《Second Chances》Chapter 2....
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Most would say their favorite part about owning a bridal shop was seeing how happy the bride was when she found her dress. But for me it was closing time. It was hanging up all the discarded dresses, feeling each fabric beneath my fingertips. Thinking about how each one will make some girl the happiest person on the planet.
It was an odd thing to like, but for me it gave me some sort of peace at the end of the day. It was something I use to watch my mom do. At the end of the day she would go through each dress, sometimes moving them around as if she knew the next day someone would come looking for that exact dress.
I use to sit at the counter watching as she moved around the quiet empty store, stuck in her own little world. Always wondering what went through her head. One day I did ask her why she did what she did and her answer was simple.
It is my job to make some women feel the most confident, beautiful, person she can be on her special day. The dress is the most important part of the wedding and if I can make that day even more special than I have succeeded. Most don't believe bridal shops are important but little do they know we have the most important job.
I never really understood it but once I saw the effect of finding the perfect dress for their perfect day, I understood what my mom meant. The look on their face was priceless. After I experienced what my mom meant I found myself doing exactly what she did at the end of everyday. Made me feel even more connected to her, like every time I did this she was right beside me doing the same.
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After doing my usual rounds of making sure everything was put away and good for tomorrow, I finally locked the store down and headed for my car. I was already dreading going home because I knew Hannah was laying in wait for me to walk through the front door. The moment I do she will pounce.
Through out the rest of the work day she kept giving me looks about going on the double date, and each time I would ignore her. She had no idea how depressing it was going on these dates with her. It never ended up well. On her end it did. She would go home with the guy while I was stuck either fending off the friend or going home alone.
Going home alone while knowing she was off being happy with someone just made it even worse. Part of it was my fault because I truly never tried. I was nice to the guys and made conversation but my heart wasn't in it.
I wasn't looking for a relationship, haven't for years. I didn't....I didn't have it in me to love someone like that anymore.
That was something Hannah couldn't wrap her head around. She felt that by now I should be ready to find someone and if I didn't want love I could at least hook up with the person. A little fun never hurt someone, she would repeatedly say. I just wasn't like that. I don't hook up.
As soon as I walked up to the door of my apartment I took a deep breath. Just let her say what she wants but hold your ground. Don't say yes. I told myself firmly.
Opening the door I fully expected Hannah to launch at me immediately but instead it was oddly quiet. Confused I closed the door behind me and ventured further into the apartment. I could hear the soft murmurs of the voices on tv but that was it. No loud music playing, no horrible singing coming from the kitchen as Hannah made dinner. Hell I even expected a loud 'HA' to come out from behind me at any moment.
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"Hannah?" I called out. Maybe she wasn't home?
Coming around the corner to the living room I first saw the tv going before my eyes landed on Hannah. She was silently sitting on the couch, crossed legged, staring directly at the tv. Uhh.
"Han?" I spoke, coming further into the room. "You okay?"
"Good you are home." When she spoke her voice was low and it almost sounded like she was trying to speak in an accent. I moved to stand in front of the tv, directly across from her. The sight before me made me grin.
Hannah was seated on the couch, our cat Milo, laying in her lap as she stroke his fur. She had a hard look on her face as she stared at me.
"You come into my home-" She started, once again speaking in a boston/new york accent, although it was far from it.
"What the hell are you doing?" I laughed breaking her speech.
"Miaaa." She groaned, throwing her head back. "I was trying to intimidate you." My grin got wider.
"Maybe lose the fake accent next time." I suggested. Milo jumped off of her lap, making his way towards me, further ruining the scene Hannah had tried so hard to set up. "Hey buddy." I crouched down, rubbing the purring kitty.
"How long have you been sitting here waiting for me?"
"Twenty minutes." She muttered standing up.
"Sorry to have kept you waiting."
"I ordered Chinese so go get changed before it gets here." At the mention of Chinese my mouth instantly watered.
"I could kiss you right now." I was beyond starving and nothing was better than So Ho's Chinese house from down the street.
"If only I swung that way." She winked at me before disappearing into the kitchen. Laughing I straightened back up and headed for my room. More than ready to get into a some comfy clothes. If only I could work in sweats, I'd be the happiest person on the planet.
I was in the middle of taking my makeup off when I heard the doorbell ring. That alone sent me into action. I took off my makeup faster than normal and practically ran into the living room. Instantly the smell of Chinese hit me.
"Food." I moaned.
One thing that bonded me and Hannah almost instantly was food. When we went to a restaurant for the first time together and she ordered the biggest burrito on the menu, I knew I met my soul mate. It could be a bit scary how much both of us could eat in one sitting.
After we both filled out plates, moved to the couch, and ate a few bites did Hannah finally start talking again.
"So about before." She started. Damn, a part of me wished she had forgotten about it.
"Do we have to talk about this?" I asked around a mouthful of noodles.
"Yes we do."
"Han I'm not ready." I muttered, looking down at my plate of food. I pushed my food around, the sudden topic making me lose my appetite.
"Mia it's been five years."
