Shattered

Hazel (e)

Hazel
10.
Julia Mason showed up at my apartment in record time. Her usual frizzy, blonde hair pulled back into a low, messy bun. Her light expression hardly mirrored mine, which was anxious and distracted for a reason I couldn't name.

Though Jules couldn't see, I was dreading going wherever she was taking me. If anything, I just wanted to stay curled up on the couch and never come out of my apartment.

"Why can't we just stay here?" I pleaded. "Seriously."

"Because it's Saturday night, and we're gonna have fun." Jules replied with a duh' tone in her voice.

I sighed, following after her reluctantly. "Hold on," Jules told me, stopping us in our tracks. "I gotta make a quick stop—meet me down in the lobby?"

Although I nodded, I couldn't help the suspicion that rose in my chest as I watched Jules make her way down toward the end of the hallway. She stopped outside of a door, knocked, and disappeared inside. Chase's apartment.

Questions filled my head. Ones that forced me back into the confines of my apartment, shutting and locking the door behind me. I didn't like Chase to begin with, and this was already confirming the dread sifting in the pit of my stomach.

I didn't know how much time had passed before the faint sound of knocking came to my door. And as I neared, I felt my heart jump into my throat—I wasn't even sure why I was so uneasy.

This was Jules. The sweet, charismatic girl that helped me learn my way around the coffee shop. She was my first ever friend in the city.

Breathing out a relieved sigh, I opened my apartment door and she grinned.

Definitely overthinking.

"Ready?" Green eyes searched my face, ones that were strikingly similar to the pair that I had been trying to shove to the back of my mind this entire day.

I frowned, the day's events suddenly resurfacing. An angry scowl, angry words. Green eyes calculating and cold.

I could hear his voice in my head, the deep gravelly tone that prickled my skin with goosebumps. Our quick exchange was rash, but it had left me more frustrated than it did frightened. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing considering I hardly knew what I was dealing with.

Only a day spent in the office had me wondering how long I would be forced to stay, that is if I didn't get fired first. It wouldn't take Mr. Wright long before he realized the mistake he was making. I could only imagine just how much worse it would get.

I told myself that it was the scar that made it worse. And although it frightened me, I was all the more curious. I knew there was more—there had to be. No one gets scars like that falling down the stairs, or tripping over their own two feet.

It had been my idea to stay. With what I knew about business, and the reports that Mr. Wright had given me, it was easy enough to go over them and file the reports in the computer. But I also noticed the mistakes. Whoever had written the reports had done a poor job at organizing, and it was nearly impossible to know where the problems even started.

Even though I had done everything to get Carter Wright's image out of my head, I couldn't shake the surprised look in his green eyes, the first sign of emotion I had seen, as I was reordering the notes.

But whether it was because I had lost track of time, or Mr. Wright had little faith in me, I wasn't quite certain.

A cold wind swept through me, a reminder of the bitter winter night and the fact that I was still with Jules. Carter Wright wasn't here to ruin it.