Love Stitches

Three instead of One

Hazel's POV

"No no no. This is not supposed to be on the list. Who approved this?" I ask the manager.

He looks around and points towards Elliot who is talking to someone else. I walk to him and through the conversation I realise it is about the Paris trip too.

"Excuse me, Mr. Montgomery. Can I have a second?" I ask.

"Alright then, I'll see you there in Paris" the man before him shakes his hand, they share a smile and he leaves.

"Now you have many seconds. What is it?" He asks and I smile as I walk towards the table that has the costumes approved for the showcase.

"You see this is much more revealing" I say and grab the outfit.

Elliot just laughs at it and takes it in his hand. It is not an outfit but lingerie set. That is exactly how this looks and how much it covers.

I thought we were going to a fashion show to showcase our latest and upcoming trends. Not Victoria secret runway.

"Why is this even here?" He laughs as he shows me that.

"They say you approved it?" I ask him in return and he looks around.

"I don't know. Somewhere it must have slipped. I will-"

"This is perfect. And I slipped it into your signatures, Mr. Montgomery. People are going to love it" Ruby says out of blue.

"Yes, Ruby. People like you. Got it" I say and not just Elliot but everyone who heard it laughs too.

I look at her and she rolls her eyes. When she notices that people are laughing she just storms out.

One thing I am now learning is to not take s**t. After that Daniel incident, I confronted Jennifer about it. I told her about it and she still chose to blame me.

So I realised that I did not come here to make friends or relations. I am here to work so I am very much going to do that from now.

"Take this away. This is not going to make it" he says and the manager nods.

Elliot then walks towards the models and talks something with them. Meanwhile, I finalize all the outfits once again and give the manager a thumbs up.

I finally exhale out loud and walk to the chair before the runway set up. There are two chairs. One for Elliot and one for me since we are to see and finalise everything else for the fashion runway showcase in four days.

Elliot sits beside me as well. And we have fifteen minutes till the models are ready. He hands me a bottle of water and I happily take that. Josh and Rebecca are taking care of Savannah for today since we know this is going to take time.

Moreover she will get familiar with them too. She took my Paris work trip way much better than I expected. Her words and I quote,"yay! You are doing amazing mommy"

The coach and the manager both walk out of the trail room and they discuss about something. Five minutes later they signal Elliot and I that they are ready to which Elliot just nods.

"One two three, let's go" the coach yells and music starts playing in the background.

The models walk so gracefully and I am actually loving these outfits. I keep tapping my feet to the beat and I am enjoying this even though I know that this is just the practice show.

All the models do an amazing job and it is now time for the main one to come on to the stage. And when the song hits the high note, she walks in so elegantly in the dark blue dress that reaches her knees. She paired them with black heels and this is so stunning.

"Incredible" I hear Elliot say.

"Totally agree. The main one hits the spot" I say and once the song ends everyone looks at Elliot.

When he smiles and nods, everyone erupts into cheers. We are all now shouting, clapping and already celebrating.

"Thank you so much for your hard work everyone. Cheers to Paris!!" I shout and they all scream once again.

"You took care of the tickets right?" I ask Elliot and he nods.

Yes. The models are coming with us too. Seven of them in total.

"It is late. I'll drop you" he says.

Josh picked up Savannah from my home itself. And he also dropped me at my office. I did not drive my car so I nod at him.

We walk out and we are Ruby waiting for.. you know, her friend with benefits. I look at Elliot and nod while he moves aside to probably talk to Ruby I guess.

My phone rings at the exact same time and I see it's Josh. That means, it is either Savannah or a complaint on Savannah.

"Hello?"

"Mommy. Uncle Josh is taking me out. We are going to have pancakes" my daughter sounds excited.

"Oh really.? Are you having fun?" I ask her.

"Yes mommy. And aunt Rebekah braided my hair. She said it is called the French braid" she says again.

"I see you are having good time" I smile and I am genuinely happy.

"And uncle Josh told me that he will drop me at home once we finish eating pancakes. Is that okay mommy?" Savannah asks again.

"Absolutely okay, sweetie. Have a nice time"

"Love you mommy"

"I love you. Bye" I hang the call up and smile at the phone.

It feels really nice to see Savannah bonding with both Josh and Elliot. They both are more like my friends now. Josh is always a call away and I see Elliot every single day.

And by now I have adjusted with the fact that he is Mr. Montgomery when someone is around and Elliot when no one is around. Well, Josh is an exception though.

"I f*****g don't care. I cannot take you. This is a business trip and you don't know s**t about fashion" I hear Elliot almost shout at Ruby.

"She doesn't know about fashion too. You see the way she dresses?" She asks and I know she is talking about me.

"Yes. Because she is a mom and she doesn't have time to glam up. But you see the claps and screams inside? That is all her work. She took care of it. So now, good evening and don't call me today. Not in the mood for phone s*x" he says and walks towards me.

