Another Monday, another day at work.

Just like every other weekday, after managing to get out of bed as soon as the alarm goes off, I wake up my daughter and fix us breakfast rather quickly. We get dressed and ready for another day.

With all our early morning tasks out of the day, we got in the car, and, after dropping Lexi off at school with an extra kiss on her cheek and our typical final wave when she was at the door of the building, I drove to work.

The foggy weather hardly allowed this morning to be an easy one. Beautiful? Yes, definitely. I've always been a fan of fog, there was something really mystical about it, that made me feel like I was in a movie set. But, when you were on the road - and especially during rush hour -, the fog was definitely something you'd want to avoid, unless you liked being stuck in traffic.

Thankfully, after crossing the Kew Bridge the vehicle congestion eased a little and I reached my destination on time.

"Hi Mel!" With her usual cheerful tone, Olivia almost scared me. "How are you?"

"God, I didn't know you were in there." I said, followed by a sigh of relief I let out. "I'm good. How are you?"

Having already put my belongings away, I fumbled inside the cabinet, searching for the apron to wrap around my waist.

"Tired." With an eye roll, she turned in her heels and went to the storage room to get some supplies for us to prepare the tables. "Tomorrow can't come soon enough."

I shot Olivia a questioning look while I tied my blonde hair into a low bun, and she explained her train of thought. "I'm gonna have three days off!"

"Oh, have you been working all weekend again?" I asked, with a hint of disapproval in my voice.

"Yeah, I did. University isn't going to pay itself off, you know?" I mustered a sympathetic smile, but couldn't help but feel bad that she had to put herself through this just to get a higher education degree.

Olivia started working this job so she could afford to go to University, to major in Photography and follow her dream. At twenty-six years old, it was a real challenge, for multiple reasons but that's what she wanted.

Unlike me, Olivia didn't have kids nor did she have any plans to have them anytime soon. She was uninterested in committing to anyone else, besides herself and her goals. She was driven and very focused on focusing on only herself. Which, in a way, seems pretty amazing to me.

After completing all my tasks on the to-do list of the morning shift, and after catching up with my friend in the meantime, it was time to open the restaurant.

Not too long after we did, and while I was preparing a set of plates, I heard the sound of footsteps hitting the wooden floors and I glanced in the direction of the restaurant's entrance.

A customer.

I fixed my apron before making my way towards him and welcomed him to the restaurant.

When I looked up and my eyes met his piercing blue ones, I immediately recognized who it was. It was him. The same customer that came here a week ago. Tall, blonde, french. Way too early for lunch.

"Good morning, sir." I offered him a smile. "Welcome to The Royal Rose."

"It's my pleasure to come back." He responded, with a hint of the French accent that gave him away the last time I saw him. The man smiled back at me.

"Well, it's good to know you enjoyed your last meal enough to come back." I politely said with a grin. "Do you have a preference for the table?"

"The same as last time. In the corner, by the window." He paused before adding, "If that's okay, of course."

"Being our first customer of the day has its perks." I slid to the side and extended out my hand. "Follow me, sir."

He did as told, and came along with me, following my lead as I walked towards the table in question. He took his seat and I handed him the menu.

To my surprise, the French man held up his hands, denying my offer.

"I already know what I'm going to order."

This wasn't exactly usual or typical, for this type of restaurant. This was the kind of establishment where people who came here more than once, saw their return as an opportunity to try other dishes. They seeked to be surprised, to be delighted, to try something new.

To say I was bewildered was an understatement.

"Oh, of course." Was all I managed to say while I rested the menu on another table - temporarily -, and fished for my pencil and notebook inside my aprons's front pocket.

"I would like the smoked salmon for starter and the honey roast duck."

Same order.

"And to drink?"

"Wine. Bring me a glass of your best wine, you pick." He looked at me and winked. "Surprise me."

"Of course. I'll be right back." I tossed the menu under my arm, and made my way to the back of the counter, disregarding the wink.

"Isn't this the same guy that we had here last week?" I asked Olivia in a low whisper, right after I handed the order to the kitchen staff.

"Oh yes. He's been coming back."

