Ask Her Again (2 page)

Sue laughed, knowing how much Larry disliked having to entertain difficult people. "Sounds like hard work alright. So what else you been up to?"

Larry turned the TV off. "Working quite a lot, I got promoted so my work day is even longer than it used to be. And my dad died 2 months ago."

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry, Larry. I didn't know. He was always so kind to me. What happened? I didn't know he'd been sick."

Larry took a deep breath. "He had a major heart attack. None of us saw it coming. It was quite a shock. We're all doing fine now so nothing to worry about it. Life goes on as they say. Anyway, would you like to meet up for coffee this week? After work one day would be good."

Sue hesitated, she couldn't think of a good reason not to. "Yes, let's do it. It'd be good to catch up. It has been a while, hasn't it?"

Sue sipped her coffee and tried to appear casual as she looked over her cup at Larry. He looked great in his pin striped suit with a white shirt and burgundy tie. He looked better than she remembered, his brown hair was cut shorter and he'd lost some weight which caused his dimpled chin to be more prominent. When he took his jacket off, she pretended she didn't notice his muscular chest and broad shoulders bulging through his shirt.

Larry pointed and smiled at the way she held the cup with her fingers arced around the handle.

"Yes, I still do that," Sue smiled.

"Larry, let me say again how sorry I was to hear about your dad, I was in Paris working for a couple of months, I didn't hear a word about it."

"Don't worry, Sue, it's all water under the bridge now. We'll all be ok. So tell me, what's new in your life?"

"Well, I've been dating. Dating a lot actually." Sue stuttered and looked to see Larry's reaction.

Larry moved in his seat, adjusted his tie and sipped his green tea. "Oh really, meet anyone nice?"

Sue shook her head. "Not really, they all have a one track mind. Still, a girl's got to try. No point in giving up too easily."

"I've been dating too. I never realized there's so many head cases out there. I seem to be targeting all the crazy women in London single handedly, I'm taking the bullet so the other guys don't have to. I'm like a magnet for unstable desperate women," Larry laughed.

Sue nodded. "Tell me about it. Maybe I can send all the guys I meet over to you and you can introduce them to those girls you're trying to escape from."

"Good idea." Larry smiled and savored his tea.

"Or maybe it's a commitment issue, you ever think about that, Larry?"

"What? My commitment issue or theirs?" Larry raised his eyebrows.

"Theirs. Those girls are all over the place because they don't know what they want. We don't need to talk about your commitment issue. Let's keep it civil, shall we?"

All of a sudden Larry raised his voice. "What on earth are you talking about? And please, don't patroness me, I just wanted to meet so we can still be friends and the first thing you do is start criticizing me. No wonder I called off the wedding. This is ridiculous! I don't need to take this. I'm leaving." Larry stood up, grabbed his jacket and stormed out of the cafe.

Sue sank into her chair. What had she said? Why did he react like that? Everything had been going so well and then this? She really didn't deserve this. She picked up her phone, selected Larry and hit dial.

Larry answered on the second ring, "What is it now?"

"Larry, I'm sorry I ever met you. I don't ever want to hear from you again. Got it?" Sue shouted.

"Got it!" And with that, Larry ended the call.

Sue stared at the phone. Right, I'll show him, she selected Larry's number and pressed delete - bye bye Larry, nice knowing you, well, it was for a while at least.

Sue knocked back the rest of her coffee and marched out onto the street. I'll show him, he'll regret losing me. Wait until he sees the man I marry, he'll be more of a man than Larry ever was, he'll see, I 'll make sure of it.

It was a busy Sunday afternoon in the park, the sun was shining and the neighborhood families were making the most of it. Larry sat with Joe on a park bench while his sister in law, Karen, played on the swings with Jack who waved over to them at every opportunity with a huge smile.

"So tell me, Larry, have you spoken to Sue again since that disastrous coffee date you had a couple of weeks ago?"

Larry shook his head. "I phoned her a few times but she never picks up. It looks like I've blown my chance with her. I was just about to tell her how much I've missed her when she started criticizing me and going on and on about the commitment thing again. I'm so tired of hearing that same old line. It's very irritating."

