The Pilot And The Dreamer

Chapter 25

"Yes, Noah, I will call you when I'm done with work." I say for the umpteenth time before I shut the door and walk up to the office. I push the button for the elevator and pull my purse closer to my side. I enter the elevator and push the button for the 5th floor when someone yells at me to hold the elevator, which I do. I see someone running towards the door and once he's inside, fights for breath.

"5th floor please." He says in a very smooth British accent. White dress shirt tucked into brown pants, a navy colored tie, and black loafers. His sleeves are rolled up to show his muscular forearms. "Thanks for holding the door." 

"Anytime."I reply with a smile. "What office do you work in?" 

"Evergreen Insurance." He says with a smile and I'm kinda shocked.

"No way, me too." I say before the elevator dings and opens up on the fifth floor. I walk out and towards the office. 

I head towards my desk after clocking in to find something off.  The desk is clean, how I usually keep it, and some personal effects, including a photo of Natalie, Peter and me when we were at the beach. 

What the hell is wrong with this picture?

I sit down in my chair, just as the phone rings. 

"Evergreen Insurance, this is Hazel. How may I help you?" I say in my professional tone.

"Hazel, this is Chris. Can you come by my office please?" 

"I'll be right there." I say, hanging up before standing up and walking over to the office. I knock on the door and I hear my boss' voice telling me to come in, so I do. 

"Ah, good to have you back, Hazel." Chris says and I notice that there is another person in the room. "Allow me to ake introductions. Hazel, this is Martin, Martin, Hazel." Chris says and the figure turns around and it's the person from the elevator. His bright green eyes look at me in recognition. 

"We met this morning." I say, before moving forward to shake Martin's hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Martin." 

"Pleasure is all mine." He says, shaking my hand. 

"Hazel, I regret to inform you that you are being let go." Chris says and I feel my legs start to give way, so I collapse into the nearest chair. 

"I-i'm sorry, did you just say you just fire me?" I ask, dumbfounded. "Because I told my mom never to get involved in my profess-" Chris stops me.

"I feel that you don't have the passion in your work as you did four years ago." I compose myself, standing up and straighten out my outfit before holding my hand out.

"Thank you, sir for the opportunity to be apart of Evergreen Insurance." I say before Chris hands me an envelope. I take it and walk back to my desk to pack up my things, but I can feel everyone's eyes on me, but I ignore it. I pull any personal information off the computer and put my personal effects in a cardboard box before grabbing my purse and walking towards the elevator.

"Hazel wait!" I turn towards the sound to see Martin running towards me. "No hard feelings, right?" I bite my tongue to keep my snarkiness from slipping out, but it's no use.

"Yeah, of course, no hard feelings. You stole my job from under me, so yeah, I totally agree with you." I say, walking into the elevator to hit the lobby button, but Martin has other plans. 

"Have dinner with me?" 

He has the nerve!

"Get away from the door and leave me the hell alone." I say and he backs off. I hold my head against the wall and take a couple of deep breaths before the door opens again. I walk towards a bench to call Noah to come pick me up.

"Hello?" Noah asks.

"Hey, Noah. I need a favor." I ask and I can feel my resolve breaking. 

"Hazel, sweetheart, what is it?" He asks before adding, "Is it Logan?" He says through clenched teeth, "Because if so, I will person-"

"I got fired." I say, my voice coming out in a choke. He swears before I hear the jingle of car keys.

"I'll be right there Hazel, just hang on." He says.

"Okay." I hang up and take a breath. I give it a little time before my phone rings with Noah telling me that he's here. I grab my things and walk out to his car. He stands by the passenger side door and takes the box out of my hand to put it in the backseat before wrapping his arms around mine.

"Let's go get some lunch, darling, okay." I nod and he opens the passenger door and I close it before he goes around to the driver side. We pull away from the curb and drive towards my favorite place for lunch.

~~~~~~~~~~

We maneuver through traffic and pull up to the Habit Burger. I get out and walk inside with Noah right behind me and we both order. I fill up my drink before finding a seat in the corner, Noah sitting across from me.

"Thank you." I say, and he nods before putting his hand into mine. I smile just as the buzzer on our table goes off, so Noah goes to pick up the order. He brings it back to the table and he digs into his burger, but I just nibble on mine.

"Want to talk about it?" I guess at this point, I can't avoid it.

"It might be smart." I relax and dive right into the story.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Now, that's kinda messed up." He says.

"Tell me about it." I reply before adding, "The guy even had the nerve to ask me out to dinner! While I was standing in the elevator, holding my box of personal items from the desk." Noah smiles, and I gently smack his arm. "Not funny, Noah."

"I'm sorry, I can't help it." He says. "I'll get you a box, give me a second." He gets up to grab a to-go box.

"Hazel."