《My Boss My Secret Husband (Hazel and Logan)》 Chapter 0001 Chapter 0001 It was supposed to be a romantic night, the night my boyfriend finally proposed. As I stood under the fireworks, wedged between my boyfriend and my sister Natalie, I grew annoyed again at the fact that she and her best friend had invited themselves along on our romantic Vegas getaway. I pictured the ring I had identally found in my boyfriend¡¯s backpack the week before. His hand was fiddling with something. Is that a ring box or are you just excited to see me? As the grand finale of fireworks began, he turned to me. ¡°Hazel?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Will you¡­,¡± he hesitated, looking behind me. ¡°Uh, will you excuse me?¡± He pushed past me to where Natalie stood. He got down on one knee. ¡°Natalie, I know this is crazy, but¡­will you marry me?¡± ¡°Oh my god,¡± Natalie and I both said at the same time. Natalie burst into tears. ¡°Yes!¡± My brain struggled toprehend what my eyes were seeing: my boyfriend putting what should have been my ring on my sister¡¯s finger, my sister happy-crying and pulling him in for a kiss, my hands shoving my boyfriend¡¯s arm with all the strength I could muster. ¡°What the hell?¡± I yelled, looking back and forth between him and Natalie. ¡°Hazel, I¡¯m sorry, I just¡­¡± he started. ¡°Oh yeah? You¡¯re sorry? Get bent.¡± I flipped them both off and turned, hot tears streaming down my face. I ran as fast as I could through the crowd. I wanted to get as far way from them as I possibly could. ¡°Hazel, wait!¡± my boyfriend called after me, but it was toote. I was already gone. They say hangovers don¡¯tst forever, but drunk memories do. I was struggling to believe that as I awoke that next morning, disoriented, my head throbbing. Closing my eyes against the sunlight that was filtering through the curtains, I reached over and fumbled around the nightstand, hoping to God I¡¯d left my aspirin there. I groaned and pulled theforter over my head. Suddenly I heard the shower start in the bathroom. ¡°Babe?¡± I called out. ¡°Have you seen my aspirin?¡± I pulled the nket down and rubbed my eyes. This is not my hotel room. The realization shook me. And those are not my boyfriend¡¯s clothes mixed in with mine on the floor. ¡°Oh, god.¡± Did I have a one night stand with someone? I tip-toed past the bathroom door, grabbed my purse, and slipped out into the hallway. I wasn¡¯t sure how I had gotten there, I realized¡­I would need to call a taxi. My phone buzzed from inside my purse. I pulled it out. There must¡¯ve been 50 notifications on there. Texts from my family, missed calls from the same, voicemails. I did not have the caffeine in me that I needed to deal with any of it. I started to put my phone back in the purse when it began to ring. ¡°Mom¡± shed across the screen. After a moment of hesitation, I pressed the ept button. ¡°Hello?¡± ¡°Hazel, where have you been? We¡¯ve been worried sick about you.¡± Sure they had. ¡°I¡¯m fine, Mom.¡± ¡°Your sister is very upset,¡± she continued. I balked. ¡°She¡¯s upset?" ¡°You didn¡¯t congratte her on her engagement. You just walked out on her and her fianc¨¦ after the proposal.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll excuse me if I¡¯m not thrilled that my sister is marrying my boyfriend,¡± I snapped. ¡°Don¡¯t you take that tone with me. It¡¯s not her fault you can¡¯t hold onto your men,¡± Mom snapped back. This is property ? N?velDrama.Org. I was fuming. ¡°Okay Mom, nice talking to you.¡± I hung up before she could reply. My parents always favored my sister. It didn¡¯t matter that my sister stole my boyfriend from me. It was still somehow my fault. I jammed my phone into my purse and that¡¯s when I finally noticed it: a giant ring on my left hand. It''s incredibly big and shiny. I think it must be a toy. But where did thate from? Two dayster, I walked into work at ten til 8. I kept my head down and made a beeline for my desk, avoiding everyone I passed. I wasn¡¯t ready to answer any questions about my vacation. Once I got to my desk I pushed the power button on myputer. My best friend Maria spotted me from across the room and practically ran over to me. I sighed. I opened up my email on my desktop. 102 unread messages. That¡¯s what I got for taking a week off work. ¡°It¡¯s going to take me a week just to get caught up on all these emails,¡± I sighed. ¡°I guess I should go do some actual work too.¡± She gave me a hug. ¡°I love you, we¡¯ll talk moreter, okay?¡± I nodded and she went back to her desk. My eyes scanned the newest emails first. I didn¡¯t seem to miss anything too important, just some memos on parking and meeting notices and¡­wait, what¡¯s this? My eyes stopped on a subject line that read ¡°TRANSFER NOTICE.¡± I clicked on it. I scanned the entire email quickly - too quickly - and then had to read it two more times before I understood. My heart sank. Our CEO was being transferred to another branch, and I was his assistant. Tears welled in my eyes. First my boyfriend, and now this? My whole life was here. My friends, my career, my favorite hairdresser, everything. I didn¡¯t want to leave. I didn¡¯t want to lose my boyfriend to my sister. Didn¡¯t anyone care what I wanted? Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Elena strutting towards me. Elena, who had been vying for my job as the assistant to the CEO ever since she started here. She was gorgeous and could have anything and anyone she wanted, but insisted on taking the one good thing I had away from me. Her boobs reached me ten minutes before she did. ¡°Hey there, Hazel,¡± she smiled. Her friendliness made me wary. ¡°Elena,¡± I said. ¡°I heard you¡¯re leaving us soon,¡± she jutted her bottom lip out. Spare me. ¡°Yeah, I just saw the email,¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s too bad. Ah well. I guess I¡¯ll be the new CEO¡¯s assistant. I hear he has much better taste than thest one.¡± My cheeks burned. Suddenly, I heard footsteps behind me. Elena and I both turned. My mouth fell open. Walking towards us was perhaps the most handsome man I had ever seen. He was tall and dark and slender, his pinstripe suit hugging him tightly in all the right ces. ¡°Excuse me, everyone,¡± he said. He had amanding way about him. Everyone instantly turned their attention to him. ¡°My name is Logan. I am your new CEO. We¡¯ll be having a meeting in the conference room, five minutes. Everyone.¡± He turned to exit. ¡°He doesn¡¯t have to ask me twice,¡± Elena said, heading towards the conference room. I sighed. Now what? Minutes earlier£¬Logan stood in his office, awaiting the arrival of his personal assistants. Finally, the door opened and two men walked in. He pulled a picture from the inside pocket of his suit. ¡°I need you to help me track down this woman,¡± Logan said. ¡°She¡¯s my new wife.¡± The woman in the photo is wearing a giant ring. Chapter 0002 Chapter 0002 The next day, I found myself standing in front of the new CEO, and I couldn¡¯t help but stare at him. It wasn¡¯t because he was devastatingly handsome - I mean, he was. My god, he looked like he came straight out of an article entitled ¡°The Top Ten Hottest Men God Has Made in the History of Ever.¡± No¡­it was because I couldn¡¯t shake how familiar he seemed to me. I was standing in a line with some of the top talent in the general affairs department of thepany. The new CEO - Logan, he insisted we call him - had requested interviewing the best of the best to hire as his assistant. Luckily that list included me. Maybe I wouldn¡¯t have to move after all. I wasn¡¯t confident very often in my life, but at work? I knew I was damn good at my job. Somehow, unfortunately, Elena was also in that lineup. ¡°Good morning,¡± Logan said, a cold, serious look on his face. I had only seen him a few times in the office, but cold and serious seemed to be the only look he had. ¡°You all know why you¡¯re here,¡± Logan continued. ¡°Please introduce yourselves and tell me about some of the things you¡¯ve aplished while working here. We¡¯ll start with you,¡± he pointed to the man on the opposite end of the line of me, Gary. As the first candidate introduced himself to Logan, Elena was busy finding just the right pose to make her cleavage as prominent as it could be in her skimpy little red dress. If she jutted her chest out any more she¡¯d start poking people¡¯s eyes out. I smoothed my skirt with my hands. I couldn¡¯t deny that I was a little uneasy about my more professional attire: zer, skirt, ck-rimmed sses. Men often preferred Elena¡¯s sexy attire to my low-key wardrobe, and it was no secret she received many opportunities over me because of it. After Gary finished his introduction, Elena stood as tall and sultry as could and opened her mouth to start hers. But before she could even say a word, Logan held up a hand to stop her. He addressed her: ¡°You are no longer a candidate for this position.¡± Elena¡¯s face and chest dropped. A stunned silence filled the room. No one else dared to even breathe. After picking my jaw up off the ground, I fought to hide the smile that was forming on my lips as Elena, who I imagine had never been turned down by a man in her life, looked at the rest of us in shock. Tears began to well in her eyes. ¡°But¡­I¡­you¡­,¡± she stammered. ¡°Sir, we haven¡¯t even had a conversation yet, this isn¡¯t fair!¡± I stifled augh. I had never seen Elena lose it like this before. She was normally so cool and collected. This was fantastic. Logan ignored her. ¡°Can anyone tell her why she¡¯s been eliminated so quickly?¡± He asked the rest of us. Oh, I knew why. And I couldn¡¯t wait to rub it in her face. ¡°You¡¯re wearing a ring on your left hand,¡± I said, still fighting that smile. Logan held up his hand to show everyone the ring. ¡°Very good. You¡¯re smart. One point for you,¡± he said to me. His words said he was impressed, but his face never wavered from that cold, serious expression. He then looked at Elena. ¡°I¡¯m a married man. As a secretary, you shouldn¡¯t try to be overly familiar with your married boss. It¡¯s incredibly unprofessional.¡± Elena, looking confused and upset over what had just transpired, slumped her shoulders forward and crossed her arms in front of her chest. My guess was that this approach of hers had never not worked for her. I had never seen her look so defeated. I could not wait to run and tell Maria about it as soon as this initial interview was over. Logan turned to me, skipping over the two colleagues that stood between Elena and me. ¡°Please, tell me a little about yourself,¡± he said. The candidates that he passed over shot me dirty looks, but I ignored them. They couldn¡¯t bring me down off of the cloud I was on. ¡°My name is Hazel,¡± I smiled at him. I gave him a brief list of the aplishments and honors I had achieved in the years I had been with thepany. As I rattled off my list, his expression made me uneasy. It still hadn¡¯t changed from the cold, serious look his face had held the moment he became our new CEO. I could not read him at all. Was he impressed? Bored? I guess only time would tell. After I finished, he gave a small nod and said, ¡°I will give the remaining four of you all a two-week assessment period, after which I will select the candidate I feel is best suited to be my secretary.¡± The colleague to my right, Ethan, spoke up immediately. ¡°What will our first assessment entail?¡± I wanted to roll my eyes. I knew his question was just an attempt to show off how eager and effective he could be as a worker. I liked Ethan well enough, but he definitely was quite the show boat. I was not the only one annoyed by his question. Logan for the first time changed his expression: he frowned at Ethan. ¡°I didn¡¯t schedule a Q&A session here.¡± He nced down at his watch. ¡°But how about this. Each of you will help me n my first official date with my wife.¡± My fellow candidates and I exchanged confused nces. A first date¡­with his wife? I looked back at Logan, and confusion turned to shock. Was that a smile I saw creeping in at the edge of lips? ¡°Well, you have your first assignment. I suggest you get to work,¡± Logan nodded at us and left the room. As soon as the door shut behind him, Elena scoffed. ¡°I cannot believe that man is married. All anyone talks about is how he is the epitome of eligible bachelors. He¡¯s like, the diamond bachelor. He could have any and every woman he wanted and he settled for just one? I don¡¯t buy it. Something weird is going on here.