Love Stitches

meet my best friend

Hazel's POV

I am debating right now. What must be that emergency for him to call me at this odd hour? There are rumours flying in Modish office about us.

Do I answer and play it cool? If I don't answer will it cost me getting fired? What do I freaking do now?!

What if he is calling to apologise for whatever happened today? I mean, the way he just announced about firing Daniel was a little overboard I have to agree.

"Good evening, Mr. Montgomery" I greet him as soon as I answer the phone.

"Formalities later, are you busy right now?" He asks me.

"No, absolutely not. Is there anything I can help you with?" I ask him.

There is a minute of silence from his end and my heart is pounding in my chest. I don't know what to say and I cannot predict what he is going to say either.

"You still there?" He asks.

"Y-yes" I answer and almost slap myself for being such a nervous wreck.

"So, I received an invitation from a fashion show in Paris. They would like it if we showcase Modish. I think it is a great opportunity to be back in the market" he says and I sigh.

"Hello?" He asks again.

"Yes. Yes, Mr. Montgomery. That would be an amazing opportunity. I really hope You and Ruby would get back from Paris with a good news" I say.

"And this is exactly why I called you, Hazel" he says.

With that, my heart rate picks up again. I don't know why I am this messy with my emotions right now, but I am.

"Is it a bad service or are you just not talking?" He asks.

"I am listening, Mr. Montgomery" I am quick with my response.

"Yeah. Ruby has zero knowledge on what we run about. So I want you to accompany me with this business trip. I am just booking our flight tickets and I wanted to inform you" he says.

What the f**k?

"Mr. Montgomery I have a six year old daughter!" I say and my voice came a little stronger this time.

"I know. How about you consider options like your family or someone close?" He asks.

And I feel deserted with no one! This is a golden opportunity. But to me, nothing is golden if that doesn't involve my daughter's safety.

I debate on calling my mother but she would ask me to come back resigning all of this if I cannot handle. Parents are pillars of emotional support, but maybe not all the times.

"I am a widowed single mother. I live just with my daughter with no one's help. So I guess I cannot do anything about it" I

"Oh" he whispers.

"Okay" he says and another minute of silence passes.

"Good night, Hazel" he says again.

"Is that it?" I ask him and I mentally slap myself for not having an inbuilt filter for my brain to mouth connection.

"Why? Did you expect something else?" He asks and I just want to jump in a hole and magically disappear with Savannah, of course.

"N-no. Good night, Mr. Montgomery" I greet him and hang up before him.

I groan and fall on bed. But that got me thinking like crazy. Was I expecting him to say something? What am I thinking about?

I stare at the ceiling till my eyes were heavy and just wants to shut on their own. And for the first time, I did not dream of the day that I lost Adrian. But I dreamt of Savannah and I having a picnic at the lake I don't know where.

We both seemed so happy. And I absolutely don't want this dream to end.

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Elliot's POV

"Whatcha doin dude?" Josh asks me as I just keep staring at my laptop.

I can literally book tickets for two right now. I have all the information I need of Hazel from the recruiter's files. But she has a daughter and she doesn't have anyone else.

I don't know why I keep building a soft spot for her, but I do. The way she looks after her daughter just gets me every single time. She was ready to snatch the phone of a stranger because they were cursing around kids.

I see the little girl didn't mind that day, but Hazel did. If I knew she was going to walk into my office's door as an employee the next day .. I would have fired her before she joined her job.

"There you go zoning out again" he says and I roll my eyes.

I shut my laptop and give him my full attention. Josh is also a thirty one year old man, just like me. But he is married, unlike me.

His wife is now pregnant and if you ask me what he does, he doesn't do anything. He got s**t loads of fortune on his name when his father died eleven years ago. And he has appointed people to manage his business and keep the profit in check.

That is literally it! He doesn't do anything particularly except the fact that he has multiple businesses on his name.

"I am hungry, want to grab dinner with me?" He asks.

"Yeah. I am starving too" I say.

We walk out and we choose his Lamborghini. On the way to the restaurant he talks about how excited he is to become a father. I wonder what it is like.

