It felt as if Hazel's last visitors to her home had been the moving guys placing the last of her furniture. So hearing a gentle knock against her door early one morning was completely unexpected.
Glancing quizzically at the door and then her owner, Lily sashayed her way towards the entrance way and took a seat beside Hazel's neat collection of boots.
Hazel glanced down at her clothes, not exactly 'you have a guest' style fashion. Her fuzzy pink socks, pink leggings, and a large cat-whisker white sweater that hung over her body didn't scream 'come on in'. While she adored the sweater, her mother always told her it made her lose all of her 'beautiful curves'. Hazel really didn't mind.
Setting down her now-empty cup of tea she slowly started for the door and peeked through the eye glass. Instead of seeing a face or a person, her eyes met two cups of coffee sitting in a tray. Immediately her mind wandered to the idea that this person was at the wrong door, and needing to open it and shoo them away was going to be plenty awkward. A part of her told her not to open the door at all, to let them figure out they were at the wrong location or leave altogether assuming she wasn't home. Maybe their friend would correct them while Hazel was busy hiding away under her sink.
But then a tuff of raven hair whisked in front of the glass and she knew it wasn't a stranger. That was definitely someone looking for her. To make sure her eyes weren't fooling her she gripped the doorknob and slowly peeled it open, the door squeaking as if yelling to everyone in the building that yet again she was stepping outside of her safe haven.
And there he stood.
Nathan grinned, using one of his hands to lean against the side of her doorframe with a smile. He always seemed so calm and charming in whatever he did. How did he never get nervous?
"Morning, Hazel."
The brunette pulled back slightly, tempted to close the door and run away altogether. As wonderful as it was to see him bearing gifts of sweet caffeine she was in no way ready for visitors. Neither was her home. It was neat enough and people could come in comfortably just fine, but at every corner there was a pile of papers from lawyers or a stash of pricing ranges from funeral homes. There were trashcans filled with used tear-stained tissues and photo albums of her family with their pictures scattered left and right; searching for the best for their service. But it didn't seem like she had much of a choice in this matter. He had brought her a gift after all. That being a gift of something she still hadn't bothered to go out and buy.
"How," She paused, for some odd reason being exasperated by her one word. "How did you find my apartment number? You only knew the address to the building."
"I can find out just about anything." He smirked playfully. To be fair, the question in itself was silly. He was a detective. He tracked down criminals - or at least did their paperwork - on the daily. Finding some ditzy brunette's apartment number probably wasn't that hard. She still, of course, felt honoured that he had gone through the trouble of finding it, despite that her name was on her call box on the exterior of the building. Noticing her hesitation at opening the door fully, clearly nervous about something, he continued. "I have some good news."
A man bearing good news and coffee. Despite feeling completely embarrassed by the appearance of herself and her home, now she needed to let him in. Cracking open the door, the brunette allowed the male inside. She offered to take the tray but he insisted he was fine and slid off his black shoes at the door.
Bonus: he was even neat in a home setting rather than just in his office setting. Double points.
"Feel free to make yourself at home, I need to go and take care of something quickly." Nathan gave a smirk to himself as he watched the clearly flustered female dart into her room. He was more than well aware that she was trying to fix herself up, or at least make it seem like she hadn't just rolled out of bed. Of course, he didn't mind. He spent time with Hazel for her mind and personality, her features just seemed like icing on the cake.
Doing as Hazel had suggested, the male sauntered deeper into the home, setting the coffee tray atop her kitchen table and removing their two normal orders. While sliding his jacket off to rest against the back of his chair, he glanced over the cluster of papers against the surface. At first glance he assumed it was a project she was working on, even leftover work from her schooling days, but as his eyes loomed over and studied the ink his breathing hesitated. They were all legal documents regarding her parents.
One was their will, leaving plenty of money towards their only child. The rest were notices from lawyers for if the perpetrator was ever caught, funeral home receipts and emails, cards from loved ones, coupons to go pick up flowers that had been sent to her - but all had expired by now. To think all this time since her parents had passed Hazel had spent her days here, cooped up with nothing but daunting reminders at every turn that her parents were gone. She had nobody. Cards and flowers were always wonderful, but dropping a twenty to send a gift was a lot different than dropping twenty minutes to come and spend time with the fragile, emotionally broken daughter.
