By the next morning, Hazel with the help of aunt Mabel walked her mother over to the car, a cold breeze brushing their skin as they stepped out of the hospital.
Hazel's mother glanced over at her daughter and smiled lovingly which went unnoticed by her. They got to the car and Hazel opened the car door for her mother to take a seat at the back.
She sat in the passenger seat and her Aunt started the car and they went on their way.
"Oh, Hazel. Don't you have to be in school early tomorrow morning for classes?" Hazel's mother asked, suddenly remembering
"Yeah, mom. But don't worry about that. I'll call the school and let them know why I won't be coming in for a few days." Hazel replied, her eyes glued on the road so her mother doesn't see the anguish in her facial expression.
Her mother nodded. They pulled up in the driveway of their home. Hazel helped her mother out of the car and aunt Mabel ran to aid them as well.
Immediately Hazel unlocked the house door and slid it open, the puppy ran toward Hazel wagging its tail the moment it set its eyes on her. It could already recognize her so soon.
Hazel's mother gasped in fear and rushed behind aunt Mabel. She was scared of dogs.
"What!? How did a dog get into the house?? But the door was locked!" She questioned in a shaky voice while peeping from behind her sister.
Hazel picked up the puppy from the ground and pet it. "It was in trouble and I saved it. I want to keep it, please?" She pouted childishly and her mom obliged.
"Fine. But just keep it in your space."
Hazel cheered in excitement and kissed the puppy's head. They go into the house and aunt Mabel offered to make breakfast while Hazel took her mother upstairs into her bedroom.
When her mother was settled in, Hazel went back downstairs and noticed the puppy was letting out little whines. She remembered she hadn't fed it the night before and decided to take it for a walk with her and get dog food.
"Aunt, I'm taking the puppy out to get it done food! I'll be back in a while." Hazel announced from the living room.
"Okay, darling." Aunt Mabel replied.
She didn't have a leash for the puppy so she was going to get one at the pet store. She held it in her hand and walked out of the house.
She didn't want to take her bicycle so she walked instead.
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"Daddy!" A sad Annie cried and ran toward Malcolm who was seated on the royalty-sized couch in his three-floor mansion.
"What's wrong, sweetheart?" He asked worriedly at the little girl who just hugged him.
"It's Cookie! I lost Cookie!" She announced while bawling her eyes out "She's gone!"
Malcolm sighed, "I'm sorry, my little pumpkin. I'll get you a new-"
"I don't want a new dog! I want Cookie!" She whined, "I named her after mummy's favourite snack. Cookies. She reminds me of her. Please get her back!"
Malcolm's expression fell and his heart broke at the sight of his sad little girl. Her grey tear-filled eyes glowed just like her mother's. His wife had died when Annie was just 4 years old. He's been all she's had for two years.
"Alright. I'll gather a search team and we'll help you find it, alright?" Malcolm promised while patting her back.
She sniffled and nodded while rubbing her eyes. She turned to the woman she was on the walk with and smiled happily. This brightened Malcolm's mood.
"Now go and play with your toys in your room." He stated and kissed her forehead. An excited Annie giggled and ran out of the living room through the door she came in through. The woman turned to follow her
"You wait behind," Malcolm ordered.
The woman swallowed her saliva and shut her eyes in fear of what was going to happen. She knew she was in trouble for losing the dog, "Yes sir."
She walked back to where he was sitting and stood in front of him, her sweaty hands behind her back.
"How could you be so careless with my daughter?" He asked, his voice getting more intimidating by the second.
"I got a little distracted and she ran off….sir," She replied, her legs shaking as she did.
"A little distraction is all it takes to lose my daughter!" He yelled in anger. "Remember how her mother died? Her bodyguards also got a little distracted'!"
She broke into sweats and started shivering, "I-I'm sorry sir. It'll never happen again…" She assured.
Malcolm sighed and crossed his legs on the couch and picked up his phone and car keys. "What area were you in when you lost sight of the dog?" He asked, his brows furrowed in anger.
"On m-main street before the old flower shop." She replied in a quaky voice.
He got up and walked up to her, his buff physique towering over her,
"The next time you act carelessly with my daughter, you will not live to see the next day." He threatened and walked out of the house.
The babysitter's face paled in fear after the intimidating threat seeped ears.
He walked to his car and his bodyguards went after him.
"Stay behind. I won't be gone too long. I need you to gather a search team to find my daughter's dog. You know what it looks like. Search every nook and cranny of this town till it's found." He commanded, started his car and drove out.
He got to the street the woman had told him about and parked his car on the side of the road. He came out of the car and started to search for the dog while asking the passersby and store owners if they had seen it.
Suddenly he bumped into a woman and a little yelp was heard. He turned around to see a beautiful young lady who had just accidentally dropped a dog. It was Hazel.
She was lost in her thoughts of how she'll arrange the money to save her mother and didn't see him coming.
At that moment the puppy ran the other way, and Hazel hurriedly apologized before running after the dog.
Malcolm found this to be very suspicious as the dog's white fur looked a lot like Annie's, he was also mesmerized by Hazel's beauty. He ran after her hoping to catch up with her and take a look at the dog to make sure.
"Hello?! Excuse me?!" He called out to her, but it was futile. She was already too invested in chasing after the dog. All of a sudden, a crowd of people watching a parade happening on the street obstructed him.
He fought to pass through them and sighted Hazel a few meters away. He motioned to fun after her when his phone rang. He picked it out of his pocket and declined the call as catching up to Hazel was more important at that moment.
His phone rang again and he stopped running to pick it up. "Sir, we have an emergency." a voice on the other side of the phone stated. He sighed and hung up. He turned around to walk back to his car and attend to work.
He glanced over in the direction she ran and heaved a sigh. "Shit…" He muttered under his breath and walked away.
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"Hey wait!" Hazel yelled after the puppy as it ran into a dark alleyway. She finally got a hold of it as it stopped at the end of the alley. "Gotcha."
The puppy panted and whined. 'It must have been startled by the man earlier.' She thought as she squatted on the floor to pet it and calm it down.
"That's a lovely dog you got there." A strange man in a black trench coat states as he walked toward her from the entrance to the alley.
"Wh-Who are you?" Hazel questioned shakily.
"Don't worry, girlie I mean no harm." He assured raising his hands in the air to signify that.
"What do you want? Money? Take what you want." Hazel offered stretching out her purse.
"I don't want your money. I have a job offer for you."
"A job?" She asked with an eyebrow raised in confusion.
"That's right. You can make as much as $15,000 per day."
Hazel eyes widened. She found this to be very sketchy since she was unaware of the nature of the job.
He also happened to be a stranger, so trust was out of the equation for her as well.
"You can take some time to think about it. In the meantime, here's my card. Call me whenever you make up your mind." He handed her a business card that had a phone number on it.
She put the card in her pocket, nervously smiled and walked past the man and out of the alley, puppy in hand as she did.
'What a sketchy man' Hazel thought '15 grand?! And of all people, why me?'
She didn't understand anything. But she wasn't going to take a strange man she met in an alleyway seriously.
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