How They Asked
My Mom had come into town to help me decorate my new condo. We were supposed to go to dinner my Mom, Colin and I but at the last minute, my Mom said she wanted to go to the mall but that Colin and I should go out to dinner still. Most people would think this was weird but my Mom lives in the middle of nowhere with no good malls so I figured she just wanted to get some good deals while in Charlotte. Colin told me he wanted to go to Merchant and Trade, a rooftop bar in the middle of the city. He said we would probably meet up with one of his friends and then still go to the dinner we were supposed to have with my Mom, which he kept saying how he wishes she would have come. To get to Merchant and Trade from my condo you have to cut through Romare Bearden Park. Colin was particularly slow walking, which is not of the norm for him. As we were walking through the middle of the park, Colin stopped me and abruptly told me how he had been lying about working late on Fridays but the lies stopped here. His speech continued with some tears about how he couldn’t imagine his life without me and ultimately ended up on one knee with the reason why he had been lying about working late on Friday— to design a perfect unique ring for me. After when I think I said “YES” (Colin says I said, of course) I had a million questions, “Did my Mom know? Does my Dad know? Do your parents know? Do my friends know?” All of which we’re yes, yes, yes. Not only did they know but they were all in Charlotte for a party tomorrow.
Basically I was the last to know. While I was playing 20 questions, Colin told me to say hi to my friend. I was so confused and asked if my friends were here? Quickly he told me no, unfortunately, my friends couldn’t come. What he was referring to was the secret photographer that got the whole proposal documented. A literal dream. After our mini photoshoot around the park, we went to the original planned dinner, skipping out on Merchant and Trade at that moment, because Colin wanted to go after dinner for some drinks to celebrate. When we finally got to Merchant and Trade after dinner, I saw my Mom and Colin’s brother and sister— didn’t think anything was weird about that as he had told me they were in town! As I walked closer, I saw some of Colin’s friends, one from New York, so I thought, “he must be in town and wanted to celebrate” but as I got further in I saw all of my friends from all over the east coast and all of his friends from all over the country were there. So much for no more lies, Col. All in all, how he asked was more than I could ever imagine and I cannot wait to marry him.