¡± This time, I didn¡¯t have to hide my smile. She was spiraling and it was glorious. She caught the look on my face and red at me. ¡°Nice shit-eating grin, Hazel. I wouldn¡¯t get too cocky too soon if I were you. I hear that you have some trouble holding onto the few men you do manage to briefly impress.¡± Text property ? N?vel(D)ra/ma.Org. My smile faded as quickly as it had popped up. ¡°Speaking of¡­what happened during that sudden leave of absence recently? I heard you went off on a romantic getaway to Vegas, but I haven¡¯t seen or heard anything about it since. Why is that?¡± She smirked at me. All eyes in the room were suddenly on me. My face burned and all the good I felt from Elena¡¯s dismissal from thepetition melted away. The Vegas trip¡­ Oh god, does she know? Chapter 0003 Chapter 0003 In my excitement over Elena getting the immediate boot, I had almost forgotten about the shit storm that was my life. But Elena¡¯s questions made it alle rushing back to me. ¡°My personal life is not up for discussion,¡± I said through gritted teeth. ¡°You¡¯re so damn preupied with men and gossip, no wonder your professional skills haven¡¯t improved.¡± I turned on my heels and quickly left the room before she could spout off anything else to me. I walked down the hallway and straight to Maria¡¯s desk. ¡°Snacks,¡± I said when I reached her. ¡°I need ¡®em.¡± Without a word she got up and walked with me to the pantry. She knew when I said I needed snacks that I was not in the mood for conversation. When we walked through the pantry door, I let out a surprised gasp. The normally empty pantry was all abuzz. Several women stood around, talking to each other, flipping ferociously through magazines, scrolling quickly on their phones. ¡°What is happening?¡± I said to Maria, who shrugged. I pushed my way through the crowd of women to the shelf that held the chocte bars. As I did, I caught snippets of conversations: ¡°¡­I heard he¡¯s really into blondes¡­¡± ¡°¡­I bet he only dates socialites, there¡¯s no way he would ever date anyone from thispany¡­¡± ¡°¡­he has his own private jet? I¡¯d kill for a man with a jet¡­¡± ¡°¡­oh, if only I could find a man half as rich and sexy as he is!¡± I grabbed my favorite caramel-filled bar off the shelf and snuck a nce at the nearest open magazine. It was an article all about thevish lifestyle of our new CEO. I couldn¡¯t help butugh. These women were dying for a shot with Logan. They were going to be devastated to learn that he was married. Maria and I slipped back out of the pantry. As soon as its upants were out of earshot, I shook my head at her. ¡°Did you hear all that? Everyone¡¯s going crazy over this new CEO.¡± Maria shrugged, a grin forming over her lips. ¡°I mean¡­can you me them?¡± ¡°Oh Maria, not you too!¡± Sheughed. ¡°Are you telling me you don¡¯t find him attractive?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m not saying that. I mean sure, he is handsome but¡­¡± I looked around to make sure the coast was clear. I lowered my voice. ¡°He¡¯s married. And quite happily, it seems.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Maria frowned. ¡°He¡¯s so young, isn¡¯t he? I¡¯m surprised someone as young and wealthy as him got married so soon in his life.¡± I shrugged. ¡°I wonder what she¡¯s like? She must be pretty amazing to make him give up the bachelor lifestyle I hear he¡¯s so well-known for. And speaking of surprising things¡­¡± As we started walking back towards my desk, I told Maria all about Elena¡¯s immediate elimination as candidate for Logan¡¯s assistant. By the time we reached my desk, Maria wasughing so hard tears were streaming down her face. ¡°Add ¡®expert at spotting gold diggers¡¯ to Logan¡¯s resume,¡± sheughed. ¡°I was surprised he could spot anything past the amount of cleavage she brought in with her,¡± I said as I sat at my desk. I pulled my purse from the bottom drawer and took out my phone to check for messages. I frowned when I saw the only one was a missed call from my mother. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Maria asked. I showed her the phone. She frowned. ¡°Oof. That¡¯s a mood killer. Good luck.¡± She gave me a sympathetic smile, then turned and walked back towards her desk. I sighed and pushed the button to return her call. Might as well get it over with. ¡°Hazel, where have you been?¡± ¡°Well gee mom, I have this little thing I like to do every day called work.¡± As usual, she ignored my sarcasm. ¡°I need you to go to the airport and pick up Natalie. She¡¯s getting in at 6:00 from her guest role in that TV series you love so much.¡± I inwardly groaned. ¡°Yeah, mom, I know where she¡¯s been.¡± Mom just loved throwing in digs whenever she could, to remind me that Natalie was sessful in all the ways I wanted to, but couldn¡¯t, be. ¡°So you¡¯ll pick her up?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think I really have a choice.¡± ¡°Thank you dear, see you at home.¡± She hung up without waiting for a good-bye. I rubbed my temples. God I wanted a ce of my own. Ever since I had to move back in with my parents and Natalie they all treated me like their personal assistant. But rent was so damn high, I didn¡¯t really have any other options. I opened the top drawer of my desk to grab a pen and sticky note. I froze when I saw the mystery ring that I had thrown in there after my Vegas trip. In the roller coaster that today had been, I had forgotten all about it. It had to be a toy¡­but where did I get it from? ¡°I guess what happens in Vegas really does stay in Vegas,¡± I muttered to myself, sneaking the ring into my purse. Thest thing I needed was for someone in the office to find it and start more rumors about me. My irritation grew as I sat waiting for Natalie at arrivals. I¡¯d been waiting for nearly an hour at this point. I already didn¡¯t want to be there, and now I was giving up my entire night off waiting for the last person on earth I wanted to see. The sh of the fake ring in my purse caught my eye. I pulled it out and popped it into my glove compartment. I wasn¡¯t quite sure why I wanted to keep something that came from the Vegas trip from hell, but I was weirdly attached to it. It dide from my one night of rebellion, sleeping with a mystery man. Maybe I kind of liked that I had that in me. Natalie finally burst through the doors of the airport. I hated how amazing she looked after such a long flight. She looked around, her hair falling perfectly in ce with every turn of her head. I honked my horn to get her attention. I popped my trunk as she came closer with her cart full of luggage. I could see her standing at the back of my car, waiting for me to get out and help her with it, but I certainly would not be doing that. Finally some guys spotted her and ran over to help, because of course they would. She got into the passenger¡¯s seat, and I pulled out without a word to her. We hadn¡¯t spoken since the Vegas trip. I both had too much and nothing to say to her. It was ten very awkward minutes before either of us spoke. ¡°Well, aren¡¯t you going to ask me about my trip?¡± She asked. I shook my head andughed. The audacity of this woman. ¡°Oh, forgive me for being so rude. How was your trip? Steal any more men from anyone?¡± She smirked. ¡°Oh, this again.¡± ¡°Yeah, sorry that I¡¯m not over what you did to me in Vegas. You stole my boyfriend, Natalie. You are always taking things from me. Why do you do that? Do you like torturing me?¡± My irritation turned to fury. Natalie rolled her eyes at me. ¡°You should have been more amodating to me on that trip. You are my sister after all.¡± She picked at her nails, seemingly annoyed that we were even having this conversation. ¡°Besides. This is an issue with you. You should ask yourself what¡¯s wrong with you? Why aren¡¯t you more deserving of your boyfriend proposing to you? I get proposals all the time. It is not that hard.¡± My eyes almost popped out of my head. Did she really just say those words to me? Content provided by N?velDrama.Org. ¡°I need a tissue,¡± Natalie said and popped open my glove box. Both of our eyes went straight to the ring I had just put in there. She gasped. ¡°This must be at least ten carets!¡± She pulled it out. ¡°Where did thise from?¡± My heart sank. Looked like Natalie just found the next thing she was going to take from me. Chapter 0004 Chapter 0004 I sat in annoyed, stunned silence. My one memento from my crazy Vegas night. Why didn¡¯t I hide it better from her? ¡°Hellooooo? Earth to Hazel?¡± Natalie poked me in the arm. ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s just a toy,¡± I said, trying to will her to put it back in the glovepartment and drop the whole subject. Her eyes grew wide, a look of revtion crossing her face. ¡°Oh my god. Did you buy yourself a ring because you didn¡¯t get the one you wanted from your man? Hazel, this is a new low, even for you. This sad desperation is exactly why you are in the position you are in.¡± I stared hard at the road ahead of me, silently fuming. She put the ring on her own left hand ring finger and held it out in front of her, admiring it. ¡°It is beautiful, even though it was a pathetic purchase on your part. I think I¡¯ll keep it, use it for some of the promotional photoshoots I haveing up.¡± Called that one. I shook my head. No use trying to plead with her to leave it behind. Satan himself has more empathy than my sister does. ¡°Oh, I have to tell Rachel about this, she¡¯s going to die,¡± she pulled out her phone and called her best friend, the same one who got to witness the fatal Vegas proposal. ¡°Rachel, you are not going to believe the pathetic thing Hazel¡¯s done now.¡± I tried to tune her out as she mercilessly mocked me for buying a toy ring. I wanted to tell her I didn¡¯t buy it, but not knowing its actual origin story would have made me just sound like I was lying. Hot tears welled in the corner of my eyes. ¡°Oh my god, now she¡¯s crying!¡± Natalieughed as she updated her friend. I pulled into my parents¡¯ neighborhood and parked at the bottom of our driveway. I wordlessly got out, pulled her luggage from the trunk, and set it on the ground. Natalie had also gotten out of the car, but in her true fashion, just talked on the phone while I did all the work. ¡°I know,¡± she said into the phone. ¡°She¡¯s so sad.¡± She looked right at me. I looked up at the house. I couldn¡¯t bear the thought of going in. Of dragging the tons of luggage up the driveway and into her room, then sitting down to a dinner where surely more mocking would ensue once my parents heard about the fake ring Natalie had found. ¡°Well?¡± Natalie pulled the phone away from her ear long enough to scold me. ¡°Are you going to bring that up or just stand there with that nk dumb stare?¡± My mind was made up in that moment. No way I could go into that house right now. ¡°I have to go back to work. I have some things I need to get done,¡± I said, leaving her and her luggage where they stood and getting back into the car. As I drove away, I looked at her in the rearview mirror. I smirked. Who has the nk dumb stare now? My first stop at work was the pantry. I needed to grab the magazines everyone had earlier that contained interviews and articles about Logan, but more importantly, I needed chocte fuel for the night ahead. I had resolved on my drive in that I would throw myself into my work to stay as far away from my family as possible. Maybe if I nailed these assessments and got the new position, I¡¯d get a bigger paycheck and could finally move out on my own again. And tonight, that meant nning the perfect date for Logan and his wife. Several hourster, I awoke with a start. My face was stuck to the magazine thatid open on my desk. I sat up and groggily ripped the magazine off my cheek. The video yer on myputer was still going, ying the very long speech I had found that Logan gave at a seminar the year before. It must have been what knocked me out. I felt very underprepared for the next day, despite the hours of research I had put in. It wasn¡¯t for a lack of material on him - quite the opposite. There was tons to be learned about the man online, between all the interviews and articles and gossip columns about him, and in the scores of magazines the women in the office had purchased. But nothing that gave me any real clear ideas on what kind of date he would enjoy taking his wife on. He seemed to be a workaholic alpha male with very little emotion or personality in that hot, hot bod of his. He also seemed to be quite thedies man, with a different woman (or women¡­) cozied up to him in every picture I found. I hated to agree with Elena, but she was right. It was hard to believe that he was a married man. I yawned as I entered the conference room the next day. The other candidates were already there, to my surprise. I was 30 minutes early myself, how long had everyone else been here? ¡°Good morning,¡± I said as I sat down with them at the table. They all greeted me in return. ¡°Did everyonee up with a date idea?