The Proposal

I stretched out, smiling from ear to ear. It was about time I did the needful I thought to myself. Crossing over to the other side of the room and kneeling gallantly before her.

 

I had carefully planned it out. But like all things that are planned with so much effort, things did not go down as I had anticipated.

 

Here I was, no flowers, no Eiffel tower, no outdoor scenery, no scented candles, no nothing.

 

It was just me and the woman of my dreams in a fancy hotel apartment overlooking one of the most stunning sights in the city.

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The view would have to do, for now, I thought.

 

She was staring outside the magnificent view and chatting absentmindedly about the unmistakable beauty of the city. She loved it here, and I made a mental note to visit such sightly places with her in the future.

 

Anything to make her happy.

 

I watched her move unconsciously from one foot to the other as she peered intently at the people hurrying about doing their personal business.

 

Her long and beautifully shaped legs stood tall and irresistibly sensuous before me. It was all mine to take in. She was dressed in shorts and had on one of my oversized white tees that had the inscription Y-O-L-O written bodily across it.

 

I immediately thought of my camera and reached for it, hoping to capture this serendipitous moment, marking, capturing, and crystallizing for all of eternity, till the end of time; an angel amongst humans.

 

As I reached for my camera, I quickly chided myself mentally.

 

Focus Collins, this ain’t the priority right now.

 

If I did so, it’ll only draw her attention and ruin the moment. That picture would have to wait, I thought again to myself.

 

I moved stealthily, straightening my crumpled shirt, and hurried quietly across the room to kneel behind her.

 

The hotel room was super fancy, expensive, and the kind of luxurious 5-star hotel that hosted presidential guests, celebrities, and people of elite recognition in the world.

 

It had the kind of plush settee and furniture arrangement that you’d only find in a Royal duchess’s living room. The room’s biggest selling point was the view that overlooked the city. The same view that had Jessica so enthralled and fascinated, she wouldn’t take her eyes off it.

 

I changed positions, trying to make sure I got everything right.

 

How do you propose to a lady properly?

 

Right foot up? Left foot up?

 

This was the perfect moment to make google my friend. But there was no time at all for that. If Jessica smelt a rat or perceived an inkling of suspicion that something was up with me, it’ll ruin the entire surprise I had planned for her.

 

Not knowing the appropriate answer, I braced myself to work with my instinct.

 

“Any foot should work for the purpose of this proposal. I must get this proposal done today.” I muttered to myself.

 

The leg positioning didn’t matter at all. The most imperative was the gesture. Wasn’t the gesture supposed to matter above all things?

 

She still hadn’t noticed that I no longer lay on the bed and was kneeling directly behind her, patiently waiting for her to catch the grand gesture.

 

Tap, tap, no response.

 

I thought of my iPad, got up from my knees, reached across the bed, grabbed, and quickly positioned it on the table nearby. I needed to capture this magical moment for the world to see. My future children would need to see the video in order to glimpse how remotely stubborn their mother truly was. I chuckled to myself.

 

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Check. The angle captured us perfectly. It was good to go.

 

She still hadn’t noticed my movements,

What was so alluring to her down there anyway? What’s got her attention so badly?

 

As if on cue, she started to talk really fast, which was her typical speech mannerisms whenever she was upset… “Collins, I’m fed up with all this, your behavior is strictly unacceptable…” she spoke rapidly, still looking out at the city.

 

“I’m not having it. Not now, not ever…do you understand… Is this relationship a plaything to…I’ve thought this through perfectly. It’s the best…option for…?”

 

“Would you marry me?” I blurted out quickly, attempting to interrupt her as she turned almost immediately to face me.

 

She stiffened. She was expecting an apology, and not a proposal.

 

Her eyes were wide and her lips were shaped in a small “O”. Jessica was very bad at shielding her emotions. Surprise was clearly spelled across her face.

 

I played my card well…I grinned from ear to ear as I watched her walk slowly towards me.

 

She approached quickly, her eyes large and wide with surprise.

 

Great. Just the right amount of drama that I needed. It was hard to surprise her, and I was glad that she had indeed been caught off guard. ..

 

I made a mental note to thank my best friend for the heads up.

 

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The best time to propose to a lady was the time she was less concerned about you. Maybe after a stupid fight. Just like the one we just had. Jessica and I agreed and disagreed over a lot of things. While some of this argument would end almost immediately, some others would go on and on for days until somebody finally apologized. Just like the one we had a few hours ago. It had been the sweetest and most irrelevant argument of all time. We’d argued over the next business venture to invest in. She’d been hell-bent on doing a long term investment with one of the safest and best reliable financial institutions in the country.

 

According to her, this was one of the wisest options out there, with a positive long term implication on our resources and general net worth.

 

I, on the other hand, firm and unmoving as usual, had tried to convince her that although a wise choice, it was not the best investment plan for us at the moment. There were other options and investment opportunities out there to look out for, she just had to see it. Convinced that a real estate investment in one of the fastest developing sites in the states will be the safest venture to dump our financial interest, she did not buy the idea at all and the argument had ensued further.

 

My metaphorical analogy to real estate investment, in my own words, was this, “It’ll be like a loyal dog growing with time to do its owner’s bidding,” positing that this would pose a higher guarantee return on our funds unlike the other. The key was to get money growing sporadically, and not in a volatilized manner.

