ma chérie | cl16

chapter twenty-five

"Hazel, are you home? I've sent you tons of voicemails. I'm waking you up with a coffee," Adeline pressed the red icon on her phone before it was her turn to order at her favorite café. She got herself a doppio and a mocha for Hazel.

Adeline realized she couldn't really blame Hazel for not answering her calls. It was 8 a.m. for Adeline, but in Hazel's dictionary, it was midnight. Hazel wasn't an early bird—she preferred to sleep in. However, Adeline really needed to talk to her.

What was supposed to be a calm tour of London with Charles had turned into an unexpected encounter with an ex-boyfriend, followed by a kiss with Charles. But honestly, the second thing was good. Not even good—it was amazing.

Plus, Adeline hadn't even told Hazel about Lando's invitation to the event in Austria. She had promised him to go there, but Adeline felt strange about it, especially after kissing Charles. However, if Charles wanted to invite her, he would, right? After all, he had numerous chances to do so the day before.

There was a literal mess in Adeline's head, and she needed to talk to her best friend. She didn't want to drag Pierre into this mess yet—he was in the middle of everything, after all.

Adeline put the two coffees into a paper coffee holder, and she left the café. Even though Hazel lived in Islington as well, only about eight minutes from Adeline's apartment, Adeline was in a hurry to meet her best friend. She couldn't wait to tell her everything—she also wanted to ask her about her work meeting with Pierre and her date.

Fortunately, the front door of Hazel's building was unlocked, allowing Adeline to enter without needing to ring the doorbell. She climbed the stairs to Hazel's apartment, located two floors up, taking that as her daily dose of exercise for the day. After Adeline made her way to Hazel's apartment door, she began knocking loudly, hoping to awaken her best friend from her sleep.

Adeline heard a noise behind the door and waited for about a minute before Hazel finally opened it. Adeline took a quick glance at her best friend from head to toe, noticing that her hair was wet and she was only dressed in a towel.

"Addy! Sorry, I just got out of the shower."

"I'm getting major Tristan flashbacks," Adeline pointed out, and a smirk appeared on her rose-painted lips. "Anyway, I need to talk to you," Adeline said, and Hazel parted her lips a little.

"Uh, I'll put some clothes on and we can go to a café," Hazel seemed a little... weird. Adeline had no idea what was going on—it had been quite normal for the two best friends to visit each other like this. Hazel had been the one to make these sudden visits more often, mostly because of Camilla, but Adeline really needed to talk right now.

"Well, I brought you coffee," Adeline shrugged her shoulders, showing Hazel the coffee holder with two cups. "Can I come in, or am I interrupting? Is your date here?" Adeline asked, trying to look behind Hazel's body. Her bedroom was right across the front door, but it was closed. Adeline thought that the only reason for Hazel's behavior was that she had someone over—in that case, she wouldn't interrupt her and simply talk to her later.

"No!" Hazel started shaking her head, and she finally stepped away from the front door. "Come in."

"Okay," Adeline nodded, and she stepped inside Hazel's apartment. She handed her best friend her mocha, and then she took a deep breath after she kicked off her white sneakers. "So, I met Hunter yesterday."

"You met who?!" Hazel finally seemed to wake up from a coma, and there was rage in her chocolate-brown eyes. "What the fuck? Are you okay? What did he say? I swear I'll beat the shit out of—"

"Hazel, I'm okay," Adeline tried to calm her best friend, who seemed even more furious about Hunter than Adeline. "He told me he wants to cancel the restraining order, though. He was way too close to me the whole time. He didn't even want to leave," Adeline let out a sigh, following Hazel to the kitchen. Hazel was shaking her head, wondering what kind of audacity this man had.