All Chapters of Two Different Lights: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

9 Chapters

Chapter 1

I did not argue this time.The suit catalog hit the floor, spilling out the at-home wedding plans I had drawn myself.Jeff Smith's daughter stepped right onto one of the pages. Her shoeprint landed squarely on the floor plan I had spent hours drawing by hand. He quickly pulled the little girl away."Enzo, I'm sorry."Before I could say anything, Harriet Rogers had already picked up the child and started soothing her. "It's okay. Don't cry."Tania Smith wrapped her arms around Harriet's neck, sniffling.Harriet looked up at me. "Enzo, it's just a suit catalog. Don't scare her."I picked up the page with the dirty shoeprint and stood. "What did I say?"She froze for a moment, as if realizing she had gone too far, then slowly reached out to touch my shoulder. I instinctively stepped back, and her hand stopped in midair, hovering between us. "Enzo, you know what Jeff is dealing with right now. His ex-wife keeps using his living situation against him. She says he can't properly ta

Chapter 2

When I got back to the shop, I pushed open the door to the little room I had been using as a bedroom and shoved my suit catalog deep into the bottom of my suitcase.This room used to be a storage closet. I had cleared it out myself and made it livable. The bed was a folding cot that I kept against the wall, and the wardrobe was something I had found at a secondhand store.Back then, Harriet had stood in the doorway watching me work. She even laughed. "Just hang in there a little longer. Once we get the new house, you won't have to live somewhere like this anymore."I believed her.Behind the door, the countdown board I had made myself was still hanging in place. It had started at 180 days, and every morning since then, I would cross off another day. Today, there was only one day left.I stood there for a while, staring at it, before finally reaching up and taking it down. There was not much to pack, so I was ready in no time. By the time Harriet returned, I was already dragging

Chapter 3

After returning to the main store, I went back to work as usual.Harriet came looking for me three times.The first time, she called. "Enzo, send me the supplier's phone number."I sent it to her without saying another word.The second time, she came straight to the employee dorm. "Where did you put the inventory loss report?"I stood in the doorway and looked at her. "It's archived on the computer. You can find it yourself."The third time, she came upstairs and knocked on my door. This time, the exhaustion on her face was obvious. "Come back and help run things for a while. If this keeps going, we're going to have problems at several stores."I pulled the operations manual I had put together from the cabinet and placed it in my suitcase right in front of her. She reached for it, but I zipped the suitcase shut."These are my personal notes."Her expression froze. "Enzo, seriously? Are you still mad at me?"I did not explain.Whether she saw it as me being petty or holding a

Chapter 4

I spent the next day going through the handover documents and settling all the accounts.Harriet burst through the door. "I'm not approving your resignation."I did not even look up. "Then we'll follow the proper process."She slammed her phone onto the desk. "Enzo, don't take your feelings out on your work."I stopped writing."There's no place for me in the new house. You replaced me with him as the store manager. Even on opening day, the person you thanked was someone else."Her voice softened. "I know I've neglected you. However, Jeff needs someone right now. Just put up with it for a little longer. I'll make it up to you later."I let out an icy laugh. "Every time this happens, you ask me to wait. And every time I look up, someone else is standing beside you."Harriet took out a ring box and pushed it toward me. "It's not like I've never thought about marrying you. I bought the ring a long time ago."I opened the box and took out the ring, then slipped it onto my ring fin

Chapter 5

When I arrived in the city, the rain had just stopped. I sat on the edge of the bed and stared into space for a while.My phone lit up. It was a message from Larisse: [Report at 8:00 am tomorrow. Your hand hasn't healed. Don't push yourself.]I stared at those lines for a few seconds before slowly turning off my phone.The training was more intense than I had expected. During the day, I followed the instructors and learned how to run a store. At night, I worked in the kitchen and practiced the whole process from start to finish.One day, the instructor was explaining how to deal with orders piling up during the dinner rush. I had barely heard the beginning when I instinctively wrote down all the problem areas.The trainee sitting beside me leaned over to take a look. He froze."What did you do before this?"I said, "Kitchen."He looked like he did not believe me. "You worked in the kitchen, and you know all this?"I smiled and did not explain.During the second week of traini

Chapter 6

The old store was even worse than I had imagined.When the assistant manager, Alicia Kane, met me, the first thing she did was put a stack of resignation letters on the desk. "Mr. Gibson, honestly, this place can't be saved."I flipped through the papers without saying anything. Then I asked, "Who's working today?"She looked surprised for a second before listing a few names.I pushed the resignation letters aside."Let's have a meeting first."The employees stood around loosely. Some were still looking down at their phones.I did not lecture them. I simply put the store's sales numbers and customer complaints from the past six months up on the screen."This store isn't short on customers. The problem is that once customers come here, they don't want to come back."Someone in the crowd gave a mocking laugh. "The equipment is junk, everything's old, and the company won't spend any money. Doesn't matter who comes in. It'll be the same."I nodded. "I'll submit requests for anyth

Chapter 7

Six months later, the company was preparing to expand into the city where Harriet lived.During a meeting, Larisse asked me, "Do you want to go back?"I closed the file in front of me. "I do."I was not going back to settle old scores. I was going back to open a store.The location was just a short distance from the main store. The workers held up the floor plans and asked me where the prep counters should go. I crouched on the floor, redrawing the layout without even looking up."Leave this area open. Otherwise, it'll get crowded during the rush. Don't put the freezer next to the hot zone. The food loss will be too high."They took notes as I spoke, calling me 'boss' as they worked.That was when Harriet came by. She stood outside the door and did not come in right away.Only after I finished did she walk up to me. "Enzo, can we talk?"I checked the time. "Ten minutes."We stood on the steps outside the store.She was much thinner than she used to be. Her sleeves were rolle

Chapter 8

The day the new store opened, a line of customers stretched all the way outside.Nash Lawson, an employee from another branch, had also been transferred over to help. He stood at the pickup counter, checking orders and calling out numbers."Mr. Gibson, order 27 is ready!"I stepped out of the kitchen and glanced across the dining area. "Don't pile the delivery orders at the pickup counter. Move them to the right. Move the tasting table back another foot. It's blocking the line."The workers immediately got to work.When the opening ceremony began, one of the company executives stepped up to the front and picked up the microphone."From choosing the location and adjusting the menu to building the team, Enzo Gibson has been the person in charge every step of the way."Applause filled the room.I stood on the stage without stepping behind anyone.The executive continued, "He's proven something today. Someone who truly understands how to run a store doesn't have to spend their who

Chapter 9

Two years later, I became the regional operations director, overseeing more than a dozen stores. I was constantly on the road, sitting through one endless meeting after another, while my phone seemed to ring nonstop.However, for once, all that hard work had my name on it.With the money I had saved over the years, I bought a two-bedroom apartment. It was not big. One bedroom was for sleeping, and the other became my home office.On the day I got the keys, the realtor handed them to me. "Congratulations, Mr. Gibson."I took them and held them in my hand for a long time. I did not hand them over to anyone.After I moved in, I filled half a wall with books and put my grandmother's photograph beside my bed. The suit catalog was still there, but I never opened it again. I tucked it away with the other old things, deep inside the closet.My mother came to stay for a few days. She sat on the couch, staring out the window, then she suddenly smiled. "It feels different living in a place

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