Present, April 21,2019.
'And that's the end of the presentation' Hazel concluded closing her laptop, glad that it was finally time to leave his office.
'That's quite impressive' Chris exclaimed as he went through the files Hazel gave him for reference.
'Ms. White?' he called out as there was no reply from the other side.
He noticed that she was totally lost in her own world.
Hazel looked up to him struggling to look undisturbed as he called out her name again.
'Is there any other stuff that I should know about the company?' he asked.
'No, these are the major details. I have already given the required details to Ms. Quinn so if you need anything you can ask her' she replied collecting the scattered files from the table.
'Okay then, you can get back to your work, thanks for the introduction. It was great' he complimented before turning his head towards the laptop, continuing his work.
She slowly left the room fighting her thoughts.
During lunch break, Ava and Hazel sat in the company's cafeteria chatting quietly, Hazel noticed Chris walking into the cafeteria busy talking to someone over the phone. She was damn sure that he had been staring at their table the entire time and just as she looked up at him he averted his gaze.
Was he doing that on purpose? Or was she just imagining stuff?
'Ava, I just realized something' she told Ava placing her sandwich on her plate.
Ava looked at her signalling her to continue, taking a sip of water.
'Ava, he didn't forget me' she told her.
'Then?' Ava asked confused.
'There's no need for him to remember me' Hazel responded, her eyes filled with hurt.
'What do you mean?' Ava questioned worried, though Hazel didn't look fazed, Ava knew she was breaking inside. Ava knew Chris was a major part of her life, there's still no proof that Hazel had moved on from him.
They have been friends for more than an year now, Ava still has a clear picture of Hazel's first day at work, Hazel had completed her Bachelor's in Computers and Technology specializing in Computer Forensics. Ava was already working there when Hazel joined; she was a year senior to Hazel. Ava basically didn't like having friends in her work place, she was more of an introvert but Hazel was an exception. Hazel was different, she didn't mind about anything, she was friendly and cheerful and as she was assigned to Ava during her training period and Ava was a great mentor, soon enough both became inseparable.
Over their working time together or when ever they hung out Ava never once heard Hazel talk about a guy. Many approached her but she turned down every proposal without having a glance at them. They were smart and good-looking guys too. Ava was always curious about Hazel's taste in men, when she asked Hazel about it she never gave her a proper reply and one time she did mention about Chris but not by herself, she had to drag it out. That was when Ava first heard about Chris, after a few days she opened up about what happened back in college.
Since then Ava always had a doubt that Hazel never moved on, but Hazel never seemed to talk about Chris nor did she try to find him through her friend Charlotte.
But now Ava was truly concerned about Hazel's thoughts, she couldn't read through her best friend for the first time. "Was it fate, for them to meet again like this?" she wondered.
'Ava, I wasn't the first one to propose him. There were many girls who were after him, I saw all of them getting rejected in front of my own eyes and the next time he sees them he acts like they never existed in his life, two of them were from his own class and he never even gave them a second glance till college was over or ever' Hazel replied.
The answer Hazel told Ava wasn't for Ava alone, it was for her too. Hazel was trying to remember and understand the fact that she wasn't even worth existing in his life anymore not even as the girl he knew in college. So it was just a wishful thinking if she thought he would talk to her for old times sake.
'So he is doing the same to me, I guess there's nothing more to do than remain professional' Hazel concluded as she reached for the tissue paper placed on the table.
'Hazel, don't you think that it's a second chance for you? Maybe he can like you now' Ava asked hyped-up for a moment.
'Ava it's not a romantic movie, plus he had someone he liked back then and maybe he has someone now too' Hazel replied as she noticed her friend's enthusiastic level go down.
For a little while, Hazel too was fascinated by the idea. It would be nice if he fell for her now, but she knew that she has to be in reality, this is not one of her fantasies where everything happens according to her wishes.
Surprisingly, Hazel honestly did not know the reason why she couldn't forget Chris even after all this time. She thought that she moved on years ago but when she has a thought of getting into a relationship, Chris' face appears in front of her eyes. It still happens, so she just decided to give up.
But suddenly he is here, as her boss, yes she did think about meeting Chris again and they live happily ever after but soon the dreams faded with each morning.
Now that he's around her, she didn't know how to react. Should she be happy? Or should she be sad as it's going to be really hard for her to move on now with him by her side.
Hazel was really frustrated from the events happening around her, for the first time since college she didn't know how to handle a situation. The last time she faced this situation it was quite hard for her to get it out of her system but since then she made sure she would never look helpless again but it happened again that too because of the same person.
'Well Ava, I have decided' she spoke out after a long moment of silence.
'If he doesn't remember me...' she stopped.
'Then what?' Ava asked.
'Then I don't remember him as well' Hazel finished, her lips curling into a faint smile.