Chapter 39

Belinda's POV

The morning was beautiful; the sun seemed to shine even brighter; the birds were peacefully chirping in the sky; and the city was bustling with life. There was something about the ambience that just shouted good fortune, like an omen that disaster was far away.

I went to work with a smile on my face and joy beaming in my heart. They were right about the brightest sunrise being on the other side of the darkest night. I was completely terrified when the incident with Brian happened. All I saw was his reoccurring face in my head, but then with John and Aria, it was almost like nothing had happened.

My colleagues at work were really caring when I came back; the sense of belonging I felt was wonderful. It was surprising that we had actually pulled this off—me in Beijing with John and still having my job.

I was on my lunch break when Aria called. She had made it a habit to call me every three hours to ask how I felt; maybe it was still part of her way of making up for feeling responsible for what happened to me.

"You're going to get me in trouble." I teased; it was good to hear her voice.

"How? Aren't you allowed to take calls?"

"Not every three hours from the same person; I'm pretty sure you have work to focus on too, so focus."

"Whatever, I'll see you at home." She ended the call.

Coincidentally, just as that call ended, John's text came through. Did they plan this?

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine, Aria just asked the same question. Both of you need to relax; I'm not a child; I'm fine." I replied

"Baby?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you answer if you're not a baby?"

"Haha, very funny. How's birthday planning going?" He got me there.

"You don't need to know."

"But Aria knows; don't you love me?" I pouted as I typed.

"Aria isn't celebrating her birthday in two days. I love you, but I'm not telling you."

"Okay, bye."

I was getting more and more excited to see what he had planned.

I didn't have work the next day, so John decided it was a good time to go on a shopping spree. He said it would be a pre-birthday present. I said no at first because it was a shopping mall. Really? That's like begging to be seen by someone or anyone.

He said we could go late in the afternoon, and he found a way to cover his face.

True to his word, I arrived at the shopping mall, and John appeared almost unrecognizable. You could only tell it was him if you already knew what to look for.

"Damn, you put in a lot of effort."

"You like it?"

"Yeah." I laughed.

We walked around the mall, and he was buying literally everything my eyes lingered on for more than three seconds. I tried begging him to stop, but he was adamant.

"I want to spend it on you."

We kept going, and I tried my best to only glance at things briefly. I noticed his eyes going to his phone for a while, and it felt weird. Did he have somewhere better to be?

"What are you doing?"

"Uh?" He put the phone away and looked at me innocently.

"What are you doing on your phone?" I wasn't the overly jealous girlfriend type; I just wanted to know if I was taking up his time.

"Nothing important; let's go." He tried to keep going, but I didn't budge from the spot. Now I just felt bad. Was something wrong? Or was it just planning for my birthday?

"Do you have somewhere better to be? We can stop here; I already bought a ton of stuff I'm okay with."

He sighed and held my shoulder.

"No, don't ever think I have anything more important than you to attend to, okay?"

"Then what is it?"

"I hired a guard."

"A guard? Are you in trouble?"

"No for you."

What?

"Why?! I don't want to walk around with a freaking bodyguard over my shoulder." I didn't expect this.

"He's not going to be close to you; it's a shadow guard just to make sure you're safe when you're outside."

"So you got me another stalker." I rolled my eyes. No one would like the idea of having someone somewhere spy on them.

"It's not like that, and you know it; it's just so I can know you're safe; I'm worried all the time."

Okay, think about it, Belinda; he's just trying to help. I declined his offer to move in with him already; that was probably why he was reverting to this instead.

"Okay." I said defeated, but I would go along with it if it gave him peace of mind.

"Okay? For real?"

"Yes." I laughed and said, "Let's go." I dragged him along and kept walking.

I still didn't like the idea of being followed, but he could have done it without telling me anyway, so I guess knowing was better. It was all for my safety anyway, so I should be grateful, right?

...

It was finally the day. I woke up feeling like a princess in a fairy tale. The perfect age was to turn 31. Aria made waffles for breakfast, and I happily scuffed them down.

"So?" She said

"So?..." I said I was unsure of what she was heading for.

"Happy Birthday." She squeaked and kissed my forehead.

"Thanks; that was what all the silence was for." I laughed, drama queen, as always.

"Yeah, Madison's coming over so we can go get you a makeover."

Madison's was a mutual friend of ours; we had all kind of hung out back in college, but Aria and I were way closer. Maddy was really nice and funny, but she was just this extremely wild person, and it didn't always end well when we went through with her ideas.

"All we are doing is makeovers."

"Yeah." Aria understood why I was asking; I wasn't taking chances when Maddy was around.

I got ready after breakfast; my day was all planned out. Go to the spa with the girls, get my hair and nails done, come back to get dressed again, and then head over to John's.

Maddy met up with us at the spa; she looked gorgeous as ever. She was one of those people who were blessed with a model's body but still said she was insecure about her body.

"Hey, B." She caught me in a bear bug and squeezed the life out of me.

Everything went as planned—spa, hair, and nails—and then we headed back to my place to change again.

I let my hair down in waves and put on a purple dress John said he bought because I was staring at it, but I could see his eyes lingering on it too; he liked it.

I stepped into the living room, where Aria and Madison were catching up on hot gossip.

"You look stunning." Aria said when she saw me.

"I wish I looked like that when I'm thirty-one." Maddy added, Girl, you look way better, but I blushed regardless.

The dress had a slit at the side and was letting off a lot of cleavage. I got a bag to match the purple and a coat to cover up the front until I got to our destination.

John's house looked pretty peaceful from the outside; you'd never know there was meant to be a birthday party going on inside, and honestly, I was starting to worry if something went wrong with the planning.

My fears were caught short when we got to the front door and John came out to kiss me.

"Happy birthday, my love."

I smiled and kissed him back; he never did disappoint.

The decoration was borderline magical, almost like he knew I was going to wear purple. It made me feel like some ancient form of royalty.

Klaus was there, and some other guy I didn't recognize wished me a happy birthday and thanked them.

The cake was really overkill; it was basically as big as me, and we were just six people. A few embarrassing pictures of me since I was a child were projected; Aria had the most laughs and was a mischievous fiend.

Then later on, she gave a little speech.

"I've known you for what seems like forever; I've seen you smile, cry, and fart. And I'm lucky to have you. You're lucky to have her too, John. Don't forget that. You have been this bright ray of sunlight in my life, and it's wonderful how much happiness you bring. I love you, Belinda Rogers. I'll love you till I die." She was tearing up, and so was I.

The rest of the party went by incredibly fast, and then one by one, everyone left, leaving just me and John.

He held me in his arms as we danced around for a while. Today was perfect, thanks to him.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

...

I slept over at his place, and when I woke up, I got a message on my phone. My eyes ran through it; it was from work, but the weird part was that I was supposed to be free today.

I was too tired to read each line, but what caught my eye was one line.

"FROM THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS."

What the hell?!