One week later……

She sat at her kitchen table, the magazine with the photo shoot sat in front of her. She had chosen to check it out this way instead of online. She couldn’t bring herself to read the comments people were bound to post. She took a deep breath and opened it and started to flip through the pages. Her eyes lingered on every ad and she exhaled slowly as finally reached the page right before the photo shoot. She sat there, unable to bring herself to turn the page. She got up from the table and went to get a glass of cold water and came back and sat down. She sipped it and set the glass down and turned the page.

The first picture was one of her seated at a table with a cup of coffee. Her gaze was beyond the camera and she smiled softly. She remembered that one……Hyesung had stood beside the photographer and looked at the photos as they were snapped. The next was one was the one of her and Hyesung at the counter together. She was stunned at how good she looked. They had requested that no airbrushing or photoshop be done, so that people would see her as she really was. They had used the one of them sitting together to begin the question and answer section and the final photo was the one that had been taken last. She looked at it close. The men looked at the camera as if challenging the reader to say something about the woman that sat behind them. She flipped the page and was totally thrown off guard. There was a two page spread of the photo they had taken on the couch together. All she could do was think that she had been wrong on that first date when she said they didn’t belong together; she couldn’t have been more wrong. The glow that showed in the picture wasn’t just from the lighting, it came from them. They looked comfortable together and like they were in their own world, even with the guys in the background. She loved this picture the most, she almost cut it out so she could put it on her wall. But the guys had made sure she would receive prints of all the pictures taken that day. When she was finally able to tear her eyes away from it she realized it was time to head out the door for work. She grabbed the magazine and her bag and headed out to her bus stop. She noticed a few people whisper and look at her but she was too happy to care. When the bus arrived at her stop she made her way down the steps and the driver caught her arm.

“Congratulations ahgassi.” He smiled brightly at her and she returned it. He was a middle aged gentleman that been nice to her since her had been taking this bus. She was pleased he had noticed and been kind, hopefully the rest of her day would go so well. She got off the bus and walked to the cafe. She let herself in and got ready for the day. As soon as she opened the doors a group of five women walked in. They each had a copy of the magazine in their hand. She hurried to get behind the counter.

“Good morning ladies, what will you have?” She smiled brightly and waited.

“Hmmph…..”, one of them said. “I didn’t expect her to look exactly like her picture.” She had the magazine open as she looked at Celeste. One of her friends elbowed her and shushed her.

“What she means is, she didn’t expect you to be as pretty in person. Everything is so airbrushed you never know til you meet someone in person.” Her tone was apologetic. The other woman smiled sheepishly.

“Anyways, we would all like a tall iced americano, two of those extra strong, three of those muffins, chocolate chip please and a large plate of fruit.” One of the others ordered. “We wanted to be the first to congratulate you. You’re a very lucky woman.” Celeste was taken aback, this isn’t what she expected at all when they walked in. She read the order back and told them their total. The fourth woman paid. “And we wanted to tell you we support you. It’s about time he settled down and started a family. He’s not getting