chapter 2

Hazel rolled up her navy sweater sleeved and pulled out her notes from her brightly colored filing folder, stacking them on her desk. She flipped through them quickly to make sure they were in order and opened a new document on her laptop. She had recently passed her therapy licensure exams and had been hired as a permanent addition to the clinic she worked at during her practicum.

Typing up reports and organizing her notes to submit to her supervisor meant sitting at a desk all day, but Hazel didn’t mind. Besides, she got to eat lots of snacks this way! She had always loved the idea of helping people as a child, even complete strangers, but as she grew up, she found she was too sensitive to be a nurse or doctor and cried too easily to be a paramedic, EMT, or firefighter. A Master’s degree in therapy was something she could achieve easily due to her love of academia and the work seemed to fill a hole in her heart.

After finishing up digitizing and re-organizing her notes, she set out to finishing up the mental health status reports on her newest clients. As time passed, she found herself becoming distracted by thoughts of her encounter with Dustin. She shook her head to clear her mind of that nonsense, but it did not take.

“I’m glad I threw that business card out. I can’t believe he actually expected me to call him after that,” she thought. She tried to ignore the curiosity rising in her gut and gnawing away at her focus. “Ugh, fine. Here we go...”

Hazel opened one of her desk drawers to reveal an organized, tidy grouping of different snacks. She grabbed an individual package of Pocky and started munching, ready to do some research. Hazel opened a tab on her internet browser and searched up his name. His profile on Facebook immediately popped up. She clicked through it, looking at pictures of him and Denise over the holidays. “He works at Sunset Realty... That sounds familiar,” she mused. With two Pocky sticks in the corner of her mouth, she quickly plugged the business into her search bar and pressed enter.

Clicking on the site, she checked the location. “I knew it. It’s near where Illana lives with her family!” Still not satisfied, Hazel perused the rest of the site. She looked under listings and saw many beautiful homes and luxury apartments way out of her price range. Hazel groaned and clicked through a few more headings until she came to the “Our Realtors” tab. She searched for Dustin’s photo, but it did not exist on that page. However, the lineup of the employees’ photos showed there was once a photo in what was now a blank square.

“What the...?” Hazel said out loud as she pieced everything together. “He listed it as his workplace but he doesn’t work there anymore. He must have been fired and is trying to save face!”

A knock on Hazel’s office door startled her into closing all tabs. Her co-worker Melissa opened the door and peeked through.

“A bunch of us are going to that sandwich place you like, wanna come?” She asked. Hazel nodded enthusiastically and grabbed her purse.

~

“Roast beef with cheddar; Sourdough roll, with everything on it, please!” Hazel called out to the burly man working behind the counter. She was a regular there and everyone who took the lunch shift knew her.

“Yes, ma’am! Coming right up!” he shouted. It was fairly loud in the sit-down deli during the lunch rush, so yelling at the counter was commonplace. The place smelled delicious as most delis do; cured meats hung above the kitchen and big hunks of cold cuts lined the cold case where people could order anything they wanted. Hazel browsed the sliding-door fridge for a drink and grabbed a bag of chips before getting in line and paying for her meal.

Minutes later, the same burly man from earlier waved her sandwich in the air and set it down on the counter.

“Enjoy, Hazel!” He shouted and went back to work.

“Thanks, James!”

Hazel quickly shuffled back to her table where her co-workers were already eating their lunches. It was a bit of a tight squeeze for her- her winter coat barely hid the fact that her belly was just touching the edge of the table. Most of her weight was in her midsection, after all, but a cute golden bear necklace lay atop her generous chest, highlighting its size. With the ability to make normal-length tops look like crop tops, Hazel’s ample cans were indeed powerful.

None of her co-workers thought any less of her for this, however. The clinic had a sunny set of staff, who through rigorous training and high levels of empathy, knew better than to judge someone by the way they looked, or by how big their bazoombas were.

Hazel opened her bag of chips, popped the top off her soda, and unwrapped her sandwich before taking a bite and joining in on her co-workers' conversation.

From across the restaurant, a familiar face was ordering a sandwich. He looked around absently as he waited for his order.

“Hazel?!” Dustin’s mind screamed as stood frozen just a few feet away from her. She was happily munching away at her sandwich, completely unaware of his presence. As soon as his order was ready, he snatched it and rushed to find a seat facing away from her. Upset that she never called but too afraid to approach her, he hid and took a timid bite of his salami sandwich.

“Oh, Hazel! You really have the worst luck dating! We should set her up with...”

Dustin tried to zero in on their conversation, but his hearing was fading in and out with the tide of other voices in the restaurant.

“They’d be perfect together!”

Dustin dug his nails into his thigh with frustration. How dare they try to set her up with another man! Didn’t she tell them they ran into each other last weekend?!

He couldn’t take it anymore. He quickly got up and ran out the back door so Hazel wouldn’t see.

“Next on today’s agenda: Come up with a plan to make Hazel fall in love with me again!”

~