Chapter 10
Simone sat at her desk, going through the motions of work, yet not actually getting anything accomplished. It had been 6 months since Mia left and the hole in her heart hadn't healed much at all.
"Hey there, are you still thinking of Mia?" Greenlee asked again, the same question she'd been asking since Mia left Pine Valley, "I know it's terrible what happened, but it's really time for you to move on. This is not good for you. We've been trying to get you active for months now. Please come to dinner with us tonight?"
"Thanks, but I think I'll go home and watch some TV."
"I love TV as much as the next person, but we all know it's all repeats now. It's summer, so just let us take you out to dinner and we can even see a movie if you want. Just something that's fun."
"I don't know." Simone moaned.
"Well that's better than no, so that settles it, you're coming with us. Be ready at 7. We'll talk, eat and then figure out something else to do, but it will be fun. Okay? Now smile and say yes Greenlee I'll come."
Simone couldn't help but smile at her friends persistence, "Yes Greenlee, I'll come to dinner with you and Kendall. Happy now?"
"I'm thrilled." Greenlee said with a big smile, "I have to pick Kendall up at Bianca's, but we'll be at your place at 7, no later than 7:30. 8 at the latest, just depends on how fast Kendall gets ready."
"Oh right, Kendall is the only one who takes hours getting ready."
"I'm glad you agree." Greenlee laughed, waved at Simone and rushed towards the elevator.
Ryan Lavery's office.
Ryan sat back in his expensive chair, opened up the four files in front of him and began analyzing the mistakes he made in creating the three proposals that didn't work.
He opened Greenlee's proposal and the first thing he saw was a giant NO painted over every single page of the document and a profanity laced limerick that he couldn't help find amusing, written right after she had torn up the 'sign here' section.
In hindsight, he felt his mistake was underestimating the love that Greenlee felt for Kendall and over estimating her greed and need for personal success.
His proposal, filled with numerous clauses and stipulations, based on who accepted/rejected what, was based on the notion of offering Greenlee 51 percent control of Fusion. The conditions were that she had to fire Kendall and never allow her to work at Fusion again. He also agreed to pay off the debt and infuse the company with $50 million cash if she accepts.
He then opened Kendall's proposal that was returned almost untouched. Her proposal was nearly identical to Greenlee's, with one exception, he also offered Kendall controlling interest in Enchantment as well as a seat on the board of governors. Perks he was sure would make the greedy and vindictive Kendall jump at.
As he picked up Simone's proposal, he couldn't help feel just the slightest bit of guilt for what he did to her, but it didn't last long. He looked over his proposal to Simone which gave her full control of Fusion, but she would have to fire Simone and Kendall. He had no provision for Mia as he was sure she wouldn't be a factor once she read his proposal and he was right. Also in the proposal were numerous financial bonuses, including houses, cars, jewelry and other such superficial things.
His theory that all three women would always choose themselves over all else proved to be his undoing. His years of experience had him believing that all three women would choose possessions over friendship. He ended up realizing that he didn't know any of the Fusion women at all.
As he put his feet down on the floor he picked up the folder titled Mia, the only one with a big red check mark over it. He opened it up and smiled as he saw her signature at the bottom of the document.
He didn't offer her anything to do with Fusion as he knew she wouldn't want to be involved with it once she read and looked at his proposal. Mostly it was a string of monetary donations to the numerous charities Mia was always so passionate about as well as a large sum of money towards opening a business of her choosing, as long as it was in another state. His final piece of the puzzle was a document, filled with pictures and video of Simone's meeting with Tad Martin. This alone was devastating for Mia to witness, but it wasn't enough to make her leave. That's why there was one item left for Mia to look at.
Ryan couldn't resist another look himself, so he opened the video of Simone in bed with another woman. Not just any woman, it was Greenlee in bed with Simone. They were making wild passionate love. The video was clear, the audio was clear and there was no denying what Mia was seeing. In the top right corner of the video was the date and time. It was recorded a month after Mia and Simone had been together. Mia hated the idea of leaving without saying goodbye, but she knew it was over for her and Simone and the countless incentives Ryan tossed her way were just too hard to pass up considering the circumstances. So she signed the document and was on the next plane out of Pine Valley. Her current residence is unknown to everyone except Ryan Lavery.
Putting down Mia's folder, he picked up the phone and began to dial.
