Tracey and I looked at each other and said one word — ‘Fuck’.
‘How did this happen? I mean who sent out the invites?’ Tracey’s face went bright red. ‘It was me. I did it. I volunteered. It is not my fault there is more than one church called St.
Matthews!’
‘Seriously, Tracey, are you on drugs?
Course, there is more than one church called St. Matthews!’ I replied, seriously wondering if my friend was OK in the head, because she had made the most stupidest mistake in the world, and to top it off, gave the most ridiculous explanation for doing it.
Meanwhile, Justin was wetting himself laughing. ‘You guys are so funny. I mean, not only does Tracey go to the wrong church, she makes everyone else go to the wrong church.
Classic.’ I wish I shared his enjoyment in the situation. Actually I was rather disgusted by it. That is, until he bent over and kissed me, and said ‘Would you go out with me?’ ‘Sorry?’ I replied.
He said, ‘Would you go on a date with me?’ I replied ‘Sure, just tell me where and when, and I will be there.’
Yes, you guessed it, we went to his place again and shagged.
Our official first date was at the Blue Elephant in Fulham. Such a crazy location for an exquisite restaurant. I had heard about it, but had never been there.
I was not disappointed by the choice of our first date or by the efforts that he had made as a result of it. I had a feeling that we were growing into something, and that night I was proved right.
So, we had our own private booth or so it seemed like. He asked ‘You OK? You are really quiet today?’ ‘Am I?’ I asked.
He smiled, gave me a kiss and said ‘Yes, I wanted this night to be special because it is important for you. Well, it seemed like you wanted it so bad and I wanted to ask you something. Something important.’
Now I was intrigued. Has he not forgotten? I said ‘I thought you had forgotten it has been a year.’ He said, ‘A year for what?’ ‘We have been going out for a year. I bought you a little something to celebrate.’ I gave him a new Armani watch that I saw and engraved ‘One year with you has been the year of a lifetime, Love Melanie’. He read it and said, ‘This is the best present anyone has ever given me. I am so touched. Really, one year with me ... And it has been the best year of your life.’
‘Oh,’ he said, ‘Sorry you misunderstood. That is not why I brought you here. I brought you here so that we could go on the date you wanted to go on. I did not realise it has been a year.
Wow! Also, I feel so bad. I never bought you anything and especially something as precious as this. This is amazing.’
‘I am annoyed, but by the same token, I am glad you made an effort. Just do not forget next year,’ I said. He agreed, and then asked me to move in with him. I did not know what to say or do at this precise moment, because I was surprised. I was so happy. There I was wanting just a present, and he was going to give me so much more. I jumped up in excitement.
The waitress came to take our order. I told her I am so happy because Justin asked me to move in with him. She was happy too. Then she said, the next time when we are there, maybe it will be to celebrate our engagement. I looked at her and said, ‘Sure, that would be an even more beautiful surprise.’
Justin’s faces dropped!
I asked, ‘OK, so what were you thinking, mine or yours?’ At the end of the day we were not a perfect couple. We were growing. Maybe the wrong way round.
But there is no golden rule to this, there can never be, or else the world would be so predictable, just like our bill which mounted to five hundred pounds.
All those bottles of Champagne I was ordering. I could tell he was annoyed. But as a gentleman, he kindly pointed out that if I ever did that again, he would go to the toilet, leave me at the table, and if I could not pay the bill then I will have to wash the dishes in the restaurant for a very long time until the bill is paid off!
The next stage, telling the girls. How I loved our weekend outings, they just seemed to fit in so nicely especially when it comes to big announcements, which I seemed to be the only one giving those days. Maybe because the girls I hung out with intended to be single forever!
So there we were in our parlour rooms, getting our feet down, when I announce ‘Justin and I are going to live together!’
Tracey was so excited, that she kicked the poor Chinese girl in the face, the one that was giving her pedicure, and was bent over, trying to scrub Tracey’s feet like her life depended on it. Michelle, she is so happy that she was clapping her hands with sheer excitement, and her Chinese girl complained because she had smudged her nail polish and the Chinese girl would have to start again and she had another appointment.
We did not care, because for once we had good news to celebrate, and we were going to celebrate them that night and have the time of our lives. So, we were dancing the night away, and a guy comes up to me, for a dance. I said, ’No, I am living with someone.’ He replied, ‘I do not really give a shit, only asked you for a dance, not to be my wife!’
The girls laugh. ‘That shut him
