Chapter 33
Chapter 0033
I sat at my desk, my head in my hands. I hadn’t slept at all the night before. I could not believe I was about to lose this position that I had just gotten. I couldn’t bear the thought of it. It was the only good thing I had going in my life.
And Logan! I felt sick at the thought of betraying him in the way Peter wanted me to. It could ruin his reputation…maybe his entire life.
I unlocked my phone and opened my messages with Maria. “Meet me in the bathroom?” I messaged her. “Be right there!” She sent back.
I stood up and peeked into Logan’s office. He was staring hard at a piece of paper on his desk. I hoped he wouldn’t notice how long I was about to be in the bathroom.
I grabbed my purse and walked briskly towards the ladies room. I pushed open the door and found Maria standing inside.
“Hey!” She smiled at me. “How’s it..”
I brushed past her. “Are we alone?” I looked under the stall doors, checking for feet.
“Oh,” her voice grew serious. “This is not a happy meeting. What’s going on?”
“No, it’s not. You know how Peter pulled me aside after the announcement to talk?”
“Yeah…?”
I leaned against one of the sinks and sighed. I told her everything Peter had said, from his request to how he claimed to supposedly have evidence to his threat to expose me.
“Hazel, no one here would believe that you made sexual advances to move up in the company,” Maria said, moving closer to me. She placed her hand on my shoulder.
“You didn’t see the email they made up. Or the video.”
“Video? What video?” Maria asked.
I froze. I hadn’t told Maria about the steamy locker room with Logan. I was kind of embarrassed by the whole encounter, especially since I’ve been denying to her and everyone that I am maybe a little more than slightly attracted to him. She would have teased me endlessly.
“Ah…” I could already feel my face growing hot. “Um. After the welcome party we had for Logan, I was staying in the rest area and when I walked from there to my desk to grab something, Logan came out into the hall from the locker room in just a towel…”
Maria’s mouth gaped. I could tell she was fighting a smile. She covered it with her hand. “Oh my god.”
“He had just…um sustained a minor injury, and he asked me if I could help him put some ointment on it, because he couldn’t reach it. So I followed him into the locker room, and…”
Maria was hitting my arm now. “And? And!?”
“Oh my god, stop it. Nothing happened. I put ointment on his back, then we left the locker room,” I said, shaking my head. “But the video only shows us going in and walking out together, it looks pretty bad.”
“Mm, that’s the dream, isn’t it? The hot CEO and his sexy secretary getting it on at work?” Maria winked at me. “Okay. This is very important. I need you to describe in detail what every inch of his body looks like.”
I smiled despite myself. “Stoppp.” I hit her lightly on the arm. “Please. I’m the last person Logan would want to do anything with.”
“Oh come on, I’ve seen the way he admires you. He doesn’t look at other women here like that,” she said.
My heart leapt in my chest. “Really?” I shook my head. “We’re getting way off track. I need your help coming up with a plan. I can’t figure a way out of this, that evidence looks really, really bad.”
“Hey, we’ll figure it out,” she pulled me into a hug. “Let me think on it, okay? I’ll call you with some ideas when I have them.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
We left the bathroom and I walked back to my desk. I snuck a peek over towards Peter’s office as I walked. He was pacing and talking on the phone. When he saw me he stopped pacing and stared, his eyes narrowing. I put my head down and quickened my pace.
Logan was leaning against my desk when I returned. “Where have you been?” He asked.
1
“I was in the restroom,” I said, “I’m sorry.” I wasn’t sure why I felt the need to apologize, maybe because I knew I hadn’t been in there for restroom things.
“No need to apologize,” Logan gave me a questioning look. “Can you set up a lunch reservation for Dylan and myself at Queso Fresca?”
“Yes, right away sir,” I set my purse down and sat in my chair. Logan walked back into his office slowly, still giving me that same questioning look. I must’ve had guilty written all over my face. I never hide my emotions well, they show up on my face no matter how hard I fight it.
I found the number for the restaurant and dialed it. As it was ringing. I got a text on my cell.
“This Peter thing is tough. I got nothing :/” Maria had sent.
I sighed. I also had nothing. I could see no way out except to give in to Peter’s demands.
Chance pulled over in front of Sunset Studios. Natalie opened the door to the SUV and started to get out.
“Don’t move from this spot. I’ll be back soon,” she barked at him.
“But this is a no parking…” Chance started. Natalie shot daggers at him. “I’ll be right here waiting, my love.”
“That’s what I thought,” Natalie slammed the door. She walked into the studio’s front doors.
“Ms. Whitaker!” The secretary said, startled. “You’re not called today, did you not get the message?”
“know, I’m not here to work, calm down,” Natalie said.
The secretary breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh thank God. After last time, I just…”
“I need to know the name of the man that came to visit me recently,” Natalie cut her off.