"What are you going to do, Larry? Did you tell her you want to get back together?"

"I didn't have a chance, Joe. The conversation nose dived and that was the end of it. That's the last time I spoke to her. The funny thing is I feel that I've matured a lot this year, so much has happened, I feel like a different person. I'm committed to making a relationship work but she doesn't see that, she has an outdated view of who I am."

"True, but I can understand her point of view, Larry. If you keep walking out whenever there's a disagreement it doesn't look good. She does have a point, you must see that, don't you?"

Larry stood up from the bench. "Yeah, I know. Anyway, I'm going to go and push Jack's swing for a bit. It looks like your dear wife could do with a break."

Larry was engrossed in Jack's giggling when he heard a familiar voice, "Larry, fancy meeting you here!" It was Sue.

"Oh hi, Sue. Just playing with Jack. I don't think you've seen him for a while."

Sue walked over to join them. "Hello, Jack. My word, you're getting big. I like those green trousers, very becoming."

"Sue, I'm sorry I stormed out on you the other day. I shouldn't have so I just want to apologize."

"Don't worry about it, Larry. I was annoyed at the time but I've had time to think about it. I shouldn't have been so picky. I was excited to meet you and I was a little nervous, you know how I always put my foot in it when I'm nervous." Sue smiled sheepishly and successfully maintained eye contact, forcing herself to refrain from checking out Larry's six pack in his tight polo shirt.

"Yeah, I've noticed," Larry looked into Sue's blue eyes and smiled. "Hey, want to try again? I promise I'll be on my best behavior."

"Why not? I'll watch what I say if you can stay in the same room as me," Sue laughed.

"Deal! I'll pick you up at 8 tomorrow night, how about that?"

"Perfect, see you then, I look forward to it."

Over Italian food and wine Larry found the courage to say what he'd wanted to say the last few times they'd met.

"Sue, I've really missed you. I have. Don't be fooled by the party lifestyle, I got bored of that pretty quickly. Since I got the promotion at work it's been a case of work, TV and sleep. And then repeat it all over again. Sure, I went out with some girls but none of them compare to you. I mean that."

Sue's heart missed a beat as she looked into Larry's brown eyes. "Oh, Larry, I've missed you too, it's great to be talking again. I never knew I'd miss you so much."

Larry reached out and held Sue's hand. "We were crazy to ever break up, I see that now and I take full responsibility for it. It was my fault. I should have calmed down before exploding like that and being so rash, if I had, we'd be married by now, ever think about that?"

Sue squeezed Larry's hand and felt the familiar warmth of his hand in hers. "Yes, I've thought about it a lot. We could have been building a life together instead of avoiding each other."

Larry moved closer and spoke more softly. "That's why I'd like to make up for lost time. I always said before I wanted to take things slowly, get married, later on buy a house, then later again have kids. But I was wrong, why wait? If that's what we both want, you were right, now is the time, now is the only time."

Sue looked into Larry's sparkling brown eyes, she'd never seen him so passionate about family, so sure about what he wanted and so powerful. He even looked different, he seemed stronger and more definite about his future than she'd ever seen him. She was impressed.

"And that's why I'd like to make everything right," Larry went down on one knee, and for the second time in his life, he looked up at Sue and asked, "Will you marry me Sue?"

Sue felt a rush of fear, fear that Larry would not follow through again, and she spoke before she knew what she was saying, "Not right now, Larry, this is all too soon."

Larry returned to his chair and hesitantly took a sip of wine. "Look, I'm not going to put you under any pressure. It's an open offer, you get back to when you want to. I know this is an unusual situation and I'm the reason we're in it. It would be wrong for me to rush you."

"Thank you, Larry. I do still care about you, it's just been a lot to take in, all of a sudden."

"I still love you, Sue. I never stopped loving you. I never stopped thinking about you from the moment I woke up to the moment I fell asleep. I'd wonder where you were and what you were doing. And most of all, I just missed holding your hand and walking with you at my side. It just felt wrong not having you with me. The last few months were a right off, a complete right off."

"That's so sweet, Larry. I've missed you terribly. Let's just take it easy and get back to where we were, ok? I'm sure everything will work out as long as we don't rush it."

