Page 32 of Falling for my Family's Rival

I step back and finally look around me, taking my surroundings all in. I almost gasp at the beauty I am immersed in. The greenhouse is glowing from the light of hundreds of tea-light candles, none of them real, so as not to damage the plants; but the effect is the same. A table for two has been set in the center of the small patio, at the center of the greenhouse. The colors bursting around the greenhouse are brilliant. I feel like I’ve stepped onto a paint palette. Marissa told me about Robert’s greenhouse, but I never could have imagined this masterpiece of color. And the fragrance! Delicate and sweet, I catch hints of familiar rose scents as well as scents I can’t say I have ever experienced before! I slowly turn in a circle, so mesmerized by this enchanted place, that I almost forget why I’m here. But then I see the table again and smile. This is absolutely perfect. I couldn’t have created anything as special as this!

I just barely have time to take it all in, breathe deeply, and prepare myself mentally for my plans, when Violet brings Marissa in.

“Luca, this is amazing,” Marissa says, as Violet grins at us as she leaves. I have to think that at this point Marissa has to have some inkling of what is going on, but she doesn’t let on.

“I wanted us to have someplace special to celebrate this day,” I say. “Our relationship has been such a whirlwind, that I thought it might be nice for us to take a second to slow down.”

“I like that idea,” Marissa says, taking my hand as I hold it out to her.

Leading her toward the table, I say, “I know that things haven’t been easy for us. Our families are still feuding, and I think a lot of the time it feels like we’re star-crossed lovers, like Romeo and Juliet.”

“As long as we don’t have their ending,” Marissa says with a soft laugh.

“Yeah, that’s definitely not what I want either,” I say. “But I think that all the adversity we’ve faced has made us that much stronger as a couple.”

“Me, too,” Marissa says. “I think that, honestly, we could face anything now.”

“That’s why I wanted us to have this special dinner here tonight,” I continue. “Because, unlike Romeo and Juliet, I know that we can have happiness despite our families’ animosity toward one another. There was a moment after we had our one and only fight. We left things badly.”

“I remember. It was awful,” Marissa says.

“The line from Romeo and Juliet comes to mind. ‘Parting is such sweet sorrow.’ And that night, I realized how hard it is for me to walk away from you, for any reason at all. I realized that I wanted to put you first and make sure that you were okay emotionally, no matter the cost.” I pause, and pull the chair out for her to sit down. Then I take my seat. Part of me is so nervous now, that I’m worried I’ll forget to breathe.

Marissa squeezes my hand, which she is still holding. “I don’t think you know how much it meant to me that you came back that night. It showed me that you weren’t like most guys out there. We had both acted immaturely, but the fact that you took responsibility for that made me fall in love with you that much more, Luca.”

“I love you, Marissa,” I say, staring at her, feeling momentarily blank. All the words that I have been practicing so hard suddenly vanish.

In all the lead-up to this proposal, I have thought through so many different scenarios that I truly felt prepared for this night. The one thing I forgot to prepare for was Marissa saying something like that back to me. My mind has gone completely blank now, and it takes me a long time to get back on track. This is why I love her so much. She constantly keeps me from getting too much inside my own head.

“Can I tell you something else?” she asks.

“Of course,” I say.

“I knew the moment that we locked eyes at the ball that we had a special connection, but when you came into Little Italy that first day, I kind of wanted to punch you in the face,” she says.

I laugh at this unexpected confession. “I don’t blame you,” I say. “I feel like that would have been justified, given that I was there to accuse your family of trying to sabotage my family’s restaurant.”

Marissa sobers up at that thought. She’s quiet for a long moment, and I hope that I haven’t ruined the moment. Finally she says, “Do you ever think that they’ll be able to work it out?”

“I don’t know,” I answer honestly. “I hope so, but I think what I’m realizing is that we aren’t responsible for that to happen. Our parents are the ones perpetuating this. It’s not something we can control.”

“That’s a good way to look at it,” she agrees. “It just makes me so sad sometimes that we have to keep our whole relationship a secret from our families.”

“Well, except from Angelo and Chiara,” I say. “Honestly, I’m surprised that Angelo has kept the secret as long as he has.” We both chuckle at the thought of Angelo.

“I don’t want to think about any of that tonight,” Marissa says. “I just want to focus on the two of us. This is such an amazing gift that you’re giving me.”

“What do you mean?” I ask. For a second, I’m worried that she’s figured out why we’re actually here before I get to do the whole speech and my big reveal. Then I realize that, even if that is the case, it doesn’t matter. At the end of the night, as long as Marissa says yes to my proposal, I’ll be happy.

“Look at all this,” Marissa says, gesturing to the space around us. “How lucky am I to be here with you right now?”

“That’s the thing,” I say. “I’m the lucky one. I couldn’t have put this all together without Robert and Violet’s help. I wanted tonight to be amazing for you, because this is what you deserve. You are the most amazing person I have ever known, Marissa. You have changed my life in ways that I didn't even know was possible. Before I met you, my life lacked meaning. I had forgotten that I could have dreams of my own, away from my family and their restaurant. I want you to know just how deeply I love you.”

“Oh, Luca, I do know that,” Marissa says. She’s gazing at me in a way that makes me feel all of this so much more deeply than anything I have ever felt before. I don’t know how to describe the depth of these feelings, except that I’m choked up at the same time that I’m feeling sick to my stomach. It’s nerves and excitement and love all mixed together.

“Good, because that’s important to me,” I say. “Do you want to dance?”

“Sure,” Marissa says, surprised and delighted all at once.

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