Page 15 of Yours, Forever

I parked right in front of rEvalution, this time. People stared at me and my car, and a couple of them followed me into the Eva's business, but I ignored them.

"Good morning, sweetheart!" I exclaimed for everyone to hear.

Eva was in the middle of filling a coffee cup, working her espresso machine. She froze. I grinned. From the corner of my eye, I could see people in the coffee shop staring in my direction.

I rounded the counter and approached her. "Thanks for letting me sleep in this morning, darling, but you didn't have to."

Eva tracked me with her eyes, the rest of her body immobile.

I gave her a kiss on the temple. "Where should I set up? I just need to review a few documents. I can work from here and see you shine." When she didn't say anything else, I smirked. "Morning."

"Morning." Still, she didn't move.

"Do you think I get husband privileges and get coffee on the house?"

She didn't reply.

"You know what? Those are bad manners." I took my wallet out and waved it for everyone to see. "Everyone, get breakfast on me."

Cheers from people. A few of them lined up at the till.

"When you have a second—no rush, tend to your customers first— may I please have a large coffee, black, and… oh my, are those sopaipillas?" I took my black credit card from its pocket in my wallet and gave it to Eva. She took it reluctantly. "I'll have three. Keep the card for a couple of hours and charge everything there, okay? Add a twenty percent tip for yourself, of course. Nay, thirty. I'll go sit at that empty table by the window."

I stared into her eyes and let her process my words. She blinked a couple of times.

I smiled again. "Nod if you agree, darling."

She squinted. I chuckled and arched an eyebrow.

She nodded, sighed, and went back to finish the coffee she'd been working on.

It took me a while to make it to the table I had in my sight; people greeted me and got in my way. Some of them introduced themselves to me, all of them friendly. I snatched the opportunity up. I chatted with all of them.

"And your name is?" I asked the latest person to approach me, only one table away from my goal.

He shook my hand. "My name is Andy. You're Eva's husband, I hear?"

"Yes, yes. I just moved in. The square is adorable! Can't wait to see more of the town."

"Have you been to the beach yet? We're lucky. We have a little bit of everything, with rocky cliffs, small beaches hidden among the forest, and a sandy, big one right at the end of Main Street."

"That sounds great. Can't wait to see it, but I'll wait until my wife can show me around."

"One of us could show you around, too." A third person joined us, and I shook their hand, too.

"Hello, I'm Maximiliano," I said.

"My name is Janet. I'm Ale's friend. I think you met Ale last night? She has pink and orange hair. Impossible to miss."

"I did, in fact. Her green cat eye glasses? Very fashion forward."

Janet grinned. "I heard from three different sources that you arrived and shocked everyone by claiming Eva is your wife. The town is abuzz."

All the attention made me warm. I took off my jacket and I put it on the empty table, above my briefcase. Andy and Janet followed me. "Yes, we married two weeks ago. It was love at first sight. I would have come earlier, but I had trouble settling a fewthings. She didn't know when I was arriving; the poor dear was in shock."

"She's a busy person," Andy said. "I'm sure many of us would be happy to show you around."

Folk continued to trickle in. About twice as many people as when I arrived had come for coffee. A couple more people joined us, forming a small circle around me.