CHAPTER 10 Hey Stranger

Valerie's POV

I didn't get a good sleep that night. I slapped Leonard, it was ruled by fear of getting punished. He deserves it for calling me names and accusing me of something I didn't do.

I dropped the kids off at school before going to the bookstores to get some new books. I walked into the store and selected the new releases into the basket Shawn, my bodyguard, was holding. When I was done selecting, I went to the cashier to pay. When I saw Mateo walking into the store, I looked away instantly, pretending not to see him.

"Hey stranger, I didn't see you there," Mateo said, tapping my shoulder, looking handsome as ever with his freshly shaved beard and his smile that melted my worries away.

"Hii, it's been a while and what are you doing here?" I asked, putting my hair behind my ears, and couldn't stop smiling and looking at him.

"They serve the best coffee here. I'm not a reader, but I love coffee and this place serves the best I've ever had, so I'm a regular here, and it's my comfort drink." I could watch him talk all day without getting tired. I want to try the coffee now, so we can have something in common.

I want to be the coffee so badly, the way his face lit up as he talked about the coffee. My heartbeat increased as I imagined myself being the reason his face lit up that way.

"Back to earth Valerie, where are you? Is something wrong?" He snapped his fingers in front of me, ruining my imagination with his cute face. "You zoned out," I blinked faster, seeing he had a little frown on his face this time.

"Yeah, I'm fine, nothing is wrong," I assured him, looking around to see a seat in the café corner. "Why don't we have coffee, and I'll see if it's worth the hype you give it, there's a seat around that corner," I said pointing to the empty seats, he looked at me for a while before saying

"Okay, I'll order the drink and bring it over," he said with a smile as he patted my shoulder. I walked over to the booth. I looked around for Shawn, only to see him standing far from me.

I waved at him to come over, which he did, "Why are you standing that far?" I asked him, but he was about to answer when Mateo brought our coffee and took his seat opposite mine. "Thank you, wow, this is nice," I commented, even though I'm not a coffee fan.

"I told you so," he said with pride and a big smile.

"So tell me, what other hobbies do you have apart from reading and writing?". I started having a giddy feeling at his question, he wanted to know more about me.

"I love cooking and baking especially. I love to try new recipes and I love to travel, uhm, the feeling of new air in a new environment. I mean, you get to try new things, most importantly new food, a lot of new dishes in both local and international restaurants," I stopped when I saw him smiling widely at me.

"What?" I asked him, but he kept smiling weirdly.

"You were so dreamy that you demonstrated with your hands, with dreamy eyes too, and I just think you're cute," He leaned in and touched my hair, it all happened in slow motion, and I was sure I felt his breath on my hair. "You have something in your hair," he sat back. My heart was beating thrice more than normal just because of that little gesture from him.

I couldn't concentrate all through the rest of the talk till we said our goodbyes. I took a stop to get things I needed for the meal I promised my children before going home. The ride back home was faster than I thought.

I dropped my ingredients in the kitchen before going to my room to change. I piled my new books beside my bed for easier access. I went downstairs to prepare a homemade lasagna with homemade ice cream and cookies I promised them.

I informed Mrs Smith beforehand, so I have the kitchen to myself, and maybe I'll be able to get Mateo out of my head. I was going about preparing my ingredients when I heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

My heart rate increased for the second time today thinking it was Leonard coming here, but was surprised to see a female wearing his shirt.

Oh, I see he brought his chick home, I thought to myself.

"Hey," She said "Hello," I replied not to be rude.

"My name is Molly, I'm Leonard's best friend. And I'm sure you know he's not interested in women like you, right? He probably just married you because his children like you." Okay, that's rude, and what's she trying to do?

Make me jealous or what? Let's have it.

"Hi Molly, my name is Valerie, and I'm Leonard's wife, and it doesn't matter why he married me, but you'll address me as Mrs Skavinski," I said, and I saw her face turn red as a tomato.

"I knew it, you are a pretender, a witch, and I'm sure you're a spy. You're here to ruin everything he worked, right? You'll regret it, I promise." before I could give her my reply, she started shouting, trying to cause a scene for Leonard to hear.

She waited, thinking he'd rush now, but he didn't, so I took my chance. I laughed out loud at her face.

"What were you expecting? That he'll come running to you? What are you trying to prove?" I asked her with a mocking face. I had another round of laughter before returning her glare, sure she'd burst out of anger.

We heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and I'm sure it's Leonard this time around. The air in the room tightened more than it was before.

"What is the issue here?" Leonard asked, and before I could say anything, Molly had lied to him that I called her names first and insulted her.

"What do you say? Don't believe everything she says. I was here making cookies for my children because I promised them. Then she walked in and was telling me how you two are the best of friends and what's not. I didn't even say anything to her before she called me a witch and other names too," I defended myself.

He didn't even listen to my side of the story before insulting me and calling me a troublemaker. I opened my mouth to talk, but he walked out on me, taking Molly with me. And I couldn't help but feel betrayed and angry. He did not take my side or even believe me.