with a poker face as she noticed her brother laughing contently.

'Chris?' Hazel called out as he was summoning the driver.

'Yeah?' he responded turning around.

'Since, its just 5:00 p.m. do you mind if I swing by the church real quick?' she asked in a feeble voice.

'What's wrong Hazel? Did something happen?' he asked closing up to her concerned.

'No it's just that it's been so long since I visited the church and there's one just right at the corner of the street' she answered moving away avoiding his gaze.

'I will accompany you then' he said grabbing his coat from the sofa.

'No' she responded on impulse stopping him. It was evident from her reaction that she didn't want him to accompany her.

'No that's unnecessary; I just want to be alone' she answered walking towards the entrance door without glancing back at him. Hazel felt bad about cutting him off like that but she was afraid that if she let this go on in the end… she might end up getting hurt...again. She didn't know where the question popped up but she fixed herself on a question on how she thought that she would have a chance with Chris and foolishly waited for him all these years…though he isn't married or have any girlfriend there is no chance she could be that one…and somehow the status between them bothered her a lot.

'Be safe' he murmured letting her go controlling his urge to chase after her.

Hazel entered the church; there were only a few people inside the church scattered around deeply immersed in their own worries and sinking inside their own cocoon hoping to find eternal solutions for their problems, and she was there for the same reason too. Their problems might be different and their situations might be more challenging than each other's but all their prayers were the same, to find the right solutions to their problems.

She sat down facing the alter; it was a routine habit for her. Whenever she felt down and couldn't find answers to anything she would rush towards the nearest church, it was not because she found the answers right away but it helped her calm down and helped her to move forward.

Her eyes whelmed up with tears, she couldn't hold on any longer and the funniest part was that she didn't know the reason for the ache inside her heart but one thing was clear it was an old scar that reopened. She didn't want to compose herself, as it was the only place where she didn't have to put up a brave front to the people near her projecting to them that she was Miss. Strong who doesn't give a damn about her past but on the contrast, her past has been eating her away. She sat there as her mind drifted back in years;

'Honey, you are just being unreasonable' Hazel's dad shouted as she sat quietly on the sofa with her accepted job letter in her hand.

'Dear calm down, let me talk to her' Hazel's mom said trying to calm him down.

'Hazel honey, we both think that it's great that you wanna work for this company even though you will have to stay far away from us but your second demand is very much complicated than you think it is' she said sitting beside Hazel.

'Mom I know you guys think that I am making this decision without thinking it through but I trust my instincts and I won't disappoint you guys' she answered determined holding her mother's hand tightly. Hazel mom noticed optimism in her tone, though her daughter's demand was truly stupid but yet when Hazel spelled it out her mom felt like that Hazel was gonna get her way in this no matter the difficulty.

Hazel's mom looked up at Hazel's dad hoping he would consider Hazel's point of view.

'Gloria, I can't believe you are taking Hazel's side on this. She is saying to us that she is gonna wait up for some jerk who neither told her he loved her nor did he promise to come back but she is informing us earlier that she is gonna wait for him and so we shouldn't get involved in her love life in the future. This is real life Hazel not some stupid fairy tale where the Prince Charming would search the whole Kingdom for you, you will…' her dad said trying to explain things to his daughter but ended up choking up on his own words not being able to say anything further.

'Hazel, are you sure that this is your final decision?' her mother asked looking up at her daughter.

'Yes mom' she answered without a second thought.

'But honey I just wanna say one thing to you...the decision you are making now is nonsense but you believe in your love and that's the reason I am accepting for it but anything could happen before this guy turns up at your door, he might get a girlfriend or might even get married and have kids and you might meet someone much better than him...and you are just gonna start working, and you still have a lot to learn and we are feeling that you are moving too fast with a life changing decision so…please think it through' her mom said as her voice clearly displayed agony concerning Hazel.

'Mom I know you and dad love me so much but my instincts were never wrong and I am willing to take the risk for him and the only reason I am telling you guys this now is because I respect you both so much and hence I want you guys to know the most important decision I have made in my life…just support me mom…please' she pleaded as her voice shivered a bit.

Her mother nodded slowly pressing her lips together holding back her tears.

Hazel smiled and turned to look at her dad but he stormed off from the living room into his room.

'Richard!' Hazel's mom called chasing after him.

'I know dad, you are just afraid that I will end up getting hurt but don't worry even I am gonna get hurt I still have the will power to move on and moreover I won't have to face a situation like that...…I hope' she said to herself as a drop of tear fell onto the paper she was holding.

'Richard, what was that about?' Gloria asked rushing inside the room.

'Why is she being too stubborn on this Gloria? I really don't trust this guy she fell in love with' he said in a broken tone.

'I know honey, don't trust him just trust our daughter, she's grown up now…she's not the little girl anymore…she can make her own decisions, we can't control her Richard' Gloria told him placing her hand on top of his sitting next to him.

'But what if my little girl gets hurt?' he asked in a slow voice making sure that he doesn't break down after putting up a brave act outside.

'Honey that's okay, even if she get hurt we will be there to pick up the pieces' she said smiling understanding his agony.

He smiled back at her hoping that things turn out well.

Hazel returned to reality as she felt someone tucking her sleeve up and down, Hazel looked at her side to notice Aurora standing next to her.