"Hello?" the female voice asked.
"It's me. Is
everything in place?" Ryan asked as he looked out his office
window.
"Yes, I will do my best, but I can't
promise you anything. This is not something I am any good at you
know. I still think you should get somebody else. I just don't
like this idea."
"I didn't ask if you liked it." Ryan snapped, "Last I recall you were in a pretty bad situation. Your husband left you. He was on the run from the law and you were wanted for questioning in a string of bank heists. Now, aren't all those things taken care of?"
"Yes, but I didn't ask for your help. You gave it willingly. I didn't know you'd hold it over my head. What happened to you Ryan?"
"Don't you worry about me." Ryan ordered, "Now, as long as you follow through with this plan, your debt will be paid in full."
"Sure, but I'll have nobody left in Pine Valley I can call my friends."
Ryan rolled his eyes, "A small price to pay for your freedom. Besides, there's not really a lot of good people left in Pine Valley worth being friends with, so just do your job."
"Fine, but one day all your dirty little tactics are going to backfire and someone is going to make sure you pay for it."
"That sounds like a threat."
"Not at all. Just an observation." The woman said while crossing her fingers.
"Thanks for the warning, now get a move on. You don't want to be late for your big entrance."
The woman slammed down the phone, turned and kicked the trashcan and then fell down on the chair beside her. She wanted to cry, but didn't have any energy or tears left inside her.
She walked back to her bedroom, looked through her closest for something to wear and as she was getting dressed she couldn't help notice a picture of her and her sister at the beach during happier times. At the bottom it was signed, "Love ya sis, Maria."
With that, Julia Santos began getting dressed for her busy night ahead.
Babe's apartment.
Maggie and Bianca arrived at Babe's apartment, carrying bags and a large birthday cake. Babe opened the door looking anything like a happy birthday girl.
Maggie set her bags on the floor, while Bianca put the cake on the kitchen table and they both converged on Babe who still had tears running down her face.
"What's going on?" Bianca asked, looking around the apartment at the broken furniture, broken glasses on the ground and numerous paintings that had been vandalized.
"I don't know what happened. I was sitting reading the paper this morning happy as could be. The doorbell rang and I went to answer it and two men pushed me to the ground and then proceeded to trash the place."
"Are you okay? Did they hurt you?"
"No, that's what's so weird. They didn't hurt me or take any money or anything valuable, they just made a mess of this place."
"You don't think JR had anything to do with this do you?" Bianca asked, knowing the lengths the Chandler's went to get their way sometimes.
"I honestly don't know. I'm not sure what reason he'd have to do this. He has Bess still. He doesn't have to threaten or scare me. He won." Babe explained as she cleared off some debris from the sofa and sat down, "If it wasn't JR, then someone else did this and I have no idea why."
"It's okay. We'll help you clean up and then find out what's going on here." Maggie said while trying to find a place amongst the wreckage to sit.
"Something does seem weird about this." Bianca said as she surveyed the damage, "The fact the attackers didn't harm you is a very good thing, but to me that says someone wanted to cause you some kind of pain, but not physical. Have you had any arguments or disagreements with anyone recently?"
Babe thought for a minute or two, but just shook her head, "Not that I know of."
"Maybe it wasn't a big argument, but maybe something that you didn't notice at the time but the other person wasn't happy." Maggie asked, still cleaning up pieces of broken glass from the floor, "It's been my experience that something that seemed small to you could be very big to someone else."
Babe sat up in her chair, "I just thought of something that fits that totally."
"What is it?" Bianca asked.
"A couple days ago I had Amanda over just to say hi and get to know her and we spent the day talking and had a blast. She stayed for dinner and she told me about her life and some of it wasn't really very fun for her, so I felt like we bonded and I think she did to."
"That sounds great, but I'm not seeing the downside here." Maggie said as she looked at Babe.
"That's just the beginning." Babe smiled, "Later on that night Jamie came over. Well, almost instantly Amanda changed. She turned into party girl. She was all over Jamie, flirting with him, but looking at me the whole time. Then after a while, she just stood up and began doing an impromptu striptease."
"Okay, that's a little odd I guess, but she's young and pretty and who knows why she did it, but I'm sure you must be getting to the bad part." Maggie asked with an impatient sigh.
