'I can't give it away, I can't give it away.'. The steady chant is running through my head. I need to be as secretive as possible, so she's caught entirely by surprise. I want to dress nice, but I don't want her to guess it right away. My clothes , spread out across my bed, all seem either too fancy or too plain. There's a knock on the door, so I go answer it. My friend Antonio, who agreed to drive her and I, is on the other side. The warm smile on his face calms me down a little, but not much. " What's wrong, amiguito? You're taking a while." . He usually dresses well for the situation, so I pull him into my room.
" I, uh, well... I need help! I don't know how to dress for this, I've never done this before..." My heart is pounding even faster admitting it out loud. It feels like I drank water too fast, the way my chest is clenching up. Fortunately it seems Antonio knows what to do.
" Aww, that's sweet! Alright amigo, first off, you're proposing tonight,no? You couldn't possibly be so ,eh, excitado for this otherwise. Since you probably want it to be a secret, dress casually. What type of clothes have you worn in the past? Wear those. Don't forget to breathe~!" is his advice, after which he laughs and walks out of the room to let me change. In keeping with his advice, I decide to wear black slacks, a light blue dress shirt and a tie that's striped with black and blue. Anyone who says Italians aren't stylish are jealous liars.
Downstairs I head, and to the date we go, picking her up along the way. She's dressed nicely, a dark colored dress, not too short. The skirt is fairly swishy, we could probably dance tonight. Trying to calm my pulse about my plan, I imagine us dancing and smile to myself the whole ride over while Antonio talks to her about a particular food dish.
The restaurant I picked is elegant, even for my tastes. Dark shades everywhere, red, gold and black. We sit at a table towards the edge, not fully isolated but alone enough we won't be bothered by people walking by.
She's talking to me and I'm replying, though I'm not paying much attention. 'Must be perfect, recite it properly'. We sit and I can see myself shaking. She does too.
" Are you alright, bien-aimee?" she asked, concerned. I nod. 'I can't wait any longer, the time to tell her is now!' "Uh, actually, I'm not alright. I need to tell you something..." I get out of my seat to sit beside her.
" We've been together for a long time now, longer than any of my relationships ever have lasted, and I feel so happy when I'm with you, I feel like no matter what happens, you will always be able to cheer me up." I sigh, smiling. She looks a little confused, though I can tell it's dawning on her. I slip down to one knee, as I've seen done(and practiced), and remove the tell-tale box from a pocket in my slacks. Her eyes get so wide I'm worried for a moment that she's about to faint, but I continue on.
" I really love you Michelle, I'd like to ask you to marry me... which is what I'm doing now, ve~." I I open the box and gently hold one of her hands in front of me, waiting for permission to put the ring on. My heart is in overtime, and I can barely breathe.
She smiles at me brightly, eyes looking shimmery. She nods and whispers "Oui", shaking as hard as I am now. I put the ring on her finger as carefully as possible and stand, hugging her tight. The rest of the people in the room have been applauding and cheering, but in this moment, all I can hear is her tiny cries mixed with mine for the joy of our futures.
I am so totally sorry it took me forever to end this! I couldn't decide how to word it right and then it slipped my mind because personal life stuff and nyeh so yeah, hope you guys enjoy it, if not I can try to rewrite it later. Any feedback is loved.