Chapter 8
The next evening, Mason told Celia that he had a surprise planned and took her out. []
When they arrived at the restaurant, a server escorted them straight to the rooftop private suite. []
illed with candles mid fresh flowers, Cella’s eyes froze for a beat.]
As soon as the door opened and she save the room filled
in Like in
Mason smiled as he pulled out her chair. “Celia, do you
Cella sat down without saying a single word, still a little dazed. Meanwhile, Mason grabbed the menu and ordered a full table of her favorite dishes. Once the food arrived, he even peeled the shrimp and cracked the crab for her, carefully placing the meat in her bowl.]
He kept the conversation flowing all night, even bringing up stories from when they first started dating. “Remember when we just got together, and you used to walk me to class every day? My professor even called on you regularly. He once asked me privately why everyone else brought their girlfriends to class, but in my case, it was the opposite…“]
Celia fell off balance with all this sudden tenderness. Warily, she asked, “What’s gutten into you today?“–||
“I’ve just noticed that you haven’t been happy lately. So I wanted to cheer you up. There’s silll one more surprise.” Mason said.
Then, he glanced at his watch and reached over to pull the curtains open. Celin followed his gaze just as a loud burst echoed through the sky.
Thousands of fireworks shot into the air, dazzling and bright, exploding in vivid colors above the city. She was completely stunned when she spotted a glant heart shape in the sky
“Did you plan this?”
Before Mason could respond, the door suddenly burst open. Brooklyn marched in with a crowd behind her, one of them snapping Polaroid photos non stop.
“Celia, are you satisfied with tonight’s date? This surprise was my iden. Pretty romantic, right?” Brooklyn asked her voice full of smug excitement
Celia’s expression, already full of tangled emotions, turned to stone. She looked back at Mason and asked again, her voice now trembling. “Was this your idea?”
Mason missed the change in her tone. He smiled and gave a slight shake of his head as he turned to Brooklyn. []
“No. Brooklyn came up with the whole thing. Why?”
Brooklyn beamed like she had just won a game. That’s right, Mason told me that he stood you up on your anniversary, so I suggested this. I picked the restaurant, the flowers, the candles, the menu, even the fireworks. I had to make sure that it’d be a night you’d never forget. Oh, and you got the perfume, right? I spent forever choosing that one. Do you like it?
So everything was arranged by Brooklyn again.|||
No wonder Mason was so proactive]
In an instant, Cella recalled how Brooklyn had orchestrated things in college to bring them together
Brooklyn telling M
Mason to buy flowers, take her to ansusement parks, send her goodnight messages every night…]
He followed each instruction like a robot. Even his confession back then sounded rehearsed and stiff.]
Now, listening to the people around them compliment Brooklyn’s creativity and attention to detail, a crushing sense of helplessness washed over Celia
Brooklyn had arranged all this simply to prove one thing to her.||
deven the cou
Despite their nine years together, the beginning, end, and even
course of her relationship with Mason had never belonged to her
From start to find. I was all in Brooklyn’s hands ||
Celia could only passively accept it||
And Mason was willingly compliant
