Page 134 of Puck with Karma
She pulls her shoulders back, and I brace myself for what more she has to say. None of it sounds good, not for me anyway.
“And what I am going to say is…” Abby’s voice is shaking so badly now, I don’t know if she can continue to speak. “What I am going to say is…”
Large tears fall from her eyes, breaking my heart into a million pieces. A look around us shows that we have a few onlookers now, with some of them holding their phones up, ready to record whatever trainwreck this is.
“Abby, we don’t have to do this here…”
I’m not sure what I am more scared of, her telling me that she doesn’t love me after all, or the fact that she is about to do it in public.
“No, right here,” Abby insists.
I lean my head back and let out a long puff of breath. If this is what will make her happy, I’ll go with it.
“My answer to your question from earlier is no.” Her voice sounds so much stronger now.
It is the answer I was expecting, but it hurts a lot more than I’d have thought.
“Because you don’t ask me,” she continues. “Iam asking you.”
I shake my head at her, unsure of what she’s saying.
“Asking what?”
“Xander Hamilton,” she whispers, ready to fall to her knees. I catch her right before she is about to do so. “Will you marry me?”
Our eyes lock and don’t let go. People clap, hoot and holler all around us, but I don’t care.
“I love you so much,” she continues. “And I don’t want to go through the rest of my life with anyone but you.”
“Well,” I scratch at my head playfully. “When you put it that way…”
“Say yes, man,” someone yells over the crowd.
“Yes,” I repeat on command.
Abby starts laughing, tears still running down her face.
“Are you sure?”
I pull her body into mine and bring our lips close enough but never touching.
“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life. Here’s to a new beginning.”
I finally slam our mouths together. The noise from the traffic and the small crowd that’s gathered around us fades into nothingness. It’s just us, and we don’t care about anything else.
We both will have the life we deserve and not the life that was planned for us by others.
We are getting our happy ending.
The end
Epilogue
Closure
Abby
My hands are shaking and I think I am going to throw up. I haven’t felt this out if sorts in a very long time. The fact that the last time it happened I was in the presence of the same people I am about to meet right now tells me everything I need to know.
