The Proposal

She hummed as she dressed, taking her time as she had plenty of it. In the almost twelve months since she'd been dating Tyr, he'd shown her pleasures she'd never imagined possible, all while refraining from making love to her. He was gentle and kind, never ridiculing her or torturing her over much. She stared dreamily into her own eyes and wondered what he saw in her.

They spent the weekdays as they always had, her working hard and him distracting her on their breaks. She ate a meal a day now, usually a lunch prepared by her housekeeper. She still had two soylents a day, but it was clear that the real food was doing her good. She rarely left the office later than seven nowadays, preferring to spar with her man or work out with him in her basement. The space was large enough for both and they took advantage of the space to better themselves physically. After an hour or so of this, the two usually engaged in a sexual workout, him initiating and her enjoying their time together. He'd presented her with an ornate necklace that muted her sounds of enjoyment.

The doorbell rang, but she let Esperanza get it, focused on getting dressed. She wondered where he would be taking her tonight. Their dates had continued and it had become a sort of Where's Waldo type of game for the public - where's Wanda? So far she's ended up at the planetarium, the circus, the aquarium, a magic show, and many other random places. Most of their time together involved lunches at the lake or on the roof of the Jenkins building. The view was always amazing up there; she could appreciate it even with her fear of heights.

"Daydreaming, Bliss?"

"I'm just wondering how to dress for our date, Honey. You never tell me where we're going." She watched him approach through the mirror, smiling at him when he locked his deep brown orbs on her.

"If I told you, you would only stress about it. Besides, I enjoy surprising you, Bliss." The two went to karaoke at Dig Doug's often, literally saving the proprietor's business, but this was a special occasion according to her boyfriend. Where could they possibly be going?

Seeing the look of concentration on her lovely face, he gave a dramatic sigh and moved to her closet. He pulled out one of the few casual outfits she owned and presented it to her. "Try this. And hurry up, we're going to be late if you keep dawdling."

"I thought you said we had time," she gasped, rushing to put on the pants and sweater.

"I changed my mind. You're taking advantage of my generosity." She wrapped her arms around him, fully dressed now.

"I don't want to take advantage," she said. A heave of breath and her face was cradled in his hands.

"It was meant to be a joke, Bliss."

"It didn't sound like one," she sulked, trying to pull away from his touch. The man wouldn't let her though, his grip both firm and gentle as always.

"I must be losing my touch then," he smiled at her and she blushed for him. "Forgive me?"

"Of course," she said with a breathless smile, feeling warm to her toes from the attention. He helped her into her coat at the front door and the two headed out into the night. Dinner turned out to be a classy Japanese restaurant. Wanda could only eat so much, but Tyr didn't make a big deal of it, finishing the chicken teriyaki for her when she was too stuffed to eat. They ignored the stares and the usual gushing. People still had opinions over their relationship.

After dinner, the man drove her to the outdoor skating rink.

"Oh my God! Tyr, I don't know how to skate," Wanda gasped, excited and nervous at the same time.

"We're going to learn together," Tyr reassured her. The two paid for a lesson, complete with matching walkers, and got to it. Tyr picked it up faster than his lady, discarding the walker altogether halfway through the lesson.

"All you have to do is-"

"Oh, shut up, Anasazi," the CEO grumbled, focused on her feet and desperate to not drop onto the ice again. She was covered in sweat but hadn't given up yet. That was one thing he loved about her, her determination.

"Hold on, sweetheart," he laughed, steadying her walker as she made her way slowly away from him. "There's a reason I invited you out tonight."

"To get a good laugh?" she snapped at him, still trying to understand how he was moving so fluidly.

"Actually, I had something else in mind," he said, going down on one knee before her. He pulled open his shirt and pulled out his treasure, an old copper ring.

"What are you doing? You're allergic to copper," she exclaimed, seeing the nasty rash on his chest. If it wouldn't have cost her her balance, she would have leaned over to see the angry welts closer. "You need to get to a doctor and have that looked at right away!"

Tyr looked over her distraught face and almost smiled. "Don't you recognize this ring?"

"Of course I recognize it, you idiot! I wore that ring for four years, didn't I? We have to get you to the emergency room right away!"

"It doesn't even hurt anymore, see?" he said, guiding one of her hands to his chest.

"Tyr… What have you done to yourself?" She suddenly understood why he always wore a top no matter what they were doing all this time. The rash was quite ugly and looked like it was spreading.

"It's my penance, lady," he said, catching her when she overbalanced. He stood her up, standing up himself. "I gave you a crap ring to seal what should have been a sacred trust. This ring mocks me; it lasted longer than I did. You wore it faithfully when I had no right - when no one had a right - to expect as much from you." By now, no one was even pretending not to be listening in. Some were even recording his words. Since he had the floor, the man took a deep breath and ran with it.

