The Chemistry of Love(105)

He nodded. “I thought you might want to go for a walk.”

I wrapped my arms around his right arm, resting my head against his shoulder as we walked. We talked a lot about the launch and about the head of marketing for the company. Prisha was worth her weight in gold, and I told him that we were probably going to have to offer her a raise soon if we wanted to hold on to her.

He interrupted our conversation to point to our right. “Hey, a bench. Want to sit down?”

It was then that I realized what was happening. This was my fantasy. The one I’d used to have about Craig that quickly became about Marco. I’d told Marco about it the day I’d confessed that I was in love with him, but I hadn’t thought about it in so long, as I had the real thing and didn’t need to pretend.

We were together in a beautiful park, walking alongside a body of water, sitting on a bench to talk.

I sank down on the bench while he took off his backpack. My heart was already going a mile a minute, but I didn’t want to jump to any assumptions. This was enough. Being with Marco was enough.

I didn’t need more.

Even if I secretly wanted it.

He reached into his backpack and pulled out a large box. “Today the first shipment of palettes arrived, and I wanted you to be the first person to see them.” Our logo was on the side of the box, and I didn’t think the sight of that would ever grow old.

I opened the box slowly, and there were the palettes, just as he’d promised. I tried not to be disappointed, but I couldn’t help it. We had been talking marriage since we became official, but we’d agreed to focus on launching Aviary first. It would be too much to try to start a company and plan a wedding.

The palette on top was wrapped in plastic, and I undid the plastic carefully. Our logo was embossed on the top, and I ran my fingers across it. “So pretty.”

“Like you.”

I smiled at him and then flipped the lid open.

There was a ring in one of the containers where there should have been a blush. I picked up the ring. Not just any ring.

My mother’s ring.

I looked up at him, and he had gotten down on one knee. “I’ve been planning for this moment for a long time. The day you came over and told me you loved me? I wanted to ask you then. Which means I’ve had plenty of time to think about what I wanted to say. To tell you how much you mean to me and how excited I am about the life we’re building together. How deeply in love with you I am. But I couldn’t think of anything perfect. And that’s what you deserve. Perfection. So I thought I’d go for simplicity. Anna Urban Decay Ellis, would you please do me the honor of marrying me?”

I sat there, my mouth open, temporarily unable to respond. He took the ring from me and slid it onto the ring finger on my left hand. He said, “By the way, I did what your dad always wanted to do and replaced the cubic zirconia with a diamond.”

Oh. That put a lump in my throat and made it hard to breathe.

“I can’t believe you thought this wouldn’t be perfect,” I said, my eyes filling up with tears. “This is perfect. You’re perfect. I love you so much.”

“You haven’t actually answered.”

“Yes! My answer is yes!” I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him. A few moments later, I lifted my head up, the tears now falling down my face. “When we get married, can we have a theme wedding and dress up like Aragorn and Arwen?”

He laughed, wiping my happy tears from my cheeks. “We can talk about that later.”

I held my hand up, admiring the ring. It made me feel like my parents got to be a part of this moment, and I loved him more for it. “You did so good,” I told him.

“I do try,” he said smugly, sliding onto the bench next to me. He put his arm around me and pulled me in close. The sun began to set, reflecting off the lake. Everything around us took on a golden sheen. Marco couldn’t have arranged it better if he’d tried.

“Someday I want to be ninety years old and sitting here with you,” I told him.

“I’m in. I can’t think of anyone I’d rather grow old with than you.” He kissed the tip of my nose. “But before we’re too old to enjoy ourselves, I do have some experiments I’d like to run. Of a personal variety.”

“Such as?”

“I’ll show you later,” he said with a waggle of his eyebrows that made me giggle. “Just promise me you’ll always be my lab partner.”

I put my hand in his. “I will. Now you’re stuck with me.”

He kissed the back of my hand, my new diamond ring sparkling in the golden sunlight. “So you’re promising that I’m your adenine.”

“Why is that?”

“Because it means I’ll always be paired with U.”

I laughed. “Please never stop making science jokes.”

“We’ll put that in our vows. But before we get that far, I have one more rule.”

“You know how much I like rules,” I said.

He laced his fingers through mine. “You have to always be yourself, let me love you forever, and live with me happily ever after.”

I kissed his cheek softly. “Technically those are three rules. But my answer is yes. It will always be yes.”





AUTHOR’S NOTE