~ [Music Recommendation: "The Heart's Tale" by BigRicePiano (Instrumental only) - available in Youtube] ~ Please listen to it in loop while you read this part to experience the utmost beauty of this scene ~

After reminiscing their first meeting, Zeid got out of the shower and put on his bathrobe to dry his body. He grabbed a towel from the rack, dabbing it on his hair as he walked out of the bathroom and towards the living room where a cup of coffee was placed on the table, still hot. Beside the coffee was his phone, some magazines, and a newspaper. He sat on the couch not long after and drank his coffee as he read the newspaper. It was then when suddenly, his phone rang.

​​

"December 3, 20xx

Zeid's Birthday!

Don't forget to surprise him!

Oh, and buy him a new game!

Last Dream should be released by now."

It was a notification … from Rania's calendar. Being heirs of rich families, sometimes it would be hard for them to meet so they decided to put all of their schedules in their phones' calendars and have them shared with each other. This way, it would be easier to find free times for them to meet. Of course they made sure it's secure and all. The only downside was when someone would forget to set it as private - like this certain notification.

Setting it to private meant that the details of the schedule would only be shown to the organizer or the one who created the event in the calendar, meaning, Zeid won't see what it was about - in case they're preparing for surprises and such. But then again, Rania being the very technologically inclined person as she was, forgot to set it to private. Thus, the reason why Zeid was being notified right now of his own birthday.

"Pft! Seriously, that girl …," Zeid chuckled as he picked up his phone and stared at the notification. Sighing heavily, he remembered yet again, another memory.

This time, it was a memory of his first birthday with Rania ...

Like how most would imagine a birthday celebration of the rich, Zeid's 18th birthday was exactly that - extravagant. For how else should the richest family in the country celebrate their only son's birthday? Surely, only with the best of the best.

It was a yacht party where only the most prestigious families, distinguished people, and renowned celebrities were invited. They were all checked from the harbor for invitations by tons of security personnels before they boarded the gigantic private yacht of the Ardor family. The yacht itself was a "simple" gift from Zeid's parents according to them. All of the decorations and furnitures were carefully chosen, the musicians were the top of their professions, the foods were prepared by three-stars michelin chefs, the drinks by the greatest mixologists, and every server, trained to be unrivaled when it comes to hospitality. Security cameras and bodyguards were all over the place. Lastly, a few reporters and videographers were invited to record the whole event.

The party started when Zeid was introduced to everyone after a few speeches were made by his parents. Zeid thanked everyone for attending and for all the gifts they gave - vacation houses, large lots, islands, cars, properties, and other expensive things. After his introduction was the time to greet every guest, something he was so sick and tired of doing. Every year, the same thing, the same faces, same agendas - all for formality and business. It looked beautiful on the outside, since everyone seemed to be enjoying the party, but on the inside, everyone had their own motives which mainly boiled down to "establishing connections".

Finally, Zeid finished his rounds. He quickly got out towards the deck of the yacht where a jacuzzi was set up, surrounded by soft recliners for anyone who wished to take a dip. Somehow he felt like he wanted to dive there, but it was only the first night, so he couldn't. Besides, there were still a lot of things that needed to be done.

"Phew!," Zeid sighed deeply, loosening his tie, and staring at the bubbling ocean water below. "I really hate parties," he snorted and rummaged his hair as he shook his head. He was very annoyed but couldn't express his annoyance.

"Must be suffocating, huh?" Rania surprised him from behind.

Zeid jolted and quickly turned around. "W-what the-!"

"Ha ha ha ha!" Rania chuckled as she raised both of her hands in surrender. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare Mr. Birthday Boy".

Zeid sighed heavily. "For goodness' sake, don't do that!"

"Alright, I won't," Rania suppressed her laughter. "Feeling a little better now?"

Zeid gaped, he didn't know what to answer first. After thinking for a bit, he nodded. Indeed, the surprise made him forget the things weighing his mind.