¡± Ethan asked the group. ¡°Uh, yeah, I have some ideas,¡± I said, putting my purse on the table in front of me and setting my notebook and pen beside it. ¡°Just some simple, average date things,¡± my coworker Joan said. Gary nodded in agreement. ¡°Yeah, same here. I just have a few basic ideas I¡¯ll pitch to him.¡± Ethan turned a slight shade of green. I¡¯d never seen him look so nervous. ¡°I¡¯m going to grab something from the pantry,¡± I said, standing. ¡°Anyone want anything?¡± Everyone shook their head no and I headed to the pantry. Just minutes after I entered and began making myself a cup of coffee, Ethan came in breathless, like he had run to catch up to me. ¡°Ethan, are you okay?¡± ¡°I need your help. I¡¯m no good with the dating thing, I have zero ideas for Logan. Do you have any tips for me?¡± Ethan was normally a fairly confident individual, it was hard seeing him look so pitiful and desperate. I felt for him. ¡°Well. I feel like Logan would prefer a private setting in a cozy environment. Maybe an art gallery or a museum would suit him well,¡± I said, giving the best advice I could from the hours of unhelpful material I had studied. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s great. Thank you, Hazel! You are a life saver,¡± he said, hugging me before he left. Later that day, Logan gathered his four candidates into the conference room to hear our date ideas. I had walked in the room feeling okay with my idea until I saw that all three of mypetitors had prepared formal presentations. My heart skipped a beat. That morning they all made it sound as though they just had some ideas rattling around in their brains that they would pitch, not whole-ass presentations. I sat down and closed my eyes. Oh my god, I have already blown it. Ethan got up first to present his date idea. ¡°Logan, as a man that is very much in the public eye, I felt you would prefer a more private setting for your dates.¡± I sat up straighter in my seat. Did he just say what I thought he said? ¡°My n for your evening,¡± Ethan continued, ¡°is a date at the local art museum, after hours, so you can enjoy the exhibits in an intimate setting with your lovely wife.¡± This text is property of N?/velD/rama.Org. I shot daggers at Ethan. My tips were meant to inspire him, not to be stolenpletely by him. My anger turned to panic when I realized I needed to change my pitch. I didn¡¯t want Logan to think I had taken Ethan¡¯s idea. But how was I going toe up with a brand new date idea in less than ten minutes when the first one took me an entire night? Chapter 0005 Chapter 0005 Ethan continued his pitch - my pitch, actually - but I couldn¡¯t bear to listen to any more of it. I forced myself to tune him out so I could try ande up with something else before my turn. I cast a curious eye over at Logan. He had raised an eyebrow and seemed pretty interested in the date Ethan was pitching. I furrowed my brows and crossed my arms. I knew I had stumbled onto a good date idea. I couldn¡¯t believe the nerve of Ethan, stealing my idea when I was trying to help him. Gary stood next to give his date idea proposal. He had everything one needed for the perfect pitch: slideshow, one of those fancy pointer sticks, trifold disy board with photographs, he even dropped rose petals on the ground in front of him and turned on some soft romantic music to set the mood. Damn it, Gary was good. I felt like I should excuse myself from the running as Logan¡¯s assistant right then and there. These pitches were so over the top and I had absolutely nothing. Gary started his slideshow. ¡°Picture it: you, your wife, and your private jet.¡± He clicked to the next slide. ¡°You take her for a romantic flight, and at the end you can both watch a drone show from the comfort of your jet.¡± The slideshow ended with a demonstration of what the drone show would look like. Logan didn¡¯t say a word. He looked at Joan. ¡°Oh, but I¡¯m not done¡­¡± Gary started. Logan just raised a brow at him and pointed to Gary¡¯s empty seat. He hung his head and began packing up his disy. Man Logan was just as cold as his demeanor indicated. If he didn¡¯t even like that well-nned pitch, I didn¡¯t stand a chance. Joan took Gary¡¯s ce at the front of the room. She set up her disy board on the stand and set up props around it: a jar of sand, seashells, candles. ¡°What is more romantic than an evening at the beach?¡± She pointed to a photo of the beach on her board. ¡°My idea is for you to rent out the entire nearby Lake Kent beachfront. You throw your wife avish party to celebrate your first official date, then you whisk her away to another part of the beach, where the two of you enjoy a nice, candlelit dinner.¡± Logan¡¯s brows furrowed at that suggestion. He discreetly nced at his watch. He was hard to read, with his permanent cold demeanor, but I got the feeling he was not too interested in either of those ideas. Joan smiled at Logan at the end of her pitch. He ignored her. ¡°Ethan,¡± he said, turning to him. ¡°Your art museum idea. Is there anything else it entails?¡± Joan¡¯s shoulders slumped forward, disappointed that she didn¡¯t get any sort of reaction from Logan. ¡°Oh! Uh¡­¡± Ethan looked at me, but I shot him a ¡°don¡¯t even¡± re and shook my head. His face turned beet red, and he floundered and stammered for a moment. ¡°Perhaps also the museum director could give you a personal tour?¡± Logan¡¯s face fell at that suggestion. It was clear that he was not into any of the extravagant, over- the-top date ideas my colleagues had presented. ¡°Hazel?¡± Logan turned to me. My heart pounded in my chest. I slowly moved to stand in front of the room. Joan was still in the process of removing her props and board. ¡°You¡¯ll have to forgive me sir, I did not prepare a formal pitch like everyone else. But I do have some ideas.¡± ¡°The floor is yours,¡± Logan said. ¡°Well sir, I did quite a bit of research on youst night,¡± I was stalling, hoping that my rambling would help mee up with an amazing date idea. ¡°What I read lead me to believe that you would prefer a more private, cozy date setting.¡± He gave a small nod, and that was all the encouragement I needed to ramble on. ¡°I also read that you love to listen to and y ¡®The Streets of Dublin,¡¯ a song that is often yed in small taverns, and that you draw strength from the melody of this song.¡± A lightbulb finally turned on in my brain. ¡°I believe the perfect first date with your wife would be to take her to your favorite local tavern, nnigan¡¯s. Since you frequent it, ording to the article I read in The Business of Business magazine, the bartender already knows you and exactly what you like. Logan¡¯s face began to soften, giving me the courage to go on. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t even have to exchange a word. He would bring you and your lovely wife drinks and you would feel like you had the whole ce to yourselves.¡± As I described the date, I found myself imagining that I was the woman in the scenario. Was I describing his perfect date or mine? I continued, suddenly remembering another pastime he said he loved but rarely got to do: y piano for others while they dance and sing. ¡°Then, after a few drinks, you could get on the piano and y that song you love, to introduce your wife to it. Perhaps she could even dance along while you y.¡± I paused, searching for the perfect words to sum up who I imagined Logan might be underneath that cold, yboy exterior. ¡°Because, sir, the most important thing about the first date isn¡¯t the formality, it¡¯s the ¡®heart¡¯ of it.¡± Everyone in the room became so silent and still, you could hear a pin drop. All eyes were frozen on me. Logan¡¯s cold expression disappeared, and in its ce was one that was teasing and flirty. My heart leapt and my cheeks flushed - a reaction thatpletely took me by surprise. But before he could respond to my pitch, Logan¡¯s cell phone rang. ¡°Jeffrey, hi,¡± he answered. Then he lowered his voice to a whisper as he crossed to a corner of the room. I strained to eavesdrop, as I¡¯m sure everyone in the room was doing. ¡°Do you have a lead on Vegas?¡± Logan asked. My heart skipped a beat at the word Vegas. ¡°Yes, we found the ring,¡± the voice was faint, but I could still make out what was being said on the other end of the phone call from where I stood. ¡°It¡¯s exactly the same. Looks like we found her.¡± Text property ? N?vel(D)ra/ma.Org. Found her? Who was ¡°her?¡± Everything I learned about Logan was a really strange mystery to me. ¡°Great work,¡± Logan said. ¡°I¡¯lle confirm it with you in a moment.¡± He smiled and hung up the phone. An actual smile. I wished he hadn¡¯t, it made him a million times more attractive. He walked over and stood close to me, staring hard into my eyes. He clutched my shoulders with his hands and gave me that smiley, flirty look again. My heart began to beat fast and hard and my palms began to sweat. Why did I suddenly feel like a shy, nerdy high schooler who was being hit on by the out-of-my- league prom king? Chapter 0006 Chapter 0006 Logan smiled again, which did not help my nerves. I looked down at the ground, feeling too nervous and shy to meet his gaze. ¡°I like your pitch. I need to prepare for a date right now, will you help me get ready?¡± Logan asked. My eyes darted up to his. I waspletely stunned. I hadn¡¯t even prepared a formal pitch, I thought for sure this was going to be myst day as a potential candidate. I never would¡¯ve guessed he¡¯d offer me a special project over the others. ¡°Yes, absolutely,¡± I said. ¡°I would be happy to.¡± ¡°Great. I¡¯ll have my driver pick us up out front right soon, I just need to go to my office for a moment first. Meet me downstairs in five minutes,¡± Logan walked out of the room before I could respond. I gathered my things and followed after him, careful not to look at the other candidates, because I wasn¡¯t sure I could control my face and I didn¡¯t want to gloat at them too quickly. When we arrived at the mall I was a little in shock. I imagined he would take us to some very high- end retailers, not these ces where usmon folk shopped. ¡°I need you to help me pick out an outfit,¡± Logan said as we exited the car. ¡°Here?¡± The question came out of my mouth before I could stop it. I mped my hand over it, kicking myself internally for questioning him. ¡°I uh¡­want to keep a low profile in front of my new wife,¡± he said as we walked towards the mall¡¯s entrance. He held open the door for me once we reached it. ¡°Oh, while we¡¯re on the subject, if you ever meet her, don¡¯t mention that you¡¯re my subordinate.¡± ¡°Yes, sir,¡± I said. I didn¡¯t fully understand it. If she was his wife, why the weird secrecy? Wouldn¡¯t she know who he is and how rich he is? But it wasn¡¯t my ce to judge. My only job here was to help pick out clothes. Logan looked at the mall directory and led me to a store that was entirely mens wear. We were greeted by an employee when we entered. ¡°Can I help you find anything today?¡± ¡°Yes, we are looking for suits, ties, dress shirts, and shoes,¡± I answered. ¡°His measurements are¡­¡± I pulled open my notebook and read aloud, ¡°chest is 42 inches, waist is 32 inches, hips are 38 inches, inseam is 34 inches, neck 16 inches, shoulders 20 inches, and biceps 15 inches. He wears a size 14 shoe.¡± The salesman pulled a notebook and pen from his jacket and quickly jotted down the numbers. ¡°Very well. Please have a seat, I will pull some options for you,¡± he said. ¡°My name is John, by the way.¡± ¡°Thank you John,¡± Logan said, then turned his attention to me. He raised one eyebrow. ¡°How in the world do you know my measurements?¡± I smiled. ¡°Well sir, that¡¯s just a basic duty for all secretaries.