One Hundred Proposals (18 page)

We watched the ceremony in silence and I couldn’t take my eyes off them.

As the registrar announced them man and wife and they kissed, Harry put his arm around me and I leaned into him.

‘Do you see yourself getting married?’ I asked.

‘Maybe.’

I looked up at him, in surprise. ‘But you don’t believe in love.’

‘I’m coming round to it. Being with you makes me think it’s possible.’

‘Being with me?’ I squeaked.

‘I mean all the proposals, the couples we’ve helped. You were right. Seeing all these newly engaged couples, seeing how happy they are – love can be a good thing, with the right person. And don’t forget I fell in love didn’t I? Despite my best efforts not to, it happened anyway.’

‘You don’t seem the ‘settling down with one woman’ sort.’

‘I know I have a bit of a reputation when it comes to women. But when I find that woman, the one I want to spend the rest of my life with, I’m going to grab onto her and not let her go.’

My heart soared with happiness for Harry, even if we never got together, he was slowly breaking his barriers down – and opening up his heart to the possibility of love was a great turning point for him. And I had helped with that.

‘Won’t you get bored, sex with the same woman for the rest of your life?’

He smiled. ‘No, not one bit. I cannot imagine anything better actually – making love to the woman I love, every day, every night.’

‘But these women you’re with, you never really give them a chance, one of these could be your one.’

‘Trust me, they’re not.’

‘How do you know?’

‘Because not one of them has made me feel like… like I did when I was in love. I’m looking for that.’

‘This woman, that you were in love with, was it Chloe, the one we’re meeting in New York?’

‘No.’

I had more questions but I was suddenly distracted by the newly wedded husband scooping his bride up into his arms and running out into the sea.

‘No! The dress,’ I squealed so loud that some of the congregation looked round at me. But the bride didn’t seem bothered. As they both sank into the waves, she wrapped her arms round her husband’s neck and kissed him like her life depended on it.

Proposer’s Blog

Day 13: The Sunrise Proposal. Location. The Mayan Temples at Tulum.

As you know from yesterday’s blog, Suzie wasn’t very well yesterday and although she seemed a lot better last night, I was still a bit reluctant to drag her out of bed so early this morning, but I’m so glad I did.

Suzie wasn’t exactly impressed when I left her in the pitch black, alone on the beach, to set up the proposal
–
though I was rewarded on my return by her throwing herself into my arms and clinging to me like ivy. My dear would-be proposers, if you want a definitive reaction, I suggest you scare the crap out of your girlfriends first. I could barely prise myself out of her arms as she mumbled into my chest something about noises and heavy breathing.

The temples at Tulum stand on the cliffs, facing out towards the sea. The walled city was originally called, Zama, City of the Dawn because it faces the sunrise. So I thought, what better place to watch the sunrise than from the top of the El Castillo, the tallest building in this ancient Mayan city.

Of course you can’t just walk into historical ruins that are thousands of years old. So my plan was clearly not going to happen. Note to self, must do more research.

There are steps from the beach leading up to the Castillo but there was a wall preventing us from going any further. It didn’t look like my proposal was going to happen at all and the clock was against us.

To my shame, and completely through my encouragement alone, we hopped over a small rope fence and scrambled precariously along the cliff edge. With our backs to the Castillo, this ancient ruin, we watched the sun rise over the Caribbean Sea, as the Mayans would have done hundreds of years before. Within minutes, the sea ranged through black, inky blue, turquoise, pink and scarlet, the sun sending garlands of colour across the waves. It was incredible and right there, we were the only people in the world to watch it from that position, touching the past as the future rushed towards us in all its golden splendour.

I pulled Suzie to her feet and pointed down onto the empty beach
–
there in six foot high letters, written in the sand, was my proposal. ‘Marry Me’ with a big heart underneath. In the heart was a picnic blanket and breakfast laid out ready for us to eat.

I told Suzie that there were chocolate covered strawberries and… That’s as far as I got before I turned round and saw her scrambling across the cliff, running down the stairs and across the beach towards the picnic blanket.

Quite a success I feel.

