One Hundred Proposals

by Holly Martin

  I felt myself tense. If I could, I’d avoid New York altogether, but I’d always wanted to go there – I couldn’t miss this chance just because one of Harry’s exes was there too.

  I lifted my head to look at the email, but he quickly closed it down and opened up a work one. He clearly didn’t want me to see it.

  ‘Are you looking forward to seeing her too?’

  ‘Yes, God yes, I can’t wait to see her, she’s one of my best friends.’

  I bit my lip and closed my eyes against the sudden pain in my chest. I was his best friend.

  ‘You’ll like her, she’s lovely.’

  I doubted that.

  ‘What’s she like?’

  ‘Blonde, cute as hell.’

  I changed the subject. ‘Where are we going tomorrow?’

  ‘We fly to California tomorrow, we’re spending one night in the Disneyland resort, then we fly to San Francisco, Vegas and then on to New York.’

  ‘Great, can’t wait.’ I tried to hide the dryness in my voice. ‘Are we just spending one night in these places?’

  ‘One night at Disney and San Francisco, two or three nights in Vegas, there’s loads to see – and maybe a week in New York.’

  ‘A week?’ I sat up so quickly the hammock rocked precariously. Harry grabbed the laptop and then pulled me back down to stop the rocking. A whole week with Chloe.

  ‘New York is one of my favourite places in the whole world.’

  ‘Because of Chloe?’

  ‘No. I’m looking forward to seeing her but it’s New York I’m desperate to go back to. It’s just the most incredible place.’

  I smiled at his enthusiasm. ‘Tell me about it.’

  ‘It just has an amazing atmosphere, it feels so safe. You can wander the streets at two in the morning without fear of being attacked. And that’s a stupid thing to say, I know, you could get mugged in this city as well as you could in any, but there is something about this place that just makes me feel content. The people are brilliant, all walks of life. They’re so friendly, even the kids that you would cross over the other side of the street to avoid in England – in New York they are lovely, respectful wholesome kids, even if they do wander round with their jeans hanging off their bums. And the food is just heaven. So many good places to eat, so many different foods, different nationalities. I put on a stone the last time I was there and I was only there a month. They say it’s the city that never sleeps and it really is, you can buy a pair of trainers from a sports shop at one in the morning. The place just hums with this energy, this maelstrom of life.’

  I loved him when he got so passionate about things like this. He was like this about his love of history too, it was hard not to get caught up in his enthusiasm. Then my heart sank

  ‘You were going to move there weren’t you, you had a job out there.’

  The shine from his eyes faded slightly. ‘It just wasn’t meant to be.’

  ‘You cancelled it because of Jack, didn’t you?’

  He looked at me for a moment in confusion. ‘No, that was absolutely not the reason I cancelled it. There was all that office politics stuff that I didn’t want to get involved in.’

  ‘You didn’t cancel it because of me?’ It sounded so arrogant, even to my ears. ‘To be there for me?’

  He studied me for a moment. ‘In truth. I fell in love and I couldn’t bear to be parted from her.’

  I felt my mouth fall open at this. He had cancelled all his big plans, his dreams, for her – the woman he had fallen in love with. How disappointed he must have been when it never worked out between them.

  ‘I’m sorry that she didn’t know how fantastic you are. You’re a beautiful person Harry, and she must have been blind and completely stupid not to realise that.’

  He smiled. ‘She’s neither of those things. But I could never find it in me to hate her because she didn’t return my feelings. I loved her too much for that.’

  ‘But you must regret not going now.’

  He grinned. ‘Not one bit. Things have a way of working out exactly how you want. My life is pretty damned fine the way it is. I’ve got you, my best friend, a great job and I’m lying in a hammock next to the Caribbean Sea. It couldn’t get any more perfect.’

  It was at that moment the laptop rang with the familiar Skype ring tone. I prayed it wasn’t Chloe, I could just pretend she didn’t exist for a few more days.

  Harry propped the laptop up on his knees and answered it. To my surprise, Bella sat in the screen alone.

