On my 24th birthday, my workplace brought me a small chocolate cake that we split into 4 pieces among the staff engineers. We laughed as we tried to cut the cake. We happily ate the chocolate cake. Da boss asked me why didn’t we save a piece of the cake for him. It was a low-key birthday celebration.

When I got home that day, a friend messaged me if we could hang out and celebrate my birthday. It was a wonderful gift. We went to Adoration at St. John the Baptist church. After that, we went to iTea and enjoyed our milk tea on top of a high hill in East San Jose that oversaw the city lights. We played games. We laughed.

When he dropped me off at home, I ran into the house, hoping he would not notice that I was actually trying to avoid someone who has caused me great suffering. Well, he did. He messaged me and asked what happened. I told him. I did not expect him to believe me or take how I felt seriously. But he said, “That’s understandable. But I was there, I’ll protect you.”

For reasons I cannot comprehend or describe, my eyes watered a bit.

Thank you.