Chris and Hazel

'Ava?' Chris called out after knocking on her room's door.

Ava opened the door for him and welcomed him in. Chris looked up at her and noticed the eye bags around her eyes, from her tired face he was able to puzzle put that something was terribly bothering her. Some time back when Hazel told him that she couldn't console Ava, he was surprised to hear that Ava was going through something too, but he just assumed that it was because Ed wasn't talking to her but after seeing her he definitely knew she was caught up in her own problems and it had nothing to do with Ed avoiding her.

'What is it, Chris?' she asked as he sat on a chair placed next to the dressing table.

'Just wanted to talk to you' He said looking up at her from his phone.

'Is it about Ed?' she asked making it sound like it was very obvious.

'Well, yeah! Anyways what's up with you?' he asked signaling her to sit down.

'I know it was Hazel who sent you, she would have told you everything because she wasn't able to solve it' Ava said sitting down on the bed facing Chris.

'Well, you are partially correct. Hazel did send me but not because she couldn't solve it…she just thought I was better for this job and no she didn't tell me what was bothering you so I will have to trouble you to tell me what's wrong' he answered smiling at her his eyes showing concern.

'…Ok it's just that before coming here I didn't know that Ed was from a wealthy family and now I am just afraid that I wouldn't fit in among them' she said sighing.

'Well, do you read novels?' he asked teasing her.

'No, I am not Hazel. Why do you ask?' she asked puzzled by his irrelevant question.

'Well…it just seems like a plot from a novel, the main leads in novel mostly face the same problem' he clarified laughing.

'Stop joking Chris! What if I do something that I shouldn't? I am not familiar with rich people's life' she answered genuinely worried.

'Look Ava, I have known Ed for a long time, in fact the first time we met was in a business meeting and we were just 11 years old. The reason we were put into same schools and colleges were because of our parents and slowly we started getting along really well. Initially we both didn't want to take over the family business but being the only heir he had to and so he wanted to gain outside knowledge before leaping into the mighty business circle, a few times even I used to tease him for working in a small company because compared to his family's business it was nothing. I even joke about offering him jobs in my companies but beneath I knew he was doing it whole heartedly, he knew that every job had its own value irrespective of the company and his family was proud of him for taking such an initiative and do you really think that this family will treat you differently? In fact they would be super glad that he didn't fall in love with some business family cause the more rich they are, more there will be complications and plus Ed loves you for you and his family loves you too, you are lucky to get super cool in-laws and plus the "different world" thing is getting old, I mean are there families who see all this? Yes, but not all of them and you are in one of them, so stop thinking much, ok? You both belong in the same worlds and moreover you love him and if things become a bit unseemly just bear with it because he would be doing the same' Chris elucidated it slowly to Ava on a positive note that she will understand things.

'Thank you Chris, I guess I was just worrying over nothing. I am not telling you that my anxiety is gone but I did get a clarification' Ava answered looking brightly at him, she felt as though the biggest thing weighing on head was removed.

'Anytime!' Chris responded smiling at her.

'But there is one thing you need to watch out in this family' Chris warned turning serious.

'What?' Ava asked petrified.

'Well if you are gonna become a part of this family you better get ready to celebrate romantic moments between you and Ed' he answered laughing.

'Oh my god! You scared me to death, idiot!' Ava exclaimed trying to calm down her frightened heart.

'I am not joking, you will know soon' he said turning towards the door.

As Chris was about to leave her room she called out to him;

'I think you should talk to Hazel, because I have a feeling that she is going through something similar to my situation' she said as he turned around to look at her.

'What makes you think so?' he asked surprised by her statement.

'Usually Hazel has solutions even for the biggest problems but today though she knew that a sentence was enough to console me she didn't do that, and usually she does that only when she is going through the same phase and is searching for the answers herself' Ava explained to him.

'Got it' Chris nodded and left the room occupied by his thoughts.

'There's no need for Hazel to feel like that, maybe Ava misunderstood' he thought to himself coming down the stairs.

