Chapter 3

New Friend

"I am so sorry. Please, forgive me," he said rubbing his hand unconsciously. He looked sincerely hurt by his actions and Leticia found it cute. It meant making him her friend was not going to be a hard job to pull off at all.

"I will forgive you on one condition," she said beaming at him.

"Oh, sure. I will do anything you want," he said innocently.

Leticia made had an internal jump of victory as this was the perfect chance she needed. "Well, seeing how you have wasted my time already and I am new in town, you will have to accompany me for lunch. I can't go alone anymore," she said crossing her fingers behind her hoping he would accept.

"Of course, that's not a problem," he said hurriedly. He also wanted to become friends with her. He found her strange yet alluring. She looked so much like his Vanessa that he couldn't let her go. He wanted to know more about her and where she came from.

"Okay, great! Let's go because I am starving!" Leticia announced happily. She was smiling with excitement but deep down, she was starting to wonder how she would pass on the next stage of her plan.

"Did you bring a car?" Rowan asked in his usual gentle tone.

"Oh, no, sadly. I don't even own a car. Just me!" She giggled.

"It's fine. I will drive us there," Rowan announced as they started walking to the car park.

Like a true gentleman, he opened the door for her to enter the vehicle and proceeded to the driver's side to take them to the closest eatery in town.

"I am sorry if I am intruding..." Rowan began and Leticia knew she wouldn't want to answer his question. She bit down on her bottom lip and tried to calm her racing heart. One wrong answer from her, and he would throw her out of the car.

"Who did you go and see at the cemetery?" Finally, Rowan let out the question and Leticia froze. For Rowan, he was starting to think she was Vanessa's spirit sent to cure him of the pain he felt in his heart. Even though he knew in reality that idea made zero sense, he still held on to it.

"My- Uhm- my grand uncle..." She said nodding her head. "We were close," she added.

Her heart was beating. Her lies were ringing in her head and she prayed Rowan wouldn't pick up the shakiness in her voice. She had to win his trust so she could get what she wanted. There was no one else but him.

"Oh, I am so sorry about that," Rowan replied with concern as he swerved the car smoothly into the restaurant's parking lot. "We are here," he rushed out. He didn't want her to ask him the same question because he knew answering that would mean he was admitting out loud that his wife was dead.

"Thank you," Leticia whispered stepping out of the car.

They walked together to the restaurant and being the gentleman he was, Rowan went up to the counter and ordered their lunch. They sat down to eat but both of them barely touched their meal. Their minds were occupied with other things. Rowan was busy staring at Leticia's hair while she placed her fork around the plate in front of her as she thought of how she could present her problem to him.

"Where are you from Leticia?" Rowan suddenly asked.

Leticia raised her eyes from her plate and her face brightened up into that beautiful smile of hers. Rowan didn't know if it was the light above them or if her blue eyes were brighter now.

"You didn't even tell me your name you know?" She asked instead as she bought herself some time to think of the perfect answer.

"Oh, I am so sorry. I am Rowan Shepherd," he said.

"Nice meeting you Mr. Shepherd," Leticia replied with her smile still lingering.

"Please, call me Rowan," he insisted.

"Okay. Rowan, it is..." She beamed placing a fork filled with chicken into her mouth.

Rowan had stopped eating completely and was now only focused on her. If he were to tell people Leticia was his wife, no one would deny it for she looked just like his Vanessa.

"So Rowan, I am from the southern state. I came here for a little view of this side of the city and all..." she said laughing at the end. It was funny her lies now freely flowed out of her mouth even without her trying any harder.

"Oh what about your grand uncle?" Rowan asked.

Leticia frowned wondering where he got that from. "What grand" the question had almost left her lips when she recalled that she had used that to lie at the cemetery. "Oh, my poor uncle..." She whispered feigning sadness as she quickly recovered.

"I am sorry to have brought it up. Here," he said offering her his handkerchief.

"Thank you," Leticia whispered again, trying hard to cry. She dabbed the handkerchief dramatically on her dried face, hoping Rowan didn’t notice. She squeezed his handkerchief and kept it in her bag. It would come in handy.

Rowan checked his time and realized almost an hour had passed, surely Mrs. Cherry must have left the cemetery by now.

Leticia saw his movement and decided to try her last move before he left. "Do you mind sharing your contact with me? We could do this more often," she tested the waters. She knew she was going too fast but her family depended on this. If she failed, there was no hope of her ever meeting the CEO of the Shepherd Publishing Company in person ever again.

Rowan found nothing wrong with her demand since he would also love to spend some time with her again. He took out his phone and passed it to her.

"Type it in," he said.

Leticia snatched up the phone and typed in the number with excitement. When she was done, she gave herself a call and made sure she saved his number on her phone as well, before she returned the phone.

"I will have to go now. See you some other time," she said getting up.

"Do you want me to give you a ride home?" Rowan asked her and she shook her head.

"I am fine. My house isn't so far away. I can manage," she said picking up her bag. "Bye!" She called as she disappeared out of the restaurant.

Rowan found himself staring at her. For the first time since his wife died, his heart fluttered for another woman.