One Hand

“Will ya marry me, my laydeeee…?”

It was flattering to hear it a second time in the last hour. Laura was heading home and the homeless man was probably thinking that she was someone from his better past. He was dirty, badly shaved and stooped over with the weight of his life, but he did smile and charm her with his question. And what if he had a ring? Anything could happen on Christmas Eve…

She was waiting in line for the bus when she heard the proposal and saw him looking at the crowd that was eager to part and avoid him.

So, why not have a little chat?

“Me, sir?”

He stared up at her, a day’s sleep still visible in his eyes and yellowed and broken teeth in his bearded face.

“Why yes, my dearie. Marry me?”

“Not sure my boyfriend would like the idea.”

“Does he need to know?”

It was a fair question and one that many of the other people in line found amusing. She could hear the bus arrive behind her.

“Sorry, pal. A very nice thought so close to Christmas, but I have to…”

“Fair thee well…laydeee…”

He turned to walk away as the doors of the bus opened, turning around a corner of the metro stop and disappearing into an alley. 

Such a charmer…and he was not the only one for today. Laura put her bags under her seat and wondered about that last clerk. Was he serious when he proposed to her? Stress over the holidays can do many things to people; can it make them romantic and stupidly blind to reality? Perhaps it could…

The bus was not crowded and she was relieved. The driver had decided to idle for a few minutes, but Laura knew that she would still make it home on time for the online chat. But she was wondering about the clerk. 

It was her last stop before heading home. A sweater for dad that he would wear once and then forget about until he saw her again next year on Christmas was in the bag. He was calculating her total and then…

“Alone for the holidays?”

She looked up. He had on a very large, nonprofessional smile and she finally noted his name tag.

“Aren’t we all, Tim?” At least he was good-looking for a teenager who had just gotten past his first wave of acne and what she guessed were recent braces and serious dental work.

“Right, right… We are up tonight until midnight.” He kept hitting keys as he spoke.

“Okay.”

“And I hate this time of year so much.”

“Really?”

“Of course. Long hours, too many demands and shorter breaks, and…so alone.”

He passed her the scanner for her credit cards. “So, that is…”

“Are you single?”

It was almost like she did not hear him.

“Repeat?”

“May as well take a chance on this. Are you free?”

“Over the holidays?”

“Right, sorry.” He took the machine back after the sale cleared. “Then I guess we should just skip right to the proposal.” 

She could not stop herself from smiling. “Good idea.”

“Well?”

“And, no. But you are right about one thing.”

He beamed at her. “About what?”

She leaned in close. “You do need to take a chance at this time of the year.” She grabbed her receipt out of his hand and turned with her bag.

And then she heard it: “Will you marry me?”

“You are sweet, kid.”

At least he had a plan.

*

They were both in the vestibule as Laura entered her apartment. Mr. Stallworthy was a single dad who would often take his son out to the park when she was leaving the building. Was that an accident? Probably not, she thought. Not a creep, but still…

“Hello!”

“Hello, Steven. Philip.”

“Ah, Ms. Patterson.” He always called her that when they met. Maybe it was his age and the fact that he was raised in a different country, but it was charming. He was wearing a parka that matched with his son’s. The plastic toboggan leaning on the railing was big enough for that family.

“You finished up all your shopping?”

“Amazingly, yeah. And something strange happened at the last store.”

“Oh. Please tell me.” He seemed to be actually interested. His son stood looking up at her wide-eyed.

“Two marriage proposals in the space of an hour.”

Mr. Stallworthy smiled and thought about this. “Only two?”

“I know it sounds funny, but I did not really…”

“Sorry, I should not make a joke about this. You are a charmer and at this time of year, people really do open up and say silly things…”

“It was a sales clerk at the last store.”

“I see.”

“And a homeless man at the bus stop.”

“Ah, now that is interesting. Be careful, Ms. Patterson. That sounds like a pattern.”

He smiled and picked up the toboggan.

“Would you marry me?”

Those eyes were still staring up at her. How old was Steven now, eight or nine?

“A very tempting offer, kid. If you were a little older…”

He looked like he was about to explode with joy. His father laughed.

“Okay, lovebirds. I have to break this up.” He took his son’s hand and went to the double doors.

“Merry Christmas, Ms. Patterson, if I do not get the chance to see you again.”

“Merry Christmas, Mr. Stallworthy. And Merry Christmas, Steven. Still thinking about it.”

She had never seen a boy that happy, not even her students when they managed to received good grades and saw their marks posted at the college. She smiled and went upstairs to her place.

*

There were many messages on her cell phone. She did not want to hear all of them; not even most of them (why did she even leave it at home?):

*Message 1*

“If you are free on the 25^th, we could…”

*Message 2*

“Your mother thinks that you have forgotten us in the middle of all of this, so just call us back as soon as you spend too much on the gifts, pumpkin. Love ya.”

Thanks, dad. 

*Message 3*

“It’s me again. You never said ‘No,’ so I will ask it again: will you marry me?”

That was Curtis; that was a year of her life that she wanted to forget. 

*Message 4*

“Hello? You there? Didn’t leave your phone at home while you were out, so you must…”

*Message 5*

*Message...*

It was exactly what she expected. Laura changed, looked through her fridge and finally, almost instinctively, she took off the mask. 

All these months, and she was still not used to it.

All this time, and she had not heard a word from him. But he did promise to reach her tonight. It was nearly ten o’clock by the time she had dinner, cleaned up and watched “Monty Python’s Life of Brian” for the hundredth time. They had the video chat planned and ready.

And she was ready for it.

“Laura?”

“Sam! You are in one piece.”

It was a terrible thing to say, she thought, even as Sam laughed it off. 

“For now, yeah. They keep us pretty busy, even when we have down time on base.”

He was wearing his scrubs as he spoke. It looked like he was in a private part of the camp and she noted this. Sam was always thinking of these things; the little things that she would miss. And the beard looked good on him, too. 

“How are things back home?”

“Same as same. We are all still masked up and wondering when this is going to end. Stores are full because we are heading to a serious lock down.”

“We have been doing the same thing. Pretty dull right now.”

Dull? Sam was in combat and he found it dull. Was that what she liked about him, apart from the way he walked onto their campus and commanded attention when he talked about being a soldier? He never let things get in the way of what he wanted to say. No drama in him. Was that also a problem?

“Oh, you will like this.”

“What is it?”

“Three marriage proposals; actually four counting some creep on the phone. Got a clerk and a homeless guy asking me to marry them tonight. And then the neighbour’s kid saw me and…”

“You said ‘Yes’?” Sam was grinning.

“Not even funny. But sweet.” 

There was a pause that she had to fill.

“Listen, I am not saying that you had to do anything as romantic from so far away, or that we have set a plan for anything, or that you owe me a thing, but it was really touching and I never thought…”

She stopped there. The video feed was poor, but she could clearly see the little black box he held up to the camera. Laura, through tears and the haze of a little too much wine with her leftovers, nodded before Sam spoke.

“I thought that this would be right time to try. Laura…”

“Yes!”

“Will you…?”

“Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes…!”

Sam smiled. Laura cried. And then they both realized that he never got to finish the question. She really wanted to see the ring, too. Not that it mattered, but still…

“I love you, funny face.”

“Love you, soldier boy.”