“Adam, will you marry me?"
A smile bright enough to surpass the brilliance of the chandelier inside the restaurant lit her face up.
With fingers trembling, she opened the heart-shaped scarlet box exposing a pair of golden bands inside.
Shifting her attention to her boyfriend, she waited for his response with heart hammering inside her chest in suspense.
She and her boyfriend had been together for two years. It was long enough for her to realize that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him.
They first met during one of the event
held in the hotel where she worked as a Room Attendant. She was heading to room 208 to check if the guests staying there had already checked out. She was about to turn to the hallway when she bumped into his chest nearly causing her to fall on the hardness of the floor. But before the floor could catch her, his hand sneaked around her waist.
The moment she raised her head and stared at his magnetic blue eyes, her heart flicked inside her ribcage. For the first time in five years, she was in love again. Love at first sight is an illusion for her but that was prior to meeting him. He was tall, fair, and gorgeous. It was impossible not to fall in love with him at first glance.
The next day before he checked out from the hotel, he asked for her number. Without hesitation she gave it to him. After nearly a month of courtship she gave her sweetest yes to him.
Saying yes to him proved to be the best decision she ever made in her life. She got to know him deeply to realize he's a responsible man. He helped raise his younger brother alone after his parents died when he was only seventeen.
Aside from his intense sense of responsibility, never did she catch him looking at any other woman. He didn't even ask her to have sex with him even if sometimes she teased him about it. He would always ignore her flirty advances and remind her that he wanted to present her to the altar pure and untarnished. And that alone makes her so proud of him.
Adam stared back at her, shocked and utterly speechless. His unblinking eyes drifted towards the beautiful ring with dotted diamonds.
He didn't say a word.
His lack of response made fear take a grip on her. For once, she started questioning herself if she made the right decision to propose marriage tonight.
“Adam?”
Still there was no response.
Her attention shifted to the ring which she held with trembling fingers. The tiny glittering item cost her a fortune. It's price is equivalent to her three months worth of salary as a Room Attendant. But she saved the money just to buy this ring for this special occasion.
His disheveled blonde hair fell to his eyes. He brushed it upwards with his fingers. The shock displayed on his face slowly subsided.
"Will you marry me, " She repeated with wide, expectant eyes. Stubbornly, she refused to give up.
Her hopeful eyes stared at him tenderly. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. He'd been so busy with his career as a fashion model that he had no chance to think about marriage. It was the reason why she decided to be the one to propose.
Just when she thought he's going to stare back at her forever he cleared his throat and smiled.
"It's beautiful, Cam." He said, eyes gleaming with appreciation.
The heavy weight on her chest vanished. Relief flooded inside her. He took the box from her hand and plucked the ring then slipped it on his middle finger.... Not on the fingers where a wedding ring should be.
The jovial smile on her lips faded. Her heart sank. Adam didn't even notice she was waiting for him to slip the smaller ring into her finger.
He must have noticed the disappointed look on her face because he captured her hand and kissed it. The box that contained the other ring magically vanished inside his pocket.
The sweet gesture melted her disappointment in an instant.
A sweet sigh escaped her lips. A dreamy look appeared on her countenance. This is it, he will say yes, she thought. She almost tear up by the overwhelming idea. She waited almost an eternity for this moment to arrive.
This was the happiest moment of her life, so she thought.
Suddenly his hands tightened against her fingers until his fingers almost crushed her fragile bones.
His eyes flared and his jaw clenched but before she could fathom the depths of the emotion, it quickly faded as if it did not exist at all.
For a while she almost thought he was enraged but the insane idea which held no basis was quickly dismissed before it could create complications.
The magical moment she wished not to end was interrupted when the waiter arrived to collect their orders. Her shoulders fell in dismay when Adam let her fingers go without even saying if he wholeheartedly accepted her marriage proposal or not.
The waiter scribbled their orders into the notepad he carried. When he finished his list he left.
“Love?" I spoke softly.
"Yes Cam?"
"I want to hear your response about my proposal.”
He took her hand again and captured her gaze.. “You're a wonderful person Cam and you're beautiful too. Every guy would wish to have you but—”
The sound of his phone ringing broke the magical moment. His hand let go of her fingers again.