I couldn't believe it when I found myself agreeing to marry my best friend that night.
**a ForthBeam short story**
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author...
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"How was your day?" Suppressing a groan, I asked, fully aware that the Beam from a month ago would have reprimanded me severely for asking such a question. It felt as if I had become one half of a married couple that I had always pitied, with nothing left to discuss except the mind-numbingly dull aspects of our mundane workdays. Strangely enough, I didn't mind being that half of a couple anymore. I genuinely wanted to know how he had spent his day, craving all the tedious little details about what he had done since we bid each other farewell that morning.
"Long," Forth replied, taking a sip of the water the waiter had brought a minute earlier.
We found ourselves at Kobayashi Sushi, Forth's go-to spot in the city. We ended up ordering almost everything on the menu, which was our usual routine whenever we dined there. I couldn't help but wonder if there was some kind of magic involved in making those rolls, because they were incredibly delicious - I could easily devour eighty of them.
"How was yours?" Forth asked, and I practically vibrated with excitement.
"It was fucking awesome," I replied, sitting up a little taller in my seat.
"Oh yeah?"
"Definitely. We have reason to celebrate tonight."
"What are we celebrating?" Forth asked, his interest obviously piqued.
"Do you recall that time when I arrived home feeling extremely grumpy because Tiew had successfully won the bid for our neighborhood? I was so frustrated that the antagonist had winning."
Forth nodded and waited for me to continue.
"It appears that he was even more of a bad person than we initially believed. It turns out that he has been taking money from companies who want to enter the areas he works on, and instead of using it for the right purposes, he has been using some of that bribe money to influence the decision-makers and have his designs selected over mine."
Forth beamed. "No fucking way. I can't believe you didn't lead with that."
"Wow! Today was quite eventful. He and two other committee members got fired and were escorted out of City Hall by security. I couldn't believe what I saw, so I quickly reached into my pocket and grabbed my phone. Guess what? I managed to capture the entire incident on video."
I handed to the phone to Forth and watched with delight as he witnessed Tiew get his comeuppance.
"Well, it's clear that his design for the neighborhood is getting tossed aside, and mine will be the one put into action." I was perched so far forward on the edge of my seat that I was almost falling off. The excitement was overwhelming, but I couldn't contain it. I don't think I've ever had news this significant to share before. "I have the opportunity to determine the future of the area around Kalayaan. It also means that I'll have to step in for Tiew and complete his unfinished tasks for now, but it's a challenge I gladly accept. It's definitely worth it."
