The Billionaire's Demand

Hannah's Confidence

Grabbing the empty tray which had been filled with a delicious smelling Lemon tart, Hannah pushed the door open to the kitchen and entered it. Hannah placed the tray down on the sterile looking counter and watched as Maria grabbed another tray out of the oven with a cute little oven mitt. Maria baked a few blueberry muffins, they were popular in the morning while people came in for a coffee to go. It sold out immediately so Maria often baked them.

"Want one?" Maria asked her with a small smile, "They're even more delicious when you eat them heated."

"I do want one." Hannah admitted, "But I want a cup of mint tea with it."

Maria laughed, "I'll make us both some mint tea."

Hannah watched as Maria strolled out of the kitchen with a tray in hand, "Thank you, Maria!"

Hannah took a moment to catch her breath. She had been in cleaning mode all morning, wiping the tables and vacuuming the store even though they cleaned up yesterday after closing time. The sluggish feeling was slowing her down now. Maria had seen it, offering her a little break. She knew the store wouldn't survive without Maria. She was grateful to that woman.

"How can I help you?" Maria's voice traveled into the kitchen, the woman sounded different than usual. Bubbly and cheerful, almost girlish. The voice she always made fun of when Hannah used it to be overly sweet to her customers.

"I'd like an Espresso."

Hannah bumped into the counter, covering her mouth to keep the noise down. That voice, that deep voice, rich and cultured. It made her heart race and her body react to it even though her brain sternly told her body to cool it. The noise of her hitting the counter and moving a tray probably traveled to the store because she heard Maria giggle and apologize.

"The owner." Maria let him know, "She must have run into something."

"Maybe you should check on her, that sounded painful."

Maria giggled once more. The giggling started to annoy Hannah, her usual levelheaded Maria was turning into a giggling teenager because of him. It wasn't that she couldn't comprehend why he was a charming guy with looks which equaled that of a supermodel. The irrational part of her, though, felt betrayed.

"Morning, Maria, is Hannah in the kitchen?"

Hannah buried her face in her hands, cursing the fact that her mother showed up without notice. She had never done that before. Her mother was a woman following the rules. Social rules, society's rules, the company rules, it didn't matter. Her mother followed them all without straying.

"Hannah?" She heard him repeat.

From all the women he dated it was her name he remembered, she knew she should feel flattered. But she cursed him for it. He wasn't supposed to remember her. She was supposed to be a face which blurred in the sea of women who surrounded him.

"My daughter." Her mother explained to him, "Oh my, you look familiar to me."

"Really?" He sounded amused, "Might be because my father is a regular."

"The handsome gentleman." Her mother sounded flirty which made Hannah want to teleport herself into space and never look back. Oxygen be damned.

"I'd refer to him differently."

"Handsome and funny, that's cute." The change in her mother's voice made her run to the back door, she wasn't going to let that happen.

"Where are you running off to? Lillian Holmes is here to see her daughter, I can see why you'd want to escape, but that's unlike you." She turned to look at Maria who looked confused, a hand on her hip, "You planning to experiment with some baking? I mean, I don't mind. Especially since there is a handsome guy out there."