Libre Magazine

Today is the day when I’m going to make it happen; Mica McAllister said to himself, his thoughts preoccupied as he walked along with Allie Carmen.

It was a perfect autumn afternoon, tall trees standing proud, over their heads. The sun peered teasingly out of the clouds with unexpected light showers dampening the atmosphere. As they walked further, he looked around nervously; everything seems to be calm and tranquil. The birds perched high on the branch tops, squirrels sliding down the trunks as if in the slide ride. The wet leaves scrunching underneath their footsteps, as they passed every trail. The entire atmosphere brought along a damp earthly fragrance around them. But then why am I so restless? He hadn’t realized he spoke aloud when a voice broke him away from his thoughts.

‘What? Did u say something?’ Allie looked at him questioningly, a cheerful smile playing at the corners of her mouth. The same smile that bestowed on everything and everyone around her. The same smile he kept seeing everyday for the last 3 years and wanted to see more for lifetime.

‘You seem awfully quiet today, everything OK?’ a look of concern in her eyes.

‘No…. yes…. No, I mean everything’s fine’, he couldn’t believe he was stammering, he never stammered in front of anyone before. It’s just Allie, right; he said to himself, I mean I always felt easy with her, always gotten along with her. So why am I behaving as if I’m on my first date! True they had their share of arguments, sometimes even heated ones, but that was the beauty of their friendship, one minute they argued and the next they were best of friends. He cleared his throat and tugged at his collars that felt like a noose around his neck, and ran his fingers through his spiky cut hair, ‘Uh, um, so how are you?’

She raised her eyes in surprise, something’s really wrong. She raised her hand to touch his forehead, checking for fever.

‘No, I am fine,’ he caught her hand and didn’t let go of it. He kept staring at it.

‘Hmmmm’, waiting for him to release her hand, he is really acting weird today. ‘Ok so where is the surprise you had for me, I hope it’s not one of your pranks or you are dead meat!’

He looked at her blankly, dropping her hand. ‘What? Oh yeah, a little further ahead.’
As he walked past her along the trail that led to the river banks, Allie stared past his tall figure walking away wondering and pondering. She knew he was always unpredictable and occasionally dealt with his mood swings, a spoilt brat who had forgotten to grow up, he seemed to annoy and irritate others but she was always tolerant of him. Maybe it was because she knew what to say and do when he was in any of his moods. Sometimes when it went beyond her tolerance level, she would give him a piece of her mind and set him straight. Their 3 years of friendship had occasional fireworks involved where they would be at other other’s throat but then the heat would sizzle down and take upon a tranquil note. She was pretty surprised that he brought her here, she never considered nature as his style, he was always rocking at parties, he was so different from her yet they never did anything without each other.

She was so preoccupied in her thoughts that she didn’t realize she lost him. She called out his name but he didn’t reply back. ‘Damn you Mica, if this is one of your pranks I’m going to kill you’.

It was now getting dark and a little chilly; initially she liked the atmosphere and drank in the surroundings beckoning around her. But now it was scary, fireflies had come out from their hibernation, floating away in the air, the rain had stopped and noise of crickets echoed in the silence. She looked around everywhere in search of him, until at last she came upon a river bank where she saw him with his back towards her sitting on a rock nearby, staring aimlessly at the sky.

‘Why the hell did you leave me and go off like that?’ she yelled at him on reaching him.
‘I should have known this was just one of your ways to prove yourself right that I am a scary cat. What if I got lost of something, don’t you care what happens..?’

Her face all flushed and wet, her eyes sparkling with anger. She struggled with a failed attempt to keep off her long hair from breezing on her face, hints off rain drying off from them,

She looks so cute, all red with anger! All Mica could do was just stare at her with an amusement in his eyes, ‘Nope, I like seeing you all ticked and hyped off.’

‘It is not funny all right, when will you grow up?’ With that she picked up whatever she got in her hand to throw it at him!

‘Ouch! That hurts Lady, and this is what I get after all the trouble I went through’, He pointed around.

On that note, Allie finally looked around her at his actions. And that almost left her speechless. The river flowed with the most clearest of water, wild unkempt shrubs of purple blue flowers enveloped the river banks, the sun was disappearing behind the trees highlighting the magenta and tangerine shades in the midst of heavily embedded clouds. A little further from the river near the foothold of trees, there were two sleeping bags set up and a tiny tent next to it, soft music playing along inside the tent, there was even a fire burning brightly next to it. He did all this whilst I was looking for him but why?

