My everything

Evelyn's POV

“Sh,” I face my daughter with my index finger against my lips, gesturing to her not to say that word. “Don't say that word, baby. It's bad,” I instructed her.

“But she calls you bad,” Chloe is persistent. “Why will she do that? You are a good person,” she comes closer and hugs me tightly.

“I'll handle it, don't worry,” I respond as I pat her back.

Then I face Rachel and then my ex-husband, Nathan. No one knows how my heart is pounding so loud and that's a total relief. I have to summon the courage to talk to them without trembling.

“Hi, Rachel,” I fake a smile and turn to Nathan. “Nice to meet you once more and wow! You guys are together,” I am not happy to see them but I have to be polite.

I didn't want to share any conversation with them so, “I hope we catch up later. Enjoy your time,” I begin to hold my daughter tight so we can leave the mall. There are many other malls in London to shop at.

“How unfortunate though!” Rachel's voice reaches my ear so I turn around to face them again with an askance expression. “You have a child but not with Nathan. What happened?”

I glance at Nathan and scoff, then I smile. “I guess Nathan was the problem, and if he is, then there's a possibility that the one you have isn't for him.” She asked for it and all I did was offer it.

“How dare you?” She walks close to me with her hand raised but while I am expecting a slap, I feel suddenly secure and raise my gaze to see that her hand is being held by another hand.

And my daughter announces his presence. “Godfather!”

I must say, I was surprised to see him at the mall. He told me he wasn't coming and was too busy.

“What are you trying to do?” Mateo throws Rachel's hand from his.

“Mateo?” Nathan utters, fixing his gaze on Mateo. “Is he the father of your child?” He has finally said something.

“I don't have to answer that question,” I respond and face Mateo, wondering how Nathan knew about him but Rachel grabs my attention again.

“What do you expect, baby? She has always been that way. Remember when you divorce her and…”

“Let's get out of here,” Nathan utters, glaring at me as he grabs his son's hand to leave the mall.

But while he is walking out of the mall, Rachel comes close to me and glances at Mateo who is ready to protect me. “Don't lay your filthy hand on her,” he says to Rachel.

“Nice to meet you again, Evelyn. Stay away from my man,” she warns with red blazing eyes and walks away.

The tense atmosphere began to reduce when they left. I let out a sigh and face Mateo because I have questions for him but he bends down and carries Chloe in his arms and grabs my hand.

“I'll take you to a better place,” he mentions as he leads us out of the mall.

“Godfather, what does bitch mean?” Chloe is still interested in the meaning so she asks Mateo, expecting him to give a better answer.

“Don't call anyone that because it's rude and bad, but it simply means a wicked, ruthless lady. Whenever a lady is acting so wicked and not nice, adults can call her a bitch, but as a child, don't get involved.” He then whispers to her. “I don't want to hear you say that word, hmm?” He warns.

“I won't,” she grins and glances at me. “Mommy, who is that woman? She looks like she doesn't like you.”

“You are right, she doesn't like me, not even a bit. She's my cousin. A cousin is the child of either your father or mother's siblings, ignoring the gender.”

“Oh, I don't know,” she turns to Mateo and begins to play with him. I glance at Mateo's hand that is holding mine tightly. I feel tingly whenever he shows how much he cares about me. But I pull my hand from his protective hold.

“I know my way,” then I offer a reason when he looks at me because I remove his hold.

“Are you okay?” He stops and holds my face.

“I am. Trust me, I am.” We are in the parking lot.

“Even if you aren't, I'm always here for you,” he holds my chin.

“But you weren't there when I needed your presence in the mall,” I am pulling his leg again.

“I was busy, Evelyn. Why are you so clingy?” He walks to his car. My car would be driven back home by one of the drivers.

“Because you are my friend and housemate and savior and my boss and my everything!” I didn't know when I started to overreact.

He smiles at me and opens the door. I sit in the passenger seat and my daughter stays at her back.

The car becomes silent or maybe I am so lost in thoughts that I can't hear anything around me. I am thinking about Nathan. His expression earlier was strangely calm. He has never been that calm to me but I guess he could with Rachel.

And he also seems to know Mateo. “Earlier,” I turn to Mateo and realize that he is singing a nursery rhyme with Chloe. I kind of interrupt them. “Earlier…” I pause after he gives me his full attention. “Nathan mentioned your name and you weren't surprised to see him. You didn't even ask questions about him. Do you, by chance, know Nathan?” I ask, knowing how wide my eyes would be at the moment.

Mateo begins to look at me in an unusual way as if he's thinking of something. It is a serious moment but I couldn't help but look and admire Mateo. He is seventeen years older, but he is still so attractive, especially his beard. It gets me almost all the time.

I am tempted to touch it but he'd complain, saying it isn't mine to touch. I guess only his woman can touch him that way but I've never seen him with any woman before.

Mateo keeps on looking at me and I gaze back. It slowly begins to turn into something extra and I find my hand on his jaw, playing with his beards.

I am the only woman who can do that at the moment because he doesn't have a girlfriend to do that for him. Well, he is supposed to but he keeps declining and hurting their heart.

“Mateo, talk to me,” when he is so silent, I snap my finger in front of him only for him to lean close to me, causing me to rest against the door beside me. “Mateo?”