'How long ago did you plan this?' Asks a surprised and happy Ruth who having hung her green dress on the outside of Harry's wardrobe in advance of the party on the 29th is unpacking for what feels like the umpteenth time and now that Adam has collected Wes, had up until this moment imagined an uneventful few days, only for Harry to tell her that not only has he booked seats at the Barbican but that the National Philharmonic Orchestra are playing for one night only what is described as seasonal music from around the globe.
'I suspect that the seed was sown the first time that we went to Wimereux and I saw you looking at that dress, but my mind was made up when Ros called and said that they needed to use my car and raid my wardrobe to which I responded take what you like but not my grey suit I have plans for that. Which I suppose means that I could visualise us doing what I failed to do when we lived here which was to take you to the theatre, which once I made up my mind to resign and we talked about selling both our houses became my priority. And before you ask the taxi will be here at seven which gives us plenty of time to get ready.'
The last sentence suggests that every woman requires more than what is two hours in which to wash her hair and do whatever else they do in advance of a night out, which to Harry up until now has been nothing more than hearsay. For the simple reason that the last time he had taken anyone out other than Ruth, is so long ago that he can't remember anything about her other than he didn't sleep with her at any time during their short acquaintance. Unlike Ruth who his heading towards the bathroom at breakneck speed only to realise but not until she has run and climbed into the bath that her washbag or more importantly the contents are still in their bedroom.
Time to redeem myself he thinks having heard the expletive and once he realises why peers around the bathroom door and dangles her wash bag in front of him. Together with an expression much like the one when he had come back to find her in his office and the stubborn mule conversation had kicked off. Dreaming even as far back as then of a day perhaps not when he would be able to gaze unashamedly at a naked Ruth but when the gossip would die down and now when he is only hours away from asking her to marry him, that behind the bluster there is the same smile that Ruth had failed to contain on that day.
.
The planning as Ruth had called it including him booking the same taxi for their journey to the hotel in Pimlico later in the week had been one thing, whereas the reality of walking into the Barbican with what he is sure their colleagues will acknowledge is a radiant and smiling Ruth on his arm, combined with lighting the atmosphere the promise of the music and a late supper, takes his perception of how the evening is going to progress to a whole new level. So much so that it takes every ounce of his self- control not to get down on one knee and propose to her right there and then.
Ruth on the other hand on the arm of the man she loves more than life itself, is walking on the air that Harry is trying to take in to avoid a heart attack. But in her case, it is the thought that he has put in to ensure that this evening will be one she remembers for the rest of her life which is causing her heartrate to rise. That and it had been as far back as Ros's phone call when not only had he visualised an evening such this but had chosen to keep his grey suit, which now combined with a crisp white shirt and mint green tie matches her dress. At the same time acknowledging that had she not had to leave the country under a cloud and that had the team not got behind Adam's suggestion that he and Harry find her, not that it had taken any persuading, they would have continued to stutter their way through a relationship that was confined to smouldering looks on his part and her ending up in accident and emergency having chewed the end of one too many pens. A memory which once the concert starts and the music claims her has her visualising other nights such as this and if at some stage in the future Harry resurrects the suggestion that they go to Paris that her answer will be a resounding yes.
Whilst alongside her, Harry is trying to let the music inspire him into what is the best way to word his proposal, which given he has done it before albeit light years ago should be easy. Especially as his plans to relive what had been a catalogue of mistakes on his part throughout his previous marriage, the first of which had been facing up to an irate potential father of the bride telling him to keep his hands to himself having caught him and a consenting Jane in what he had considered to be a compromising position, weeks in advance of what had at that time been called the big day, to which he himself had responded by reminding him what century it was, is something that with much less bravado and dare he think less arrogance on his part he would never have done had Ruth's father still been alive. In fact had that been the case he would almost certainly have stuck with tradition and gone to see him and if that labels him as having double standards or being old fashioned then so be it. Because this time when he promises to love honour and cherish Ruth for the rest of his life, they will be promises he intends to keep. The where they get married and the when, providing of course that she says yes, will like every other decision they have made during what has been a whirlwind of what is now almost two months of them being together, be made together, are thoughts which are cut short when thunderous applause and Ruth's hand on his arm bring him back to the here and now, starting with the familiar slow walk that all theatre goers are faced with at the end of a performance until they reach the foyer where he joins the queue to reclaim their coats.
That done they walk back out into the cold and in the direction of a small French Restaurant called Chez Marie where Malcolm who did all the leg work to find somewhere that he as in Harry had described as wanting to make Ruth feel at home has booked a table. From where he is daring to hope they will emerge as an engaged couple. Helped as it turns out without any input from him, when during the main course and having just poured Ruth a second glass of wine the lights go out. Something which according to the owner who even with Harry's limited ability to understand French is not confined to their restaurant as they and the other diners can see by looking out of the window. Better still is that within a few minutes during which the only light is coming from the log fire, something that on its own is creating the atmosphere that Harry had previously only dreamed of, the waiter arrives and with their permission makes space on the table for a candle which he lights.
This is the moment that my mother told me was destined to happen Harry reminds himself, but waits until the room settles down and the hum of the other diners is enough to drown out what he wants to say before doing what he hopes will be to his advantage, by ignoring their recently poured glasses of wine in favour of reaching across the table and taking Ruth's hand in his own. Effectively so it seems because not only does Ruth smile but it gives him the extra few moments during which to think of a way to gently demolish their past before he proposes.
Easier still now that he has dismissed his previous track record as irrelevant and after taking a deep breath and without releasing Ruth's hand says, 'I would like to take the credit for the lights having gone out but that was the other me, the one who never actually had the courage to tell you how much I loved you. Whereas now and in the hope that telling you that in addition to loving you and considering myself to be the luckiest man alive, which had we been on our own somewhere would have made this so much easier, but then when up until the last couple of months did we make anything easy, I very much hope that when I say I want you to marry me Ruth that the smile which I've been trying and I'm sure failing to hide will be be matched by one of yours.'