Chapter Four
1043 Words
Hazel stood in front of the building ten minutes early.
She hadn’t planned to be.
She just hadn’t been able to sit still at home.
The glass doors reflected her back at her, plain dress, low shoes, hair pulled back. She looked like she belonged anywhere but here.
Her phone buzzed.
ARES:
Go inside.
Her stomach tightened.
She hadn’t seen him. The street was busy. Cars passed. People walked by.
She went inside anyway.
The lobby was quiet. Too quiet. A security guard nodded at her like he already knew her. The receptionist smiled before Hazel said a word.
“Good morning, Miss Moore. Elevator on the left.”
Hazel swallowed. “Thank you.”
The elevator ride felt too fast and too slow at the same time. Her reflection stared back at her from the mirrored walls, pale and tense.
The doors opened onto a floor she hadn’t seen before.
A woman waited there. Tall. Professional. Clipboard in hand.
“You must be Hazel,” she said. “I’m Mara. Follow me.”
Hazel nodded and followed.
They passed glass offices, people typing, phones ringing softly. Everything looked polished. Controlled.
Like nothing ever went wrong here.
Mara stopped in front of a desk near the end of the floor. “This will be yours.”
Hazel stared. “I—I thought I’d be placed with a team.”
“You are,” Mara said evenly. “His team.”
Hazel’s heart skipped. “His?”
Mara’s expression didn’t change. “Mr. Blackwood likes things close.”
Hazel sat down slowly.
Before she could ask anything else, Mara added, “He’ll see you at noon.”
Then she walked away.
Hazel stared at the computer screen in front of her, blank and waiting.
She tried to focus.
She really did.
But every time someone walked past her desk, her shoulders tensed. Every time her phone buzzed, even with harmless notifications, her heart jumped.
At exactly noon, her screen lit up.
Meeting Room B. Now.
Hazel stood on unsteady legs and followed the signs.
The room was empty when she entered.
A moment later, the door opened behind her.
Ares walked in like he owned the air.
Dark shirt. Rolled sleeves. Calm expression. He didn’t look at her right away. He set his phone down, adjusted his cufflinks, then finally lifted his gaze.
“You’re early,” he said.
“You told me noon,” Hazel replied.
His mouth twitched slightly. “Good.”
He gestured to the chair across from him. “Sit.”
She did.
He slid a folder toward her. Thicker than the last one.
“Your responsibilities,” he said. “Read.”
Hazel opened it, her eyes scanning quickly.
Schedules. Meetings. Notes she didn’t recognize. Names she didn’t know.
“This is a lot,” she said quietly.
“You’re capable,” Ares replied. “You just don’t believe it yet.”
She looked up. “Why me?”
He didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he asked, “Did anyone talk to you this morning?”
Hazel hesitated. “No.”
“Did anyone ask you questions?”
“No.”
“Good,” he said. “Then this is working.”
Her fingers tightened around the folder. “You’re isolating me.”
“I’m filtering,” he corrected. “There’s a difference.”
“Not to me,” she said.
Ares leaned back in his chair, studying her. “You want honesty?”
Her chest tightened. “Yes.”
“You’re visible now,” he said. “And visibility attracts attention. Some of it harmless. Some of it not.”
Hazel’s voice shook. “You keep saying that.”
“Because you keep underestimating it,” he replied.
She swallowed. “I didn’t ask to be visible.”
“No,” Ares said. “You walked into it.”
Silence stretched between them.
Finally, Hazel asked, “Are you going to keep texting me like this?”
Ares tilted his head slightly. “Does it bother you?”
“Yes,” she said immediately.
“Good,” he replied. “Then you’ll answer.”
Her eyes stung. “That’s not fair.”
He stood, circling the table slowly. “Fair is irrelevant. Safety is not.”
He stopped beside her, not touching, but close enough that she could feel his presence.
“You’re not trapped,” he said quietly. “You’re protected.”
Hazel looked up at him. “It feels like the same thing.”
Ares held her gaze. For a moment, something unreadable flickered in his eyes.
“It won’t always,” he said.
The rest of the day passed in a blur.
Tasks appeared in her inbox before she could ask for them. Meetings she wasn’t invited to somehow included her notes. People nodded at her with a mix of curiosity and caution.
She noticed something else too.
No one questioned her presence.
Like she had always belonged there.
At five thirty, her phone buzzed.
ARES:
You can leave.
Hazel packed up quickly, her body aching with tension.
As she stepped into the elevator, another message came through.
ARES:
You did well today.
Her chest tightened.
She didn’t reply.
Outside, the city felt louder. Messier. Less controlled.
Her phone rang.
Alex.
“Hey,” she answered.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were working for my brother?” he asked.
Her stomach dropped. “How did you—”
“He told me,” Alex said. “This morning.”
Of course he did.
“I didn’t have a choice,” Hazel said softly.
Alex sighed. “He can be intense.”
“That’s one word for it.”
“Are you okay?” he asked.
Hazel looked back at the building behind her, all glass and shadows.
“I don’t know,” she admitted.
“Do you want me to talk to him?”
“No,” she said quickly. Then, quieter, “Not yet.”
They hung up a few minutes later.
Hazel started walking.
Her phone buzzed one last time.
ARES:
You don’t need anyone else speaking for you.
She stopped.
Read it again.
Then kept walking.
Because even though she felt small
She wasn’t invisible anymore.
And that terrified her.
- Writer
