Episode 3
1103 Words
Desiree's POV
I never imagined five years could pass so quietly like minutes.
Not after the way I left home and the way everyone had suddenly turned their backs against me to support Ronan and his disgusting act. I had cut ties with them but started conversing with them after three years.
And here I was, in the middle of the indoor training hall. This place, this massive sports rehabilitation center, had become my sanctuary. Olympic athletes trained here. Football stars. Hockey legends. And somehow, me.
Dr. Desiree Wren, Senior Rehabilitation specialist.
It still felt unreal sometimes.
Today's afternoon session had just wrapped up with sweat all over my body as I dampened the collar of my polo shirt. My patient, a young sprinter recovering from an ACL tear, offered me a grateful smile as he limped toward the exit.
“Thanks, Dee,” he said, using the nickname nearly everyone here used. “I feel better every week.”
“Well, to me. You're getting better every week,” I smiled. “Just don't push the new regime too fast. I'll know if you do and you will bear consequences.”
He grinned in that guilt, caught-doing-something smile. “Yes, Ma'am.”
When he disappeared down the hall, I exhaled, rolled my shoulders, and finally allowed myself to acknowledge the exhaustion in my bones.
I'd been working overtime for three weeks straight to prepare for the holiday urge of athletes returning home for breaks and my fingers ached.
But honestly, I liked my new self. The new me. The long shift, the demanding session. I loved everything that made me not overthink.
I had become someone far from the foolish, lovesick girl who once believed Ronan in the garden had meant something real.
I pushed up my water bottle, gulped the last of it, then grabbed my jacket from the hook by my office door. It was Friday.
Ethan would be coming soon.
The thought of that one special person, softened something in me.
Ethan Ward had walked into my life, slowly, patiently and unexpectedly beautiful. We met during a university lockdown drill, two years ago. He'd been a new architecture student, holding the wrong building map and wearing glasses slightly too big for his face. He'd apologized three times for bumping into me.
And I had laughed genuinely for the first time in years.
Our friendship started with small things. Sharing coffee before morning classes, helping each other study, sitting together during crowded lunch hours and it grew into something more after a year. I wasn't ready at first, terrified of making a mistake, terrified of trusting someone again.
However, he never pushed me. He waited, listened and cared about my feelings. And he was quite different from Ronan.
I shrugged into my jacket, zipping it halfway, and adjusted my blonde wavy hair.
When I reached the glass doors, I paused.
There was noise outside.
And it wasn't even the normal type of noises of people having a busy day.
It was laughter. It was laughter from the other side.
What on earth…?
I frowned and pushed the door open. I froze right at that instant— staring in shock at the sight that beholds me. Rose. There were roses everywhere.
The courtyard was transformed into some kind of floral wonderland that made me curiously want to know who was having a party that I had interrupted.
Red roses were spread around up the lamp posts, tied with white silk ribbons. Rose petals carpeted the walkway in a sweeping breath.
And at the center of it all…
A large white card stood on with a card in four simple words and my name beside it.
Will You Marry Me, Desiree Wren?”
My breath caught and for three full seconds I couldn't move, couldn't blink, couldn't even think.
“Des?”
I turned.
Ethan stood a few feet away, near the love curved Rose path. He was wearing his cream sweater and gray coat, hair tousled backward and his glasses looking all changed.
His hands were trembling.
“Hi,” he said softly.
My mouth opened but no words came out.
He smiled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck in the way he always did when his anxiety tried to make a mess of things.
“I know this probably looks dramatic,” he said, “and I know you don’t like surprises. But I wanted—just once—to give you something beautiful. Something you didn’t have to anticipate or prepare for or protect yourself from.”
My throat tightened as all I could think of as he came closer was whether or not I wanted this… now.
“You’ve worked so hard, Des,” he continued.
“Harder than anyone I know. You rebuilt yourself from nothing. You gave yourself a new beginning. And you let me be part of that journey.” He exhaled shakily. “You’re my favorite part of every day. My peace. My home, and I want to make this official. I want a forever home with you, Des.”
My chest rose and fell and he reached into his pocket, pulling out a small black velvet box and he sank to one knee.
Was this real?
“Desiree Hale,” Ethan said in a steady voice despite the tremor in his hands. “Will you marry me?”
Tears spilled down my cheeks instantly. Hot, unexpected, and almost embarrassing. I lifted both hands to my face, covering my mouth as my knees nearly buckled.
I stood in a courtyard full of roses, looking at the man who loved me not for who he wanted me to be, but for who I truly was.
“Ethan…” My voice broke. “I—yes. Yes, of course I will.”
The relief that washed over his face made me laugh through my tears.
Was he thinking I would say no after years of affection and complete love?
He slipped the ring onto my finger. A delicate white-gold band with a marquise-cut diamond that caught the light and scattered it back in tiny stars. My hands shook and my chest felt too full as I stared at it in a daze.
He stood quickly and wrapped me in his arms, cupping my cheeks in his hands.
“I love you,” he whispered.
“I love you too,” I said, a beautiful smile coming through as the few people around celebrated it.
At that same moment, my heart thumped as I asked myself over and over again if this was what I wanted.
- Writer
