Chapter 1: A promise of a Life Time

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.

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