"I love you, not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you."
-Roy Croft
"Where are you?" Nina asked into the phone as she walked down the pavement, her light brown hair fluttering in the cool, autumn breeze. Her eyes searched the streets for a dark-haired man driving down the road in a dark blue car.
"I'm almost here, just wait by the streetlight for me, okay?" he replied, a smile evident in his voice.
Nina smiled softly, his words comforting her anxious mind as soon as he spoke. "Okay, I'll be waiting."
"See you then," he said. And then the dial tone rang in her ear, signaling that he had hung up.
She slipped her phone back into her purse and moved toward the streetlight at the corner. She looked at the sky as she waited for him to come. The day was just reaching dusk, with orange and pink hues streaking across the sky and the sun only a half-circle of gold that continued to creep below the horizon.
Nina looked down at her black and peach dress that she had worn on their first date, putting her hand against the light's cold metal pole as she struggled to stay standing in a pair of black, three-inch heels that Amber had forced her into. Though she loved to be dressed up for a date, she did not want to be out here in the cooling night, freezing herself into a popsicle.
Her phone rang again and Nina fumbled for the phone in her purse, pressing the Call button as she put it to her ear.
"Hello?" Nina answered.
"Nina! Hey," his voice replied.
"Fabian, why did you have me get so dressed up-I'm freezing out here!" she said.
"Patience, Nina. Everything will be answered in time," Fabian said.
"Stop being so mysterious, we've had enough mystery in our lives already!" Nina argued.
His laughter filtered through the phone and Nina narrowed her eyes in slight annoyance. "Relax, I'm almost there," he said.
She groaned. "Please hurry," she said, hanging up.
Here she was, a twenty-two-year-old woman, waiting in the cold for her boyfriend who should have been here twenty minutes ago. Even though she loved him, it was a bit annoying.
The rumble of a plane flying overhead made Nina look up. A plane was moving across the sky, but at a snail's pace. It confused her, but then she saw that something was attached to the plane in huge writing . . .
Nina Martin, will you marry me?
It was just light enough to see the words, and she gasped, tears immediately falling from her eyes. She put a hand over her mouth in surprise, and shook her head as she realized that her makeup began to run black lines down her face.
"Surprised?" a voice said softly behind her.
Nina spun around and saw Fabian Rutter in a black tuxedo with a red velvet box and that amazing smile on his face that made Nina's heart pound out of her chest. He approached her, putting a hand to her face and wiping away the black tears.
"You look-" he started.
"Awful. Look at my face, I look ridiculous," she said as she tried to stop the tears of joy from ruining all of her makeup.
"Just like I said that night of the End-of-Term Prom, I was going to say beautiful," he countered. He took his hand from her face to bend down on one knee. He opened the box to reveal a glittering diamond ring, and took one of her hands with the one that did not hold the box. "Now, what do you say?"
Nina glanced back at the sky, at the question that changed her life forever, and a small smile appeared on her lips.
"How could I say anything but yes?" she breathed.
The widest smile formed on Fabian's expression as he stood up and took her in his arms. He spun her around as he laughed with joy. When he put her down, she put a hand at the back of his neck and kissed him. The kiss was so full of love and passion and happiness that they both knew that they would be happy forever.
He pulled away, a smile still on his face. "Wait, don't forget the ring."
Fabian slid the beautiful diamond ring onto his fiancée's left ring finger. His eyes met hers again, complete and utter happiness in their eyes and they didn't say anything for the longest time.
"'Love doesn't make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile'*," Fabian quoted quietly.
"I love you," Nina said.
"And you already know how I feel," he replied.
"I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you," she whispered. She threw her arms around his shoulders and hung onto him for so long. She held onto her new life, her soon-to-be husband, and, most importantly, to a love that would last a lifetime.
This is one of the shortest stories I have ever written: only 912 words! Well, I personally think it was a good, fluff-filled one-shot. (: And in case anyone cares, this was so hard to think of a title for . . .
The quote is by Franklin Jones, and I didn't add in his name to Fabian's line because I thought it would ruin the moment. I hope you enjoyed reading this, now please review!
~Ary