by Glynis Astie
We raced back to my apartment and began the long process of beautifying. While I was in the shower, Maya came in holding the phone, indicating Kate was eager to speak with me. Excellent! I needed to tell her my decision before I carried it out. Thankfully I was finished and had been allowing myself a small daydream in the shower (I apologize to all the environmentalists for wasting water.) I quickly dried myself off and took the phone from Maya.
“Kate!” I was ecstatic to hear from her.
“Hi, Syd! What’s up?”
I took a breath. “I’ve made my decision.”
“Already?” She sounded a little nervous.
“Yes, already.” I paused. “I’m going to ask Louis to marry me.”
She was quiet. Hmmm....Kate always has something to say.
“Are you there, Kate?”
She coughed. “Sorry. Yes, I’m here. I was...surprised.”
“I’m sorry. I know it’s crazy. But when you know, you know.”
She started to regain her composure. “So, when are you going to propose?”
I didn’t hesitate. “Tonight. I’m taking him to dinner at Il Fornaio.” I heard a thud and then a clatter. “Kate? Are you OK?”
It took a moment, but she responded. “Yes; totally fine.” She cleared her throat. “I missed the couch. I was going to sit down and, um, didn’t pay attention.” She paused. “I fell on the floor.”
I suppressed a giggle. I had never shocked my big sister like this before! Not even when I almost set fire to the kitchen. (I was seven years old! It wasn’t my fault that the toaster had faulty wiring.)
“Yikes! I’m sorry, Kate. I didn’t mean to alarm you. Are you sure you’re alright?”
“Absolutely. Don’t worry. When is your reservation?”
“Seven-thirty.” I checked the clock. It was already five. I had to go so I could finish getting ready.
“Is Maya helping you get ready?”
“Yes, she is, but I would love it if you were here too.” I felt tears come to my eyes. Kate had been there for every single important event in my life. I wanted to share this with her too, even if she wasn’t so excited about it.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I’ll be right there.”
I grinned. “I love you, Kate.”
“I love you too, Syd.”
Kate arrived twenty minutes later with a bag full of accessories and makeup. My sister didn’t mess around. She and Maya consulted for a few moments on hair and makeup while I read a magazine. They never involved me in these decisions since they felt they knew better than I did. I wanted to be insulted, because I felt like a child, but sadly, it was true. They always made me look amazing, even when I thought their ideas were ridiculous.
An hour later, I was almost ready. Kate had put my hair up in a French twist and had artfully arranged tendrils around my face. The overall effect was extremely elegant and complemented the dress perfectly. Maya then applied light blush, perfectly executed black eyeliner and silver eye shadow. My eyes were sparkly and amazing. She finished with a deep crimson lipstick which matched my wrap exactly. Maya didn’t mess around either. She and Kate were the perfect team.
When Maya finished applying my makeup, I put on my dress and shoes so we could make the final jewelry selection. We opted for diamond drop earrings, courtesy of Maya, and a white gold and diamond bracelet, courtesy of Kate. We elected not to add a necklace, allowing for the focus to be on the beautiful neckline of the dress.
My heart was starting to race. I knew Louis was going to be here any minute. I had asked him to pick me up a little early so we could walk down University Avenue for a few minutes before our reservation. I’m sure I sounded a little strange when I asked him to do this and in my nervous paranoia, I was completely convinced he knew what I was planning. When he didn’t say anything, I decided to believe he hadn’t noticed anything. You can certainly attest to the fact that he had seen some odd behavior on my part on more than one occasion. This was one of the benefits of being slightly crazy - people didn’t necessarily notice when you were up to something.
I examined myself in the mirror. Everything seemed to be in place. I turned to Kate and Maya and asked their opinion with my eyes. They both looked at me with love and happiness.
“You are absolutely beautiful, Syd.” Kate had tears in her eyes.
Maya grinned. “You do look really hot.”
I laughed. “Good. Hot is what I was going for.” I exhaled loudly. “I’m nervous!”
