Carter
21.
My foot tapped the ground restlessly, eager for this day to be over. I pulled my gaze from the door that Hazel had just walked out of, my mind spinning as I pictured her standing on the other side of my desk. Smiling, kind, and curious. I didn't think I it was possible to see so many emotions on someone's face, one that filled me with an unfamiliar bout of warmth. Unafraid.
She wasn't afraid of me. Unlike the others, there was something about Hazel Hazel made me feel like less of a monster. With her wide yet scrutinizing doe eyes, she left my head clouded with just one look.
My computer sounded with a notification, pulling me from my thoughts and reminding me of the client that was supposed to be visiting in fifteen minutes. A frown tugged at the corners of my lips.
If Hazel got anything right about me, it was just how much I didn't care about this company. In fact, I wished I could tell her just how much I hated it, wished I could shove all of my efforts to keep this company running back into my father's grave where it belonged.
But if I didn't have the business, I'd have nowhere else to hide. The one place where I didn't have to think. Safe from the darkness.
Voices suddenly carried through the other side of the doorway, pulling me from my thoughts and toward the sound of Hazel's familiar muffled voice. The other I barely heard, though when I did, it was deep and familiar, and had my heart jumping into my throat. I stood abruptly.
I would never be safe. Now that Thomas was back, a sense of normalcy could never happen. I was doing just fine before he came. So why was he here? What did he want?
My fingers hovered over the door knob, my ear pressed to the wood. I couldn't help but feel unsure of my brother's intentions—not just toward Hazel, but the rest of my employees, could only imagine what he's said to them already.
"Ms. Morgan," I heard Thomas say, "how funny it is to meet you here—after all the research I've done, I didn't realize just how famous my brother really is. I'm so sorry for you."
"Would you like to speak with him?" She responded with.
Thomas didn't answer for a long moment, but I could hear the chuckle in his voice as if Hazel's words were somehow funny. I strained to hear his voice.
"Yes, but first I need to know something."
"You've been here long enough to hear about all of the rumors, right? Which, it makes me wonder why someone like you is still even here..."
"Someone like me?" Hazel's voice cut in, sounding confused—there was a hint of annoyance.
My lips tilted slightly at her words. If I did get anything right about Hazel, it was that. With every turn, she didn't hesitate to surprise me. One second I swore I got her all figured out—easy and predictable—and then the next she's doing something I I ever would have expected.
Not only with her looks, but her wit and quiet yet caring nature—it was oddly comforting.
"Look," Thomas mused, "From what I've seen, you're pretty, you look smart, and so surely you'd know better than to work for an egotistical maniac—if, that is, what people are saying is true."
"I don't have a choice."
"Sure you do," said Thomas matter-of-factly. "No one should force you into a job you never signed up for in the first place."
Before I could hear Hazel's next words, I turned the door knob and stepped into my assistant's office. Both pairs of eyes were quick to spin on me, replacing any anger or confidence I might've had with regret. Could feel the anxiety curling in my stomach at just being in the same room as my older brother.
His dark hazel eyes lit up when he saw me, lips curving upward slightly.
"There you are." Thomas said. He took a step toward me, arms reaching out as if there were never eight years in between us.
With a glare and my heart skipping a beat, I stepped away, my back pressed up against the door.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, my gaze quick to sweep over my brother's face, then back again.
There were no signs of drunkenness. No bloodshot eyes, no unsteadiness. In fact, the way his eyes were studying my face, unreadable yet head full of thoughts I couldn't understand.
"You weren't expecting me?" Thomas asked.
"I never asked for you to be here." I responded with, my jaw clenched and praying that it would hide the uneasiness I felt the longer I stared at him.
I couldn't figure Thomas out—what he wanted, why he was even here in the first place—like me, he was good at hiding what he was thinking.
"No, but I made sure to write myself into your time so that you'd have no choice."
"Then what do you want from me?" I snapped, my voice cold and impatient.
Thomas glanced in Hazel's direction, a quick look before his fingers latched on to my arm and pulled me toward the door. On the other side, I sucked in a nervous breath and let it out slowly when Thomas said,
"I need your help."
I scoffed, crossing my arms over my chest with a humorless chuckle and a faint smile tugging on my lips. "Are you kidding me, Thomas?"
A beat of silence too long has the nerves prickling underneath my skin all over again. I glanced around the empty hallway, praying that one of my employees would be just around the corner.
When I looked back at my older brother, he was staring at me, wanting to say something. He did.
"Carter, listen to me—"
"Don't call me that." I snapped.
"I'm your brother—what am I even supposed to call you?" Thomas slid his dark eyes to the floor, and then looked back at me, cheeks tinted with the hint of embarrassment. Good. He hated this as much as I did.
"What do you even want?" I glared at Thomas, a flood of emotions filling me that had long since been buried. Even after all these years they were still there. "Seriously, Thomas—did you really think that I could just forget and pretend like nothing ever happened?"
Thomas instantly shook his head. "No, I just...I'm going to lose Mia and Becca if I don't do something."
"What? Stop drinking?" I laughed. "You did this to yourself, so I hope you lose everything just like our damn father did."
"And do you want to know the worst of it? I am constantly being compared to him—hardly half of the things people say about me—but that's you, Thomas, you're everything like him."
Someone came into view behind Thomas, my cue to glare as my brother went to speak, and spun on my heel. I could feel both pairs of eyes on my back as I slammed my office door shut with a jarring jolt.
I didn't know how long I stood at the door, my heart pounding and my head spinning—I just knew I needed to get away from here.
Hastily packing up my things, I threw open my office door and stepped out into the hallway. When no one was out, I breathed out a relieved breath. Only, I didn't get very far, the sound of my name reeling me back around.
Hazel.
"Where are you going? You have meetings all day, and your clients...?"
Frowning, I said, "cancel them all—I'm leaving."
Clearly not satisfied, Hazel came toward me with a frown of her own.
"You can't just not show up when you don't feel like it," she replied, the frustration clear in her voice. "Two days in a row, Mr. Wright."
"Then make it three."
Hazel opened her mouth to speak, but I turned away before she could get the words off her tongue.
"Seriously?" She continued, grabbing hold of my arm and keeping me in place.
Warmth seeped through my skin with Hazel's touch, but didn't let myself think twice about it as I wretched my arm from her grasp.
"Don't—" I began to say, glaring, but Hazel was quick to cut me off.
"Whether you hate your job or not, you're still my boss. So act like one."
Although I was surprised with Hazel's words, I narrowed my eyes. There was a part of me that wanted to be angry, but I knew she was right.
I shook my head, backing away with my jaw clenched. I couldn't give her that satisfaction.
"Why don't you just do your job and leave yourself out of mine. Did you ever think of that?"
A sliver of silence had me turning away, eager to get away so that I could breathe, but Hazel wasn't finished, the single word she spoke sounding like a punch to the gut.
"Fine."