He Said, She Said

"Kelsey," he said. "I need to tell you something..."

"Mike," she said. "What is it?" She waited. He hesitated. The silence hung in the air between them. It was practically audible. Can silence sound loud? It did this time.

He fumbled with the coffee cup in his hand. "Oh, nothing," he said. "Nothing, really."

"Oh, come on," she said, frustration rising. "I need to know what you needed to tell me...."

She stared at him, daring him to match her stare. He couldn't meet her eyes. "Tell. Me." She said this, continuing to stare at him. He evaded her eyes. They sat at that restaurant table, having had dinner, coffee, and dessert. All that remained was for the waiter to come and start clearing the dishes away. The bill had to be settled. But first, there was something Mike wanted to say. Something he struggled to say. She waited.

"It's just that," he began. He cleared his throat and started again. "It's just that I think we get along well together."

"That's what you wanted to tell me?" She was incredulous. "I know we get along. We've been seeing each other for six months now. I should have thought that was obvious."

"True," he said. "Look, I'm not one for flowery speeches, but I'm a bit nervous."

"Okay, I think I've nailed it. You want to make a flowery speech, but you're nervous. Nervous of me. Can I come straight out and ask you a question?" At this point, she was desperate to get to the heart of the matter. "Excuse me, but do I sense a proposal coming on?"

He smiled. "Yes, that's right. I wanted to propose."

"To me?"

"Yes, Kelsey. To you. Who else?" He laughed, relief washing over him. She'd got it.

"Who else? I've no idea who else," she said, with a smile. "But hey, I have a question."

"Sure. Fire away."

"Why. Didn't. You?"

"Why didn't I what?"

"Propose to me. Why didn't you propose to me?"

"I just did. You got it, didn't you?"

"Sure, I got that you wanted to propose to me. But you didn't do it. I'm disappointed. This is supposed to be one of the biggest moments in a couple's life. The moment when it all comes together and our future looks clear. And, you didn't propose. You copped out of proposing. Because I got it. Whatever that means."

She noticed a stonelike expression come over his face. Mike always wore that expression when his innate stubbornness came to the fore. This was clearly one of those moments.

The waiter came, cleared away the dishes, and brought the bill. Mike busied himself with paying it.

“Hey, Mike? You never gave me the option of paying the bill. Or at least the option of paying my share of it.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. Today, I’m paying,” he said.

“Why are you paying?” She wanted to hear him say his answer.

“Because it’s a special day. I’ve just proposed to you.”

“Mike! Are you serious? You didn’t propose to me. If you did, I had to drag the proposal out of you. And just so you’ll know, I haven’t accepted. Not until I get a proper proposal from you. You can call me old-fashioned. I don’t need you to go down on your knees. I don’t expect you to take out an engagement ring either,” she said. “By the way,” she added. “You haven’t bought me a ring yet, have you?”

He looked up, startled. “Not yet,” he said. “I wanted to buy you a ring of your own choice. But Kelsey, you haven’t accepted?” he said.

“No, I haven’t,” she replied. “I haven’t accepted. Because you didn’t really ask me. Not properly. And I won’t consider accepting or refusing until you propose. Actually propose. Properly. So there. As I said, I don’t expect you to make a big fuss. I don’t require that you go down on your knees. I don’t expect that you have a diamond solitaire hidden away in your pocket. But I do need you to ask me. Properly. I refuse to give a proper answer if I don’t get a proper proposal.”

“Kelsey, you have no idea how nerve-wracking it is to be the one to do the proposing. I was so nervous. I was so relieved when you understood what I was trying to say.”

“Well,” she said, “I don’t care how nervous you were. I think I deserve a decent proposal. In short, I would like you to ask me to marry you. I will only give you an answer when I receive the proposal.

There was a long silence, interrupted only when the waiter came back to clear up the formalities of paying the bill. Then the couple really had to leave the restaurant. Soon, they were out on the street, walking towards the car park.

“Kelsey,” began Mike. There was silence. Finally, Kelsey broke the silence.

“Yes, Mike?” she said.

“Don’t you think you’re being a bit unreasonable? You know exactly what I wanted to ask you. You want me to beg and plead with you as if I wasn’t nervous enough already.”

“Oh, Mike!” she said. “Seriously! Nervous of me? Come on. Ideally, a proposal should come only once in a person’s life. It should be done properly. That’s all I’m asking. Just propose to me properly. Then I’ll give you your answer. That’s it.”

“Hah. It’s just your ego acting up. Nothing doing.”

“Nothing doing?” She stopped right there where they were in the street. “Well, if you think I’m going to accept a half-assed proposal like the one you just made, you can just forget about it. Listen, Mike, I’m kind of stranded. I need to get home and I left my car at my place to go out to dinner in your car. Can you drop me home, please?”

“Sure,” he said, somewhat flustered. When they reached the car park and found his car, they sat in their respective seats. She got into the front passenger seat as it was his car and he got into the driver’s seat.

Suddenly, impulse took hold of him. It was now or never. If he dropped her home in silence, he would have surely missed his chance. Oh, he could try again another time. But it would never be the same. It had to be now, or it would never happen. His pride would just have to take a running jump.

“Kelsey,” he said, taking her hand in his. “I’ve got something special to ask you. Will you marry me? Will you do me the honor of being my wife?”

A smile lit up her whole being. Her heart sang with joy. “Yes, Mike. I will. I’ll marry you,” she said. Their lips found each other’s and they kissed, the most perfect kiss of their relationship so far.

A minute or two later, she looked into his eyes and smiled. “Now, Mike,” she said. “That wasn’t too hard, was it?”

“No,” he admitted. “It wasn’t. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done in my life.” He spoke straight from the heart.

“There’s just one more thing,” she said, still looking into his eyes. “One more thing I need to hear you say. Do you know you haven’t ever told me you love me?”