(Free Book): Will You Marry My Groom?

29

“Hazel, Hazel?” Charlotte called, tapping me. 

I flinched out of my thoughts, scanning everywhere with my eyes like I was kidn*pped into an unfamiliar building till I regained composure after glancing at her. 

“Oh, Charlotte. H-Hi.” I smiled. 

“You seem to be overthinking since the day I arrived.” She said with her eyes squinted at me, propping her chin between her index finger and thumb. 

“Overthinking? What? No way. Pfft.” I waved a hand over my face. 

“Hazel…” She squinted her eyes suspiciously and sat beside me on the chair. “Is anything wrong?” 

“No, not at all.” I forced a smile. 

“I don’t believe you. Is it Tristan? Did he do anything wrong? I’ll scold him right now.” She reached for her phone but I held her arm. 

“No, no.” I shook my head. “It has nothing to do with Tristan.”

“Then what? Or who?” 

“It’s really nothing, Charlotte.” I smiled and held her shoulders. “I just feel tired.”

“You definitely look tired. Do you have a fever or something?” She rested the back of her palm on my forehead. 

“There’s absolutely nothing wrong with me.” I took her hand off. “Let’s forget that and discuss lunch. Should I make lunch now?” I tried to change the topic. 

“I’m not hungry yet, and Tristan made me promise him that you wouldn't cook for yourself too much, as well as cook for anyone at all.” 

I let out a chuckle, “but all workers are on a break.”

“We can order something to eat. Just for three— no, four of us.”

“Hi,” Indy interrupted as she ambled into the room out of nowhere.

“Indy, hey.” Charlotte grinned at her. 

“Hi, Charlotte.” She said with a blank expression and stopped in front of us. “I have to attend to something urgently, so I’ll leave for a few days.” 

“A few days? Is something wrong?” I asked. 

“No. Not at all.” She replied with a faint smile. 

“I thought we were going to have enough time to spend together and catch up on the times we’ve missed.” Charlotte said with a sigh. 

“That can’t happen now. I really gotta go, and it has to be immediately.” She walked up to give me a 2-second hug, let go of me then took her leave without another word. 

“Don’t you think something seems off about Indy? She has been acting really strange since I got here. Is anything wrong with her?” Charlotte asked. 

“Strange?” Of course, I knew she was acting strange, but I wanted to hear Charlotte’s opinion first before contributing.

“Yeah. She doesn’t even mention anything about her baby or Ian; it seems to me like she even gets pissed off when one asks. And I don’t think she plans on returning to Ricardo's mansion, judging from how she hinted at that.” Her forehead was creased in worry.

I heaved a sigh. “I really don’t know what’s going on in her head. She doesn't feel like the same Indy anymore.” 

“Definitely not the same Indy I knew. I don’t want to think about her any further. Let’s forget that for now.” She waved a hand. “I called my darling husband while you were asleep and he was with Tristan, who wanted to call you. He said you should give him a call as soon as you wake up.” Her face was re-painted with pure exhilaration. “He sounded like he misses you so much. This side of Tristan is fabulous, don't you think? What did you do to lure him? Tell me every single detail.”

“I didn’t do anything. I guess it’s… destiny.” I half-shrugged and rose from the chair, trying to hide the crazy blush that gushed up to my cheeks. 

I picked my laptop from the table, sat on the bed, and called Tristan. After a while, he finally answered the call.

“Hey, Hazel.” He yawned.

 I gaped at how he looked more sexy than ever. Was it because he was shirtless? Or was it due to the sheen sky in the background that made a perfect outline of his body? Or was it due to how his body seemed to be glistening? I couldn't tell, but all I knew was that something about staring at him made me feel like drooling.

All my worries and stress immediately swam away after seeing him. 

“What’s in your head?” He asked, frowning. “I'm here, but you're still thinking of something else.”

“God, you look so hot!” I couldn’t resist the urge to blurt that out. 

“Oh, really?” He smirked. “Do I?” 

“Well…” I cleared my throat. “I didn’t intend to say that out loud.” 

Charlotte burst into laughter, reminding me of her presence. 

“But you did.” His smirk became more fiendish. 

“Okay. Don’t make me regret it.” 

“Okay, okay. I would tease you any further. It’s not like it’s that much of a big deal.” He rolled his eyes, flexing his biceps for some reasons known to him. “This place is really cool. The hotel is amazing. I can have a direct view of this beautiful landscape; the view of the water is so great, the service here is also amazing. Multiple cultures, so many nice people…” He smiled, rose to his feet and turned the camera for me to view the amazing sight of nature not quite far from the road where a lot of people were roaming around. 

