Page 104 of The Prospect

I’ve probed him about it—relentlessly—in an attempt to get to the bottom of his altered behavior, yet despite my persistence, he hasn’t budged.

Not in the slightest.

“Is everything okay?” I dare ask as I hear Green rustling about with his jacket, cursing quietly under his breath before suddenly, he settles and clears his throat.

“No…I mean,yes!”He quickly shifts his answer. “I’m, uh…almost ready for you to take off the blindfold. Just give me another minute, bug.”

My hands dampen in suspense. I twiddle my thumbs ever so softly to help appease it, but it hardly makes a difference. I’m already a nervous person at heart, and knowing that Green’s nervous only makes me more nervous.

What is going on?

“You know I hate surprises, Green,” I remind him of the simple fact I know he knows. “Why do you insist on doing this?”

I can hear him smiling this time as he speaks. “I think this one, Haze…you’ll like. Now, on the count of three, I want you to take off the blindfold. Okay?”

I gulp away my anxieties and shake away the butterflies in my stomach.“Okay,” I murmur. “I’m ready.”

He exhales a short breath as he shuffles once more. “Here goes nothing.” He sucks one in. “Three…two…one?—”

Excitement gets the best of me, and before Green can finish ironing out the last syllable of the word “one”, I pull at my blindfold.

In one swift motion, the silk is out of my hands and dismissed to the side, though my brain is not quite as quick, because the sight before me…is hardly comprehensible.

They say every little girl dreams about their wedding. I’d argue that isn’t always the case—Lennon, back in year two, would probably agree with me there, but for those that do, I’d always wondered what it was about their wedding that they thought about.

Was it the outfit they’d wear?

Was it the ring and design of the wedding cake?

Or did they think about the destination? Where the wedding would take place?

How might it feel to be getting married? Or to devote your life to one person for the rest of your eternity?

I’ll admit, I’d thought about it. All of it. But my thoughts have always gone beyond just that of being a little girl.

I’ve thought about it every day since the moment Green and I met, followed by the moment we kissed, and in every waking second since we finally becameone.

But do you want to know what I’ve thought of way more than just the wedding itself?

The day that Daniel Green would finally ask me the question I’ve longed to give him an answer to, for far too long.

“Green...”

Somehow, saying his last name as I watch him bent down on one knee with a velvet box in his hand and four life-altering words at the tip of his tongue feels wrong.

No…saying anything but his nickname at this moment feels wrong.

“Greenie, I…” I bring my hands to cup my mouth, blissfully overwhelmed by the sight before me.

The bridge.

I’m on the bridge.

Our spot.

He’s lit an assortment of candles all along the edge of the brick walls. Scattered the walkway with rose petals, and placed himself right smack dab in the middle of it.

He’s dressed up. In a shirt, tie, and dress pants that I’ve insisted over the years are two inches too short, exposing his polka dot blue socks I know his mum gave him a few holidays back. He said he didn’t have the heart to throw them away…but I think deep down, he quite likes them.

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