2. Rejection

HAZEL:

Alex and I were the typical high school sweethearts in the past. He was the hot and loving boyfriend who always made sure that every girl was jealous of our relationship. I always felt it was too good to be true because I was more of a nerd back then. Too bad, my instincts were right. He was only with me so he could prove to his ex that he could get her jealous.

I was shattered on the day I found out his motive. It was also around the time that I was supposed to get married to my ex-husband. I was devastated and it affected my marriage at first.

We sat across the table, stealing glances at each other. I wondered what was going through his mind. He would occasionally smile and look somewhere else. He still looked hot, only that he was more mature and had an alluring beards. His face card never declined all these years.

A waiter approached our table with two hot cups of chocolate. I had ordered it first because I thought the weather was getting cold and Alex ordered the same. It irritated me to know that he was only trying to copy me.

"So, Hazel, how have you been?"

'Finally, you said something instead of looking at me like a total freak.' I was tempted to release those words but I held my tongue and smiled lightly.

"I've been okay. How have you been?" I took a small sip of the chocolate. It relaxed my tensed bones to an extent.

"Better than ever." He replied throatily. The air became tranquil again.

"Listen, I..." I wanted to speak but he interrupted me. Rude, much.

"Let me start by apologizing for what happened in the past. You might think I didn't like you back then but trust me when I tell you this, I did like you a lot, Hazel."

"It doesn't matter now, Alex. Like you said, all that is in the past. I don't want to talk about it." I said matter-of-factly. "I think this was a mistake. I shouldn't have come here."

"Come on, Hazel, stop being so emotional. This is a date and we both fixed it. I had to leave work because of this and you just want to bail out on me?"

The only thing he didn't know was that I didn't do the texting. Liya did but didn't want to tell him. It would look like a scam.

"How about we go have some fun? This place is too boring." He grinned and leaned in across the table, his face a few inches away from him. His eyes were as bright as ever. If I didn't know him, I would have mistaken him for an innocent person.

"What do you mean by fun?" I arched a brow in confusion.

"You're not a child, Hazel. Aren't you like twenty-four or something?" He leaned back in his seat with a disapproving look written all over his face.

When he noticed I was silently looking at him, he sighed and leaned back in.

"You know, you and me, across town, dimly lit room, clothes on the floor, jamming bodies together, having the best time of our lives. You know, that kinda stuff."

My irritation grew after each mention. This guy never changed. Instead, he got worse over the years. My hand was tightly clutched around the hot glass of chocolate. I was disgusted by the man in front of me. My body eventually moved before my mind could think. I stood up and poured the chocolate on his gorgeous hair. I could hear gasps from around me but I didn't care. They didn't know the utter rubbish this pervert spewed out of his gutter mouth.

"You must be very stupid to think I would stoop so low to your dugout level." I eyed him maliciously before walking out on him. I didn't look back to see if he was chasing after me or not. And to make the evening worse, the rain started drizzling. Within minutes, it was pouring heavily. But I didn't bother about that. As long as my phone wasn't with me, I was okay. I was drenched from top to bottom by the time I got back to the house. Surprisingly, the twins were awake; Daisy held a sweater while Zayn was heating something in the kitchen.

"We figured you might be having a bad day, so we prepared in advance," Daisy said with a hint of sarcasm. I rolled my eyes at her naughtiness and grabbed the sweater.

"Thank you." I headed for my room.

"Make sure to come to your hot drink!" Zayn yelled after me. I nodded and went ahead to get changed. The scene from the incident played in my head. I was an idiot for thinking I would find someone who help me without wanting anything in return. If I had the slightest clue it would be that foolish man, I would have stayed in my room and cried all day.

"Look who finally decided to show up after ten minutes," Zayn smirked. He began to pour the drink inside a ceramic cup while I sat on the couch, embracing my very cold body.

"Thank you," I thanked warmly when he gave me the drink. It happened to be the same chocolate drink I had spilled on Alex. I almost choked because the scene kept replaying in my head.

"Shouldn't you be asleep? You have school tomorrow." I reminded them. They looked at each other, giving themselves a knowing look.

"To your room, you two. Thanks for the sweater and the drink." I dismissed them immediately and resumed thinking.

Now that I've lost my job, how was I going to fend for them? I couldn't allow them to take up jobs because they needed to focus on school and graduate with good grades. But how would they graduate if I didn't have money?

I had to start raking my brain for every possible solution. Eventually, I began to feel dizzy. I dropped the cup on the ground and laid down on the couch. My eyes suddenly became too heavy to remain open, and when I closed them, they didn't open back. I could feel my weak body relaxing and my troubled mind was at ease.

*******

A sharp pain hit me as I tried to stand up.

"Aiiishhh!!" I exclaimed as I gently massaged my temple by rubbing it in small circles. Gradually, the pain subsided and I was able to recognize my surroundings. The sun was already shining brightly. I slowly placed my legs on the ground. That was when I noticed the duvet on me. I smiled when I realized that either of the twins had done this. It was reassuring to have such siblings who cared.

I wasn't hearing any sound coming from anywhere, meaning the duo had gone to school. The beeping sound of my phone drew my attention. With a wide yawn, I walked to my room and picked up the phone from the bed. I was casually scrolling through the notification bar while walking to the kitchen. The plate I had picked out fell to the ground. My heart raced faster than usual. I thought I was going to pass out.

It was a notification from the company I had applied to several weeks ago. I didn't know if it was a rejection or an approval. All I knew was that I was too scared to open the message. As I tapped the message, I covered my eyes with my free hand, praying earnestly that it would be a positive response.

When I slid one of my fingers down, I saw my application was rejected. I nearly ran mad with tears. The constant rejection from these companies was beginning to tell on me. I was gradually losing my mind. I always felt I wasn't good enough, which increased my low self-esteem.

What was I even good for? Not as a wife and definitely not as a struggling single lady with two siblings.

Life was just hard.