Chapter 1: Welcome To Heaven

　　After three long years, Gigi Geffrey was back in Illinois. For some people, that was definitely

　　good news, amazing news. It meant that an angel was back on its birth place: heaven. For some

　　others, the vast majority, that meant the devil was back in action. If someone asked Gigi which

　　group she thought it was the most accurate one, she would not know what to answer. Although

　　three years seemed like a long time to her, it was not enough time for some of the open wounds

　　she had left to completely heal. In fact, she had not even forgiven herself for what she did before

　　she left.

　　However, she could not describe the positive energy that went through her body as soon as the

　　plane landed at her hometown.

　　The flight, as she had imagined, sucked. She had to deal with a crying baby sitting next to her, a

　　two-year-old brunette girl who did not have enough hours of sleep and wanted to ruin everyone

　　else's sleeping hours, and a lady sitting behind her who spent the entire time complaining about

　　every single thing she could think of. Gigi was already nervous, but after that flight she almost

　　wanted to jump out of that plane. Going back to Chicago was not easy

especially for her

and the

　　people on the plane only made her get into a negative mindset. Nevertheless, Illinois knew exactly

　　how to make feel better. So, when she heard the stewardess announcing that they had arrived at

　　their final destiny, she felt relieved to be where she was.

　　As fast as she could, she managed to go through security and grab her bags in less than half an

　　hour. She immediately spotted her mom waving at her with a smile on her face behind the big

　　airport door. Gigi was wearing heels so she could not run to where she was standing but she wished

　　she had wings instead of legs so she could hug her mom as quick as possible. But her bags were

　　heavy and she was not really athletic so she had to painfully speed walk, something she hated.

　　Her mom looked beautiful, she had not aged a day, she had stayed just as Gigi remembered

even

　　though they had seen each other in person six months ago and had regular videocalls every single

　　night

. She was rocking mom jeans and a big pink jacket that made her look like a pop star.

　　When they finally hugged and Gigi could feel her perfume, she felt at home for the first time. She

　　had really missed her mom, maybe it was the only thing she had really excruciatingly missed.

　　They did not have to say anything to each other, just by the look on their faces they could

　　understand how happy they were to be reuniting with one another again.

　　"I can't believe you're finally here!" Her mom was her biggest fan, it could be said she was the

　　president of the "Gigi is an angel back in heaven" club.

　　Gigi was feeling her "I'm famous" fantasy walking around the airport like if it was a runway

　　gaining a few looks from people who probably knew her. She was not exactly worried about

　　people knowing her, yet she was embarrassed for what it was being said about the last thing she

　　did before leaving.

　　Greeting her dad was a whole another story. If she thought the hug with her mom was too much,

　　that was not even a starting point in a race. Of course she knew her dad and the fact that he was

　　not a demonstrative person, not even herself was a big fan of affectionate demonstrations but she

　　was at least expecting a hug and she did not even get a hand shake.

　　"You look different" It was the only thing he expressed and Gigi convinced herself that it was

　　enough for her.

　　As soon as she got into her dad's car and her eyes started seeing the city again, she noticed how

　　nothing had changed at all. It was not like she was expecting anything to change and, to be honest,

　　it would have broken her heart seeing that something had changed for the better and dramatically

　　realizing that leaving was a mistake in the first place. But the same employees were still working

　　at the same stores, the main mall of the city looked exactly the same

completely damaged

and

　　the same kids were still having the habit of hanging out at the same park full of trees. The most

　　important thing to Gigi though, was that the feeling of finally being at home was present.

　　She struggled a lot to leave the place at which she had spent her whole life at. Even though at first

　　Gigi thought that college was a place where you went only to please your parents, she then

　　discovered that she wanted to please herself and only herself. So, at the middle of her second

　　semester in law school she went to Los Angeles to enroll in fashion school. The love she felt for

　　clothes and designing was the only thing that kept her living in LA. Well, that and a couple of

　　other interesting things she found on the way.

　　When the car rounded the corner of her house, Gigi could not help but smile. Her house, as the rest

　　of the places she had just seen, looked exactly like she remembered. The Geffrey's lived in a big

　　modern house with two floors. On the outside, they had a beautiful entrance with white stairs and

　　a just cut grass and some decorations to make it look more warmth. Gigi was sure that if you

　　searched well enough, you could find her house on a furniture magazine.

　　And it was not like she was expecting less from her family. Her dad was a well-known business

　　man who had no intention of having a close relationship with his own daughter

maybe that's why

　　Gigi had so many "daddy issues"

and her mom was a wedding planner. They really cared about

　　the image they presented to the world and their house was one of the main things to show to

　　people, so it had to be perfect.

　　Gigi sometimes wished they had a little bit less luxurious house but still, she was really grateful

　　and happy with the place she had been living in; it was her safe place

until she started finding

　　her safe place in people and not in actual spaces

.

　　Her dad parked the car and Gigi's fingers were impatient to open the car door to get outside. She

　　was so tired of not being able to walk as much as she wanted, that flight was enough. And there

　　was also the fact that she couldn't wait to lay in bed and do absolutely nothing, she was exhausted

　　for those last college weeks she had to go through.

　　"I'm so glad we are finally all together at home!" Her mom murmured with excitement while Gigi

　　nearly jumped out of the car.

　　"Welcome home, Gigi" Her dad announced and to Gigi it sounded more like "Welcome to heaven,

　　Geffrey"