Second Chance

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

Come December, James would be done with school completely and earn his Masters degree. He worked hard for this and his last semester was no exception; the semester was difficult enough especially juggling work, school, and wedding planning. But James was never a quitter and wouldn't give up now; in the midst of everything that was happening James was busy making sure his groomsmen and best man had the right suits for the wedding amongst everything else. Women usually took over the role of wedding planning but, he didn't want Mallorie to have every responsible on her shoulder, so he did his best to help Mallorie in any way he could. Mallorie was coming down to Texas for 2 weeks during her winter break so that they could work on the wedding.

On Monday, James had an appointment with the tailor to get measured and get his tuxedo made so after he finished his shift he made his way to the parking lot where his car was. But as soon as he got to his car, he stopped in his tracks, his windshield was completely shattered along with the driver car window, wow , you've got to be kidding me, who on earth would do this? It's obvious that a desperate person wanted some money so they broke into his car, thankfully he had his wallet secure with him in person and his 22 inch rims were still intact on his Lexus 2013 250. Now, he had to call his insurance and the police to file a report. Just what I need he thought to himself. He also had to call the tailor shop and let them know that he would be late to his appointment.

17 minutes later a police officer arrived and asked James a series of questions and let James know that he would take care of the situation. Afterwards, James opted to drive his Lexus with the shattered windshield to his tailor appointment. When he got there, he apologized for being late; then after his appointment he went and grabbed dinner from Chili's and then went back to his apartment. Then, he called Mallorie to let her know what happened and she was initially surprised and concerned, but quickly assured him that everything would be okay in the end. After talking to her, James called his insurance to see if they would cover the expenses and after talking to them for almost 3 hours literally, his insurance agreed to cover the cost. Now, all he had to do was wait 2 weeks until his car would be completely repaired.

***************

The following 2 weeks, his car was finally repaired and he was relieved from worrying about his car and focused back on his classes and work. When December came, James finished his semester and passed all his classes with A's and B's. And then, on December 5, James received his Master's degree in the mail and all the hard work that he did finally payed off, he couldn't be any prouder of himself. As soon as he received it, he called his parents to which they were extremely proud of him and let him know that they were sending him an early wedding/graduation gift. Then, his fiance called and congratulated him as well and when Mallorie's winter break came, she spent two weeks in Texas and they went out on a congratulatory date in honor of James getting his Master's degree.

While Mallorie was in Texas, she and James were able to finalize some major elements to their intimate wedding including the wedding venue and reception hall. In terms of food for the reception, Mallorie's mom and grandmother volunteered to help make the food. All around, the food was mainly going to be a combination of Caribbean and French food primarily, with a hint of American food. However, after Mallorie's and James's celebratory date their one on one time decreased because Mallorie was consumed with wedding details so before she knew it, she was already on a plane back to Erie, Pennsylvania to finish her last semester in school.

Mallorie worked extremely hard during the last few months of her senior year and she finished overall with a 3.83 cumulative GPA. The following weekend before her graduation ceremony, James, Mallorie's mom, and grandmother flew to Erie. When her mom and grandmother arrived, Mallorie flew into their arms and embraced them warmly. It felt so good to see her mom and grandmother, she miss them so much! And in a few short hours her fiance would be landing. When James arrived, Mallorie was at the airport ready and waiting for him while her mom and grandmother were at a hotel; when she saw James she ran into his arms and he caught her waist and picked her up.