"I didn't want to make it sound all bad, because it wasn't." Babe explained, "Anyway, when she started to dance around and remove her clothes, I was sure she would just stop before she went to far. But I was wrong. She removed her bra as if it was the most natural thing in the world to dance naked in front of two relative strangers. Then she moved over to me and started really moving the body of hers in front of me, going so far as to hop onto my lap and rub her breasts right into my face. I was stunned. That's when I probably set things in motion."
"It sounded pretty sexy really, but what happened next?" Bianca asked, more than a little curios to hear the rest of the story.
"Well, I just started feeling uneasy about her dancing and touching me like that in front of Jamie. I thought she was going too far. I smiled at first and then said that's enough and I repeated it a couple times, but I think she thought I was kidding, but then I kind of pushed her off me and told her stop. As you can imagine she was embarrassed and I guess she might've felt rejected and hurt and who knows what else. She picked up her clothes, didn't say a word and left. I haven't heard from her since. I'm not saying she is behind this at all, but that's the only sort of argument I've been involved in lately. So what do you think?"
"I can see how she'd be upset, but most people get over that. I don't know her well enough to say what she's capable of." Bianca said, still trying to take in Babe's little story.
"I've known people similar to Amanda." Maggie said as she sat down beside Bianca, "They are the nicest people in the world when you're alone with them, but when others are around, you'd swear they were a completely different person. I'm not sure if she would resort to this just because you told her to stop her little striptease, but I think we need to find out."
"Could you guys talk to her? I'm not really up to that right now." Babe said as she looked at the mess around her.
After looking around at the mess, Bianca turned to Babe and smiled, "You know what, you can't stay here. Why don't you come stay with us until this gets cleaned up. I can call some people and have them over here by the end of the day. I'm not sure how long it will take to do all the repairs, but time is not a problem. You can stay with us for as long as it takes."
Erica Kane's office.
Krystal strolled into the waiting room just outside of Erica's office, her tight low cut dress causing quite a stir with the group of businessmen who waited in line to see Erica.
Without stopping at the receptionists desk, Krystal barged into Erica's office and slammed the door behind her, "Do you mind telling me why you haven't returned my calls? If you think you can just have your way with me and then toss me aside like a used tissue, you've got another thing coming."
Erica calmly got up from her desk, walked past Krystal and met her secretary as she came chasing after Krystal, "It's okay. I forgot I set up a meeting with Miss Carey and am so sorry I didn't tell you about it. Give me 5 minutes and send in the group from mayor's office."
Erica's secretary nodded, smiled and walked back to her desk.
After closing the door, locking it behind her, Erica walked back and stood in front of Krystal, "Okay, let me explain."
Krystal laughed, "This ought to be good."
"I know you're upset, but you have to look at this from my perspective. I'm engaged to a wonderful man who I plan to marry one day. If word got out about our…well you know what, I'd be ruined."
"Well, as long as Erica Kane is protected, the hell with everyone else? Is that how you see things? You know, I don't know what I saw in you. I should've know this would happen."
"You're taking this all wrong. I never said I regretted the time we spent together; I just think it's best if we move on with our lives. I'm sure you have any number of men who will jump at the chance to take you to dinner."
"Oh, I just love how you are ready to ship me off to whoever just so you don't have to deal with your real feelings. We did not just "spent time" together little lady. We did a whole lot more than just talk. Or did you forget the night you flew me to NY and we spent the night making love in the penthouse suit of the Ritz-Carlton. Well, I haven't forgot that night or what you said to me the next morning. Do you remember? Do you?"
Erica turned, walked back to her desk and stared out her fancy window.
"I see you do remember, so why are you doing this?" Krystal said as she walked up and stood behind Erica, "I can see it in your eyes, you still want me. You can't deny this. Don't throw this away because of your guilt or what you think is an obligation to Jack. He wouldn't want this."
"Don't tell me what Jack wants or what I want. You have no idea." Erica fired back, using her favorite trick when backed into a corner, attack.
Krystal put her hands on Erica's shoulder, but Erica pulled away, so she did it again and again until Erica relented, "Okay, now tell me you don't feel something when I touch you. Tell me you aren't burning up inside. Tell me you don't want to turn around and kiss me and take me right here on your desk. Tell me all this isn't true and I'll walk out that door."