 

She, on the other hand, had been obstinate, arguing that even a loyal dog could turn on its owner and bite it. A balanced investment venture on both sides will be the only way.

 

What had started as a mild discussion on our financial future had somehow ruined our plans for the afternoon, and we had returned to the hotel in a heated passion than ever before.

 

That had been the crux of the argument. Money; not about the absence of money, rather, it was where to secure money.

 

Even if the argument had almost ruined our dinner at saint Louis cafe, it had somehow been worth it. A stupid fight that will be resolved one way or the other.

 

Seriously speaking, long and short term investments could wait. Right now, I want to make this brilliant and ravishingly beautiful woman mine forever, and that was all that mattered.

 

I looked at her, blinking and bringing myself back to reality. She was still standing before me, her mouth gradually turning from the “O” shape into a thin smile.

 

It would be more memorable. A fight, a moment of passion, and then a proposal in a fancy city. Who said there was any better way to do this?

 

“You!” Jessica whispered, her jaw dropped and tears glistened in her eyes as she stared at me like someone who had just found an adorable little kitten.

 

I smiled at her.

 

This was the 12th hour, and I could feel the adrenaline pulsing through my veins.

 

My eyes fluttered nervously. Would she agree? What would her answer be?

 

Although I was convinced I loved her deeply, I knew that our relationship would need more than love to thrive efficiently. It’ll have to be built on the threshold of trust, faith, and respect.

 

I thought to myself, as I smiled and started to speak.

 

“You make me complete. You make me feel fearless. When you’re by my side, I get the feeling that I can conquer the world. You make me ache in places I wouldn’t dare mention, and you make breathing complete when it’s your fragrance that I take in. You’re the part of me I never knew was missing until I found you. Marry me, let’s take this journey to forever. Please?” I added on a second thought considering we just got out of a stupid fight only a few hours ago.

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The words had flowed out from a safe haven in my heart. I treasured our union more than anything in the world, and I sincerely wished to treasure her for the rest of my days.

 

My better half.

 

The whole that completes me.

 

Jessica could be arrogantly petty when she wanted to be, which was one of the qualities I most admired yet feared about her. She was spirited, bold and a fiery fire when the situation demanded it.

 

Today was our three years anniversary, approximately two years and nine months after I first met her.

 

Thinking about how it all began in a flash, I smiled to myself, trying to remember how fast things had changed for both of us.

 

Our first meeting had been totally unprecedented. It had happened on an auspicious sunny afternoon in college. That day, the sun had shone like every other day, and the pressure of class deadlines and assignments had been pressed heavily on my shoulders. Although the events of that day had been totally unprecedented, it was by far one of the best chance meetings that had altered my life forever.

 

The time had been 2’0clock in the afternoon, and as I had hurried distractedly to beat the next lecture, I’d mistakenly bumped into a fair-skinned girl, who I later learned was called Jessica, who would later become my girlfriend, and later on my fiancee. s\She too had been distracted by something fascinating on her phone and had been too distracted to pay any attention to the road, or to where she was going.

 

It was a typical scene borne out of a Hollywood summer romance novel. The impact had been brutal as we had collided heavily

 

The next series of events that followed were so dramatic; Books went flying in the air, passer-byes stopped to watch, and it was clearly impossible to create any kind of order out of the impending chaos.

 

The impact had been painful as we’d collided headfirst into each other. I legitly saw stars and Jessica had been so stunned by the sudden turn of events that she had immediately barraged me with words, words that had spelled and defined me as lousy to have abandoned the main road and hit her when she was not looking. O-boy, did I learn how spirited and sour-mouthed she could be!!! She didn’t take the situation to be funny and I, contrastingly, had been excessively humored by it all

 

Our first impressions of each other had been pretty dreadful, but thankfully like all things, first impressions change too.

 

The second time we’d met, it had been a chance disaster waiting to happen. We’d stumbled on each other at a restaurant on Campus. Following a series of heated and passionate exchanges of words, the scene had ended with ice thrown rudely at my chest the moment I’d made an attempt to confess that she made my heartburn with feverish anticipation.

 

“That would cool it down for a long while!” She had uttered, walking out of the restaurant.

 

An embarrassing moment as several onlookers thought to say, but it only made the trophy more alluring. The higher the risk, the higher the fun that was to be reached.

 

After that, she’d called to apologize for her rude behavior and our relationship had kicked off like magic from there.

 

And now, here we were, hoping to take this relationship to a new level.

 

“Jessica?? My knees are hurting…”

 

“Yes! yes!” She replied almost immediately as if just realizing. Her voice was raised with such velocity and ecstasy, all the doubt I had once abhorred dissipated with those words.

 

“I’d marry you, Collins,” she said as she bent to give me a long kiss.

 

“Come on, let’s pop champagne!” I thundered in response as I picked her up and twirled her around the room.

 

She giggled with excitement, and at that moment I was unmistakably the happiest man on earth.

 

“I love you,” she said, smiling at me.

 

I grinned again.

 

This proposal really did go well, and more than that, I was convinced that above our petty fights and endless disagreements, she really did love me. My love, my sweetheart had just agreed to marry me, I could picture our beautiful family already.

 

“We’ve got a wedding to fix, and some money matter to settle,” she said finally and winked at me.”

 

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