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It still amazed me that she questioned me like she did. No one else dared. But I had to admit, it was also one of the reasons we worked so well together. “You were late today. Until this problem is under control, it will continue to affect your job performance. I need you here and focused.” Even I could see how thin my excuse was. Why couldn’t I just admit that I wanted to help her? That I wanted, no needed, to be the one to fix anything that troubled her.
Her face softened, and she gave me a gentle nod. “As long as you let me pay for it.”
She should know better. I turned back to my laptop, ignoring her statement. “Is that all?”
“No, but we will talk more about this later.” Hazel paused, and her breathy laugh filled the room.
I groaned as my cock jumped at the sound.
“Wait, hear me out.” She waved her hands in front of her, clearly misinterpreting the reason for my groan, and I was not about to correct her. “I did have something else I needed to ask you about.”
She didn’t need to say anything else. I had a pretty good idea of where she was headed with this.
“Did you hear about the cheese factory explosion?” She grinned, clearly loving the joke of the day she’d chosen. She didn’t think I knew about her mission to get me to smile more. I overheard her conversation with Jess when she exposed her big plan and how she would achieve it. One joke at a time. I didn’t have the heart to tell her to cut it out.
“No, Hazel. I did not,” I answered deadpan.
She let out a loud guffaw. “There was nothing left but de-brie.” She laughed a little louder. “Get it. De,” she paused, “Brie. Like the cheese.”
A faint smirk graced my lips. “I see you’re still on the terrible dad joke kick.”
She pointed at me. “You thought it was funny. You can’t hide it from me, Jareth. You just want everyone else to think you’re a natural grump, but I’m on to you.”
I ignored her statement. She still didn’t get that it wasn’t an act. This was who I was. I had little in my life to be joyful about. “Is that all? I have a meeting I need to prepare for.”
She still had a faint grin on her face when she responded. “For now. Would you like a coffee or anything else when I bring your report?”
“No, thank you.” I shook my head. Did she have some kind of magic up her sleeve? I rarely thanked anyone, yet after only a few months of working together, Hazel convinced me to add it to my regular vocabulary even if I only said it to her. Now, three years later, it rolled off the tip of my tongue.
“Oh, I almost forgot. Your godfather Terri called. He wanted me to schedule time to meet you for lunch. You had Thursday free.”
I was close to my godfather who had been my dad’s best friend. After Dad died, he tried to be there for me when he could. It was my fault I pushed him away, afraid I might be tempted to replace my father’s role in my life with him. But Terri was relentless. He gave me the space I needed, but always popped up to make sure I knew he was there.
Now, I made a point to meet him for lunch at least once a month. Hazel sometimes came with us. They got along really well. Although, why wouldn’t they? Both were upbeat and optimistic people. I had a feeling some of the dad jokes she quoted me came from him.
He was one of the last connections I had to my father. He was successful in his own right and used his influence to help me uncover details about Dad’s death I might not have found otherwise. My godfather had worked at the factory too and had been well-liked. People often opened up to him because of the connection he’d built with them.
He was one of the few people I trusted.
“Jareth?” The deep male voice of Lance Scott, VS Productions, spoke through my earpiece. We co-owned the music production company after I bought into it when he was struggling to keep it afloat ten years ago.
I’d been distracted by a text and picture sent through by David Wolfe.
Fuck. Hazel hadn’t told me how bad the damage had been.
“I’ll look at the contract and call you back later.” He was blathering about moving quickly before someone else signed the incredibly popular band, The Lost Boys. I hung up, not bothering to say goodbye. Not that I typically did, but I was more abrupt than usual.
I scrolled through the snapshots David’s plumber sent me. He wanted to know what to do with the furniture they needed to clear out to tackle the job. They would have a dumpster there the next day and could toss it inside. I remembered how excited she was to buy that sofa set. Poor, sweet, Hazel. She was going to be devastated. A headache formed behind my eyelids.
Jareth
Tell Avery I need her to decorate the space before Hazel gets home. Same furniture. If she can’t find the exact piece, upgrade it in the same color. Money is no object. The only thing that needs to stay is the coffee table.
DAVID
I’ll see if she’s free.
JARETH
