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He pauses for dramatic effect and I’m not sure if I’m supposed speak since he’s on a roll, so I just smile and stay silent.

“Lib, you know my company is based in Holland. Today, my boss told me that they received conditional approval to expand in Aruba and the Dutch Caribbean…and they wantmeto head the project. It’s a four-billion-dollarproject.” He pauses to let that number settle in my brain. “We would have to move to Aruba at the end of the week but the company is paying for movers and is going to take care of getting our house sold. They’re also putting us up in one of the oceanfront homes they purchased when they started pursuing this contract.”

I know I must look like a deer caught in the headlights. The fact that he used words suggesting he’s already agreed to this isn’t lost on me.The companyispaying for movers. Notwouldpay for movers.

Move?

Aruba?

I wasn’t even sure Will wanted to be with me anymore or I, him. Hell, we haven’t had sex in six months and we never do anything together anymore.

It takes me a minute to realize he’s still talking. I refocus my eyes and am startled to see he’s gotten down on one knee right on the hardwood floor of our dining room.

What. The. Actual. Fuck?

“Elizabeth Baker, I love you. I know the last several months have been hard on us but I think we’re almost on the other side. I think this move to Aruba could be the breath of fresh air we need. I know it’s a big commitment but I’m going to ask you for one more.”

Oh no. No, no, no.

“Will you marry me?”

Okay, so I know we’ve been together a long time by most standards, but I also know that we’ve been in a rough patch for the last six to twelve months. Shouldn’t the relationship be all figured outfirstandthenyou get married? I can’t help but feel like this is Will’s attempt to put a band-aid on a bullet hole, but he’s on his knee, ring in hand, and before I can stall, or gain enough time to process properly, I’ve shoutedYES, surprising us both.

Me and my stupid need to make everyone happy.

My father would be so proud. Being a politician, saying no was never within his ability, either. He made promises all the time he knew he couldn’t keep, but he also knew it would earn him the vote.

When Will launches himself from the ground, flinging himself at me and lifts my feet off the floor, I’m jolted back to the present. Everything I felt for him in the beginning of our relationship comes rushing back to me and I smile in his arms.

What have I got to lose? I’m not currently working. I have averysmall friend group but as an introvert, I don’t even spend much time with them as it is. My family ties are non-existent since I had no known relatives to claim me and I briefly went into foster care after my parents died. It didn’t take long for me to realize I preferred the orphanage.

Sometimes, I feel like such a cliché, but it’s the hand Life dealt me. So, if Will wants a future with me and to whisk me away to a life in the Caribbean, who am I to say no?

I briefly think about my parents and a sharp pang of loss reverberates through me. Maybe they’re part of the reason I don’t really buy into the “forever love”.

Life has taught me that nothing lasts forever and if you don’t get too invested, then you can’t be too disappointed.

~

BETWEEN THE PROMOTION at work and the proposal at home, it’s clear that Willem is ready to celebrate between the sheets causing our six-month dry spell to take a ceasefire.

Don’t get me wrong, Willem is an adequate lover. He just tends to think that women are more of the microwave variety instead of the oven - to use an ancient analogy - and he often forgets that a little preheating is often needed to get me on the same page. I pretend not to notice when he huffs a sigh of frustration after my third “ow” and he realizes I’m as dry as the Sahara.

He falls asleep immediately afterward, no doubt exhausted from the day and the emotional high he’s been riding since God knows when.

I, on the other hand, am left reeling about what the hell just happened.

I’m engaged and moving to Aruba…in aweek…andI was left high and dry - literally - again.

Two

TODAY

THE PHONE CALLS WITH my two closest friends go about like I would expect. They were shocked at the marriage news and excited about the move to Aruba. Undoubtedly because now, they have an excuse to visit - and free lodging - although sadly, I don’t see myself extending an invite.

We were neighbors first and developed a comfortable friendship over time. I enjoy their company, but I’m rarely the one to initiate the get-togethers. That’s probably why I always feel like the third wheel. Regardless of the why, I don’t spend as much time with them as they spend with each other. Over the last year, it seems Will and I both have a played a role in my isolation but to be fair, it’s not completely unwarranted. I’ve always preferred my own company to that of others.

Harper, one of the two girls I call, once mentioned that she thinks Will imprisons me and uses his “supportive nature” to guilt me into staying home, but mostly I think he just wants me to hold out for a job I love as much as he loves his. At least that’s what I’ve always told myself, although, looking down at yet another dress and these pearls, I realize maybe it’s gotten atadbit out of control.

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