One Last Chance

I'm Here With You

Charlotte had been working really hard after the movie launch. After all she had a very important thing in her life that she focused on, which was her own personal brand Ausóme.

For those who were fans of Englot and Engfa, they may have fallen out of the Englot and Smiley Fandom during the hiatus. Charlotte herself disappeared from the radar for more than a year, disconnecting herself from the overwhelming social media. Not many people knew where she went, she became a very private person.

When she came back during the second year of Englot hiatus, she put in all of her energy into establishing her own brand. Ausóme’s name came from her surname Austin combined with the word awesome.

Haters and toxic fans around the world bashed and booed when she appeared in the circle once more with her own brand. Hate comments, undeserved boycotts, graffiti and everything terrible happened to her.

Despite and because of that, she clung even harder on her brand. She worked non stop with her own PR, managing the marketing and production. Life was incredibly tough but it gave her a sense of purpose and distracted her from reality. It also made her even more determined to show the world she was not talentless, that she was not just a pretty face or famous because of the ship.

Back then, only her dearest friends, Marima, Heidi and Tina knew how tough it was for her to launch Ausóme. Her brand was not only her pride, but also her lifeline when she felt incredibly lost and lonely. It means a lot to her.

After a year of hardwork and putting herself out there again, her online sales slowly picked up, supported by her fans. This was her third year of Ausóme, her ultimate goal was to open a physical shop before she turned 30 this year.

Therefore, she had been working overtime for the past two weeks. After the movie, she took a pause on everything else so she could focus on her brand. She had been attending meetings every day, meeting clients and sponsors and shareholders. The list was endless but she was determined.

Engfa opened the smart lock of her front door and sighed at the darkness that welcomed her. Two excited dogs wagged their tails and licked her feet, Tofu immediately stood on her hind legs and demanded hugs.

Putting down her belongings and locking the door behind her, Engfa switched on the lights and carried Tofu in her arms. She looked around for the familiar sight of rabbit ears and found Phalo sleeping on her bed in the corner.

“Mummy's not home again, huh?” Engfa mumbled to Tofu as she sat on the couch and cuddled the white dog. Gyo jumped up and Engfa bent to hug her as well. She sighed, at least she still has the kids.

She glanced at her phone, the lock screen lit up with the numbers 11:43pm. She opened her chat with her girlfriend and nimbly texted,

“I'm home, Char. Are you still at the office?”

She stared at the text for a while then switched to Twitter to peruse lazily at the timeline. Few minutes later, she was instantly bored. The novelty of seeing herself again and again ran out years ago. Plus there was always drama, hence swiping social media could be mentally exhausting a lot of times.

Bored and tired, she dragged her feet to shower and got ready to bed. Their pets had settled down in their own beds when Engfa entered her own bed.

There were two white rabbit plushies on Charlotte's pillow. They were her beloved plushies and looked quite worn out over the years. Still, the sight of them made Engfa sigh and hug them. They smelled like Charlotte's scent, a unique and fragrant smell that instantly brought Engfa comfort.

Her phone lit up with notification, she quickly looked at it and was happy when she saw it was from Charlotte. After reading her message, though, the smile went away.