While in the car, the two lovers chatted about random things that happened to them recently. Zeid was really talkative and funny. Before she noticed it, they were already near their destination which was none other than the most prestigious hotel in town. She wondered why he took her there. They usually went to hotels if there were meetings or events they needed to attend, but as far as she knew, they didn't have anything scheduled for the rest of the day. She even checked her calendar yesterday and before she got off from work that day.
'Could it be?' Rania asked herself. 'Is he finally thinking of something naughty? Hmm… But we promised not to do that until after marriage.'
While she was busy pondering why, Zeid escorted her inside the hotel. They skipped the concierge in the lobby and went straight to the top floor. Walking through the long hallway, they reached the events room where he politely opened the door for her and welcomed her inside. All the lights were off and it was pitch black. Rania hesitated to go but seeing he was unfazed about it, she decided to follow inside.
"Babe, why are we here? And why is it so dark here?" Rania whispered while her steps started to slow down as she spun her head around, trying to make something of the dark space.
Noticing that she was not holding on to anyone and that Zeid was no longer escorting her, she loudly called for him.
"Babe? Babe! Where are you?" Rania shouted, a bit worried as she looked back and forth everywhere, but everything was covered in darkness.
Click!
All the lights turned on.
Since it hurt to suddenly see the light when her eyes just adjusted to the darkness, Rania barely managed to open her eyes.
"SURPRISE!"
Suddenly, a bunch of people came out of nowhere and cheered happily.
As the scene got clearer, Rania saw her friends surrounding her, along with workmates on one side, colleagues on the other, and many acquaintances she shared with Zeid all around her! Her grandparents weren't there, but some of the pastors from church and even Lailee were there! They came to her and gave her a hug one after another. Then, she noticed the extravagant design of the whole event hall. Large flower stands were everywhere, carefully arranged tables and chairs draped in blue, caterers at the corners, and all the pillars and walls were decorated with colorful curtains and fairy lights. The whole place was so fancy that her jaw almost dropped.
"Oh my goodness! Did you prepare all these for me?" Rania barely managed to ask. Tears began to swell up from her eyes.
"Come on, Ninie. Don't cry," a brunette girl teased her. She was her best friend, Hannah, whom she met from high school and still kept in touch after college.
"Hannah, you're here!" Rania exclaimed as she ran towards her arms and hugged her. "You even flew from the other side of the world. Thank you so much… sniff."
Looking at everyone with tears that won't stop coming from her eyes, she smiled at them and thanked each of them for coming. So many important people in her life came over despite their busy schedules. Life wasn't that easy anymore, unlike when they were children or still at school, but the fact that they still came for her, she felt so grateful and so happy she couldn't even begin to explain all her emotions in one.
While laughing, chatting, and embracing each other, the sound of the piano distracted her. It played a classic yet with a modern touch version of Can't help falling in love by Elvis Presley. A woman with a fantastic voice stood beside the pianist and sang.
"Wise men say
Only fools rush in
But I can't help falling in love
With you."
As the music played, Zeid came out from the crowd carrying a box in his arms. For some reason, it was covered with pictures of mobile and desktop games, adding more to her confusion. He approached her slowly, with his feet trembling a bit on every step.
Everyone cheered and squealed loudly, saying, "Go Zeid!" or "You're the man!"
Rania smiled, finally getting a picture of what was happening. She stood fixed at her place as she engraved her memory of that very moment that Zeid walked towards her, carrying whatever he was carrying. Her heart thumped loud in her chest to the point that she could almost hear it. Smiling and laughing at each other, she gazed dearly towards Zeid who by then, bent down on his knees, offered the box, and asked her to open it.
Rania opened the box with much anticipation. Inside, she found another box—only this time, it was a bit smaller and covered with pictures of foods and beverages. She opened it again and found yet another smaller box which was then covered with images of cars.
To her confusion, she teased, "You definitely put in a lot of effort into this."
Zeid laughed at her remark. But he remained silent, waiting for Rania to finish opening the boxes.
Rania shook her head as she saw that after the box filled with car pictures was yet again, a smaller box covered in pictures of branded clothes and shoes. Then, a box wrapped in gym equipment images and a box filled with pictures of movies after it.
Finally, the next one didn't have any pictures but was a simple black box. That moment, she hoped that whatever was inside would be a decent one, so she opened it carefully.