After my wonderful proposal we had gone back and checked out of our luxury hotel, travelled down the coast and checked into a cabana – a beautiful beach side thatched cabin. We could literally step out the cabin, down the steps and we were on the beach, the warm shallows of the Caribbean merely ten metres away. We were told that in the morning, when the tide was in, the water would come right up to the bottom of the steps.

The cabana was basic; a bed, a bathroom, that was it. It didn’t even have any electricity. I loved its rustic charm. There was a sheltered veranda area with a table and chairs, two hammocks and at the bottom of the stairs we had our own barbeque, which Harry swore he was going to cook freshly caught fish on later. I wasn’t sure if Harry intended to catch the fish himself, though it wouldn’t surprise me. Everything the man turned his hand to he was good at.

I scowled at him lying happily in his hammock. Even now, where other mere mortals had failed, it had taken him mere seconds to climb easily into his hammock.

I stared back at my nemesis darkly. I would not be beaten. If Harry could do it, I could do it too.

I approached the hammock like you would approach a wild animal. It swung gently in the breeze, taunting me. I heard Harry turn a laugh into a cough as he tapped away on the laptop, answering emails as he swayed in his hammock.

I turned around, and sat carefully into the middle of the hammock but as I lifted one foot off the ground, the hammock tilted and deposited me on the floor. Harry shuddered with suppressed laughter.

I stood up. No piece of string was going to get the better of me.

I straddled the hammock, one leg either side of it, and lowered my bottom into the material. So far so good. I lifted my legs slowly into the hammock and it rocked precariously. I froze, waiting for it to be still, and when it was I lowered myself down into the hammock, my back, my shoulders, my neck… But suddenly, without provocation, it flipped over, causing me to land face down on the decking again.

Harry’s laughter went up an octave.

‘What do you suggest then, smart alec?’

‘Show it who’s boss. You’re being too namby pamby with it. Just get in, like you’re getting into bed.’

I stood up again. I put my hands out, holding the hammock flat, rolled in and rolled straight out the other side.

I lay on the decking, staring up at the thatched fronds rustling gently in the breeze.

‘Right, enough. You’re going to be black and blue by the time you’ve finished. Share the hammock with me. I’m already in the right position, you just have to join me.’

‘And tip us both out, that’s ok, I’ll just sit in one of these chairs.’

‘No seriously. I’m a big guy, my weight will help to balance us out. Come on.’ He patted the hammock temptingly.

‘If we tip out, don’t blame me.’

‘I promise.’

I shuffled closer and Harry hooked an arm round one of the front pillars of the veranda. I slowly sat down in the hammock and to my surprise it barely moved at all. I carefully relaxed into it and as Harry let go of the pillar, the hammock swung out gently and then was still.

‘See. It’s fine.’

I ignored his smugness and indicated his laptop. ‘Anything important?’

We had both been studiously replying to emails since we left, but since I’d got sick the day before, Harry had insisted I take a few days off from it.

‘Nothing I can’t handle.’

He was reading an email now and as I leaned back on my arms, I heard him laugh.

‘What?’ It was probably from Badger.

‘Oh, nothing, an email from Chloe. She’s looking forward to seeing us.’

I felt myself tense. If I could, I’d avoid New York altogether, but I’d always wanted to go there – I couldn’t miss this chance just because one of Harry’s exes was there too.

I lifted my head to look at the email, but he quickly closed it down and opened up a work one. He clearly didn’t want me to see it.

‘Are you looking forward to seeing her too?’

‘Yes, God yes, I can’t wait to see her, she’s one of my best friends.’

I bit my lip and closed my eyes against the sudden pain in my chest. I was his best friend.

‘You’ll like her, she’s lovely.’

I doubted that.

‘What’s she like?’

‘Blonde, cute as hell.’

I changed the subject. ‘Where are we going tomorrow?’

‘We fly to California tomorrow, we’re spending one night in the Disneyland resort, then we fly to San Francisco, Vegas and then on to New York.’

‘Great, can’t wait.’ I tried to hide the dryness in my voice. ‘Are we just spending one night in these places?’

