Wooing

Chapter 29

Anastasia

I blinked and looked around. She had grey hair sticking out from under her tight bun and wrinkles. on her face.

I was now a mother of an angel. And Julian…well I don’t know what had changed about him.

We were all the same people but our situation now was very different.

“What are you staring at, girl? Come along inside.”

Mrs. Smith reached for my arm and dragged me towards her small cafe. I turned back to see Julian was still working on the tire and maybe doing some minor repairs on the car.

I sighed and went inside the cafe as Mrs. Smith rambled on and on about how her life had been. There were a few customers in the cafe but she complained of how new shops that sold things made in machines were eating up her business.

She was a small cafe owner who made everything by hand and for that reason, she had less stock and her items were slightly expensive too.

“I heard you added some new items to the menu. What are they?” I asked, trying to cheer her up.

Her face lit up and she began proudly telling me what all she had on the menu. I was not particularly hungry but I knew she would not take money if I offered it just like that..

I would have to eat and then she would take it.

Lea would have loved coming here. I made it a point to bring her here next time, only she and I. Julian was not going to be around.

My gaze flicked to him as I wondered what was taking him so long. A tire change did not take more than five to ten minutes.

Mrs. Smith brought a few things for me to try. In fact, saying that it was a few things was an understatement.

She brought out every single thing she had added to the new menu. And I didn’t think I could finish it all.

“Go on, give it a try,” she said, and I looked around miserably. The few customers were leaving or either had left already.

I smiled at her and took a bite out of the pastry. She was looking at me expectantly and I replied, “It does taste fantastic, Mrs. Smith.”

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She beamed and began telling me what ingredienteshe had used, how she procured them, and the

exosque she used to make the shough volt and thuffy

Meanwhile, my gare thickest to Julian again. He was how sweating despite the sun having been replaced by darknes

Mrs. Smith saw me watching him and asked, “Oh, forgot. You didn’t eat without him, did you? What I will call him.”

“No Mrs. Smith let him work.” I said, but she had already walked near him and pulled him inside

the cafe.

“Goodness, you look like a car mechanic covered in grease and soot. Go wash your hands and face

first”

She ordered him and mumbled, keeping the poor girl waiting for so long-

His eyebrow shot up in surprise and she mumbled, “She hasn’t touched anything, and kept glancing at you. Just stop that work and come sit beside her to eat.”

Julian’s tired face broke into a smile as he looked at me and then at her. “Really?”

I opened my mouth to clear his confusion, but she pushed him towards the bathroom and five minutes later, he came outside, wiping his hands and face with tissue papers.

There you are. The coffee is going cold. Hurry up!” Mrs. Smith said and looked at Julian, who gave

her a tired smile.

Julian pulled a chair beside me and was about to sit when Mrs. Smith shook her head.

“No, no. This is not how you used to sit earlier.”

She made us get up from our chairs and pointed at the long, cushioned bench on the other side.

“Go on, sit there”

I tried to resist, but she was looking at us with so much hope.

“Oh let me get my camera. I read a thing or two on the internet. They say you have to advertise your stuff. I can show how my old customers still love to eat here. It will be a pretty good strategy. right?”

Julian nodded and readily sat on the bench while I slowly got up and sat at a distance from him.

Mrs. Smith pulled out her phone and held it in front of us but then grumbled,

“Why are you sitting so far from him? Get close.”

Chapter pu

1 inched a bit closer to him and gave a smile but she shook her head again.

“Does that look like a happy couple returning to my shop to have their favorite snack? Come on,

move closer.”

I gave her a hesitant smile and inched a few centimeters closer again. Now, I was sitting quite close to him. Or at least I thought so.

The fabric of his shirt rustled when I got nearer and I sensed him tense a little.

“Oh come on!! You guys used to be all over each other and now you behave as if you are total

strangers.

Mrs. Smith grumbled and came beside me, almost pushing me onto him.

1 let out a startled yelp, but Julian was quick, and his hands went around me.

The sound of a camera shutter going off resounded as I looked him in the eye. My hair had fallen. on my face and he brushed it off before asking, “You alright?”

There was dirt and a smudge on his face, just below his ear. He probably forgot to wash it off.

The old me would have grabbed a tissue and wiped it off, but I straightened my back and began to pull away.

But, then Mrs. Smith muttered, “Give her a small kiss on the cheek”

“Huh? No way, Mrs. Smith. That is too much,” I vehemently denied, but before she could reply, Julian had pushed my hair away and placed a quick peck on my cheek.

Mrs. Smith squealed like a little kid as she looked at the pictures on her phone.

“Excellent. Thanks to both of you. Now, I will put these images in big posters in the shop. Maybe I should also put a big billboard on the street to attract more passengers.”

I was horrified at that idea. I did not want to see posters of me and Julian seated cozily in this cafe. while he kissed my face.

Julian apparently did not share the same sentiment.

“That is a pretty good idea, Mrs. Smith. I can even give you a tagline for the commercial. Sandwiches and more, when you want a snack with your partner and some more.”

Her eyes went wide, and she did a little twirl and came forward to pull at Julian’s cheek like he was 4

year old.

“This is going to be a hit. I am going to get so many customers now.”

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10:35 Mon, Aug 26

Chapter 29

G

Mrs. Smith beamed while I glared at Julian and reached for a tissue to rub off my cheek where he had kissed me.

“There was no need to do that” I glared at him but my anger did not seem to have any effect on

him.

On the contrary, he seemed to be amused.

“You know her. She is a proud woman and would not take money, so I helped in whatever way I could.”

I narrowed my eyes. “So you were listening to our conversation?”

Julian shrugged, “You are forgetting I am a werewolf and an alpha. And you were not that far, either. Plus, Mrs. Smith was being very loud, as usual.”

I rolled the tissue into a ball and put it in a dustbin as he added, “Thank you for taking the pictures with me.”

Then he looked at Mrs. Smith and added, “Can you send me those pictures as well? I want them.”