He nods at me and I follow him. I turn around to see Ruby and she is already glaring at me. But like I said, I don't give a s**t at this point.

Elliot doesn't talk anything as we are in the elevator and I don't plan on initiating any conversation too.

We walk to the parking lot and there are only few cars. So it is not easy to spot the expensive one of the bunch. I sit in his Mercedes and he starts driving, again without a word.

"You hungry?" He asks.

"Starving" I say and he nods.

"Is everything okay?" I ask.

"Ruby is getting on my nerves lately and I don't consider it as everything okay" he says and I nod.

"Then why are you still giving her what she wants?" I ask him.

"Like I said, Hazel. She is available and there whenever I need a stress buster. No strings attached" he sighs and I realise he is starting to get irritated.

So I sit silent for the rest of the car ride. And for the first time in the last one and half month, we see the diner closed. The one we frequently started eating at. Even Josh seems to like this now.

Elliot drives around trying to find a decent place and we end up walking into a more than just decent place to eat. Since it is nearing midnight, not many people are present.

We take a table for two and the waiter gives us the menu. I also see the waiter look at me top to bottom. Of course I am under dressed. Because I don't belong here.

But hey, I am just here to have my food. Not to flirt with you so get away with that.

Elliot orders the best seller for both of us. Because it is hard for us to choose.

"You are getting sassy now a days" he finally talks about something and I smile at him.

"I am a single mom so I realised I need to buckle up now. How am I going to teach my daughter to talk back when it is needed if I am not doing the same?" I ask and he nods with an appreciative smile.

"But people enjoyed the joke. No one remotely said anything like that to Ruby. Just because she is close to me, of course" he says.

"Oh screw her! She threw the flowers you sent me when you liked my work" I say and then close my mouth hoping that would erase what I just said.

"What?" He asks and I shake my head.

"I heard what you said. But I want you to elaborate now" he is not asking anymore. He is straight up ordering and our food arrives at the same time.

I see there are two pieces of spring rolls, some herb rice, steak, veggies and an exotic looking non alcoholic drink.

I start eating my food but Elliot's eyes are still on me.

"If you don't tell me, then I will have to ask Ruby herself" he says and I just stare at him.

"She seems possessive about you, okay? Since you gave me flowers she didn't take it well. She threw them in the trash can by the time I came back from my lunch" I say.

"And how do you know that it's Ruby?"

"Because minutes ago, she warned me too" I say and he nods.

We both don't talk about anything later. We finish eating, Elliot pays for the food and we are back to my home again.

And by this time, I see Josh's car in the driveway. My daughter and Josh hops down from the car and I see another lady who I think is Rebecca. This is the first time I am meeting her.

"Hello Rebecca. Thank you so much for looking after Savannah today" I smile as I hug her.

She is a tad bit taller than me. Blonde hair and brown eyes. She looks beautiful.

"Oh don't thank me. I cannot wait to have her at my place again. She is so adorable" she says as she looks at Savannah.

"How was your day? Is it a success?" Josh asks.

"Yeah"

"Guess so"

Elliot and I say in unison and we look at each other. I bet even Savannah must be feeling the tension in the air as we just do nothing but stare at each other.

"Okay then. Good night" Josh says and I greet all the three of them good night with a smile and Savannah hugs them.

She hugs Elliot extra tight and extra long before we walk in. Savannah sleeps the moment she falls on the bed and I somehow find myself unable to sleep.

The air between Elliot and I is growing thicker every single day. I don't understand what do I do to eliminate it. It is like I don't have words to say but still want to rant. And I am not sure if that even makes sense.

But I drift into sleep after long battle with my sleep demons. And by the time I open my eyes, it is just about to sunrise. So I take the extra time to make something special for Savannah's lunchbox.

I make her favourite meal and pack that in the thermos lunch bag to keep the meal warm. She wakes up and gets ready by herself. I cannot believe she is turning seven in a week.

"French toast! Thanks mommy" she smiles as she digs into the breakfast.

I drop her at her school first and then come back to get ready. I was so focused on making her lunch pretty and nice that I forgot to get ready.

On the way to my office, I stop by a coffee shop to have some coffee. I don't know, I did not feel like eating french toast and drinking juice today.

For some reason, my head is not at the right place. Something is bugging me and I don't know what is. I play with my wedding ring hanging around my neck and sigh.

I really miss Adrian. No matter how hard I try, I cannot seem to move away from his memories. I still miss him like crazy.

When my coffee is over, I drive to the office again. And while I am walking, I see everyone at my floor whispering looking at me. I try not to care but sometimes, it just gets me and I cannot do anything about it.

I awkwardly smile at them and shove my hands into my long coat pockets. By the time I reach my desk, I see three bouquets of flowers with three cards. One attached to each bouquet.

First one, because someone ruined your flowers that day.

Second one, to remind you that I am very much looking forward to our Paris trip and show casing Modish.

Third one, is because.. no reason apparently. I bought it because I wanted to give you. That's it.