The Perfectly Imperfect Proposal

This was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives. Mr. and Mrs. Vander awoke merrily just as the sun rose from beneath the luminous clouds. Today was proposal day. Not for them, of course. For their beloved son, Theodore - or Theo, as he liked to be called. Elliot had no idea that she was going to be proposed to, and the Vanders had gone bonkers in attempting not to spill anything. But the day had dawned upon them and they couldn’t be happier. Mrs. Vander hugged her husband snugly - a rare action - and gave him a sloppy kiss on the cheek. “Up up!” she said with a beam warming her face, a pink glow illuminating from her cheeks, “to be there by 9, we must leave in an hour prompt.” 

Mr. Vander, although happy, was still snuggled up in his blankets like a burrito, and it didn’t look like he was ready to be unraveled. He groaned endearingly and rolled over, but a corresponding smile was also to be seen on his face. They both got ready simultaneously in their lavish sized bathroom. Mrs. Vander emerged looking quite flustered, as though she had dabbed on a pat too much of blush (which she had). Her flowery dress hung on her frame well, the skirt blossoming out and stopping short of her knees. Mr. Vander bore a loose shirt accompanied with black slacks, formal, but not so much as to give the big secret away. They stood together in front of the ceiling-high mirror, inspecting their outfits. “Too formal?” Mr. Vander inquired as he eyed the silver belt at the top of his slacks.

“Not at all,” Mrs. Vander replied, pulling him back. Her eyes glittered in the morning sun, her vibrant energy apparent in her face. 

“Arthur” she breathed softly, “can you believe our son is getting married?”

Arthur chuckled.

“Adelaide, he’s a man now. This is his dream as much as it is ours.”

Mrs. Vander nodded, her eyes gleaming with tears that held heavy emotions. Mainly happy ones. Mr. Vander turned 90 degrees to face her and pulled her into a gruff hug. A sob escaped her lips, but he quietened her down briskly for they were on a strict time schedule. Mrs. Vander was one for organization, so she pulled herself together, touching up her make-up, and then they were off in the car.

Elliot had been informed that there was an outing planned with her soon-to-be in-laws, to a beach. Although she had not been filled in about the in-laws part. What beach you may ask? Ah. A very special one to Elliot and Theo indeed. It was the place they had first met. Elliot had had her nose in a book (what was new?) and Theo had come over to converse about the book. Unsurprisingly, he had not read the book prior to their discussion so he totally made everything up. But she had found him funny, so from that day on, they hadn’t stopped talking. Quite literally.

The Vanders pulled into Elliot’s driveway and honked once. She appeared not a minute later, sunglasses resting on her caramel-brown hair and beach bag hanging off of her left shoulder. Her beachy dress fit well, the skirt now dancing in the wind blithely. She climbed into the back of the Mercedes elegantly, her wavy hair flying in the morning breeze. 

“Hello there Mr. and Mrs. Vander,” she said joyously.

Feigning exasperation, Mr. Vander said “Elliot how many times? It's Arthur and Adelaide.”

His face formed into yet another chuckle and he ruffled her hair gently, saying “How’s it going pumpkin?”

Elliot and the Vanders talked about anything and everything that had nothing to do with Theo. In the Vanders’ mind, bringing Theo up would decrease the level of surprise they had eagerly planned to get out of her. They wanted her mind to be free and incautious for the time being. By the time they pulled up to the parking lot by the beach, Elliot sure was in one of her best moods. She sighed happily as she looked forward to a serene day at the beach reading her all-time favorite book Romeo and Juliet. Or so she thought that was the plan. Mrs. Vander was having quite the time; keeping this surprise a secret was making her almost euphoric. Mr. Vander was trying to play it off cool, excluding a couple of joyous giveaways behind this act of indifference. Mr. Vander twisted his neck back to Elliot, hoping to catch the first element of her surprise from her day. Elliot took one look out the window and exclaimed in surprise,” This is Theo and I’s beach!”

“The one where you guys met?” Mrs. Vander asked innocently, her act of ignorance quite compelling.

“Yes! I haven’t been here since! Oh, thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Vander! This is going to be wonderful! If only Theo were here...”

Mr. Vander, looking only a slight bit ruffled at the mention of his last name instead of his first, also shammed naivety, his eyes widening until they were as round as pennies. He opened his mouth to say something, but he felt the sides of his mouth turn up, so, not trusting himself, he shut his mouth and let the upturned parts of his mouth spring back to their normal position.

“Now, now dear, Theo is busy writing up his resume, so don’t worry about him.” Mrs. Vander said quite quickly.

They climbed out of the car and took everything they would need. They laid down their beach towels, side by side, and gazed at the enthralling view of the mass of scintillating water, basking in golden rays of sunlight. People milled about, the chatter matching the sound level of seagulls, children ran barefoot and squealed as their feet dipped into the lukewarm water. It was a sight to make anyone diminish any feelings of despondency in an instant. Mr. Vander had brought his beach chair and was now reclined, sipping a homemade lemonade as the light breeze blew his hair about. Elliot brought out her book from her tote bag, got into a comfortable position (leaning forward while cross-legged), and delved into the story of Romeo and Juliet. 