“Of course you are! This is a big deal.” Kate beamed. “But you’re ready and Louis is a very lucky man.”
“We can remind him of that when he gets here if you like,” Maya said just as the doorbell rang.
“Please do not embarrass me tonight. I might have to kill you!” I told her, perhaps a bit too shrilly.
Maya put her hand on my shoulder as I turned towards the hall. “Look at me.” I turned back towards her. “You’re going be fine. You got this.” She nodded her head eagerly.
I put my arms around her and squeezed tightly. I then found Kate and hugged her within an inch of her life.
Kate held my face in her hands. “Please relax, Syd. Enjoy this night. You’ve planned something truly special for him and he’s going to love it.
“You’re right.” I pulled back and met her gaze. “It’s going to be great.” I tried my best to let her optimism take hold of my mind instead of the usual insanity which lived there.
As the doorbell rang again, I ran to answer it and almost wiped out in the hallway. Thankfully, I was able to catch the umbrella stand and right myself before any damage was done. Maya and Kate burst into peals of laughter at my utter lack of grace.
“We promised not to embarrass you, but you did that completely on your own.” Maya couldn’t stop laughing.
As I opened the front door, Kate had regained her composure, but Maya was still hopelessly lost in a fit of giggles. Louis shook his head in confusion.
“What is going on?” He glanced at me, then Kate and then Maya.
Kate laughed. “We have no idea, Louis. She does this sometimes.” She gave him a big hug. “It’s so nice to see you again.”
Louis kissed her on each cheek. “It is nice to see you too, Kate.” He turned to Maya, who was still stifling a few rogue giggles. “And you too, Maya.” He cleared his throat. “Jean asked me to say hello for him.”
This stopped Maya’s giggles and turned her face a deep shade of red. What’s that about?!? I had never seen such a reaction from her before! Not ever! What happened between them? I desperately wanted to know, but had more important matters to focus on for the present. She wasn’t off the hook yet though...
Louis turned to me. “Mon coeur, you look absolutely gorgeous.” He kissed me tenderly on the lips. “Many men will be jealous of me tonight.” He grinned at me.
I blushed and took a moment to look at my soon-to-be fiancé (or so I hoped.) He was wearing a dark-red long-sleeved collared shirt (Had Maya called to coordinate my outfit with his?), black pants and black leather shoes. He was freshly shaved and smelled delightful, as usual. He looked incredible.
“Women are always jealous of me, Bluey. And tonight will be no different. You are…magnificent.” Hmm. Perhaps not the most expressive choice, but I was a bit distracted by the daunting task ahead of me.
“Thank you, mon coeur. You flatter me immensely.” Louis took my hand. “Are you ready to go?”
I smiled and nodded. “I only need to get my purse and wrap.” On cue, Kate came over and handed them to me.
“Thanks, Kate.” I stared at her with fearful eyes. Perceptive as ever, she squeezed my hand and winked.
“Have fun you two.” Maya grinned mischievously at us. I immediately felt annoyed with her for possibly giving something away to Louis, when I remembered he was used to all manner of mischief from Maya.
We said good-bye to our send-off committee and started walking out to the parking lot. My phone buzzed twice as Louis opened the
car door for me. Who was calling me now? I picked up the phone prepared to hit the decline button, when I noticed I had received two text messages. One each from Kate and Maya with the same idea: “Call as soon as you can afterward!” I waved my assent as I carefully got into the car. I had planned what I imagined to be the perfect evening and hoped I would have good news for them later. Unless there was something seriously wrong with my judgment of this entire situation...
Chapter Nineteen
I did my best not to fidget on the car ride to the restaurant, but this was a very difficult task. I knew if I didn’t control myself, Louis would know I was up to something. He didn’t miss a thing when it came to my body language. Hmmm. This thought got my heart racing for a whole other reason. Come on, Sydney! It’s time to focus. You don’t want to mess this up.
