My breath quickly caught in my throat as I noticed, through the small kitchen window, the shadow of a person standing outside my house. If it was earlier and brighter outside, I may have recognized who it was. But it was a dark and windy night in London, and all I got was the shape of a human and its shadow.

Not expecting company at this time, I was starting to get worried. I guess it could be Mr. Jameson, who lived across the street from me, to check on me and Lexi. But I found that to be a very unlikely possibility since he had told me he was out of town this week, and visiting his son in Manchester.

At the sound of the door bell ringing, I released a breath of relief. Guess the probability of the person outside being a robber is out the window. Unless robbers are polite enough to ring the doorbell now.

I opened the front door of the house to find Sébastien standing before me.

He stood by the threshold, with an amused expression on his face and a fancy style. He was wearing one of those elaborate suits, looking so drastically different from me, who had on the most casual outfit - mom jeans and a hoodie.

I, however, simply could not fake the surprised expression on my own face.

"I decided to take up on the little girl's offer to try out the famous chocolate cake."

I opened my mouth in disbelief but was unable to make a sound for a while.

"Well, you're a little late. The little girl's already in bed." His eyebrows furrowed while he gave me a funny look, and I explained. "It's a school night, so..."

"Oh wow... Yeah, sorry to interrupt."

Where are your manners, Melanie?

"But we still got some cake left." His smile returned to his lips. "You can come in and try some, if you want to."

Sébastien looked deep in thought, thinking thoroughly about his decision before looking back at me. "Sure. Thank you."

I slid to the side, and let him in my house. A couple of steps in, and I closed the door behind him careful as to not wake up Lexi.

When I turned around to face my impromptu guest, I found Sébastien holding a frame - the one that stood proudly in the hallway -that contained a picture of Lexi and me, at the park, a few years ago. She was around five years old, with shorter hair and less teeth, which caused her smile to look even more funny.

"It's cute." He simply said when he noticed me staring at him, looking at the photograph.

I smiled and nodded. He put the frame down in its original place and turned to me.

"Where should we go?"

"Kitchen." I led the way, instinctively pulling down the sleeves of the hoodie with my fingers.

The cake in question rested proudly on the centre of the table, a few slices now nowhere to be found.

He bolted out a couple of French words.

"Mon Dieu... It smells amazing. Were you cooking?"

"Yes. Dinner." I made my way to the counter and pulled open the top of the pot, showing him my special zucchini spaghetti with shrimp and lemon sauce.

He made a low humming sound while he smelled the smell of the food.

"Have you had dinner?" I asked.

"Not yet. It's only eight... And it's not a school night for me." He said, reasonably, with a tilt of his head, causing me to smile.

"Well, do you want to try it?" I suggested, pointing to the pot.

"If that's okay, please."

Those words were all I needed to hear, before I moved to the cabinet and picked out a plate to fill with the food I'd made. I loved cooking and I loved cooking for others and making other people happy with my food. Maybe it's a part of my people pleaser personality trait, but I truly enjoyed it, it's something that makes me happy.

"What do you want to drink?"

"Same thing you're having." He said while his eyes travelled to the half empty wine glass that I was busying myself with earlier.

Being a single mother is not by all means easy, but a wine glass at the end of the day when your kid is down for the night sure helps a lot.

I fixed up a wine glass for Sébastien after refilling my own, and took a seat across the table from him.

"This is spectacular." He said after swallowing the forkful he took to his mouth. "What did you even use for this?"

"Oh, uh... this was a special dish I created when Lexi was little, to trick her into eating vegetables." I giggled at the thought. "It's spaghetti made out of zucchini, shrimp and ripped carrots. And of course, my special lemon sauce."

"Wow... the flavours really work." He took a couple of more bites before putting down the fork and really looking into my eyes. "You're seriously talented."

We sat in silence, me enjoying my wine and the free compliments - which, I'm not gonna lie, really stroked my ego and I couldn't even hide how good it felt -, while Sébastien was enjoying the food I'd made.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure." He shrugged.

"I didn't know you owned L'Amour."

"That's not a question." He said smirking at me before taking the wine glass to his lips.

I mentally hit myself in the head before actually asking a question. "Why did you close it, then?" And by now I was on a roll, and I added another one. "And why so suddenly?"

"I had to." He stated before he added. "It's complicated. I'm not from here, I'm from France and I don't know how to keep this place open from a long distance."

"You've done it before."

He nodded in denial and I got confused.

"I just recently owned it. The bakery was my dad's." I put down the glass of wine, as my relaxed expression turned into a confused one. "He passed away a couple of weeks ago."

"Oh, I'm so sorry." I said, truly meaning my words. My fingers flew to his and after a sudden, yet magical, slight rasp of skin, they were drawn back, almost instantly.

"Thank you." He said, a soft whisper against his lips. "He... was in the hospital for a very long time. Cancer. He knew he wasn't going to be around much longer. And he wanted me to keep it."

"Why were you closing it, then?" I found myself asking, even though I knew it wasn't my place to ask. And probably not the best time to, either.

"I... I don't know." His blue eyes wandered the room while he was silently browsing his brain for the right words. "I can't do what my dad did all these years."

"Why?"

"I have my own patisserie in Paris. I don't have the time to put into what this bakery deserves."

I nodded my head, understanding him. His life wasn't L'Amour and not London.

"It's my turn to ask a question now." He said, breaking the silence that fell between us, and I leaned back in the chair in anticipation.

"Is it just you and Lexi?" Straightforward. He was so straightforward.

I was expecting anything but that question. My skin shivered as I knew all too well what was the following question that was dying to roll out of his tongue.

"Yes."

"If you don't mind me asking... What happened? Divorce?"

There it was.

"No, not divorced." I answered before tightening my lips into a thin line and lifting my shoulders in a shrug. "It's... complicated."

I knew he wanted to know more, just like I did when shot me those two meaningless words that seemed to be the right answer to anything - It's complicated, I recalled -, but he respected my decision and didn't ask any further questions.

And even if he was intending to know more, a little blonde haired girl interrupted his questioning.

"Seb?"

Lexi stood by the handrail, in her pink pajamas, with lilac colored butterflies embroidered on them. Her hair looked a little messy, which caused her to look adorable.

Sébastien turned in her direction, showing her a wide grin.

I smiled. "Come here, love!"

She ran across the hallway and jumped on my lap.

"What are you doing here?" She asked him, while he finished his dinner.

"I wanted to try the cake." He pointed at the brown and white vision at the centre of the table. "I didn't know you were asleep, I should have come by earlier."

"Yeah, you should have been asleep." I quickly tickled her sides. "Why weren't you?"

"I heard voices." She tilted her head in my direction, giving me the cutest look.

"You want to eat cake with me before you go back to bed?" Sébastien asked, his hand already halfway through the table as he grabbed the platter and the knife to cut Lexi a slice.

Until he stopped himself and looked at me. "If that's okay with mum, of course."

I nodded. "Yeah, go ahead."

Lexi wiggled on my lap, showing all signs of excitement, whether that was for the company or the cake, or even both. I found myself smiling at my daughter's antics.

"But don't forget to brush your teeth again before you go to bed!"

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I don't know about you, but I am absolutely LOVING this interaction between Melanie and Seb ❤❤❤

If you liked this chapter, then please vote and share your thoughts on it with me! Don't forget to add this story to your reading list if you don't want to miss any updates!

Xoxo, Mars