"Yes, she is my mother-in-law."
"Your what?" George asked. "I thought you said the wedding was not finalized. Did you already have a marriage certificate before the main wedding?"
Lauren frowned. "Why do I feel like you’re jealous?"
"Am I not permitted to be jealous?" George whined. At least allow to indulge in this little luxury since you decided to leave for a man that cares nothing about you."
"Steffan cares for ," Lauren countered.
George leaned back in his chair and a mischievous glint shone in his eyes as he sipped his coffee. "Really? How co I haven’t seen him showing it? Instead he’s busy hanging around town with a certain female friend whose agenda is very obvious to everyone except to the prey."
He tilted his head to the side with a thoughtful expression. "What’s that her na again?"
Lauren rolled her eyes. "Co on, George, Steffan has just resud back to work and has no ti for all that," Lauren said.
"Really? I won’t be surprised when they start having late-night calls which will eventually lead to late-night snacks and dinner in the hospital," George added casually.
"What are you actually insinuating, George? You know quite well that Steffan and I would have been an old married couple by now if not for the accident. So stop trying to sow seeds of doubt in my heart against him. I love him and he loves even though he doesn’t rember for now but he has never stopped loving ."
"He never stopped loving you? Are you sure about that?"
George leaned forward, his tone teasing but with a hint of seriousness. "I an, why would he spend so much ti with her if he was truly into you? Maybe he’s getting second thoughts. Maybe Dolly’s charm is eventually winning him over."
"They are just colleagues, George and got that close because she was doing therapy for him."
George raised an eyebrow as he prepared to tease Lauren further. "Oh, is that what they call it these days?"
Lauren glared at George as if she wanted to strangle him. "George!"
George chuckled, shaking his head. "Okay, okay, relax. I’m just ssing with you, you don’t have to be too serious in your defense. I was only trying to make sure that you have not been overwheld by everything and started losing your love for Steffan or vice versa."
Lauren took a deep breath, trying to calm the flare of anger and insecurity George’s words had sparked.
"Steffan might have lost his mory but he’s not one to ss around. He loves and we’ll get married as soon as he rembers us," she stated authoritatively.
"Alright, alright," George said, raising his hands in mock surrender. "I’ll back off. But if you ever need to talk about it, I’m here. I’m just a little... protective, you know?"
"Protective or jealous?" Lauren shot back, a small smile playing on her lips.
"Maybe a bit of both," George admitted helplessly. "I just don’t want to see you hurt, Lauren. You deserve soone who has only you in his heart."
"And I guess that is you, right?" Lauren sneered. "But I’m sorry I don’t think so. I don’t have what it takes to contend with all those models. I’m sure if they knew you were hiding here in Baltimore, I wouldn’t have a day of peace. So you see, I’m much happier with my simple Steffan. Truly."
"Alright then," George said with a sigh at the sa ti his playful deanor returned. "But if he ever slips up, you know where to find ."
Lauren shook her head as she laughed. "You’re impossible, George. But thanks for looking out for ."
"Always," George said with a smile that was too complicated to be deciphered. "Always," he repeated.
"Now hurry up and get sothing to eat? I’m starving already."
"I’m the visitor here," George protested. "Shouldn’t you be the one to get sothing to eat?"
"Where is it written that the visitor should always be the one to be taken care of?"
"It is a common norm, blockhead," George teased.
"Well in this case, you’re the one to get us lunch or forget about coming here in the future." Lauren threatened.
"Okay, you win. I’ll get us sothing to eat. I don’t know why I always end up being bullied by you," George pouted as he rose from his seat to head outside.
Lauren shook her head at the big shot that was acting so cute that even a child will be jealous. "That’s for trying to ss up things between Steffan and I," she smiled smugly.
"I heard that," George sang from the door.
"Whatever."
As the door closed behind George, her smile was gradually replaced by anticipation as she drew her laptop closer.
She had been checking her email obsessively for days, waiting for the one ssage that could change everything for Empress Brew.
Her fingers drumd on the desk, a nervous habit she couldn’t shake.With a deep breath, she refreshed her inbox one more ti.
There it was, a new email. Her eyes scanned the list, and suddenly, they lit up with recognition."Here it is," she whispered, her voice trembling with excitent.
With shaking fingers, she clicked on the email. As she read the contents, a scream of joy escaped her lips.
"We qualified!" she shouted, unable to contain her exhilaration. "Wow!!!"
Her cry echoed through the café, and within seconds, several workers rushed into her office, their faces filled with concern and curiosity.
"What happened?" one of them asked, wide-eyed.
Lauren stood up, her eyes brimming with happy tears. "We qualified," she repeated, her voice choked with emotion. "We’re in the Golden Bean Challenge!"
It took a mont for her words to sink in, and then the room erupted in cheers and shouts of joy. The energy was electric, and the workers’ excitent was palpable.
"Gather everyone," Lauren said to the assistant manager, who nodded eagerly. "We need to have a eting right away."
Within minutes, the entire staff of Empress Brew was assembled in the main area, buzzing with anticipation.
Lauren stood at the front, her heart swelling with pride.
"Everyone, I have fantastic news," she began, her voice carrying over the excited murmurs.
Even the patrons couldn’t wait to hear what the good news was about and stopped their own interactions to listen to the young and beautiful barista.
"Empress Brew has qualified to take part in the forthcoming competition for all baristas... The Golden Bean Challenge!"
The cheers were deafening and Lauren waited for the noise to die down before continuing.
"This is an incredible opportunity for us to showcase our skills and make a na for Empress Brew in the coffee community."
"So we’ll be having an important eting at the close of work today.
After addressing the worker and receiving goodwill ssages from the patrons, Lauren dismissed the workers and returned back to her office.
She was in high spirits and went to work on her laptop imdiately.
**************
anwhile as soon as George erged from the high end restaurant where he had gone to get food to himself and Lauren, he heard soone yelling his na.
"George Wellington," the person said as she ran to et up with him.
Hearing the familiar voice, George froze on the spot and his expression turned cold.
’How did she find here?’
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