Greg Sanders, a young man who had been in Las Vegas for two years as a lab technician in the crime lab, shook a bit as he set up the video camera. He and his best, no ONLY female friend, Erzsébet, were in Hawaii, celebrating her graduation.
He also regretted the deal they had made on the way over, on the plane; their had been a discussion about their relationship, and Greg had frozen and said that he thought they should just be friends. Especially since she was heading off the Atlanta, and they would probably communicate only by e-mail and post-mailed videos.
Greg hadn't seen the sadness in Erzsébet's eyes, or the way her entire body changed after they'd made the deal. He had simply looked out the window and not thought about it since…. Until yesterday, that is. Yesterday they were walking along one of the roads downtown and they went by a jewelry stand. When Erzsébet had walked off, Greg saw two things: a locket and a black pearl ring. He wasn't stupid, he knew black pearls were rare, but to him, so was Erzsébet.
He had bought both, and planned to give her the locket when they got off the plane in LA; she was going to spend a week with her grandparents before heading to Atlanta. The ring was the reason he was setting up a camera. Clearing his throat, he made sure Erzsébet was out of the room, and quickly went inside and locked both her door and his. The wonders of adjoining rooms would allow him to tape interrupted.
After making sure the camera was on, had tape in it, and was indeed recording, Greg sat on the edge of the balcony. "Yesterday," he began, "I bought you a couple of things. One you'll get when the plane touched down at LAX. The other… it requires extra words to give. Why? Because we both decided, on the plane trip over to this beautiful place, never to be more than friends." He sighed before continuing. "I can't just be your friend, Erzsé. I've watched you for the past eight years, and have seen you change. You have grown from a girl with mosquito bites to a women who made Hawaiian men take notice."
He jumped as there was a knock on his door; Erzsébet had gone downstairs to call a cab, and had her stuff in his room so she could check out of the hotel early. "GREG!" she called from outside his door, "Are you done yet? The cab company called and they're on their way!"
"Almost!" Greg smiled and looked back at the camera lens. "That's you, but… you probably know that already." He cleared his throat a little, and scratched his head for a moment. "Where was I? Oh yeah – you made them take notice, and even then I had begun to regret our deal. So, I got this for you…"
He reached into his pocket then, and Greg actually had to look to find what he was trying to set free from the confines of his shorts. He pulled a blue box out and looked back at the camera as he opened the box; he has picked the black pearl ring because it was rare, like he thought Erzsébet was. "I want to marry you, Erzsébet Kaia Sidle," he said into the camera, "and I think I've known I love you for about the same amount of time I've known you." He smirked. "Well, maybe a couple years less." He cleared his throat. "I'm giving you this tape along with your Hawaiian present, Erzsé, and if I don't' hear back from you, I'll still keep the ring. It's a symbol of me knowing I love you and WANTING to take that chance; I'll have it until the day I die, but will never give it to anyone else if you don't want it." He put the box back in his pocket. "I just wanted you to know I love you." Greg turned off the camera then, and finished getting his stuff ready to go; hopefully she would say yes.