“You are very quiet, mon coeur.” His voice broke me out of my reverie.
I smiled. “I was just thinking.”
“Thinking can be dangerous.” He laughed. “What were you thinking about?”
I put my hand on his leg. “The last time we ate at this restaurant.”
He grinned. “That was one of the best nights of my life.”
“Really? Why?” I expected him to say it was the first time he kissed me.
“I was sure I had met the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.”
Hearing him say those words sent shivers down my spine. I was still nervous, but at least I felt more confident about the outcome of the evening. I slipped my hand inside my clutch for what felt like the thousandth time to make sure the ring hadn’t fallen out.
We pulled up to the restaurant and Louis got out of the car and handed the keys to the valet. I glanced over at him, surprised. There was a public parking lot right across the street and Louis wasn’t a valet kind of guy. He didn’t want anyone else driving his car, even if it was a rental.
“Wow! What’s the occasion?”
“Only the best for my girlfriend.” He winked at me. Did he know something?
I took his hand. “Are you ready for a little stroll before dinner?”
He examined my shoes. “Are YOU ready for a stroll?”
Sadly, I hadn’t thought about the comfort level of these shoes when I bought them today. They looked great with the dress, but I would probably end up with blisters. Ah, the things women do to look good. I scanned the area quickly and remembered that the hotel next to the restaurant had a little courtyard. I smiled and led him towards the path.
As we walked toward the fountain in the center of the courtyard, Louis peeked over at me and smiled slowly. “What are you up to, Syd?”
I observed him innocently. “What makes you think I’m up to something?”
He laughed. “I have told you. I KNOW you. Something is going on.” He regarded me expectantly.
I stopped walking and turned towards him. “You sure know how to suck the romance out of a situation, don’t you?”
“Well, I think you know by now I am not your stereotypical Frenchman. So are you going to tell me what is going on or not?”
I had planned this whole beautiful speech about how much I loved him, how special he made me feel, how sure I felt about his feelings for me - with or without the crazy - and that he had come along at a time when I thought I would be alone for the rest of my life. As these thoughts swirled around in my mind, I looked at him and appreciated two things. One, I would never get through all that without either crying or saying something stupid. And two...he already knew. Louis was a man who didn’t need to hear these things again. There was just one thing he needed to hear.
I took his hands in mine, gazed into those achingly beautiful blue eyes I loved so much and whispered, “Will you marry me?”
His expression of pure shock spooked me for a minute, but his face quickly morphed into the hugest smile I have ever seen. He picked me up, squeezed the breath out of me and twirled me around until I was dizzy.
When he finally put me down, he held my face in his hands and kissed me gently on the lips. He then leaned his forehead against mine and ran his hands down my back.
“You have made me the happiest man in the entire world.” He was breathless and couldn’t stop smiling. It was utterly adorable.
I grinned at his excitement. “Well, are you going to answer my question?”
He laughed. “Yes! Yes! Yes! I will marry you.” He snatched me up and twirled me around again.
Once my feet touched the ground, I reached into my bag and pulled out the ring. “OK, then. You’ll need to put this on my finger to make it official.”
He took the ring from me and studied it. He then cocked his head to the side and stared at me. I laughed nervously. “It’s only a prototype. I wanted to have something on hand for this evening.” Maybe this was a stupid idea...
His brow was deeply furrowed. “A prototype?”
“You know, a model of a ring I might like...” I trailed off, wondering if I had totally ruined this.
He gawked at me again. “It’s fairly large. Is this what you want me to buy for you?”
My hands flew to my face. “I’m so sorry! There isn’t a lot of choice when it comes to costume engagement rings. All the ones I found were about this size. I chose the shape and general style I liked.”
He laughed and pulled my hands down from my face. “Syd, I was kidding. Though I think we will have to go a bit smaller than this. French companies do not pay as much as American companies.”
