One More Chance by Jaycelle Rodriguez

Chapter 127: Sam and Luke's story

~~~1When God pushes you to the edge of difficulty, trust him fully because two things can happen. Either He

will catch you when you fall or He will teach you how to fly. Where you are today is no accident. He is just using

the situation you are in right now to shape and prepare you for the place He wants to bring you into

tomorrow~~~

TWO YEARS LATER...

SAM's POV:

Kringgg... Kringgg... Krnggg... "Haist!"

| slowly opened my eyes with a frown painted on my forehead as | was woken up by the loud ringing of my

phone on top of the bedside table. | checked the small rectangular clock to my left and my frown got deeper

when | saw where the small hand was pointing to and it's to the number five.

That means it's just five in the morning.

"Oh, my! Who on earth would call in this early morning, for God sake?" | muttered under my breath, reaching for

the ringing device and my mouth hung open when | saw the face of my friend, Dana. "Argh! Dana!" | growled

before swiping the answer button. "Dana, why are you calling?"

"Magandang umaga!" (Good morning!)

| rolled my eyes. "What is good in the morning when you wokeup at this early hour---" but I didn't get the

chance to finish what | was about to say when she screamed on the other line. "I'm getting married, Sam!"

"So what--- wait! What did you say?" | asked getting up in an instant.

"I said I'm getting married!"

"N-No... you're kidding!"

"But I'm not, he already proposed to me!"

"Oh, con, Dana! You just disturbed my sleep just to tellthis kind of joke?"

"But I'm not kidding, girl! He really did propose tolast night!"

"Dana---"

"I'm serious, Sam and | want you to be the first person to know about it."

"Holy cow! I'm starting to believe you! Are you serious?"

"Yes, | am!" She screamed, her voice full of excitement.

"Whoa! But how and when did it happen?" | asked again, excitement filled my sleepy mind and sanity as well.

"Well, it all happened last night!"

"Wow, congratulations, Dana! I'm happy for you! You've finally managed to tthe heart of the man of your

dreams!"

"Yup, but honestly, | still couldn't believe it. It seems like a dream. | feel like I'm just dreaming, you know."

"Hmmm... well, | can't blyou, it all happened so fast. By the way, you have to tellall the details--- as in

all the details! How he propose to you and why didn't you telllast night!"

"Oh, don't worry, I'll tell you all the details from top to bottom, so let's meet at the coffee shop by 8:00 am!"

"Fine, 8:00 am so you can help us opening the shop."

"Sure! Anyway, | have to end this call. Let's just meet later. Bye Sam."

A broad smile stretched my lips as | ended the call. And since my sleep has already been disturbed, | got up

already and went to the bathroom. | have to prepare early because | know Dana will be there before 8:00 am as

she sounded so excited and when she's excited she gets up early.

The smile playing on my lips widened as | stared at myself in the mirror. | sighed, shaking my head as the

memories of the past two years suddenly flashed back to my head.

Yes, it's been two years since then. Since those bittersweet memories happened into my life. It's been two years

since | got divorced, well, we got divorced and so many things happened after that. It's also been two years

since | last saw Luke, my ex-husband and that was when he visited Cali before going to Canada for their

company expansion. And since then we have never seen each other again. Well, honestly, it waswho tried to

cover my ears and ignore any news or thing about him because | really wanted to move on. It was so hard at

first. Making decisions that you know your heart never wanted, but at that time, | know it's the best thing I could

do. It's the right thing we could do.

And to convince myself that | was fine and slowly moving forward in life, | left California and tried my luck to find

myself in different cities and places my feet could go. | went to Greece, stayed in one of the exclusive hotels in

Santorini. | visited Germany, explored several cities in Italy. | have travelled to London, Edinburgh, Manchester

and almost all the beautiful destinations in the United Kingdom. I've also tried the famous dishes in Greece,

mesmerized by the alpine scenery and scenic train rides in Switzerland and to sother countries in Europe.

| also found myself travelling around Asia and then went back to America and travelled again. | felt like my feet

couldn't stay in one place, so | left again and went to the Middle East. But as | wandered almost around the world

for a year, | realized that the peace | was looking for has becmore elusive.

Not until | met Dana Rodriguez, a half-American and half-Filipina when | went to the Philippines. She's a

psychologist and since she also has a witty personality just like my best friend Jack, we instantly becclose

friends. She introducedto her circle of friends and to her family much to my surprise. They treatedlike

their own daughter that really warmed my heart.

| learned a lot of things from her, from learning their language, riding on a vehicle they called jeepney and of

course, living a life full of hope and positivity. Through her help, | began to find myself again and learned to let

go of all the grudges against the past that seemed to stopfrom reaching my dreams and happiness.

We started our coffee shop business in BonifaGlobal City in Taguig. The swith the business | left in Los

Angeles and New York. | had the courage to leave or should | say | dared to leave what | had in LA because |

knew Jack was there. She was the one handling our shop in Los Angeles while her mother was in charge of our

shop in New York.

And speaking of Jack, my best friend, well, she's now happily married to none other than her mortal enemy---my

brother. Yes, they're already married a year after | left Los Angeles and chose to stay in the Philippines. | was

surprised, no, | think surprised isn't the right word to describe what | felt when | heard the news that the two

were getting married.

Dumbfounded.

Yes, | was really dumbfounded and speechless for | don't know how many minutes.

Well, it was a long tago when | knew that they had feelings for each other, but Jack being Jack, the most

stubborn woman | have ever met, always denying her feelings towards my giant of a jerk and arrogant brother.

But now, she's already pregnant with their first child. 'First' because Dale said he wanted a big family and the

swith Jack.

And my daughter, she's now ten years old and jeez--- my head was spinning every tshe mentioned one of

her classmates. A guy classmate or should | say a 'boy' because they are still young and that has a name

Christian. For heaven sake, she's only ten and now starting to have a crush! But... the most beautiful thing that

happened for the last two years was that we becmore close.

Our relationship as a mother and daughter wasn't affected by the things that happened betweenand her

father. She doesn't keep a secret fromand | do the same. We often called each other and sometimes my

parents took her to the Philippines to visit me.

I sighed, but not the sad kind of sigh. It was a different sigh that contained contentment and happiness. |

remember my mother once said 'One day, when you remember what happened in the past and that you have

already moved on, you will just smile and thank that it all happened in your life because it had made you a tough

and resilient person.’

Well, upon looking myself in the mirror, | can say that what my mother said was true. | can now smile and even

laugh whenever | remember those difficult moments in my life.