I paced down the short hallway only to turn around again. I saw the lights change until they read 5:00 pm. I nervously palmed the hard white plastic of the cordless phone. I knew my nervousness would end soon. I paced down the hallway again. I did not expect a negative response, but the question loomed over my head like a piano tied to a thin cord. I was running out of time. They would be here soon. On the next turning I decided I would do it. I stepped to the fridge and pulled open the door. Sticking my hand into the chilling air, I grabbed the bottle. "Must relax, must be calm," I repeated to myself as I popped the cap off of the beer. I thought a brief conversation with Sam Adams might help me settle my mind. It did no such thing.
When the beer was empty I was still as nervous as before, but I had to get this done. I walked over to where I had set the phone down on the kitchen counter, and pulled out my cell phone. I searched through the memory of the phone until I found the number I wanted. While punching in the numbers, I sighed. "Here goes nothing," I thought to myself.
brrring
brrring
brrring
Just when I thought no one was going to answer, and I would have to call again, someone picked up. "Hello?" It was a woman's voice, his wife, in a few years, my mother-in-law.
"Is Mr. H there?" I asked, my voice dripping with the nervousness of a freshman in highschool asking a senior out for a date.
"No, he's still at work."
Damn. I knew I should have waited. I needed to get this done before they arrived though. The window of opportunity shrank with every second. I needed to move quickly, to strike and fade like I was never there. "Is there a number I could reach him at?"
"Yes," she replied, "Would you like his cell phone number?
Chi-ching! Jackpot baby. "Please."
I wrote down the number in a scrawl that would make chickens blush. Again, I dialed, only this time with the new number, the one that would lead me to my goal.
brrit brrit
brrit brrit
"Hello?"
It was the brilliant quiet drawl of the aged midwesterner whom I had been seeking. It was him. It was time to hop up on stage and perform. I started to pace again.
"Hi Mr. H, It's me, Davidian. As you know, I've been dating your daughter for almost two years now, and I really love her a lot. I was, I would ... If it's ok with you, I would like to ask for your daughter's hand in marriage."
I don't remember exactly what I had said to him, this writing being a week later than the actual event, I guess it worked though. He said yes, it's ok, and that he and his wife had been talking about it. Hearing him talk made me feel good, lessened my nervousness. However, our conversation reminded me of ones I'd had with my first "girlfriend," if you could even call her that. I didn't know what to say most of the time, there were long periods of silence. That didn't matter though, as I had done what I wanted. Only one thing remained.
They arrived at my house at 7:30pm, shortly before I showed up with the pizza we decided to get. We ate, drank, and made merry that night. My girl and I retired early as we had certain things to attend to that we hadn't in a long time. I curled up beside the woman I loved for the first time in 6 weeks that night.
I woke up in the morning and stared into her peaceful, beautiful face, as I usually did when I woke up before she did. The early morning sun softly peeked in through the curtains, and I knew it was time. I reached underneath the bed and grabbed the small maroon box. I pulled the top off and picked up the smaller, felt box inside. Flipping that open I gazed upon the shine of the glimmering ring. It seemed brighter to me that morning. I palmed the ring and turned back to her. She still slept. Gently, but still trying to be as quick as possible, I reached for her left hand. With the ring in my right, I slid it onto her finger. I let out the breath I did not know I was holding.
With my work done, and being totally unaware of the time, I did the only thing I could think of. I hopped out of bed, slipped into my pajama pants, tossed on a shirt, and made coffee. I was sitting down on the couch with a cup in hand, Sportscenter glowing on the television when I heard the door open. I looked down the darkened hallway to see the brightness of a woman who's dreams had just come true. She bounded down the hallway with exceptional grace for 6:30 in the morning.
We kissed a kiss that would make lovers blush. She slid over the top of the couch and into my lap, without ever breaking our connection. I wrapped my arms around her as she looked into my eyes. "Is this real?" she asked me.
I nodded. She then pulled off the ring I had given her 15 months earlier. The ring I bought from Pacific Sunwear four years ago now. I told her to keep it until I got her something better, back when we spent our first summer apart. It was a mere week into our relationship. It feels kind of weird having it back on my finger. By the end of our week together we were both used to our new rings though. Ne'er have I seen a woman so happy.
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I almost forgot, much love and thanks goes out to all of you noders who've sent their congrats. If e2 ain't I dunno what is.