Chapter 2

Today, unlike usual, Daniel was feeling delighted. He has not been this excited for years now. He guessed that he was pretty curious about seeing the mystery girl who caught his eye the other day, even though he had not seen her face. She had been on his mind ever since he had a glimpse of her, but he was too caught up in his work to go to the cafe again. He was busy preparing a presentation to show to the owner of ‘The Brunch.’

Hopefully, today he will be able to see who she was—that is, if he was right about her working in that café. He doesn’t know, but he feels like he knows her from somewhere or has some kind of connection with her for some unknown reason. Well, only time will tell.

Things, however, have always been busy for Ella. The workload in the café and the chores at her home were increasing day by day, leaving little time for herself. She also had to look after Lily. So, more or less, she had been juggling the work of the cafe and home, more so, for the past seven days. Particularly now, after Rowan had informed them about the likelihood of new modifications at the café.

He wanted to expand his business and chose to entrust the entire operation to her and his daughter. Though her life can be pretty hectic from time to time, she loves every bit of it. She would not change it for anything.

Ella enjoys her post as a manager at the café ‘The Brunch’, and Lily also makes her life pleasantly tolerable at home. After all, being a single mother is not that easy.

Just like the previous day, Dan and Timothy ordered the same coffee while they waited for Mr. Nelson to arrive for their meeting. It was rather unusual to hold the meeting at the same cafe rather than an official meeting space, but an informal setting may have been just what was needed for a good end.

Rowan Nelson is the owner of this cafe, but his daughter and her best friend manage it. They don't know much about them, but they expect to meet them. Daniel and Timothy came a bit early to enjoy the beverage along with the delicious dessert this place offers, and they both had to agree that the food and drinks served here do not disappoint one bit.

While Timothy was entirely indulged in the scrumptious chocolate mousse, Daniel was looking out for the mystery girl as he sipped his coffee, but to his utter dismay, there was not a single trace of her.

Dammit!! Where is she?

Hell, when did he become so desperate? He had never seen her face to begin with.

Nonetheless, there were still roughly twenty minutes left for Mr. Nelson's arrival, so to pass the time, Daniel decided to browse through the book section in the cafe. As he walked through it, he could see that, for a small section, there was diversity in the books. From children's fantasy to self-help, the café provided a good variety of books for customers of all tastes. It was rather impressive. As he scanned through the kid section, he saw a familiar figure stretching herself to place a book on the top shelf. She looked awfully familiar from behind. The same petite height, the same cocoa-colored hair—everything about this mystery woman reminded him of her.

‘No, Dan. Stop it. This mystery woman from yesterday could not be her. You can’t think about her now. Not after all these years.’ He tried to block all his thoughts about her and went towards the mystery girl to help her out.

Ignoring his thoughts, he grabbed the book from her hand and placed it in its destined place, with his front faintly touching her back.

“Thank you so much,” the mystery woman said, making him go rigid.

That sweet, angelic voice. Dan doesn’t even need to think hard to recognize that voice. After all this time, he recognize that voice as clear as a day.

“Shortcake,” he whispered.

Ella, though, did not have the need to turn around to see the person who helped her. Except for the voice of the person, the name called by him was enough to recognize the man behind her. There was only one person who called her by that nickname.

She desperately hoped that she had heard wrong or that her mind was playing games, but unfortunately, that was not the case. She clearly heard the person calling her shortcake.

“Danny,” she whispered, but no voice came out. She was speechless.

She did not dare turn around. She was too scared to see and face him. After all these years, how the hell is she supposed to respond? Thousands of thoughts were going through her mind, but none of them gave her the courage.

What is she supposed to say to him after six years?

How is she supposed to react?

The worst is how he is going to react to seeing her after so many years. And most importantly, what the hell had she gotten herself into?

There was a sudden rush of panic inside her. So much had happened between then and her leaving.

Ella could not help but close her eyes tightly, wishing all this was nothing but a frightening dream. But who the hell was she kidding? Daniel’s presence behind her was no less than a bittersweet dream, but it could easily transform into a terrible nightmare within a flick of a second.

Daniel, however, found her body stiffening in front of him when he called her by his given nickname. At first, he was too shocked to react. But then his reaction was an impulse.

As she was not turning around even after hearing his voice, he grabbed her shoulder and spun her towards him to ensure he was not being delusional. He could not have been, as there was only one person on this planet to whom he ever felt attracted, and the mystery person being his shortcake could not be just a mere coincidence.

Yet, even remotely aware of the identity of the woman, his breath was caught in his throat when he finally saw her. Never had he thought that he would find his shortcake, Ella, in Rosewood.