Chapter 6 Opening and Closing Doors

Hazel sat on the edge of her bed, staring down at her phone. The screen displayed a slew of unanswered text messages from Michael, each one more insistent than the last. She had ignored them all week, not ready to face the wreckage of their relationship. But the latest notification wasn't a text. It was a voicemail.

Her thumb hovered over the play button, hesitating before finally tapping it.

Michael's voice filled the room, sounding strangely calm. "Hey, Hazel... I've been trying to get in touch. I just want to come by on Saturday to grab the rest of my stuff. I'll be quick, promise. Just... let me know."

She sighed heavily, her stomach churning as it had been for days now. The nausea had become an unwelcome companion all week, along with the pounding headaches and constant fatigue. She had been telling herself it was just a bug, something she'd picked up from stress or maybe something she ate, but it was lingering far longer than she had expected. Even the small, light meals she'd been forcing down weren't helping much.

Hazel groaned and tossed the phone onto her bed, trying to shake off the discomfort as she got ready for her final job interview at Anderson Enterprise. It had been a long two week of interviews, rejection emails, and tired mornings, but today she had a good feeling about it.

The office building of Anderson Enterprise towered above her, sleek and modern, with its reflective windows and clean lines. Hazel felt a mix of nerves and anticipation as she walked through the doors, dressed in her best business attire, hoping this interview would be different from the rest.

The receptionist greeted her with a professional smile and directed her to the conference room where the interview would take place. Hazel sat down, trying to steady her breathing as she mentally ran through her prepared answers one more time.

The interview went smoother than she expected. The questions were tough, but she handled them with confidence, and by the time it was over, she could tell the hiring manager was impressed.

"Well, Hazel," the hiring manager said, standing up with a smile, "I think you'll be a great fit for our team. Congratulations, and welcome to Anderson Enterprise."

Hazel blinked, caught off guard by the suddenness of it all. She stood, shaking the woman's hand with a broad smile of her own. "Thank you. I won't let you down."

As she left the conference room, her excitement fizzled for a moment when the hiring manager added, "Oh, by the way, you'll be meeting the CEO soon. Mr. Anderson likes to personally welcome all new hires, so we'll set up a meeting with him next week."

Hazel nodded politely and left the building, her mind still buzzing with excitement from getting the job. Something the hiring manager mentioned, meeting the CEO, barely registered as she focused on her relief and sense of accomplishment.

As she waited in the lobby for final instructions from HR, her gaze casually drifted across the walls adorned with photos of the company's leadership. One image caught her eye, a group shot of Anderson Enterprise's top executives. Everyone in the picture looked polished, their smiles confident and professional.

At the center of the group stood a tall man with a strong, commanding presence. His name was listed on the plaque beneath the photo: Alexander Anderson, CEO.

Hazel's heart skipped a beat. It's him. The man from the bar.

Her stomach twisted as the recognition settled in. The cocky grin, the sharp eyes-it all clicked. Alexander Anderson, the CEO of the company she had just been hired to work for, was the same man who had seen her blackout drunk at the bar.

She felt her face flush as the embarrassment washed over her. Of all the people, it had to be him. He had watched her make a fool of herself that night, and now he was her boss.

Hazel quickly looked away, trying to push the thought from her mind. How could this be happening?

The HR representative called her over to finalize the paperwork, and Hazel forced herself to smile, focusing on getting through the process.

Later that day, Hazel collapsed onto her couch, exhaustion flooding through her. The nausea was back, stronger now, twisting her stomach into tight knots. She'd been feeling off for days, but the stress of job hunting had distracted her from addressing it properly.

She sighed heavily and grabbed her phone, dialing Nathan. It rang twice before he answered.

"Hey, Haze," Nathan's voice was steady, with his usual no-nonsense tone. "How'd the interview go?"

"I got the job," Hazel replied, though her voice was less enthusiastic than she expected it to be.

"That's what I'm talking about! You crushed it," Nathan said proudly. Then his tone shifted, a bit more serious. "You okay? You don't sound so hot."

Hazel groaned, rubbing her temple. "Ugh, I don't know. I've been feeling like crap all week. Nausea, headaches, I can barely keep anything down. I thought it was just nerves, but I got the job, and I still feel awful. I don't know what's wrong."

There was a brief pause on the other end before Nathan spoke, his voice firm and direct. "Haze, you're pregnant."

Hazel blinked, taken aback by the bluntness of his words. "What? No, I'm not. Michael and I were always careful."

"Careful or not, you've been sick all week. Nausea, exhaustion, headaches-come on, you know what this sounds like. Go get a test."

Hazel scoffed. "Nathan, it's not that. It's just a bug or stress. You know how stressful it's been lately."

Nathan's tone didn't waver. "Haze, I'm telling you, go get a test. Just to be sure."

Hazel opened her mouth to argue, but then she remembered something, her heart skipping a beat. "Oh God, Nathan. There's something else."

Nathan raised an eyebrow, though Hazel couldn't see it through the phone. "What now?"

Hazel sighed heavily, her stomach knotting. "So, you know how I was telling you about that guy from the bar? The one I was a complete mess in front of?"

Nathan grunted in acknowledgment. "Yeah, the one you couldn't remember much about. What about him?"

"Well," Hazel paused, rubbing her forehead, "he's the CEO of the company I just got hired at."

"What?" Nathan's voice sharpened. "You're kidding me."

"I wish I was," Hazel muttered. "I didn't realize until I saw his photo in the office. His name is Alexander Anderson. I'm going to be working for the guy who saw me get blackout drunk at Hopps."

Nathan was silent for a second, and then he burst out laughing. "You've got to be kidding me! Haze, this is gold."

"This is a disaster," Hazel groaned. "It's so embarrassing. How am I supposed to look him in the eye?"

"Well," Nathan replied, the laughter still evident in his voice, "you've been through worse, right? Just take it one day at a time. I mean, you're already making an impression."

Hazel groaned again. "That's not helping, Nate."

"I'm just saying," Nathan said, calming down, "you'll figure it out. Get through the first week. And in the meantime, go get that test."

Hazel sighed, letting her head fall back against the couch. "Fine. I'll get the test, and I'll let you know. But this job situation? It's a mess."

"Welcome to adulthood, Haze," Nathan quipped. "Now go get that test and stop stressing."

Hazel swung by the drugstore after hanging up with Nathan, grabbing a pregnancy test and shoving it into her bag without a second thought. She wasn't pregnant. She couldn't be. She and Michael had been safe, so there was no way.

By the time she got home, exhaustion had fully set in, and she tossed her bag onto the counter without bothering to take the test out. I'll deal with it later, she thought. For now, she just wanted to lie down and clear her head.

As she crawled into bed, Hazel tried to push away the swirling thoughts of the interview, Michael's voicemail, and Nathan's words. But they all lingered, pressing in on her from every angle.

She reached for her phone and replayed Michael's voicemail in her mind. 'I'll be quick, promise.' The weight of that relationship was still clinging to her, even when she wanted nothing more than to be free of it.

With a deep breath, she opened her messages and typed a quick text to Michael: "You can come by tomorrow to get your things. I'll be here."

Hazel stared at the message for a moment before hitting send. As the message went through, she felt an odd sense of relief. She was finally ready to close that door. Tomorrow, she would deal with Michael and whatever else was waiting.

For now, she let herself rest.