It wasn't at first sight

Chapter 51

Saturday.

Hanna gets up from the bed as soon as she hears Caleb close the front door downstairs. She takes a quick shower, blow-dries her hair, does her makeup, and after packing a suitcase, she is ready to leave. She takes Chocolate in her car and drops him off at Ashley's before hitting the road, since she still has the key to her mother's house.

Only an hour later, she gets a call from Ashley and answers it through the speaker, since she is driving.

Hanna "Hey, mom!"

Ashley "Hi, honey! Do you mind filling me in on why I just woke up and found Chocolate at my bedroom door?"

Hanna "Oh, yeah... I'm sorry, mom. I was going to call you later. I have to take care of some things, and Caleb is out of town with Toby. Would you mind keeping Chocolate until tomorrow?"

Ashley "Yeah, no problem. Is everything alright?"

Hanna "Yes, mom. Everything is fine. I'm just too busy."

Ashley "Okay, then... See you tomorrow."

Hanna "Bye, mom!" She ends the call.

That reminds her that she didn't even let Lucas know she was coming to New York, so she sends him a voice message: "Hey, Lucas! How are you doing? Please tell me you're in New York! I'm on my way there, and I really need to see you... I kind of need some business advice. Please let me know if you have time to meet up with me today... or it could be tomorrow too, not too late though, because I have to go back to Rosewood. Anyway, just let me know."

Lucas replies with a simple text a couple of minutes later: "Sure, Han. Let's have dinner tonight."

Hanna smiles and sends him another voice message: "Thank you, Lucas. You are the best!"

/

Hanna checks into a modest but still nice hotel. She decides to make the best of her day in New York City and heads to Manhattan. There, she grabs a quick lunch and dedicates most of her time to visit clothing stores, paying special attention to the dresses, and realizing her designs have nothing to envy about them. Later, she returns to her hotel to freshen up for her dinner with Lucas, and then she drives to the address he sends her.

She finds herself at a very nice, modern, but small restaurant. After taking a look around, she spots Lucas seated at one of the tables on the side.

Hanna "Hey, Lucas!" She greets him warmly, with a kind smile on her face, while taking a seat in front of him.

Lucas "Hey, Han!" He smiles back.

Hanna "Thanks for making time to see me."

Lucas "Sure." He hands her the menu.

Hanna "So, what's the specialty here? Do you come often to this place? Seems very nice." She says while taking a look at the menu.

Lucas "Yeah, it's actually my favorite place. You should try the New York Strip Steak here. It's absolutely delicious."

Hanna "Great! I'm trying that one, then." She closes the menu and puts it aside. "So, how have you been? Busy as always?"

Lucas chuckles. "Yeah, you just said it. But I don't have to explain it to you, you are a businesswoman now, so you must be just as busy as me."

Hanna sighs. "Yeah... but unlike you, I kind of suck at businesses... That's why I'm here."

The waiter approaches their table to take their order, so Lucas orders for both of them, and then they resume their conversation.

Lucas "So, how can I help you?"

Hanna "I need your advice, Lucas... I'm working my ass off, but it seems like I can never catch up with anything. I'm running here and there, and now one of my seamstresses hurt her wrist. This, along with Sean's wedding, was enough to destabilize everything, and now I had to close my store because I only have a few dresses left in there. I'm almost out of stock, and at this point, I can't think of a good way to overcome this... I mean, I would need to hire like ten women to make dresses for me to be able to reopen the store in a short time, not to mention the website. But even if I did, I can't come up with as many designs in such a little time. It's just me designing. Even if I hired more people, which I couldn't afford either way, I wouldn't have enough designs ready for them to work on. This is a total disaster, Lucas." She rushes through her concerns, barely taking a breath between her words.