‘Sorry,’ I say, casting her a fake sugary smile. ‘I’m busy,’ I say, which is a lie, but, I think she’s probably too wrapped up in her tenth wedding anniversary celebration with her husband to notice.
The woman surveys the half empty café and turns back to me. ‘You’ve been stood there for ten minutes staring into space. Please can we have our drinks.’
These customers are infuriating. If they’re not slobbering over each other, they’re picking arguments with me. With a loud huff I turn to the coffee machine and make their drinks.
‘We have Jason Hinich’s marriage proposal next,’ says Noah, putting his empty tray on the counter. ‘He wants us to film it so that it’s live on Facebook.’
‘You can do that,’ I mutter, ‘I am busy with… ummm… table five.’
Noah glances over at table five. ‘They ordered ages ago, Alice. Have you still not made their order?’
I glare at him and say through gritted teeth, ‘I have beenbusy, Noah.’
Noah looks taken aback and runs his hand through his hair. ‘I have a doctor’s appointment now. I can’t film Jason’s proposal video.’
‘What?’ I gasp. My heart is pounding away against my ribcage, and I can feel that itchy red blotchy rash I get when I am nervous spreading over my neck. I resist the urge to scratch. ‘I can’t do it, Noah.’
He stares at me. ‘You stand and press record. It’s not hard.’
My brain tries to think up an excuse. ‘I’m allergic to… marriage proposals.’
Noah ignores me and checks his phone. ‘Sorry, I got to run. Will be back soon.’
‘Excuse me,’ shouts the woman from table five. ‘Where are our drinks?’
Turning back to the coffee machine I curse annoying customers and work colleagues who disappear at the wrong moment for urgent doctor appointments.
Jason has arrived with his girlfriend, Michelle, who according to the booking log is unaware he’s going to propose. He’s dressed in a smart cream linen suit and she’s wearing a blue silky dress adorned with pink flowers. Her long brown hair has been styled into an elegant braided updo. Jason seats her by the window and comes over to the counter with his phone. ‘Hello, will you film this if I go live on Facebook? Frankie assured me someone would assist. We have family in Canada who want to be involved in this special moment of ours. They have got up early for this.’
I nod as he presses live on Facebook and holds the phone up. ‘Hi, everyone, this is it. I hope Michelle will say yes. Only one way to find out. I am just going to pass you over to one of the staff at The Little Love Café who will film our proposal. Wish me luck.’
Sucking in a lungful of café air, which is a concoction of coffee beans and Jason’s Lynx Africa body spray, I close my eyes for a second. I can do this. The urge to throw down the phone, rush out of the café and run onto the beach is strong. However, that would let Frankie down and I can’t do that. My neck and face feel hot. Within a few seconds it will join forces with the blotchy rash, and I will turn the same shade of pink as the walls.
I must do this. This is a live marriage proposal. Just hold the phone at the couple, press record and force out a celebratory smile at the end. This is not hard. I can do this.
With a trembling hand I give Jason a thumbs-up and point the phone camera at him walking over to Michelle. Lowering himself onto one knee in front of Michelle he fishes out a little velvet box from his trouser pocket. A few customers near me gasp at that soft box opening sound.
In a croaky voice Jason speaks to his girlfriend. ‘Michelle, I’ve been in love with you ever since we shared a tray of chips and curry sauce on the beach and looked up at the stars all those months ago…’
‘So romantic,’ murmurs the annoying woman from table five. She nudges her bored looking husband. ‘Why can’t we do something like that? Share a takeaway and look up at the stars.’
He yawns and doesn’t answer her.
I can see there are people on Facebook Live watching and sending showers of heart emojis. Jason carries on. ‘Michelle, you are the person I want to spend the rest of my life with, and I can’t imagine sharing a tray of chips and curry sauce with anyone else. I love you. Will you marry me?’
Every muscle and limb of mine has gone rigid. A memory is forcing its way to the front of my mind. It has grabbed my attention. In my head I’m no longer here in Blue Cove Bay, I’m back in Surrey and walking up the stairs to find out what the strange sound is that is coming from the bedroom. I’ve come home early as Lucas had been unwell at school. My time at work had been spent daydreaming about the big day. Quickly I shut down the memory before I open the bedroom door. The wound from Scott’s affair opens inside of my chest. Pain radiates out. I don’t want to think about that awful day.
Waves of nausea lap up against the sides of my tummy. I’m blinking faster to hold back the army of tears which are getting ready to charge down my face. Michelle opens her petite pink mouth and before any sound comes out my finger instinctively hits the stop button on the Facebook Live record.
As I gasp to get my breath behind the counter, Michelle shouts, ‘YES!’ and the two love birds to fall into each other’s arms. Everyone, except me, in the café cheers and then Michelle breaks free from Jason, climbs on a chair, and makes a speech. She talks about how she and Jason first met, how they have both overcome personal struggles and how they have a great network of friends and family in the UK and in Canada.
She rambles on about their love for each other and all I want to do is shout about how the concept of love is fantasy and how love comes before heartbreak. I stand and listen to her talk with the phone now by my side. At the end Jason helps her down and pulls her into his arms. ‘All our friends and family on Facebook just heard my proposal and your wonderful speech, Michelle, let’s go say hi.’
They both look over at me and something flickers across Jason’s face. ‘Excuse me, aren’t you supposed to be filming us?’
‘Well… about that…’ I mumble, holding up the phone.
The woman on table five turns to Jason. ‘I wouldn’t have trusted her to film your event. It took her half an hour to make two Magical Mochas.’
