Will you marry me?
Well, this bit is part fiction, part fantasy and a part based on a real life story. Any resemblance to anyone living or buried might not be as coincidental as you might think.
“AAAAggghhh” he screamed when she slapped him half across the floor. The marks of her tiny fingers making, what seemed to him, to be deep gorges on his unshaven face. He had never once been slapped before, let alone by someone he adored. He had been planning for this moment for a long time now, and had thought of every possible course of action, taken every step to ensure a perfect evening, and a perfect end to the evening. Pity, head gears wasn’t on his planned agenda.
He met her a few years ago at a bungee jumping event, he was the safety instructor and it was her first time. He still remembers how she trembled before she leaped off the edge, the only reason she did was ‘cause he said he’ll buy her a hot cup of coffee at Starbucks if she survived the fall. Well he was joking of course, anything to take her mind from the few hundred feet of free fall, there was no way he’d meet her again, the safety crew at the bottom would dust what’s left of the lifetime memory of her pants and he’d get back to promising hot beverages to the never ending line of people.
She screamed her lungs out, and then a breath later, once more. Finally, with her feet firmly secured to the ground, she swore never to let herself be tortured like this again.
“And the area code is 216” she said when he was attaching the safety harness to her yet again, and this time she jumped, life at stake, with a lunch and a coffee promise.
“Hey, dude” he said when he called one of his friends, “Of the four C’s for a diamond which one of them is Cost?”.
“Ha Ha, wait, are you serious?”
“Yeah, been thinking of this for a while now. So want to join me ring shopping”
“Absolutely, congrats man, she’s one lucky girl. Am so happy for you guys”
“ Thanks, I am so excited, now all we need to do is figure out the cut, the carats, the clarity and the color.”
“Dude, women are not shallow and don’t look for all that in a ring, for them it’s a constant reminder of their loved one, and his commitment to their love. It represents their belonging to someone and the emotional bond they share. It doubles as photo album storing memories of all the good times and the bad,
It is more about the promise you make of your journey together rather than your carats or cuts”
“Yeah Right!!” they said in unison as they decided a place and time for their shopping trip.
A million ideas from his close friends for that perfect proposal, he knew what she’d love most. A quiet evening at home, lying in his arms. She was never the outgoing person, very quiet and laidback. For her, life was this mystical thing, like the shadowed part of the crescent moon, she was content with the smallest of the smallest things. She never had a perfect day she could tell her grandkids, so he had to make this one big. Thus began the preparation for that one night, when the two became one.
He knew she’d always like to play some game after dinner before they watch a movie. He stole all the letters needed to spell ‘will you marry me’ in case she wanted to play scrabble, he modified the top chance and community chest cards to read out the same in case she was in the mood for monopoly and so he went on, altering all games they could possible play to suit his needs.
He made a cd for the player with a slideshow of their photos, right from the bungee jumping days till now, the funny comments about her hair, the remarks about her short height compared to his gigantic self. And ending the snaps with a perfect photoshopped image of them in wedding attires in an alter right besides the ocean and the caption reading his mind.
He’d been taking dancing lessons, so when his friend, the local RJ, played their song as a dedication to them both, and she looked at him with those eyes gleaming for him to take her to the middle of the living room and dance away, he wouldn’t have to say no like always.
He came back home early from work and set on what was left of his master plan; he cooked her favorite dishes, funny how the most common of the dishes was her favorite, he still had to email his mom for the recipe though. He set the table for two, the scented candles all ready to be lit. His friend just called and confirmed the song and a give-me-a-missed-call-when-she-says-yes notice; he planned to run a ‘Lovers Paradise’ section tonight on radio. He lit the candles to aromatize the room.
Then the doors opened, she was early, a man wrapped around her lips. She didn’t expect to see him there. ( What? You don’t like this? What did you expect from a story from someone like me?? Ok ok, ignore the last line then.. I’ll move on with my love story.. though it would be great if you would let me continue on the cheating bitch direction. Spoil Sport. )
She called him, said she was stuck at work. ( you still think she is cheating on him, don’t you. If it helps he’s hot, funny, tall, attractive, smart and rich with good hair. What’s wrong with you negative people?? How can you think this about this sweetheart of a girl? She’s like a kid, well, He does treat her like a kid, and in a way she is, she loved him way too much, so much that even a poem wouldn’t describe. )
She said she has to entertain a few clients at the restaurant by the lake and wouldn’t be home for dinner. He was crushed, all the planning for nothing, another day then.
