Chapter 64: Chapter 64

A year later…

"You should move to this side, Ms. Rita," I asked as I moved to the opposite side of her just to find the right angle for her.

I took a few more shots before I told her to rest for a while and move to another outfit. It's been a year now since what happened in the airport and then I left our city for good. I don't have plans on coming back yet, but both of my sisters are coming back and forth here in New York whenever they miss me. Arielle's still on top of her game while Arianne is already making her own name in the fashion industry. Arianne and I usually see each other because our lines of work are in the same industry. She's a fashion designer while I'm a full-time photographer now.

After I graduated with a Business Management degree, I bought a three-storey building just around the university to build a coffee shop. It's been a dream for me to have my own coffee shop, since it gives me comfort every time I go to that kind of place. The first and second floors are for my shop, while the third is for my studio. The moment I graduated from university, a lot of job offers came in but I refused all of them just to build my own one. Now, my clients are hiring me and they went all the way from different parts of the city just to be here.

I've become quite famous too, now that I am currently running my own business. I just felt content at all.

While I'm having a great time here, Mom has already received the note that I wrote a long time ago and right now she's getting treatment regularly. I heard from my sisters that she's been very alive and healthy for the past ten months and that she's being treated. We all know leukemia is still not curable, but as much as we can prolong her life, we will do everything about it.

After a short break, I continued to take photos of Ms. Rita, a model from Seoul, who happened to have a project for a certain brand and she requested that I should be the one to take photos of her.

Half an hour has passed and we're already done. It's easy to take photos of her since she has a pretty face and a nice body. They invited me to go down to my coffee shop and have small talk with them, but I refused when I noticed the time. It's already 4 o'clock in the afternoon and I need to call my mom as just a reminder that she needs to take her pills for her afternoon schedule. I do that all the time since both of my sisters are at work during this time.

I called Mom's phone and after three rings, she answered.

"Take your pill now," I welcomed her by my demand.

"I already took it five minutes ago," she said weakly. Maybe it's the effect of her chemotherapy treatment. Yesterday was her schedule for a shot for this week.

This has been our routine every afternoon and I think it only makes me feel better whenever I have a short call with her.

"That's good," I said shortly.

"I'll hang up now, Reagan's coming to watch with me," she bid her goodbye and so I did. Whenever my sisters were out for work, the only person she called just to disturb was Reagan.

I heard from Arianne that she's having a great time with Reagan now and Mom even called him as her best friend. It's just her way to annoy him and she's completely satisfied with it.

After Mom ended the call, I told my staff to clean the whole area and have snacks in the shop. My staff are mostly part-timers from the university who want to find jobs and study at the same time. As we finished cleaning the studio, we went down and I personally prepared the coffee for them.

My whole life is falling into place and all of my plans have come true already. I have nothing to ask for.

Oh! I forgot.

By the way, it's been a year now since I said yes to him. Our whole relationship was pretty good and I can tell that Kendric's not the type of person who fights for petty reasons, usually he's more like a lecturer whenever I behave so childishly. Other than that, everything in our relationship right now is going smoothly.

I texted him that we could have dinner here in the shop just like we used to do or maybe we could try something new. He's in a conference meeting now and I wasn't expecting an instant reply from him, but then he texted back saying that we could eat here in the shop.

To my excitement, I prepared his favorite beef steak with garlic bread on the side. I even baked fresh chocolate cupcakes for our dessert. I was almost finished preparing the food for him when I felt my phone vibrate. I looked at it and saw his message that he was on his way now. It's only 6 o'clock so I guess he got out of the office earlier.

I was already serving the food in our favorite spot when he came in. We both smiled at our gazes, he gave me a hug and kissed the top of my head just like what he used to do. We were already sitting and started eating when I told him what had happened for the whole day. He was just watching and I felt conscious at that moment.

"Do I have something on my face?" I asked cluelessly. The same time I asked, I heard the rain starting to pour down outside. I gasped and excitedly looked in the window. I couldn't stop looking at it.

I think this is the first time after a long while that we got to see the rain together.

"I guess this is the right time."

He caught my attention as he said that. I looked at him and waited for him to say something. He's a bit teary eyed and I'm a bit confused about what's happening.

"Are you okay, love?" I asked worriedly.

Just then, he held my left hand and he let out a small box from his pocket. It took me minutes before I realized what was happening and I covered my mouth as I gasped softly.

"Kendric," I called his name.

"Angela, I've been waiting for this right timing," he said before he took a breath.

"Will you marry me?"

People around us cheered and I almost forgot that we're in a public place now, in my coffee shop, to be exact.

A tear left my eye and all I could think of was the happy moments and sad memories we shared. All the sacrifices we made just to make this relationship finally paid off.

I nodded slowly and smiled while I felt tears pouring out from my eyes. People cheered even more and the genuine smile on his face was the most priceless thing I ever saw. He went to my seat and hugged me so tight. I could still hear how the people inside and my crew celebrated for us.

"I love you so much, love," he whispered in my ear.

From that rainy day that I saw him for the time up to this rainy day that he proposed, the intensity of my feelings towards him never changes, it only intensifies even more. The rain witnessed how we love, bleed, and grow in each other's arms.

He's the favorite gift that the sky has ever brought to me. He's my escape, my lifeline. With him, I could never ask for more.

"And I love you so much more."