¡± Logan smiled back. As that moment, John returned with three suit options: a ck one, a gray one, and a forest green one. ¡°Right this way sir, the dressing rooms are over here.¡± Logan and I followed him to the dressing rooms. I sat outside while Logan tried on the first suit. After a few minutes, he came out wearing the ck pants and dress shirt, holding just the tie and jacket. He stood in front of the trifold mirror at the entrance of the dressing rooms, admiring himself. I would be lying if I said I wasn¡¯t also admiring him. I jumped up after we both had a moment to look him over, eager to do whatever it took to impress him and reallynd that position as his assistant. ¡°Can I help you with your tie?¡± ¡°Yes, thank you,¡± he said. This is property ? N?velDrama.Org. I tied his tie then moved around behind him to help him put on his jacket. My fingers tingled when they grazed his skin. My heart pounded. I was barely touching him, but just that was enough to leave me a bit dry-mouthed and sweaty. I stepped away from him as soon as his jacket was on and took several deep breaths to calm myself. What was with me? Whatever it was I needed to get it under control. Logan made it clear he wanted boundaries with his secretary. I didn¡¯t want the same fate as Elena. ¡°How do I look?¡± He asked. That question was not helping me. He had somehow made an average department store suit look like it hade from a high-end store. Like it was stitched by God himself just for him and his physically perfect body. Calm. Down. ¡°You look great sir. It really suits you,¡± I said. Then I quickly added: ¡°Pun not intended.¡± Heughed. ¡°John? I¡¯ll take all three, thanks. And I¡¯ll wear this one out if that¡¯s alright.¡± John ran over. ¡°Absolutely sir. Let me get the others into bags and I¡¯ll meet you at the counter.¡± The wait for John gave me time to reflect on what had me acting like Elena all of a sudden. I decided to me it on the ex. If he hadn¡¯t left me the way he did, I wouldn¡¯t have developed this sudden desperation for human contact. Although Logan is slightly to me here too. I wouldn¡¯t feel this way if he didn¡¯t look that way. Several minutester, Logan and I were back in his car. He gave his driver the next address for us to go to. As the driver pulled out of the parking lot, Logan grinned at me. ¡°I¡¯m taking the two of you to meet my new wife.¡± I smiled back at him. Maybe this would help me to stop acting so ridiculous around him, seeing him with his significant other. I pulled the other ties we had purchased from the bag, andid them out on the seat, just in case Logan decided to switch his out for another. He watched me, seemingly impressed at my attention to detail. We pulled up to a in concrete building with a sign that read, ¡°Sunset Studios.¡± It was a little run down, to my surprise. Was his wife in here? I was also struck by ¡°Sunset Studios.¡± The name sounded familiar, like someone had mentioned it to me recently. ¡°Wait here,¡± Logan said. He sounded a little nervous, which I found odd. ¡°I¡¯ll be back soon for the two of you.¡± Logan returned to the car about an hourter. His expression was solemn¡­not what I expected to see after the excitement he had shown for his wife over the course of the day. The driver stepped out of the car to open Logan¡¯s door. Logan sat down and mmed the car door behind him. ¡°To the office,¡± he said quietly after the driver re-entered the car. The driver looked at me and I just shrugged. He put the car into drive and pulled out of the parking lot. Did he fight with his new wife? What in the world happened in there? I just prayed that whatever it was, I wouldn¡¯t get med for any of it. Chapter 0007 Chapter 0007 Five hours earlier Logan walked into his office and found his personal assistant Jeffrey sitting in the chair in front of his desk. Content provided by N?velDrama.Org. ¡°The picture?¡± Logan asked, standing next to Jeffrey. Jeffrey unlocked his phone and held it out for Logan. ¡°Do you think this is her? Her name is Natalie. She¡¯s probably what one would consider a C actress. I looked into her schedule, she has a shoot today at Sunset Studios.¡± Logan studied the picture. ¡°She does look like woman in that photo of mine from that night¡­what other evidence do you have?¡± ¡°Zoom in on the left hand. That¡¯s your mother¡¯s ring.¡± Logan pinched the screen to get a closer look. It was the ring alright. He moved the picture over to look at her face. It certainly looked almost identical to the woman that was in the photo he had from the night in Vegas, just with more makeup. His heart leapt and he smiled. He finally found her. ¡°My god, it is her. I can¡¯t believe you found her. Logan handed Jeffrey¡¯s phone back to him. ¡°Arrange a meeting with her for me. I want to meet her today, as soon as possible. How long will she be at the studio?¡± ¡°Her agent said she is there until 8:30 pm.¡± ¡°Damn. I can¡¯t wait that long. Call the agent back, see if there¡¯s any way I can meet Natalie while she¡¯s there at the studio.¡± ¡°Yes sir. Shall I use your real name?¡± Jeffrey asked, grabbing his phone. ¡°No, use Andrew, I don¡¯t want anyone to know it¡¯s me,¡± Logan said. Andrew was a nickname Logan had used since childhood, when he was temporarily ced in foster care. He liked the different identity he felt with his foster parents. He wasn¡¯t the heir to his family¡¯spany in their home, he was just an ordinary country boy. ¡°I¡¯m going right now to prepare to meet her,¡± Logan continued. ¡°Message me as soon as you finish talking to the agent.¡± ¡°Yes, sir,¡± Jeffrey stood and left, already dialing the number. Logan smiled to himself. ¡°Time to meet my wife.¡± After finding the perfect suit, Logan found himself standing outside the front door to Sunset Studios. He adjusted his tie and looked himself over once more in the reflection of the ss door. He smoothed his hair and smiled. It didn¡¯t matter that this wasn¡¯t a luxury suit, he could make anything he wore look damn good. He entered the studio and introduced himself to the secretary just inside the door. ¡°Hi, my name is Andrew. I¡¯m here to see Natalie.¡± The secretary clicked her mouse and looked at the screen of herputer. ¡°Ah yes, I see that you arranged to see her. Please have a seat, I¡¯ll call a production assistant to escort you back into the studio.¡± Andrew sat while the secretary made a phone call. Momentster, a tall, skinny young man walked into the waiting area. ¡°Andrew?¡± He said to Logan. Logan stood and nodded. He shook the young man¡¯s hand. ¡°Natalie is on sound stage 3. They are in the middle of shooting her scene, but we can stand inside and watch until they are done. Please be sure to silence your phone.¡± Logan checked his phone as the production assistant led him into the sound stage. They stood behind the crew. Logan spotted Natalie in the middle of the set standing next to another actress. Both were wearing 1800s-style dresses. Logan wondered to himself what sort of production this was. ¡°Alright, quiet on set please!¡± A crew member yelled out. Logan guessed this must have been the assistant director, a term he picked up on from the several interviews he had done over the years. ¡°Roll camera.¡± ¡°Camera rolling,¡± the cameraman responded. ¡°Roll sound,¡± the assistant director said. ¡°Sound rolling,¡± a man wearing headphones called out. ¡°And¡­action!¡± Logan watched as Natalie sprung to life. She was very beautiful, he thought. He also thought she seemed kind of familiar, like she reminded him of someone he knew. He just couldn¡¯t quite put a finger on who. ¡°Cut! Moving on,¡± the assistant director called out. ¡°Natalie, Stacy, youdies can take a break, we¡¯re going to set up for the next scene.¡± Logan watched Natalie as she smiled at the assistant director then moved to a director¡¯s chair. She picked up her phone and made a video call. ¡°Ah, I¡¯ll take you to her once she¡¯s done with her call,¡± the production assistant said. Logan nodded. He watched Natalie as she spoke on the phone. He wasn¡¯t able to see the person on the phone, but he did notice she seemed very flirty with whoever it was. Logan was taken aback by this, but told himself it was probably just a friend she was talking to. She blew a kiss at the phone and hung up after just a few minutes. Logan¡¯s heart dropped. He was surprised by the jealously he felt at this action. The production assistant led Logan to her. ¡°Miss Natalie, you have a visitor,¡± the production assistant said, then briskly walked away. Natalie looked up from her phone. She looked Logan up and down, a hint of annoyance on her face. ¡°Can I help you?¡± ¡°I just¡­uh¡­¡± a normally confident Logan found himself unnerved by this woman. ¡°I just wanted to see you, invite you to my ceter tonight. I nned a surprise for you.¡± Now it was Natalie that became unnerved. ¡°Who are you?¡± Logan¡¯s heart sank. Did she not remember him? ¡°It¡¯s me, Logan. The ring I gave you that night in¡­¡± he shook his head. ¡°Have you forgotten already? It¡¯s a token of our love.¡± At this, Natalie looked confused, then her eyes widened. ¡°I¡­I have to go, we¡¯re about to start shooting again.¡± She hurried away from him towards the production assistant and began talking to him, while pointing at Logan. Logan was unable to move away from the director¡¯s chair. He was hurt and confused and for the first time in his life, had chased a woman away instead of making her swoon over him. He had no idea how to handle that. After being kicked out of the studio, Logan made his way back to his car. His driver faithfully got out of the car to open the door for him. Logan mmed the door shut behind him. ¡°To the office,¡± he said quietly. He noticed the driver and Hazel exchanged confused looks, but he remained quiet. ¡°Sir, is everything okay?¡± Hazel finally broke the silence after several awkward, quiet minutes. ¡°No, everything is not okay,¡± he shook his head and turned to face her. ¡°After just a few words with my wife, security threw me out and called me a crazy fan. Can you believe it?¡± More awkward silence. Finally, Hazel asked, ¡°Is your wife an actress?¡± Logan sighed. ¡°Yes.¡± Hazel knew her actress sister was filming somewhere nearby. Was it possible that¡­ ¡°No,¡± Hazel thought to herself. ¡°That¡¯s crazy. There¡¯s no way my sister is the one he¡¯s married to. With her need to be center of attention always, she would never be able to keep that news to herself.¡± Still¡­ ¡°May I ask her name?¡± Hazel asked Logan. Chapter 0008 Chapter 0008 Logan shook his head at my question. ¡°No. I cannot disclose her name at this time.¡± I pushed the thought from my head. There are a million actresses in the world. The odds of it being Natalie were nearly impossible. I didn¡¯t know the full story of what happened in that studio and Logan didn¡¯t seem to want to discuss it, but I did want to try and help. I thought for a moment before I spoke. ¡°Sir, I also know an actress. From what I know about her, I¡¯m not sure the date I nned for you tonight would work. Maybe a morevish first date would be appropriate for her? Something to spoil or pamper her after a long day on set. They also seem to enjoy being given gifts.¡± I smiled at him. Logan frowned at me. I tensed. Oh, I¡¯ve spoken out of line. I looked down, waiting for him to eliminate me from the running as his assistant just like he had done to Elena when she crossed a boundary. But Logan just sighed. ¡°You¡¯re right. I was only thinking of the kind of date I would prefer, not what she might enjoy. Perhaps I should have a more formal date with her.¡± I realized I had been holding my breath, and I released it with a relieved sigh. ¡°Thank you, Hazel,¡± Logan smiled at me. When I returned hometer that evening, I stood at the front door, rummaging through my purse for my keys. Just as I found them and pulled them out, the door cracked open, startling me. My parents peered out at me. ¡°Hazel,¡± my dad said. ¡°Father,¡± I said, confused. There was a moment of silence. I stared at them as they nervously nced at me, then over their shoulders, then at each other, then back at me. ¡°Can Ie in maybe?¡± I finally said. ¡°Of course dear,¡± mom said, then cleared the doorway so I could enter. I shook my head as I entered. My parents weren¡¯t exactly normal but this was weird behavior, even for them. I walked through the entry way towards the living room. All I wanted to do was kick off my shoes and zone out with some terrible reality TV. As I turned left into the living room, my heart and purse dropped to the floor. On the couch was my ex-boyfriend Chance. And draped over him was Natalie. This text is property of N?