Sentimental Chances

Chapter 47 : Time To Heal

After that heartfelt, life-changing decision, I got dressed and decided to have breakfast somewhere else, feeling a little more hopeful than before. I know I should stay in bed after the spotting thing, but it would drive me crazy. Which also meant that it wouldn't be good for my health.

Going to the studio wasn't an option either. It would tempt me to do what I do some work, so I called Mav that I wasn't coming.

I was meeting Emmy, actually, to help me shop for baby stuff. Sadly, she couldn't come because she had a last-minute appointment with her clients.

Either way, I wanted to go out and about.

Good thing Roldan gave me gas and helped me fill up my scooter after we returned from the train station the previous day, so I could go anywhere again.

Later, I went to the Barcon strip mall because there was a restaurant there with the best burgers, Joe's Burger. There's this one particular burger I liked called Mighty Joe. It had a pure beef patty, their secret smoky BBQ sauce, and bacon. Moreover, they have the creamiest chocolate milkshake.

When I got there, I was walking to the restaurant.

There were lots of people there even though it was a weekday because retail stores were having sales.

It wasn't so crowded, but it was loud. Although it made me want to shop till I drop, too.

So I was halfway to having my breakfast until a toy store caught my eye. There was this cute Victorian-style doll house on display with a miniature figurine of a family of three: a mom, a dad, and a small baby girl.

It was so charming with its pastel-colored exterior and vintage interiors. I wanted to buy it so bad for my daughter and put it in her nursery. But then it got me thinking that there was no other room in my house because it was too small to even have a nursery for the baby.

Although, let's see...

"Pepsi?" Out of nowhere, a familiar voice cut through the noise and called my name.

I turned around to see it was someone I'd been wishing I could see again ever since everything in my life went sideways.

I couldn't believe my eyes. "Ariel?" I gasped. "You're here."

"Surprise," she said, and I swear my heart did a little twist in my chest. She looked incredible—like the Ariel I remembered, only somehow even more beautiful. She wore a white button-down dress with a wide navy blue belt and beige boots, and she walked toward me with her arms open, as if she had been waiting for this moment just as much as I had.

"Oh my goodness," I said, smiling so hard my cheeks hurt. "You look so cute. I almost didn't recognize you."

"Thank you. You look pretty as always."

We hugged each other so tightly it almost felt like time folded in on itself. "I didn't know you were in town. What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I really wanted to surprise you. I went to your house hours ago, but now I can see why you weren't there."

I looked down for a second before answering. "I've been staying at an inn for almost a month now," I told her quietly. "I didn't feel like staying after Topher is gone."

Ariel pulled me into another hug, softer this time. "Oh, sweetie. I know. It's still hard for me too. Anyway, I'm here because my agent called to say someone wants to buy my old house, and I wanted to meet them myself."

"That's great."

"Wait. Where are you staying?"

"I'm staying at the Marvel Hotel."