"Hot-tempered," it read on the cover of the box inside.
"Jealous," it read again on the cover of the next box.
"Childish sometimes."
"Can be lazy."
"But very faithful and loyal and honest!" it continued.
"And most of all…" now reaching what seemed to be the last box as it was very small and white in color.
"The one who loves you the most."
Rania's heart exploded in happiness. She clenched her thumping chest and looked passionately at Zeid. He then handed over another box to her, but this time, instead of making her open it, he did it for her. From inside popped out a beautiful, pink and lustrous diamond ring.
Rania gasped as she glanced at Zeid and the ring a couple of times, wanting to say something only for her lips to betray her. Instead, she cried again and stared passionately at him.
"Babe, this is my real gift for you, actually," he said nervously. "Sorry for making you go through all those boxes but let me explain to you what they mean."
Breathing deeply, he started his heartfelt speech.
"Actually, that box represents me. On the outside, I just look like someone who likes playing games, interested in food and drinking, loves cars, branded clothes and shoes, the gym, movies, and whatnot. But on the inside, I'm just a black box—empty, full of hatred, hot-tempered, easily jealous, childish at times, lazy at times, pessimistic, and all the other negative things I wasn't able to include. But after meeting you, that black turned to white. Why? Because I learned to love. And that love has always been the greatest gift I've ever received in my whole life. It helped me change, improve, mature, and learn things I never knew before coz' I never cared for them before. It helped me become a better person. And most of all, it filled up my empty heart."
Rania felt her heart squeeze as she listened to him. She was reminded of how they first met during their high school days. Indeed, he was a lot of work back then.
"Before, I kept on trying to fill that empty gap I felt inside, not knowing what I needed was just around the corner," Zeid continued. "I tried everything, all hobbies you could think of! Though all of them ended up in vain. But after meeting you, everything changed! And I can never be more thankful to God for letting me meet you. Thank you is not even enough to express how grateful I am, really! You're the one I hold very dearly in my heart. Cheesy as it may sound, but yeah, that's the truth. And right now, I—I just want to spend the rest of my life with you."
Gulping and gathering all of his courage, at last, he said…
"Rania, will you? Please, marry me."
"Aaaaaaaahhhhhh!" The crowd cheered loudly while they awaited Rania's reply. It was, in fact too loud that it almost caused her eardrums to explode.
Ahhh... what a blissful moment, she thought. For indeed, the whole atmosphere was so heartwarming that it looked like a cut from a movie. Anyone could clearly see a picture of a man and a woman so deeply in love with each other. Both their dear and gentle smiles could not be hidden on their faces. And that look, yes, that look of love—such a magnificent scene, a heart-pounding scene.
Finally able to stop crying, Rania opened her mouth to answer Zeid.
"You don't even need to ask," she replied, smiling dearly at him. "My answer is—"
BOOM!
Out of nowhere, the sound of something enormous dropping from above could be heard. Bewildered and alarmed, everyone in the room looked upward towards the ceiling, trying to observe or perceive what just happened or if what they heard was real at all.
DUGSH!
Yet another dropping sound echoed across the room. Their heartbeats started to rise, and their bodies began to tense up. Whatever it was, for sure, it wasn't something good. For a luxurious hotel to suddenly have some dropping sound coming from their ceiling, it was simply absurd. Scared of what it could be, Zeid told everyone to evacuate.
DAGSHR!
Alas! A huge portion of the ceiling collapsed to reveal the skies above. Rubbles fell all over the place. Some even came flying so fast in random directions—hitting the walls, the floor, and with a stroke of misfortune, hitting some people inside the room, leaving them with injuries throughout their bodies. Such a big blast coming from the outside—and from the rooftops at that!
"AAAAAHHHHH!!!" Everyone began screaming for their lives. Was it a terrorist? A bomb? They could only imagine. What mattered most was that they needed to get to safety. But as they reached the exits…
BANG!!!
All the doors suddenly shut, much to their horror. For how in the world could doors close just like that—as if they were blown by the harsh wind? Shrugging at the thought, they knocked hard and banged the doors, trying to open them but it wouldn't budge one bit. With nowhere to escape, they were only left to look back to the rubble and smoke of dust.
Inside the smoke, a silhouette of a person could be seen.