'Hey, watch it' Charlotte screamed as Chris was to bump into her.

'Sorry Charlotte, I didn't notice' he apologized quickly moving away.

'That's fine! Have you seen Hazel?' she asked looking at him.

'I think she's talking to Ed' he answered ignoring a call notification on his phone.

'Well if you see her, can you tell her that I am looking for her?' she requested with a mischievous smile on her face.

'…Okk but why are you smiling like that?' he asked puzzled by her sudden change in behavior.

'Well I am gonna tell her a great news and someone is probably gonna face destruction' she said smiling widely.

'Jesus! You look scary. Anyways I will tell her' he said walking away from her as fast as possible.

'I am looking forward to finding out your game Mr. Christopher Finch' Charlotte said to herself as she saw him walk away.

'Hey' Hazel said as she reached the swing Ed was sitting in.

'Hey! Did Chris send you?' he asked as she sat in a small bench nearby shaped like a lily.

'Why do you ask?' she asked looking at him.

'Well, he tried talking to me but he couldn't find or solve anything so he sent you' he answered smiling distantly.

'Well yeah, he did send me but not because he wasn't able to solve your problem, it's just that he thought I would handle it better' she said smiling at him.

'Well of course, you always take his side' Ed teased smiling at her.

'What's wrong Ed?' she asked turning resolute.

'Well…I told you right? I am afraid that Ava's parents wouldn't accept me' he answered after a moment of carefully processing his thoughts.

'Why?' she asked looking at his distressed face.

'I don't know! The fact is he doesn't even know me, how can he decide that I am not good enough for his daughter?' he asked getting frustrated.

'Let me tell you something honestly Ed, your Ava's first serious love and the quickest too and so her parents think that you guys are just rushing up with this relationship. It is normal for parents to panic at a situation like this' she answered trying to make things clear for him.

'But you know that I have loved Ava for two years, right? Plus my parents want me to get married this year and that's the only reason I am rushing up' he said his voice filled with irritation and agony.

'Why Ava, Ed? I mean there are a lot of other girls too' Hazel asked looking expectantly at him.

'Haze, what's wrong with you? You know that it has always been Ava, right? I mean you were the first one to find out' he said confused by her question.

'That's why tell me, why her?' she asked determined to pull out the right reason from him.

'Well…I don't know…remember the first time you brought her over to meet me and Charlotte? She was very quiet…too quiet like a doll but later when you and Char went to get us a drink, I asked her opinion about my new shirt and she answered that the shirt looked very nice but it sucked on me…hah…that day I fell in love with her honesty because I don't think someone would be that blunt with the person they just met…and later when we often met she started opening up a little…the more reserved she was the more curious I was to get to know her…maybe that's when I fell in love with her personality…then every time we all hung out I would purposely assign some works to you and Char to get some alone time with her and then one day she asked me why I keep chasing you guys off? And when I answered it was to spend time with her, her cheeks instantly got redder she looked so cute… she was different Hazel. She helped me calm down at difficult times but at the same gave me butterflies too, it was a strange feeling but I didn't hate it instead fell in love with it…fell in love with her' he finished as he lowered his gaze to look at Hazel.

'You have your answer' she told getting up.

'What?' he asked confused.

'The reason Ava's dad is mad at you is because he doesn't know the actual reason why you fell in love with her, tell him and I promise you that you will be accepted without a second thought' she answered smiling.

'As if he will believe me, he will think I made it up to fool him' he said hopeless.

'Who knows? He might end up surprising you' she said smiling at him.

'Maybe but I don't care about that anymore…you just made me realize how much Ava means to me and I don't think getting her father to accept is gonna be difficult' he said getting up feeling refreshed.

'Great, now go and talk to her' she said pointing towards the house.

Ed nodded and went inside the house.

Hazel slowly sat in the swing filled with her own thoughts.

'Hey' a voice called out approaching her.

'Hey' she said smiling at Chris.

'Spoke to Ed?' he asked sitting next to her in the swing.

'Yeah, he went to talk to Ava' she answered moving towards her left.

