The bright light soon woke her up. Once she opened her eyes, the bright sun was blinding her eyes. She lifted her hand to block the sunlight. She then found herself in her bed, as it was 6 in the morning.
She immediately noticed the bandage on her finger. She quickly sat up and looked for the book. The two books were still on her nightstand. She grabbed the book and started flipping through the pages to find nothing had changed. The story was the same as she always remembered it. She set the book down and stared at the empty space. It was as if it was all in her head or just a long dream....
She quickly changed out of her pajamas and hurried to the bookstore with the book tightly in her hands. She didn't know why, but she felt she needed to go to the bookstore.
To her surprise, the bookstore had the author of the book as a guest and was signing autographs of her latest novel. She saw tons of people gathered around the shop. Her legs immediately took her to get in line with the others to get their book signed. It was finally her turn, as she was the last person in line. The author greeted her with a smile.
"How do you like my book?" the author asked, but before Xiaomei could answer, the author noticed the book Xiaomei was holding. "Oh! I haven't seen that book in a long time. Have you read the second volume?" the author said enthusiastically with her eyes bright.
"No...I have not," Xiaomei said as she was surprised. She didn't know there was a second volume. If she knew, she would have read it.
"Aww, that's too bad you haven't read it yet. It looks like you like the series," the author said. Soon, the author started looking for something in her bag. She then pulled out a book with a beautiful cover. "This is the second volume. Since you like my books, I will give it to you as a gift," the author handed her the book. Before Xiaomei could speak, the author added, "You know most people like the second volume more than the first, but I'll let you be the judge of that." The author smiled at her.
_______
Xiaomei was long gone as it was just the author and the bookstore owner alone in the cozy shop. The store had closed for the day, and the bookstore owner came up behind the author.
"Won't you get into trouble for giving her that book about her past life?" the bookstore owner said, glancing at the author, who just smiled.
"Of course, I will get into trouble, but I can't help it. He's been waiting far too long," the author said, looking out the glass window.
"You know we can't interfere or force," the bookstore owner said, looking at the author.
"I know...," the author softly chuckled, "But I'm not technically interfering or forcing. I'm just helping them since she is so busy and doesn't seem to have the time to find him, but I will leave the rest to them."
"Don't come crying to me when you get into trouble for getting too emotionally involved with your cases," the bookstore owner said, crossing his arms.
"Yeah, yeah, but doesn't their love story break your heart?" the author said, looking at the bookstore owner.
"Mmm," the bookstore owner softly agreed and slightly nodded.
"Now it's up to them...," the author said as they both looked out of the window in the direction where Xiaomei had left.