The Proposal

Chapter Four

Sylvia’s POV

My phone shattered the silence of my bedroom with the kind of urgency that could only mean one person.

I groaned, burying my face deeper into my pillow before blindly reaching across the nightstand. My fingers finally found the vibrating device, and without checking the caller ID, I answered.

"Hello…" The word came out thick with sleep.

A deafening squeal erupted through the speaker. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BEST PERSON IN THE ENTIRE WORLD!"

I winced, jerking the phone away from my ear. "Bella!"

She burst into laughter, the sound bright and infectious even through the tinny speaker. "Good morning, birthday girl!"

"It would have been a good morning if you hadn't tried to burst my eardrum."

"You'll survive." I could practically hear her grinning. "Now get up. Today is your birthday. You're supposed to scream, dance, cry—something!"

"I literally just woke up."

"Exactly. Wake up faster."

I laughed despite myself, sitting upright and stretching lazily. The morning light filtered through the curtains, painting everything in shades of gold. "Thank you."

"No, no, no. That's not enough excitement." Her voice shifted into something more calculated. "So…"

I already knew that tone. "What?"

"What are we doing today?"

"We?"

"Obviously. It's your birthday. Did you think I'd let you celebrate without me?"

"I never said that."

"Good." A pause. "So?"

I leaned back against the headboard, hugging my knees to my chest. "I actually have something to do this afternoon."

Bella gasped dramatically. "Excuse me?"

"Ivan asked me to help him."

"Help him do what?"

I hesitated. "Apparently one of his colleagues is proposing to his girlfriend today."

Another gasp, this one sharper. "Oh my God."

"I know."

"So we're helping plan a proposal. Wait." Bella went quiet for a second."

"What?"

"He told you?"

I frowned. "Told me what? About the proposal?"

"Yeah."

She groaned. "Oh, Sylvia."

"What?"

"He chose your birthday. And he told you about the proposal." She started laughing, not the polite kind, but the full, uncontrollable, wheezing kind that made me pull the phone away from my ear again.

"What is so funny?"

"You actually believed him!"

I blinked. "Believed who?"

"Ivan!"

"What are you talking about?"

She laughed even harder. "Sylvia! It's supposed to be a surprise, you idiot!"

I frowned. "What is?"

"The proposal!"

"What proposal?"

Bella let out the longest sigh I'd ever heard. "You can't seriously be this oblivious."

"I genuinely have no idea what you're talking about."

"There is no colleague."

I frowned even deeper. "What do you mean there's no colleague?"

"He made that up."

"Why would he do that?"

"So he could keep the proposal a surprise!"

I stared at the wall, waiting for the punchline. "Bella. I think you've officially lost your mind."

She ignored me completely. "Think about it. He asks you to help with a mysterious proposal on your birthday, and you don't think that's suspicious?"

"No."

She groaned dramatically. "Sylvia, use your brain."

"I am using my brain."

"No, you're not!"

I laughed. "Bella, people propose every day. Not on my birthday. He's not proposing to me, he's helping a colleague."

"Not when the man is in love with the birthday girl."

I blinked. "What?"

She laughed triumphantly. "There it is."

"There what is?"

"The face you're making."

"I'm making no face."

"You're definitely making a face." Her voice softened, just slightly. "Sylvia. Come on. Even I can see it."

I shook my head. "Ivan isn't proposing to me. I don't even think he likes me that way."

Bella snorted. "Please."

"I'm serious."

"So am I."

I sighed. "You've watched too many romance movies."

"And you've lived in denial for too long."

I couldn't help laughing. "You're impossible."

"And you're clueless." She clicked her tongue. "It's the oldest trick in the book. He tells you about a fake proposal so you'll help plan it, and then, surprise, it's actually for you."

"There isn't a book."

"There absolutely is."

"Written by who?"

"Men."

That made me laugh so hard I nearly dropped my phone. "You are unbelievable."

"I know." She paused, and when she spoke again, her voice had shifted into something more deliberate. "So… I'm coming."

I blinked. "Coming where?"

"To the proposal. There’s no way I’m missing your proposal. Hell No."

"

"Go get ready," she said. "And wear something pretty."

"I always do."

"Prettier."

"I'll try."

"And Sylvia?"

"Hmm?"

"Happy birthday."

The softness in her voice made my smile widen. "Thank you."

After ending the call, I placed my phone on the bed and stared out the window. The city sprawled beneath me, endless and indifferent, full of people living their ordinary lives.

Bella's ridiculous theory echoed in my mind. Ivan is proposing to you.

I laughed to myself.

She really had been watching too many romance movies.

I didn't know yet that by the end of the day, I'd be standing in a room full of roses and candlelight, watching the man I loved kneel before someone else.

I didn't know that the proposal Bella was so certain was meant for me would shatter everything I'd spent five years believing.

But I was about to find out.