2000 - Bucciarati's suit

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6 months passed, and Fugo had disappeared out of Lira's life. "He never came back for that expensive cool suit," she thought to herself and sighed. Even though she worried about her friend, business had been getting better and slowly started occupying more space in her mind. She quit her job at the bakery to take care of her mother and take over the shop. Her mother became chronically ill, and Lira knew it was the drinking. But being able to fully take over the tailoring business seemed to breathe new life in it, and customers started to return once they heard Lira was in charge. Even new customers were starting to appear.

Lira thought it was silly to believe in superstitions or ghosts, but she started to wonder if the appearance of her lucky cat had something to do with the uptick in business. A few days after Fugo disappeared, she noticed a solid brown cat circling around her as she talked to a potential customer outside.

"Hi, yes, this has always been an alterations shop but it's under new ownership, and I'm the owner!" the 17-year-old girl laughed nervously, trying not to look like a desperate and starving teenage seamstress.

"Eh, the last time I came here, the stitching wasn't even straight!" a short man with sausage fingers said to her dismissively. Lira just grinned painfully. That's when she saw the brown cat waltz over and rub on the man's leg. He seemed to not even notice it, but Lira thought some magic must have rubbed off, because then the guy said, "Eh, why not, I bet you're great at this!" before opening the door to the shop for her and following her inside.

There were countless interactions like that over the last few months. The cat drew people in, but nobody ever noticed it except Lira. It's like they didn't see it. Eventually, one night when Lira was getting ready for bed, the brown cat just materialized, floating in the middle of the room before saying "Miaou!" and softly landing on the bed. That's when Lira knew it was a ghost. Or maybe Fugo died in the mafia and came back as a cat. Whatever it was, the cat was good luck.

~*~

Lira had scraped the worn old lettering off the small front window that read "Tailor and Alterations" and had begun stenciling in new letters that didn't look so crappy and weathered. She got as far as "Ta" when a deep voice as smooth as melted chocolate spoke up from behind her.

"Is this still the alterations place?" the man asked.

"Mmhm, I'm just cleaning up the window a bit," Lira said not looking up at the man, her gaze fixed on writing out the letter "i."

"Are you Lira?" the man asked, making her suddenly turn to look at him. He was tall and thin, with a killer jawline. His hair was black and cut into a bob, which on anyone else would have looked ridiculous, but he worked it. His large blue eyes peered down his sharp nose at her intensely, and she started to shrink, until she noticed the white suit.

 His large blue eyes peered down his sharp nose at her intensely, and she started to shrink, until she noticed the white suit

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"Hey, I know that suit," she said. "I'm pretty sure you got it tailored here a couple of years ago, right? How's it holding up?" She eyed his exposed wrists and ankles where he had obviously grown out of the tailoring.

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