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I turn around and go into Starbucks. I order an espresso and kids’ snack, ignoring the cashier’s attempts to flirt with me as I settle on the table near the door.
It should happen in three seconds, two, one…
The entrance nearly rattles from its hinges as two kids fly inside in all their energy.
A woman follows, wearing scrubs and carrying a wailing baby in her arms.
“Stop that, Oliver,” she yells at her son who’s pulling on his younger sister’s pigtails.
Her eyes are bloodshot, as if she didn’t sleep the previous night, most likely because of the toddler whose mouth she’s shoving a baby bottle into.
“Oliver!” she yells when the kid tries to kick his sister to the ground. “Can’t I order in peace?” Her voice lowers. “For fuck’s sake.”
With their mother turned away, I wave my snack in front of them.
The kid trots in my direction first and the sister follows as their mother gets engrossed in ordering her drink.
“You want this?” I ask Oliver.
He nods once.
“If I give it to you, will you share with your sister?”
He hesitates but then nods again.
“Now ask your mom for permission.”
“Mommy!!” he screams. “Can I have it please, please?”
Dinah finally turns in our direction and notices that her kids aren’t silent because they listened to her.
She smiles at me and I smile back. This isn’t the first time I do this for her kids. It’s precisely the third. We reached a point where she sighs in relief whenever she sees me.
“Oh, my God.” She balances the now quiet toddler on her hip and takes the coffee with her other hand. “You’re a lifesaver, I don’t know how to thank you.”
“They’re adorable kids.” They’re not, but she doesn’t need to know that.
I push the plate in front of them. Oliver and his sister get busy eating as Dinah gulps a mouthful of her latte before she sighs again. She’s one of those who feel out of her element if she doesn’t have caffeine in her system.
“I swear I made the mistake of my life by getting married at my freshman year,” she grumbles while drinking. “It’s stupid, seriously don’t do it.”
I smile, appearing every bit the gentleman she believes I am. “I think it’s too late for that. I’ll be lucky to get married at all now.”
Her slurping stops as she watches me intently. Too intently, like she’s seeing me for the first time. She gives me a onceover and slightly narrows her eyes in calculation.
Bingo.
She’s seeing me from a different perspective.
“Why? How old are you?”
“Thirty-three.” I take a sip of my coffee appearing nonchalant. “I always seem to miss the right one. I don’t give up, though.”
She pauses. “Jasper, right? What did you say you work as again?”
I never mentioned my work, and she well knows that, but she’s using her woman skills to gauge what she needs to know.
“HR in C Electronics.” I give her my card.
C Electronics is one of Lucio’s few legitimate businesses, small but lucrative. And technically, I’m the head of HR for the Costa organization.
I clean the unwanted humans.
Dinah tries to hide she’s impressed as she studies my card, and fails. She’s more than impressed, she already has a plot.
She balances her toddler again, eyes fleeting over her other two children before she meets mine again. “This might seem too sudden, but I actually have an amazing friend who I think would be a great fit for you.”
Bingo again.
I feign disinterest. “No, thanks. I don’t have good experiences with arranged meetings.”
The best way to negotiate is to pretend you don’t care for what the other party offers.
She appears flustered. “Of course. I understand. But I promise it’s different this time.” She leans in to whisper. “She doesn’t like arranged meetings either. You already have something in common.”
Hmm. Interesting.
I raise an eyebrow. “Is that so?”
Dinah’s eyes light up as she pushes her kids aside, ignoring their protests and retrieves her phone. She shows me a picture of my little Petal carrying a baby, the toddler in Dinah’s arms, I suppose, and smiling softly at the camera.
I know what Dinah’s doing. She’s showing me that Petal actually cares for kids and can be a good mother, wife, the whole package. If she were a seller, Dinah would’ve had the highest sales.
Still, I have this urge to shake her and tell her not to show my little Petal’s pictures to anyone.
That’s not her fucking place.
A red mist covers my vision at the thought that she showed this picture to other men, letting them fantasize about a life with my little Petal.
Fuck them.
“Her name is Georgina —but we call her Georgie. She’s twenty-seven and a complete darling. She listens to me rant all the time and always tells me it’s going to be okay. She’s quiet and a hardworker.” Dinah blurts all the qualities as if she learnt them by heart. “And she’s so pretty.”