  ‘Bella,’ I crooned. She clapped her hands when she heard my voice but I don’t think she was really taking in the fact that I was on the screen too. ‘Bella, can you wave?’ I called, wondering how the hell she had managed to call me on her own. Jules had probably given her the iPad to play with and she had pressed the wrong button. Bella blew bubbles through her mouth.

  ‘Oozie,’ she giggled and my heart soared.

  ‘Did she just say my name?’

  Harry nodded, grinning inanely next to me.

  Just then the screen tilted and Badger and Jules came into view as they cuddled in behind Bella. They looked like a happy, loving family and my stomach lurched because of it. Off camera, Harry squeezed my hand.

  ‘We thought we’d let Bella say a few words first, especially now she’s learnt to say your name,’ said Jules, kissing Bella’s soft head, fondly. ‘Say Suzie.’

  ‘Oozie,’ Bella said, clapping her hands together again.

  ‘How’s it all going?’ Badger asked, one arm round Jules’s shoulders, the other holding Bella in place on his lap. I looked at Bella, her beautiful dark eyes and dark hair, she had changed so much and we had only been gone a few days. Would she forget what I looked like by the time I came back, would she have forgotten me altogether? Did she have any memory of her dad at all?

  ‘Good thanks,’ Harry said, realising that I was having trouble getting past this sweet family scene to be able to find the words to talk to them. His fingers entwined with mine and he stroked the back of my hand with his thumb. ‘We’re having a lot of fun.’

  Bella turned round and cuddled into the side of Badger’s neck, sucking her thumb. I saw Jules watch her daughter being completely at ease with Badger and smile with love for him. It still made me feel a bit uncomfortable and I didn’t know how long it would take for me to be completely ok with it.

  ‘Hey listen, we’ve taught her a few more words too,’ Badger was saying and he moved Bella from his neck back onto his lap. ‘What’s your name?’

  ‘Bella,’ Bella said, obviously enormously proud of her achievement.

  ‘Who’s this?’ Badger said, pointing to Jules.

  ‘Mama’

  ‘What’s my name?’ Badger asked.

  ‘Badger,’ Bella said triumphantly, and Harry laughed.

  I smiled and a look passed between me and Badger and I knew he had seen the look of gratitude from me. Badger not Dada. It was a small but important distinction and Badger knew that.

  Proposer’s Blog

  Day 14: Space Mountain Proposal. Location: Disneyland, California.

  Disneyland is fantastic, one of the places I never went to when I travelled America many years ago. I was a cool twenty year old though, of course I didn’t want to go somewhere populated by Disney characters and little kids. How I missed out. I think I’d like to live here.

  We’re staying in the fairy tale suite, it really is like something out of a Disney film, a room fit for a princess. A beautiful four poster bed, ornate carved woodwork, satins and silks in rich colours, a chaise longue, embroidered coverings, old fashioned lamps, the most amazing bathroom that even has old Greek columns around the bath.

  We’d done all the touristy things, buying Mickey Mouse ears, having our photos taken with the characters and been on a load of rides and as day turned to night we watched the character parades and the beautiful fireworks over Cinderella’s castle.

  Then, as most people left the park, the hard core amongst us stayed
on to utilise the rides some more.

  We went on Space Mountain, and my God, Suzie has a pair of lungs on her – she screamed so loud, I feared deafness.

  The Americans love the English and they love the idea of a romantic proposal even more, so the people in our car were more than happy to help.

  As we plummeted down the big drop, almost in complete darkness, our photo was taken as part of the official ride memorabilia. It was only as we went to view our photo when we left the ride that Suzie saw the proposal. Each of the people in our car had held up cards spelling out the letters for my proposal. ‘Marry’ down the left side of the car, ‘Me’ down the right side of the car, with Suzie sitting at the front screaming her head off. Brilliant. One of my favourites so far, as she had no idea it was coming. I love surprising her.

  Proposer’s Blog

  Day 15: Land Yachting Proposal. Location: San Francisco Bay

  We’re going to a baseball game tonight, (‘Let’s go Giants’ clap, clap, clapclapclap) so Suzie was convinced I would propose to her at half time, if baseball matches have a half time. But I had a different plan up my sleeve.

