Hazel.

"You're rude," I blurted out as I brought my tied hands to cover my face. God, I felt so embarrassed. I knew my feet would be swollen after wearing those heels for the entire day, but I did not expect them to stink. And for her to notice, Jesus no.

"It's true." When she was satisfied, she placed them on the table. "Keep them here, it will help with the swelling."

Since when did she become a doctor? Was there something I missed when reading the article about Armani Dune's life? It could be possible that I missed a lot of things at first; like her gender, and there was not much about her family. There was more to this woman's life than what she showed the world.

"Yes doctor."

"I'm not your friend." She pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped her hands gently and slowly. Fucking wow.

"I know. Look, I'm sorry I followed you. It was wrong of me and I feel bad for it," I apologized. She was silent for a moment, eyes darting between my face and my feet.

Then she laughed. Laughing at my sorry ass.

"So, just like that, you think I will let you go? Are you sure you're okay, Ms. Hazel Asa?"

Ah, she had the sarcasm too. Great.

"Yes. I'm fine."

"Doesn't seem that way. Anyway moving on. Tell me, what did you see?"

"Nothing," I responded truthfully, the room was dark and for a second I thought they would summon demons in there. But the closer I got, I could see the faint light in a corner and managed to make out people standing there.

"You're lying."

"I'm not."

"What did you hear?"

"Nothing."

"Don't fuck with me," she said and I could tell she was not joking. "I will ask you again. What did you hear?"

I cleared my throat. "Everything."

Her eyes widened for a second but she masked it immediately by averting her eyes to my feet. Was she obsessed? They weren't the prettiest of feet but they had their share of nice, short toes.

"Fair enough." She leaned back in her chair. Relaxing while my hair clung to the back of my neck because I was sweating so badly. "Tell me everything you heard."

"Everything?"

"Yes. Everything." She clamped her hands over her tummy lazily. Those tattoos still amazing. Through the entire chaos, I could make out a human skull, a rose, and a face - two faces. If I looked closely enough, I would be able to make out whose face it was. Would I?

"Victor, Scar," I started. "Drunkard, thief, he ran away."

"Speak like an adult, Hazelnut, it's your only way out."

"Victor ran away, he is a thief. He shouldn't blame neither you nor Scar. He needs to take responsibility for his actions," I explained. Then the part where I had heard her cry came. "Then you cried."

Her eyebrows drew closer, as though suddenly embarrassed. She brought her hand to her mouth and bit into her nails. But did not say anything.

"You said...you said you didn't want to see him." I sighed. "Then my earring dropped and the next thing I know, you're dragging me out."

She looked up to inspect my ears. Yes, another round, gold earring was missing from my ear. I must have looked ridiculous with only one earring. She did not laugh though, she placed her hands on the table and studied me for a moment. Oh, she made me nervous with her eyes and there was nothing both of us could do about it.

"That's everything?"

"Yes, that's all I heard."

"Your curious ass has gotten you into so much trouble, Ms. Asa. I wish there was a way to undo this." She shrugged. "So, since you know one of my many, dangerous secrets, I will give you the job."

"Oh my goodness really?" I almost jumped, but I couldn't move.

"Don't get too excited." She resumed her position on the table close to me. Then took my hands and slowly started unwrapping that tie. "You should keep in mind that all that talk about me knowing better than to judge people who went to local colleges and all that, doesn't mean anything to me. You know nothing about me."

The way her eyes stared into mine made me shudder. Her tone went cold and deep right away.

Okay, you have made your point Ms. Armani. I have no idea who you are, true. Who knew she had a brother? I wondered what he looked like. I wished I could have seen him in that darkness.

"You and I are going to have a very special relationship, Ms. Asa," she whispered, shocking me when she brought both my hands to her mouth and kissed them.

"Wh-what are you doing?" I couldn't even hear myself.

"For some reason, you've become too involved in my life. You're now one of the few people that know I have a brother."

I couldn't ignore how cold her lips felt on my warm skin. I couldn't ignore how dazed I was to pull away. Was this real? Anyone to wake me up from my nightmare. This was too weird to be a good dream, and the eerie vibes her eyes gave me made this entire room turn into a Halloween party.

"Stop," I whispered, begging her to stop tormenting me mentally. She had made her point, all this was not necessary. Was that a Judas kiss? Because it sure did feel that way.

"I wish I can, but you started it. You will stop it." She smirked and let go of me.

Oh my lungs!

##
Ugh🥺