Page 57 of Rejected
“I choose you,” Laurie said, “whether you choose me back or not. More than the stars, I shall be constant. Do with that as you will.”
‘Do with that as you will.’
He was putting himself in her hands entirely. He was standing there, his face mere inches from hers, that beloved, sculpted face, which was known to her more intimately than her own. She knew every littledetail of it, every single visible or invisible mark that time, pain or joy had left on it.
And he was waiting.
It is time, Jo thought.Finally, it is time.An immense calm came over her. And with it, the one thing she had lacked until now: courage.
She opened her lips and faced him bravely. His eyes flickered with uncertainty: she had not dared to look at him directly so far.
“Ask me again,” she said, surprised to find out her voice steady.
“I am not asking again,” Laurie frowned.
“Ask me again,” Jo repeated. Laurie looked at her as if she was the insane one now. She could not make him realize what she was saying. She had to take a different approach. “I thought you… I thought you engaged,” she began.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” His reply was abrupt and decisive.
“Well, since I… Since I rejected you, I thought you might look elsewhere in the family that you love…”
“Are you mad?” He looked affronted, as if she had just insulted him.
“I never managed to explain my response to you, back then,” Jo tried again. “I thought that if I married you, if I allowed myself to l-love you, then you would see my real self, day in and day out, and then I would lose you too.
“You’ll never lose me, Jo, never,” he said fervently. “I’ll not leave again. This is for life.”
She laughed and it came out as half-crying.
But I did lose you, she thought.I did.
“Well, you say that now, Laurie, but… It’s one thing to fake fight with you, to play with you, but to love you? I would be all in earnest.”
“Wait, you would?” He swayed on his feet again, and she remembered how he told her he got ‘dizzy’ whenever he so much as looked at her.
“I already am.”
“You are killing me, here, Jo. I…”
I have finally driven the poor boy to insanity. He cannot comprehend what I am trying to say to him. I really should have expected it.
“Can I say one thing?” she murmured, feeling her courage seep away under his intense stare.
“Only one? That would be a first,” Laurie made a pitiful attempt at a laugh. “Go on, then. Give it a try.”
“Yes,” Jo said.
“What?” His face was draining of color again.
“Yes. My one thing is this: Yes.”
…
It took him a full minute to comprehend her words.
“You… you said yes,” he whispered finally.
“Yes.”
