*Natalia*
“Will you marry me?”
All around me was an emptying silence. I knew of course that I was sitting in the middle of a restaurant, the apple cake that the waiters had just delivered to our table sitting innocently in front of me, coerced in the powdered sugar and sweetness that a single bite could make my teeth hurt.
Wide-eyed and unblinking, I stared at the glittering ring inside of the velvet box that Tallon had presented to me, one foot and one knee firmly on the floor as he looked up at me, imploringly, nervously, hopefully.
The noises around us slowed down. The sound of the waiters hiding just behind the corner, too attentive to be natural as they kept stealing looks at the two of us–faded into the background.
