"You've arrived at your destination sir," the driver told Ethan who paid him and got down from the car.
"I'll probably pass the night here. I'm really tired" Ethan thought to himself as he got to the door of Hazel's house.
He knocked a few times with no response. Then, he tried to open the door which opened to his surprise.
"How come the door is open?" He thought as he wandered around the sitting room. He heard muffled sounds coming from the kitchen.
He was about to scold her for leaving the door open but walked into the shock of his life.
"What the f*ck is going on here??"
"I promise it's not what you think it is"
****
Little Jermaine tried to comprehend what was going on while Hazel hastily picked up her clothes and threw them on.
"Sweetie, I told you to stay in your room" She walked towards him, thinking of what explanation to give him.
Damon rested on the kitchen counter with his hands folded and a smirk on his face.
Just then, Ethan walked in with confusion and shock and written all over his face.
"What the f*ck is going on here??"
"I promise it's not what you think. I'll explain everything to you. I promise" she said and she tried taking Jermaine back to his room to prevent him from seeing the ugly event unfolding.
Ethan was too stunned to speak. He looked at Damon who looked like he was enjoying the drama.
Hazel and Jermaine had left the kitchen then, Ethan moved closer to Damon;
"You! And what do you think you're doing here?"
Damon chuckled and responded;
"What did it look like? I only wanted to have a taste of what you've been having."
The words that came out of Damon's mouth irritated Ethan so much, that he raised his hand to slap him but Damon was quick to catch his hand;
"Don't you fuckin dare you peasant! Aren't you ashamed? Ethan Miller is now a regular dumb painter or artist or whatever dumb name you gave it. You are feasting on my crumbs and you feel you have the guts to speak to me anyhow?"
"I'm not a Miller, I never will!"
"Of course you're not, you're too chicken to be a Miller anyway"
With that, Damon shoved him aside and walked out of the house.
Ethan couldn't bear the way Damon spoke of Hazel as though she was a slut or a cheap whore.
Hazel walked into Ethan breathing in and out heavily and pacing around the kitchen.
"Hazel Norman! Tell me exactly what you have to do with that demon?"
Hazel stood frozen to the ground, trembling and sweating in her underarms and feet. If she tells Ethan that Damon is the father of her son, he wouldn't want to have anything to do with her again.
"I'm sure you're not deaf Hazel" he moved closer to her, keeping his gaze on hers while she kept pondering on what to tell him and suddenly she said, "Nothing".
"Nothing? Nothing?? Hazel, you just said Nothing? That bastard told me that I, Ethan, feast on his crumbs! What the f*ck does that mean? Have you been f*cking him??"
Hazel was short of words and couldn't think of anything else than to tell him to leave. That was the last thing Ethan expected her to say,
"You now want me to leave your house? I walked into you, half naked with another man in the kitchen and you have no explanation, you just tell me to leave? Fine!"
Ethan stormed out of the house with a heavy heart, leaving Hazel to sink to the ground with tears. She loved Ethan so much but she couldn't bear to tell him about her past. She couldn't tell him that Jermaine belonged to Damon. She already told him Jermaine's father died in an accident and dodged the topic every time it came up. He was very understanding not to probe further.
Days went by and Hazel did not hear from Ethan. She drove past his studio several times and it was locked. She did not have the boldness to go to his place to talk to him yet.
Hazel was sitting in her car after dropping Jermaine off at school. She picked up her phone to call Anna;
"Meet me at the coffee shop close to the office"
"Right now?" Anna asked
"Yes."
Anna already got to the coffee shop before Hazel who walked in looking disheveled. Hazel had not been herself since the incident. She managed to pack her hair up in a messy bun and threw on green sweatpants and a hoodie.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Anna asked, sounding concerned.
"Damon came to my house a few days ago"
Anna wasn't surprised but had to act like she was, "what??? How? Where was I? How did he know your house?"
"I don't know Anna. You were at the exhibition with Ethan. I need to run, I need to leave this city as soon as possible Anna, I do not feel safe anymore. Damon has been appearing everywhere and I feel like he would take my head soon"
Anna shook her head and asked, "What happened at the house?"
"He came in, threatening me to come back to him with his son and he was almost raping me when Jermaine and Ethan walked in on us"
Anna gasped in shock "Ethan?? How come?"
Hazel was surprised about why she was concerned about Ethan who was mature enough to handle the situation rather than little Jermaine who walked in on his Mom, naked and bent over the kitchen counter by a strange man.
"I have to go now, Hazel. I'll call you soon" Anna dashed out of the coffee shop, leaving Hazel sitting there, utterly confused by her sudden departure.
Hazel sipped her cup of hot chocolate while she thought about Anna's reaction and what city was the farthest and easiest to move to.
She barely had any time left.
"What about Ethan? Would I disappear on him?" She thought to herself and decided to summon the courage to go to his place.
She knocked severely until his next-door neighbor came out to tell her that he traveled the previous morning.
"Do you have an idea where he went?"
"I have told you all I know so stop knocking and disturbing my peace!" the grumpy old lady responded and slammed her door.
Hazel heaved a sigh and went to sit in her car.
"Where could he have gone? Will he be back before I leave?" She thought to herself.
She drove back home to put the house in order and research good, unpopular towns.
*****
Anna rushed to her office breathing heavily and asked her secretary if anyone had come looking for her,
"No ma'am"
Anna let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She had been ignoring a private number that was calling her repeatedly thinking it was a random client but when Hazel told her about Ethan, she panicked and thought it was Damon.
She walked into her office and plopped down on her comfortable office chair, tired. She jumped in shock when she heard;
"Well well well, if it isn't my precious Anna"
Damon Miller, in all his formidable presence, loomed at the corner of her office, a menacing smirk etched upon his face
"One simple task and you could not handle it?"