I squeezed his hands happily. “I don’t care how big it is. I’m just happy you said yes.” So that was MOSTLY true. We could always upgrade later.
There was his million dollar smile again. “How could I not say yes? I am amazed you asked me.” He brought my hand up to his lips and kissed it softly.
“Yes, at least I had the courage to ask the question.” I poked him in the ribs.
“Only because I had basically asked you already.” He poked me back.
“It’s a whole lot scarier to ask the actual question!” I swatted him in the stomach.
He stroked the side of my face. “I will have to take your word for it.” He reached over and took the ring from my hand. I started to tremble. Here it is; the moment I have dreamt about since I was a little girl. You know exactly what I’m talking about. The moment the engagement ring is put lovingly on your finger by the man you’re going to marry. I didn’t care that it was a costume ring or that I had purchased it or even that technically I had proposed to him. It all came down to this.
Louis took my left hand, gazed into my eyes and said, “Sydney Bennett, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
Even though the matter had already been settled, I felt a massive surge of happiness and tears formed in my eyes as I whispered, “Yes.”
After slipping the ring on my finger, he kissed me sweetly on the lips and whispered, “Thank you, mon coeur. Thank you for agreeing to become my wife.”
We stood there for quite a while smiling at each other and kissing. It must have been quite disgusting to anyone passing by. Suddenly, I remembered we had a dinner reservation. “Louis, do you know what time it is?”
He glanced at his watch. “It is seven forty-five. I am afraid we have missed our reservation.”
I took his hand and led him towards the restaurant. “We’ll see about that!” We quickly walked inside and I approached the hostess.
“Excuse me, we have a seven thirty reservation under Durand.” I smiled at her.
“You’re fifteen minutes late.” She frowned. “I’m sorry, but we had to give your table away.”
I wasn’t going to let it go so easily. “I’m terribly sorry that we’re late, but we just got engaged!” I held up my left hand to show her my ring. “I’m afraid we were a little distracted. Is there any way you can find a table for us?” I smiled at her again. This event had to be celebrated in style.
She glanced from me to Louis and bit her lip. “Let me see what I can do.” She paused. “Congratulation
s!”
“Thank you!” We said in unison. Wow. It’s even nauseating to be part of the couple speaking in unison. Who knew?
Louis pulled me aside and nuzzled my neck. “Very nice, mon coeur.”
I smirked. “It’s true, isn’t it?
“Indeed it is, but the last thing I feel like doing right now is eating.” I stared into his hungry eyes and felt my thighs go up in flames.
“Louis Durand! We’re going to have a nice dinner to celebrate our engagement.” I dropped my voice to a whisper. “Then I’m going to take you home and rock your world.” I blushed profusely at my brazen attitude.
He slowly ran his hands over my hips and along my behind. “I look forward to it very eagerly.”
Just then the hostess called us over. “I can seat you now.”
Louis grinned at her. “Thank you so much. We greatly appreciate your help.”
The hostess looked like she might melt on the spot. I certainly couldn’t blame her. The combination of Louis’ sexy smile and his beautiful eyes was hypnotic.
She brought us to a lovely table next to a window overlooking the fountain where I proposed to Louis. It was absolutely perfect.
I beamed Louis as he pulled out my chair. Once he had settled himself at the table, he reached across and took both of my hands in his. “You are an exceptional woman, Sydney Bennett. I feel so lucky that you have chosen to spend your life with me.”
It was all I could do to stop the tears from falling. I knew the effort Maya had taken with my makeup and had no desire to ruin it and leave the restaurant with raccoon eyes. Instead, I focused instead on how happy he made me and what a crazy miracle the past six weeks had been. I felt like the luckiest woman in the world.
Louis ordered a bottle of French champagne, of course, and we toasted our engagement with joy. The hostess had told the restaurant manager about our news, which prompted him to send over complimentary appetizers and desserts, I believe, in a bid to have us book our wedding reception with them. The food was phenomenal, but we had a long way to go before choosing a venue.