/velD/rama.Org. My face burned as several emotions flooded through me at once. I hadn¡¯t seen Chance since Vegas. I hadn¡¯t wanted to. I felt hurt and angry and embarrassed. Chance also seemed to be embarrassed that he had been caught here, at least a little bit. Natalie, on the other hand¡­ ¡°Oh, hey Hazel,¡± Natalie¡¯s voice dripped with fake sweetness. She didn¡¯t take her eyes off Chance as she spoke to me, she just kept stroking his hair. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m so sorry to interrupt your alone time with my man,¡± I snapped at her. I stormed into the kitchen to find my parents. They were sitting at the table, dad casually reading the paper and mom touching up her makeup, as though everything were right in the world. ¡°How can you even let him in here after what he did to me?¡± I yelled at them. ¡°Inside voice, dear,¡± mom spoke to me like I was a five-year-old. ¡°Dad, please,¡± I pleaded with him, tears beginning to form in the corner of my eyes. ¡°Please, I can¡¯t bear to see the two of them together like this.¡± Dad¡¯s face softened, but before he could speak mom cut him off. ¡°Then go up to your room. No one is forcing you to stay here,¡± she said, still looking in herpact mirror. ¡°Kitten,¡± dad said, using a nickname I hadn¡¯t heard since I was young. They were both treating me like I was just a bratty little kid. ¡°There¡¯s nothing we can do. They¡¯re adults, they can do what they want.¡± ¡°But this is your house,¡± I said meekly. ¡°Oh, grow up,¡± mom snapped, giving me her full attention now. ¡°Look at you, standing there sniveling. Do you think Natalie would act this way if she were in your shoes? No man wants some whiny little brat for a fianc¨¦. It¡¯s no wonder he was seeing her behind your back. We said a long time ago that you practically pushed him into her arms.¡± Chapter 0009 Chapter 0009 Wait, what did she say? ¡°He¡­what? He was cheating on me with her?¡± Mom and dad exchanged wide-eyed nces. ¡°I¡¯ve already said too much,¡± she said, then stood and went into the kitchen, pretending to search for something. I followed her. ¡°How long did you know about this?¡± I asked. No answer. I turned back to dad. ¡°Dad? How long?¡± Dad let out a sigh and finally set the paper on the table. ¡°No sense hiding it now I suppose. It¡¯s been going on for about a year now. We caught them outside togetherte one night and they confessed everything.¡± A year?? How was I so blind to this for a whole year? ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me?¡± ¡°Oh stop, it was for your own good,¡± mom mmed a cab shut. ¡°You¡¯re wee for that, by the way.¡± ¡°Oh yes, I¡¯m sorry. Thank you. You¡¯ll be receiving your mother of the year award in the mail any day now,¡± I angrily snapped. ¡°That mouth of yours does not help you in the rtionship department either,¡± she said. I stormed back into the living room to grab the purse I had dropped. The happy couple was still cuddling on the couch. ¡°Hey Nat, mom told me you were upset that I hadn¡¯t congratted you or anything on your engagement. Well here, I got you something to make up for it.¡± They perked up and looked at me, confused. I stuck my hand in my purse and pulled it out, with just my middle finger sticking up. ¡°Cute Hazel,¡± Natalie rolled her eyes. ¡°Real mature.¡± I turned on my heels and bounded up the stairs to my bedroom, mming the door shut behind me. A gift for my parents, I knew how much they hated that. Now that no one could see me, I let the tears that I had been holding back fall down my face. Iid face down on my bed and buried my face into my pillow, crying as hard and quietly as I could. I knew I wasn¡¯t my parents¡¯ favorite child, but how could they let Natalie do that to me? How could they let Chance? If they had even a shred of empathy among them they kept it well hidden from me. Text property ? N?vel(D)ra/ma.Org. As soon as I was all out of tears I sat up and dug my phone out of my purse. I opened my text message thread that I had with Maria. ¡°I have got to get out of this house,¡± I text her. A momentter she responded: ¡°Uh oh¡­what happened now?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to get into it, I just¡­I need this executive assistant job, I need that money so I can afford my own ce,¡± I sent back. ¡°Oh, you know what? I just heard about this new apartmentplex where single people can apply for a discounted rate. They¡¯re not the best apartments, but you¡¯ll at least have your own ce,¡± she wrote. ¡°OH MY GOD. Send me the link immediately,¡± I wrote as fast as I could and pushed send. Sheugh reacted and sent me a link. I clicked on it and navigated to the ¡°How to Apply¡± page. ¡°Maria you son of a bitch,¡± I said to myself, smiling. ¡°You are a lifesaver.¡± The following morning I walked into work and immediately felt something was off. Normally there was a buzz of small talk and people hustling here and there. Today was eerily still and quiet. People mostly stood in ce, whispering to each other. I set my stuff on my desk and looked over at Maria across the room. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± I mouthed to her. She frantically waved me over to her. I sped walked to her. ¡°Word around the water cooler is someone messed up big time,¡± she whispered. ¡°They¡¯re talking about firing someone over it.¡± ¡°Oh wow. Who?¡± Maria gulped. ¡°You.¡± Chapter 0010 Chapter 0010 ¡°What? Me? Why?¡± ¡°Somehow arge order of office supplies for one of our biggest clients just¡­up and vanished? No one seems to know what happened to it. The client is pissed, the higher ups are pissed. This was our biggest order of the quarter, we are losing a ton on this,¡± Maria exined. ¡°They think I did it?¡± ¡°I think that¡¯s what they¡¯re looking into now, nobody knows for sure yet who¡¯s to me,¡± she said. ¡°Everyone¡¯s nervous though, those orders go through a lot of hands before they¡¯re processed. But I heard some whispers about who they¡¯ve narrowed it down to, and you¡¯re on the list.¡± Bob, our immediate supervisor, stepped into the center of the room. Everyone in the office went completely silent. This is property ? N?velDrama.Org. ¡°Can I please see Elena, Hazel, and Janice in the conference room?¡± He said solemnly. He turned and headed that direction. ¡°Oh my god,¡± I said. ¡°I didn¡¯t mess up this order, you know how careful I am!¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Maria said, She ced a hand on my shoulder. ¡°There¡¯s always a huge paper trail for these things. They¡¯ll be able to tell it wasn¡¯t you.¡± Maria¡¯s words soothed my nerves some, and I walked towards the conference room behind Janice and Elena. Bob stood in the front of the room, and he gestured at the seats in front of him when we entered. We sat. He cleared his throat. ¡°I¡¯m sure by now you¡¯ve heard the news that we¡¯ve lost arge shipment that was to go out to one of our biggest clients, Office Surplus.¡± The three of us nodded. Bob continued. ¡°We¡¯ve been hard at work trying to resolve the issue. We¡¯re hoping we don¡¯t lose our client over this, as they¡¯ve threatened to end their contract with us over it.¡± My eyes grew wide. That would really hurt ourpany if they took their business elsewhere. They were responsible for at least 50% of our profit every quarter. ¡°We¡¯ve also been looking into who may be responsible for the mistake,¡± Bob said. ¡°Whoever is responsible will receive a demotion, and will be in serious danger of losing their job here altogether. We don¡¯t know who is to me yet, but we have narrowed it down to the three of you.¡± ¡°Bob,¡± I jumped up. ¡°I handed this order over to Elena at Logan¡¯s request, so I could focus on a task for him.¡± Elena jumped up. ¡°Then it is your fault! Neglecting your work because you¡¯re ying teacher¡¯s pet with Logan just to get that promotion.¡± ¡°Ladies, please,¡± Bob said. ¡°Hazel, if it is found that you¡¯re to me, you¡¯ll no longer be a candidate for that position.¡± ¡°I can prove to you that I¡¯m not,¡± I snapped, mostly at Elena. ¡°I have the emails to back me up.¡± I stormed out of the room to myputer to pull up my work email. I typed in any search word I could think of: Office Surplus, orders, Logan, Elena. But my searches didn¡¯t return any of the emails about that particr order. Somehow they had all just disappeared. Bob and Elena walked over to my desk. ¡°Well?¡± He asked. I grew flustered. ¡°I¡­I can¡¯t seem to find¡­¡± ¡°Because they don¡¯t exist!¡± Elena said. ¡°But they do! I¡¯m sure they¡¯re in here somewhere, I just need a little more time to¡­¡± I quickly began scrolling through my email. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Hazel,¡± Bob said quietly. ¡°But I need you to pack up your things. You¡¯ll report to the first floor for your new assignment.¡± He started to walk away. I jumped out of my chair. ¡°Bob, wait! This isn¡¯t fair, I didn¡¯t¡­¡± Logan suddenly appeared, stopping Bob in his tracks. ¡°Excuse me, Bob. Is is your decision who is or is not a candidate for the position of my assistant?¡± Bob, Elena, and I were all taken aback. Logan had only been there one week, and sure, he technically was over Bob, but up until this point he had kept his nose out of our department. Why was he sticking up for me? So far our only interactions had revolved around nning things for his wife. He barely knew me or anything about me. Chapter 0011 Chapter 0011 Logan stared Bob down. Logan already normally had a domineering presence, but in this moment, it was even more so. "Hazel, leave your things. You aren''t going anywhere," Logan said, his eyes still on Bob. Bob shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He was looking anywhere but at Logan''s face. Finally, Logan released him from his gaze. Bob let out an audible sigh. "Hazel, my office?" Logan walked towards his office and I followed without a word to Bob or Elena. I shut the door behind me once I entered his office. ¡°Sir, I cannot thank you enough for..." Logan waved me off. "There''s no need to thank me. You''re a good, hard worker. You don''t deserve to be sent to the first floor." My mind was racing. I wasn''t used to people standing up for me. I was also nervous about theck of evidence there was in the matter. If I couldn''t find proof that I had be given direction to pass along that order to Elena, I wasn''t sure that Logan would still be able to protect me, despite him being CEO. But something else was bothering me too... Bob was pretty well-known for being a slimy little weasel. He would do anything to protect himself. His goal was to move as high up as he could in thepany, but he had done some pretty questionable things on his climb to the top. Bob''s quick judgment about me being to me for the missing order left me feeling uneasy. Was this whole thing a cover up on his part? I thought if Logan was going to try and protect me in this, he should know who he was up against. I also had some sneaking suspicions about Logan as well. "Sir, if I may have a word with you on this matter," I said nervously. "Yes?" "I apologize if any of this is out of line. But...I know you are new here, and you may not have yet picked up on all the dynamics and personalities of all your employees yet." Logan nodded, prompting me to continue. "I also feel like you''ve maybe put on a facade yourself, as a devoted husband, to perhaps lower everyone''s guards around you, so they feel unthreatened by you." Logan smirked. "You''re too smart for your own good."This is property ? N?velDrama.Org. "I hate to speak poorly of anyone here, especially a superior. But I am concerned about Bob''s actions regarding this failed order he''s trying to demote me over. Bob tends to only look out for Bob. He was so quick to me me for the mistake, it makes me wonder what he''s trying to hide. He has one goal, which is to rise to the top, no matter what it takes, and no matter who he may hurt along the way." "I have started picking up on that myself, yes." I was nervous to say the next part. I took a deep breath. "I think he''s trying to cover something up. Can have your permission to dig a little deepeninto the matter, in order to save my job? I may need to..die some