Sam sat perched on the edge of the bed in his smart black pants, pristine white shirt and black jacket. He waited patiently for Mallory to come out of the bathroom and reveal herself. She first poked her head around the door.
‘Ooooh, Sam, I’m sonotsure about this dress,’ she stressed.
He rolled his eyes and shook his head. ‘C’mon, baby, you looked gorgeous in the store, why would now be different?’ he encouraged her.
She stepped, nervously, out of the en-suite bathroom, opened her arms and did a 360-degree turn.
Sam gasped and his pupils dilated. ‘See – you take my breath away.’ He looked genuinely taken aback by her.
Renee had styled her hair, creating a beautiful cascade of chocolate curls falling down from the diamanté clasp on the top of her head. She had applied smoky grey shadow to her eyelids and a glossy pink shade to her lips. The midnight blue dress was off the shoulder and fitted to her knees; very Marilyn Monroe. Her silver clutch and matching high heeled sandals finished off the look with perfection. And in spite of her earlier reservations, the look in Sam’s eyes caused her worries to melt away. In fact she felt like a million dollars.
They arrived at the restaurant and met Ryan, Cara and Renee in the foyer. They exchanged hugs and kisses and then were shown to their table overlooking the waterfront as the sun began to set and the twinkling lights of the boat masts danced like fireflies in the July breeze.
They chatted comfortably, ate escargots, crab and lobster and drank several bottles of Sauvignon Blanc. The house band played romantic tunes in the background. The dulcet tones of the handsome, young male vocalist lilted through the air and many of the restaurant clientele hummed along to familiar tunes like ‘The way you look tonight’ and ‘I’ve got you under my skin’.Taking in her surroundings, Mallory sighed in sheer bliss, knowing that this night couldn’t be any more perfect. The setting, the music and the company were just wonderful and this was shaping up to be the best night of her life so far.
Sam excused himself and rose from the table. Before he left he bent to kiss Mallory on the cheek. As she chatted easily with his family, the music stopped and the band shuffled their sheet music. They began to play again. The music seemed to take on a different tone. This tune had a more modern feel to it.Dum dur dum dur dum dur… the intro sounded familiar. The guitarist plucked the opening notes and a shiver travelled down Mallory’s spine. She looked around the room to see if anyone else had noticed. Shedidrecognise those opening bars; it was the beginning of Snow Patrol’s ‘Chasing Cars’.She turned to acknowledge this fact to Sam, but he still wasn’t in his seat. Suddenly there was a hush across the whole restaurant. She realised that all eyes were on the stage.
Slowly she turned and saw Sam standing there, looking scared to death.What the heck is going on? Oh no, he’s not going to sing, is he? Please no!she cringed. Sam wasn’t renowned for his vocal talents. In fact, she had once joked that his voice could curdle milk. Thankfully, the band’s singer began the words that meant so much to the couple whilst Sam stood gazing at Mallory, his hand held out to her, needing her full and undivided attention.
Her eyes welled up with tears at the words she had held dear since their first night together. She rose to her feet and looked down at Renee whose eyes were filled with tears now too. Her hands were clasped in front of her face as if praying and a smile played on her lips. Ryan had a huge grin on his face as he looked up at Mallory and gestured that she should go to Sam; he was in on whatever was happening. The lovely but extremely hormonal Cara sobbed.
She looked back to Sam who still beckoned her to him, the song continued and the magical words floated through the air like feathers on the wind; she began to walk towards him but her legs had suddenly turned to jelly. The singer’s beautiful voice went on coaxing her towards Sam whose gaze never broke from hers.She reached Sam as he stepped down from the stage and took her in his arms.
‘Will you dance with me if I promise not to sing?’ he whispered.
‘Did you ask them to play this?’ she asked, stroking his cheek. He nodded and planted a kiss on her nose. She giggled and slid her arms around his shoulders as they swayed to and fro in time withtheirsong. The moment felt so perfect, even though they were now the centre of attention. All eyes were focused on the besotted couple as they danced. They gazed into each other’s eyes as the song carried on in the background. Suddenly Sam stopped dancing and silently mouthed the words that followed.
New tears sprang from her eyes as the song began to draw to a close. The musicians quieted down until their melody was a faint whisper and the singer’s voice rang clearly out across the room, Sam continued to mouth the words along with the voice that was much better equipped than he to express them musically.
During the last bars of the song, Sam dropped to one knee and with tears tracing the line of his handsome, smiling face, he looked up into the eyes of his beloved, holding aloft a little velvet box containing the most beautiful ring Mallory had ever seen. Her heart raced and her body shook as she gazed down at him and waited for the words she had dreamed of hearing.
He took a gulp of air before he spoke, ‘Mallory Westerman, I can think of no one else I’d rather chase cars with than you. Will you be mine for the rest of our lives? Will you marry me?’ Wrought with emotion he struggled to get the words out.
Mallory stared down at the only man she had evertrulyloved and the answer was easy.
‘Yes’
The restaurant erupted into thunderous applause as the couple sealed their engagement with a kiss.
*
April 2015
After spending far too much time in the loft talking about their romantic engagement, they went back to clearing out. Leaving the house was going to be very hard for Mallory but knowing that Josie and Brad’s paperwork was finalised and they would be taking ownership made it that little bit easier. And she was excited about the prospect of a total change of pace and a new adventure with the love of her life.