"Really?" I furrowed my eyebrows. I have not seen him on my other shifts here, but then again, Olivia and I don't always work the same work periods. "That's odd."

I put the menu I carried with me away, and dropped another question. "And has he been having the same thing everyday? For a whole week?"

"I don't know, Mel. He could have had other dishes and I can't just remember now." She said before shrugging and going back to her task of writing the specials on the specials board, not caring much about my observation. "You don't expect me to remember every order from every customer for the past week, do you?"

"Of course not."

"He doesn't talk much." I added, but she just let out an uninterested hm sound.

Later, when I approached the table to pour the wine into the balloon-like glass, he started a conversation with me, proving me wrong about my latest statement about him.

"You're the girl who knew L'Amour, yes?"

Guess he remembered me as well.

He waited patiently for my response while I tried to wrap my brain around his question, with a soft smile dancing on his lips.

"I am." I confirmed.

"I just wanted to tell you, off the record and exceptionally, that it is not opening again. Ever."

Well, I knew that already. But to start a conversation like this to tell me the obvious seemed pretty ridiculous to me. Also, why?

"What?" Was the only word I managed to say out loud.

I had a turmoil of questions brewing in my head. If I had to, I could point out a few. Number one, why was he telling me this? Number two, how did he know that information? And number three, what the hell was going on right now?

"I noticed how sad you were about the bakery being closed and I just wanted to tell you that you shouldn't keep your hopes up. It's closed for good."

"Why?" That one word came out of my mouth with an inappropriate hint of outrage.

I could see him, as he searched his brain for the right words to tell me, but he found none and simply nodded his head softly, giving me nothing but silence.

"Well, what more can you tell me? Since you seem to know so much about it?"

"Not much more than what I told you." He took the glass of wine to his lips and drank what I'd served him. With a nod, he gestured for me to pour him more. "But feel free to ask anything and I'll see if I can answer you or not."

"Is that decision final?"

"It is." He assertively said.

"So, you're telling me there's nothing anyone can do to change the owner's mind?"

"C'est bon, pretend I'm the owner." I gave him a wide eyed look, before he shot me a daring one. "Change my mind."

"Uh..." I thought about the right words. "That place was special. It represents the entire childhood of my daughter, her entire life so far. We'd go there all the time, nearly every day. It can't just close."

"Is that the best you've got?"

I took in a breath as I closed my eyes, replaying the entire conversation back in my head and still questioning how the hell it even started, and how the hell was I about to ask out loud, what I was about to ask.

"Have you ever been in love?"

He gave me a questioning and uncomfortable look, and I knew I was biting off more than I could chew here, especially when I didn't even know where I was going with this. But I'd started this and so, I was going to finish it, even though I had no idea where this was going to lead, or if it was going to lead somewhere, even.

When he didn't say anything, I did.

"I have." I answered my own question, before correcting myself. "I am in love. I have never been truly in love, romantically, but I am very much in love with my daughter and, like I said, this bakery means the world to us, to her."

Silence. And then I added. "So... it can't close."

"So, what do you think?" When he didn't say anything, I added another question. "That's gonna convince the owner not to close it?"

When it hit me that I had been practically speaking to myself, caught up in the disastrous web of a monologue, the remaining silence was killing me.

But then again, I had nothing to lose.

His blue eyes looked at me intensely, and I suddenly felt bare, without even noticing it at first.

I spotted a strand of blonde hair that fell from his perfectly gelled hair, falling onto his left eyebrow, almost reaching his eyeline.

Then he said, with another wink, "We'll see." 

 * * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Ahhh! What do you think is happening?!

I hope you're enjoying Plot Twist so far, and if you are, please vote and leave some comments letting me know your thoughts!

If you don't know this already, I'm on IG (missmarswrites) so follow me there too to see some chapter sneak peeks, edits and a lot more!✨

Last but not least, I've been getting some new readers/followers with this story, so this is my way of telling you, first of all, welcome! And secondly, if you're interested in reading my other stories, go for it! The Missing Gem and The Beginning  of the End  are great choices! ❤

Xoxo, Mars