A/N: I know, I know – I feel horrible. I should have updated sooner, I know, I know… But. There is this horrible thing about writer's block and my muse running away and I… *sigh* Besides, I had to majorly overhaul this chappie – you have NO idea how bad the original was.
Anyway, Chapter two of Proposals are Ugly Affairs – and I hope that you would not get disappointed.
Read and Review, please!
Disclaimer: I don't own National Treasure – if I did, Ben would have said something to Riley after telling Abigail to get his parents out of that mud hole...
BENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBEN
"What more could possibly go wrong?" Ben whispered in exasperation.
Riley sighed. "It would get much, much worse just to spite us. Benjamin Franklin Gates, you're the unluckiest person alive."
The two stared blankly at the floor. Everything was going wrong – the caterers cancelled, the lights and speakers were already rented out, the quartet was fully booked (they decided to forgo the movie and went with a violin quartet) – it would take a miracle to make this thing work again.
The fact that the proposal-plan was going to be put in action tomorrow made everything much, much worse.
The only thing going for them was they already have the venue and the ring.
"A minor victory in the course of events, Riley." Ben had said. Riley was inclined to agree. With all their plans going haywire – he knew they needed help.
Riley had called Jemma first – Abigail's assistant – to know what Abby's plan for tomorrow will be – and to try and keep her far, far away from them until the right time comes. It was imperative that Abigail would know nothing, would discover nothing, would suspect nothing.
What met him was not good news, though.
"Look, it's only for one whole day, Jemma!" Riley suppressed the urge to sigh loudly. Just a little help would be nice – just keep her at her office…
"Look, Riley, Abiga – Dr. Chase is very strict about keeping to her schedule. You of all people should know that."
"But it's only for a day!"
"Yes, and on that day, Dr. Chase needs to go to The Smithsonian, have a meeting with the board, check the new documents and go to the Jefferson Memorial! I can't lie to her about her schedule; she knows it by heart!"
Riley paled slightly. "Wait, what? She needs to go to the Jefferson Memorial on the day?" His voice shook slightly.
"Are you okay?" Jemma asked on the other side, concerned.
"Jemma, you have to keep Abigail away from the Jefferson Memorial."
"If you want me to be part of this, I need to know what's going on!" Jemma's voice frowned. "Riley, tell me. What is going on?"
"Ben is going to propose to Abigail!" Riley whispered urgently. "You need to get her far, far away from the Jefferson Memorial for this to be a success, Jem!"
Jemma gasped. "Oh. My. Gosh. After all these years… 'Paul Brown' is going to propose?!"
"Yes! Now, you have to – "
"What are his plans!? Where would he propose? Oh gosh, what should Abby wear…"
"Jemma!" Riley snapped as quietly as possible. "You can't give her any clue that Ben's going to propose. Tomorrow, at the Jefferson Memorial. You have to keep her away from that place."
"But how – "
"Figure it out." Riley clicked the phone off then, and left Abigail's secretary to her own devices. He didn't like it one bit, putting the task in other people's hands – even if it was Abigail's responsible and trusted assistant. If he could he would have done something himself – but he had his own problems.
Namely the lights and sounds. He called the dude he always rents his lights from, and the following conversation took place (it was barely a conversation, actually. It was more of the guy apologizing profusely and explaining in an exasperated voice, and Riley screaming into the phone like tomorrow would be doomsday…):
"WHAT?! What do you mean you have the speakers and lights rented out for the whole week? Who cares about the orphanage?! This is a life-and-death situation I'm talking about, and you're thinking about kids?!" Pause. "Okay, I really didn't mean that. Of course you knew. But don't you guys have another spare to… uh, spare?" Pause. "Really. Uh-huh. Call you back."
He didn't even have time to curse - after that one, another call came. It was Ben, ranting and whining – if Riley didn't know better he would even say Ben was on the verge of crying.
"The quartet was fully booked. The caterers cancelled on us."
"…what?" That was all Riley had to say.