"It's high time, dude! You need to get married" Josh says again.

"Josh! Not you too" I roll my eyes.

"Or.. is there someone that you have your interest in at the moment?" He asks.

"No one caught my eye" I reply instantly.

"Too bad" he says and now I am curious. He was never this interested in my love life anyways!

"Why do you ask?" I ask him and just look at him watch me sideways and act as if he just did not listen to something I asked him.

This means one thing. This asshole has been my friend since childhood and I will know when he is acting different. So I just turn towards him and smirk.

He again watches me sideways and decides to ignore.

"I am going to call Rebecca if you don't tell me now" I smirk again.

"Your mother set me up to this, okay? She wanted to know if you have interest in someone" he spills it as soon as I take his pregnant wife's name.

I roll my eyes and groan. My mother! She just wants a daughter in law so bad. I wonder why she is so hell bent on it.

I silently watch Josh park his car in the parking lot and we walk in to a Michelin star restaurant. The interiors want to give a cozy vibe but they are not actually succeeding at it.

We sit at the table that is at the corner and we can literally see everyone else from here. Rich couples, pretending to be rich couples.. you name it.

I go through the menu and I don't see grilled cheese sandwich in the list. I miss the one at the diner closer to Hazel's house.

Before you ask me if I stalked, that might not be the term you are looking for. The night I fired Daniel, I just wanted to make sure she and her daughter reached their home safe.

It was walkable distance and they live in a small but cute home. I even remember the address and I don't know why I keep paying attention to her.

Josh orders the chef's special menu for both of us and we then talk about what's happening in life. Josh knows absolutely everything about me.

"So, how is blondie?" Josh asks and I resist my urge to sigh.

"She is fine. Just a pain in the ass" I say.

"Oh! Just a f**k a day and she would not be bothering you" Josh smirks.

"Believe me brother, that is exactly what I am doing" I say and he laugh raising his hand for a high five. I give that to him and chuckle at that too.

Ruby is such a slut that she even slept with Josh clearly knowing that he is married. She wants to climb the social ladder or whatever thing that she has but she is failing to understand that this is not the way.

She has zero knowledge on fashion world. She dresses nice and preps up like a doll, but that doesn't conclude as fashion sense to me.

But she is still there not because she is useful. She is available. And a man can understand the difference between those both terms. Maybe women who were once a available to someone too.

The chef's menu arrives and it looks appetising. But when I have a bite, I don't know it lacks taste.

"Dude! This is delicious" Josh says as he takes large bites. This man is unbelievable right now.

"I bet your bland soul is much delicious than this" I say and signal the waiter for the check.

I pay for it and drag him out before he even finishes half the dish. I snatch his car keys and drive towards the diner near Hazel's home.

"Seriously? This place, Elliot? What are you now? A broke employee?" He scoffs when he looks at the diner.

I wouldn't blame him. The first time I saw this, I thought the same too. But there was no service and I just had to sit somewhere and cool down before I lash out on Ruby.

Yes, the curse words and all. I was talking to Josh about Ruby that night.

We walk in and Josh scrunches his nose at the interior. Luckily, the same table is available again. As if it was meant for us to sit.

The waitress smiles at us and I order two grilled cheese sandwiches and soda for us. I give him some time to digest that we are really having some food here for tonight.

The food arrives and he just looks at that.

"I am not hungry" he says and looks away but I don't waste a second before diving into the melting cheese goodness.

I softly groan at the amazing taste and that catches Josh's interest. After so much of contemplation he finally takes a bite and it is written across his face that he finds it delicious too.

We smile and don't talk a word till we finish that. Josh goes on and orders another for him again. And it is funny how even star restaurants cannot make food as good as this.

"How did you even know about this place? If I was driving and saw this, I would think this is a stall that sells fabrics" Josh says but not in an offensive way.

"I just happened to-"

But what I did not expect, is for Hazel to walk in. She looks around and finds me. I smile at her but she is frozen as if she had just seen a ghost.