Sparks fly between charity-shop owner Naomi Wu and grumpy app developer Leon Fink, as they travel to tropical Thailand in search of Leon's runaway bride and a priceless family heirloom.
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Naomi Wu is a staunch believer in good karma.
Which is...
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HER fingertips were pruney.
To top it off, the delicate skin around her hands had begun to flake off from the detergent in the microfibre cloth, causing the raw flesh to sting like a million insect bites.
Still, Naomi kept wiping the same spot on the desk next to her cash register, over and over again, hoping her mind would finally surrender and stop thinking of Leon. It was a fool's errand, but Naomi resigned to die trying.
Leon said he cared for her.
But was that enough?
Naomi was sick of being taken for granted. It was time to put herself first, so even though it felt like she had a stick blender lodged into the center of her chest, Naomi knew she had to stand her ground.
No more Miss Goody Two Shoes.
If Leon truly cared for her, he wouldn't have let her go — again. As if her pride hadn't been sufficiently injured the first time he asked her to leave him alone.
Creeping in from the depths of her memory, Naomi heard her mother's voice telling her, 'What's truly meant for you will be yours.'
She'll have to leave it up to fate, then.
Whether Leon and her were destined to be together, only time would tell.
For now, all Naomi could do was wait. In the meantime, she'll concentrate on trying to strip the varnish off the wooden countertop with her obsessive cleaning. That sounded like the perfect idea to keep her busy.
And that was precisely what she carried on doing for the next half-hour.
Naomi was so engrossed, in fact, that she completely ignored the shop door opening, followed by that damned sensor.
"Uh, boss, I think that's enough cleaning for today, don't you think?" Naomi heard Mila say. When Naomi looked up to voice her disagreement, she was surprised to see a familiar person standing close behind Mila.
Naomi's eyes immediately fell to the person's mismatched socks and clunky Birkenstocks.
"Artie! It's been a while since I've seen you," Naomi greeted after a thoughtful pause.
"Hey Naomi," Artie said, shooting her a warm smile.
Naomi studied Mila's beaming face, and how comfortable she seemed with Artie's arm slung protectively over her shoulders. Instantly, a large chunk of her shriveled with guilt for encouraging Mila to move on from him weeks ago.
Obviously, Naomi had no right passing judgment on other people's love lives, not when she had never even experienced love. Back then, anyway.
Last night, Mila called her, raving about how forgiving Artie was when she told him about Xavier; and how stupid she was to make the mistake in the first place. She realized that guys like Artie were hard to come by, and she'd be foolish to break it off with him.