"Sorry," She muttered softly, emerging from the white painted door and scooting to her seat. Nathan ripped his eyes from the page giving a sweet smile to the girl who slid into her place across from him, cupping the coffee between her palms. Upon her giving him a thankful smile all Nathan could think about was how sad she must be behind that grin she wore. Behind all the bravery she tried so hard to show that she had. Behind it all sat a innocent girl, all alone with no parents, no family, and no real love given to her.
"It's not a problem at all." He assured. It would never be a problem to him if she needed to vanish to do something for herself. After sitting and glancing over all the letters against the table, he pondered that if she wanted to do something that made her feel better about herself who would Nathan be to stop her? A monster.
Suddenly realizing the mess against the table she took a hand and pushed it all to the other side. But her guilt gnawed at her eyes and heart for doing such a thing. They both burned. 'You're pushing your mother and father away.' The little voice in her head nagged. Before she could allow it to fully penetrate her skull she forced smile she cleared her throat and stared down at the cupped beverage before her. "I, uhm, made some muffins the other day. I'll bring them over." Good. Maybe some distance from those papers haunting her was exactly what she needed. She scurried over to the platter in the kitchen, removing the dome lid she had placed on it only a day prior. She placed the dish in the center of her dining table, just to the left of their adorable coffee display they had before them.
"Tell me about your parents." He said, just as she had taken the first sip of her drink.
Clearly the question caught her off guard as she slowly lowered the drink back down to the table and rubbed her shoulder in discomfort. How was she supposed to talk so freely about her parents when she could hardly turn to her left and stare at papers with their names written on them? Now she was being asked to unfold her relationship with them? Simply working in silence beside Nathan and getting the case done would be far less emotionally painful than needed to dish out her entire life to him and then face everything head on with someone who truly understood her pain. She didn't want pity. She wanted someone to help her get closure. She wanted someone to genuinely care, not for show.
But maybe, that's exactly what Nathan wanted to do.
Nathan's relationship with his family had never been that great. Probably never would be. Needing to watch a kind girl who was graced with excellent parents have them ripped away in the worst way possible seemed entirely unfair. Now, wandering into her apartment for the first time, he sat realizing that in this pit of despair that Nathan was helping her dig, he never bothered to ask why she was digging it in the first place. Nobody did. Nobody else was helping her dig. Nobody even offered to help and take care of her when she grew exhausted from all the work. Not a single soul.
Yet here Nathan sat, more in tune with this story than anyone else was, and he was staring the one girl in the face that wanted all of the answers. But he failed to realize that all this time he had been giving heart wrenching news to a girl that had nobody to come home to. Nobody to help her organize, and to hold her, and let her cry, and help ease her pain.
She was alone.
"I'd love to hear about the good news you brought-"
"I promise Hazel," He paused, staring into the eyes that were nervously shifting into his. "It can wait until after I learn about your family."
That was most definitely a first.
"Really?" She asked softly, breathless, completely astounded. She thought he only wanted to get those papers off his desk, to check the case off on his To-Do list. Why, if that was the case, did he want to learn about the lives of her family members?
He nodded, a sad and gentle smile fading into existence. That's when Hazel knew it was truly genuine.
"Well," She began, talking a deep breath and exhaling slowly attempting to get her emotions in check before she went into the depths of her life. The life she only ever relived in the darkness of her bedroom before sleep consumed her. "There's a lot to say."
"We have a lot of time."
Hazel remained still, collected her breath in her lungs making sure she had enough to speak before allowing it to burst forth in words. "My parents were wonderful. I-I know how cheesy and bland that sounds, but they were. They were my everything - my whole world all the way up until," She paused, realization crashing down on her once more, her lungs caving, her eyes sinking away in the icy blue depths of his orbs. "You know."
She collected herself again. "They were so supportive. I did well in school and they thought it was because of how hard I worked, but really I knew it was because they had my back 100% along the way." She smiled to herself, gazing out the window to the sky in remembrance. "I still remember all the things we did together. All the trips we went on, all the quotes and lines my mother used to say. All the jokes my father used to crack." She smiled to herself, her chest getting a warm feeling as if the memories were hugging her poor, fragile heart. "They were my biggest life-line. They were my entire world."
