Indelible Love Jake's Story

by D. W. Cee

  “Excellent!” She sounded happy. “I have breakfast for you if you like.”

  Hungry but liking the feel of Emily in my arms and in my bed, I held her a little longer.

  “Why are you dressed but asleep? Do you want me to leave so you can sleep some more?”

  My body perked up to the idea of placing Gram’s ring on Emily’s finger this morning. How would I do this without proposing? I kept telling myself I just needed to wait a few more days.

  Emily’s curious eyes didn’t leave my sight as soon as I told her we were headed to Boucheron this morning. Her senses were on high alert. Walking hand in hand I spoke about our scheduled trip to the Louvre, lunch at Laduree and a France vs. Italy soccer match in the afternoon. I could tell Emily was waiting for an explanation about the jewelry store but I didn’t say a word. Later, I’d have to explain this was done not as a punishment, but as a defense mechanism. If I started talking I would end up proposing on this very side walk.

  Henri and Emily greeted each other and I finally gave her an explanation.

  “So Gram is about to hand down her mother’s diamond to my mom. It was my great grandmother’s desire to see this ring handed down from daughter to daughter. Gram wants Henri, our family’s favorite jewelry setter, to reset this ring so she can pass it down to her. Gram nor Mom will have anyone touch their jewelry except Henri.”

  With only a baffled look on her face she continued with her questions. I answered all her questions but in her mind I was giving her all the wrong answers. After her many attempts at a different answer, she stopped talking. A chuckling Henri in the meanwhile brought the reset Asscher cut to me and my entire being began to shake at the thought of putting this ring on Emily’s finger. I handed over Emily’s eternity band and Henri walked out to give us a moment.

  Emily was just as nervous as I was. She stared at the ring then looked into my face and eagerly awaited the question I wasn’t going to ask. I tried to smile, though I’m sure it was an awkward one. Like the scene in Kyoto, I held her left hand and took a deep breath before holding the ring at the tip of her fourth finger. More than life, I wanted to get on my knees and propose to her this very second.

  ‘I’m sorry my love,’ was the only thought that echoed in my mind while pushing the ring on her finger and watching the brilliance on her face. The look in her eyes – a euphoria, a trance, an almost delirium of joy – paralyzed me. I had to remind myself to breathe or I’d buckle from a lack of oxygen. If Henri hadn’t interrupted our moment I would have gotten down and proposed to Emily at the jewelry store. Before caving into my heart’s desire, I quickly took the ring off Emily’s finger. Her discouraged eyes turned away from me. I caught a flicker of tears in her eyes as she walked outside and pretended to look at the jewelry in the store. It was at this point I decided to pull up the proposal to tomorrow if possible. I called the chef and begged him to finish the petit fours as soon as possible and walked out to see my love. I held her in my arms for a while knowing how hurt she was at this moment.

  The inner workings of the Louvre held no interest for Emily. Sadness wouldn’t leave her disposition no matter how hard she tried. I took her to Laduree, a beautiful tea shop specializing in macaroons and hoped food - her biggest passion - would bring my girlfriend back to life.

  “Emily.” We had conversed so little since this morning. She only played with her food. “Emily!” I called again.

  “Huh? Yes? Did you need something?” She finally looked at me.

  “What’s wrong with you? You’ve been zoned out all morning since Boucheron. Is something wrong?” I’m sorry, Love. I know what’s wrong but I can’t undo your sadness just yet.

  Comically, jet lag was her excuse for her behavior.

  “Okay,” I responded trying not to laugh. “Have you tried the macarons?”

  “Yeah.” She answered unenthusiastically.

  We left behind more macarons than we ate. Even food was not bringing out an animated response from Emily. This was going to be a long day for the both of us.

  Our third day in Paris and to my chagrin, the chef called to say the petit fours would not be ready till tomorrow morning. Bummed out, I headed for Emily’s room.

  “Why are you here by yourself? Is everything alright?” I was worried she might still be moody from yesterday.

