June 21st

Kit stared out the window of his Manhattan apartment at the gray sky as Nita's voice burbled on behind him.

"What? Yes, he proposed. Very sweetly, too, as he might add. What? Nah, he didn't give me a ring, stupid, he threw me off the balcony. Yes, he gave me a ring. Uhh… look, why do you want to know? Oh, ok, fine. Hold on…"

Nita put her hand over the mouthpiece and murmured to Kit, "She wants to know how you proposed."

Kit turned away from the window, a hint of laughter dancing in his eyes. "I threw you of the balcony."

Nita groaned and lightly threw a Kleenex box at him. He dodged it, laughing, and said, "Why don't you tell her?"

Nita sighed, gave him a look that clearly said I'll get you for that, and turned back to the phone.

"What? Yeah, I'm here. Uhhh… ok. Ummm… this was over Spring Break, alright? We were walking along the beach down in San Diego. Yeah. The sun was setting, and we're holding hands. Uhh… no, he didn't seem too nervous. Anyways, we're walking along the beach, and it's completely empty. The tide's coming in, and there's a nice breeze. I was talking to him about how our lives had met, how we'd changed over the years, and all that, and we reached the point in our lives where we went off to college, and having to separate for four years. And so, all of a sudden, Kit whirls around in front of me, and he drops to one knee. This is where he starts to look a bit unsure of himself… what? Hold on. Let me finish. Anyways, he looks up at me and tells me, 'Nita…those four years being separated from you were torture. It was in those four long years that I realized how much I love you and need you. To solve the problem of being separated again… Nita, would you like to marry me?'. And… what? What did I say? Well, what could I say? I looked him in the eye and, very calmly, burst into tears. Oh, yes, laugh all you want…" Nita laughed.

"I hugged him and told him I loved him with all my heart and that I'd marry him. Oh, geez, look, why don't you email me all this… no, my minutes are about to go. Okay. Bye."

Nita ended the call, then hurriedly removed the rear cover, ripped the battery out, and threw it into her purse. She gave a small, relieved smile and plopped down next to Kit, who was busy setting up a card house, and totally unaware that Nita was sitting behind him, about to pounce.

The ace of spades jittered slightly in Kit's hand as he lowered it toward the two of diamonds and the Queen of Hearts, which finished off the house. The card touched down.

"Boo."

Kit jumped horribly, then swore equally horribly.

"Ah, sh…"

The card house was gone with a few quiet clicks as the cards touched the table. Kit bashed his head against the table as Nita laughed quietly.

"Okay, okay, Kit. I'm sorry. You can stop beating yourself up now."

Kit rolled his eyes, but stopped.

"I oughta write a book," he muttered. I can see it now: Top One Hundred Stupid Things Spouses Do to Torture Their Fiancées, by Dr. Kit Rodriguez. Number One: Scare the hell out of them. Number Two:.."

Nita slugged him lightly.

"Oh, shut up, Kit."

He grinned mischievously at her as he stood up.

"Number Three: Sock Their Spouses for No Good Reason."

Nita rolled her eyes good-naturedly and kissed him on the lips.

"Thank God it's a Saturday and I'm not gonna be late for work, or else you'd find yourself in a straightjacket that says, Keep Away from Playing Cards."

Kit laughed softly.

"Uh-huh. If you could catch me."

Nita rolled her eyes again, then closed her eyes and flopped down on the bed.

"So, whatcha want to do?"

"Really? I want to get rid of my Mustang. It finally died. I want something else."

"Huh. My Volvo's still alive."

"Oh, shut up."

"You first, smartmouth."

Kit laughed at the indignant expression on Nita's face and kissed her.

"You look like a cat when you do that."

Nita glared at him, then burst out laughing as he hissed at her.

"Kit, cut it out."

He laughed harder, dodged a playful punch from Nita, then went into the kitchen to see what he could do about dinner.