Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 37270 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 186(@200wpm)___ 149(@250wpm)___ 124(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37270 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 186(@200wpm)___ 149(@250wpm)___ 124(@300wpm)
She looks incredible. I stare at her for way too long. Long enough for her to become self-conscious, but I’m quick to tell her why as I cross the floor and take her hand, guiding her to the dining table.
“You look beautiful in a dress or out of one,” I comment. Not quite the Prince Charming comment I was aiming for, but it makes her smile.
“Thanks… I guess,” she says, shifting her attention to the table as I seat her, easing the velvet-backed chair in behind her.
“Oh, my gosh!” she exclaims. “This is fancy… and smells delicious,” she says enthusiastically. I lift the silver domes and set them aside. I take my seat and look into her eyes.
Food is the last thing on either of our minds right now. I’d challenge Melissa to sit through a four-course meal without even broaching the real reason I’m doing all this.
We both fall into what I hope will be the last awkward silence of our lives. Our eyes fix on each other, and we finally grin like maniacs as we play dare to see who will speak first. I’m up for it. I can’t think of anything else I need to know right now except her one-word answer.
“Melissa… Dinner can wait. I… I guess you might’ve figured out why I’m doing all this.”
She crimps her mouth. Those big blue eyes are misting up already, which isn’t making this any easier, so like everything else that hasn’t run on schedule, I just do it. I get up from my seat, pulling the little velvet box out of my pocket. I take a step and a half to her side of the table and get down on one knee, Melissa gasping and covering her mouth with the flats of her hands.
I’ve never trembled in my life, but my body feels like jelly, and my heart’s in my throat, which should make speaking from it much easier.
“Melissa, I’m just gonna do this. I have to know. This past day has been the best of my whole life. It’s the only day of my life that’s made sense because you were in it, and all I wanna do from now on is make every day about you… about us.”
The single tear sliding down her flushed round cheek throws me, but I’ve come this far, and like I just told her, I have to know. I pop the lid of the box, and she gasps again, louder this time, and her eyes grow wide with wonder.
It’s a helluva rock, alright, and in this light, it literally explodes across the room, lighting up me and her and the entire room in a web of colors that play off the ring.
Her ring.
“Melissa… Will you… will you be my wife?” I ask, my voice clear and true. My nerves are all gone. My hands and body are as steady as ever.
A moment passes in silence. And then another.
I search her eyes for a clue, but she’s genuinely speechless, and I stumble to fill the gap.
“If it’s the ring, we can take it back… exchange it,” I babble.
“Yes,” Melissa whispers so quietly I can barely hear.
“So, we should take it back?” I ask, shaking my head and kicking myself for trusting that old bastard at the boutique.
“Yes,” Melissa says a little louder, and her eyes come back into focus as if she’s coming out of a trance.
“I mean… they had heaps of rings. I just needed something for—”
“Yes!” she shrieks suddenly. “I’m telling you yes, Mark! Yes! Yes! Yeeeessss!”
Once it clicks she means yes in a yes way, I feel like I can breathe.
“You-you will be mine, always and forever?” I ask again, kinda entering a state of shock because this is like winning the keys to the universe.
“Yes,” she answers without hesitating, hooking her arms around my neck and squeezing me so hard I almost drop the ring I haven’t even slid on her finger yet.
“I love you, Mark! I love you! I couldn’t have waited another day for you to claim me, and after last night, I just knew I wanted to be with you forever.”
I hold her tighter, shifting myself only enough to kiss her long and tender. I slide the ring on her finger, and with one hand on her heart, she admires it with her hand outstretched, but I’m looking at a greater treasure worth more than all the diamonds in history.
My Melissa. My future wife.
Mine!
“I love you, Melissa. I’ll always love you!”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
THE NEXT DAY…
Melissa
The best dreams are the ones that never end. After proposing and having a delicious meal, I discovered that practice makes perfect. Having no problems learning to drive a stick in my future husband’s car, we drove around until I’m sure half of Sydney knew his name by heart because I screamed it so many times.