“This is so lovely.” I smiled. 

“Definitely.” He returned the video to his face and sat. 

A frown etched on my face. “You’re in the balcony and shirtless?! There’ll be women who can see you.” If I was feeling so excited to see him shirtless, other women with organs will definitely be feeling the same way. 

He and Charlotte chuckled.

“It’s not funny, Tristan.” I pouted. 

“Fine, fine. I’ll wear a shirt.” He walked inside. 

“The delivery guy must have brought those sexy clothes.” He said as he propped himself on the bed. 

“Oh. I received them yesterday. He said it was for you so I didn’t bother to open it.” I shrugged. 

“Okay, that’s great. When I return, we’ll test them. Get ready to be a model for me.” That dirty smile again. “You’ll look damn sexy and mostly very beautiful in such clothes. Then you should try to seduce me again. I’ll ensure I—”

“Okay, I think I’m done with eavesdropping.” Charlotte rose from the chair and walked out of the room. I only chuckled at her whilst blushing from Tristan's words. 

“I'm glad you’re having a great time.”

He heaved a sigh. “Not exactly. I really miss you. I have a lot of work to do, and of course you’re in my head. I don’t know what you might’ve added to my meal to make me feel this way, but I like it.”

My head started to spin once again, so I laid down with my tummy on the bed and giggled. 

“Hazel. Are you okay?” Worry was written all over his face. 

“Yup. I’m fine.”

“It’s been a while now; you should go to a doctor.” 

“I said I’m fine. I’ll only rest.”

“It’s exactly why I don’t want you to be stressed out. I’ll call you later, you should rest.”

“No, please. Don’t hang up. Being with you and speaking to you is the only thing that makes me perfectly fine.”

“Tristan, we gotta go now. Mr. Beeharry has arrived.” Kye announced. 

“Finally!” He replied. 

“Okay, bye.” 

“But you said you want to talk to me.”

—“but you have to work. Bye.” I hung up before he could protest.

“Gosh, I miss his voice already.” 

My phone chimed, indicating that I had a new message. 

With my heart already frozen in anxiousness, I rolled over and grabbed the phone from the nightstand. 

“Please don’t be who I think it is…” I prayed silently with my eyes shut. 

After gathering the courage to open my eyes, my worry was flushed away with a grin after realizing it was a message from Tristan. 

:  Not fair at all, not fair (he added a sulky-face emoji).>>

:  Hehe. Call me later.>>

“Hazel?” Charlotte said with a knock on the open door and proceeded to walk in. “Can we go shopping? I’m bored.” 

“Shopping?”

“Yes.” 

*** 

“Then this, then this, then this…” Charlotte didn’t stop adding new clothes and shoes to the piles of clothes with me.

“You definitely can’t wear all of those at once this year.” I explained. 

“I know, right? It’ll only last for a few months then I have to get more, so why don’t I just buy more now. You’re super smart.” Though her compliment seemed sarcastic, she was being serious. 

This so-called sickness had gotten so deep into my body system. I had thought it was going to go away pretty soon, but it seemed to be worsening everyday. I didn’t know what was wrong with me and didn’t want to bother anymore. I had learned how to bear with such illnesses till they eventually went, but this one was making me weaker every day. 

Charlotte continued selecting clothes and passing it to me, not stopping to think of how much it was making my head spin. 

I didn’t know why, but it felt like someone was following us, or me. I was glancing behind me at constant intervals and it seemed like someone was immediately hiding when I looked. 

“Uhm… Char, can we just get going now?” I asked, trying to hide the nervousness in my cracking voice.

She didn’t bother to listen to me but walked away to select a new set of clothes. 

Coupled with the fear from whoever was spying on me and my physical weakness, my stomach had twisted into knots and a gag occurred in my throat, causing me to drop the clothes in my arm. 

Without further warning, my stomach threw up all the content in it and I puked my guts out on the floor, also ruining the clothes, as I fell to the floor.

“Hazel!” Charlotte exclaimed and sprinted to me, crouched to rub my back. “Are you okay?”

I had called the attention of people around and a few workers who came to attend to the mess I had created. 

“Let’s leave now. Hang on. I'm so sorry for stressing you out.” She picked her phone up and dialed a number… “Hey. Please come in now with a bottle of water.”

“I’m sorry for forgetting how much you’ve been acting so sick.” She apologized with glassy eyes. “I feel so bad.”

I wanted to tell her it was okay, but I felt too weak to even speak. 

