CHAPTER THREE

EDWARD 

I discarded the coat and leaned back against the couch. There had been a lot of work pressure since the last few days and topping that was Grandad’s will that had me stressed. I had been pushing it for some months now.

“Daddy?”, I opened my eyes to look at my daughter who stood there with a cup of coffee, Emma close behind her.

“Yes, sweetie.” I smiled at her.

“I brought you coffee.” She carefully brought the cup forward, her eyes trained on them like splitting a moment of attention will spill the drink.

“You did? That’s so sweet .” Taking the cup from her hand, I placed it on the table beside me. “Come here.” I picked her up and sat her on my lap. “I’ll put her to sleep.” I told Emma.

“No, it’s okay, son. I’ll wait.” Anna placed her head on my chest and played with the shirt button. Emma had been staying with our family for as long as I could remember. She had always been there for me, treated me like her own. If I trusted anyone with Anna more than myself, that would be her.

“It is fine, Emma.” I insisted. “You should call it a night.” Although very reluctantly, she nodded. 

“Goodnight Edward.”

“Goodnight.” Nodding, she walked away leaving us alone in each other’s peaceful company. Only Anna had the power to some of my stress simply by her presence.

“So will you tell me what happened at school?” I asked combing her hair with his fingers.

“What happens everyday but today I made a drawing. Can I show you later?” she mumbled sleepily into my chest while I hummed. 

“Daddy?”, she spoke after a minute. She pulled back to stare at my face.

“Tomorrow is a holiday, right?” She asked hopefully that her dad was not going to work on weekends too. I could not help but feel a little guilty that I was not giving her more time.

“Yes.”

Her eyes which were once sleepy, gleamed with excitement. “Can we go for milkshakes?” I chuckled.

“Sure. I will take you to the best place for milkshakes.” I said but a frown came upon her face instead of the smile I was expecting.

“No daddy. We will go to tweats.” Took me a second to get the actual word.

“Treats?” I corrected her which mad e her smile sheepishly. I had collected from Emma that they regularly visited this diner.

“Yes. I want to meet Steph. I met her last week.” A smile broke on her face when she mentioned some ‘Steph’.

“Who is Steph?”

If possible, her smile widened. “She is my best friend.” The elation in her voice showed me that she really liked this person , probably some waitress at the diner.

“Okay. We’ll do and meet your friend. Now let’s put you to sleep, yes?” She nodded before wrapping her hands around my neck tightly. I smiled when she put a face in the crook of my neck, waiting to be carried to her bed.

STEPHANIE

“Enjoy your meal.” Quickly passing a polite smile to the ones seated at the last booth, I walked back to the counter.

The diner was quite full. I was about to grab my pad to take another booth when I heard Anna’s voice.

The next few seconds were chaotic. I turned around everything happened in a snap of fingers. She collided with the legs of Amy, another waitress who lost her balance and the glasses she was carrying, crashed down on the floor.

“What the hell!?” A lady sitting in the adjacent booth shrieked. My eyes fell upon her dress which was a bit spoiled by the drinks. A moment of commotion before there was a second of complete silence.

“I’m sorry-“ , Amy was cut off mud sentence by the seething customer.

“Shut up! Is your stupid sorry going to get this stain off?” She glared at her before her furious glance settled on Anna and my heart skipped a beat.

“And you! Why are you running around?” Anna flinched at her tone and so did I. The way she was glaring at her, one would think she was about get physical.

“I am sorry.” Anna softly apologized, blinking through her tears but that did absolutely nothing to pacify the lady.

“You should be, stupid brat!” I was stunned at how rude she was being to a little girl. I did a quick glance over to see a camera. The way she behaved almost made me think that this was going to be an episode of What Would You Do? Only it wasn’t. Anna was a regular here and not a child actor.

“Miss, I would request you to not speak to a child in that way.” I pulled Anna to my side, exposing myself to the brunt of her anger.

She narrowed her eyes on me. “Yeah? And how should I speak t her!?”

“I understand you are upset but this was a mishap. You are scaring her.” Bad investment! Every word was falling on deaf ears.

“And who might you be to tell me that?” She barked, almost and it pretty much snapped my control.

“A nice person? The same can’t be said about you though .” I stared right back her while a group of teens sitting behind her snickered. 

Was I risking my job here? Probably. Was I impulsive? When was I not?

“How dare you talk to me like that!? And do you not see my dress? This brat just ruined it.” She pointed her finger, glaring viciously at Anna who flinched and cling to my side. I was irritated at how impudent she was.

I forced a breath out. “It was an accident, a mistake and she is not a brat because she just apologized after which I don’t think she deserves these rude words.” 

It was safe to say that this was the nicest way in which I could have put them together.The thoughts in my head we’re not this courteous though.

“Is this how you treat your customers? I will-“

“I will ask you to not finish that sentence.” A smooth deep voice cut in, the kind that is used to command the attention of an entire room.

 As soon as I turned around, the air was almost stolen out of my lungs. I was no stranger to the likes of good looking men but he would totally outclass them in an instant.

He was tall, his lean muscular body clad in a black button down shirt. The waves of dark brown hair accentuated his hazel orbs and his jawline looked sharp enough to cut through steel. 

He extended a hand holding out a card. The sleeves were rolled up exposing his veiny forearm. “Call here and provide your details. Your loss will be compensated.” His words were sharp yet his voice low as he looked down at her.

 The woman was intimidated. It was apparent by the way she struggled to keep her eyes on him. “Oh no! You don’t have to pay for what this unruly child did. And this lady her deserves to be fired!” I could not control the urge to roll my eyes.

“I do have to compensate because this ‘unruly child’ here is my daughter.”

My eyes widened at the piece of information. Well, that as some revelation!

I saw it in that woman’s eyes. She was contemplating apologizing to him. I watched as he held her down with just an icy stare.

Must be nice to be able to assert such dominance on strangers!

“It’s better if you accept the compensation or leave right now before I make you pay for harassing my daughter and this young lady here.”

The conviction in his voice stated that he would live up to his words If defied.

“I- I’m-“ She fumbled with her words

.

“Leave.” He gritted out. She looked between us, her face flushed with embarrassment, before rushing out of the diner. The audience we had were now going back to their businesses. I remembered Anna and one look at her damp face really did upset me.

“Steph, I am sorry.” Another tear slipped down her eyes and down her cheek. I crouched down in front of her.

“No cupcake, it’s okay. You had already apologized.” I wiped the tears off her face. “That lady was a big meanie.” I made a face hoping that she would smile but the frown on her face was persistent.

“She scolded you because of me. What would she do to you? Will she hurt you?” It was warming to see how thoughtful she was. I was about to comfort her when her father beat me to it.

“Come here, sweetheart!” He picked her up in his arms while she gloomily stared back at him. I recognized a slight British accent. “ She won’t hurt Steph. I won’t let her, okay?” Him comforting his father and Anna looking up at her father with so much, why was this so difficult to look away from him?

Maybe because he did not resemble the cold intense man I had witnessed just a few moments ago. His face seemed to have lost all that harshness the moment he looked at his daughter. 

I was too far engrossed in observing what played out in front of me to note the alarm that had gone off in my head. It was too late.

He looked up only to catch me staring.

Should I explain myself? I panicked. I had no interest in experiencing how it felt to be on the receiving end of his icy stare. 

But what I did not expect was for his eyes to trail down the length of me. When his eyes finally came back up, something flashed in them and it definitely was not animosity.

What was it?

Before I could ponder any longer, I took the initiative to break the stare and my eyes immediately found Anna’s face.

“So, milkshake?”