Erica could feel her body temperature rise the moment Krystal's soft hands touched her equally soft skin. She turned and stared up at Krystal, her eyes beginning to tear up as she fought back her urge to kiss the tall southern belle who stood before her, "I'm sorry, but I can't do this. I'm not strong enough. I'm marrying Jack. That's what my life has to be right now. I'll never forget the time we've spent together. This is not easy for me. I do feel things for you, but I just can't do this. I'm sorry."
"Fine."
Krystal said angrily and walked towards the door, stopping to look at
Erica one last time, "You know, people told me, don't get
involved Erica. She'll take what she needs and then leave you in
the dust. I guess they were right. I hope you're happy with Jack.
He's a good man. Goodbye Erica."
As soon as the
door closed, Erica turned, stumbled over to her chair, sat down and
began to cry.
Krystal walked proudly out of Erica's office, but as soon as she got into the hallway, she to broke down in tears. It wasn't but a few seconds after she'd begun to cry that she heard a soft voice, "Are you okay?"
Looking up, she wiped her eyes and tried to focus on the woman standing in front of her. After a moment she was able to see who it was, "Oh hi Di. I'm fine. I was just upset about Babe being kept from her little girl."
"Yes, that's terrible." Di said, comforting Krystal with a friendly hug, "I'm trying to get JR to rethink this, but he's a very stubborn young man. If there's anything I can do to help, please just let me know."
"Thanks, I might take you up on that. I've had a really bad day here and if you're not busy I'd love some company for lunch."
"Okay, that sounds good. I have a meeting with Erica about a job, but that shouldn't take long."
"A job? With Erica? Are you crazy?" Krystal asked loudly.
Di stood silent unsure what to say to that.
Parchelli's Italian Restaurant.
Simone, Greenlee and Kendall sat in a corner table, sipping their water as they waited for their guest to arrive.
"I told you I only agreed to lunch with you two. You didn't tell me you invited some stranger until I got here. I don't feel like doing business while I eat. You two can take care of this, so what is going on?"
Kendall and Greenlee exchanged glances, shrugs and even a couple inaudible growls, before Kendall gave Greenlee a firm nudge.
"We wanted this to be a surprise. It's a surprise for our guest
as well, so there's a good chance she'll be just as upset, but as
they say, no pain, no gain."
Simone gave Greenlee a
puzzled look, "What the hell does that mean?"
"What Greenlee was trying to say, quite poorly I might add, was that we believe you've been moping around over Mia for way too long and if you won't get yourself back into the dating world, we'll do it for ya."
"I do admire your brutal honesty Kendall, but I don't need help because I'm not ready to see anyone." Simone said calmly, then leaned in and stared at both women, "Now butt out, both of you before I get really angry. You don't want to see me angry."
Just then, a woman stepped up to their table, "I bet that's true."
Simone looked up to see a pretty woman with shoulder length dark hair standing in front of her, "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell it for the world."
"That's okay, I bet I know what you're upset about." The woman said as she stared at Greenlee and Kendall, "It looks like I'm not the only one who doesn't appreciate you meddling with my love life."
Greenlee and Kendall once again exchanged looks of guilt, but neither managed to say a thing.
Simone got up from her chair and smiled at the woman, "Hi, I'm Simone Torres."
"I'm Julia Santos; it's nice to meet you."
"I'd really like to get away from my two well meaning, but annoying friends right now." Simone said, staring right at her two best friends with an evil look, before turning her frown into a smile as she looked back at Julia, "If you'd like to have a nice friendly dinner with no dating implications at all, I'd love it if you could join me?"
"That sounds like a wonderful idea." Julia agreed, "I'll talk to you two later. You have a nice night."
Greenlee and Kendall could only watch as Simone and Julia left the restaurant, but as soon as they did, Greenlee had a huge smile on her face, "Well how about that, mission accomplished."
"What are you talking about? They are both pissed at us and couldn't wait to get away."
"So what, let them be mad at us. What better way to get to know each other. They have something in common already. Their dislike for us. But you know what, that will pass and they did leave together. I couldn't have asked for anything more."
Kendall paused as she listened to Greenlee's
explanation and couldn't help but smile herself, "OMG, you're
right. This did work out well. And OMG, don't they look great
together."
