Chapter 3
The morning came very early for Victoria. She woke to find herself alone, but knew Diego would be coming to see her at lunch. She jumped up out of bed and changed her clothes. She had so much that needed to be prepared before she opened her Tavern for the day.
She found a piece of ribbon and slid her ring onto it and tied the ends together. "Now I can keep it close to me where nobody will see it." She smiled as she pinned the ribbon with the ring on it to her corset.
As soon as she was ready to go downstairs, she noticed that she forgot to put the small box away that Zorro/Diego's ring came in. She put the box in her top drawer and then remembered that she forgot to read the note that came with the ring. She quickly took the note out and read it to herself.
Victoria, my love, I want to spend the rest of my life with you.
Love Always,
Diego
She smiled to herself and put the note and box in the top drawer of her chest of drawers. She made her way down to the kitchen to prepare for her busy day.
Pilar noticed that she was in a good mood and asked why she was so bouncy. "I had a wonderful dream last night." She replied with a dreamy smile. Her helper could guess who her employer dreamt about, and smiled at her. Pilar left the kitchen to open the Tavern for the day.
Customers filled the tables and conversations were loud, but the noise did not bother her today. She was distracted with her own thoughts. About 20 minutes before siesta, Diego walked into the Tavern and noticed Victoria behind the bar.
"Good afternoon Diego. What can I get you for lunch? Would you like a glass of lemonade or juice?" She asked him with a small smile only he could see.
"I would love a bowl of your delicious soup, and a glass of lemonade please." He replied as a smile curled the edges of his mouth.
"I will bring that right out to you. As you can see, all of the tables inside are full." She looked around the Tavern and back at him.
"That's alright. I was planning on sitting outside anyway. I was up late last night, and when I fell asleep, I had the most wonderful dream." He flashed a grin at her, and slid a note to her.
She slipped the note into her apron pocket, and watched Diego go outside to find a table to sit down for lunch. She went to the kitchen to put his lunch together and to read the note he slipped to her before he went outside.
My love,
Last night was the most amazing night of my life. Please meet me at the Guardian office at siesta. I need to see you.
Love always,
Diego
Victoria put the note back in her apron pocket, and was lost in her memories of last night. She was so deep in thought, she did not hear Pilar enter the kitchen with a tray full of dirty dishes.
"Victoria, is something wrong?" Pilar asked her as she started to wash the dishes.
"No, I was just thinking about the dream I had last night." Victoria replied with a smile on her face.
"Well, it must have been a great dream. You have looked lost in thought the whole morning." Pilar said with a smile and continued to wash the dishes.
"Oh, it was a wonderful dream. It felt so real." She gave Pilar a huge smile.
"I need to get lunch delivered to a few tables, and then we can get ready to close for siesta." Victoria picked up two trays and left the kitchen still in a dreamy haze.
"Thank you, it looks so good, you make the best soup in the whole pueblo." Diego complimented her as she put his lunch down on the table in front of him.
"You are too kind Diego." She flashed him a loving smile. She winked at him, and went back inside to help serve the other customers.
The last customers left the Tavern, and Victoria locked the door before she began to put the dirty dishes that were left on the tables, onto the tray she carried to take back for washing. She hurried through the curtain and put the dishes in the dish water and wiped her hands on her apron.
"Pilar, I am going for a walk," she told her helper as she went out the back door.
She walked over to the Guardian office and knocked on the door. When Diego did not answer, she opened the door and poked her head in and called his name.
"Diego, are you here?" She whispered quietly. She looked around but did not see him. She went inside and was going to wait for him. Just as she was about to close the door behind her, she felt someone grab her hand and pull her behind the door. The door closed behind her, and she felt a hot kiss close in on her lips.
"Diego, you scared me. What were you doing behind the door?" She gave him a playful smile when she noticed he had a wicked and playful grin on his face.
"I wanted to surprise you, and I could not wait to kiss you." He pulled her in so close to his body, she could feel his excitement below.
He kissed her so deeply, her legs became weak, and she almost slipped to the floor. He caught her up in his strong arms, and carried her over to the desk. He pushed everything on the desk over to the edge, and set her down gently. Still locked in a passionate kiss, Victoria held onto his waist with her legs tightly wrapped around and moaned with delight. They soon found themselves unbuttoning each others clothes and exploring the hot skin underneath.
A knock at the door broke them apart. They looked at the door with an annoyed expression.
"I am sorry Victoria," Diego apologized when he noticed how far they had gone. "I do not know what came over me. I can usually control myself, but the longer we wait the harder it is to keep my emotions inside." He looked at her with hungry eyes.
The knock came again, and this time is was louder.
"Diego, we need to get married soon. I do not know how long I can keep this passion back. Every time I see you, I want to kiss you." She gave him a loving and pleading look.
"I will talk to the Padre today, and we can set a date to be married soon." He told her as he buttoned his shirt. "But I need to see who is at the door before they walk in and find us together. We do not want any questions raised about us. People still think you are in love with Zorro, and if they see you with me, they might put ideas together about Zorro's true identity," he warned her, and helped her straighten up her clothing.
Victoria stepped down onto the floor and gave him a kiss before she went to hide behind the door.
Diego made sure he was presentable, and opened the door. Victoria stayed behind the door so whoever was knocking could not see her.
"Sergeant, is there something wrong?" Diego looked concerned.
"No, there is nothing wrong. I was wondering if you knew where Senorita Victoria was. We just got back from a long ride, and I am very hungry." Mendoza asked as he patted his belly.
"I have not seen her. I have been working on the next edition of the newspaper." Diego found it hard to hide a smile when he looked at Victoria, who was also trying to hold back a laugh.
"Well, if you see her, could you please tell her that I was looking for her?" Mendoza asked Diego.
"If I see her, I will tell her that you were looking for her, Sergeant." Diego replied and tried to hold the laughter inside.
"Thank you, Diego." Mendoza turned around to leave. "You are welcome," Diego replied and started to close the door. "Diego," the sergeant said as he turned back around, "are you okay? Your face is red and it looks like you need to take a break," concern crossed over the sergeant's face.
"I am fine, my office gets hot, and I was about to open the window when you knocked." Diego quickly made something up to get rid of the sergeant.
"That would be a good idea." The sergeant looked at Diego with a questioning look.
"I will go open that window now. I can feel it getting hotter in here already." Diego smiled and quickly closed the door before Mendoza could ask any more questions.
Victoria let out her laugh quietly when the door was closed and locked.
"That was close," she said between bubbles of laughter.
"Too close. We need to be more careful." He gave her a Zorro grin, and pulled her over to him and kissed her on the forehead.
They let their emotions calm. Victoria helped Diego put things back in place before going back to the Tavern.
When she slipped out the door, she gave him a kiss that only made it harder to let her leave, but they did not want to get caught. One close call was enough.