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Rise
Su Xue, a woman in her mid 20s, is struggling both in paying rent and finding her path in life. Her latest stint has her trying to become a popular League of Legends streamer, though to poor results. One day, she is interrupted in the middle of a livestream by a surprise visit from her landlady. She is informed that she will be having a new roommate. The landlady’s nephew, Lin Feng, a 18 year old boy who has just transferred over to Shanghai for his last year of high school.Though initially opposed to it, Su Xue reluctantly agrees to the arrangement. She learns that the two share a common interest—League of Legends—and that he’s really amazing at the game. Lin Feng also reveals to her he wishes to become the best professional League of Legends player in the world.The next day. Lin Feng attends his first day of school as a transfer student at High School 13. He meets Ouyang and Yang Fan, and the trio find a common passion in League of Legends. Lin Feng is then introduced to Ren Rou, the president of the esports club with a fiery personality, and Tang Bingyao, a quiet bookworm with a love for money and a surprising talent for the game.A little about Lin Feng’s past is revealed. He was a once pro player, the youngest in history and a contender for the best player in the world. Until the finals of the Season 1 World Championship. There, he lost to his arch-rival, an equally brilliant Korean youth. That was the peak of his career, and also the turning point in his life. He stepped down from his team and disappeared from competitive play altogether. Now, after a four year long hiatus, he aims to make a comebackOver the next couple of weeks, Lin Feng learns about the upcoming Shanghai 16 School Tournament, and that his school’s esports club had performed especially poorly the previous year. He agrees to coach the club’s team and help them win the first place trophy this year. And so, he starts the members of the club out on an intense training bootcamp.Meanwhile, the Season 5 League of Legends World Championship is taking place at around the same time. Tian Tian, one of Lin Feng’s former teammates and best friend, is on one of the Chinese teams playing at Worlds. After a poor showing, he is on the verge of a mental breakdown. Lin Feng witnesses everything in a viewing party with the esports club members and becomes worried.On the day of the Shanghai 16 School tournament, Lin Feng reunites with Tian Tian on the phone. He tells Tian Tian he’s going to return to the professional scene, that he’s making a new team and plans to invite him. But Tian Tian has to vow not to give up at Worlds and keep winning. Tian Tian agrees, and Lin Feng promises he’ll fight alongside him. Lin Feng then heads into his match with renewed resolve, to climb from the bottom all the way back to the top, and overcome the rival that defeated him so many years ago.
8 1136Phoenix's Requiem
Painfully shy and conflict-averse, Yun Ruoyan is a scion to a noble house only in name, a puppet embroiled in political machinations beyond her ken. At the tender age of eighteen, poisoned and at death’s door, she finds herself thrown out into the streets. Her relatives have all been executed, betrayed by her dear husband and her cousin. With her dying breath, she curses her own weakness and swears revenge.When Yun Ruoyan awakens once more, she is thirteen, transported five years into the past by the will of the heavens. Her death-defying experience has changed her: no longer is she the malleable creature she once was. But more questions await at every corner—what is the truth behind the birthmark that disfigures her appearance? What are the circumstances surrounding her mother’s mysterious death?Will the phoenix rise from the ashes, or will she fall once more in thrall to fate?
8 646Poison Physician Consort
Follow Bai Luochu on a journey back to the peak as she reincarnates into the body of an orphaned daughter of the former great general of the Cloud Water Nation.With the Three Great Immortal Sects in front of her, her mortal enemies who caused her death, how would she rise to the top again?With her astounding medical skills and ability to create heaven defying poison, Bai Luochu heals the crippled meridians of her new body and attracts the attention of all three princes of the Cloud Water Nation!
8 1749Rebirth of a Fashionista: This Life Is Soo Last Season
Cinderella went from rags to riches, but when you are already at the top, fate is more than happy to kick you down. A car accident kicks off Sheng Jiaoyang's reverse Cinderella story by trapping her soul in the body of a poor girl, leaving her to succumb to fate and wait for her Prince Charming to come to her rescue -- obviously not!Like a phoenix rising out of the ashes, Sheng Jiaoyang forges her own way back up to the upper echelons of society, clearing obstacles, taking revenges, and bagging her handsome and rich childhood friend on the way.If you are tired of reading about poor damsel in distress waiting for a man to rescue her, and wants a female lead that can carry herself to the top, Rebirth of A Fashionista is the novel for you!
8 274The Attack of the Wastrel
Her rebirth gave her a second chance at life. She was back with a vengeance and wanted to make those that had harmed her pay. But to those that helped her, she wanted to repay them. Her evil stepmother? She would slowly pull out her claws, one by one. Her evil stepsister? She would crush her pride. She thought that by getting her revenge for her past life, she would be happy in this life. However, she never would have thought that danger would chance upon her time and time again. The hatred from her clan and whether their bloodline would continue to exist, lay solely on her shoulders. Luckily, on this thorny path, someone had always been protecting her. "Third Prince, have you ever regretted being with me?" That person laughed lightly and peered at her with a loving yet weary look, "As long as I am together with you, I have no regrets."
8 1461Demoness's Art of Vengeance
Jun Xiaomo, notoriously known as “Lady Demoness”, finds herself chained and bound in a dungeon. Her hard-earned cultivation has been completely crippled, and she has no means of escape. Qin Shanshan, a lady she used to called her “close friend”, mocks Jun Xiaomo, revealing that Jun Xiaomo had been used by the people around her. Even her lover, Qin Lingyu was one of the masterminds scheming against her. Jun Xiaomo watches her life flash before her eyes and realizes that she had indeed blindly placed her trust in people. Her naivety had led to her current predicament. Jun Xiaomo wanted to end it all. However, she is determined to deliver a swan song. Over the hundreds of days tormented in that very dungeon, Jun Xiaomo had painstakingly painted a complicated formation array with her own blood. With a determined look, Jun Xiaomo burns her life force to activate the array. Her sole intent? To bring with her as many schemers to the gates of hell as she could. The bright red light from thearray intensified, and the end was nigh.…or was it? Jun Xiaomo opens her eyes and finds herself alive again; time had rewound right back to when she was sixteen years of age, albeit only at the eighth level of Qi Cultivation. Armed with the knowledge and memories of her previous lifetime, Jun Xiaomo is determined to learn from her mistakes and bring retribution to those who so deserve…
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