Chapter 24: Countdown
505 Words
Chapter 24: Countdown
Two weeks.
Fourteen days until “I do.”
The café had practically turned into a Pinterest board come to life. There were wedding countdown chalkboards, heart-shaped cookies in the display case, and Jordan insisted they name a latte after their love story—The Bloom Blend.
“It’s a little cheesy,” Hina said, sipping it.
He grinned. “It’s a lot cheesy. Like us.”
She couldn’t even argue.
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They’d agreed on a garden ceremony behind the conservatory. Lanterns in trees, soft violins, and wildflowers everywhere.
Lola was now officially the Maid of Honor s***h personal therapist s***h caffeine dealer.
“I swear,” she told Hina one day, “if you don’t cry walking down the aisle, I will. For the both of us.”
“Don’t tempt me,” Hina said. “I’ll ugly cry.”
“Perfect. Raw. Viral. We’re gonna break the internet.”
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Despite the joy, nerves crept in.
One night, Hina stood at the mirror, half-dressed in a trial gown fitting. She stared at herself. Not doubting the love—but everything that came with it.
Would she be enough? Wife. Partner. Businesswoman. Daughter-in-law.
Jordan stepped in quietly. “You okay?”
She turned. “Yeah. Just... looking.”
“At what?”
She met his eyes. “At the person who’s about to become yours forever.”
He stepped behind her and rested his chin on her shoulder.
“You’ve always been mine. Ring or not.”
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The next morning, packages started flooding in. Gifts from guests. Cards. Letters. A pair of monogrammed aprons that made Jordan tear up.
“I’m not crying,” he sniffled. “My eyes are just sweating.”
Lola pulled out her phone. “Tell the camera how it feels to be emotionally fragile on a Tuesday.”
“Rude.”
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The final piece was the vows.
They agreed to write them separately.
Hina sat at the back of the café one night with pen and paper.
She thought about all they’d been through—kisses behind closed doors, secret glances, family tension, fear, fights, forgiveness.
She wrote:
> "You were the line I thought I couldn’t cross. But love made me brave. And now, I want to spend every ordinary morning and chaotic night proving that choosing you will always be the best thing I’ve ever done."
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Upstairs, Jordan wrote his by the window.
> "I used to be afraid of who I was. Then you walked in and reminded me who I could be. You turned fear into fire, silence into song. I vow to keep showing up. For you. For us. Always."
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On the eve of the final week, they stood under the stars, hands clasped.
“Next time we do this,” Hina whispered, “I’ll be your wife.”
“And I’ll be the luckiest man alive.”
The countdown wasn’t just to a wedding.
It was to a promise.
To forever.
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[END OF CHAPTER 24]
- Writer