‘Well…?’ He looked at her expectantly and intently, waiting for her to say something.

She wanted to feel the situation but was overwhelmed and perplexed. All she did was stare at him with a tiny frown framing her forehead. He got up from where he was sitting and went up to her. He took both her hands into his, and stared deeply into her expressive eyes that always spoke depths of her thoughts.

She drowned in his strong scent of his aftershave lingering onto him. She felt tiny sparks of current passing right through her arms. Her eyes widened, her stomach started to feel uneasy and she was numb all over. What is happening to me? Why do I feel so mushy all of a sudden? I mean he’s my friend not my…not my……

Her mouth went all dry and unresponsive. She wanted him to let go of her hands as they continued playing on her sensitive spots. All she did was stare at him open-mouthed.

He just smiled, he could feel what she was thinking, she couldn’t believe what she was seeing but then again he never believed he would do something like this as well! He wanted to make it special in his – no - in her way. He looked upon the sky; the sun had set finally, dawning upon the mysterious colours of the night. The clouds, brushed away behind the glittering of the stars, sparkled as silver on the sheet of black, transforming the twilight zone into the magical pathway for eternal romance.

He looked down at her again. Encouraged with her silence, he decided to express his feelings for her – to her. Those same feelings he always rebelled at all point of his life, he had always avoided commitments but there was something different about Allie Carmen that attracted him. Initially when he befriended her, he had never expected that their friendship would actually last this long but it did and it also withstood all their differences and arguments. She always stood by her values and principles that fascinated him to the core, she was simple yet sassy. She carried an old-fashioned fragrance around her that intoxicated his mind and soul nowadays.

A tiny tug of fear kept him groped for long and held him back from being expressive regarding his feelings. What if she says no? Will I be able to accept the reality and continue being a friend? Till he decided, that it’s better to pour out his heart rather than live in confusion for the rest of his life.

‘Allie, I have something to say.’ He looked at her hands, around him, back at her hands. ‘Allie, please marry me?’ he blurted out.

Oh Damn! He wanted to kick himself. He sounded desperate not romantic. He even had it all prepared and carefully written so not to scare her away. Allie stepped back, but he didn’t let go of her hands afraid she might run away. She stared at him mesmerized and gave out a tiny laugh. She was sure she must have heard him wrong but the expression on his face assured her that she heard right.

‘I…uh….what?’ she began fidgeting. He had asked her to marry him! She had never considered herself to be his type and him the marrying type.

‘Look Allie, I know this may have come out as a shock, but you’ve heard me right. I know you don’t consider me as the most reliable guy when it comes to commitments and you always accused me of breaking hearts, but I want you to know that your presence in my life means a lot to me.’

‘I love you Allie with all my heart, I know I’m not a perfect person – not perfect for you but yet here I am asking - hoping you will accept me for who I am.’

‘Allie’, he went down on his knees, ‘Here I am with the Heaven’s above this starry night as my witness, and I pledge to lay my entire being in your hands.’ He looked at her with his heart filled with love, his eyes expectant with hope. ‘Will you do the honors of being my wife for the rest of my life? Will you marry me?’

Allie’s heart accelerated at uncontrollable speed one minute, the next it took a huge leap and stopped beating. She never imagined in her wildest dreams Mica McAllister to actually bend down on his knees for any woman let alone her! And here he was laying down his entire existence at her hands. Mica McAllister proposed to her! What will her family say, what will her friends say? She almost laughed at their expressions.

She looked at him with her eyes so expressive that it took his breath away, with a tiny shy smile she whispered, ‘Yes.’

For a moment, Mica’s heart skipped a beat, he couldn’t believe his ears. At his expression, Allie laughed and pulled him towards him, ‘Yes, Yes, Yes, I will marry you. God help me for it but yes.’

Mica looked at the heavens in a silent prayer. He picked her up and twirled around ecstatically, ‘Allie, I promise you that you will never regret it though I can’t guarantee that we won’t be arguing; in fact I can picture us still arguing on our 50th anniversary!’
She laughed with happiness and punched him playfully. He pulled her into his arms, closer and closer till all he could see and feel was her, only her. He bent down to kiss her, seductively long and languorous. Their very first kiss; under the silkiness of the sparkling night amidst the sputtering of campfire and sensuality of the woods, with an eternal promise of more to come.