The Dragon King's Heart

On the day of the grand opening, Laina was over the moon. Everything had to be perfect. She had hired new staff to work in the store and placed ads in the local paper to promote the opening. 

For the event, everyone was dressed in their best outfits. 

"Are you sure you want to keep me hidden?" Dante pouted a little as he folded his arms in disappointment. 

Laina had asked him to keep his presence in Luzernia a secret. She knew that if everyone knew he was here, the store would be packed to the brim with onlookers. 

"I'm sure of it," Laina assured him as she straightened the tie around his neck, "Thank you for respecting my wishes."

Dante leaned in and kissed her on the forehead, "Anything for my one and only."

Laina wanted the store to be successful on its own merits. She did not want to ride on others coattails, even if that person was Dante. 

Margaret knocked on the door before entering. 

"Is everything ready?" Laina turned to ask as Margaret came up to her. 

"Yes. Everyone is."

With that, they all left the room and headed downstairs. Everyone had gathered on the shop floor, excited for the opening. The entire space had been decked out with decorations lining every single display. 

With everyone in tow, Laina headed out of the store to commence the ribbon-cutting ceremony. She was pleasantly surprised to see the turnout. There was already a line of customers waiting eagerly to enter. 

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"I have not seen you this happy in a while," Dante whispered to her as he wrapped his arm around her waist.

Laina was beaming. Her smile was as bright as the afternoon sun. 

"What are you talking about?" Laina chuckled, "I am always happy. I am the happiest when I have you by my side."

Laina held onto Dante's hand, gazing into his eyes as he did the same. Their fingers were interlocked with each other. Neither one of them ever wanted to let go. 

Seeing the long line of customers and the crowd that had gathered for the opening, Laina was ready for the opening ceremony. Everyone else gathered outside the storefront to hear her speech. 

Dante leaned in and whispered in her ear, "You're doing great, my dear. Take in a deep breath and show them what you're made of."

Laina nodded as she whispered a word of thanks to him. She reluctantly let go of his hand as she took a step forward to address everyone who had turned up for the shop opening. 

"Thank you everyone for coming together for this shop opening," she could see the eager faces and wide smiles from where she stood. 

This was a good day. 

"I will not bore you with a long speech. I would just like to thank each and every one of you who stuck by my side," Laina made eye contact with everyone who had helped. 

"Without your support, none of this would have been possible. Thank you for believing in me," Laina received a pair of golden scissors from Margaret.

She turned back to the crowd and declared, "Without further ado, I am happy to announce that The Goldie Finch is officially open!"

Laina snipped the ribbon flower at the entrance of the shop as onlookers cheered and applauded. The first customers began to enter the store to look. The sales assistants were quick on their feet, attending to every customer who walked in. 

The turnout was a lot larger than expected. All hands were on deck. Even Dante helped. Laina took Lady Wilma's advice and introduced a mainline of jewelry pieces for the masses. 

Thin chains with small discrete gemstones on them that were suitable for everyday wear. Amongst those who had come into the store were rich merchants. Some of them were long-time jewelers with many years of experience. 

They too were in awe of the craftsmanship The Goldie Finch had to offer. A traveling merchant even approached Laina to discuss a wholesale shipment of her jewelry pieces. 

"You're doing great, Laina," Dante praised as he came over to her with a glass of water and a slice of cake. 

"But you need to eat too," he recalled as he placed the food and water in front of her. 

Laina smiled as she rewarded him with a quick kiss on the cheek, "Thank you for taking care of me. I'll just finish serving this customer-"

"No," Dante objected as he pulled her to the side and stuffed the plate and glass in her hands, "I can handle it. You take a rest."

She could not protest his decision any further so she gave up and found a corner to sit and rest. Laina had been up on her feet since the morning. She did not even have the time to look at the queue outside the shop. 

As far as she could tell, they've had a steady stream of customers all day. Laina took a big bite of the strawberry shortcake on her plate. The fluffy cheese cream between each layer of airy vanilla chiffon topped with fresh strawberries was just the sugar boost she needed. 

"Miss Laina! Miss Laina!" Laina perked up as she heard someone call out for her. 

One of the retail assistants she had hired was wading her way through the packed shop floor to get to her. When she finally made it to Laina, she was panting and gasping for air. 

"What's wrong?" Laina asked, her eyebrows furrowed. 

Did something happen?

"We... we ran out of the topaz mini heart necklaces, Miss Laina. What should we do? The customer I am attending to wants one," she explained. 

Before she could reply, another shop assistant came up to her. Followed by another. 

"My customer wants one too."

"So does mine! What should we do, Miss Laina? What do we tell them?"

Laina was surprised. 

"We ran out? But we had at least ten of them, ten with the gold chain, silver chain, and rose gold. We should have thirty pieces in total." 

"Yes, Miss Laina! But we're all out.. I double-checked, no. Triple checked the backroom but there were none left! We even sold the three pieces on display!"