Nathan watched her carefully, watching as her expressions of joyful memory faded into crucifying remorse. He never realized how truly close she had been with them until now. Seeing the heartbreak she felt ached him as well. He couldn't imagine spending his entire life with people he loved so dearly and having them taken away by someone else's greed. Amazingly, she didn't seem bitter. Not hostile towards anyone. Only sorrowful that they were gone.
"I didn't have friends. I didn't have a lot of money. I only had my grades and them." Her eyes flashed towards the papers piled at the end of her table. Everything her parents had worked for for their entire lives was resting right there at the end of the table. They were giving so much of it to her, so much to a good cause, and everything they had exhausted themselves for was now taken away from them, along with their lives. "They gave me almost everything after they died. That's when I got Lily." Finally gathering her courage up once more she managed to make eye contact without bursting into a puddle on the floor. "They gave me so much, and whoever killed them took away the only people I ever had."
Then, she stopped, catching her breath in her throat. What was she doing? Why was she dishing all of this out to him? Was it because they were partners? Was it because she trusted him? Was it because she wanted a reason to push to start the case faster? Really, despite all of these lies she told herself, she knew what the real truth was. She just needed to speak.
Nathan sat in polite silence, watching as her lips locked and her mind twisted it on itself. He could tell just be her expression that she was internally breaking at speaking about it all. She didn't seem like the type who liked to talk. Nathan understood where she was coming from, of course. He hadn't lost anyone as gruesomely as she had, but he didn't have any supports either. Anyone could see that just by watching the way that his father spoke down to him and the lack of his mother being in the picture. He couldn't imagine having a good relationship with anyone and watching them be stolen from life itself. If that had happened to him he would be bitter for the rest of his life. But somehow Hazel remained her normal, quiet, and polite self.
"Thank you for sharing that with me." He said softly, hoping to snag her attention from clutching her coffee as if it was the last morsel of food on the planet. He chucked to himself, hoping to indicate the brightening of mood he was bringing to the table next. "I wanted to stop by today to tell you that the paperwork you wrote will be confirmed and filed for tomorrow." He gave a gentle nod as her head slowly began to raise itself. "We can start the investigation as of tomorrow morning."
Hazel's face brightened subtly. Not enough for the average-joe to see it, but Nathan could tell by studying her eyes. They were filled with stars, brightening and gleaming with hope. He knew without needing to be told. While Hazel still felt disheveled, she was thrilled to finally get started. With a tender smile, Nathan slid out of his chair and grabbed his coat, adjusting it over his shoulders.
"Where are you going?"
He paused, glancing up from doing his overcoat to see the brunette staring back at him with confusion. He hadn't expected her to be so shocked that he was leaving. In fact, he assumed she would have been thrilled.
Clearly noticing his apparent confusion she cleared her throat. "Would you like to stay for a while? You can finish your coffee."
He blinked, shocked - stunned even. He never would have expected that this terrified ball of brown and pink would ever ask for him to remain a little longer. Based on the way she carried herself and spoke to others she seemed like the type who never wished to be around others. So why now she was asking him to stay? Was it because she had opened her soul to him and she wanted him to linger a little longer? Or, maybe, was it because she was finally starting to trust again? To open? To learn that some people in the world don't want to just take.
Nathan gave a small smile, a nod of his head as she slipped back into his seat, adjusting his jacket over his shoulders. "That sounds wonderful."
-------------
After stepping into his car, Nathan seemed to have his causal crooked smile stapled onto his face. Despite being quiet and personal, Hazel did have a way with conversation if she opened up. She may have been awkward or slow at getting started, but conversing with someone who genuinely likes your company seemed to be the most refreshing, uplifting, and confidence-building experience.
They had spent the majority of their afternoon - without intending to - talking. Sharing. Confiding. It started out with talk of how long Nathan had been working for his father, what he liked and disliked about his job, what he wanted to truly make his name out to be. Slowly their minds drifted into novels, literature, films, families, all enjoyable topics that two friends would share on the average day.
It had been nice after years of being in an environment where it was "uncivilized" to discuss the joyful things in one's life to spend an entire afternoon, coffees in hand, chatting about the life he wished he could tell. Nathan couldn't have counted on one hand the amount of times Hazel had needed to dash their drinks to the microwave, heating them up from their neglect for their newfound love of sharing words. It had been the most eye-opening afternoon he had ever had in months.
Still after it all, he knew what he needed to do.
Instead of racing home to ignore all of his father's calls, Nathan instead hit the gas and started back towards the office; vision in sight and idea in mind.