'That's good' he said looking into a distance.

'Hazel?' he called after some time.

'Yeah?' she responded turning to face him.

'Is anything bothering you recently?' he asked looking at her.

'...No' she answered looking away.

'Just be honest Haze' he said holding her hand.

'Well…coming to think of it…yeah actually someone is bothering me' she said suppressing a smile.

'I knew it…it's Ryan right? I knew that guy couldn't be trusted at all…he would never move on from you, idiot' Chris said frustrated as his grip on her tightened with each word.

'Oh my god, what do you have against that guy? It's not him now let go of my hand, you are hurting me' she said giving him a far-fetched look.

'Oh sorry' he apologized pulling his hand away embarrassed.

Hazel smiled slightly looking at his face.

'Stop smiling' he said pouting angrily.

'Fine! Don't be angry' she said trying to console him.

'And yeah! Charlotte was looking for you and she had a very odd look on her face' he said looking at her.

'What sort of look?' Hazel asked muddled by his description.

'Some sort of devilish grin…god she looked scary' he said resented as he recalled her reaction.

'Oh that one, it's her "I have found some interesting news to screw somebody up" look' she said smiling after looking at his reaction.

'You guys have an explanation for that look?' he asked in disbelief.

'Well…yeah and it's got to be good I should go to her and plus it's not like you don't know what Ed is thinking, right?' she asked getting up from the swing.

'Well yeah but…' he paused.

'But what?' she asked waiting for him to continue.

'He doesn't look scary like her' he finished in innocent tone.

'I am out of here' she said in an angry voice walking away hiding her face so that he couldn't notice her smiling.

'Char, what is it?' Hazel asked entering her room.

'Don't shout, after much struggle I put this two to sleep' she said pulling Hazel out from the room.

'Ok, why did you call me?' Hazel asked as they both stood outside her room.

'Guess what I just found?' Charlotte asked excited.

'What?' Hazel asked as her level of curiosity increased.

'Chris liked you' she whispered slowly.

'I know that, back in college right?' Hazel asked not showing any emotions.

'No dummy, now!' Charlotte said hitting her slightly on her head.

'Who told you?' Hazel asked totally puzzled.

'I heard from his kids' Charlotte answered proudly.

'You are proud of that? There's no proof that it's the truth and I am not ready to embarrass myself for the second in front of him' Hazel answered determined wondering what was wrong with Char today.

'Fine, don't believe me but he often tells the kids the story of a prince who found his princess after years in front of a magical fountain making a wish' Charlotte said to Hazel hoping that her brain would work at least on this hint.

'Think dummy' she said shaking her head in disbelief.

'Wait…you don't think it's us right?' she asked after a moment of thought.

'It is you guys' Charlotte said smiling at her.

'Oh my god, then why did he wait this long? Ahh…thousands of questions are running inside my head now. But why would he do that?' Hazel asked as she tried to connect the dots.

'I am wondering the same thing too' Charlotte said thinking deeply.

'Don't worry Char, Chris promised to open up in a week maybe we'll be able to get the answers by that time' she said looking at Charlotte.

'I don't trust that guy Haze but let's see' Charlotte told nodding at her at Hazel.

'What? Hazel knows about the story I tell the kids?' Chris shouted appalled.

'Yeah' Ed said nodding his head at Chris.

'Oh my, so I guess the questions in her head multiplied thousand times?' Chris asked sitting down on his bed.

'No doubt there and what kind of dad tells his kids these kinds of stories?' Ed asked crossing his arms.

'Well…I didn't know any other fairy tales so...' he defended dragging his sentence.

'Anyways if you delay a bit more…then I guess my sister would do the honors of telling Hazel everything' Ed said sitting next to him.

'I know dude and I can't let that happen. You know what? We are going to Ava's house tomorrow, right?' he asked looking up at Ed.

'Yeah, don't worry it's just a three hour drive from here' Ed answered.

'Then I guess I will tell her everything by tomorrow evening' Chris said decisively.