Page 2 of Love Unlocked

Tara steps back in fright tight against Al’s body. She slowly takes in the scene, a sea of happy faces. Her family, his family, her friends, her old camogie team, even his best friend Walter is here. He is not surprised because he has planned the entire thing. Texts and emails while she was sleeping, whispered conversations down the phone while she was in the other room. It had been meticulously programmed.

‘Oh my god,’ she says, trembling fingers flying to her mouth. She randomly says people’s names as she spots them. ‘Sheila. Oh my god, Laura, what are you doing here, Siobhán!’ she squeals. ‘Oh my god, Wally!’

Wally?

Walter.

While Tara deals with this event by naming the people in the room, behind her back, Al gets down on one knee. She doesn’t notice for a while, until a hush falls over the gathered crowd. She turns around and looks for Al, who’s not at her level, then looks down.

There’s a tinkle of nervous laughter from the crowd.

Al clears his throat. ‘Tara Jones, three years ago I saw you across the room in Copper Face Jacks.’

Laughter. It’s a legendary night club in Dublin with a reputation for being cheesy.

And that’s where his proposal goes in a new direction. He’d memorised a combination of famous lines from their favourite romantic movies and he recites them now, weaving all the quotes together to form a proposal.

Now and then Tara looks around the room and whispers, ‘Oh my god.’

It must be good, because he sees even the emotionally restrained Walter wiping his eyes. For every quote Al recalls, he feels like he’s summoning a shared memory of them being together, harnessing all the other love in the world, from the writers who wrote it, the actors who felt it, the audience who watched it. He takes everybody’s collaborative energy and puts it into his words, feeling like he’s vibrating and connecting with everyone, with her, on a whole new level. The fact that their loved ones are here to share it, and witness their extraordinary love, only heightens the experience. He is buzzing, totally in his element. Better than any drug; he is on a natural high.

And then finally, ‘Tara Jones, will you marry me?’

Her mouth is open, he feels like everything is happening in slow motion. Why isn’t she answering him? Everyone is looking at Tara and she seems surprised that she must now speak. He feels the beads of sweat on his back, he hadn’t doubted her response for a moment, not until now.

‘Oh. Yes. YES!’

He’s flooded with relief and jumps up to hold her, kiss her. This is the greatest moment of his life. Emotion is bubbling out of him, tears from his eyes. She kisses him quickly and goes for the ring. Her fingers are trembling. Every single one of his muscles feels like it’s twitching in some sort of celebratory response.

‘Do you like it?’

‘Oh my god.’

She slides it on her finger. It fits perfectly, but of course, he made sure of that, measuring her ring finger while she slept.

‘Oh my god, girls, look.’ She turns around and her friends race over in a group and she’s swallowed up in hugs.

Feeling a little left out but still buzzing, he looks around. His parents come straight to him with a hug.

‘That was lovely, pet,’ his mum says.

‘Well done, Al.’ His dad pats him on his back. ‘What was all that you said there?’

‘Lines from Tara’s favourite rom-coms,’ Al replies, a little put out. ‘Did you not recognise them?’

Al’s dad looks at his wife uncertainly.

‘It was really lovely, love,’ his mum says in a confident tone that tells him she hadn’t a clue either.

Then Tara is back in their orbit, voice high, fast and trembling with adrenaline. ‘I’m so glad I got my nails done,’ she says, holding her fingers out for his parents who ooh for their benefits even though they’re not the ooh-ing type.

‘I told you to get your nails done, remember?’ Al says, grinning. He’d thought of everything.

‘Oh my god, you did.’

‘Did you like the proposal?’ He’d worked on it for so long. Every time they saw a movie and there was a line she liked, he’d had to rewrite the speech. He’d been running the lines through his head over and over again for the past month.

‘Al, I haven’t a clue what you said,’ she laughs. ‘I couldn’t take it in. I thought you were tying your lace, and then I saw the ring, and then oh my god,’ she says, bringing her finger closer to her face. ‘I’m so glad I got my nails done.’