The golden Sunday afternoon sun spilled through the wide windows of the café, painting soft honeyed streaks across the wooden floor. Anika sat at the corner table, her fingers curled around a vanilla chai latte, her mind spinning faster than her heart could keep up. Across from her, Maya — her best friend since high school — was grinning like she knew exactly what was coming.

“I swear,” Maya said, stirring her iced coffee with exaggerated slowness, “if you don’t tell me what happened in the garden last night, I’m going to explode.”

Anika laughed, her cheeks already flushing. “You’re impossible.”

“No, no. You’re the impossible one,” Maya said, leaning closer. “You show up here with stars in your eyes and a sparkly ring on that finger and think I won’t demand every single detail?”

Anika held out her hand and wiggled her fingers. The diamond glinted in the light, delicate and perfect — much like the moment it represented.

“It was… magical,” she said softly, her voice dropping to a dreamy whisper. “Jimmy took me back to the garden where we had our first real date. There were lanterns hanging from the trees, music playing in the distance, and… he was just standing there, looking at me like I was the whole universe.”

Maya gasped, clutching her chest like she was watching a proposal on a movie screen.

“He got down on one knee and said he didn’t want to waste another second not knowing if he could call me his forever. And then, just like that, he asked me to marry him.”

“Anika!” Maya squealed, drawing a few amused glances from nearby tables. “This is the stuff of rom-coms. I mean, lanterns? Garden proposals? Does he have a brother?”

Anika giggled. “You’ve met his brother. He wears socks with sandals.”

“Ugh, right. Tragic.” Maya waved her off. “Still, your man sounds like he stepped out of a dream.”

Anika nodded, her smile turning tender. “It wasn’t just about the proposal, though. It was everything. The way he looked at me… like he wasn’t just making a promise for today, but for every day after. It felt like… forever.”

Maya reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “You deserve this. All of it. The ring, the romance, the ridiculous amount of rose petals I assume were involved.”

Anika laughed. “He even had a little sign tucked under a tree that said ‘For a love that lasts a lifetime.’ I nearly cried.”

“You did cry,” Maya corrected her with a smirk. “I know you.”

They both burst into laughter, the kind that only comes from years of friendship and a love that doesn’t need proposals or rings to be real — just shared stories and time well spent.

As the sun dipped lower in the sky, casting a golden glow over the café, Anika leaned back and sighed happily.

“Guess it’s time to start planning a wedding.”

Maya raised her glass. “To a lifetime of promises — and the best maid of honor you could ever ask for.”

Anika clinked her mug against Maya’s with a grin. “Deal.”

After meeting Maya Anika went home with a sweetest smile on her lips. She went to her wine cellar and took one bottle of Velvet Ember and took a wine glass and sat down on her couch. “It’s worth celebrating isn’t it? Mom , Dad wish you guys still here with me and see how happy i am”.

She took a sip of the wine and it tasted very good, when her phone vibrated. She smiled happily and answered the phone.

“Hey babe!” She answered the phone happily and sweetly, its her fiance ..

“Baby, i miss you already i haven’t see you this afternoon.” She can here Jimmy pouting and it made her laugh.

“You just seen me early in the morning babe! Geez haha”. Her fiance sounds like a baby made her laugh so hard..

“Baby, im going out with my friends tonight, will it be alright?” Jimmy always asked her permission before doing something in short he always update her and that made her trust him so much..

“Ofcourse babe, you can go, i know your friends for sure they would ask about your proposal, haha.” Anika said while smiling.

“I love you baby, you’re the best!” Jimmy said lovingly.

They ended the call, and Anika ready to sleep with a smile on her lips.

Jimmy and his friends were currently drinking and hanging out at a popular club. They were teasing him because they had just found out that he and Anika were engaged.

They had already met Anika and actually liked her.

“You were probably nervous when you proposed to Anika. Good thing she said yes,” Dan said with a laugh.

Dan was Jimmy’s closest friend.

“If I were Anika, I would’ve said no,” Tim joked.

“Hey! You’re talking like we’re not even friends. That was harsh—but too bad for you, Anika loves me!” Jimmy replied with a playful glint in his eyes.

They all just laughed.

A few moments later, Jimmy noticed a woman dancing on the dance floor. A man had approached her, and she was clearly trying to break free from his grip.

In Jimmy’s mind, he didn’t care much—he didn’t even know the woman. For all he knew, the guy could be her boyfriend.

But when the woman turned around, his eyes widened in shock.

It was Maya.

Anika’s best friend.

Jimmy immediately stood up from his seat.

“Something wrong, bro?” Dan asked, concerned.

“I’ll be back,” Jimmy said firmly, already walking away.

The music was deafening—pulsing bass, neon lights slicing through the crowd like lightning. Laughter, clinking glasses, perfume mixed with sweat. The kind of chaos where anything could happen, and often did.

Jimmy pushed past the crowd, weaving through dancers, his eyes fixed on the girl struggling near the center of the dance floor.

At first, he thought she was just tipsy—maybe fooling around with someone she knew.

But the way she pulled her arm away, the way her eyes darted around, panicked, said something else entirely.

The man with her—a stranger in a leather jacket—gripped her wrist tight, leaning in too close, his hand trailing somewhere it shouldn’t be. She was clearly trying to escape, pushing at his chest, but her voice was drowned out by the beat.

