Love, Amor, Amour

《Chapter 18》

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Upon having entered the bakery at an earlier hour than usual had her begging for coffee this morning. She went in through the back door with her key and started a cup amount on the brewer. Try as she might, Mina knew she wasn't getting enough sleep lately. Less than her usual six to eight hours, since she sat at her desk at night jotting down random words. Just this morning she had read what had been a schedule that turned into the food pyramid. She was most likely still thinking about her upcoming dinner with Elijah, or more importantly, what it was he was going to cook.

As she took a sip of her freshly brewed coffee her father passed by with a tray with something else fresh as well. Her father set it on the counter and gave her a "good morning" and a hug. She asked him about his day so far and when he would take some time off for himself to just relax. He told her he was fine, as always swore that he was as strong as an ox. A vacation was like an unknown term to him, but she was hell-bent on convincing him on it even if she had to pack his bags for him. She was worried that his work ethic would betray him someday, but they agreed to have some time off when the catering business was at a stable condition.

Just as they finished with that mention he told her that her mother was talking to their new client at the moment. Her presence would be much appreciated.

She knew it was a familiar person who sat across from her mother when she stepped into the front of the bakery. The woman did manage to stand out in this environment with the way she was dressed to impress, the word upper class came to mind. As she grew closer she caught the woman's beautiful clear blue eyes.

"Misses Li-"

"Margarita, I thought I told you to call me by my name?"

"Emrie, sorry. I just got too excited with the gratitude it would bring my family to cater to yours as well." Her mother's smile was lit like a thousand watts went into brightening the room. She jumped when she saw Mina next to her and grabbed her hand with too much force to expect from a petite woman.

"Oh, this is my daughter I mentioned."

When the woman turned to face her whole attention to her something dawned on her. Apparently, she herself had made an impression on this woman but not enough to remember her name. "Hello, I believe we've met, Mia?"

"Mina and yeah I think we have. It's a surprise to know you're our new client," She tried her best not to let the dislike she felt show within her words. It was a silly thing to feel after only being called by the wrong name but she couldn't help it.

"Emrie is the host of the wonderful charity I told you, she has a heart of gold I said, now sit over here and I'll be right out with the sweets."

Her mother wasted no time to skip back to the kitchen after she squeezed Mina's hand as a sign to sit in the seat she abandoned. She sat and was greeted with a smile as Emrie looked in her direction once more.

"I wanted to thank you, I know I didn't get a chance to when we left the hospital so abruptly."

"Oh, it's okay," She had got caught by surprise twice now, her brows shifted up before they lowered and she brushed it off like it was no big deal. Still, she was curious as this would lead to who she thought about now more than a minute ago when she was standing.

"You were the only person that kept Jean Noel sane for those few weeks during therapy so I'd like to thank you for it. I don't need to guess how much of a pain in the butt he can get after a while, so I'm glad I found you to say it in person."

Emrie was really good at keeping eye contact when speaking. She could tell that Emrie really meant all of what she said. Mina grinned at how highly regarded she'd been. She certainly hadn't regretted the time she spent with Jean Noel, even if she begged to differ the first week. She had dubbed him as Mr. Grumpy for a reason. Now that she had learned his full name, she felt it had a nice ring to it.