"Since I cannot undo the past, I've decided that I should live in the present. I wish to love you for so long as we both shall live. I wish to cherish you as I should have all those years ago. Some of my father's last words were about you, dear lady. He was the one who insisted that I marry you. He pushed the business angle so your parents would agree, but he confessed that he tricked them so that you could perhaps save me from my wicked ways. I hated him at that moment, but after four years of trials and tribulations, I confess that I am eternally grateful to him. He bound you to me before you could get away. Gave me something to live for all those years. I promised him and myself that should I survive Purgatory, I wouldn't waste any more of my time chasing meaningless pursuits and empty pleasures. I would find you and I would court you, treat you the way you deserved to be treated."

"I never asked you to save me," she said, tears in her eyes.

"You've never needed saving, Bliss. You earned your place in the hearts of the people. I only want to be yours, dear lady," Tyr continued, grabbing her left hand and forcing it in front of her face. "I intend to continue my bid for your heart well into our married life. But for that to happen, I will need your hand in marriage. Might I have it?"

Wanda finally focused on her hand, noticing for the first time the beautiful white gold band on her ring finger. The band was very delicate, holding a modest-sized diamond surrounded by a group of paved amethysts. "Oh, Tyr," she breathed.

"It took months to find the perfect ring to represent my love for you, Bliss. I think-"

"It's gorgeous!" she shouted. "it's the most beautiful thing I have ever-"

"Then you'll marry me?" he asked. "I can't promise not to ever hurt you. But it will never be intentional and I will always make it up to you. For as long as we both shall live. What say you, Luwanda Jenkins?"

"I say yes," she smiled through her tears. "Yes, yes, yes, yes, y-" he covered her mouth in a tender kiss as their audience applauded.

"You know, I put that ring on your finger when we got here. I've been waiting for you to notice it all this time," he muttered under the crowd's applause.

"Oh! I'm sorry," she said in embarrassment. He kissed her again to silence her and the crowd went wild for it. The Tweets went out like crazy and soon everyone in the city was buzzing with the news.

"He proposed at a skating rink? How... quaint."

"That's so cool that he chose to propose during one of those dates of theirs! That way everyone could witness it!"

"If you ask me, the proposal should have been at an expensive restaurant, not some-"

"I'm so happy for them! It's about time that girl got some lasting happiness in her life!"

"Hmph! They won't last six months! Tyr Anasazi isn't capable of commitment."

... ...

Wanda, in the meantime, was beside herself with joy. She spent a lot of time simply staring at her ring with a dreamy smile on her face when she didn't have anything else to do. Luckily for her, she'd become an expert in delegation, so nothing fell through the cracks. She was still plenty busy, and her Boards still plotted against her, but now she had wedding plans to worry about.

"What am I going to do! We haven't even picked a date yet! And what do I know about planning weddings?"

Tyr, who was eating her leftovers like normal, laughed at her distress. "So, my love. When do you want to get married?"

"I DON'T KNOW! Everyone keeps asking me that! Summer is too hot. Winter is too cold. Fall is too wet. And Spring is too…. I don't know. Too early?"

"'Too early' for what, Bliss?" he asked with a curious smile. This was the first time he'd gotten a straight answer from the woman about the wedding date. She usually just changed the subject.

"Well… We just got engaged, didn't we? What constitutes an appropriate engagement period?"

"Relax, Bliss," he smiled, caressing her cheek. "The engagement can last as long as we like. It could be a day or a year. As long as you're satisfied with the timing, I'm happy. How about the end of Spring? Something like Memorial Day weekend? The flowers will be in bloom by then, it won't be too hot… What do you think?"

"That only gives us six months to plan though. Is that enough time?"

"Wanda, if we only had six weeks to plan, it would be enough time to plan a decent wedding. All we need there are you," he kissed her ring hand. "Me," he kissed her other hand. "And two witnesses." He possessed her mouth at that, massaging her tongue with his own.

"Alright, children," Mrs Grady came in, breaking into the moment with a fond look on her face. "Time for the afternoon to commence."

"Yes, Mrs. Grady," they said in unison. The two hugged and separated for the afternoon. "You know, we could hire a wedding planner to make things easier," Tyr suggested on the way out the door.

"Planners are expensive," she said, looking spooked.

"We'll discuss it later," the man said in that voice that let her know they were going to do it no matter what. She whimpered and he laughed, heading back to his job. The boss lady was still hitting on him harder than ever. It was as if the announcement of his impending nuptials had put her on the clock or something. Either way, she was no longer being discreet with her pursuit of him. People were starting to talk.