Determining he wasn't going to take long, he parked along the public access street, hurried to the top floor, and flung to the door open to the one room many people in the building feared most; his father's office.
"I need the files." He demanded without a second thought. Instead of waiting for an answer and going through the usual back and forth that they normally did, he went straight for the filing cabinet, snapping it open with his keys and going through the alphabetized filing. His father of course wasn't that organized, that was all Hilda's job. Like many others in the building, her career was to make his father look good, and that she did extremely well.
"What files?" He scoffed, rolling his eyes baffled at his oddball son once more.
"Miss Daniels'. Her registration forms."
His father stared quizzically, shaking his head from side to side as he watched his distressed son madly rip file after file out of the cabinet. Why his son got so worked up about trivial things he would never know. "And why exactly do you need them?"
Nathan bit down on his tongue, squeezing until he swore it was going to burst from his mouth. Was he really that dense? That idiotic? Or was this all just one big test to see how far he could push him before snapping? He was bending Nathan more and more. Soon, without a doubt, he was going to break.
"Do I really need a reason?" He retorted rather bitterly. He didn't care if his father was only doing this to prove a point. He was sick of his father never supporting a lick of anything he did. Now that he had tossed an innocent, tormented girl out to try just to succeed in "toughening up" his son was unforgivable. Especially when the reason for all of this to begin with was legitimately justified.
"Seeing how flustered you're getting just by the question, I would say you have one."
Nathan squeezed down on the papers in his hand, tossing them back into the cabinet with a thud, slamming the door closed, and ripping open another. His father paused, turning in his chair to watch his son's search for the information he craved. "Care to answer?"
"Not really. I'm kind of busy."
His father inhaled sharply before releasing it with a sigh. "Busy looking through my files, in my office, for something you don't have authority to authorize or change."
Another slam closed. Another rip open.
"If you care to continue searching through my office like a crime scene, I suggest I get the reason why."
Silence. Nathan was too determined to care about his father's demands. He was getting close. He could feel it. Finally, there it sat, curled up at the back of the bottom drawer. While irritated about it's placement in his filing system he took it out and threw it down onto his desk, kicking the drawer closed with his foot and sauntering to the front of his boss' desk. The folder hadn't been touched other than getting shoved away.
His father was testing him, testing his resilience, patience, and drive. This was one of his tests that Nathan was going to pass with flying colours.
"Pardon?" His father asked, pushing a finger down into the tan folder, his fat finger running over the female's name on the front.
"Since you have clearly stated that I don't have the authority to do such things, I'm demanding that you do what I was planning to."
"That is?"
"Confirm her application." He spoke slowly, agitation dripping and overflowing with every word. But he wouldn't break, that's what his father wanted him to do. He needed to remain strong and in-control.
"Why?"
"So we can start working on this case."
"And why do you want to start so quickly?"
"I've never had a personal attachment to a case before." He blurted it out. He didn't mean for it to tumble out the way that it had, but he couldn't think of a better way to say it. The case needed to be done to fulfill something inside of him. A part of Hazel that echoed in the back of his mind, begging him to let her help.
His father raised an eyebrow, leaning farther back into his seat. "Really?"
"Yes, really." He spat back.
"And what exactly is that?"
Good God this man loved to milk this for every second it's worth. "My partner needs this." He stated, plain and simple. "Her parents are dead, she's all alone with nothing but a will and a police report saying that they'll "do their best" as an explanation as to why. Her entire world is gone, and nobody is giving her a reason why." He shook his head, turning away and stuffing his hands in his pockets. If he didn't he might have just punched his father in the face for not understanding the severity of the situation. "They were all she had and now they're gone. The police aren't going to tell her anything since they can't even find this guy. She's been left with no other option than to do this herself." He turned back, eyes boring into his father's. He needed to try his hardest to make him see. "For her sake, she needs to know what happened to them. And we're going to find out."
His father smirked the normal way he did, the way that said that he finally knew everything he needed to, and was going to use it to prevail. Unfortunately, more-often-than-not that's exactly what he did.
Nathan leaned forwards and pat the large folder with his hand. "I expect them to be done tomorrow. We're starting whether they're done or not. We're getting this done."
On his way out the door he gave his father a small back-hand wave and swished away.
Finally, Hazel's family was going to get justice.