Chapter 30
Vi was quiet, and that was rare. She was a chatterbox most of the time, but especially in times like this, when we were around all our friends, it was hard to find a moment where she wasn’t talking to someone or listening intently, playing with a strand of her hair.
Of course, I absolutely loved that about her, but this quiet and reserved Vi was one I barely ever saw, and there was no way she could be in this state when we were at a celebratory dinner unless something was really going on.
“Hey…” I bumped my plate against hers after allowing her to stare longingly at Kim for a couple minutes.
Vi shook her head and was shocked into action. “Oh, what? Hmm?”
“What’s wrong?” I said.
“Nothing!” Vi yelped.
“That’s a very suspicious ‘nothing’, babe…are you feeling ok?” Maybe she was sick…I do recall a few times where she would stay out for a whole lot longer than was advisable when she was feeling nauseous just so she could enjoy the company of others for a bit more time.
“Oh, yeah! Just great!” She laughed nervously.
“Hey Vi, here…try this.” Wendy swooped in, sliding her arm behind Vi’s back. She picked up a parcel of shrimp dumpling from her plate and lifted it to her mouth.
Before I could overanalyze these interactions more, I was distracted by the sight of Nina standing in front of me from across the narrow table, her hand clasping the strap on her purse. Why the hell was everybody in here so much more nervous than I was right now?
“Em, I think I’m gonna take off…” Nina said. “We have the new infrared sensors coming in tomorrow, and I want to be rested up?—“
“Nina! Umm…don’t!” Vi said, reaching out, her hand splayed, an unusual sense of panic in my girlfriend’s eyes. “I have a…thing…that thing…”
“Uh…” Nina smirked. “Ok…” she awkwardly turned and walked back to the table, sitting down next to Yara.
I mean, I know these two women were still new into a relationship and were feeling each other out, but this energy was just something I wasn’t used to at all.
“Vi?” Yara said, raising her eyebrows at my increasingly flustered girlfriend. “It’s…umm…”
“OK, really, what is going on here tonight?” I said. “We’re supposed to be celebrating and you’re all…I’m supposed to be the awkward one.”
Vi closed her eyes and took a breath, then nodded. “Alright, here…we go…”
She stood up and everything sort of froze in place.
Wendy couldn’t help but smile broadly while Brenda tapped at her knee.
From the other side of the room, Yara seemed to silently will Vi along as she stood up, her legs shaking, her hand fidgeting at her side.
It was maybe the…slightest bit concerning that my usually cool and collected girlfriend was acting more like… well…me, I guess.
Vi turned toward me and looked down at me. I’m sure I was staring at her with a wide-eyed gaze of near panic because it was what I was feeling.
“What? What’s wrong?” I said.
“Em…” Vi bit her lip from the inside and her eyes tightened. “Uh…so…”
My heart was racing. Things seemed to crawl to slow motion, and I realized everybody else in the room was silent and watching us.
I stayed quiet and tried to suppress the urge I had to try to get away from the discomfort of all of this. Being the center of attention in normal social situations wasn’t my favorite thing in the world, if you couldn’t tell.
But, then again, I had an idea of what was coming. And so I sat there and held tightly onto my chair, bracing.
“I know this is…god, this is so traditional and…ok…no…” Vi said. “I want to do this, maybe just for the symbolism…”
My throat was tight and my thighs tensed. My ears were blushing. My ears.
Vi knelt down and reached into the pocket of her skirt. She was wearing the one skirt she had that had pockets, and now I was getting a much better idea why that was. She pulled a black lacquer box from her pocket.
Oh…
“Emma, when I first met you…well…we were about five minutes away from having sex with each other for the first time, but…” Vi stifled a laugh into her hand. “But…even though that also happened, I felt a bond with you right from the beginning.”
I tried to keep my eyes on Vi, but I glanced around the room to see the other women in the room, frequent lovers, constant friends, and people who had been with me through so much, staring at the two of us as this moment unfolded.
“I know what you’re going to say, marriage is a construct, and it doesn’t really matter…” Vi smirked.
After I realized she was waiting for me to respond, I laughed a bit and shifted in my chair. “Well…it is…”
“It is, but, it’s also something…I don’t know, us getting married almost feels like an act of rebellion, and so I thought you’d be into that.”
“I think you’re doing this a little out of order, Vi…” I said. “You didn’t ask me yet.”
“Right!” Vi laughed nervously. She held the box in front of her, perched on her hand. “Hinako said you really, really liked jewelry from Mikimoto, and, well, I’ve always liked pearls too, so…”
Vi reached over the front of the box and pulled up on the latch to open it. There, on a dark purple pillow, were two rings.
They were almost identical rings topped with a pearl, the band glimmering white gold with an intricate swirling pattern along the it, delicate but sturdy.
They only differed in one rather important way: one pearl was pink, the other black.
I don’t cry often. That shouldn’t surprise you at this point.
But at this moment, I had no resistance. No defenses.
My body trembled as the stress and anxiety of the moment melted away, a calm sureness washing over me.
“I know it’s just symbols, and things on legal records, and being married doesn’t mean you love someone any more or less, but…
” Vi pursed her lips, looking up at me, tears welling in her eyes.
“I love you so much, Emma. I’ve never met someone who completes me more than you do, or someone who is so willing to care for me, and be there for me, and…
to also just be my best friend.” Vi laughed a little, wiping a tear from her eye. “So, will you, Emma Laurent, marry me?”
A different version of me would have said something snarky or sarcastic here. Something to break the tension of sincerity with humor. And to be clear, I wasn’t going to stop doing that any time soon. But this wasn’t the moment for that. Not a time for jokes or snark.
This was something beautiful, something real. Something that I didn’t know I wanted so bad until this very moment. But, my god, I wanted to be with Vi for the rest of my life.
I barely got finished with saying “Yes” before Vi sprung up from her crouch, embracing me, pressing her face into my shoulder.
“I love you so much…Emma…”
I pulled Vi back and kissed her, our happy tears mingling against our puffy cheeks. “I love you too, Vi.”
THE END