'Aurora? What are you doing here?' she asked surprised.

'Dad and Rob are waiting outside, we have come to pick you' she said sitting next to her.

'Ohh…ok let's go then' Hazel said getting up looking at the time in her mobile phone.

'No, dad said to come outside only when you are done' she said looking up at Hazel.

'I am done sweetie, let's go' she answered smiling faintly.

'I am not, so sit with me please' she said pleading sweetly.

'Sure' Hazel accepted sitting down smiling at the little one.

'Were you crying Hazel?' Aurora asked turning to face Hazel.

'...no honey' she answered after a short pause.

'Did you and daddy fight?' she asked not considering Hazel's previous reply.

'…No…it's just that though I knew the reality from the beginning…it was today that I realized that I and your daddy belong in different worlds' she said her thought wavering again.

'Is that a bad thing?' Aurora asked not able to understand Hazel's words.

'…You wouldn't understand honey...maybe I should have realized this years ago...something's aren't meant to be' she slowly murmured the later part of her sentence so that Aurora doesn't hear them.

'Shall we go?' Hazel asked after a moment of silence afraid that if she stayed longer she would end up telling Aurora that she was in love with her daddy.

'Ok' Aurora answered getting down.

They both walked out of the church and found Chris and Rob standing next to their car waiting for the duo.

'Are you done?' he asked as Hazel reached closer to them.

'Yeah' she replied vaguely entering the car.

'Dad, do you and Hazel belong in different worlds?' Aurora asked looking up at him.

'No…why would you ask that?' he asked totally confused by her question.

'Hazel did…she was crying inside so I thought you shouted at her' she answered getting inside the car with Rob.

Chris stood silently for a few minutes outside trying to process the question Aurora just asked him.

He silently got inside the passenger seat asking the driver to drive to their destination, though thousands of questions kept popping up he just remained quiet.

'Hazel we will directly going to board the flight is there something you left at the house?' he asked turning towards her.

Hazel felt a strange aura around him, there was coldness in his voice and yet sadness in his eyes and he even avoided looking at her for more than a second.

'No' she answered in a low voice.

He didn't bother to respond but continued to look at his phone making a few phone calls regarding office works and then talking to the kids for some time but it was explicit that he was ignoring Hazel throughout their whole ride.

'Kids, buckle up and sit tight we will be taking off soon' Chris said as he sat opposite to the kids in the flight.

'She said she will sit at the left corner two seats down from us, you can go to her if you want' he answered flipping through a business magazine he had with him.

Robert and Aurora nodded instantly and walked over to her seat.

Chris smiled at the thought on how much the kids liked Hazel. But Aurora's statement back at the church still haunted him; he looked out through the window into a distance as his mind clouded with thoughts from the past;

'You can't take care of the kids alone Chris' his mom, Stephanie Finch, said as she got the crying baby from the cradle so that the other one doesn't wake up.

'Mom, I told you already that I can take care of them well' he said getting the baby from her hand.

'…Ok for now you can hire a nanny but what about in the future, the kids will need a mom' she argued trying to convince her son to say yes to her request on getting him married.

'Mom my decision is final…I am neither gonna hire a nanny nor get a wife…I can take care of my kids' he said attempting to leave the room.

'I know you like some girl in college' his mom spoke out stooping him from leaving the room.

'Yeah, so what?' he asked looking at her.

'Though she is a commoner and you know your grandparents and relatives, they are never gonna accept her but let's just ignore that, ok? How about you marry her?' she suggested hoping to find a solution.

'She is still young and I don't wish to put her life at risk by telling the world that I love someone because right now it is quite difficult just to protect the four of you and I don't want her to face anything just because she chose to love me' he said walking out of the door.

'And one more thing' he said coming back inside.

'I don't care about the status and stuff and you shouldn't too because we have seen enough loss for a day and I will bring her back once things get back to normal' he said storming off.

'And my dear are you that naïve to believe that she will wait for you?' his mom asked chasing after him.

'She will' he answered firmly before entering his room. He slowly closed the door behind him, placed the baby on the bed and sat next to him;

'Rob…she will wait for me…right?' he asked in a low voice looking at his son, but little one couldn't understand the brokenness in his dad's voice.

'I know I should have explained everything before expecting her to wait for me but if I tell her all these now, she will surely want to get involved and I really don't want her getting hurt...…I just hope I am doing the right thing…I know there's no proof she would wait up cause I don't know when I can go back to her but... I am just taking the leap of faith now' he said looking at his baby as his vision blurred but he couldn't break down now, he had to hold himself together…if he get weak now everything will fall apart after all in his current situation there was no room for emotions…he have to hold it together…within himself… with no one to ask him what's wrong and…no one to tell him that it was okay to let it out…but all they told him was to hold onto his responsibilities as the president of Multinational Companies doesn't have the time to sort out his emotions and soon the sadness in his eyes turned to coldness...presenting a fearful aura around him.

'Wait up kiddo, I will bring your sister' he said rushing to the next room managing to bury his feelings deep within in a dark corner of his heart.

He slowly managed to take Aurora back to his room without waking her up and placed her next to Robert.

'…I am sorry babies…I will try my best to be the best dad… but for your mom…please wait till I find her and bring her back' he said looking at his kids hoping that things will fall back into the right places soon.