I Have A Boyfriend

Chapter 5

Sylvia’s POV

“Yes!” Pretzel said yes.

The moment the words left her mouth, the room erupted. Cheers filled the air. People clapped, some whistled, and someone at the back shouted loud enough to make everyone laugh.

I stood there with my hands clasped together, watching Ivan slide the ring onto her finger.

The ring caught the light. A large diamond. Beautiful. Perfect. Everything about the moment was perfect. And somehow, I couldn’t breathe.

Pretzel stared at the ring as though she were seeing it for the first time. Her mouth fell open. Her eyes widened. She covered her lips with one hand.

“Oh my God.”

The crowd cheered again.

She looked at Ivan, and he smiled at her. A real smile this time. Not the forced one I’d seen at the airport. Not the tired smile he’d given me in the car. This one was different. Warm. Soft. Happy.

Something inside my chest cracked. I swallowed. This is why he was acting strange. Of course. He had been preparing for this. The proposal. The ring. The decorations. The secrecy. Everything suddenly made sense.

I’d spent hours helping him choose flowers and candles, thinking I was helping a colleague. I had been decorating the room for the man I loved to propose to another woman. I forced myself to smile. Everyone around me was celebrating. I couldn’t be the one person standing there looking miserable. So I clapped. I cheered. I smiled.I even laughed when Pretzel hugged the women closest to her.

“Thank you!” she called out, her voice filled with excitement. “Thank you, everyone!” One by one, people began approaching her. Congratulations. Hugs. Kisses. Handshakes. Pictures.More cheers.

I stayed where I was. My feet felt rooted to the floor. I watched Ivan. He looked happy. Or perhaps he was simply very good at pretending. Then again, what did I know? Five years was a long time. Maybe the man I had known before I left no longer existed. Maybe I’d been holding on to a version of Ivan that had only existed because I was young enough to believe in forever.

People slowly began leaving. The music lowered.The laughter faded. The room emptied until only a handful of people remained. I finally picked up my purse. I needed to leave. I needed air. I needed somewhere I could fall apart without an audience.I had barely taken two steps when I heard my name.

“Sylvia?”

I froze. I turned. Pretzel stood beside Ivan, one hand linked with his. The sight nearly stopped my heart. Her engagement ring glittered between us.

“Yes?”

“Thank you for coming.” She smiled.

“Congratulations.” I forced my lips upward.

“I mean it.”

She stepped closer.

“I wasn’t sure you’d come.”

I frowned slightly.

Why wouldn’t I?

Before I could ask, she continued.

“Given our history, I wasn’t expecting you to celebrate with me.”

My stomach tightened.

Our history.

There it was.

The polite words wrapped around an insult.

I smiled anyway.

“Today isn’t about our history.”

Her smile widened.

“Exactly.”

She glanced around the room.

“I loved everything.”

My eyebrows lifted.

“The decorations?”

“Everything. The flowers, the lighting, the arrangement…” She looked genuinely impressed. “I had no idea you were this good.”

I glanced at Ivan.

His expression was unreadable.

“Thank you.”

“I heard you’re a designer.”

“I am.”

“And Ivan told me he paid for your interior decorating certification.”

I went still.

I could feel Bella’s presence somewhere behind me, but I couldn’t look at her.

Pretzel continued.

“It would be such a shame to waste his money.”

My fingers tightened around my purse.

There it was. The reminder. Ivan had sponsored my education. Paid for the certification I’d needed to turn something I loved into something I could actually build a career from. And now…He was engaged.

Whatever future I had imagined with him was gone. Whatever financial support I’d quietly depended on was about to disappear too. I had no idea what would happen next.

So when Pretzel smiled and said, “I’d love you to decorate our wedding,” I couldn’t immediately answer.

“Your wedding?”

“Yes.”

She squeezed Ivan’s hand.

“After seeing what you’ve done tonight, I wouldn’t trust anyone else.”

I looked at the ring on her finger. Then at their intertwined hands. Then back at her.

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

She stepped closer.

“I know that given our history, this may seem strange.”

She laughed softly.

“But I don’t want there to be any awkwardness between us. I want you there.”

I almost laughed. There? She wanted me there.At her wedding. To Ivan. The man I’d spent five years waiting for. And now she wanted me to decorate the place where they would say their vows. It was cruel. But perhaps that was what life had decided to make of me.

I smiled.

“I’ll do it.”

Pretzel ’s face lit up.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you!”

She hugged me before I could prepare for it.

I stood stiffly in her arms.

“I can’t wait to work with you.”

She pulled away.

“And I hope you don’t mind if I make you my official interior decorator.”

“I don’t mind.”

Her fingers brushed possessively over Ivan’s arm as she leaned against him.

“I want everything perfect for my wedding to my husband.”

My heart twisted at the word. Husband. I looked away. Before the silence could become unbearable, Bella appeared beside me.

“Oh, you didn’t even have to ask!”

I turned toward her. She was smiling like she’d just heard the most wonderful news in the world.

“Sylvia is going to make this wedding beautiful. And She’ll come with her boyfriend.”

Ivan’s head snapped toward us.

“Boyfriend?”

His voice was so quiet that I almost wished he’d shouted.

Bella looked at him.

“Yes.”

She smiled innocently.

“Her boyfriend.”

Ivan’s eyes moved from Bella to me. I couldn’t read his expression. Neither could I explain why my heart suddenly felt like it was trying to escape my chest.

Pretzel smiled.

“Of course.”

She looked at me.

“Then I look forward to meeting him.”

I forced a laugh.

“So do I.”

Bella squeezed my arm.

“We should go.”

I nodded.

“Yes.”

The moment the doors closed behind us, I released a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. Bella remained silent for several seconds.

“Are you taking the job?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

I looked at her.

“Because I don’t have another option.”

“He’s no longer my sponsor, Bells.”

The words hurt, More than I expected.

“So I’ll work.”

“How are you going to handle the boyfriend thing?”

“I’ll rent one.”