"I know. I just hope this is a new
beginning for both of them. They really do need some happiness about
now." Greenlee added as she slid over closer to Kendall, "Now
that it's just us two, why don't we skip the meal and go home,
order takeout and spend the night cuddled up together watching old
movies."
"I hope that's not all we'll be doing." Kendall said with a sexy smile.
Greenlee leaned in and kissed Kendall on the lips, "Of course it's not all we'll be doing, but it's sure a nice way to spend some time before we head back to the bedroom for the rest of the night."
Kendall kissed Greenlee hard and deep, the two women wrapping arms around each other as they kiss grew in passion, oblivious to their surroundings, as nothing in the world was as important as the kiss they were sharing.
The Chandler Poolhouse.
Amanda pranced around the Chandler pool house, wearing a bikini so tiny it would make a stripper blush. She loved the attention she got from everyone, even if it was mostly looks of shock and horror, mixed with a lot of drooping tongues and perverted stares.
There was something about being on display for the world to see that turned Amanda on and she wasn't about to give it up.
One thing Amanda did despise, was someone standing in the way of her precious sun, so when she felt the heat stop shining down on her body for even one second, she knew it was time to let them know how rude they were being, "Move out of the way. Can you not see that you're blocking the sun?"
Bianca noticed that she and Maggie were in the way, so they stepped to the side, "I hope that's better."
"Yes, thank you. Now, I'm really not in the mood to talk to the help, so could you just leave me alone."
Maggie couldn't believe the way Amanda was talking to them and walked back in front of the sun and got ready to let her have it, "Why you little bit…"
Bianca covered Maggie's mouth before she could finish the sentence, but Amanda didn't need to hear the final to letters to know what she was about to say, "Just who the hell are you to be talking to me this way in my own house?"
"You spoiled brat. This isn't your house, it's Adam's and you're just an annoying little slut of a guest." Maggie said
Amanda stood up, walked over and looked down at the much shorter Maggie, "Let me guess, you're Bianca's girlfriend. I heard she was pretty, but had a big mouth. Someone sure nailed you to a tee."
Maggie was ready to lunge at Amanda, but Bianca stepped in the middle to try and place peacemaker, "Okay, let's just take a breath, cool down and start over."
"Fine by me, it's not like I came over to your place and insulted you or your bitchy friend."
"Who are you calling a bitch?" Maggie yelled as she again tried to get at Amanda.
"You really should get a leash for that one. She's out of control." Amanda said as she bent over, wiped off her lawn chair and lay down on her stomach, "Bianca, would you be an angel and put some lotion on my back. I have very sensitive skin."
"I doubt you have a sensitive bone in that hot little body of yours." Maggie said as she proceeded to look over every inch of Amanda's hot little body from head to toe.
Bianca shrugged her shoulders at Maggie, leaned down, grabbed the suntan lotion and knelt down beside Amanda, "Sure. Do you mind if we talk while I do this?"
Amanda shook her yes, "Feel free, I'm not much in the talking mood though, so I hope it's interesting."
Maggie lifted Bianca to her feet, "What are you doing? You don't have to lotion this little slut up. I know for a fact, without even talking to her, that she's responsible for Babe's apartment being trashed. She's just the kind of person to do it."
"Maggie, we don't know that." Bianca whispered, "Let's just try and get her to relax and maybe she'll open up about that night."
"Excuse me, I can feel sun on my back and that means the lotion isn't on yet." Amanda said without looking up.
"Oh god, how can one person be so annoying?" Maggie asked as she glared over at Amanda.
"We are helping Babe so let's just try and get through this without you two duking it out." Bianca said with a smile just as she knelt back down and took in the view of Amanda's almost naked body.
Maggie cringed as she saw Bianca's hands move over Amanda's already tanned back, but she turned almost red when she saw Bianca's fingers graze the side of Amanda's breast.
Bianca rubbed lotion all over Amanda's back, neck and shoulders, trying to ignore the many moans coming from Amanda's mouth and continue with her questions, "So, I hear you had some fun with Babe and Jamie the other night."
Amanda turned to her side and stared up at Bianca, "Who told you about that? Let me guess, it was Babe."
"Why would you assume it was Babe? We both know Jamie very well to." Bianca explained as she moved her hands down Amanda's lower back.
"Because, she is such a prude." Amanda said with a sigh as she lay back down.
"I've never thought that about her. What makes you say that?"
