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She sighed. “Yeah. Hannah thinks she means well. I’ll be honest, she kind of forced me to come out tonight. I was even trying to hide in the bathroom and get work done. She dragged me out. Now I know why. I have no idea how much money she spent but I guess her plan worked.”
“I guess it did,” I said. “Sorry you got stuck with a grump like me. I wanted nothing to do with this either. I guess there was some bullshit fine print in my contract that got me stuck with this.”
“Well, maybe this is the best case scenario then,” Hazel said. “We both don’t want this. But we’re stuck with it. So we don’t have to be fake with each other.”
“I guess that’s a good point,” I said. “Because you know this isn’t the date, right? And Ellen is not going to let this slide. We’re going to have to go out on a real date.”
“I know.” Hazel stood up. “Thanks for the drink. And the jacket.”
“That’s it? You’re leaving so soon, love?”
“You said it yourself, this isn’t the date,” she said. “I’m going to go home.”
I reached for her hand. “You wanted a second drink.”
“I changed my mind.”
“Bad breakup?”
“Excuse me?” she asked.
“You didn’t want to come out. You didn’t want to wear that dress. You want to run right back home. You’re going through something.”
“Is it your problem?”
“I guess not,” I said.
“Then good night, Atlas. We’ll talk soon about that date?”
I stood up and towered over Hazel.
I again pointed out to myself that her eyes weren’t hazel.
They weren’t hazel at all.
They were brown.
A rich brown color.
Her eyes were full ofsomething.
Emotion. Pain. Grief.
I wasn’t sure.
“One more thing before you go, Hazel,” I said.
“What’s that?”
“I need your number so we can plan our date.”
Chapter Six
HAZEL
I pouredmyself another cup of coffee but purposely left it on the counter.
My hands were jittery already.