"They cancelled on me – Ben Gates, Riley." Ben whispered into the phone, seething. "They cancelled on the Ben Gates. And the quartet didn't even make an exception – I begged and pleaded. I begged and pleaded."
"Ben, calm down…" Riley said, wincing. He didn't like it when Ben starts whispering like that – it showed that he was on the verge of blowing up like Old Faithful when all the conditions were right…
"Calm down Riley? CALM DOWN?! HOW CAN I CALM DOWN WHEN – "
"Stop acting like a kid, and come on home." Riley scolded. It felt weird, he decided, to say that to Ben.
He attributed the childish tantrum to Ben's being nervous and jittery.
And now they were sitting in one room, staring dumbly at the floor, at loss for things to do.
They needed help. Fast.
Aly had called – saying her womanly intuition was telling her that something was up – and promised to help. Patrick and Emily were also called, and Emily immediately said they were coming over.
The whole cavalry was coming.
Maybe there was hope, after all…
The doorbell rang after thirty minutes. Emily and Patrick entered the house, already in a middle of an argument about the proposal even before Ben told them what he already had planned.
"I think that a single, diamond stone would look boring and cliché!"
"It's a classic – Abigail would like it. I'm sure."
"I already have a ring…" Ben provided unhelpfully; the two didn't stop their arguing – they didn't even seem to hear.
"The single would look good on her fingers…"
"But a more innovative ring design would suit her better…"
Riley huffed in annoyance. They definitely didn't need this… "Stop that. Ben already has a ring – we need help with other things." That quieted them down.
Honestly though – did they think Ben is that irresponsible not to get a ring first and foremost?
The bell rang again – saving them the few moments of silence that always came when you got people to shut up – and Aly dashed inside, carrying a small white board and a marker. "Sorry I'm late, people." She announced, like she was a head of the decorating committee at a huge party. She placed her board in the center of the coffee table, and everybody flocked to her.
"Now. We have less than twenty four hours – eighteen, to be exact – to make this proposal the best that we possibly could set up." Aly wrote it down in one corner. "Now, we need new ideas – but first, let's hear from Ben, who planned this whole ordeal and dragged us in with him because he's desperate."
Ben opened his mouth to argue, but thought otherwise. Instead, he took a small, black box from his pocket and flashed everyone the ring. "See, I told you I already had a ring."
"It's beautiful…"
"Exquisite cut…"
"Wow…"
Ben closed the box and hid it in his pocket. "Now – our venue is going to be the Jefferson Memorial – it holds… memories. We are going to hold it in one of the lush gardens nearby. Riley is the head of my committee – he's in charge of… Now that I've thought of it, he is in charge of everything. But now that you're all here…"
Riley cut Ben off in the middle – the guy needs to keep his head straight and breathe and relax.
Take over, Riley Poole. Ben Gates needs to work out some personal issues.
Heck, Ben is so nervous…
"Alright. Here's our game plan. Patrick, Emily – you are in charge with the decorations. Please, try not to fight… I'm giving you free reigns on this one, seeing that my artistic talent seems to be at loss for this event." Everyone snickered, and Aly murmured something about a disastrous birthday party. Riley continued. "Aly, maybe you could look for a quartet or something – we need to have something set the mood nicely. You can do that, can you love?"
"I'll hire a mariachi band, then." Aly stated, her eyes shining. She shrugged when Riley threw her a glare of sorts. "I'll take care of it."
Riley looked at his list. "I'll take care of the lights, and the sound system – one way or another I am going to get everything – and… other things. I'd think of something."
"And me?" Ben asked innocently, fiddling with the black box nervously.
"You, up to your room and think of what you're going to say." Riley shooed him away, and Ben climbed up the stairs in a daze when he realized he actually didn't know what he was going to say.
That was new – Ben didn't know what to say!
Riley shook his head, and commented. "It's a good thing Abigail is not here to see he is."
Everyone murmured their agreements, and grabbed their cell phones to place a lot of calls.
They had work to do.
RILEYRILEYRILEYRILEYRILEYRILEYRILEYRILEYRILEYRILEY
Review? Please? Free smoothies for reviewers!
-Jaeh ;)