Clandestine || J. Garoppolo

[9]

Y'all

I'm not being bitchy like I'm actually asking you

How hard is it to actually press a button and vote or type a few words and hit send? How hard?

It bothers me that I spend so much time writing and busting my ass for this, and then no one is active.

I don't know how many times to stress it. I don't like being like this. But I can't keep writing like this.

It's really aggravating. And I'm sorry I have to be like this.
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"Julian said the car would be under Edelman," Nikki told them. She had come out of her shell on the flight, and after a few cups of coffee, she was up and ready to go. "It'll be waiting for us at the baggage claim."

"Alright. Let's go to baggage claim, then," Addy nodded. Then she pointed to the right, "It's this way."

Honestly, Hazel was absolutely exhausted from the flight. She tried to sleep, but it was so turbulent that she couldn't. She and Addy had sat across the aisle from Nikki and Ashton, and the first-class seats were definitely worth it; they were only two to a row.

Hazel was studying the people that walked by her as they walked through the airport.

I wonder if she wants the Patriots to win or the Seahawks? she thought, looking at a middle-aged Asian woman wearing a pencil skirt and white blouse.

And I wonder if he cares at all, she thought, looking at a seventy-something-year-old man that looked all too tired to still be working.

"Hazel, what does your bag look like?" Nikki was asking her. She was snapped out of her people-watching. She hadn't even realized they were at the baggage claim.

"Oh, it's um..." Hazel saw it come out on the conveyor belt. "It's that turquoise one right there," she said, pointing to the Eddie Bauer bag Jimmy had gotten her last Christmas. Nikki, leaving Ashton with Addy and Haz, went over and swiftly grabbing the three girls' bags.

"That was so....I can't even find the word," Hazel laughed. She was impressed.

"Carrying around a kid does that to you," Nikki winked, flexing teasingly. Hazel saw why Julian was so crazy about her.

Nikki was just the right balance of professional and playful. When she had to, she could be a cool, collected, charming woman that could sell ice to an Eskimo. She was so confident in herself and her abilities, and she was obviously proud of both her and her husband's success.

On the other hand, however, she could have the energy of a twelve-year-old. She could go from professional to childish like zero to sixty. She was constantly joking around with everyone, and she had that childish charisma that attracted people to her.

Addy, on the other hand, wasn't as loud and confident as Nikki. Addy was more witty, and maybe just a bit sharper than Nikki. Addy had a very dry sense of humor, and it was often found in her caustic sarcasm. This sarcasm was often directed at Danny, and that's why they fit together so well. Danny and Addy were just pushy enough with each other, but they knew where the line was drawn. She was cool, to-the-point, and no-nonsense.

Addy studied Hazel as she walked along, the way her eyes would flit between she, Nikki, and Ashton.

Hazel was absolutely beautiful, and Addy could see why Jimmy was so in love with her. She had shiny dark hair, almost always pulled back, and the prettiest chocolate eyes. She was always either laughing or deep in thought; there was no in between. She was beyond her years for only twenty five, but she could be so oblivious sometimes. For the past year, everyone else on the team increasingly noticed how crazy Jimmy was for Hazel. The way his eyes lit up, the way he talked about her when she wasn't there; they were all telltale signs that he adored her.