Will Ridge pop out the question?
Taylor walked out onto the terrace. There was a table set for two with rose petals and candles. Next to the table was a serving cart with many covered platters and bowls. Soft music was in the air. Taylor gazed at the scenery, deeply touched. Then she heard a voice behind her.
"Hey Doc! There you are!"
"Ridge, my prince Charming." They stepped toward each other. They were both so emotional at first, they didn't know what to say. Ridge clasped her waist.
"You look adorable!" Taylor beamed at him.
"Thank you, I have to thank you for that!" She gave him a grateful kiss.
"And I'm very proud of you for finding your way here!"
"You didn't have any doubts?"
"Not at all! I know I'm with the smartest woman in the world. But now take a seat! You must be really hungry." He led Taylor to her chair and served her the appetizer. They raised their glasses.
"To an unforgettable day!"
"To an unforgettable night!" They toasted to each other. Taylor took a closer look at her plate.
"This looks delicious!" Ridge winked at her.
"Indeed! And who knows? Maybe you'll discover more surprises during this dinner!" Taylor stared at him suspiciously. Had Ridge hidden the ring somewhere in the food? Taylor began to search each course very carefully and to be particularly mindful of every bite, every sip. Ridge watched her with amusement.
They finished their meal without Taylor coming across anything suspicious. She reached for his hand.
"Thank you! That was wonderful, actually overwhelming, the entire day was so enchanting, so unique. I cannot believe you did all this just for me. I don't even know what to say, and you even remembered that it's always been my dream to spend a night in this hotel only once!" She was so touched and had tears in her eyes. Ridge softly stroked her cheek.
"I just wanted to make it special, like Cinderella. She had to overcome some hurdles too, before she got to have her magical night in her dream castle." Taylor laughed.
"Well, compared to Cinderella, I got off pretty easy." She rose and her eyes wandered over the lights of the city. "It's beautiful here, even more than I ever imagined and the best part is, we're both experiencing it together. I wish this day would never end!" Ridge hugged her and kissed her neck.
"The day isn't over yet. There's still one crucial point missing!"
"Oh yeah, and what's that?"
"Think about it! The day, the puzzles and all that. Does it remind you of anything?" Taylor teased him, she pretended she had to think very hard.
"Now that you say...this whole thing does seem kind of familiar...I remember vaguely...there was something about an island and a treasure hunt...back on Saint Thomas."
"Very good! So what is missing? I mean you did a great job solving all the puzzles, we had a wonderful meal, but what comes at the end of every treasure or scavenger hunt?"
"The treasure!"
"Correct! This will be your last task! You have to find it here on this terrace."
"Here?" Taylor looked around, confused. "Can I get another hint?"
"All right, I won't be like that. The first time, the treasure was where?"
"Buried in the sand!"
"And the second time? When we were on Saint Thomas renewing our vows." Taylor had to think a little longer this time, but it finally came back to her. "That's when it was buried under a huge pile of pillows."
"Exactly! So this time you don't have to dig, but you have to go fishing!"
"Fishing? On this terrace?"
"Yep, now go!" Taylor looked all around to find out what Ridge meant. Finally, hidden behind a screen she spotted a hot tub, large enough for two, with water embedded in it. Flowers and candles floated on the water's surface. Taylor sat down at the edge and Ridge joined her, watching her expectantly. In the middle of the water swam a small boat. She reached for it and discovered that there was a line attached to it, which she began to pull. She noticed the line gave more and more resistance and she pulled on it faster until finally a golden metal box emerged from the water. Ridge handed her a towel to dry her hands and the box.
"Congratulations! You actually found something! I'm so excited! Go ahead and open it, let's see what's in there." Taylor gave him an ironic look, as if Ridge didn't know what was inside the box. An excitement and tension crept up inside her, her emotions were riding on a roller coaster. With trembling hands, she finally opened the treasure box. Even though it was exactly what she had eagerly hoped for, she was still completely surprised and speechless. Inside the box was a beautiful diamond ring. Taylor stared at it, unable to make any movement. Finally, Ridge took the ring in his hand and looked at her with a very serious expression. He reached for her hand.
"Doc! You know, when I moved here, my only intention was to throw myself into work and get away from some bad memories. I never expected to find you here and even after our heart to heart I never thought that one day we would sit here like this. In the last few months we have experienced an incredibly exciting and beautiful journey and I don't want to miss a single day of it. I never thought I could fall in love again so sincerely and fiercely and that love has grown stronger with every moment we've spent together. I love you Taylor! I love you more than I can ever tell you and I'm absolutely sure. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, I wanna share with you all the small and big moments, when our kids will go their own path. I want to sit with you one day in a house full of grandkids. I want to grow old and gray with you and enjoy every day until the end of my life. So I ask you here and now. Will you marry me and be my wife and share all these things with me?" Taylor gasped. Tears had come during his speech, and now they were just streaming down her face. She was so overjoyed, touched and overwhelmed, it took her a moment to collect herself. She looked into his eyes and nodded vigorously. She fell around his neck and was finally able to speak again.
"Yes, Ridge!" Yes, yes, yes. Yes I want to marry you and be your wife more than anything in the world. I want to spend every day with you for the rest of my life. I want to be with you as our kids will challenge their lives. I want to watch our grandkids growing up with you. I never want to be again a single day without you!" Joyful, he took her in his arms, they began to kiss incessantly, they could not let go of each other. He wiped away her tears, but it was useless because new tears kept coming. For a long time they sat there, tightly embraced, until they both calmed down a little bit. He reached for her hand again and slipped the ring onto her finger. Taylor glanced at it full of love and gratitude. She couldn't take her eyes off the ring.
"I hope you like it!"
"Like it?! That's not an expression at all! It's the most beautiful ring I've ever seen."
