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"Got it!" And with that, Larry ended the call.
Sue stared at the phone. Right, I'll show him, she selected Larry's number and pressed delete - bye bye Larry, nice knowing you, well, it was for a while at least.
Sue knocked back the rest of her coffee and marched out onto the street. I'll show him, he'll regret losing me. Wait until he sees the man I marry, he'll be more of a man than Larry ever was, he'll see, I 'll make sure of it.
* * *
It was a busy Sunday afternoon in the park, the sun was shining and the neighborhood families were making the most of it. Larry sat with Joe on a park bench while his sister in law, Karen, played on the swings with Jack who waved over to them at every opportunity with a huge smile.
"So tell me, Larry, have you spoken to Sue again since that disastrous coffee date you had a couple of weeks ago?"
Larry shook his head. "I phoned her a few times but she never picks up. It looks like I've blown my chance with her. I was just about to tell her how much I've missed her when she started criticizing me and going on and on about the commitment thing again. I'm so tired of hearing that same old line. It's very irritating."
"What are you going to do, Larry? Did you tell her you want to get back together?"
"I didn't have a chance, Joe. The conversation nose dived and that was the end of it. That's the last time I spoke to her. The funny thing is I feel that I've matured a lot this year, so much has happened, I feel like a different person. I'm committed to making a relationship work but she doesn't see that, she has an outdated view of who I am."
"True, but I can understand her point of view, Larry. If you keep walking out whenever there's a disagreement it doesn't look good. She does have a point, you must see that, don't you?"
Larry stood up from the bench. "Yeah, I know. Anyway, I'm going to go and push Jack's swing for a bit. It looks like your dear wife could do with a break."
Larry was engrossed in Jack's giggling when he heard a familiar voice, "Larry, fancy meeting you here!" It was Sue.
"Oh hi, Sue. Just playing with Jack. I don't think you've seen him for a while."
Sue walked over to join them. "Hello, Jack. My word, you're getting big. I like those green trousers, very becoming."
"Sue, I'm sorry I stormed out on you the other day. I shouldn't have so I just want to apologize."
"Don't worry about it, Larry. I was annoyed at the time but I've had time to think about it. I shouldn't have been so picky. I was excited to meet you and I was a little nervous, you know how I always put my foot in it when I'm nervous." Sue smiled sheepishly and successfully maintained eye contact, forcing herself to refrain from checking out Larry's six pack in his tight polo shirt.
"Yeah, I've noticed," Larry looked into Sue's blue eyes and smiled. "Hey, want to try again? I promise I'll be on my best behavior."
"Why not? I'll watch what I say if you can stay in the same room as me," Sue laughed.
"Deal! I'll pick you up at 8 tomorrow night, how about that?"
"Perfect, see you then, I look forward to it."
* * *
Over Italian food and wine Larry found the courage to say what he'd wanted to say the last few times they'd met.
"Sue, I've really missed you. I have. Don't be fooled by the party lifestyle, I got bored of that pretty quickly. Since I got the promotion at work it's been a case of work, TV and sleep. And then repeat it all over again. Sure, I went out with some girls but none of them compare to you. I mean that."
Sue's heart missed a beat as she looked into Larry's brown eyes. "Oh, Larry, I've missed you too, it's great to be talking again. I never knew I'd miss you so much."
Larry reached out and held Sue's hand. "We were crazy to ever break up, I see that now and I take full responsibility for it. It was my fault. I should have calmed down before exploding like that and being so rash, if I had, we'd be married by now, ever think about that?"
Sue squeezed Larry's hand and felt the familiar warmth of his hand in hers. "Yes, I've thought about it a lot. We could have been building a life together instead of avoiding each other."
Larry moved closer and spoke more softly. "That's why I'd like to make up for lost time. I always said before I wanted to take things slowly, get married, later on buy a house, then later again have kids. But I was wrong, why wait? If that's what we both want, you were right, now is the time, now is the only time."
Sue looked into Larry's sparkling brown eyes, she'd never seen him so passionate about family, so sure about what he wanted and so powerful. He even looked different, he seemed stronger and more definite about his future than she'd ever seen him. She was impressed.
"And that's why I'd like to make everything right," Larry went down on one knee, and for the second time in his life, he looked up at Sue and asked, "Will you marry me Sue?"
Sue felt a rush of fear, fear that Larry would not follow through again, and she spoke before she knew what she was saying, "Not right now, Larry, this is all too soon."
