Chapter 3 The Man Who Ruined Her Day

3 days ago...

Helena pulled out of the driveway and drove down the windy coastal road. She thought of the road that led to the highway, the winding drive-through trees with their leaves waving goodbye. When she reached the main road, she felt tears begin to well in her eyes but forced them back before they could escape.

She is leaving behind her two-bedroom beach house in a secluded setting where she intends to isolate herself from people and hopefully forget her traumatic past. Although she hadn't fully recovered yet, she had vowed to herself that she would never let anyone invade her peace again.

As Helena drove to the farmer's market, where she loves to buy fresh organic food, she felt safe and secure in a big town with only over 10,000 people. The town has few grocery stores and only one farmer's market for fresh fruits and vegetables, so a crowd would be expected every weekend.

It was already crowded when Helena arrived at the market, just like the first month. It was her second time, so she knew a little about the market. She buys her food once a month to save for her gasoline as she has to travel a few miles to get them.

Helena has her way of getting the best price from the local farmers by being nice to them, and her little trick never fails. Farmers give her generous amounts of all fruits and vegetables. Most of the time, she gets a lot of compliments from the old farmers for being cute and polite, especially since she's new to their town.

Helena is an attractive woman with plump lips and long red hair that falls below her shoulders. She has a glowing fair complexion, and her eyes are deep and mysterious, hinting at the pain she's hiding. Her presence effortlessly commands attention, with a specific energy that lights up around her.

She has Israel's favorite food in mind, which she likes to cook the following day because it is memorable for him. She picked the fresh green and red bell peppers, which are ingredients of her recipe.

"Damn it," Helena shouted as she dropped her basket of fruits and vegetables. Her food was scattered on the floor when a man hard-bumped her, causing her to drop the basket. She hurries and picks them up one by one.

"Miss, let me help you," a man said as he picked a carrot.

"Don't bother," Helena grabbed the carrot from the man's hand and slid them into her basket. She glared at the man, who was dumbfounded by her reaction.

"You could have been more careful as you walked through these hefty people in the market, and this could have been prevented."

"I know, but it happened. By the way, my name is Arthur, and you are?"

"Do you think presenting yourself in this situation is good?"

"No. Yes. I know I am at fault, but I didn't intend to bump into you. As you can see, there are plenty of people, and it's tight in here. When I tried to squeeze through people, I accidentally hit you," the man said gently.

"So you think you can just avoid taking responsibility and point the finger at others for your mistake?" Helena said as she locked eyes with Arthur.

His mesmerizing blue irises were like a magnet, drawing her in. It's one of man's best features; his eyes spoke in a language all their own when he looked at someone.

"How can you judge someone simply by one accident? Ma'am, that's not logical."

Helena looked away as Arthur's gaze intensified. "I beg to differ. Your choice of words right now is rather illuminating. You could have apologized instead of accusing other people of what happened."

People started looking at them; some glared, upset for making the market even tighter, as they argued.

"Alright, I don't blame people for what happened; I was just explaining. Okay?"

"Do you think I'm blind?" Helena raised her voice.

"Calm down; I'm sorry."

"Too late," Helena said, raising her eyebrows. She picked the last carrot, leaving the man in shock.

Arthur shook his head in disbelief at how the young woman treated her with disrespect. Although he knew he was wrong, he thought it was too much. "Do I deserve so much disrespect and humiliation in front of people?" Arthur muttered.

Helena's second stop in the town was the grocery store, where she would get the toiletries she needed for a month, milk, bread flour, spices, and things that weren't available in the farmer's market. It took her two hours to get all she needed.

She was pushing two carts filled with food, enough for a month's supply, heading to the counter with a shorter line. She recognized the last guy at the counter, who kicked her basket in the farmer's market.

She had a reasonable estimate of the man's body build standing. He was 6 feet tall at most, with a masculine body build, but she didn't care about how good his physique was. Her first impression of him was already bad for scattering her vegetables the first time they ran into each other in the farmer's market, where he accidentally knocked over all of her vegetables.

Just when Arthur flashed his smile and opened his mouth to greet her, Helena gave him a stern stare and turned her back toward him. She preferred waiting in line instead of conversing with someone who ruined her day.

The man standing beside Arthur flinches like he was hit by a flyswatter. It was Daniel, Arthur's best friend. "Arthur, is that her? She's beautiful."

Helena ignored them. They don't deserve her time and attention. Her day was ruined entirely by the commotion in the farmer's market.

The sunset comes down when Helena arrives at her beach house. She had a long trip back and forth to the town center and then went home, exhausted. After restocking her food in the pantry, she cooks her dinner and stares at the lovely sky at night until it gets cold.

Helena prepared her laptop to start working on her novel. She has not produced a novel for over a year, and her fans insist on getting their hands on her new book. Helena couldn't disappoint them as she loved her fans dearly. They were the ones who were with her in her joyous and dark times. Helena's fans are like family to her.

She has a hard time brainstorming an idea for a new book when she remembers the annoying face of the man in the farmer's market. A naughty smirk creeps on her lips.

"I'll make sure to torture you before you get your victory," she vows to herself as she continues writing the character of her story. Arthur was the male lead of her new novel.

She was proud when she wrote the complete male character of her new book. She did it fast, and the commotion in the farmer's market inspired her to write a new novel.

She writes all the story's characters and structure until she hears a knock on her door. She was concerned since her only neighbor was miles away.

The second knock on the door is even louder than the first.

"Someone might be lost at night," she muttered.

She strolled to the door to check who might be her guest and peeked at the window first. Her eyes bulged as she recognized the man on her door. "No. How come?"

Helena opened the door to confirm, and she was right. The man met her sour face with a smile. He acted like he didn't know Helena, which made her even mad.