  “It’s perfect! I came in to call Sarah. I was just headed your way.” She reached over to kiss me good morning. Emily appeared to be back to normal to my relief.

  We headed out for a long day of shopping. From flea markets to antique shops to specialty boutiques to a group of book stalls, Emily bought presents for everyone back home. I knew my Emily was back when she told me she was starving.

  “What shall we eat?” As always, I left the food choices up to her.

  “I’ll probably regret this but let’s eat at Moule et Frites. It’s right there,” she pointed to the restaurant just steps away from us. “Then I want to go eat ice cream at Berthillon.”

  “Alright.”

  “Did you know,” I said while chewing on a mussel, “that there are 250 bouquinistes in the left bank? Most vendors have to wait 8-10 years to get a spot to open up a book stall.”

  “How do you determine who gets a spot and where?”

  “It’s all based on seniority. Some of these people have been there longer than we’ve been alive.”

  “Fascinating,” she answered while finishing off her last French fry.

  “Are we really eating ice cream now after such a filling lunch?”

  “Are you kidding me?” She had an incredulous look on her face. “You can’t come all the way to Paris and not eat at Berthillon.”

  “If you say so.” I was stuffed but I guess my girlfriend still had room in her stomach.

  The rest of the day flew by between dinner, opera, and another round of dessert.

  I got up early on our fourth day to get ready for our big day. I hurried over to Boucheron and picked up the rings and earrings and safely put away everything but the engagement ring. Once Emily got back, I’d pick up the picnic basket and the blanket and we’d go have our picnic. Jittery but thoroughly excited Emily would finally and officially be mine, I waited anxiously for her to arrive.

  We left for the kitchen as soon as Emily walked in the door and I was too nervous to talk to her. Her big brown eyes stared at me and shadowed my every move without a word. We got to the garden and I found a pretty spot near all the flowers and laid out the huge blanket.

  I could see anxiety written all over my love’s face because of my silence but I let it be since this would all be over soon. I quickly took the ring out of my jacket pocket and put it inside box number six. Then I looked through the basket to see what I should bring out first. Searching for the appetizer and wine Emily spoke.

  “Jake, I’m sorry but I don’t really want to eat any more French food. Can we just skip to dessert?”

  I panicked! If she wanted dessert first, that meant I’d have to propose in the next few minutes. I hadn’t even considered how to propose – how would I ask her to marry me? Feverishly I searched through the basket for my six ring boxes and placed them in the correct chronological order.

  “What’s in all these fun boxes?” Emily stared at the boxes with her beautiful smile.

  “Open it.” Giving her the first box was cathartic in an odd way. Our crazy courtship was almost done. Emily would be mine forever. I would love and protect this woman for the rest of my happy life.

  Emily opened the first box and I was disappointed that she still had that same look of wonder.

  “I guess you don’t remember how we first met?” I couldn’t hide my disappointment.

  “Oh!” Now she got it. “Of course. This was the cereal I was reaching for when I bumped into you. Oh, this is so sweet. Do all these boxes contain a memory?”

  I nodded yes while she took a bite then gave me a bite. This petit four tasted no different than Captain Crunch cereal.

  “I want the next bo
x,” she demanded with her hands out.

  I moved myself to face her so I could clearly see her expression when she opened the next five. Emily opened box number two, looked at it, took a small bite, then closed it back up.

  “Why are you leaving half the taco in the box and don’t I get a bite?”

  “No. Don’t you remember? You had to leave half way through our dinner because you got called away by the hospital. The story of our life! This one doesn’t deserve to be eaten beyond the half way mark. I should’ve known then you were a workaholic… Next!”

  I tried to get a sense of whether she was serious or kidding. My silence must have scared her.

  “Please?” She asked angelically and threw in a kiss for good measure.

  She opened box number three and thought about it for a few seconds.

  “Oh, I get it. This is an opera cake. This must symbolize the opera we saw in San Francisco, right?”

  I rang a pretend bell to signal that her answer was correct.

  “This is loads of fun!” She clapped her hands like a little girl opening up gifts and I was Santa who brought her everything on her wish list.

