Chicago Love ✔️

Chapter 14: Alex's Offer

Hey Hailey. I was wondering if you could join me this weekend at Kansas Speedway.

Hailey lets out a sigh as she reads the text message over, while glancing towards the bosses' office at the same time. She almost wanted to just quickly jump out of her seat, head into Hank's office, and tell him she would be taking a leave of absence over the weekend. It was that simple, right? 

It would allow her to see him face-to-face. She could look into those darling eyes of his that had sparked her interest right away at Molly's. She could possibly feel the warmth of his arms around her, offering the comfort she desired right now. 

"Hailey, are you okay?" Adam asks, causing her to snap right out of her thoughts as she nods over at him. She hadn't realized she'd been staring into space that long holding her cup of coffee in the air as she was doing so. She was honestly surprised to not see the liquid splattered all over the paper work on her desk right now.

"Maybe you need to take a break from all this paperwork," Jay suggests from his seat, causing a sigh to escape from Hailey. It wasn't the paperwork that she needed the break from is all she could think.

It was the fact she couldn't turn to her partner like before and share the feels of the case. It was the fact she couldn't pop up at his house or have him at her place and pop open some drinks to share and discuss. They had insisted nothing would change about their friendship, but yet it seemed impossible to now do what they used to do. They had tried once, only for awkward silence to fall over as Hailey watched Erin's interaction with him bring forth an emotion she wished she didn't know - jealousy. 

She was surrounded by little moments every day in the unit. She watched Erin and Jay work together, interact with each other, protect each other. It was the same with Kim and Adam. Kevin and her were now partnered together, but yet the interaction was nothing compared to as they had before. 

"Hailey?" Hank questions as he looks at his detective with concern laced in his eyes. If anybody knew the emotions she was feeling, it was her boss. He had been with her for conversation a couple times while Jay was away in Bolivia before the eventual divorce. He had heard the emotions she was going through - between anger and being upset. He could only imagine they were back again, perhaps more so, even if she wanted to continue to deny it in front of everyone. 

"I'm fine," she simply comments, taking a sip of the now cold coffee in hopes the attention would be diverted from her right now. It also began to affirm the decision to not go to Hank's office and ask for the leave of absence, knowing it would probably result in other unnecessary conversations to come. She hated it, though, as her heart ached to see that man again. "I just got stuck in his words again, you know? How could we have not seen it sooner?" 

"Because we weren't even considering that angle," Jay replies with a sigh of his own, as he knew exactly what Hailey was referring to. If they were still partners and having those afterwork conversations, he knew contemplating the questions asked, comments made, and assumptions they had would certainly be covered in that discussion. It was all about getting it out of your system so you weren't guessing yourself again in the future. It was about learning from the experience, and how to move forward in the best way possible. 

But how was she supposed to move forward from everything that happened with Jay? How was she supposed to move forward, or figure out what she wanted to about the situation with Alex? 

She absolutely adored the conversation they had at Molly's together. She felt comfortable around him, so comfortable to invite him back to her condo that night. She never invited anybody back to her place so quickly. It usually took months for someone to get to know her - that would result in just the one layer being shed. But yet in a matter of one night, he had caused her guard to fully drop and feelings to be shared.

She had enjoyed the text messages shared in the several months since. She yearned for a response from him, sometimes disappointed when he would get so busy and not be able to respond for awhile. She felt her heart worried a bit when things happened at the races she was unable to be there for. 

She knew there was no getting him off of her mind. She knew there was no way she could avoid these feelings she had for him any longer. She also knew that if she didn't bother to explore things a little, it would just bring more questions than she would have answers too. That would be a problem, as distractions while at work always brought forth more issues than not.

She then slowly stands up from her seat and makes her way to Hank's office, knowing the eyes of every other person in their unit had probably watched every step they took. They would probably also begin to wonder and ask questions as to when she was missing over the forth coming weekend. There would only be two people with a single idea as to where she was, and she wondered what that could bring in the forth coming days when she got back.

She was willing to take all that risk and heat, though - if it answered the very questions that she had about a certain someone.

"I was wondering if I could take this weekend off," Hailey states, catching her bosses' attention. She debated sharing the exact reason as to why she was asking for the time, but also knew she could trust him with this information. He knew pretty much everything else about her life. "Alex Bowman asked me to join him at Kansas Speedway this weekend."