After a while, Mike came running into the store with a bottle of water. He helped me up to my feet then they both led me out of the store and he washed my face with the water from the bottle. I rinsed my mouth then he made me take a gulp before putting me to the back seat of the car and Charlotte got in beside me. 

“Hazel,” she called with her eyes drawn in askance. “Are you pregnant?”

“Pregnant?!” I chuckled tiredly, shaking my head. 

“You should go for a test.” She didn’t look convinced at all. 

“I’m not.” I retorted, resting my head against the window. 

Mike got into the car then started it, calling for an end to the discussion. 

Glancing out the window, I observed someone quickly hide, confirming that he or she was definitely watching me. 

*** 

~ TRISTAN ~

I hadn’t had enough time to speak to Hazel. Every part of me missed her so f*****g much. 

I knew I had grown attached to her, but I didn’t realize it was this much till this business trip came up. My entire body longs for her touch, I miss her kiss, her cuddling, her cooking, her face, everything!

I felt like I was going crazy. I had never felt like this towards any woman. Not Indy, not Lucy, no one at all. 

I had been calling her phone but it wasn’t reachable, multiple times, neither was Charlotte's. 

I was getting worried, but I was trying to convince myself that nothing was wrong, and I didn't want to seem bothersome to them. I was certain it was the stress from working too much and missing her that was making me troubled unnecessarily. 

Mr. Beeharry had just left my hotel. Working with him was amazing but pretty much exhausting. If Kye wasn’t here, I’d have surely been frustrated. 

“Hey, you can call her if you miss her much. Stop fiddling with her picture.” Kye said as he strolled into the hotel room, taking a seat beside me on the bed. 

“What?” I didn’t notice I was holding Hazel's photograph. I quickly dropped it, but Kye had a stupid smile on. “What the heck is with that smile?”

“I’m happy that you finally found true love. You deserve it.”

I rolled my eyes at him and grabbed my phone from the nightstand, attempting to call her for the umpteenth time. 

“Isn’t it strange that the woman you were strangely attached to ended up being your wife, and this beautiful love story…” He exhaled. “It’s amazing. She has made you a better person.” 

“Yes, I guess so.” I couldn’t hold back my smile and started dialing Hazel’s phone number. 

“Your love will be strengthened and your family will be complete when you both have a baby.” He reached for a half-empty glass of grape juice I had placed on the nightstand earlier, and gulped it in one drought. 

“I’ll be the happiest man in the world.” I admitted and returned my phone after I couldn't get through to her once again. “But I’m scared I’ll screw up and ruin this marriage.”

“What? Why?” He chortled. 

“Because it seems to be going way too smoothly. My life has never gone this smoothly, especially when it has to do with my relationships, mostly my romantic life. What if she betrays me too? I know that’s not possible, but what if something goes wrong?” 

He stared at me with a small smile, shaking his head. “You’ll have to make sure nothing terrible happens. It’s all up to both of you.” He patted my shoulder, “it’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”

I let out a deep sigh.

“Let’s brush that off for now. Your parents would like for us to pay a visit when we return, with Aunt Amanda and Uncle Tyler. 

“And most importantly, Beeharry has been able to finalize the deal with Mr. Abdulkadir. It’ll take a few weeks then it’d be perfect for business. From here, we’ll head to Nigeria for a new deal with Mr. John, Mrs. Pearl, and Mr. Ademayowa.” I was pretty sure he didn’t pronounce the last name correctly.

“Okay. Let Rob know all of these.” 

“Sure. Plus, I’ll return home after going to Nigeria. My work would be done, but you still have to head to Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Zambia, Seych—” 

“Kye, I know that. Stop trying to rub it in my face that’ll you’ll be seeing your wife again very soon.” I said jokingly. 

He smirked, rising to his feet and returned the empty glass to the nightstand. “I’ll definitely send you recent pictures of Hazel. Can you—” he was interrupted by his phone that started ringing. 

From his facial expression as he stared at his phone’s screen, I could tell it was Charlotte calling. 

He answered the call, placed it on speaker, and dropped it on the table to take his shirt off. “Hi, babe.”

“Kye!” Charlotte’s voice was filled with so much panic. “I've been trying to call Tristan, but he’s not reachable.” It was evident from her voice that she was crying. 

“What’s wrong?!” Kye asked, worried. 

“It’s Hazel. Sh-she suddenly passed out, her breathing isn’t normal anymore, there’s no one around, and I can’t carry her to the hospital due to my pregnancy. I’m scared. She doesn’t look fine at all.” She said in one breath. 

Oh no, what the heck?