Elegi Of Rose

Thank God for the darkness of the night, he couldn't see her face flush in embarrassment. "I spilled half of the bottle on my bed and most of it went to my dress," she lied. There was no way she was telling him her dress came out of a box from two years ago and the perfume was the only solution.

He seemed to believe her because he did not say anything about her strong scent; instead, he changed the topic, "Free your day tomorrow."

"Why?" she leaned forward to look at him. She planned to do some unfinished paintings tomorrow.

"In case you forgot, tomorrow is the day before the wedding and you don't have a dress yet."

"Why would I need a dress? I thought it would just be us and the judge and some witnesses?" It was what she really imagined after all.

"You're marrying a Punda, Ayu. And you met my family. They would never settle for a simple wedding."

"You mean I'm actually going down the aisle?" she asked in horror.

He looked at her at the rearview mirror as he started the car when the lights turned green, "My family thinks we've been planning this wedding for half a year now."

"What?!" she cried in disbelief, "You led your family to believe that you are going to be married a long time ago?"

"Well, not that long. I spilled the news a month ago, before I signed a contract with your dad."

"You already gave them my name a month ago?"

"Yes, of course," she saw him shrug his shoulders.

"You were so sure then that you would have a contract with my father? And how did you know about me a month ago?"

"I do my own research and planning. Stop asking questions. We better think of some story to tell my family."

"What story?"

"Where we met, how we met, when and where I proposed... stuff like that," he explained, "my grandmother is very specific with details and I'm sure she'd ask you a lot of questions sooner or later." He reached inside his breast pocket and took out a piece of paper. He handed it to her.

She reached over to get it, "What's this?"

"That's pretty much everything you should know about me. Don't worry about your profile-your father gave it to me when we signed the contract."

"Huh, wouldn't be surprised about that at all," she muttered as she dropped the paper inside her clutch bag without reading it. She had all evening to go through it. "So, about our story?"

"Yes, the story," he said, remembering their original topic, "I told them we met through a mutual friend at a party in Chicago, talked, dated for almost two years but only that I kept it a secret from them until now; I proposed in Paris last year, you said yes, and now we're getting married in two days."

She took some time to take it all in and finally asked, "Tell me more about the proposal."

"Why?"

"People always want to know every detail of the proposal," she said, her voice telling him that he of all people should know that.

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"You add the details, that's all I told my family and so far, they accepted it."

"Of course they accepted it because they always ask the bride about the proposal, not the groom."

"Then what do you suggest the proposal was?"

"I don't know, you tell me. I was not there."

"Neither was I."

"But you thought of it. Not really my problem if this little story of ours gets jumbled up."

He sighed, "Fine. I proposed inside a café, the ring was mixed in your ice cream, you got it, your cried, said yes, the people clapped with glee and that was it."

"I cried? No, that can't be. I just laughed with joy, no crying."

"Fine, you laughed with joy, teary-eyed."

"What's with the tears? No, no tears. I was just plain happy and laughed and my eyes were dry."

He shook his head, "Grandmother's not gonna like that. She'd prefer you cried."

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"I don't really care, okay? I didn't cry. Period."

"Fine."

"Fine," she snapped back.

He stopped the car and she realized they already reached her home. As she struggled to get out, he said, "I'll pick you up at ten am sharp. You have to fit your gown and we'll have to do some food tasting." "Okay, fine," she replied, opening the door.

"Before I forget," his voice stopped her. She turned back to face him and saw him fumble inside his breast pocket once again. When his hand reappeared, it held a small black box. He handed it to her. "It's the proposal ring from the ice cream. It's a good thing things happened so fast at dinner no one remembered to ask about it."

She took the box without opening it and climbed out of the car without a word. She started to walk up to her door and when she reached it, she heard his car rev down the street.

Opening her door, she sighed, not really sure how she should feel. In just one day, her life turned 180 degrees and she was trying her best to hang on. She closed the door behind her, leaned her back against it and looked down at the little black box in her hand. She opened it and there she saw the simple silver band with a round-cut diamond ring resting on top of it. The stone glittered despite the darkness of her living room. With her right hand, she took the ring from where it was safely snuggled and slid it down one slender finger. She held up her left hand in the darkness and gave a faint smile.

It was her second time to wear an engagement ring.

The constant blinking of red light for her answering machine finally brought her back to her senses. She switched on her lights and punched the button to listen to her messages. The first one was from her mother, asking her to call back as soon as possible. The second one though was from the least person she expected to call.

She froze in the act of admiring the diamond ring in her finger when she heard the familiar baritone voice that said, "Yu, it's me, Herland. Uhh... it's been a long time, but... I need to talk to you."

At that very moment, Ayu realized that today must be the most unfortunate and crazy one of her life