  The Chef had decorated the fourth dessert with a blue fondant and tiny orange Nemo looking fish covering the petit four.

  “This must be Hawaii. Too easy. Let’s see what this one tastes like.”

  The fifth petit four was an Eiffel Tower which we both agreed was too intricate and beautiful to eat. We saved it. Though I came up with the memories, the Chef outdid himself on the artistry of each item.

  Emily leaned over the opened boxes and kissed me. “Thank you, Jake for coming up with such an elaborate trip down memory lane. And thank you for crossing off another item on my bucket list. You are just too wonderful.” There was deep appreciation in her eyes.

  “Okay, I’m ready for the last one.”

  Handing her the last box, I calmed my nerves the best I could and this time, it was me who examined her every move. She too moved slowly – like she wanted to savor the last surprise. Nowhere did I notice any signs of her realizing what was about to happen.

  There it was – the look of pure bliss as I saw her open up the ring box. Her face then trickled from an overwhelming joy to a contained joy to a not very joyful face at all. I couldn’t tell what was going on in her mind as her smile completely disappeared. She then finished opening up the box with no enthusiasm at all.

  “Why is your mom’s ring here? Where’s my eternity band?”

  So that was why she had shown no enthusiasm. She thought I’d place the eternity band back on her finger. Boy was she in for the surprise of her life. I took the ring out of the box.

  “Emily, I can’t imagine anything I would like more than to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?”

  That was my simple yet heartfelt proposal. Sooner than I could look to her for an answer, she threw herself at me and answered a definite, “YES!”

  Bliss, elation, and above all, love – that’s what we both felt at this moment. We were now officially engaged to be married.

  Finally. Tears I wouldn’t mind wiping off her face. She held me so longingly I couldn’t get Gram’s ring on her.

  “Why did you wait so long? You know I’ve been waiting.” She asked in between the tears.

  “Have you been waiting? I hadn’t noticed.” I couldn’t help the laugh that followed. “I rather liked the disappointment on you face each time you thought I might propose but didn’t. Your anticipation put me on an emotional rollercoaster every time.” Surprisingly my laugh turned into a guffaw.

  She got upset – in a cute, Emily-like way. “I can’t believe you did that! How mean are you? You knew I was waiting but you kept it from me purposely and poked fun at me in the meanwhile?”

  “No, of course not… well, kind of.” Formed into a giant pout, I could help myself to her lips. Since we were close to being married I figured my fiancée wouldn’t mind being tangled up with me on the blanket. She still pulled away from my lips sooner than I’d liked and I had to explain why I didn’t propose sooner.

  “Many times I wanted to propose but I kept thinking of reasons why it wasn’t the right moment. For instance, I wanted to ask you to marry me at Kitcho but it was a bit too soon after we had reconciled. I wasn’t sure you were ready and we still had many issues to resolve. Then when we were at the park, I thought about proposing with the eternity band but I knew that if you had said yes, I wouldn’t have let you stay in Japan, not even for two weeks.”

  "Yeah, I probably would've had a hard time leaving you if you had asked that day. But, I was sorely disappointed when you didn't."

  "I know. I wish I could have taken a picture of your expression when I put the ring on your finger without much other than a warning for you not to take it off.” I had to laugh again when I thought of her sour expression that night. “Although I did feel terrible I didn’t propose. But Tuesday was the most difficult. I desperately wanted to propose to you at Boucheron. The look on your face when I placed this ring on your finger was magical. You absolutely glowed. I used every ounce of self control not to ask you to marry me that day."

  "But why? You could've asked at Boucheron. That's why I was so sad that day. I couldn't get this ring and your would-be proposal off my mind. I was really bummed out. I even called Sarah to grumble."

  "I didn't go through with it because I had this picnic in motion already. Also, I didn’t want to give you another haphazard proposal like the one in the car on Christmas morning. I planned a deliberate expression of my love and forced myself to wait another few days. I was actually going to wait till tomorrow but couldn't hold out any longer."

