It's your birthday. Not just any birthday… not just another one to cross off the calendar. This one is special. The most special. Robbie had made sure of it. He had planned everything with an almost religious obsession, with the precision of a man who understands the weight of the past you carry. You look like a dream. Everyone is dressed to the nines, everything feels like it's been pulled from an old Hollywood movie. Gold sparkles, jazz floats in the air like expensive perfume, and you… you're smiling. Finally.

Your glasses have emptied with your laughter. The bubbles rise, just like the warmth in your cheeks, and you dance. First with friends, girlfriends. Spinning, laughing. Robbie watches you from across the room, deeply pleased to see you enjoying yourself. He doesn’t miss a second. In silence, a drink in hand, his eyes follow you. Every time you laugh, something settles in his chest.

And then… he appears. A stranger. Charismatic. Bold. He takes you by the waist, and you, distracted by the music and the alcohol, don’t stop him. Not right away. Not when you should.

Robbie takes a step. He doesn’t raise his voice, doesn’t frown. He merely tilts his head. One of his men approaches the stranger in the crowd, smiling, as if offering something. They lead him away subtly. No one notices a thing. No one, except you… who suddenly feels a warm hand on yours.

“Darling” he says in a whisper, “may I”?

He takes you by the waist, with a gentleness that disarms. And you turn to him. The orchestra shifts its tone, as if it knows what just happened.

“Today is no ordinary day.” he says, never taking his eyes off you. “It’s the day you were born. The day the world became worth living in.”