in order to get to the truth." "As long as it doesn''t interfere with your assignments," Logan said. " think perhaps you need to. Now.. Please grab your nner ande back in, I''d like to discuss my schedule for the week." "Yes, sir," I said, jumping up to walk as fast as I could to my desk. My phone rang as I walked. I didn''t recognize the number but answered anyway. "This is Hazel," I said. "Hello Hazel. My name is Sean, I''m calling from Legacy Apartments in regards to your recent application," the voice on the other end said. "Oh, yes!" My heart leapt. Freedom from my family was just what I needed after the morning I''d had. "I regret to inform you that your application has been denied," Sean said. "Wha...why?" I said, shocked. "Ma''am, this is an apartmentplex for singles only." "Yes, I know. That''s why I applied." "ording to our research, you are married." Chapter 0012 Chapter 0012 ¡°Listen, Sean, I am as single as it gets. There must be some mistake," I said. "Are you sure you got the right records?" Sean sighed. "Hazel Whitaker, correct? Please confirm your date of birth and social security number for me." I whispered the info into my phone so no one else would overhear. "That''s what we entered into the database. I don''t know what to tell you, ites up as ''married'' under marital status," Sean said. Of course. Of course this one simple thing I should have gotten did not go my way. "Okay, thank you for calling," I hung up, frustrated and confused, but I didn''t have time for this, I had to get back to work. After helping Logan with his weekly schedule, I decided to start trying to build my case against Bob. My job was on the line and I needed to figure out what he was up to...fast. I walked to the pantry, a well-known source of office gossip. Surely somebody had some dirt on him. This was the ce where everyone learned about his potential in-office affair with a former assistant of his, after all. (And how we learned his wife attacked and cut off that girl''s hair in the parking lot soon after she found out herself.) The pantry was abuzz alright...but not about Bob. Everyone in the pantry seemed to have another on their mind: Logan. "Oh hey Hazel," another secretary named E said when I walked in. "How''s it going with everyone''s favorite CEO?" "Oh, uh...fine," I said, not wanting to get stuck in a conversation about Logan when I had other convos to eavesdrop on. "You are so lucky to get to work with him so closely," E said, with more than a hint of jealousy in her voice. "What''s he like anyway?" A handful of other women heard our conversation and huddled around close, hoping for something juicy. "He''s professional. Straight-forward. There''s nothing really exciting to tell," I shrugged. "Ohe on, you can''t tell me you''re not even the slightest bit interested in him. Especially after Vegas," E said. After she realized she spilled a little bit of gossip about me to me, she mped a hand over her lips. My face burned. "If you''ll excuse me, I just came in to grab something for my break." The women turned, quietly whispering as the walked away from me. I grabbed a chocte bar and magazine, and positioned myself against a wall that was closes where all thedies stood. I , §ï§Ý pretended to read while I was listening to snippets of their conversations, hoping to hear something, anything about Bob. But a good half hour in the pantry only got me more gossip about Logan. These women were ??? obsessed. They wanted to know if he was single, which one of them had the best shot at him if he were, which one had the best shot of stealing him if he weren''t. They wanted to talk about how good looking he was, how much time he possibly spent in the gym, which cologne he wore so they could buy it themselves. And on and on. ContentContent provided by N?velDrama.Org. belongs to NovelDrama.Org I tossed the magazine on the counter and left, discouraged. Logan-mania wasn''t going away anytime soon. When would all the other good gossip return? I walked into the restroom and into a stall. A momentter, two pairs of feet entered and stood at the sinks They started chatting about the lost order, the newest makeup trends about to they liked, and I was just of them tune them out when one mentioned... "Did you hear that Bob''s been spending like, a weird amount of time in his officetely?" Woman 1 said. "Like how much time?" Woman 2 asked. "He practically lives here. The weirder part is he won''t let anyone go near his office anymore," woman 1 said. "I wonder what he''s hiding in there?" "What? I just saw Elena going in there at the end of the day yesterday," woman 2 said. Chapter 0013 Chapter 0013 Woman 1 gasped. "Do you think...?" Woman 2ughed. "Uh, yeah. They''re both definitely the type for something like that." The women left and I came out of the stall, smiling. Those two were absolutely having an affair, I was surprised I hadn''t guessed that already about them. Now to just catch them in the act. The next morning, the office had apletely different vibe than the day before. At least for me. I entered the office smiling and greeting everyone as I passed by them on my way to my desk. I carried a small sulent with me; my desk could use a new nt, I had decided on my way home the night before. Especially since I wouldn''t be going anywhere. I noticed Elena watching my every move from her desk. She furrowed her brows. "What are you so happy about?" She finally yelled at me from across the room. "It''s just a beautiful day, that''s all," I smiled at her. I set my stuff on my desk and carefully pulled an envelope from my purse. Elena got up from her desk and headed towards the bathroom. I followed her. As I stepped through the bathroom door, I saw Elena standing at the mirror, applying some lipstick. My heart started pounding, suddenly nervous about what I was about to do. "Hey Elena, what are you doing?" I asked cautiously. "Solving world peace," Elena said, rolling her eyes. "I''m putting lipstick on, what does it look like?" "For anyone in particr?" I asked. I opened the envelope I held. "Why are you being extra weird today?" Her eyesnded on the envelope. "What''s that?" "Oh, this?" I pulled a picture out of the envelope and turned it towards her. "Just a little picture of you and your boo." After I left work the night before, I was walking to my car in the parking garage and saw Bob and Elena kissing inside her car. I swear in that | moment I saw the clouds part and heard angels singing. I took my phone out and snapped as many pi¨ºtures as I could. She gasped. ¡°Are you stalking us?? I''ll report you!" "Oh please. It''s not like you''re trying to hide it." "Fine. So you have a picture. Big deal." She went back to applying her lipstick, but I noticed this time she was having a little trouble steadying her hand. "I heard his wife is back from from her overseas work trip," I said, leaning against the wall.Content provided by N?velDrama.Org. "Where did you hear that?" "Oh, it''s on her social media. He didn''t tell you?" She narrowed her eyes at me. I pulled out my phone and opened Bob''s wife''s page. "His poor wife, And poor you! What if she found out about you guys? I''d really hate for your reputation to be ruined, especially when it''s already not such a great one. Or your beautiful hair. You heard what she did to thest one," I made scissors with my fingers and made a chopping motion. She paled. ¡°Okay Hazel. What do you want. Do you want money?" "Nah, nothing like that. I need evidence against Bob. I know there''s something sketchy going on with that lost order and I''m not gonna lose my job over it." She hesitated. "If you help me," I continued, "maybe I can put in a good word with the CEO for you too. But if you don''t...I hope you have some good wigs at home." "Fine." She mmed her lipstick into delete the her purse. "I messed up the order. When I realized what happened, I asked Bob to go into your email and ones that would prove it was my mistake so we could pin it on you. He has ess topany email that I don''t have. He did it because...well, let''s just say you''re not the only one around here that ckmails people." "Do you have ess to hisputer?" Chapter 0014 Chapter 0014 Later that afternoon, I sat at my desk, waiting for Logan to make the announcement about Bob. After my bathroom meeting with Elena, we snuck onto Bob''sputer and looked for the evidence we needed to prove that Bob had in fact deleted emails in my ount. We went to Logan together to show him what had happened, and Logan informed us that he would take care of it and dismissed us. Logan came and stood near my desk. "Bob," he called towards his office, "can I speak with you please?" Bob came out, looking confused. Elena slumped down in her desk, hiding her face from Bob with one hand. "Bob. I have just learned that you deleted important emails in an attempt to make an innocent person take the me for ourpany''s most recent mistake. I am letting you go effective immediately. Please pack up your desk. I''ll have a security guard escort you out. You have thirty minutes." Logan retreated back to his office. Bob looked at me, trying to make sense of what had just happened. I ignored him and turned to myputer. The rest of the secretaries did the same. Finding no sympathetic faces, he turned and slowly, dejectedly walked back to his office. My phone buzzed. I looked at the screen. It was a text from Logan: "Pleasee to my office." I walked into his office. "Shut the door," he said. I pulled it shut. He came around to the front of his desk and sat on the corner. "I''m impressed," he said. "Instead of caving under the pressure of potentially losing your job, you rose to the challenge and solved the issue. Great work." "Oh...thank you sir!" "Now. Come with me. I need your help picking out a gift for my wife." I grabbed my purse from my desk, and Logan and I walked down to the parking garage together. ¡°What sort of gift do you think would be suitable for her?" "Well, every woman is different. It really depends on what kinds of things she likes. But you said she''s an actress...the actress I know lovesvish gifts. Luxury bags, clothing, perfume, jewelry. Anything to make her appear rich or high ss." We reached the garage. Logan got into the back seat and turned on the massage chair feature he''d had installed. I peeked in the front seat and realized there was no driver. "Where''s your driver?" I asked. "Don''t you have a license?" He said, handing me the keys. I took them, nervous at the task at hand. My mind raced with all the things that could go wrong. This car was so, so nice. I did not want to know what would happen to me if I got even the smallest of scratches on it. "Where would you like to go?" I asked.This is property ? N?velDrama.Org. I looked at him via the rearview mirror. He met my eyes and just stared. "You''re supposed to be helping me pick a gift. You decide." He said. I pulled out of the parking garage and onto the busy street. Cars honked at me and flew around me on both sides. I didn''t me them, I was driving ten below the speed limit. Logan leaned forward. "Perhaps we could get there sometime today?" I nodded. I pressed the gas pedal slightly, until we were going a couple miles an hour faster than before. "Oh, good god. Pull over, I''ll drive," Logan said. I breathed a sigh of relief and pulled into the closest parking lot. I moved over to the front passenger seat and he got into the driver''s seat. ¡°Alright, buckle up," he said. "I''m gonna show you how it''s done." He hit the gas and flew back out into traffic. Traffic was heavy, but he expertly weaved in and out of it, moving faster and faster with each pass. Igripped the door with my hand a snuck a peek at the speedometer. We were going at least 20 miles an hour over the speed limit. He looked over andughed at me. "Did I ever tell you I used to race cars?" He said. "Nope," I ttened myself against the back of the seat. "You failed to mention that one." He took a sharp turn at an intersection that threw me into my door. I screamed and closed my eyes as we fishtailed after the turn. I felt sweat begin to form on my forehead. Loganughed again. I''d never seen him look so...happy? Excited? It looked good on him. He sniffed the air. He leaned closer to me. "Are you wearing perfume? I smell something that seems really familiar." I blushed, suddenly feeling really awkward at his proximity to me. My heart started