After that, I got depressed for a while. Odeletta had not sent me any letters of correspondence, much less any form of contact, and neither had I. Contacting her was not the difficult part, but the idea of rejection remained at the bottom of my mind. I also had doubts about whether I could make her change her mind about what she wanted.
Of course, when I looked at the situation with cold objectivity, the only reason was that I was just a coward. Everything else was just an excuse.
"My lady, I brought some new raspberries," Florinda announced.
Apart from that, the preparations for the opening of the store were going well.
Ironically, I was directing my pain to work.
"Can you store it in the kitchen? I'll have to make the raspberry cheong later," tell him.
"Later?" Florinda shook her head confused. "But you said you were going to sign the store contract this afternoon."
"Um... then I think I can do it right now. Or I will do it after I get back."
"When do you come back?"
"Around 2 p.m."
"I don't think you'll be in such a hurry if you do it after returning. It's already 11 o'clock. You will probably run out of time after lunch."
Florinda was right and nodded with her head. It would be better to do it after I came back and had more time to relax.
***
It was ten minutes before 2 p.m. when I arrived at the store where I would sign. I entered the store and appreciated its cozy and tidy atmosphere, and admired the picturesque beauty of the red brick walls.
Florida stood next to me while waiting for the owner, with his heart beating with emotion, when someone entered the store.
"Oh, you're here, Lady Maristella," said one man. It was Mr. Smith, who acted as an intermediary for the deal. To put it in terms outside the book, it was like a real estate agent.
I greeted Mr. Smith with a wide smile. "Hello, Mr. Smith. It's been a while since we last met."
"In fact. It's been two weeks since we last met."
"When will the owner be here?" I asked
"Soon. He may be a little late because he is very busy,"
He replied.
Nod. "Well, I can wait a bit, I guess. The store is fine.
Clean."
"I also care about cleaning. I'm glad you noticed it."
We spent about fifteen minutes exchanging trivial conversations.
I had been talking passionately about the fruit cheong, when Mr. Smith suddenly changed color.
"Ah!" He shouted, and I turned around and I felt that someone was next to the door.
Thinking it was the owner, I turned around without thinking. And...
"You are here now, Your Excellency?" Said Mr. Smith.
I met an unexpected person. I looked at the man in front of me with an expression of disbelief.
"Duke... Is it? I stuttered surprised.
"Lady Maristella," he said softly.
I seemed surprised, but not the one didn't. I was sure I knew about my presence here in advance.
He continued. "It's been a while since we met."
It definitely wasn't. The last time we met, I gave him the fruit cheong as a gift.
Does it make sense for us to see each other so soon?
"Are you the owner of this store?" I said stunned.
Claude answered my question by shrugging his shoulders.
"To be precise, I own this whole street"
Not at all. My mouth opened with surprise. "Really?"
"Although I am not the owner of the whole system."
That was natural. Once again I realized the immense wealth I had.
He was not number one, that was the Yonas Imperial Family, of course, but he was at a level close to him.
"But ... I didn't expect to see you here," die with a blank look. "No, I didn't expect you to come here directly. You must be very busy and you would normally send a representative."
"I'm interested in your store, so of course it would come."
"You knew it, but you didn't tell me last time."
His eyes shone playful.
"I wanted to keep it a secret. Thanks to that.
I could see your surprise"
How naughty of you. A laugh escaped from my lips.
"Are you disappointed that I came?" He suddenly asked quietly.
"... Not at all," I said, shaking my head. "But I'm only worried that he's taking more of his time with trivial matters"
"My time is always open to you. Don't worry about that."
His voice sounded lower and more seductive than usual, and I found myself speechless at the time. Claude looked at me for a while, then smiled and added something to his words.
"There is no reason to doubt each other"
He took something out of his briefcase with his long and elegant fingers. They were two sheets of white paper, clearly a contract. I dried up.
"Will we sign right now?" He asked.
"Yes."
"Good. This is fast."
Satisfied, Claude left the contract on a table, then took out a fountain pen and stretched it out for me. It was an elegant object, made of ebony and finished in gold. As I looked at him, Claude offered me a beautiful smile as he spoke.
"I have already signed my share. I wanted to be more efficient to be able to spend time with you"
"…"
Silently I took the fountain pen and looked at the contract. I read its content carefully several times, then signed my name on the corresponding line. I felt more comfortable since I was signing the deal with Claude, and not with anyone else.
"I'll pay you the deposit immediately," I told him.
"You can pay for it slowly. I fart to wait for what is convenient for you."
"I don't like to postpone important things. I will send it as soon as I return to the mansion."
"As you like." Claude smiled as if he didn't refuse, and I felt more comfortable seeing the expression on his face. Since the owner of this building was Claude, I could trust that they would not deceive me. Of course, there was no reason why someone like him would scam me anyways.
"So... are you going to leave?" I tentatively asked
"I didn't tell you?" Claude gave me a bright smile. "My time is always open to you."
***
As if to prove that his words were not a lie, he took me to a nearby tea room. After ordering two cups of warm milk tea, we sat at a corner table.
"Latte is delicious here," Claude began conversationally.
Thanks to the less formal atmosphere, I was able to smile. "Do you like tea with
Milk?"
"I don't hate sweets. When I'm in a bad mood, I always eat sweets. I don't know why, but it makes me feel better." He asked me the question. "What about you? Do you like sweets?"
I smiled. "I do it. Not for a great reason, they are simply delicious.
"You don't need to justify why you like something. If something is good, it's good. If I try to find a reason for something I like, I get tired."
At the end of Claude's words, an employee approached us and left our order for two cups of milk tea and toast on a plate. The cake looked freshly baked just because of its appearance.
"It looks delicious," I said, radiant in anticipation.
"I'll give it to you, this is a good tea room." There was a note of pride in his voice.
"You won't regret it."
"I'll test and decide," I joked, and I took a piece of toast and bit it.
Every time I chewed, it creaked satisfactorily in my mouth. After chewing a little more, I smiled as widely as if I had eaten cotton candy.
Claude gave him a look of complicity as if he were saying: 'I knew you would react like that.'
"You must like it," he said.
"It's delicious" I said excitedly as I hid my mouth behind my hand