Good Greek Girls Don't (27 page)

‘Wow. You look amazing. Nice dress.' He's so cute.

‘What? This old thing? Just something lying around my bedroom.' I feel like a million bucks. If this is a fantasy, my mother better not wake me up again.

‘You ready to go?' I think so. I don't even care where we end up. This has already been the best night of my life. I think twenty-nine is going to be a very good year.

‘You tell me. I'm in your hands.' Totally, utterly and completely.

‘Chris, I feel sick.' Boy this better be convincing. ‘I think I'm going to throw up.'

‘No you're not.' I can't believe how calm he is at the prospect of me throwing up in his car. ‘You've never had motion sickness in your life. You're not going to develop it now.' Damn, I've got to work harder to get one over on him. ‘Besides, we're almost there.' Where? I wish he would turn the stereo off so I can at least hear what is going on around me. Hang on, we're slowing down … we're pulling over … We've stopped. Radio is off. Shit it's loud. I know where we are! Why has he bought me here?

‘Why are we at the airport?'

‘Don't ask questions.' Obviously we're going somewhere. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out. Perhaps now that the destination of the drive is revealed, Chris wouldn't mind giving me back the power of sight?

‘Can we kill the blindfold now then? It's not doing wonders for my hair.' I can see – it's a miracle. ‘Thank you.' Now if only Chris would tell me why we are here and where we are going.

Oh my God. I can't believe he's doing this. The bloody blindfold is on again. God, as soon as we got to the electronic check-in station he put the cloth over my eyes again. Am I the only person in this whole airport who thinks this is just a little bit strange? There must be hundreds of people in the terminal and not one person thinks it's strange that there is a blindfolded woman at the ticket counter? I mean, hello, doesn't it kind of look like he is taking me somewhere against my will?

We drank champagne throughout the flight. A black limousine greeted us at the airport and the blindfold again found its way over my eyes. By this stage, I didn't care about the blindfold because when ever it went over my eyes Chris never let go of my hand. And he didn't take the blindfold off until after I was guided out of the limousine. Nothing could have prepared me for this. This is amazing. Just looking at the grand entrance, the way it comes to life as the sun sets, I can't move. It's just magnificent. The water feature looks like there are fairy lights dancing all around it. I've got to be dreaming because this is definitely not the sort of thing that happens to me. What's the bet my mother is going to come pounding on the bathroom door any minute now. Hmmm, just a few more minutes, Ma.

‘Des.' That is definitely not my mother's voice. Cool, this is reality.

‘Hmmm.' What am I supposed to say? This has been way more than I could have ever imagined, more than I ever expected to happen to me. I could just stand out here all night.

‘How about we go inside?' At this very moment I would follow Chris to the ends of the earth. ‘The best is yet to come.' Just where did Chris get the inspiration for tonight? He has seriously overdosed on the romance factor. But I don't care. ‘Happy birthday, babe.'

‘This is amazing, Chris. Everything has just been …' What? How can I describe tonight? How can I tell Chris what this has all meant to me without coming across as stupid and girlish? How can I tell him that he has taken every dream that I was afraid to express and every fantasy that I was convinced would never see the light of day and made them come true over and over again, and made them even better and more magical than I could ever have imagined?

‘I don't know what to say.' I haven't known what to say since we arrived. I didn't know what to say as we watched the sun finally set over the ocean; I didn't know what to say as dinner was being served; I didn't know what to say as we danced after dinner while we waited for dessert. Somehow Chris manages to have that effect on me a lot. Ever since we met and started seeing each other, he has rendered me speechless so many times, and no one has ever had that effect on me before.

‘Come here.' He's leading me inside. Oh, yeah, you can't waste a room like this. And we'll have to sample the spa as well. Hang on a minute, he's not getting ready to rip my dress off for moments of unbridled passion. He's just plonking me down on the bed and plonking himself down in front of me. Huh? I must be missing some vital signs here. I have absolutely no idea what is going on. ‘Are you happy, Des?' What a stupid question? Isn't the answer to that obvious?

