Shattered

Carter (e)

Carter
31.
The rumors that were surfacing about my bandaged head and hands were whispered about through the work day, and I could feel the questioning stares. Assuming. With each person that dared to open their mouth, I held my breath and glared.

At first, I could ignore all the whispers as I usually did, but when they uttered Hazel's name and accused her of being so stupid for staying, I had to bite my tongue to keep from doing something I'd regret.

Maybe she finally stood up for herself. Good for her, one said, and the words made my stomach churn. They played over and over in my mind.

She chooses to stay! I wanted to shouted.

I didn't know how much was actually true, but Hazel chose to stay because she liked her job. And by staying, she was slowly tearing me apart one piece at a time. The longer she stayed, the closer she was getting to me. And I was terrified.

There was no doubt that the others were beginning to notice our closeness—I surely felt it—and I was letting myself get sucked in.

My employees could believe what they wanted, but one thing that I couldn't deny was that I liked the idea of being close to Hazel. And as frightened as I was, I didn't want to stay away. For once, I wanted the rumors to be true.

I wondered what Hazel thought of them.

But then I remembered that I was supposed to be angry. After what happened this morning, I was so careless to let her see me. To ask those questions.

There was no doubt in my mind that she was curious, but even more, I was terrified that I would let her in too far.

If I let Hazel get too close, she would find out all of the things that I vowed never to tell anyone. If she did, she would never look at me the same. And I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I lost Hazel.

Suddenly, a few quiet, resounding knocks came to my door, startling me from my wandering mind. They were coming from Hazel's office. I felt my heart leap inside my chest and sat up in my chair. Smoothing down my dress shirt, I took a deep breath and let my assistant make her appearance.

She ducked inside my office, and immediately, any of the anger I felt, disappeared. I could see the hesitancy in her eyes when she looked at me, no doubt wondering how I was going to react. Was she thinking about the same thing that I was?

I couldn't help but to look Hazel over. She looked exceptionally good today with a green-satin dress and dark orange sweater pulled over top. Hazel's usually thick, wavy hair was pulled into a braided bun with a few loose strands that framed her face and neck.

When I glanced back up at Hazel, I had to force the bite into my voice to hide my racing heart and said,

"What is it?"

"Mr. Wright, I was wondering if you needed someone to take Mr. Carwile's place on your trip. Since it's coming up and he has other plans..."

Seeing my narrowed eyes, Hazel's voice trailed off, and fell to the carpeted floor.

"Never mind," she said. There was a hint of annoyance in her tone, as if she knew how I was going to answer. "Just forget I said anything."

Without saying anything, I let Hazel return back to her office, but only a few moments passed before she appeared once again.

I went to speak, to apologize, anything I could say to reverse this situation to make the guilt I felt a little bit lighter, but Hazel was quicker.

"Don't forget about your meeting."

In the large conference room, I couldn't take my gaze away from Hazel. Even though everyone else's voices were swimming in my head, I couldn't stop replaying our conversation from ten minutes ago. Hardly a conversation, a voice in my head reminded me.