Dramatic Moments, part one
Had he just said what she thought he'd said? "I LOVE YOU"? Impossible.
"Why impossible?" he said, with a bemused smile.
Had she said it aloud?
He touched her chin and tilted her head up, so that she had to either close her eyes, or look at him. "Why impossible?" he said again, softly. "Would I say it if I didn't mean it? I'll say it again. I love you, Barbara."
"No', she said, "As you might say, it's absurd."
"Why, for heaven's sake? Barbara, you trust my judgment, don't you?"
"Sometimes."
He laughed. "Then why not on this?"
"Because, "she hesitated. "I'm not your type."
"My type? What is my type?"
She pondered, "Tall, slim, elegant. Educated, sophisticated."
"And boring," he said with a grin.
She was incredulous. "Boring?"
"Something you never are. You never worry about your hair or your clothes. You don't censor your thoughts, you say what you mean. You are painfully honest. You are YOU. And, Barbara, I count on your honesty to answer this question. Do you love me?"
She hesitated, knowing that she did, that she had loved him for years, but certain that she should not, could not, tell him. She shook her head.
"I don't believe you. When I kissed you just now, you kissed me back. With passion,"
"Well, that doesn't have to be love. It could just be lust."
He laughed heartily, then pulled her close. "Lust, is it?' he said, "Then let's just go to bed." She squirmed out of his embrace, "No!" She knew that if she crossed this line, any hope that some day there could be another love would be doomed.
"Barbara, you trust me in the field, don't you?" His voice was gentle, but he pulled her close again, holding her tightly.
"Always," she said shakily. "But this is different."
"Yes, it is, but the concept is the same. Trust me, as you do when we're working. Trust me that I mean what I say. I love you. I know it took me a long time to figure it out, but when I heard you might be promoted, the thought that I wouldn't work with you, see you every day,…I realized what you mean to me, how I need you to be with me. All the time. I want you to marry me."
"Now you really have lost it, sir! I mean….marry ME? What would people….what would your mother say?"
"Well, when I told her, she asked what took me so long. She thinks it's a wonderful idea, that you are just what I need." He looked at her solemnly. "The question, my dearest Barbara, is whether I am what you need."
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