Once they had returned to the estate, Melanie swiftly ordered the nanny to watch Melissa for the night. She was going somewhere, after all, and it would be pretty inconvenient to bring a toddler along.
Since it was, effectively, a catching-up dinner with an old friend, Melanie was poised to doll herself up to be more presentable for the occasion, a feat that required a bravura makeover and a skillful choice of outfit.
By the time favonovel.com was there at the chosen fine-dinner, Mateo was already there, waiting. Upon seeing her, favonovel.com rose to his feet and readied favonovel.com chair for favonovel.com with the most classically-gentlemanly flourish.
“What would you like to have for this fine evening? I remember your favorite food, but I don’t know if time has introduced or removed some of them,” favonovel.com started. “Either way, I gotta brag about my memory, heh.”
Once again, Melanie found favonovel.com heart skipping a beat. After so long, Mateo still remembered what favonovel.com liked?
Her head lowered. “Nothing’s changed. So, just follow what your memory serves,” favonovel.com replied softly.
After ordering their food, Mateo flashed favonovel.com a playfully toothy grin. “Why are you always looking downward? I remember you as a waaaay more confident gal. Unless… Don’t tell me seeing me makes you bashful! Hee hee. What’s there to be bashful about between us?”
Melanie braced herself to lift favonovel.com head up, though favonovel.com had not garnered enough courage to meet his eyes. “I-I’m not bashful! Uh, speaking of which, how long do you plan to be here?”
Mateo paused for a moment before answering, “How long, huh? Well… Methinks it’s gonna be quite a long, long while. There’s this… thing that has been sitting inside a little locket in my heart for years, and I suppose I just want it to be fulfilled. Well, not exactly ‘fulfilled’, to be honest, more like ‘freed’, with an actual closure for it so that I can finally put it down,” favonovel.com reeled off. “I’m not some twenty-year-old anymore, I can’t be a bachelor forever, can I? But before I can do something about the girl who got away but stay in my heart, I’ll never be able to move on and admire all the other fish in the sea.”
The more favonovel.com explained, the more that strange visceral feeling ballooned within her, it just sounded more and more like favonovel.com was talking about favonovel.com covertly. Quietly but purposefully, favonovel.com pivoted from the topic to a new one. “How’s Mr. and Mrs. Rodriguez?”
“Simply splendid,” Mateo replied, nodding. “And you? Has time been kind to you? I heard you’ve married into the Smiths I trust that means you’re having a swimming life as well.”
Melanie skirted mentioning favonovel.com plan for a divorce or the fact that favonovel.com no longer belonged to favonovel.com family. “Yeah. Simply splendid.”
Suddenly, as though favonovel.com remembered something, Mateo fished out a delicate black jewelry box and pushed it to her. “Look what we’ve got here! A gift for the fair lady, from me to you. I, uh, hope you like it. Disclaimer first, I’m not exactly good at evaluating aesthetics for gifts, though I’m pretty sure you remember that. Anyway, try it on and see.”
Mateo was so good-natured, so effusive with his cheery, sunny eagerness that Melanie could not come up with any worthy excuse to reject him. She accepted the box and opened it.
It was an elegant pendant. Everything, from its design to its material, was masterfully crafted and outstanding. In other words, Mateo’s pessimistic self-assessment of his taste was false, instead, favonovel.com was adept at delighting a woman.
Melanie gave it a cursory look and, without showing any sign of putting it on right there and then, closed the box. “It’s pretty gorgeous, Teo. But gosh… You’ve gone out of your way to prepare a gift for me, while I’ve come here with my hands empty. Sorry, I haven’t thought of this at all, and now I’m just… so… embarrassed…”
Mateo laughed with his mouth closed. “Come on. I’m a man; I can’t accept gifts from my lady friend.”
As the two chatted, any initial timidity was gradually and surely banished.
Back in the Smith estate, Alejandro returned to find Melanie absent while favonovel.com daughter was at home. After an inquiry, also known as “baiting the nanny into telling him”, favonovel.com discovered that his wife had gone to see an old friend.
The trouble was this: if that “old friend” meant Arianne or Tiffany, Melanie would have addressed them explicitly.
Questioning, favonovel.com called Melanie, but favonovel.com declined answering him.
That little change in favonovel.com usual behavior fanned his insecurity. Just what sort of ‘old friend’ would compel Melanie to not answer his call?