  I’m keen for Suzie to do and see the things everyone does in these cities, but I want her to experience the hidden parts too. Tomorrow, before our afternoon flight to Vegas, we are taking a boat up the coast to Alamere Falls. How impressive it will be to see the water from Alamere Creek cascade straight into the Pacific Ocean.

  But this morning, as soon as we had checked into our hotel, we did all the touristy things. We rode a cable car up and down the steep hills, (to the uninitiated, these are trams – to me cable cars are the things that take you up mountains, the hills in San Francisco are steep but not that steep) we went to see the Golden Gate Bridge, we ate a clam chowder soup out of a bread bowl in Fisherman’s Wharf, laughed at the sea lions fighting over the floating decks at the end of Pier 39 and caught a taxi to drive down Lombard street, the ‘Crookedest Street in the World’.

  This afternoon we took to the beaches that line the bay and in the shadow of the San Francisco Bay Bridge, we went Land Yachting. Suzie was so excited when she saw the yachts, little three-wheeled carts with wind sails attached. Our instructor, Kenny, gave us lessons, involving moving the sail to catch the wind using levers we operated with our hands and feet. We spent two hours playing up and down the beach, getting it mostly wrong. I have never seen Suzie laugh so hard, as time and time again her sail, or rather her lack of skill, left her stranded in the middle of the beach. She kept on using her hands to wheel herself across the sand until the wind caught her sail and she was off. But eventually we both started to get the hang of it and by the end of our session she was better than me.

  Then came the moment of the big race. Me versus Suzie. Kenny gave the signal and we took off down the beach. I’d like to say it was a high speed race, with twists, turns and death-defying manoeuvres but due to our skill we were moderately fast at best. With a few cheating moves from Suzie she inched ahead and as we approached the finish line, it looked likely that she would win, but suddenly there was a last minute entry and Kenny with his years of experience overtook us easily, sailing past us with the words ‘Marry Me’ emblazoned on his sail. Suzie was so distracted by this that I managed to use this to my advantage and pip her into second place. She was so surprised by this and so pleased by the high speed race proposal that she didn’t even mind.

  Proposer’s Blog

  Day 17: The Pirate Proposal. Location: Siren’s Cove, Treasure Island, Vegas.

  After my tacky Elvis proposal yesterday I wanted something a bit classier today. We left the MGM hotel this morning and we’re staying in the Paris hotel tonight. It’s one of my favourite hotels on the strip. I love the little streets and tiny cafes that populate the hotel just like the real streets of Paris. I love the cloud painted ceilings, tinged with soft pink lighting, making it look like it’s dusk at any time of day. The Eiffel Tower is a great addition, with stunning views over Vegas.

  Suzie was convinced I would propose to her at the top but, as I said at the beginning of this quest, not one of my proposals would include the Eiffel Tower, even if this one is not the real one.

  We went to The Venetian today, with its grand archways, bridges and beautiful colour changing ceiling and of course the Gondola rides. Suzie was again waiting for me to propose on the Gondola but I didn’t want the cliché.

  After catching the stunning, dramatic Cirque du Soleil show last night, I wanted something a bit different for tonight’s show – so we went to see the Tournament of Kings at Excalibur Hotel. A jousting show in an underground arena with horse riding, Merlin, magic, dancing maidens, death-defying stunts, an evil king and eating food with your fingers. Suzie loved it.

  The beauty of Vegas really shines out at night, with all the hotels lit up to try and entice you in off the street. We walked along the strip, a bit cooler now the sun had gone in, eating peanut M&M’s and appreciating the atmosphere.

  Treasure Island Hotel is the opposite end of the strip to Excalibur but we were in no rush. Well I wasn’t, I knew that after the Treasure Island show they would have to do a quick turnaround for our arrival.

  Our contact at the hotel, Simon, had taken a bit of a shine to me and was already waiting for us in the foyer when we turned up. This was one person that Suzie didn’t mind me flirting with. He led us up through the hotel, down gleaming corridors and then we were outside and in front of us was a huge pirate ship. The Song, the Sirens’ ship in Treasure Island Hotel, is part of a huge, pirate themed swashbuckling free show, with explosions and people diving into the waters from great heights – but also it’s a place where people can get married too.

