And it was so good to talk to someone about Gabriel. Finally.
Returning to my apartment, I am so exhausted, and my head aches. I can barely put one foot in front of the other as I walk down the hallway, and my hand clumsily struggles to even unlock the apartment door. When did it become so hard to put a key in a lock? I am desperate to collapse on my bed and pass out without even brushing my teeth.
But when I manage to push the apartment door open, I am struck by something odd before I can even turn the light on.
It smells nice.
What the heck?
Did someone break into my place and spray air freshener everywhere?
Stepping forward hesitantly, I’m a bit nervous about whether the potpourri burglar could still be here. I mean, at least it’s a friendly burglar who leaves the place nicely scented.
Then I think of Gabriel. Did he find a way to get into the country? Is he here in my place to surprise me? Did he tidy up and clean things? My heart leaps with excitement.
I scramble to push the light switch to turn it on, hoping against hope that there will be a man in my apartment. But what I see instead causes my mouth to drop open slightly in awe.
There are flowers everywhere. Red roses.
Bouquet after bouquet in every corner of the tiny apartment. I drop my keys into a little tray, shutting the door behind me before walking forward into the apartment. I smile and look around in puzzled happiness. I can’t resist a peek into the bedroom to see if there’s a human being there—preferably a naked man, but I would also be okay with a man wearing only boxers, briefs, or a bow tie.
Unfortunately, I have no such luck. I reach into my pocket for my phone, and video call Gabriel.
He answers almost immediately. He is somewhere outdoors, and there’s lots of green behind him.
“You did this?” I ask him with amazement.
“Well, I hope there aren’t too many men in your life who would fill your apartment with roses,” he says with a chuckle.
“No, of course not. But why? How?”
“Go to the bedroom,” he tells me softly.
“Okay,” I say with a curious smile, following his instructions. “Now what?”
“There should be a gift under your pillow,” he tells me.
“Is this another vibrator?” I ask him with a chuckle. He only knows my address because he sent me a sex toy in the mail a few weeks ago. He thought it would enhance our video calls… and it really did.
“Not this time,” he answers, as I hunt for his present.
When my hand collides with a small velvet box, my smile disappears. “Gabe,” I whisper, and I drop the phone on the bed so I can pick up the little box with both hands. Hands which are now shaking. “What is this?”
“Well, open it.”
My stomach flutters like crazy as I pry the small box open, and sure enough, there sits a diamond engagement ring. It’s beautiful. Elegant. Vintage.
“Gabe…”
“Milla. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there to ask this. But I just needed to ask you anyway. Would you marry me?”
“Really?” I ask, in disbelief. And then, without hesitation, “Yes.”
“Awww,” he responds happily. “For once you didn’t overthink things.”
“Wait,” I tell him, as tears instantly fill my eyes. I pick up the phone and look at his face. “You’re already married. I think you forgot about that.”
“I didn’t forget,” he tells me. “It’s just really important to me to feel like a future between us is possible. I need to have hope for us, in my soul.”
“But what if she wakes up?” I ask him, in barely a whisper.
“It doesn’t matter,” he assures me. “Things were over between me and Yvette a long time ago. I know that if she wakes up, it won’t be easy or simple for us to be together. But I just want you to know that it’s my intention, and I will do everything in my power to make this happen. I’m already yours, Camilla.”
“I’m yours, too,” I say tearfully.
“I’m a mess without you,” he tells me. “Every time we have some fight or you try to push me away—I feel sick. So sick, like I’m dying. I just want us to stop feeling uncertain. I want us to feel safe and secure in this relationship. I know it’s still new, and I know we’ll both have doubts again and again—but I want you to know that I’m serious, and I’ll be here for the long term. Forever.”
“Gabriel,” is all I can manage to say.
“Well, put on the ring,” he tells me with a grin. “Maybe that creep Doctor Mike will stop hitting on you if he knows that you’re no longer a single woman.”
“Oh, is that what this is about?” I ask teasingly. “Are you marking your territory?”
“Of course,” he responds. “I want the whole world to know that you’re mine now. Doctor Mike missed his chance.”
“And what about your mom? That promise you made to her, that you would stick by Yvette and make things work with her, no matter what.”
“It’s funny you should ask that,” he says with a smile. “There’s someone I want you to meet.”
Gabriel stoops down, and now I can see where he is, and why there is so much green all around him. It’s a beautiful cemetery. And he’s brought fresh flowers to his mother’s grave. I see her name written there on the stone, in elegant cursive:
Camille Delacroix.
“I told her all about the situation,” Gabriel explains. “I asked her permission, and if she was cool with it—she said you seem like a nice girl, and she really likes your name. She even let me use her
