CHAPTER 5
1256 Words
THREE DAY STRANGER
It seemed he had taken her for her words, precisely three days had passed and Jose came nowhere close to their café.
She grew tired of her manager's constant bickering. They had fewer customers over the last three days. Jose was absent and didn't seem too happy about him.
“You must have done something to that usual handsome customer of ours. Why hasn't he come by yet?” He asked, pacing from one end of the room to the other.
Amelia shrugged, denying all involvement in Jose's absence. “Maybe he's just busy,” She suggested, crossing her arms and looking away in guilt.
“No, no, no, that can't be. Maybe our café wasn't to his liking? Maybe something upset him? Either way, we must give him our heartfelt apology.” He muttered as he moved over to the coffee dispenser machine, filling up two cups of ice-cold coffee then packaging them up.
“Take this and go apologize to him on behalf of our café. Tell him it’s on the house, I'll write down his address.” He took out a pen to write his address out for her and pasted it on the package for her.
There had been a day Jose dropped his address with him wanting a home delivery, but Amelia had called in sick that day. He was glad he still had it.
This would be the perfect way for him to retain his best-selling customer.
“What?” Amelia shouted out as he shoved the ice coffee at her and gestured to her to get moving.
“His house address is on the package, make sure you deliver it to him.” He said, waving as he closed the door behind her.
Amelia muttered curses under her breath in frustration as she managed to locate Jose's mansion.
A huge black gate stood before her, but she saw no one in sight. All she did see was an automated voice machine, so she pressed the button and spoke into it.
“Um, I'm sorry, but I'm here to deliver something to Mr Jose.”
“My Jose?” Luna Martha muttered over the other part of the voice machine in the front lobby. She came running at the sound of its beep. It wasn't often they got visitors and this was the voice of a woman.
What did she want to deliver to him? With a ting of excitement, she told her to come in, and the black gates automatically opened up for her.
She was left speechless as she approached the mansion nestled at the end of a meandering driveway, its over-exuberant poise greeted visitors with a gentle elegance.
Its exterior, though still grand, exuded a soft charm as the light pastel tones of white and blue hues painted the walls, casting a warm glow in the afternoon sun.
As the breeze gently rustled through the surrounding trees, the mansion seemed to sigh with contentment, basking in its own understated beauty.
It was absolutely breathtaking.
She saw a woman emerge from the door onto the front porch waving at her. She was young looking and undeniably pretty. She couldn't help but wonder if she was Jose's lover of some sort.
“Hello there!” She shouted out, walking towards her. “You were the one by the gate I suppose.” Her calm, still voice suited the air of elegance around her.
“Um yes, hello.” She returned her greeting as she pointed towards the package. “My name's Amelia and I'm here to deliver something to Mr Jose. I have a message for him as well.”
“My son did not tell me he had a visitor.” She smiled as a certain warmth filled Luna Martha's heart.
It had been ages since Jose had any visitors besides Daniel, of course, but it was a woman this time!
“Son?” Amelia blurted out in surprise. Luna Martha chuckled as she nodded, that was the usual reaction she got when she told people Jose was her son.
All thanks to wolf blood, they didn't age easily.
She gestured to Amelia to follow her into the house to wait a little, as Jose was busy upstairs and it would be done in a few minutes.
If she thought the outside of the mansion was impressive, the inside was simply mind-blowing. She took a seat on one of the numerous couches, the smell of lavender and fresh mint filled the air.
Luna Martha brought out her phone to make a call. “Honey, there's someone down to see you, yes, please make haste. She's quite pretty.”
Flushing at her compliment, she assumed she was talking to Jose as he shortly waltzed down the stairs but came to an abruptive stop when his eyes laid on Amelia's face looking at him.
He was happy beyond comprehension, he had missed her deeply but tried his best to hide it.
His mother looked at him with childish wonder in her eyes with the invisible words of ‘who is she?’ written all over her face.
“Um, I think it would be better if we spoke privately upstairs, Amelia.” He cleared his throat before ordering Amelia to follow him, which she did.
She'd be lying if she said she didn't feel the slightest bit bad at how she had treated him back then. He was only trying to help and she let her anger get the best of her.
He led her to a miniature parlor where she sat besides him, plopping the drinks on the table.
“You came.” Jose said looking at the package she had left before him.
“Yes, mostly because the manager asked me to and I also wanted to apologize about everything I said that day. I was just really angry and not in the best frame of mind at the time.”
Jose nodded his head oddly satisfied by her apology, trying his best to hold the smile that threatened to form on his face.
“It's fine.” he muttered before they both fell silent, she sat close enough to get a whiff of her and she smelt of brewing hot coffee and freshly baked cookies.
His hand tightly grasped around the arm rest as he felt his wolf side begin to awaken, craving for her.
“You have a lovely place.” She said, breaking the silence as her eyes moved around the room.
“Yes, thank you.” He said softly, “My mother handpicked every little detail in this house, I'm very grateful to her.” She smiled at the thought of his mother.
“Your mother is quite young and beautiful, but you don't resemble her at all. I thought she was your lover.” Amelia said, chuckling and it was the very first time he saw her laugh.
“Yes, most people think that.” He chuckled alongside her.
Their eyes were locked in and she noticed red flags flashing in his eyes as he leaned in closer to her. His wolf was going crazy and he could not hold himself back anymore.
Their lips were inches apart, and he could feel her breath on his skin. Just as he was about to close the gap between them, she pulled away, her eyes wide with surprise, placing her hand on his chest and gently pushing him back.
"I'm sorry," she stammered. "I can't do this. You know I have a boyfriend.
- Writer
