Chapter 1
Even though he has known her for practically a large part of his life, he felt as if the time wasn’t right to ask her to be his girlfriend. With that said, he waited for a whole seven months. Seven long months. He noticed her sending him little hints; he knew what she wanted, however he wanted to be prepared. He wanted to her to be ready. Each day, for hours, he was no stranger to the past. He contemplated why he loved her, asking himself all the basic questions, and the not so basic ones.
Finally on this fateful Sunday morning, he decided that it was time. He was finally ready to take the leap of faith and ask his woman of his dreams. He even found the perfect place! The classroom where they first met. Everything looked beautiful. He had his big family helping him set up the whole place and the after party, where he’d propose. Nothing could go wrong, or so he thought, Nothing at all. At five o’clock sharp, he took her to the college campus and the class where they first met. When they got there, it was a disaster. Everything he alwys feared about just came true. Right before his eyes, he saw what he feared the most. All the hard work that he and his family had done, gone down in the vein. The flowers were scattered all over the ground without order, the confetti were all over the place, the walls were graffitied on and to top over it, there was mother nature, pouring rain hard. Not the romantic evening he had hoped for, that’s for sure. The couple quickly ran and returned to stay in the car.
Out of breath and soaked, she asked, curiously “What are we doing here, darling?”
“Love, I wanted everything to be perfect. I wanted the flowers to be blooming, the birds to be chirping and the sun to be high in the sky. But nothing is going my way. I’m sorry, but I can’t… I can’t…”
“You can’t what?” confused she asked, not knowing what is stressing her darling.
He looked over at her. For some reason the words were at the tip of his tongue, refusing to exit his mouth. “Never mind,” he said instead, then lowered his head.
Both their nerves were high. She stared out the window in silence, confused by the moment. And he, well… he kept tugging at his coat collar, sweating like a sauna even with the AC on in the car. He tried to say something twice, except nothing came out. He stuttered every time like a never-ending nightmare.
“Are you trying to propose?” She asked in a serious tone, returning her gaze to the man she loved so dearly.
He nodded, but barely. He nearly became a statue from the fear of she disapproving of the whole scenario. He wanted everything to be perfect for his queen, but now everything is in a mess. The intense moment grew longer, it seemed. No one said a word. Their eyes remained glued on one another, waiting for the other person to speak first.
“Where is it?” She finally spoke up.
He pulled the ring out from the glove department.
“My love,” He began, “Remember when we were in college and I saw you sitting on that bench?” he pointed outside the car window towards the classroom “You were angry that day because you met your ex and everyone saw you getting embarrassed and angry.”
“I was only a kid back then. Why does that matter?” She asked, slightly embarrassed that even after years he still remembers the first time. She did not leave behind a really good first impression back then.
“It matters because that day I knew you would one day be my wife. After hanging out with you, I ran home and told my mom that I had found the one. She said, ‘good for you, now go clean your room.'” He said laughing, “She didn’t believe me. She thought I was just bluffing in order to get out of the blind dates she sets out for me and my brother.”
“I wouldn’t believe you either. You see woman and you run the other way.” He laughed.
“It’s true. She didn’t even believe me. I mean it was my first love! Puppy love but no one really knows if it will ever work out. Do you know what she said to me the day she first time saw you?” he asked looking at her with all the love in his eyes and a big smile on his face.
She just shook her head.
“She said, ‘son, if you don’t marry her, I’m going to summon all the dead spirits to haunt you.” He chuckled. “I told her I will but not until I’m ready. That was seven months ago. And now, after thinking about long and hard I realize I can’t imagine a life without you, My Queen, my love, the world’s only woman apart from my family that got my attention. You complete me… it’s like you’re my other half.”
He, took off his seat belt, got out of the car, ran around to the passenger’s side, opened the door and got on one knee. With the rain pouring down on him, and all, he could care less; he wanted her to see how much he loved her. Just how much he is sincere on this.
She began to have tears in her eyes. She covered her mouth with one hand and allowed the tears to fall. They became one with the rain. He pulled out a handkerchief and gave it to her, though it was wet. This made her laugh. The world seemed to vanish and they couldn’t look away from one another.
“Not a day goes by that I don’t think about our future together,” he continued, “My queen” he opened the ring case “will you make me the happiest man alive and be my girlfriend? Wait, you know what? Screw that! Marry me please? Marry me and make me the happiest and luckiest man alive on this planet, please?”
“Yes,” She managed to say between her crying and giggling, and he took out the ring and placed it on his now new fiancé.
“This is my birth mother’s ring. It’s been in the family for four generations.”
“Oh my gosh!” She exclaimed, jumping into her man’s arms. He happily caught her in his embrace and twirled her around as they kissed passionately in the rain.