3

Amelia was alarmed, on impulse she moved away from there, walking quickly towards the area where Fatima was, the woman's alarmed expression immediately alerted her companion, who was preparing to open the establishment completely.

"But what's going on, Amelia?" she asked, holding the woman by both shoulders, she trembled as she looked towards the back, afraid that the man would enter through there, although it was inevitable that he would: sooner or later the establishment would be opened, giving way to everyone.

For an instant, the words remained stuck in her throat, when she saw how her other companion began to open the doors that Fatima did not open, panic appeared in her eyes, she told herself that she had nothing to fear, that it was no big deal, but the feeling that the man had followed her or spied on her to her work -she was not sure-, was deeply embedded in her, although she had no evidence that he had followed her, so she chose to remain silent, regulating her emotions and deciding to treat him as just another employee.

"Nothing," she finally said, when the entire establishment was open, "It's n-nothing wrong with me".

Fatima looked at her, wrinkling her face, before she could say anything, Amelia withdrew, directing her steps towards the area where the sandwiches were prepared, hoping not to see that guy... Maximiliano, but unfortunately she could not stay there forever, hiding.

She knew this when suddenly, Fatima came in, looking at her with a frown. Amelia thought she would talk about her strange action of preparing sandwiches so fast, or ask her a question about her behavior, but she was wrong.

"Isn't there something you have to tell me? Don't you think you should talk to me about someone?" Amelia looked at her with genuine confusion, she didn't understand her.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she admitted, placing her eyes on the sandwich she was preparing: she always used to prepare a lot of them, since the customers arrived at a very early hour of the morning, of course, not as early as that guy.

"The man, the rich-looking one, him".

"What about him?" Amelia asked, waving her foot anxiously.

"He's looking for you".

Amelia widened her gaze, turning her neck sharply towards Fatima when she heard her say that, she swallowed saliva, feeling it run down her throat, which suddenly felt dry.

"What are you saying?" she asked, breathing heavily, "Are you serious?"

"Of course I am! He walked over to the display case and said he was looking for a woman named Amelia".

Amelia stopped preparing the sandwich and put her hands to her head, closing her eyes, why would this man be looking for her? She didn't know him, she didn't even know him a little bit, she was starting to get agitated, she wanted to believe that his presence was a coincidence, but the fact that he was looking for her directly didn't have much justification, it didn't have much coincidence.

"I don't even know that man," she thought aloud, biting her dry lips, "Are you sure he's looking for me?"

"Of course he is, you're the only one named Amelia here".

"It could be another Amelia..."

"Please, Amelia, don't be unreal, it's obvious he's looking for you, you're the only one with that name in this place".

She swallowed.

"Tell him I'm busy," she asked, "I don't want to talk to that man, we don't even know each other".

"Well, he seemed very interested in you. Besides, I think he saw you".

"I don't know him, Fatima, tell him I'm not here, tell him I went out suddenly because of a family emergency".

Fatima shrugged her shoulders, retreating.

But it wasn't even five minutes before the woman returned, looking at her with a mischievousness that aroused Amelia's concern.

"What happened? Did he leave? Please tell me he did".

"Left? On the contrary, he said he wouldn't leave until you specifically served his coffee" The woman patiently adjusted a lock of her hair, then continued, "He said he knows you're here, and that he wouldn't leave, and that if necessary, he'd talk to our supervisor, who knows he arrives at nine".

"What the hell?!"

"Now you're going to tell me who that guy is. Where did you meet such a handsome man like that?"

"I don't know who he is! I'm serious!"

"Well" Fatima made a comical grimace. "He's looking for you, I think it's best if you go and serve him the coffee, at some point you'll have to get out of here anyway, I think it's best to do it now and just do what he asks for, maybe he has a reason to do, in the end: the customer is always right," she said.

"I don't want to attend to that man, tell him I'm busy, I don't know..."

"But why don't you want to serve him? For heaven's sake, Amelia, he's a handsome, wealthy-looking guy, what I would give for him to ask someone who wants me to serve him coffee exclusively" Fatima looked out, seeing the guy once again. "That beard... damn, I would serve him coffee and other things".

