His Muggle Wife (A Severus Snape Love Tale)

Chapter 4: His Past Friends

When she felt more composed, Meredith went out of the office to help her employees serve their customers. Snape stayed in the office to do some paperwork to order more supplies. Saturday morning always saw them with a lot of students, eyes glued to their laptops as they sipped their morning tea. Some had a lot of papers on the tables. It seemed as it if was a trend for them to use the scones they ordered to pin the paper down to the table. Meredith smiled as she put on her waitress apron and her nametag. Must be the wifi, she chuckled to herself. She was grateful that all three of her employees were university students, because they certainly brought in their friends. Good publicity and great business, she thought. Everyone had already been served. The café was full for breakfast this morning, save for one table with four chairs in front of the payment counter. Lunchtime would see a lot of parents and children. She was glad she expanded her menus. Everyone had already been served. She looked at the door, there was an elderly lady, her hair tied up in a neat bun, with a young woman and two young men whom she thought must be a granny spending some quality time with her grandchildren. Meredith took the order pad and greeted them, then led them to the vacant table and put the breakfast menus in front of them.

"Good morning. My name is Meredith. What can I get you?" Meredith asked, her eyes shimmering with a genuine welcome and her lips carved into a sweet smile. Her customers greeted her in return and turned their eyes back on the menus in their hands. Only one remained looking at her, as if mesmerized by her. Meredith felt it was quite amusing that a young man, perhaps less than a decade younger than her was gawking at her.

"You have a beautiful name. Meredith. It's hard to find such name now," the red-head boy commented, with an obvious infatuation on his face.

"Behave, Ron! She's way older than you," the bushy-haired girl next to him warned as she beat him hard on his arm. As if realizing her other statement had offended Meredith, the girl looked at Meredith, offered her an I'm-Sorry smile and said in a rather defensive tone, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. I didn't mean you were old. Or that a younger boy couldn't date an older girl, or..."

"It's alright, no offence taken," Meredith replied smilingly.

"You're nice," the boy said again, his eyes still looking at her, "and beautiful. Nice and beautiful. I'm Ron and you're beautiful."

"Thanks, Ron," she replied, almost laughing at the pick-up line. "What would you like to have?" Meredith tried to change the topic. She felt amused again seeing the girl shooting the Ron boy an angry stare. The elderly lady and the spectacled boy chuckled silently at their antiques. Meredith wanted to laugh. She wondered how her husband would react seeing this right now. There was one time when three male customers, about her husband's age, were flirting with her when she was taking their order, her husband had come and told her she was needed in the kitchen and took her place to serve them. She had never seen the three men since and she knew they worked on the same street. She wondered what her Severus would do seeing this young man's flirtation now. As if he could hear the thoughts playing in her head, the office door next to the counter opened and out came her other half.

"Severus?" Meredith heard the elderly lady ask in a tone of disbelief. Was that a tear she saw in this lady's eyes? The lady's companions turned to look at the man her eyes were glued to.

The trio, surprised and happy at the same time, but seemingly unable to talk upon seeing him, abruptly sprang to their feet and dashed towards him. The spectacled boy hugged him first followed by the other two. Meredith shot a confused look at her husband who equally seemed surprised by what had just transpired. The elderly lady stood up and left her seat, leaving Meredith standing there still. The lady walked towards Snape and her three companions who were still hugging him. Once face-to-face with him, she slapped him across the face. Everyone in the café suddenly became quiet, the sound of cutleries and chatters died instantly. Meredith closed her mouth with her hands, shocked. Then, anger flooded her which showed in her eyes. Just as she wanted to storm towards the lady to ask for an explanation for the brief abuse she had inflicted on her man publicly in front of her employees and the customers, some of whom were personal friends, she stood still as she watched the lady joined in the hugging. Meredith saw a solemn look on her husband's face. He was looking at her as if wanting to tell her something. She knew that he knew she wanted an explanation. She gave him a loving smile and mouthed "later". To others, he seemed expressionless but Meredith knew her husband well enough to see how much he appreciated her patience.