  Normally, weddings take place during the day – but when I mentioned that we would be featuring the hotel in our magazine blog, Simon pulled out all the stops. Plus a harmless bit of flirting didn’t go a miss.

  As we stepped out onto this grand pirate ship, flowers covered the decks and the stage lights lit up the ship and water making it look magical and ethereal. Up on one of the higher decks, two pirates were sword fighting, our own private show, which we were about to become a part of.

  The pirates ran down the spiral staircase towards us. One pirate grabbed Suzie, seized a nearby rope and swung with her in his arms off the boat onto some nearby rocks. I must say, Suzie played the damsel in distress very well, screaming loudly, though the fear that she would be dropped into the water was probably a real one.

  Then it was my turn. I took the sword from the remaining pirate, tucked it into my belt, grabbed another rope and swung after them. The pirate was waiting and we fought, as prearranged only hitting each other’s swords. Sparks rang from the metal as Suzie looked on in shock.

  Finally I defeated the pirate, pushed him into the water, grabbed Suzie and swung back onto the boat.

  ‘Quick,’ said the remaining pirate. ‘We must make ready to leave, grab that rope there and hoist the sail.’

  It was quite obvious we weren’t going anywhere – as spectacular as the boat was, the cove we were in was barely bigger than the boat itself. But Suzie, bless her, played along. She grabbed a rope and hoisted a sail. As it fluttered and billowed in the wind, the words ‘Suzie, Marry Me’ appeared in foot high letters.

  Despite the lateness of the night, there was a small crowd gathered on the other side of the cove and they cheered when they saw this proposal.

  When Suzie looked around for me, I was down on one knee holding the skull and crossbones ring in my hand.

  She didn’t say yes, but she did take the ring and put it on her finger which I took to be a very good sign.

  Playing to the crowd, I grabbed her, threw her over my shoulder and carried her off into the hotel with shouts and jeers ringing in our ears and Suzie’s laughter vibrating through my body.

  Chapter Eleven

  The thing with Harry’s proposals is you never knew what to expect or when to expect it. Our flight to New York wasn’t until tonight, so Harry had promi
sed me an easy day. He’d said we could sit by the pool this morning, answer some emails, make some calls. I had plans to have a bit of lie in, Skype Jules by the pool and then maybe have a last wander around a few of the hotels we’d yet to see. I didn’t expect to be woken at some ungodly hour and, with only time for a quick shower, to then be bundled into a jeep. I now found myself bumping along a desert road with nothing but dirt and a few bushes as far as the eye could see. If I didn’t know Harry better, I’d be afraid he was going to kill me and dump my body where no one would ever find it again. There was nothing out here, so quite why we were driving through the wilderness at this time in the morning I didn’t know.

  Ok, truth be told, I wasn’t grumpy about the early start, or the never-ending desert, but the forthcoming visit to New York and how many times Chloe’s name had cropped up in the last few days. Tonight I was going to meet with her and Harry already had plans to go out with her – alone. There was a pain in my chest and it refused to go away.

  Harry was chatting to our driver, whilst I scowled at the wilderness. Our driver, Thomas, was what I could only describe as a cowboy, with his black Stetson, boots and handlebar moustache. Though there was absolutely nothing camp about this man. He was in his sixties, and had that air about him that suggested he’d been there and seen it all.

  The landscape started to change. Rock formations started to pepper my view and mountains were on the horizon as the roads started to become steeper.

  As we rounded a corner, just for a brief moment before we disappeared round some bushes, I saw it. An image I had seen on many websites, posters, films and magazines.

  ‘We’re going to the Grand Canyon?’ I squealed, interrupting Harry and Thomas talking.

  Harry turned to look at me, a huge grin on his face. ‘Yes, but it gets better than that. A lot better.’

  We arrived shortly after at the visitors’ centre, and Thomas went in to sort out our permits and tickets for lunch. I was itching to get out and see it all. I could see the tops of the canyon as it stretched out for miles, seemingly in every direction, but I wanted to peer over the edge and see all of its beauty.