‘Are you nuts?' Is he testing me? ‘This is the best birthday of all time, Chris. A bit over the top but definitely the best.' I think he may have researched one too many Mills and Boon novels for inspiration, but I love him for it. ‘Chris you have taken every dream that I've been too afraid to believe and made it a reality. You've made it better than the dream.'

‘I'm glad.' Why is he so serious all of a sudden? ‘You know that I would never ever want to hurt you, Des.'

‘I know that.' I do know that. ‘And I would never ever do anything to hurt you.'

Why is he now laughing at me? I will never understand men. Even when I am old and grey I will probably still be trying to figure men out. They should come with an instruction manual, or at least a cheat sheet.

‘What's wrong, Chris?'

‘Nothing's wrong, Des. Everything is perfect.' Then why is he behaving like such a loony?

‘You're being really weird tonight, Chris. You're freaking me out.' And he is supposed to be the sane one in this relationship.

‘Okay, I'm just going to say this. I can do this.' What the hell? He's psyching himself up for something. Oh my God. No way. He can't be. It's too soon. ‘Des, I love you.' Okay, this much he has told me before. This much I know, and that's about all I know tonight.

‘Will you marry me, Des?'

He's holding a box in his hand. It's small and velvety. I feel like I'm about to faint.

‘Are you for real?' Good response, Desi. Heart, please stop beating so fast. Brain, please function. Mouth, stop gaping before flies start swarming in. ‘Are you really asking me to marry you?' Now I know I'm dreaming and my mother is about to wake me up.

‘Yeah, babe. I'm asking you to marry me.' He opens the box. It's the most beautiful ring I've ever seen! Is that for me? He wants to marry me? Okay, this is so much more than I ever imagined, so much more that I allowed myself to dream about, and, hell, I've dreamt about a lot since I met Chris. But I never thought it would happen so soon. It hasn't even been a year. But what a year it has been! He wants to marry me? Even after meeting my family? ‘Are you crying, Desi?' No I'm not, there's dust in my eyes causing them to water and my ducts are just sensitive.

‘Uh-uh.'

‘Are you going to be able to put two words together tonight, Des?'

‘Yeah.' Eventually. He wants to marry me. Me! Holy Cow.

‘Well, Des?'

Well what?

‘Will you marry me?' An answer would be good. He looks so anxious sitting there waiting for me to say something.

‘You want to marry me? You want to marry a psycho nutcase like me?'

‘Psycho, certifiable, unbelievable nuts and amazing you, Des. I want us to be nuts together for the rest of our lives. I love you.'

‘I love you, too, Chris. I love you more than I thought it was possible to love another person. You complete me.' Corny, cliché and true. Sitting in front of me is my other half, the part of me that I spent twenty-nine years looking for to complete the picture I saw when I looked in the mirror. He's sitting beside me now, he has been for the better part of the last year, and he wants to sit there forever. ‘You know me better than I know myself, all my secrets, all my dreams. You are my dreams, Chris.' I'm rambling. I know it, but I just can't find the words I need to express what I feel. I don't think the words exist. ‘You are all that I have ever wanted, even when I didn't know what I wanted.' He knows the best of me and the worst of me and he still wants to be sitting right here beside me.

‘Does that mean yes?

‘Yeah. I mean yes.' Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!'

Somewhere in between our kisses Chris has put the ring on my finger. I'll never take it off.

‘Desi, are you going to stop staring at that ring?' Nope. What a stupid question. It is perfect, no other way to describe it; just the right size, just the right shape, just the right everything. I am so impressed.

My baby didn't do the Greek thing, he didn't do the typical male wog thing of,
‘Hey babe, I think it's time our
folks met and if they like each other we can let them decide
when we should get hitched'.
Nope, he did it all on his own, just the two of us. Perfect. Now we have to tell everyone. This could be problematic. Who to tell first?