"I'm sure she told you what happened; at least her version of it, so you know. I was having a little fun and she freaked out and I left."
Bianca thought about how best to keep Amanda talking, "Hmm, why don't you tell me your version then."
Amanda rolled over onto her side again, "Fine, Babe and I were having a really good time. She invited me over to talk and we really got along well. Then Jamie comes over and I just felt like being sexy so I started to do a little strip. I wanted to tease Jamie a bit as I could feel him undressing me with his eyes from the moment he came in, plus I wanted to maybe let babe see me in a different light. I was just being me. I like to have fun and do silly things like this. But, I could see she wasn't very happy about it so I left."
Maggie had finally cooled down and decided to join the discussion, "I don't want to fight, but why do you think Babe got so weird?"
"I don't know, maybe she felt a little embarrassed having me dance with her like that. It was kind of sexual I guess, but I swear to god I thought she was into it." Amanda said, sitting straight up as she began to plead her case, "The whole time I was there I felt this energy coming from her. Not the same as when a guy checks me out, but a much more subtle version, which is usually how girls seem to do it. Anyway, I liked the idea but have been wrong about this before, so I wasn't going to act on it, but I thought a little sexy dance would show her I was into her, but I guess I got a bit carried away. I still don't think she had to embarrass me by pushing me away like that."
"Well, she does feel bad about that." Bianca said, "Anyway, it's over now so maybe you should talk to Babe about this."
"No way." Amanda said stubbornly as she lie back down, "She was the one who was out of line, she can come apologize to me."
"Okay, I tried to be fair, but you are just so unreasonable." Maggie said, shaking her head at Amanda's attitude, "Why is it you left out the reason Babe got so uncomfortable? Huh? The fact you pushed your breast into her face like a little slut."
"That's it, you are so going to pay for that." Amanda said, getting to her feet, grabbing Maggie by the arms and after a little struggle, pushed her into the pool.
Bianca could only watch as Maggie pushed the water from her eyes, pushed back her wet hair, and made a beeline for the side of the pool.
"Amanda, that really wasn't very wise." Bianca laughed, "Maggie might be short, but she's a lot stronger than you think.
"Well then keep her off away from me." Amanda said as she ran and hid behind Bianca.
Maggie got up and out of the pool, still incredibly angry, her t-shirt and jeans soaked as were her favorite shoes, but she didn't have time to think about that, her only thoughts were about what she would do when she got a hold of Amanda.
Amanda held onto Bianca tightly, screaming for her to stop Maggie from doing anything, but with Maggie bearing down on her, Amanda decided to do something unheard of for her, "Wait." She said as she stepped out from behind Bianca, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. But, you have to admit that if I called you a slut you'd do the same thing."
"That's your apology?" Maggie asked while trying to wring out her clothes.
"Well yes." Amanda replied, yet again annoyed that Maggie would dare question her about such things.
"I'll admit I shouldn't have called you a slut. That was wrong and I am sorry for that. But, see these clothes. These wet dripping filled with water clothes? Well, I didn't come here for a wet t-shirt contest, that's more your style anyway, but as wet as they are they will be fine, but these shoes, OMG these shows are not meant for rain you bitch. They are genuine leather. Do you know what happens to leather when it's wet?"
Amanda looked down at Maggie's turquoise slingback's and then back up at Maggie, "No, I always buy waterproof leather. You should try it though; it would save you embarrassing situations like this."
"Why you annoying little…"
Once again Bianca felt the need to prevent things from getting out of control, stepping in front of Maggie and Amanda, "I'll get you a new pair. I know you must be mad, but I think there's more going on here than meets the eye."
"If anyone is buying me new shoes, it's bikini babe." Maggie yelled, then looked at Bianca, unsure what her last comment was about, but it distracted her long enough to let her cool down, at least for a moment, "What do you mean?"
Bianca leaned down and whispered into Maggie's ear, "I'm not sure, but I get this feeling that Amanda is holding in a really big secret and it's not a good one. I don't know what it is, but I was very good at keeping my eating disorder a secret, but secrets are hard to keep and a lot of times it would manifest itself into rage, anger and emotional outbursts. I don't know what her secret is, but I believe she's dealing with something very dark."
Maggie suddenly felt a bit silly yelling at Amanda, but when she looked down at her shoes, she found it really hard to smile.
End of Chapter 10
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