"Yes, I guess it worked," Zeid answered. "Don't tell me you deliberately did that to …"

"Hmm … I wonder?" Rania asked playfully. She walked nearer and stood beside Zeid, lifting up her head to look at the night sky. "Parties like this are really awful, right? They're meant to be celebrations of important events, like your birthday, but all I see and hear are," she tried to copy how the older men sounded, "'how's your business going, Mr. I don't Know?', 'doing great, Mr. I don't Know No.2'. If not business, they'll talk about the recent properties they bought, or the expensive things they want to buy. No one really talks about you, do they? No one's even asking how you are! Yes, they greeted you, but then they'll go to their real agenda," Rania complained. "Seriously, this is more like a business gathering masked in the name of your birthday celebration".

Zeid thought she was so cute trying to imitate those conversations, he couldn't stop himself from laughing.

"Hey! Are you not angry about it?" Rania was puzzled that he was laughing about it. "If you're to ask me, I'd say I'm annoyed".

"Pft! Well, I am annoyed, too," Zeid confessed, "But your complaint looked so cute so I just -" realizing he slipped, Zeid quickly covered his mouth. "I mean …"

Rania raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms, "So you think me complaining is funny? And why would my complaint look cute? Am I a dog?" She squinted her eyes.

"I didn't say that," Zeid shook his head. "I - sigh … nevermind. Anyway, where's my gift? Your mother gave me a nice ferrari, how about you?"

Rania blinked her eyes. "Hmm … This is my gift - accompanying you to watch the stars," she smiled cheekily.

"What? That's it?"

"Hey! Do you expect a high schooler like me to have tons of money?"

"Seriously?" Zeid chuckled again. "You're an heiress and you don't have money? Are you kidding me?"

"I already have what I need, I don't see any reason to ask for more. Besides, if I have extra money, I'd rather donate it to an orphanage or two".

Zeid was speechless for a moment.

"Now that you mention it … you're right. We don't really need much. All this extravagance is just that - extravagance, nothing else. But many people want luxury".

"Yes, because they're blinded by the thought 'more is better' only to be entrapped in the endless cycle of uncontentment, since there will always be something new, something better, and always more expensive than before. So basically, they're just wasting money with their never ending desires."

"You talk about deep things," Zeid assessed. "Are you really just 16 years old?"

"Depends on what age you're referring to," Rania joked again.

On and on their conversation continued. It was a very refreshing experience for Zeid. Never had he really experienced meaningful conversations with anyone. Somehow, he felt comfortable and at ease around Rania. She would always say the weirdest of things … or maybe not weirdest, but "deep" things. She'd make you wonder about life and philosophies. Zeid wondered if she got it from the books she kept on reading.

And so, that night, Zeid received the greatest gift he could ever have … a friend … a "real" friend. No ulterior motives, no pretenses, no lies, just plain, true friendship. And for that, he was so happy. It was not magical or expensive, but for him, it was simple but it was the best.

To commemorate it, Zeid took a bouquet of flowers from one of the displays at the corners and gave it to Rania.

"Here, take this," Zeid offered her a bouquet of white roses. It's petals were wet and the water droplets reflected the moon's light making them look like crystals. It was very beautiful to look at.

Rania was reminded of one of her dreams as she took the flowers and smelled them. In her mind she thought, "Could it be him? The one I kept on dreaming about?"

"Thank you," she whispered and they both smiled at each other.

Unbeknownst to them, their parents saw them getting along with each other and decided to have a nice chat about possible marriage in the future.

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Hi Beloved Readers!

I just want to take this time and thank everyone who sent their messages of comfort to me in the comment section (i_love_books started it, and followed by my friends and many other readers and authors), my social media accounts, DMs in discord, and others. Some were even such angels and sent me cards with a bunch of tags with bible verses written on each. (that's Ynna and Starr) T_T I'm really very much grateful to all of you. T_T My grandmother is really close to me and it's still very hard to accept reality but your words comforted me. T_T Words can't express how thankful I am to everyone. T_T From the bottom of my heart, I say my thanks, along with my whole family.

Lots of Love,

Macy_Bae

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