When Order Meets Chaos

Buttering Up

Zoey's POV...

"Hello, honey are you busy?" I asked in a sweet voice as soon as Alesana answered the phone.

"Zoey, what's wrong?" He immediately questioned me.

"Nothing, I was just wondering if it was okay for me to stop by the office to see my gorgeous man?"

"Nah, I'm not busy," Alesana replies. "Since you're on your way here how bout you and I go to... for lunch?" He then suggested.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea to me babe."

"Call me when you make it here, and I'll meet you down in the lobby." I hear him say while shuffling something around in the background. "Is that my sweet granddaughter-in-law?" Alesana's grandmother asked before the call ended.

I walked to my car wondering how in the heck I was going to relay to Alesana what had just transpired between Zack's mother and I without causing him to get upset or worried about my safety more than he already was.

"Where the fuck are you going so early in the damn morning?" Zack yelled as he approached me.

"As far away from you and your bat-crazed family as possible before I wind up hurting or killing one of you," I replied then opened my car door and slid behind the driver seat.

"Zoey, can we try to work things out?" He asked in a much calmer voice and shocked me at the same time with his absurd question.

"There's no going backward for you and I Zack. I'm happy with the man who treats me like I'm the air that he breathes. The man who thinks of my happiness and safety before his own. I'd be fucking crazy to walk out on a loving man such as Alesana. I know that you might not want to hear this, but I love him and what to spend the rest of my life making sure he knows that we belong together."

"You'll eventually come running back to me!" Zack shouts right before I closed my door and pulled out of the parking lot.

I was still dumbfounded at the audacity this bastard had in asking me to give him another chance when I walked into a fashionable men's clothing store. "Hi my name is Tessa and welcome to, "Epiphany," a tall, slender, black young woman greets me after I entered. She wore a lavender button-down blouse, black jeans, and white two-inch pumps. She had long curly hair that was pulled up in a sleek ponytail on top of her head and sterling silver, diamond-studded earrings were in her ears.

I nodded at her greeting and proceeded to look around the immaculate store for a gift that I hope would help to keep Alesana calm when I broke the news of having to confront my ex-mother-in-law. A gorgeous gold and navy blue necktie that was attached to a navy blue button shirt on a mannequin caught my attention in the far-off distance.

I stood in front of the mannequin picturing how well the two would look on my man. "I would like to get the same necktie and shirt that this mannequin is wearing." I pointed out to Tessa after walking over to where she was standing.

"Give me just a few seconds ma'am." She replies while straightening up the clothing racks in front of her and re-attaching missing price tags on several garments. "The two items that you have chosen are currently top-selling products. I'm sure that your husband will like them." She then tells me after walking to the back of the store. She walked back carrying a gold gift bag and headed over to a Caucasian young man dressed in a bright red dress shirt, black slacks, and black loafers. He stood behind the cash register with a warm smile on his beautiful freckled face.

"Hi!" The young man greeted me politely.

"Hi, Jonah." I greeted back with a smile.

"Thank you for shopping at Epiphany and I hope that experience here was quite pleasurable." Tessa and Jonah say before I exited the store.

My cell phone began to ring as soon as I slid behind the steering wheel. "Is everything alright?" Zoey Alesana asked as soon as the phone connected.

"Yeah, babe I'm headed to your office right now as we speak," I replied after placing the phone on speakerphone and putting on my seatbelt. "I'll see you in a bit."

~Time skip~

"Zoey, do you mind if this old lady tags along with you two?" Alesana's grandmother asked me as soon as they approached me at the front entrance of the building.

"No of course not," I replied. Actually, I was a bit relieved that I could put off telling Alesana about today's event. We all walked across the street to Dahlia's Place. This was a café that I've been wanting to dine at for quite some time now. A beautiful lady with long black hair that was braided into two french braids going to the back of her head greeted us at the door. Her big and charismatic persona was as bright and uplifting as the decors of the café.

"Mrs. Wong, my grannie will be upset to learn that she miss seeing her childhood friend by a couple of minutes." She says to Alesana's grandmother. "Junebug you look better and better every time I see you. Who's this gorgeous lady you have with you today?"

"Dahlia, this is Zoey Larson. Hopefully, in the near future, I will be able to proudly announce her as my granddaughter-in-law." Alesana's grandmother tells the lady while eyeing her suspiciously.

"You've found yourself a good man here." Dahlia says then winks at Alesana. "Come on and let's go find you guys a seat." She led us over to a table that boasted a magnificent view of the place while also providing us a grand view of the outside.

"Grandson, I don't like the way that heifer was looking at you." Alesana's grandmother says as soon as we were alone. She, too, must have felt the flirtatious vibes that Dahlia was giving off while in our presence.

"Grams, I'm not in the least bit interested in Dahlia. I have all the woman ill ever need sitting right beside me." He replies while taking my right hand into his then bringing it up to his soft pink lips. I wasn't worried about Alesana being loyal to me, but I was damn sure going to make sure that Dahlia knew that he was off-limits to her and every other skanky-ass woman that was out to get him.

The hunger I felt after smelling the delicious aroma of the food that was being prepared when we entered the café only intensified as I scanned through the menu. My mouth watered when my eyes landed on the tomato-basil chicken over creamed potatoes.

I ordered the tomato-basil chicken that was calling my name with white rice, steamed broccoli, and sweet tea. Alesana ordered the well-done prime rib in sweet honey mustard sauce, baked potato, stewed baby carrots, and a glass of lemonade. His grandmother asked for the oven-roasted chicken breast, a green salad in a vinaigrette dressing, and green tea.

"So, what happened to you today at the office?" Alesana asked after I said my grace and began to dig my fork into the steamed broccoli.

"Can we talk about it later?" I asked with pleading eyes.

"Sure babe." He replied then placed a spoonful of his stewed carrots into his mouth.

"Is someone giving my daughter-in-law a hard time?" Mrs. Wong asked before taking a sip of her tea.

"No, ma'am." I lied with a forced smile on my face.

"Zoey, if you need me to shove my foot up someone behind for causing you trouble just say the word." She tells me then shakes her fist in the air.

"Alesana how are you enjoying your meal so far?" Dahlia asked from behind us.

"We're enjoying it just fine," I replied before he could say anything.

"Junbug if you need anything at all just let me know..." Dahlia was saying until I blurted out, "oh trust me he won't be needing anything from you that I can't or haven't provided already." She stalked away from our table mad as hell.

"You handled that wrench very well daughter-in-law." Mrs. Wong tells me. We eat the rest of our meal sharing an enjoyable friendly conversation.

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JJNiles...