Claire was leaning against the door frame of their entrance with her arms folded in front of her. He waved at Theo as he climbed into his car with all his stuff in the backseat. The boy had been crying, she could clearly see it on his face. She could still remember how it was like to be young and in love and heart broken. It was the best of times and it was the worst of times.
Theo had told her everything. She appreciated his honesty though she was disappointed at the same time. But he was devastated, Claire knew that people sometimes underestimated how deep the emotional scar is for boys. Some men couldn’t really recover from the hurt they feel in their younger years. It only goes to show how Theo really felt about Hazel. She wanted to understand the situation though she can see how much it had hurt her daughter too.
She let out a sigh as his car drove further away from their house. Theo was going back to Gastonbury after many attempt to apologize to Hazel. She had closed her door for him, the boy she had been obsessing since she was 9 had finally broke her heart when she was 17. Claire would’ve done anything in her power to prevent it had she known it would happen.
“You have to tell Max what happened … that’s all I ask …” Claire said to Theo when he said his goodbye to her. He nodded.
He wasn’t a bad boy. He was just young and clueless, just like any teenage boys his age. Claire had noticed the attraction between them lately, it was intense and different from what Hazel had with Lee. Lee may have been her first boyfriend but Theo was her first love, and now she had learned, he was her first of many other things.
Claire rubbed her forehead, there are things she can’t share with Edward about this. At least not yet. He would freak out to know his little girl is not so little anymore. She wondered if any of this had changed Hazel’s plans for the future, about Gastonbury, about UOG. It may had even changed her plans about the summer program in Goldstone. And what about Thanksgiving or Christmas?
Theo had been like a son to her too, he practically grew up together with her kids. She didn’t want to worry too much. Children had their own paths to live, she can only hope and pray they will all turn out alright. The one thing she could do was to comfort her daughter in silence and let her know that she will always be there for her, no matter what.
Her phone rang … it was Marlon. Claire let out a sigh. The last thing Hazel need was another boy. She had been declining his phone calls for days, he must be worried because Hazel wasn’t answering any calls from anyone since she came back.
Claire: Hey Marlon … how are you?
She finally decided to give the boy some peace of mind.
Claire: I don’t think she’s answering any phone calls at the moment … something came up … I don’t think she’s going back to Goldstone anytime soon either … but … I’ll check with her again in a few days.
Obviously Marlon was more determined to find out what had happened.
Claire: (Hesitated to tell him what had happened.) I’m not in a position to tell you what happened, I’m afraid you’re gonna have to ask her yourself … but she can’t be bothered now …
Marlon: I’m coming over … (hung up the phone).
—
He hadn’t heard anything for two weeks after she left. He had let his mind played with all kinds of scenario of what could have possibly gone wrong. Dr. Seymour told him that his mind would do that and that he shouldn’t let it stray or worsened the condition by fueling it with substances. But that was exactly what he did.
He stared blanky at the ceiling, at his Goldstone penthouse wall and imagined the worst. Hazel had made up her mind and she didn’t want to have anything to do with him anymore because of how despicable he was. He even stared down from his balcony and replayed the scene with Eli that morning. He fell. He let himself fell. He let go. Eli had let himself go. The one thing he had never told anyone.
He considered it himself. To follow his brother’s footsteps and do the same thing. But he picked up his phone instead and tried Claire’s number.
When Claire finally answered, reality struck him, nothing was as what his mind had tricked him to believe. Hazel was hurt. Something went wrong and she needed him. He didn’t think twice about it and put on his jacket as soon as he hung up, went straight to his Lambo and drove off to Chestnut.