  "I’m glad you didn't wait till the last day. You would've pushed me into depression if this didn't happen soon. As it was, I was giving myself pep talks in the morning."

  Gently, I pulled out her hand and placed the engagement ring on my love. It looked stunning on her.

  "Wait. Why am I wearing a substitute ring? Did you not bring my ring with you?" I’d forgotten she still thought this was Mom’s ring.

  "This is your ring, my love."

  "What do you mean?” Her eyes, wide open; she looked back and forth from me to the ring. “What about this whole story about your grandma’s ring? Did you make it all up?”

  "No, it's all true. This ring belonged to my Gram's mother and she told her to pass it down from daughter to daughter. As you know, my dad does not have any sisters so there's really no designated heir to this ring. It probably would've gone to my mom and then to Jane. But, Gram offered it to us. When I talked to Gram in Kyoto she asked me to wait on the proposal till we got to Paris. She wanted you to have this ring. She was most impressed with our love for each other and is elated to welcome you as her granddaughter."

  I kissed the teardrops that were forming again.

  “Gram loves you, too. Let’s call her. She’s been waiting to talk to you. I wouldn’t let her talk to you because I didn’t think she could keep my secret.”

  I dialed Gram to tell her of our good news.

  "Hi Gram. I'm calling to let you know that Emily accepted my proposal and we're getting married."

  “Congratulations Jakey! I knew you two would end up getting married. Come see me. I want to meet my new granddaughter. I’ll have my assistant send you two tickets on the Chunnel. Can you come right away?”

  "Of course we can. Thank you for everything, Gram. I love you.” With that I hung up the phone.

  “How come I didn’t get to talk to her?”

  "She wants us to Chunnel into London right now. Do you mind if we cut Paris a day short?"

  "Of course not. I can’t wait to finally meet Gram."

  In deep thought Emily started packing up all the uneaten food. "But Jake? Shouldn’t this ring be handed down to a Reid?"

  “Sweetheart, you were a Reid the moment I laid eyes on you. You just went about in a circuitous way of becoming one. Mom and Dad have known for a while that Gram had plans to give m
e this ring. They were pleased it would be handed down to you. And as for Jane, she won’t care that she didn’t get the ring. Her future husband can buy her a new ring. But… this does mean you need to bare a daughter so you can pass it down to her. Speaking of, how many kids are we going to have?"

  "Five."

  "Five? I'll be paying college tuition the rest of my life. I'd like to retire one day."

  My love, my future wife, the future mother of my kids – I marveled at that thought.

  Gram and Emily met, bonded, and loved each other all within their first hug. Gram didn’t even look my way the first twenty minutes we were in her house. Her favorite grandchild had been replaced by a total stranger in under a minute. That had to have been a world record. Of course I knew Gram loved my Emily so immensely because she knew of my deep love for her.

  “Emily, why are you so thin? Has Jake not been feeding you?” She scowled at me. So she was finally talking to me after looking Emily up and down.

  “Are you kidding me, Gram?” I had to defend myself. “She eats like a horse. And, she’s got tremendously expensive taste.”

  “Did you take her to nice restaurants in Paris?”

  “Yes Gram. Jake has spoiled me all week. He’s always taken good care of me – starting from the day we met.” My fiancée was defending me. I liked this feeling. We were a team.

  I smiled at Gram and Gram nodded with satisfaction.

  “Gram,” Emily spoke again, “Thank you for giving us your ring. It’s stunning.”

  "Jakey told me that you refused his proposal the first time because the two carat diamond wasn't big enough. He came and begged me for a bigger diamond so I had to pass down my most treasured heirloom so you would finally marry my favorite grandson," Gram accused.

  Emily looked at me in horror.

  Stuttering, she spoke, "No, Gram. That's not true. Oh my gosh, I can't believe you told her that." She gave me a nasty look I didn’t know she possessed. "Gram... Jake..."

  Gram and I howled. My eighty year old grandmother pulled a fast one on my sweet and naïve fiancée. "Gram's just kidding, Love."