clothes-ripping.
She checked herself in the mirror just one more time, and grabbed her purse. Ray sat on the couch, where she’d left him, looking absolutely irresistible in his red fraternity cap and denim shirt and pants. She was glad she opted for casual.
“So are you ready to go?” he asked.
“Just waiting on you. Let’s go.”
Malena was under the impression that they would be going out to dinner and then back to his apartment. But Ray drove the car straight from her apartment to his.
“So, where are we going tonight, Ray?”
“Now, don’t start asking questions.” He looked over at her and smiled. “I told you that tonight is a celebration. You don’t want to ruin it, do you?”
“Of course not. I’m just gonna relax and see what you’ve got planned.”
“Okay, we’re here,” Ray said, as he parked. Malena didn’t say anything as she sat there wondering what he planned. Ray got out of the car and walked around and opened her door. “Madam,” he said, and motioned for her to come out. They walked to his apartment door.
“Ah . . . Lena . . . can you stay right here just for half a minute, and I’ll be right back to let you in? I promise it’ll only take a half a minute.” He didn’t wait for an answer. He quickly turned the key, let himself in, and shut the door.
“This’d better be good!” she yelled from outside the apartment door.
When Ray opened the door and let Malena in, she walked into an atmosphere that overwhelmed her. The lights were turned down low, mellow music played softly in the background, and candles glowed on his homemade dinette, which was made out of stacked egg crates, a large rectangular wooden board that was covered with a white bed sheet, and four lawn chairs. The table was set with two paper plates, plastic cups, and mixed forks and knives. Ray even had pink carnations in the middle of the table. She was touched he cared enough about her to go through all of this trouble.
He motioned for her to have a seat in a lawn chair.
“Is all of this for me?” she asked shyly, and showed him her beautiful smile.
He went to the refrigerator and didn’t say a word. He brought back a bottle of white Zinfandel, and filled both plastic cups.
“Ooh la la,” Malena remarked.
Ray still didn’t say anything, but the look on his face let her know he was proud of himself for setting up the whole thing. He walked back to the kitchen and stirred whatever was in the saucepans. Then he looked in the oven, closed the door, and turned the oven temperature to broil. With a mysterious smile on his face, he walked back over to Malena and said, “Dinner will be ready in a matter of minutes.”
“What are we having?” Malena asked, unfamiliar with the aroma coming from the kitchen.
“See, there you go asking questions,” Ray said, as he sat in the lawn chair across from her. “You’ll find out soon enough what’s cooking. Let’s make a toast.”
“Okay. Shall I go first?”
“That’s cool, because I have something special to say. By all means, you go first.”
“Ooh!” Malena responded. “I can’t wait to hear yours.”
Then she held up her cup and began. “My toast is to our meeting in the bookstore and you giving me your number. And to our getting to know each other better; it’s been nearly three months. And finally to tonight . . . I feel so special tonight, and I see a positive future for us, and I just want you to know that I really care about you. So this is to our future.” They touched cups and took a sip. The wine was good, and the mood was right. Malena couldn’t ask for anything more. Then Ray made his toast.
“It’s my turn,” Ray said, and held up his cup. “My toast is simply to moving forward. We’ve been seeing each other for a while, and I’ll be graduating this May. We have been very close friends—more than friends—and we both know there’s something positive between us. Malena, I want you to be my lady.”
Their cups
Terra Wolf, Mercy May
Jennifer Collins Johnson
Louise Penny
Tamara Hogan
Mary Hanson
Roderick Gordon
Aimee Agresti
Dean Murray
Amy Malone
Katharine Davis