Chapter 11

'Hazel' Chris called out as they came out of the café.

Hazel turned around to face Chris;

'Yes Mr. Finch' she replied maintaining her composure trying to ignore the fact that Chris not only called by her first time but also didn't bother to correct himself. As Chris came towards her she was praying that he won't be able hear the sound of her heartbeat which was thumping louder with each step he took towards her.

Hazel knew, no matter to whom she gets committed to in the future no one could make her heart go crazy like Chris does, she always had a hope that Chris was the one for her but somewhere fate had other plans, she was lucky enough to meet him again but wasn't lucky enough to win him over. Now that he is a family man she knows he was never hers in the first place but her heart doesn't ache anymore watching him as a father instead she is happy for him although her main question is whether she will be able to forget him and lead a new life. It was hard for her accept the fact that Chris was married and that he never had feelings for her ever but now she was clear of her decision.

She wanted to stop fooling herself and move on. She wants to give Ryan a chance and see how things turn out though she knows deep inside Chris will her first and unforgettable love forever.

'I am sorry Hazel for ruining your date. I really had no idea Rob and Aurora would create a scene on seeing you. Plus I wanted to take the kids to candy kingdom but they wanted to come here for brownies so I had no other choice. So please accept my apology' he said looking at Hazel hoping for forgiveness.

'That's not an issue Mr. Finch. Please stop apologizing' Hazel replied smiling at him.

'You know what, since I kinda feel bad for what happened today how about I compensate for it. Let me reserve a table for you both in the best hotel for your next date' Chris suggested looking at hazel.

'There will be no need for that' Ryan responded coming towards them.

'Mr. Finch, right?' he asked uncertain.

'Yes' Chris answered.

'Please don't feel bad Mr. Finch, there's no need for that' Ryan said standing next to Hazel.

'Please Mr. Anderson. I insist' Chris insisted looking at them.

'Actually Mr. Finch there's certainly no need for you feel bad in fact I should be thanking you. Today I got to see the other side of Hazel, until today I didn't know Hazel was very good with kids. She looked heavenly. In fact for a moment I realized that I was in love…' he stopped to take a look at Hazel.

Hazel looked at Ryan taken by surprise by his confession.

'…with her character' Ryan completed his sentence after a short pause.

Hazel heaved a sigh of relief because she was scared that Ryan was gonna propose her and she knew she was certainly going to reject him as she knew nothing about him.

'Good for you, Mr. Anderson' Chris told him smiling lightly.

Ryan smiled back at him. Though the two were smiling there was a tensed atmosphere around the three. Hazel tried reading Chris' face but he was expressionless, his eyes were cold. She got chills just by looking at him something about that aura was frightening. She turned to look at Ryan; his expression was kinda scary too but not like Chris'. She couldn't understand their thoughts. As she stood clueless between the two Chris managed to gain back his composure.

'If you both really didn't have a problem then its fine' Chris said breaking the tension in the air.

'See you at office, Ms. White' he said with a cold expression.

Hazel nodded as he walked away towards his car. The kids waved Hazel goodbye from their car as they left.

'What was that?' she enquired Ryan.

'What was what?' he asked her back looking at her confused by her question.

'The tensed atmosphere between the two of you' she clarified.

'Ohh that was nothing, we were just talking' Ryan said as they walked towards his car.

'There was definitely not a friendly conversation something seemed strange' Hazel said getting inside the car.

'Don't over think Hazel. It's nothing' Ryan said cutting her short he didn't want the conversation to continue and so they drove in silence the entire ride.

'Bye Hazel, goodnight' he said dropping her off in front of her apartment.

She waved at him and entered her apartment.

'Tell me all about it' Ava said opening the door for Hazel.

'Ava, I just came. Let me rest' Hazel requested.

'Nope' Ava replied determined.

'Chris and his kids showed up' she said sitting on the couch.

'WHAT!' Ava shouted shocked.

Hazel slowly explained all the events that happened in the evening to Ava.

'But the conversation between Ryan and Chris seemed unusual' Hazel said looking at Ava.

'Honey, your whole date was unusual' Ava replied trying to take in all the events Hazel just narrated.

'Well Ryan was ok with it' Hazel said getting up.

'He has to be ok with it because he likes you, idiot' Ava shouted loud enough for Hazel to hear it in the kitchen.

'No, he doesn't' Hazel protested coming out from the kitchen.

'Yes he does. Seriously don't you remember him?' Ava asked in disbelief.

'NO' Hazel replied thinking hard.

'He was your senior in college' Ava replied.

'How do you know?' Hazel asked surprised.

'Charlotte told me' Ava answered.

'So he was my senior. Do I know him?' Hazel asked as her curiosity began increasing.

'I can't believe you don't remember your secret admirer. He sent you chocolates everyday till you finished college' Ava answered.

'Oh so it was that creep' Hazel replied recollecting.

'CREEP?' Ava asked startled.

'Oh yeah since I didn't know who that person was I named him creep. It was kinda annoying' Hazel justified.

'Yeah I know. That time everyone would have seemed like a creep as you were head over heels for Chris' Ava teased laughing.

'Enough Stop now! So that creep…I mean that person was Ryan. I still couldn't understand why he never confessed' Hazel told Ava.

'Maybe cause he came to know that you liked Chris. But all I know was he troubled Charlotte for years to set up a date for you and him' Ava replied.

'Anyways, I will ask him tomorrow. Let me sleep now. Good night Ava' Hazel said going over to her room.

Hazel turned off the lights in her room and settled comfortably under her quilt.

As she was about to sleep her phone buzzed. She woke up and noticed that Ryan sent her a message, it read;

'Good night Hazel. I had a good time today hope we could do this again'

Hazel smiled looking at the text, she texted back;

'Sure. Good night'

She went back to bed smiling widely.

'Maybe I should get to know Ryan better, he seems good' Hazel thought looking at her ceiling.

'But why did Chris behave so weirdly today. Out of the blue he addressed me like before but while leaving he called me Ms. White. I am starting to think Chris called me Ms. White cause he was angry but why should he be angry? And this Ryan too, he went all defensive looking at Chris. Only god knows what's going on. Hazel just stop thinking too much, maybe it was nothing I am just overthinking' Hazel consoled herself before drifting off to sleep.