Meanwhile, Theo was in the car, his nerves and pounding heart keeping him well under the speed limit. His mouth was uttering the words he would recite in less than an hour - but he just couldn’t seem to get them right. They fumbled around in his mouth and fell out like spoiled milk gone chunky. The words were incoherent between the gulps desperate to soothe his parched throat. The whirlwinds in his mind caused him to forget everything he had spent so long to memorize. He spent the rest of the journey like this. The closer he came, the more his nerves played up. After what seemed like less than ten minutes to him (but was really half an hour) he reached the special beach. He got out his phone and texted Mrs. Vander (whom he was closer to out of the couple) and told her that he had arrived. Mrs. Vander, next to the ocean, heard her phone buzz, and felt her heartbeat quicken. Luckily, Elliot was too engrossed in her book to notice the sudden flurry of movement between the Vanders, as Mr. Vander attempted to peer over Mrs. Vander’s shoulder while she was hurriedly concocting a message back. Theo’s prior message had read, ‘operation pro a go’. The Vanders, in their excitement, tried as slowly as they could muster to crane their necks to see Theo, a nervous wreck at this point, waving ineptly. The Vanders frowned at each other as they saw his lips moving, wondering what on earth he was trying to communicate. But, of course, he was merely trying to memorize his prepared speech. 

“Honey, we are going to go for a stroll just around here,” Mr. Vander pronounced to Elliot, his hand gesturing vaguely around them, a hint of exhilaration discernible in his voice. Elliot, hardly tearing her eyes away from her book, nodded curtly and gave a hasty thumbs up. Theo had asked his parents if he could relay his speech to Elliot in private - he wanted this special moment to be for her ears and hers only. The Vanders backed away slowly, being sure not to go too far as Theo never said they couldn’t watch this moment. They grudgingly got their cells out. After being told by Theo that they weren’t allowed to make a big scene with camcorders, the Vanders had reluctantly left them in their dusty attic. 

Theo, trembling all over now, walked closer and closer to Elliot. She was faced the other way, so Theo had some time to prepare his mind. He was not three feet from Elliot when he called out her name softly. So softly that the wind seemed to whisk away the word, leaving nothing other than tense air. Elliot turned and Theo saw her eyebrows furrow for a second before her face extended into a warm smile. 

“Theo! I didn’t know you were coming!” Her eyes followed down to his suit (a suit at the beach?) and a bewildered expression clouded her face. “Theo… what’s going on?” Her squinted eyes scrutinized him as poor Theo was trying his best to clear his throat.

“Elliot…”

Elliot’s eyes unknowingly followed Theo’s as they descended till he was on one knee. A gasp escaped her lips before Theo said another word. But there was something wrong. Happy tears weren’t coming to her face; no emotional outbursts were to be seen. Her face was turning a shade of red - not the cute, blush kind - more like the embarrassed, about-to-blow kind. Elliot was now on her feet, Romeo and Juliet lay forgotten at her heels. 

“No.” She muttered quietly, shaking her head. More to herself than anyone. She said it again, only louder this time, “No. No. NO!” 

Her eyes were heavy with emotions that she seemed unable to communicate. She covered her face, a sob escaping her hands. Impuissant to say any more, she turned on her heel and half-ran, half-jogged away. Theo was beside himself with stupefaction. He was still on his knee, his mind at a loss to organize the past sudden events in any logical manner. The sturdy dreams of the future he had meticulously built - just obliterated; he felt disoriented. He felt a glass shatter from deep within him and he somehow knew she wasn’t going to change her mind. He knew this was it. He just did. But why? His guess was no better than anyone's. The Vanders came over swiftly, the whole scene confusing them as much as him. However, they knew better than to probe just then - Theo looked like he had just seen a ghost. Mrs. Vander knelt down to take the ring out of her son's clenched hand. It caught the light and shined in such an eerie way that Mr. Vander, who was looking down, felt a shiver run down his back. Mrs. Vander helped Theo to sit on Elliot’s beach towel. Then asked Theo if she should try to talk to Elliot. He could only nod. 

Mrs. Vander motioned for her husband to sit with Theo, then rushed off to find Elliot. It didn’t take her long as Elliot was simply sitting on the sand, tears falling onto her lap as she unblinkingly stared at the skyline. Mrs. Vander slowed down, realizing how hard her heart was beating. She sat beside Elliot and immediately pulled her into a hug. Elliot didn’t resist; She clung onto Mrs. Vander tight. Mrs. Vander's heart softened at this gesture - she realized that Elliot must have her reasons for turning down this proposal for she was such a sweet, young woman. Elliot wouldn’t let go until her tears were starting to soak Mrs. Vander's dress. They pulled apart, but Mrs. Vander wouldn’t stop there.

“Elliot, honey…”

“I know, I know. And I’m so awfully sorry that it all went down like this.” She managed to mumble between snivels, her head bowed down.

“Don’t be sorry dear. Just… why? You and Theo were...perfect”

At that, Elliot let out a small laugh, “No, Mrs. Vander - he was perfect. You see, I…” she trailed off.

Mrs. Vander probed gently, “What is it dear?”

“Well, I’ve been meaning to tell you all this, but… saying it aloud makes it feel more real when I don’t want it to be. Not now,” her words rushing out in torrents now, “My doctor diagnosed me with cancer a couple days ago. He said I only have a week left to live.” Her words choked up at the end and the tears returned to her face, only more rampant now. Mrs. Vander was sure she had heard her wrong. Diagnosed? One week left? Death? But Eliot had seemed so happy, so carefree, that such a thing couldn’t even have any relation to Elliot in Mrs. Vander's mind. They were both shivering now, and they clung to each other yet again. This time the urgency could be felt in Elliot’s grip. It was as if she was endeavoring to hold onto her life, but it was slipping out of her hands like a running down a sink. What was left at the bottom for her was darkness - the unknown. The inevitable Death. By then it was too late.