Page 117 of Don't Quit the Day Job

"Lila, of course I’m going to tell you. I didn't want to tell you beforehand because I didn't want to ruin the surprise, but perhaps that was a mistake."

"What surprise?" I wrinkle my nose. "It's not my birthday. You're not throwing me a surprise party or something, are you?"

"No," he says. He takes a deep breath and pulls over to the right and gets off.

"What are you doing?"

"I need to have this conversation with you face to face. I think there's a little park around here," he says.

We drive for about five more minutes in silence before he pulls over and we get out of the car. He grabs my hands and pulls me toward him.

"So Lila, there's something I have to tell you.”

My heart races. He's going to dump me I think to myself. Tears rush to my eyes.

"I love you."

"What?" I say, and I can't stop the smile from spreading across my face.

"I love you. Like stupidly love you. Crazy, stupid, intoxicating love."

"You love me? What? That's why you pulled over? Are you just going to keep saying that or…"

"Or what?" he says teasingly.

"What do you want me to say?" I pause, pretending I'm stupid.

"Really Lila?"

"I love you too, Max. Obviously."

I reach up and put my arms around his neck. He leans down and kisses me long and hard.

"I love you more than there are stars in the sky," I say.

"Good," he says.

"Good? That's it?"

"No, I just wanted to make sure that we were on the same page before I tell you why I was in South Carolina."

"Um…you're making me nervous."

"Lila, I went to South Carolina to get my grandma's ring."

He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a little black box and opens it. I stare down at a beautiful diamond ring. My jaw drops.

"Wow, that's amazing."

"Not as amazing as you," he says. "I wanted my grandma's ring because I wanted to use it to propose to you, but I realized that I've been selfish. I've been rushing this relationship because I love you and we've just connected so well and I think you're the funniest, most brilliant woman I've ever come into contact with. But I've realized that we still don't know each other well enough to make that step."

"What do you mean?"

"I met you and I knew you wanted to be an actress, but in the last month we haven't once talked about your acting. And to be honest, I haven't even thought about it and that's not right. I need to prove that I support you in every which way and…"

"I didn't realize how serious you were about the fact that you wanted to become a Supreme Court Justice," I say, nodding. "And I feel like I should have asked you more about those goals when we first spoke about it.” I feel guilty for not having asked him more about his aspirations in life.

"I don't even want that anymore," he says. "I realized that I wanted to go down that route because I wanted to prove to my dad that I was the best I could be, because I had issues with him about his dreams for me. But I don't want to become a Supreme Court Justice. I don't need to prove anything to my dad. I love being an attorney. I love my partners and I love the work that I do, even when I sometimes represent those who do not stand on the same moral ground as myself."

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