She called him a sometime later, said it’s was an early dinner and wondered if he could pick her up. He was halfway there before she could finish asking him.
He stepped in the restaurant on the lakeside of Lake Erie, not a soul there, just a table near the window with a lit candle and a gift box. He read the card, it just said “Love You”. ( NO, she didn’t not leave him and run away, will you people STOP thinking about her like that, she’s an angel. She’s just waiting for him to open the gift. Come on who else books a whole restaurant for one dinner on a random night? )
She hugs him from behind; he almost decks her to the floor (Guys and their reflex actions). She wishes him a happy birthday, and he’s confused cause his birthday is more than a month away. “Yeah silly, I know” she replies. “but then it wont be a surprise will it?”.
“So, I guess I get two gifts then huh?” he says opening the gift.
After a more than perfect evening next to the lake with the fireplace keeping them warm and with its cracking sound every time there was silence in the room when they kissed, they drive home stuffed with food.
He opened the doors only remembering his master plan for the night; she sees the table set, radio running, with the candle halfway through its life.
“Never leave a fire unattended” screams her army upbringing.
“What about the thousand times you leave it in the bathroom so close to those shower curtains” he complains.
She asked why he didn’t tell her that he’d planned something too, he honestly said that he completely forgot with the sight of her and the vastness of waters next to him. She sits down, napkin on the lap,
“So waiter, what is tonight’s special”
“What?? You can’t possibly eat another bite. You ate more than a baby elephant at the restaurant”
“Don’t expect much tip Sir” she says as she serves herself the food laid out. “You are crazy you know, don’t complain when you wake up with a severe stomach problem tomorrow” he says smiling while warming the remainder of the food.
“Yes, your food does get my stomach upset a lot” she says giggling her favorite wine down her throat.
“So which movie are we watching tonight” she asks while settling down in the sofa. “How about Rush hour” he says while wondering about the wasted time altering the games. “How about titanic” she says.
They’ve probably watched that stupid movie like a thousand time. “No way, let compromise, how about Shrek”. Finally after a run down of last years top ten at the box office for all categories. She challenges him to a game of hangman, winner gets to pick.
So after half an hour of guessing ‘The Truman Show’ ‘ Forest Gump’ ‘Apocalypse now’ ‘Pretty Woman’.
He finally writes down this as he puts the cd on the player while she thinks. After all her chances and after the man was dead and hanging. She asked, ok, what is it?He bends down, takes out that ring from his pocket, opens the box and says
“Will you marry me?”
He rubs his face and its red, he’s surprised. And in pain, he looks at her confused. His eyes asking why.
She replies “Firstly, for the fact that you even had to ask. Secondly, that confused look on your face after you asked, like the answer was anything but a hell yeah!. And last but not the least, that’s not even a movie, cheater!”
“So you want this or what” he teases her showing her that diamond. He puts it on her finger as she admires his photoshop skills. “We don’t need an expensive wedding now, you can use your skills to put our faces on celebrity wedding images” she kids while they hear his friends voice from the radio, “Tonight there’s a special moment here, I know this couple for a long long time now, well they are my best friends, both wanted me to dedicate a song for the other. Everything was set, they were supposed to give me a missed call when they wanted their song played. Funny part is, they both called it ‘their’ song, but both songs were different. Anyway, neither of those morons called me yet. She was surprising him for his birthday and he was proposing. So either the wuss backed out, or she said no which I don’t think is possible, or maybe they both are waiting for the other to show up for their surprise. Hey, I couldn’t ruin their surprises so I kept shut”.
“Wait till I tell him you slapped me” he cut in.
“Since I promised I’ll play these songs for them tonight, I’ll will keep that up and play them for the two love birds, hope you all enjoy them. Thanks for listening; I will see you same time tomorrow night. Until then, let love keep us alive.”
She looks at him, as Lionel Richie fills the room with ‘Stuck on you’, with those eyes again, he takes her to the middle of the room, holds her close and sings along in her ear as they danced to the tune. A moment later they are on the couch tongue tied as “their” second song plays on the airwaves ( frequency modulated ).
“ ‘Come a little closer’ is so not our song” he complains…
“It is now” she says with the ring gleaming on her fingers and as the candle melts its way down..
And as the song ends with the Dierks singing ‘Come a little closer baby, I feel like laying you down.’, she pulls his face away, looks deep into his eyes.
He knows she wants to say something, so he asks what.
With her piercing eyes still stuck on him, the candle just burning out, in the sudden darkness, she says “Honey, you do know that you aren’t supposed to use blanks for punctuations in hangman right?”
