By Grace[BWWM]

Three

Five Days Later

"How's my sweet little niece doing?" Eva cooed at Lailah as she pressed a kiss onto her cheek.

Vanessa watched her sister happily play with her baby, but she knew that this was only the calm before the storm. She wasn't excited about possibly being scolded by her sister.

Eva carried Lailah to the couch and sat down. "You already know why I'm here, other than to see this sweet girl!" Eva tickled Lailah.

Vanessa turned her gaze away from her sister. She hated it when people raised their voice. It made her feel as if she did something terrible.

"Why haven't you been to the shop to see me? I mean, I know that you have work and Lailah, but I miss seeing you," And just like that, Vanessa released the breath she was holding in. Seeing Mason and having him call her pretty shook her up more than she realized. Eva never yelled at her.

"Are you doing okay?" Eva placed her hand on her shoulder.

She was going to tell her everything. It was always good to spill your feelings, instead of keeping them in. And she trusted that Eva was going to be kind.

"No," Vanessa whispered. "When I dropped Lailah to see Mason," She was scared. "H-he looked at me, he made me turn for him," She shook her head rapidly and wriggled her fingers. "He called me pretty!" She spat out softly and instantly covered her mouth.

She hated yelling. It didn't make her throat feel good and it was rude. But she did it. "I-i'm sorry," She apologized. "I didn't mean to yell, but, but he just made me feel so used. It messed with my head," She smoothed out her pants. "I went to the shop looking for you, but, but you weren't there. And then I ordered coffee, but my card fell from my hands and when I went to pick it up, my purse fell and so did my wallet,"

"Oh, I'm so sorry that happened. You are not some pawn he can use. You're a smart and crazy beautiful woman, pretty doesn't measure up to who you are," Eva encouraged her, which was sweet.

It felt nice to hear her sister compliment her. She never fished for love or compliments, but somehow God gave her the greatest encourager in the world. "Thank you," She whispered and hugged Eva tightly. "You're beautiful inside and out, my sweet sister," Her eyes filled with happy tears. She loved her sister so much.

"There's more to the story," Vanessa murmured. "It was too much for me to handle. I felt like a tea kettle, and I just began to cry. It was silly, but nothing was going my way and I was overwhelmed by what happened," Her feelings were valid. She knew it in her heart and God always reaffirmed it as well.

"I went to sit down and then a few minutes later, some foreign man came up to me with a drink. He asked if he could sit, and since I don't own the coffee shop, I said yes," She thought that he was kind, but she didn't know what he wanted with her. "He told me that he saw what happened and he wanted me to still have my coffee. He even got me a warm brownie," That was very sweet of the man, but she didn't understand why he would give her a brownie. Mason told her that they made her fat.

"He was very friendly, but then he got a phone call. He started to speak another language, fluently, it was either Spanish or Italian, I'm not sure, but he told me that he had to leave and he wanted to see me again." It surprised her when he said that. "I didn't know what to say, but he told me that he comes to the shop every day to get coffee and I could see him again," She didn't know if she wanted to see him again. He would probably snap and yell at her like Mason.

Eva plopped her legs onto Vanessa's body and squinted her eyes. "So that's why you've been avoiding the shop," She hummed. "Was he handsome? What is his name?"