On another occasion, Amelia would have laughed at her friend's words, unfortunately, she couldn't do it, she felt that the laughter wouldn't even come out: that guy had not only watched her in a terrifying way the whole wedding she had recently attended, but somehow he had gone to her work, how did he know where she worked? She was starting to get scared, and not even the fact that he was handsome and wealthy didn't change that.

"What was his order?" Amelia asked, resigned to serve him the coffee and leave quickly, after all, if she didn't do it at that moment, she was sure that the guy would stay long enough to wait for his manager to arrive and make her do it.

Fatima shrugged her shoulders.

"He told me he wanted you to serve him coffee, he didn't specify anything, you'll have to take an order from him".

Once again, Amelia sighed, leaving what she was doing, taking off the gloves she had put on and shuddering out of there, immediately she did so, her eyes met Maximiliano's. She felt deeply strange to call him that. It felt profoundly strange to call him that in her head "Maximiliano", as if she knew him even a little bit.

Filling herself with courage and saying that nothing would happen, she approached the man, taking out the small notepad they all kept in her pocket.

"What are you going to order, s-sir?"

Maximiliano's gaze focused on her face, making her more nervous than she was able to imagine, but she was not a weak woman, so, even though she felt a paranoid fear, she stood her ground.

"Amelia," he greeted her, "It's good to see you again".

The woman wiggled her foot nervously. He spoke as if he had known her for a long time, which only frightened her more.

"What are you going to order, sir?" she asked again, ignoring his greeting.

"Coffee," he laughed, "Isn't this supposed to be a coffee shop?"

"You don't sell just coffee in a coffee shop," she challenged him with her gaze, trying to scan between his eyes, "Just coffee?"

He settled back in his place.

"Yes, just coffee, a medium cup".

"I'll bring it to you right away," she said, her voice trembling, she turned around immediately, he grabbed her by the arm.

"No sugar, please".

She nodded, looking at the grip on his arm, which he did not break until a strong tug from the woman, who went to prepare the coffee, with a speed she had not seen before. A few steps away, Fatima watched the scene, then approached Amelia, who gasped when she felt the sudden touch of her companion.

"What was that? The grabbing thing? Come on, tell me the truth, have you two known each other before?"

"I'm telling you no!"

"And why did he come specifically for you then?!"

"Do you wish he'd come for you?! You wish he'd come for you?!"

"Of course!" laughed Fatima, but Amelia still didn't think it was funny, "Come on, laugh, I don't think it's that big of a deal".

Maybe it was a big deal, maybe not, Amelia had no idea, she only knew that she wanted to make him that coffee quickly so that he would leave, hoping that this would happen and that the guy wouldn't stay in the establishment until the woman's turn was over.

When she finished with the coffee, she grabbed it as quickly as she could, almost dropping it, walking to Maximiliano and handing it to him with mock politeness.

"Here you are, sir," he mumbled, only because it was the policy of the place to do so.

Maximiliano opened the coffee, smelling it with delight, then raising his face to her, who was still standing there, waiting for payment, the millionaire's eyes fell on the woman's legs, which were trembling. That day she was wearing quite tight jeans, not like that dress she had on the day of the wedding.

"I said without sugar, Amelia".

"I'm s-sorry... if you want I can..."

"No," he interrupted her, taking a sip of coffee, then pulling out some bills, which he placed on the table, "It's delicious," he whispered, close to Amelia's face, causing her to pull away abruptly and look at him, not only disapproving of his behavior, but not understanding it.

Then he stood up, letting her realize how huge he was, left the bills on the table, also the coffee and headed for the exit.

Amelia saw everything, not understanding anything. It was obvious that he had intentionally left the coffee there, but why ask for it then?

She took the bills he had left, realizing that they were in total, five hundred dollars, much more than what a coffee cost, she looked out the door of the establishment, watching as the man got into his car and drove away. Amelia formed a grimace on her face, turning away from the exit.

"At least he left," she thought, but she was wrong, for he had only walked away and from a distance watched her, he had something to talk to that stranger, something to propose, but he couldn't risk anyone overhearing them, and the cafeteria had already begun to fill up, so he would have to wait for her turn to end. He knew that what he was doing was not morally correct, but he decided to send that to hell, anyway, he was sure that she was going to accept.

... if she did so, he could breathe in peace, for that was the only thing he needed to carry out his plan: to get a fake wife.