The secretary began typing furiously, eager to get rid of Natalie as soon as possible. “Looks like his name NôvelDrama.Org: text © owner.
0033
is Andrew. He did not give a last name.”
“Did he say why he wanted to visit me?”
“No, but it was his assistant that made the call. It sounded like the two of you were dating?”
“You didn’t ask?” Natalie snapped.
The secretary paled. “Well, no, I….”
“Give me the number the assistant called from,” Natalie interrupted. She didn’t care for excuses, she just wanted information on the mystery man.
The secretary wrote the phone number on a piece of paper and handed it to her. Natalie snatched it without a word, then walked back out the front door of the studio. She dialed the number. After two rings, an automated voice answered:
“You have reached Hatfield Supply. If you know your party’s extension, please enter it now. Otherwise, stay on the line to hear the menu options…”
Natalie ended the call. Hatfield Supply? Why did that name sound so familiar?
She got back into the SUV. She buckled her seatbelt then turned to Chance. “Do you know what Hatfield Supply is?”
Chance looked confused. “Yeah…that’s where your sister works.”
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I forced over to the staircase and sowly made my way up the stars care to avoid the mint soc uc which was notonousy noisy when it was secced on pushed coen the door a crack when got to my room it was dark node and from what could tell was completely unoccupied breathed a sigh of relief
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Trace there you are? A voice said cheerly behind me jumped and my hand few up to my heart turned Natale was standing behind me griming fromer to ear
“What the Dammit Natale you scared me
“Opps, sorry about the one said scrunching up her nose. An amemt at locking remorseful I succosed
I narrowed my eyes at her. She was up to something What do you want?
I
She shrugged. “Now, okay just wanted to that. We never get to do that.”
Because you’re a selfish, colc–neaned biten thought and almost said out loud instead octed for something a lite nicer Stry?
“Oh, come on Hazell, that’s what sisters do. Join me Lars tak.” She grabbed my hand and led me into my room. She sat on the edge of my bed and paned the spot next to her I sat my brain racing to
comprehend what was happening
“So, tell me about work?” She smiled at me.
i
I was conficted. On the one hand, this was what I had always wanted a sister that was also a friend and confidant. Instead I got a sister that was also Satan himself. I could not figure out what her angle was here and I did not trust her for a second, as much as I had always longed for a moment like this.
Uh nothing to say, really. It’s just the same boring st every day.” I shrugged.
“What about that new CEO of yours? What’s his name?” She asked
“Wha Logan? How in the world did she know any of that? “He’s just another hard-ass CEO, like all the ones that came before him.”
and walked over to my dresser. I started grabbing socks and underwear and t–shirts. I didn’t know what she was up to. but I wanted out of this conversation immediately.
7 looked him up.” Natale continued. “He is incredibly hot
“Sure, if you’re into that sort of thing.”
“Oh come on, you can’t tell me night…”
t you haven’t thought of him when you’re laying all alone in your bed at
my bed
I was glad I was facing away from her, because my face instantly grew hot. I was alone in because of her, I thought angrily. “Nope, not at all.
“Liar. It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me.” She paused for a moment. “What’s he like anyway?”
I turned to face her. “Why the twenty questions?”
“I told you, we never get to chat, I just wanted to get to know a little more about what my big sister does all day,” she smiled at me.
“He’s like any other boss,” I said.
“That’s it? That’s all I’m going to get out of you about him?”
“Look, I don’t know the guy, I just see him around work a little bit. That’s all,” I lied. I grabbed an empty tote bag from my closet and shoved my clothes inside. Then I went to my sink and swiped a couple hair and face products from the counter into the bag. “Well. Nice chatting with you, but I have to get back to the office.”
Natalie’s fake smile disappeared and a scowl turned up in its place. There was the Nat I knew well.
Without another word I quickly walked out of the room and bounded down the stairs.
“Hazel, is that you?” My mom called from the kitchen.
“Hi mom, bye mom,” I yelled back as I threw open the front door and ran outside. I slammed it behind me. I ran all the way to my car, afraid that if I slowed down for even a second Natalie would ask me a million more Logan–related questions.
When I got inside my car, I locked the doors and called Maria.
“Maria? You are not going to believe what just happened.”
I pulled into the office parking lot. As I got out and gathered my purse and tote, I tried to make sense of Nat’s line of questioning. Why was she suddenly interested in Logan? How did she find out where I worked? I certainly had never told her and I doubted my parents would have, Maria wasn’t able to make any sense of it either.
“Hazel?” a male voice slurred behind me. I turned and saw Chance staggering towards me.
“Chance?” I watched him stumble around, trying to make his way to me. “Are you drunk? What are you doing here?” This night was getting weirder by the minute.
“I’ve been waiting for you,” he said.
“Why?”
He laughed. “Oh, Hazel, you’ve always been the funny sister. I missed you.” He had finally reached my car and ran right into the back of it, “Oopsie daisy.”