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Billy and I have to coordinate who picks whom up from school or work. Usually, I get to take the car because Billy is at work from 8ish-7pm every day and my school schedule varies depending on the day. Yesterday, he woke up and told me he needed the car to go to a few schools that afternoon for some work stuff.
Billy's Company: Higher Ground Learning...Check it out!
I agreed but asked if he could pick me up at school at 3 or 3:30, 1 hour before my class ended (it was my last ethics class, so I couldn't wait to get out!). He said he would try. So, I went along with my day and went to class. I didn't want to call Bill when 3 or 3:30 rolled around since I knew he was going to be really, really busy, so I waited for his text telling me that he was going to come and pick me up.
He ended up calling at around 4:30pm and told me that he was on his way to come get me. I chatted incessantly and told him about every little part of my day, as I usually. After I had finished my 20 minute update, he told me that he himself had had a rough day; he had to run home before he went to the schools because he accidentally dropped a frosted cookie on his pants and the frosting wouldn't come out, so he had to change his pants into the only "clean" pants he had: slacks. Then he told me that he wasn't feeling well, that he was freezing and had a headache.
I felt horribly for him; Billy NEVER gets sick. Ever since he bought Higher Ground last August, he hasn't taken one day off. So, I come outside to meet him with a cup of hot chocolate that I had made for him and told him to get out of the driver's seat and let me drive. I noticed that in the 65 degree weather (it was nice and sunny outside), he was wearing his winter jacket zipped up all the way to his chin. My poor baby!
On the way home, I was furiously thinking about what I could do to help Billy get better. I told him that I would drop him off at home and I would run to the supermarket to buy some stuff for chicken soup. I told him to go inside, get comfortable, pull out the futon in the living room and just relax and that I'd be back in about an hour. When we pulled up to our house, and as he was getting out of the car, he turned to me and pathetically asked "Can you please tuck me in?" and as a response, I look at him like he's crazy. "Please, you know I'll do it for you! Please tuck me in..." I didn't want to because the minute I get home, I don't want to leave again. But I love him so much and grudgingly acquiesced to coming inside to tuck him in.
I take my keys and unlock the deadbolt. I turned the handle and...it wouldn't turn. I try again and realize that the handle itself is locked. I look over at Billy quizzically (because we never, ever lock the handle) and he said, "Hmmm...I guess I must have locked it on accident." I shake my head, unlock the handle, and walk in. I hear him rush through behind me and go into the bedroom (which is directly to the left) and close the door. I thought, wow, now he's closing the door when he changes? I put my backpack down and notice some polaroids scattered on the floor. I didn't recognize what the first one was that I looked at and thought, weird, but oh well. As I bent down to pick up the polaroid something else caught my eye. I look up and immediately notice lots and lots of candles lit on my coffee tables. Behind them were several (7, to be exact) vases of beautiful flowers, all different varieties.
Flowers and candles in our living room.
My mouth drops and I turn around to take it in. As I do that, I notice a new addition to our blank wall behind the TV. Ever since we moved into our house, this space has been something that we've wanted to use but didn't want to buy all the frames necessary to put lots of pictures on it. We decided to paint something ourselves and had always talked about finding a song we both liked and writing the lyrics down on a large board and then hanging it up. Since Billy and I don't have a particular "song," we had a hard time coming up with something. Throughout the months, I would badger him to find something so that we could put it up. So, when I turned around, I noticed this:
It's a little hard to see in this picture, but the lyrics are from the English version of La Vie En Rose.
It was a piece of plywood that Billy had painted gray and had written the lyrics to La Vie en Rose in green (matches the decor of our living room). It was at that moment that I realized that this wasn't just a simple anniversary gift...it may be something more substantial. I started tearing up when I thought, "oh my god, this is it. He's really going to ask me! Oh my god!" and I hear the door open behind me. I turned around and saw him walk through, dressed in his calvin klein suit, and he proceeded to kneel in front of me. I started crying even more, and my heart was pounding, and I was laughing because he did NOT look in any way like the sick and ailing boyfriend that had gotten out of the car 4 minutes ago.
He said, "Baby, I love you so much and want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?" Nothing came out of my mouth...it wouldn't stop trembling. I nodded yes and finally got the word out..."YES!" He stood up and I swiped the little black box from his hands and he snatched the ring from me and put it on me. It was the most beautiful ring ever. I guess I had been dropping hints about the kinds of rings I like and Billy had been searching for one since the beginning of the year (poor guy!). He found this ring from a retailer in New York who specializes in antique jewelry.
No, that's not a dirty spot on my finger; it's an actual cluster of small birthmarks.
It is a ring from the 1920s in the art deco style. it's got filigree around the band, which is made of white gold. The diamond is from the 1920s and mined in Canada (meaning that the person who bought this ring was aware of the money being funneled into corrupt governments in Africa for diamonds mined there). It is cut in the Old European Style (which allows it to capture low lighting, like candles, better than modern diamonds) and is 1 carat (big? long? in weight?) I can't stop staring at it. I'm absolutely in love with it and I'm so excited that this is going to be a permanent part of my wardrobe.
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