"It reminded me of you as soon as I saw it!" Taylor looked at him puzzled. "It's so pure and finely cut, just like you, and when you hold it up to the light..." He took her hand and held the ring against the candlelight. "...then it glows in all kinds of colors, just like you. You are so familiar to me and I know you intimately. You have a unique, pure and good character and yet you still manage to amaze me." At this declaration of love, a new gush of tears came out from her eyes.
"Oh Ridge! You... I...I love you!"
"I love you too, Doc!" Again they sank into a heartfelt kiss. Ridge's lips traveled down her neck to her cleavage. They both breathed heavily. After a deep look, they stood up and without a word, he lifted her in his arms and carried her back into the suite. He lowered himself with her onto the large soft bed. They beamed at each other. Slowly, savoring each moment, they began to undress each other. They spent a breathtaking, romantic night of love and passion, each intent on fulfilling the other's needs and desires.
The next morning, Taylor awoke to a pleasant warm feeling. She still had her eyes closed, afraid of waking up from an incredibly beautiful dream. She dared to barely open her eyes. Carefully she blinked around and was relieved to find herself in the hotel suite. Her gaze went immediately to the ring finger of her left hand. There sparkled the diamond ring Ridge had slipped on her yesterday. It was true. They were engaged. She turned to Ridge, who was lying next to her, still fast asleep. Taylor bent down to him and began caressing his face and then covering it with kisses.
"Good morning, my handsome fiancé!" Ridge blinked sleepily.
"Good morning, my gorgeous fiancée!" He pulled her into his arms, in love they peeked at each other, they exchanged gentle little kisses and rubbed their noses together. Taylor sighed contently.
"Tell me I'm not dreaming. We are lying here in this beautiful suite and we are engaged. Ridge gave her a long thoughtful glance, then suddenly began tickling her. Taylor squealed.
"No,Ridge, stop it please!"
"Do you believe it now, that you're not dreaming?"
"Yes..it's fine, I believe it, but please stop." He let go of her, she gasped. "It's just so unbelievable, the idea that soon I'll be Mrs. Ridge Forrester again."
"You'd better get used to it. Because you'll be carrying that name for the rest of your life!"
"The rest of my life?"
"That's right! Because once you say 'I do' I'm not letting you go!"
"Actually it's the other way around! Once we're officially pronounced husband and wife, I'll never let you go." Again, her lips sought his.
Ridge glanced at the clock radio next to the bed, surprised at how late it was.
"I think we should get up." But Taylor stayed curled up in his arms.
"I don't want to get up. I just want to lie here with you all day long."
"No problem!" said Ridge, stroking her back. "I booked the suite for the whole weekend." Taylor got wide eyes.
"You what? But this costs a fortune?!" You are totally crazy!"
"Yeah crazy in love! You don't have to worry your pretty head about that, besides, it was the last time I asked my future wife to marry me. So all troubles and expenses are allowed.
"The last time?!" She chuckled and made a very mocking face.
"Hey, don't say anything wrong now!"
"No comment! I'm just telling you, if it really was the last time, it was a worthy finale. That was the most impressive proposal I've ever gotten in my life!" Ridge was astonished.
"Even more than the one on Saint Thomas?"
"Actually yes!" Ridge made a very surprised face. "Don't get me wrong! Saint Thomas was a wonderful once-in-a-lifetime experience that I will never forget, and the proposal will always be a special moment in my life. But, even though you organized that treasure hunt and everything for me, technically you could have made this proposal to any other woman. This time, however, it was only for the two of us. Every puzzle and all the other things had a special symbolism for us. You couldn't have made this proposal to another woman, it only worked for me. It proves that when you prepared this day your thoughts and heart were with me and only me. Because of that, this proposal has a very special meaning for me. I will never forget this day! Never! I still can't believe you went to such great lengths!" Ridge caressed her cheek.
"I wanted to make sure you would say 'yes' and I wanted to show you how important you are to me." Taylor shook her head.
"Like I ever would have said 'no'!" She looked at him urgently. "And you are convinced you want to put up with me for the rest of your life?" Ridge grinned.
"I think so, and you? Do you have any second thoughts?"
"Mhhh no. Overall you're a very compatible guy, I've even gotten used to your quirks by now." Ridge stared at her, offended.
"What quirks? I don't have any quirks!"
"Oh yeah you do!"
"Name one?!"
"For example, you always leave the bathroom in a mess and everywhere I trip over your stuff and you always turn up the radio so loud that probably our neighbors fall out of their bed!" Ridge gave her a combative stare.
"Oh yeah, and you think you don't have any peculiarities?! Let me tell you something, when you take a shower, I don't have any warm water afterwards, plus you always steal the last bit of coffee from the pot and if it wasn't for me, you'd never find your keys in the morning. I bet before I moved in you probably used to show up at work with two hours behind."
"That's not true at all!" Taylor grabbed one of the small pillows and hit Ridge with it, now he grabbed one as well and a wild pillow fight broke out. Finally, Ridge fell back on the bed, exhausted. Taylor bent over him.
"Awww, I won! You're all done! Well, we're all not getting any younger!" Ridge wasn't going to give up that easily. He grabbed her wrists and in the beat of the moment he flipped her onto her back and held her down.
"So, who won?" Taylor decided to change her tactic. She began to tickle him with her nose, in her eyes was the most sweetest and heartwarming glance. "Now don't give me that look. It won't work!" But Taylor continued unperturbed. She nibbled on his neck, her tongue moved to the spot behind his ear where he was very sensitive. Ridge's resistance crumbled.
"Oh Ridge, don't be like that. I know you can't resist me even if you try!" She wrapped her body around him and kissed him passionately. His reaction proved her right.