"Happy Birthday, Jack! You're 3 years old already. You're amazing," Larry smiled as he hugged his favorite and only nephew."

"Wow, is he happy to see you? He was asking about you since breakfast. Thank God you made it, it would have been a rough evening for us otherwise," Joe smiled at his brother.

Larry took his jacket off and took a seat. "There's no way I'd have missed this. He's growing up so fast, another year already. What are you feeding him?"

"Yeah, time flies when you've got a mischievous little boy in the house, that's for sure. Anyway, Larry, tell me, what's the latest with Sue?"

"We've been back together now for almost 8 months and everything is good. In fact, we get on better than we ever did. We've both grown up a lot, she doesn't nag me like she used to and I don't storm out when I get annoyed, so that's helped a lot," Larry laughed.

Joe patted his brother on the back. "That's great, I'm so pleased for you, for both of you. So, you going to get back on the marriage track?"

Larry nodded his head and loosened his tie. "Yes, actually, I'm trying to muster up the courage to ask her to marry me again. This'll be the third time I ask so I hope she says yes. I'm quite nervous about it. More nervous than I was the first time."

"I thought, you'd be a pro at it by now. I know people who have proposed twice or even three times but you are definitely the first guy I know who has proposed to the same woman three times," Joe laughed.

Larry smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "Tell me about it, it's not something I'm particularly proud of. Sue's mother must think I'm a total idiot. Can't blame her really."

"She'll say yes this time, Larry. Don't worry, the last time was different, I'm sure it'll all work out."

"I hope so, Joe. I can't imagine being with anyone else. I'm not joking, I can't go a day without seeing her."

Joe grabbed Larry's arm. "Sounds like true love alright. I'm still available to be your best man, Just let me know ok?"

Sue checked her make up, locked up and walked across to the park to meet Larry at the lake. She was happy, very happy. Larry was like a new man, they didn't argue anymore and even though her mother had her doubts about him, she no longer even cared if they got married. Maybe they'd move in together, maybe that's why he wanted to see her right away, it had all sounded so urgent on the phone.

Larry stood by the lake wearing a navy blazer and white chinos with a bunch of flowers in one hand and a bag of breadcrumbs in the other. He smiled as Sue approached. She looked beautiful in a white summer dress, her long brown hair tumbling down to her shoulders. He kissed her and held her, "Sue, you look beautiful, absolutely stunning, I'm the luckiest man in all of London."

"Yes you are and don't forget it," Sue joked, "And you don't look so bad yourself, very handsome indeed."

"Thank you. Here, a beautiful woman should always have fresh flowers and I brought some breadcrumbs too. A little angel told me you'd like to feed the ducks."

Sue beamed as the ducks quacked their way across the lake, she always loved feeding the ducks and the swans, and she loved the way Larry always made a point of stopping at a park so she could feed the birds whenever they visited a new town. It was her favorite thing.

"That's the lot, they must have been hungry," Larry put the empty bag in the bin and they walked on before sitting on a bench.

Sue looked into Larry's brown eyes and smiled. "This is a perfect day for the park. It's beautiful. So, what do you want to ask me?"

Larry put his arm around Sue's shoulder. "Oh yes, that. I'd like you to help me redecorate my house and help me pick out new colors and fabrics, all that stuff you're so good at."

"Really?" Sue smiled, "You always strenuously objected before whenever I suggested it, why the sudden urgency to redecorate?"

"Because there's something else," Larry slid off the bench and went down on one knee, he looked up into Sue's clear blue eyes, "Sue I love you so much, I love you more than I've ever loved anyone. Will you marry me?"

Sue felt her heart miss a beat and then felt tears form in her eyes as she fell into Larry's arms, "Of course I will darling, how could I not, you're my Prince, my handsome Prince Charming." They kissed and he held her tight as she relaxed into those strong, muscular arms.

"One other question, Sue, not to put you under any pressure or anything," Larry smiled with a glint in his eyes, "I was thinking my back bedroom would be perfect for a nursery, what do you think?" He moved his head and kissed Sue firmly on the lips.