racing. "I don''t use perfume, maybe it''s my shower gel?" "Well it''s lovely, whatever it is," he said, making me blush even deeper. A few minutester, he pulled up to the sidewalk in front of several high end luxury stores. "Can you go look for a purse first? I''ll park the car." I nodded and got out of the car. He sped off the second I shut the door. I looked around and spotted a store called Ros¨¦. I knew of them thanks to Natalie, who only bought herself the best of the best. I walked inside. A salesperson stood at the counter just inside the door. She was gorgeous, in a sleek ck dress with her curly blonde hair falling halfway down her back. I looked at the name on hertag: Veronica. I definitely felt underdressed in my modest ck pants and ts and my second-day hair piled in a bun on top of my head. I hid my own second-hand store purse behind my back. Veronica slowly looked me up and down, without saying a word. She smirked, then turned to herputer. I looked around the store for another salesperson. I spotted one at a disy just behind the first saledy. I started towards her. "Excuse me?" The second saledy was also gorgeous. She was dressed simrly, but she had a smile on her face that the other one was missing. She started towards me. Veronica stopped her. "Keep working on your disy," she told her. Saledy 2 stopped, mouthed "sorry" to me, and went back to work. "Veronica, is it?" I said, stepping back in front of her counter. "I''d like to see a few of your newest bags, if you don''t mind." "Oh, I''m so sorry, we don''t have any," Veronica fake-smiled at me. "But if you''d like, there is a thrift store just a few streets away. Just a short walk, I''m sure that will suit you better." I fumed. But what could I do? I made a mental note of her name and decided I would email thepany as soon as I was back at my desk. "How''s it going?" I heard Logan''s voice behind me. I spun around. He had another man with him. This man was also wearing a name tag. It read: Donny Morgan, Manager. I turned back to Veronica. Her face paled at the sight of her boss. "Mr. Morgan!" She eximed. Chapter 0015 Chapter 0015 "I think what Veronica meant to say was that she''ll bring out our finest bags at once for you to look at," Mr. Morgan said, making Veronica shrink into herself. "Yes sir, of course, right away," she hurried towards the back of the store. "Please follow me," Mr. Morgan said, leading Logan and me to a back corner of the store. It was set up almost like a bridal shop, with mirrors and a tiny stage and seats surrounding the stage. We sat. ¡°Amelia dear, please bring out some champagne for the lovely couple," Mr. Morgan yelled across the store to the other saleswoman, who jumped to action as soon as the words were out of his mouth. "Oh, no," I said. "We''re not..." But Mr. Morgan was gone almost as quickly as he had first appeared. Veronica returned with several bags hanging from her arms. She delicatelyid them on the counter closest to us. "I never got your name?" She said to me, suddenly all smiles now that she thought I had money. "Hazel," I fake smiled in return. "You know, I see a lot of couples in here, and I have to say, you two seem to go together perfectly," she said. "No, we''re..." "Now, let''s have you try on some of these bags, shall we?" She smiled and turned away before I could exin. She grabbed a dark purple hand bag first and brought it over to me. I caught a glimpse of the price tag as I slid it onto my shoulder. My eyes bulged. $7,900? For a purse? "What do you think?" Veronica asked Logan. Logan studied the bag. "Let''s see another." She grabbed a ck one and handed it to me. I avoided looking at the price tag on this one. The money for a single bag would be life-changing for me. It made me sick to think about. Logan gave the bag a quick look and said, "This one is nice." "Your husband has good taste," Veronica smiled at me. "You''re a lucky woman, he treats you very well." My face burned. "He''s not..." I snuck a nce at Logan to see his reaction to being called my husband, but he was busy typing away on his phone. "This one will do," Logan said, still looking down at his phone. "Let''s keep trying them on however, I''d like to purchase two today. Veronica had me try on the rest of the bags. When we were finished Logan told me to pick out the second one he would purchase. I tried to imagine what kind of purse I would see on Nat. Content belongs toNovelDrama.Org ¡°Let''s also do the light brown one," I told Veronica. "She''ll probably get the most use out of those two options, "I exined to Logan. "Good thinking," he smiled at me. My heart did a little flutter. We walked to the front to pay. ¡°That''ll be $4357.87," Veronica said, giving us the biggest smile I''d seen on her yet. "Oh, is that all?" I muttered to myself. Logan handed over his credit card and looked around while Veronica ran it. "You know," he said, turning his eyes to me. "I want to buy her some shoes as well. Will you try some on?" ¡°Oh," I hesitated. I hated to tell my boss no, but I had some reservations. "Women have very different tastes in shoes...do you even know her size?" He looked down at my feet. "I feel like you both are very simr in build." He looked at Veronica, not even giving me a chance to say no again. "Would you mind pulling some shoes for us?" I sighed. "Heels. I wear an 8." "Yes, right away," Veronica practically ran to the back this time. I imagined she was already thinking of ways to spend hermission from today''s sales. Logan and I walked back to the seats we started in. "More champagne?" He asked. I was touched by his thoughtfulness. "That would be great, thank you." He took our empty sses and found Amelia, who took our sses back and returned to us with half-full ones. "I brought the rest of the bottle for you too," Amelia winked at us as she set everything down on the table between us.This is property ? N?velDrama.Org. "Thank you Amelia," Logan pulled a hundred dor bill from his wallet and handed it to her. "Oh, no sir, I couldn''t..." Amelia began. Chapter 0016 Chapter 0016 ¡°Please, I insist,¡± Logan pressed the money into her palm. She blushed. "That is too kind...thank you sir," she pocketed the money. "Please, let me know if there''s anything else I can get you." Logan nodded and she returned to stocking shelves. Veronica returned momentster, carrying at least ten boxes of shoes. I didn''t even want to guess where the prices started on these.This text is property of N?/velD/rama.Org. She brought the first box over to me and took the shoes out of the box: tall, hot pink stilettos. I slid my ts off nervously. I hoped they didn''t want to see the shoes in action. There was no way I''d be able to walk in them. Veronica cringed slightly when she saw my feet, which made me blush. They were not ready for human eyes to see. I was in desperate need of a nail trim and I had calluses on the sides of my big toes. ¡°Let me get you some pantyhose,¡± she said, running off again. I blushed harder and hid my feet under my chair until she returned. She put the hose on me, then the shoes. She looked at me expectantly, but I remained seated in my chair, staring back at her. Then she grabbed me by the hands and hoisted me up out of the chair. Time stood still as I froze in ce, slightly crouched, arms stretched straight out with Veronica''s hands still in mine. I was pretty proud of myself for being able to stand with those very tall, skinny shoes, but it was only temporary. As soon as Veronica let go my ankles began to quiver and I could feel myself falling over. Logan leapt out of his chair and threw his arms around me to catch me. I fell into him with my face and handsnding on his chest. Not exactly a soft ce tond, but I certainly wasn''tining. He scooped me up and returned me to my chair. "Maybe we''ll just try the shoes on sitting down, hmm?" I nodded, too stunned to really say anything, hoping he didn''t hear my heart pounding in my chest. This man had really just caught me, then scooped my up into his arms. It was like a fairytale. "I just need a second to..." cool down, I thought, then shook my head. "Uh, to soothe these nerves." I chugged the rest of my champagne. Damn, that was just about the hottest thing a man had ever done for me. I took a deep breath. "Okay. Next pair." The other nine pairs went off without a hitch. After Veronica removed thest pair from my feet, Logan stroked his chin, deep in thought. "I can''t decide. They all fit okay, yes?" I nodded. "We''ll take them all then," Logan said and nodded at me. We walked towards the front counter and waited for Veronica to box up thest pair of heels and join us with all ten pairs. She scanned each pair, her smile growing darger with every scan. "Your totales out to $15, 983.45," she said, grinning from ear to ear. Mr. Morgan walked up behind Veronica. "How was your shopping experience today?" "Oh, just fine," Logan said. "Could we credit these purchases to Amelia? She was most charming and helpful today." Veronica''s eyes nearly popped out of her skull and her jaw dropped open. I pressed my lips together to keep fromughing. "Yes, of course sir," Mr. Morgan smiled. After Logan paid we gathered up our bags and headed to the car. I was surprised by how considerate Logan had been today. There was a very sweet, kind man under that cold exterior. I snuck a peek at Logan while we walked. He had a little more pep in his step than before. I wondered if he was thinking about his wife. We arrived at his car and I helped him put all the bags into the trunk. I started to open the passenger door as he stepped in on the driver''s side. "What do you think you''re doing?" Logan said. ¡°I''m...getting in the car..." I said, confused by the question. "You don''t think I''m suddenly your chauffeur, do you?" He leaned through to pull my door shut, then sped off out of the parking lot. My mouth hung open as I watched him drive out of sight. Chapter 0017 Chapter 0017 After finally tracking down the nearest bus stop, I stepped onto the bus and made my way to an empty seat. I leaned my forehead against the window and looked out. I noticed arge smear of something off-white just inches from my face and sat up quickly. I shuddered. I hugged my purse to my chest and rested my chin on it. I had let myself get a little too carried away by this afternoon''s shopping trip. I liked that the employees thought we were a couple. I had almost felt like I was the woman he was spoiling. It was a nice feeling. But apparently Logan''s sweet nature was reserved for his wife. A pang hit my heart at the thought. Logan''s driving off without me made me realize just how abandoned I felt. First my family and Chance, and now by my boss, who I thought I was making strides with in our professional rtionship. I pulled out my phone to message Maria. "Drinks tonight?" "Yes please," Maria sent back. *** Later that night, after finally getting home and putting on my favorite little ck dress, I walked through the doors of Chianti, a local wine bar Maria and I loved. The quiet atmosphere was much preferred to loud, normal bars. It was hard to hold a conversation in those. I found Maria at a small table in the corner with two other friends of ours, Megan and Rachel. I waved and went to the bar to order a ss of wine. "I''ll take a ss of merlot, please," I asked the bartender. ss in hand, I walked over to my friends and hugged each of them before I sat down. "So Hazel," Rachel said with a grin. "Maria was just telling us about your hunky new boss." "Yeah," I said glumly, the sting of his abandonment still fresh. "That hunky new boss left me stranded earlier today." "What?" Megan said, outraged. I told them the whole story, from his crazy driving to the time he peeled out of the parking lot, leaving me in the dust. "I just thought that we''d had some sort of breakthrough during that shopping trip," I said. "He''d shown me another side of him." I stared at my ss of wine, thinking about the sweet man I had shopped with. "Uh oh," Maria said, a grin beginning to form on her face. "Looks like someone is falling for him after she said she wasn''t interested." My cheeks burned. I covered my face with my hands. "Oh, Hazel, I''m only teasing. It''s natural to feel something for him," Maria said cing a hand on my arm. "You have been spending a lot of time working one on one withThis is property ? N?velDrama.Org. him. You''ve just gone