‘One night at Disney and San Francisco, two or three nights in Vegas, there’s loads to see – and maybe a week in New York.’

‘A week?’ I sat up so quickly the hammock rocked precariously. Harry grabbed the laptop and then pulled me back down to stop the rocking. A whole week with Chloe.

‘New York is one of my favourite places in the whole world.’

‘Because of Chloe?’

‘No. I’m looking forward to seeing her but it’s New York I’m desperate to go back to. It’s just the most incredible place.’

I smiled at his enthusiasm. ‘Tell me about it.’

‘It just has an amazing atmosphere, it feels so safe. You can wander the streets at two in the morning without fear of being attacked. And that’s a stupid thing to say, I know, you could get mugged in this city as well as you could in any, but there is something about this place that just makes me feel content. The people are brilliant, all walks of life. They’re so friendly, even the kids that you would cross over the other side of the street to avoid in England – in New York they are lovely, respectful wholesome kids, even if they do wander round with their jeans hanging off their bums. And the food is just heaven. So many good places to eat, so many different foods, different nationalities. I put on a stone the last time I was there and I was only there a month. They say it’s the city that never sleeps and it really is, you can buy a pair of trainers from a sports shop at one in the morning. The place just hums with this energy, this maelstrom of life.’

I loved him when he got so passionate about things like this. He was like this about his love of history too, it was hard not to get caught up in his enthusiasm. Then my heart sank

‘You were going to move there weren’t you, you had a job out there.’

The shine from his eyes faded slightly. ‘It just wasn’t meant to be.’

‘You cancelled it because of Jack, didn’t you?’

He looked at me for a moment in confusion. ‘No, that was absolutely not the reason I cancelled it. There was all that office politics stuff that I didn’t want to get involved in.’

‘You didn’t cancel it because of me?’ It sounded so arrogant, even to my ears. ‘To be there for me?’

He studied me for a moment. ‘In truth. I fell in love and I couldn’t bear to be parted from her.’

I felt my mouth fall open at this. He had cancelled all his big plans, his dreams, for
her
–
the woman he had fallen in love with. How disappointed he must have been when it never worked out between them.

‘I’m sorry that she didn’t know how fantastic you are. You’re a beautiful person Harry, and she must have been blind and completely stupid not to realise that.’

He smiled. ‘She’s neither of those things. But I could never find it in me to hate her because she didn’t return my feelings. I loved her too much for that.’

‘But you must regret not going now.’

He grinned. ‘Not one bit. Things have a way of working out exactly how you want. My life is pretty damned fine the way it is. I’ve got you, my best friend, a great job and I’m lying in a hammock next to the Caribbean Sea. It couldn’t get any more perfect.’

It was at that moment the laptop rang with the familiar Skype ring tone. I prayed it wasn’t Chloe, I could just pretend she didn’t exist for a few more days.

Harry propped the laptop up on his knees and answered it. To my surprise, Bella sat in the screen alone.

‘Bella,’ I crooned. She clapped her hands when she heard my voice but I don’t think she was really taking in the fact that I was on the screen too. ‘Bella, can you wave?’ I called, wondering how the hell she had managed to call me on her own. Jules had probably given her the iPad to play with and she had pressed the wrong button. Bella blew bubbles through her mouth.

‘Oozie,’ she giggled and my heart soared.

‘Did she just say my name?’

Harry nodded, grinning inanely next to me.

Just then the screen tilted and Badger and Jules came into view as they cuddled in behind Bella. They looked like a happy, loving family and my stomach lurched because of it. Off camera, Harry squeezed my hand.

‘We thought we’d let Bella say a few words first, especially now she’s learnt to say your name,’ said Jules, kissing Bella’s soft head, fondly. ‘Say Suzie.’

‘Oozie,’ Bella said, clapping her hands together again.

‘How’s it all going?’ Badger asked, one arm round Jules’s shoulders, the other holding Bella in place on his lap. I looked at Bella, her beautiful dark eyes and dark hair, she had changed so much and we had only been gone a few days. Would she forget what I looked like by the time I came back, would she have forgotten me altogether? Did she have any memory of her dad at all?