Hazel in the Demon's Den

Will frowned at her across the table. "You would really marry any random person only so you won't become homeless?"

Hazel shrugged. It wasn't like she had any better ideas. Since her Billy was out of the picture, it didn't matter who she married. Though it would be nice if it was to someone who would help her travel like she always wanted.

He let out a heavy sigh and signaled someone for the check. Once they had paid, he took her by the hand and led her out of the restaurant.

"Where are you taking me?"

"To get your stuff. If you're going to marry some random stranger it may as well be me. Somebody needs to make sure you don't end up with a psycho by accident."

His words were matter-of-fact but Hazel felt oddly cherished. What was that about? This guy had basically implied she was an idiot for wanting to marry some random stranger. Maybe she was. She really didn't care anymore.

"I was staying at the MGM Grand," she informed him.

As they continued to walk, Hazel noticed that this man wasn't terribly tall. He was probably only 5'8" but he still towered over her. His grip was warm and unlike Billy Lawson, he slowed down for her short legs instead of tugging her behind him like a child. They walked side by side.

If Will thought she was crazy there was a decent chance he was going to call the cops on her or something and get her locked back up in a mental ward. He might simply be humoring her until he could figure out a way to get rid of her.

People had been calling her crazy for the past twenty years. Nobody normal would marry someone they literally had ten minutes of conversation with. Unless this guy was crazy too.

"Are you really going to marry me?" Hazel asked doubtfully. "You don't think I'm crazy?"

Will turned to look at her. "I think you're desperate and disillusioned, not crazy. There's a big difference."

Well, he wasn't wrong. Disillusioned was the perfect word for how she was feeling. Finding out that Billy wasn't actually Billy had been a huge blow. The past six years of her life had been a lie.

She really thought he had come back for her like he promised but he hadn't. If he was alive out there somewhere, he had forgotten her. Their promise clearly didn't mean anything to him when to her, it had meant more than the entire world.

When they made it back to the MGM Grand she was pleased to find that she beat Billy back. All of her things were still there but most important of all, her iPad was. She hugged it to her chest in relief.

"Is your iPad that important to you?" Will asked from the doorway.

Hazel nodded vehemently. "I told you I'm an artist. I have so many works-in-progress saved on here...especially for my current job. I've been collaborating with an online novelist to turn her book into a comic."

His eyes lit up as if he was pleased. "I would love to see your art at some point."

"My portfolio is in my suitcase; I bring it with me everywhere for safekeeping. You can check it out later."

Her paranoia had paid off. If she got locked out of her old house without this, her career was basically over. She would have to start everything over from scratch that wasn't saved on her iPad or laptop.

Immediately she panicked. There were still canvas paintings back in her apartment! She had to get them before Billy could or all of that work would be lost.

"What's wrong with you?" Will asked with a slight frown.

"My paintings! I need to save my paintings!" Hazel exclaimed, grabbing fistfuls of hair in her frustration.

"Where are they?"

"…San Francisco."

Will whipped out his phone and looked at it for a few minutes. Her heart was racing crazily the entire time. How could she have possibly forgotten her paintings? Hours of work would be lost if she couldn't recover them.

"The next flight out is in three hours. I think we can beat your ex back and reclaim your things," he said simply.

"I can't pay for this," Hazel mumbled, ashamed. She and Billy had driven here to save money.

Will gave her a slightly teasing smile. "If you marry me, what's mine is yours. I'll pay for it. We should probably go find a chapel though. There are enough around here that accept walk-ins. We can go to my place straight from San Francisco."

This was going way too fast. She had said she would marry anybody but she didn't really think someone would be crazy enough to go along with it!

What kind of person was this guy? He seemed nice and a little too accommodating, to be perfectly honest. And those were only her observations. Aside from that, she didn't know a single thing about him but his name.

Suddenly Hazel was a bit apprehensive. She was out of her mind to even suggest this and yet she found herself wanting to be swept along. Being practical, she needed somewhere to live and a person to use as an emergency contact now that she was completely alone again.

If this stranger was willing to offer that, was there any real reason not to take it? There were some questions she should probably ask first but aside from that, she was willing to be swept along by the insanity. Divorce was always an option later on when she got back on her feet.

The way Will had been talking, he seemed like he was doing this as a favor because he was worried about her ending up with someone who would take advantage of her. His words appeared to be sincere.

The real question was why he cared. Was there anyone else on this earth altruistic enough to marry a stranger simply to save them from themselves?

"Where would that be exactly?" Hazel asked.

"Park City, Utah. I'm a real estate developer and travel a lot but the main office is based in Salt Lake City and I didn't want to live surrounded by so much noise. The commute is less than an hour when traffic is good," Will said with a shrug.

The only thing Hazel knew about Park City was that the Sundance Film Festival was held there. A few fellow art students had talked about potentially going to it during her junior year of college since it was less than a full day's drive from the Bay Area.

Leaving everything she ever knew behind to go two states over would be strange but it wasn't like she had anything worth staying for in California anyway. The hospital, her uncle, and her alma mater were all behind her. Billy Lawson was too. It would be better to start over fresh.