through no a really hard breakup. You said yourself he''s very handsome. It makes sense that you would start developing feelings for him." "I hate that you''re right," I said. "That''s part of the reason I wanted to go out tonight, to start looking for someone else so I can keep things professional with Logan. I''ve never had trouble like this with any other Supervisor I''ve worked content belongs to NovelDrama.Org Mariaughed. "That''s because none of our other supervisors looked like that. Plus they''ve all been jerks." "Logan can be. He''s so hard to work with sometimes. Everything has to be perfect," I said, taking a sip of wine. "So focus on that," Rachel said. "We''ll find you someone else in the meantime. You are quite the catch." She winked at me. Iughed and ced my hands on my cheeks. ¡°Oh, go on." I felt my purse begin to vibrate. I unzipped it and pulled out my phone. I almost did a double-take when I saw who was video calling: Logan. This had to be a butt dial. I answered. "Hello?" My friends gave me confused looks. They stood and moved in as close as they could without being spotted on Logan''s end. Rachel gasped and Megan''s eyes bulged at the sight of Logan. I saw her mouth to Maria, ¡°Who is this?" as she raised an eyebrow at me. "It''s just Logan," Maria mouthed back. "Hazel? Where are you?" Logan asked. Chapter 0018 Chapter 0018 That''s none of your business, I wanted to say. But instead I just said, ¡°Chianti. It''s a wine bar." Rachel''s brow furrowed. "Hang up, he shouldn''t be calling you outside of work," she whispered to me. I waved her off. "How soon can you get back to work? I need you to do something for me," Logan said. All three of my friends started shaking their heads angrily at me. ¡°After what he did to you today? Tell him to shove it," Megan whispered. I hesitated. My friends were right, but this was an opportunity I couldn''t afford to lose. "I can be there in ten minutes," I said. My friends groaned. "Great," Logan said. "I wouldn''t mind some of that wine. Bring a bottle, would you?" "Yes sir," I said. Logan hung up as soon as the words were out of my mouth. "Are you kidding me?" Megan said. "He has the nerve to not only ask you toe in after hours, but to also bring him some wine? After abandoning you?" "Girl, you need to go down there and tell him you quit," Rachel said. "I can''t," I said, standing to leave. "I need this job and the pay raise." "You are the best secretary around," Maria said. "You could find a better job. You don''t deserve to be treated like this. You need time off too, he can''t just expect you to jump every time he asks." ¡°I know.......¡± I said. My head was spinning. ¡°I don''t have time to think about it right now, I need to go." ¡°Okay,¡± Maria said. "Just...don''t stay toote, if you can help it." I nodded, knowing full well I would stay all night if that was what it took to get this job.Content provided by N?velDrama.Org. *** I walked into work exactly ten minutes after I told Logan I would, bottle of cabe in hand. Reading all those articles on Logan hade in handy, he had mentioned his favorite kind of wine several times. The lights were all off except for the one in Logan''s office. I knocked once I got to his door. "Come in," he yelled. "Your wine, sir," I ced the bottle on his desk and sat in the chair in front of it. I pulled the small notebook I kept in my purse out along with a pen. "Thank you," he said. "Now," he Laid Belk stood. "I have been here for two weeks now. Since my CEO appointment was rather rushed, not get the usual weing ceremony that past CEOs have gotten. I want you to n it for me. To be held at the end of the week. This is your next assessment." I stared hard at my notebook, pen poised to write. This was why he called me in after work? This was the big emergency that couldn''t wait until morning? My pen shook in my hand. It took everything in me to not throw it at him and storm out. "I''d like an outline of the event tonight," he said. "Then you''re free to go." *** After several hours of drafting a n for Logan''s wee ceremony, he finally released me at 1:30 am. I drove home, barely even aware that I was driving. The day had been long and brutal, and the next was going to begin in just a few hours. I could hardly keep my eyes open. I dragged myself into my parents'' house and up the stairs to my room, careful to be as quiet as I could be. was surprised to see a lighting through the bottom of my bedroom door knew I hadn''t left one on before I had left for work the day before. Had someone been in my room? I cracked open the door and peeked in. I couldn''t see anyone from that angle. I slowly pushed open the door I the rest of the way. Something on the floor near the door caught my eye. It was a pair of men''s boxer shorts. And they looked strangely familiar. From there, a trail of pre-sex items led the way to my bed: pants, socks, shoes, condoms, and finally... "Natalie!" Chapter 0019 Chapter 0019 Natalie bolted upright. Half a secondter, Chance also groggily sat up. They were both - it seemed by the way they rushed to pull a nket over themselves -pletely naked under those covers. My covers. I was suddenly wide awake. "What the hell Natalie?" I picked up the clothes off the floor one by one and started throwing the items at them. "Get out of my bed! Or is that the next thing you''re stealing from me? Was it not enough that you won? Do you have to rub it in my face every damn chance you get? What''s next? Huh? What the hell else of mine are you going to take?" "Ha," Chance said. "Every chance...it''s funny because my name is Chance." Natalie rolled her eyes. I wanted to choke him. I opted for throwing a shoe at his head instead. "Yeah, you''re a joke alright." I said. "Woah!" He ducked. "You''re crazy!" "My god Hazel, it''s almost two in the morning," Natalie said, seeming to have not heard any of the words I had just said to her. "Can''t you just let us sleep? I believe the couch is open for you." I shut my eyes and clenched my fists. "Get. Out." "But we were sleeping..." Chance started. Natalie cut him off. "It''s my house too. You get out!" "GET. OUT. OF. MY. ROOM. NOW!" I screamed as loudly as I could. I heard a door down the hall m and feet pounding towards us. A momentter, my parents entered the room. "What is all the yelling about?" My mom asked, cing her hands on her hips and stomping her toes. Natalie and I started yelling at the same time. ¡°I just got home from work to find these two..."This text is property of N?/velD/rama.Org. "Hazel just came in screaming and she woke us up and..." We screamed over each other for several minutes until my dad ced a finger and thumb on his lips and let out a loud whistle. "QUIET!" He yelled in a deep, booming voice. I''d only ever heard that voice a couple times before. I was pretty sure it was Natalie''s first time ever hearing that voice, being the sweet angel my father thought she was. "Hazel, let them sleep. If you''re going to keep suchte hours you can sleep on the couch when you get home," mom said. "That''s what I tried to tell her!" Natalie said. "I was working. And of course you take her side. You are always taking her side. No wonder she grew up to be such a bitch, you let her get away with it her whole life," I snapped. Natalie gasped. "Oh, sorry Nat. Did I spill the beans on that little secret? Has no one ever told you what a conniving, backstabbing bitch you are?" "Don''t call your sister that," mom said. I shook my head. I don''t know why it surprised me every time my parents took up for Natalie. I started to say something else, but thought better of it. Nothing I said would ever get through to them. Instead, I turned around and headed back down the stairs. Part of me hoped someone would stop me, but I knew better. I got in my car and turned it on. Tears streamed down my cheeks and Iid my forehead on my steering wheel. I had no idea where to go. I didn''t want to bother my friends, their living situations weren''t great either. Maria, Megan, and Rachel all lived together with two other roommates. They certainly didn''t have room for more. one I pulled out my phone to scroll through my contacts list, to see if I could find anyone I was maybe forgetting that could take me in for few days. But most of my contacts were work rted, I couldn''t ask any of them for help. I opened my map app to look for local, cheap hotels. As I searched, I remembered suddenly that ourpany actually had some rest areas for employees that needed them if they were workingte. "Guess I''m going back to work," I muttered, shifting my car into gear. "I sure don''t see that ce enough." Chapter 0020 Chapter 0020 I walked into the office and dropped my purse onto my desk. I was wide awake now. Trying to sleep would be pointless. I gathered my notebook and pen and walked down to Logan''s office to grab some documents. I needed a distraction, and nning this ceremony seemed perfect for that. Maybe I''d score some brownie points with Logan too, for working so hard to get this done. I opened the door to Logan''s office and jumped. At the same time, Logan, shirtless and lifting weights, also jumped. "Oh!" We both eximed in unison.This text is property of N?/velD/rama.Org. I lowered my eyes. "Sir, I am so sorry, I had no idea you were in here." "What are you doing here?" He set the weights on the ground and picked up a towel to pat his face dry. He didn''t say it angrily, like I expected. It sounded more like...concerned? I snuck a peek back up at him. His bare torso was glistening with sweat, which only enhanced his chiseled features. His firm pecs and six-pack abs heaved in and out with each breath Logan took. I had no idea this perfection existed under the suits he normally wore. I looked away again. This felt so invasive, liked I''d glimpsed a side of Logan no one else was supposed to see. No one at work anyway. And besides, if I kept looking at him I was afraid my eyes and tongue would pop out of my head like a cartoon animal. "I...I couldn''t sleep, so I thought I would start working on your wee ceremony," I said. "You''re herete." "Working out at the office helps me to be prepared mentally for whatever the next day has to throw at me," he said. "Go get some rest, you''ll need it for tomorrow." "Yes sir," I said, exiting the office and pulling the door shut behind me. I sat at my desk, the image of a shirtless, ripped Logan still fresh on my mind. I shook my head, trying to get the image out so I could focus on work. I opened my notebook and made a list of everything we would need for an amazing wee ceremony: catering, decorators, musicians... Sounds like I''m nning a wedding, I thought glumly. I was beginning to wonder if I would ever get to n an actual wedding. Mine, that is. Not my sister''s. I imagined she would have several weddings, the way she ran through men. The thought brought the evening''s events flying violently back to me. And the events in Vegas. And the memory of every single rtionship I''d had that Natalie had a hand in ruining. I wanted to scream and throw everything that was on my desk across the room. But Logan was still within earshot. If he saw me lose it, I might lose my chance at bing his secretary. So instead I ran to the bathroom to ssh water on my face to help me cool down. After I returned from the bathroom, Iid my head on my desk. I couldn''t hardly keep my eyes open now. Since the adrenaline from the evening wore off, I found myself suddenly physically and mentally exhausted. I''ll just rest my eyes for a moment, I thought, closing them. *** ¡°Hazel,¡± Logan, shirtless, stood in front of me. "Yes Logan?" I said nervously. He grabbed my hands. "I have something I need to say to you. I can''t hold it in anymore." "You can tell me anything," I whispered. He pulled me close to him. Then, he grabbed me by the shoulders and began shaking me. "Hazel, you need to wake up." "Huh?" "My god Hazel, wake up." I jolted awake. Logan''s hand was on my shoulder, shaking me. "Hazel. Wake. Up.¡± Qu I pulled my head up off my desk. I guess my eye-resting turned into a little more than that. I slowly blinked my eyes and looked around. It must''ve been close to 8am, people had started shuffling in for their shifts. UMS Logan thrust a tissue in my face. I looked at it, confused, then turned to look at him. "You''ve got drool on you," he said. 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