The next day came quicker than expected. Hazel was in the kitchen making lunch for her mother and Mabel when her phone rang. She wiped her hands on the apron she had on and picked up the phone.
It was an unknown number. She thought it was probably for work.
"Hello." she greeted.
"Good day. Am I onto Hazel Danvers?" A woman's voice on the other side of the phone asked.
"Yes, speaking," Hazel replied.
"You are summoned to your Faculty office right away. It's about the form you filled out?" The woman stated.
"O-Oh..okay. I'll be right there soon. Thank you." Hazel replied before hanging up the phone. She placed it back down on the kitchen island and continued cooking.
Once she was done, she called out to her mother and aunt to come down to the dining table for lunch.
"We'll be right down, honey." Her mother replied from her bedroom.
Hazel washed her hands in the sink and set down a pan of casserole on the table before walking up to her room to get dressed and leave for school.
She was hoping the board would accept her request to take a year's leave. She didn't want to wear too much so she threw on a grey oversized hoodie and black leggings.
She rushed out of the door with her purse hung up on her shoulder. Her long dark brown hair flew in her face as she went down the stairs. She pulled out a rubber band and tied up her hair in a tight ponytail.
"Off to school for some uh....important class meeting," Hazel announced nervously as she got downstairs. She was impressed at how quickly she was able to come up with that lie.
"Alrighty, Hazey." Mabel teased and chuckled, Hazel's mother laughed with her. Hazel smiled and rolled her eyes.
"See you later." She stated before strutting out the door. She took a deep breath of the cool spring air as she closed the door behind her.
Once she arrived at the college, she parked her bicycle at her usual spot and walked fast into the school administrative block. She got to the reception and greeted the woman standing behind the counter.
"Good day. I'm here to see the Faculty officer. I received a call saying to come here?" Hazel inquired.
"Yes. Hazel Danvers, I presume?" The receptionist asked after typing on the computer in front of her for a few seconds. Hazel nodded in agreement.
The receptionist picked up a telephone and dialled a number on it. "Yes, sir she's here. Okay. You can go in now." She stated after hanging up the phone.
Hazel thanked her and walked through the door next to her. She knocked on the door and walked in as instructed by the officer on the other side of the door.
"Good day, Miss Danvers." He started, "Your leave of absence from college for a year has been approved by the board and is effective whenever you choose to leave." He announced as he handed her the form back with his signature under it.
"Thank you. Thank you so much, sir. You have no idea how much this will help me." Hazel said before walking out of the man's office. Just then, her phone vibrated and a reminder came in. It was already 4 pm.
"Shit." She cussed before running out of college and back home. She barely had enough time to get ready for her date AND mission at the same time.
After pulling up to her driveway, Hazel parked in the garage and rushed into the house. Her mother was seated with Mabel in the living room. "Oh hey, honey. Why're you in such a hurry?" Her mom asked as she looked away from her phone.
"Hey, mom. Yeah, I haven't chosen a dress for my….date yet. See ya!" Hazel replied abruptly before running up the stairs not giving her mom a chance to react.
Once inside her room, she shut the door behind her and opened her closet. Asher slipped out wrapped in a shirt. Hazel let out a chuckle and picked him out of her shirt.
"Asher you silly dog. You're getting too used to my closet aren't ya? We can't have that though." Hazel stated while holding him up above her face. He wagged his tail and panted in excitement.
"You missed me, didn't you? Oh, I missed you too my cute little fur ball. Yes, I did. Yes, I did." She cooed as she rigorously scratched his fur. He loved it when she did that.
She put him down and pulled out the dress Maude had chosen for her. After laying it carefully on her bed, she decided to take a quick shower to wash off all the stress she just went through getting home.
Once she was out, Hazel dried her hair with a towel, curled it and tied it in a high ponytail. She was oddly obsessed with ponytails and wouldn't style her hair in anything that wasn't like it.
Her phone buzzed and she ran to her bed to check what it was. It was a text from Jordan.
Jordan: A reminder that you have a job today. I don't normally do this but here I am reminding you. Normally you'd just wind up mysteriously dead after missing a job.
"Geez. So intense."
Me: Okay. I'll be there.
After sending her reply back, it crossed her mind that she might not have time to change after the job. "Maybe they'll let me do the job with the dress since it's black too."
She put on the dress and packed her purse with all the essentials; her phone, power bank, and lipgloss amongst other miscellaneous things.
By the time she was done getting ready, it was already a couple of minutes to 6 pm. She had to hurry so she ran out of her house and took a cab.
By the time she got to the alley, Jordan was already there waiting for her. When his gaze met her, his mouth flew wide open.
"Well, damn. Going somewhere special later?" He inquired as he handed her the bag she'd use to conceal her face.
"None of your business." Hazel replied with a little chuckle before covering her face with the bag. Jordan shrugged and lead her to the car.
On arriving at their hang, Hazel took off the bag and her eyes met with Dove who was standing by waiting for them to arrive. Dove scanned Hazel from head to toe and her face formed a frown.
"Are you here for work or to distract someone?" Dove asked, assuming that Hazel was all dolled up because of Malcolm. Hazel rolled her eyes and walked away from her.
Dove placed her hand on her chest as she watched Hazel walk away surprised at her audacity. Jordan paused and smirked at her before following Hazel in.
"I need to do something about her. And fast. She's feeling a little too..proud." Dove soliloquized while softly stroking her chin.
Once inside, Hazel walked toward the direction of Malcolm's office but was immediately held back by Jordan. "You're not going there today. I'm the one with the info on the job, remember?"
Hazel nodded and glanced over at his office door before walking behind Jordan. "Today, you have to deliver some bags of codeine to a new client that just started business with us." Jordan stated.
"What are they worth in total?" Hazel inquired trying to keep up with his pace as he walked in front of her.
"3000 dollars. They've tested our product and want it in bulk. Codeine today and something else some other time," Jordan explained, "so your job is not only to sell to them but to make a great impression on them so they keep coming back to us."
Hazel became sceptical. Were they asking her to do something lewd? "We're not asking you to do anything nasty. Just be a good-mannered supplier. We run an illegal business but we're not animals." Jordan chuckled.
It was almost as if he had read her mind. They went through a door that revealed a lobby. While walking down the lobby, Malcolm suddenly came out from one of the rooms and bumped into Hazel.
She lost her balance and by instinct held on to Malcolm's shirt. He held her by her waist to stop her from falling. Jordan turned around quickly from the noise and his eyes met the sight of Malcolm and Hazel staring into each other's eyes.
He was mesmerized by how astonishingly gorgeous she looked that evening. He couldn't wrap his mind around how someone could be so effortlessly beautiful.
She was confused but he was completely lost in her eyes. She tried to release herself from his hold but he was so lost he didn't notice. "Sir?" She called out to him and he suddenly came back to his senses.
He quickly let her go and cleared his throat. "You should learn to watch where you're going. You're not a child."
"Wha- me!? You're the one who wasn't watching. How can you just walk out of a room so randomly? How was I supposed to know, huh?" Hazel suddenly snapped back.
Malcolm was taken aback by her attitude. Jordan freaked out and thought he was going to do something bad to her, but Malcolm didn't seem angry at all. He looked at her outfit for a few more seconds and walked out of the lobby.
Dove was standing at the entrance of the lobby and she moved from his way so he could leave. Her blood boiled with rage. She had never felt rivaled before and that was a first for her. The sight of Hazel being his Malcolm's arms fueled her hatred.
Malcolm walked into his office and plopped down on his chair behind his desk. "What on earth is wrong with me?" He asked himself as he covered his face with both his hands.
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