Once lovers,Now strangers

I just arrived at the party, my eyes immediately drawn to the grandeur of the celebration. The decorations were spectacular—golden balloons arching over tables covered in intricate floral arrangements and trays of beautifully designed pastries. It felt surreal that all of this was for a one-year-old girl’s birthday party. I couldn’t help but feel a pang of envy for the sheer extravagance, but it was quickly drowned out by curiosity.

“Yanie! Yanie! Over here, this way!”

I turned toward the familiar voice. It was Dani, my best friend since elementary school, waving enthusiastically from across the room. I felt an immediate rush of warmth and nostalgia. Without hesitation, I rushed to her side and hugged her tightly.

“I missed you so much!” I said, my voice thick with emotion. “After so many years, we finally get to see each other again.”

Dani laughed, squeezing me back just as hard. “Aww, girl, of course, I missed you too! But wait—there’s someone I want you to meet. Yanie, this is my daughter, Annie.”

She gestured to a little girl being carried by one of her friends. I looked at the child, my heart softening instantly. She had Dani’s curly brown hair and the most expressive eyes I had ever seen. But something about her felt… familiar in a way that sent a ripple of unease through me.

“Oh my gosh,” I said, smiling despite the strange sensation building inside me. “Is this Annie? She’s so cute! She has your hair… and—” My voice caught slightly. “And those eyes.”

Before Dani could respond, a voice broke through the noise around us.

“Love.”

It was a man’s voice, deep and steady, but it hit me like a lightning bolt. The familiarity of it made my stomach churn. Slowly, I turned toward the source, and my heart stopped.

It was Enzo.

He stood only a few feet away, dressed sharply in a tailored suit. His hair was neatly styled, his presence as commanding as ever. My ex-boyfriend. My first love. The man I had spent years trying to forget.

“Love, are you still not done?” he said again, looking at Dani with a soft smile. “The guests are waiting for us to cut the cake with Annie.”

His words struck me like a hammer. He called her “love.”

Our eyes met, and for a moment, neither of us spoke. The shock was mirrored in his expression as he registered my presence. Tension buzzed in the air, thick and suffocating.

Dani, oblivious to the charged atmosphere, turned to me with her ever-cheerful smile. “Oh, then let’s go now! Yanie, come with us. Since you’re part of the family, we’ll cut the cake together with Annie.”

I could barely process what she was saying. Part of the family? Did she not know about us? Did she not realize that Enzo and I had once been everything to each other?

I stood frozen, my mind flooded with memories of the man who had been my first and last love. The man I thought I’d spend my life with. The man who now belonged to someone else.

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