Jimmy didn’t think.

He moved.

Fast.

“Hey!” he barked, grabbing the man’s wrist just as it slid toward the girl’s waist. “Let her go. Now.”

The guy turned, startled. “Who the hell are you?”

“I said—let her go.” Jimmy’s voice was low, steady, the kind of tone that carried more weight than shouting ever could.

The girl yanked her arm free, stepping behind Jimmy like her body recognized safety before her mind could catch up.

“Man, this doesn’t concern you—”

Jimmy took a step forward, eyes locked. “It does now.”

There was a tension, a dangerous second where fists could’ve flown—but the man looked at Jimmy, then at the security guard approaching from the corner of his eye, and backed off with a muttered curse.

He disappeared into the crowd.

Jimmy turned to the girl—Maya.

“Are you okay?” he asked, breath still tight in his chest.

She nodded shakily. “Y-Yeah. I just… I didn’t expect him to grab me like that.”

“You shouldn’t have to expect that from anyone,” Jimmy said, softer now, his hand still hovering near her shoulder, just in case she needed it. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

And with that, they left the noise behind, her hand slipping into his—not romantically, but out of instinct. A silent thank-you. A quiet relief.

And somewhere in the blur of lights and music, something had changed.

“Did you bring a car?” Jimmy asked Maya.

Maya simply shook her head in response.

“Alright, I’ll drive you home then. Who knows what else could happen to you—and I might end up getting blamed by Anika. You two treat each other like sisters,” he added. “Get in the car, I’ll just text my friends first.”

After texting his friends, Jimmy drove Maya home.

He had been there once before—back when Anika had a sleepover at Maya’s place—so he already knew the address.

The ride was quiet.

City lights flickered past the window, casting fleeting shadows across Maya’s face. She sat still in the passenger seat, her hands folded on her lap, trying to keep her breathing steady. Jimmy kept his eyes on the road, one hand on the wheel, the other resting casually by the gear shift—calm, collected.

But for Maya, everything had shifted.

What just happened?

She could still feel the man’s hand on her wrist, the panic in her chest, the helplessness. And then Jimmy—stepping in like some reckless hero.

He didn’t have to.

He could’ve walked away.

But he didn’t.

Why does that mean more than it should?

She stole a glance at him. His jaw was clenched, his brows furrowed—not with anger, but concern. The kind that made her chest tighten.

It wasn’t the first time Jimmy had come to her rescue. Back then it was a flat tire. Another time, it was walking her home after a party. Small things. Harmless things. Things that weren’t supposed to matter.

But now, everything felt different.

And that scared her.

Not just because of what happened at the club… but because a dangerous part of her liked the way he looked at her afterward. The way he stood in front of her like she was something worth protecting.

But she wasn’t.

She was Anika’s best friend.

And Jimmy… was Anika’s fiancé.

The car slowed to a stop in front of her house. Maya exhaled slowly.

“Thanks, Jimmy,” she said, finally breaking the silence.

He looked at her, softening. “You sure you’re okay?”

She nodded. “I will be.”

But deep inside, she wasn’t sure if that was true.

Because tonight, something had changed.

And no matter how hard she tried to ignore it…

she felt it.

And worst of all—

she knew there was no going back.

“Oh Jimmy, Anika left something, she maybe needs it. She leftt it the other day. I didn’t check the envelope it could be important, wanna come inside?” Maya said the last phrase in a low tone.

”Ah yes please, could be important.” Jimmy get inside after Maya.

Jimmy sat on the couch, elbows on his knees, eyes trailing the quiet movements Maya made in the kitchen. She still looked shaken, but calmer—at least on the outside. Inside, he could feel it: the air between them had shifted.

“Want something to drink? Just… to calm down a little?” Maya asked, trying to sound casual.

Jimmy hesitated. “I probably shouldn’t. I’m driving.”

“One glass,” she said, already pouring. “Just stay a little while. I don’t really want to be alone yet.”

That made him pause.

He understood that feeling. The fear that lingered even after the danger had passed. He accepted the glass.

Minutes passed. They talked—lightly at first. About nothing. About everything. The kind of conversations that fill the silence when two people don’t know how to say what they’re really thinking.

Maya laughed at something he said. The kind of laugh that was too soft, too vulnerable.

Then… silence again.

And it was in that silence that something cracked.

Her eyes met his—not just a glance, but a search. There was pain there. And need. And something else she didn’t dare name.

“You always show up when I need someone,” she whispered.

Jimmy didn’t answer right away. He wanted to. He wanted to say this wasn’t right, that he needed to leave, that Anika would never forgive him. That he wouldn’t forgive himself.

But her hand touched his arm.

And he didn’t move.

Her face was close now. Her breath warm. Her voice trembling.

“Just for tonight… can we forget everything?”

Jimmy closed his eyes. “Maya…”

“I don’t want to be alone,” she said again. Quieter. Closer.

And maybe it was the night, or the guilt, or the twisted comfort of being seen—but whatever it was, he didn’t stop her when she kissed him.

He let it happen.

And for a moment, everything else—Anika, the future, the truth—slipped into the background.

It didn’t feel right.

It didn’t feel wrong.

It just happened.