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Of course Fiona, being the naturally curious person she was, spent a good deal of time trying to figure it out. Even so, it looked as if my bargain with her friends had paid off, because after a while she forgot about it and spent time enjoying herself.
As for me, well, I’d expected to be a lot more nervous than I was. Perhaps I was just exhausted from the demands of work leading up to the retreat, or more likely, I was ready to get an answer from her one way or another.
And so it was, after we’d all been together for a couple of hours or so, I decided the time had come to do what I’d brought them all there to witness.
I approached Fiona where she stood in the midst of her friends chatting away. As I entered the periphery of the group, they all stopped talking and looked in my direction.
Raising my hands in a gesture of mock surrender as they stared at me, I said, “My ears were burning. You guys were talking about me weren’t you?”
The women exchanged silent, yet devious, glances with one another. At last, Fiona looked up at me and spoke.
“What if we were? What else should we be talking about on this tiny island?”
I cast another glance among the group of women and smiled.
Reaching for Fiona’s hand, I replied, “I’ll give you something to talk about. Come with me.”
Fiona reached out, and with a delicate fold of her fingers over mine, she walked with me. We made our way to the center of the suite, where we stopped and turned around to face all of the partygoers. Once we had, I raised my voice above the chatter, drawing attention towards us.
“I want to thank all of you for coming all this way to celebrate with Fiona and me.” I paused for a moment and looked at her. “I know she’s as thrilled as I am to have you all here.”
As I spoke, Fiona wrinkled her brow in confusion as she looked up at me.
“What are you doing?” she whispered.
Looking past her, I raised my voice and addressed the group once more, “Fiona wants to know what I’m doing.”
I made a sweeping gesture with my arm towards the group. “You all know what I’m doing, don’t you?”
As I finished speaking, Fiona turned her head on a swivel and looked in the direction of her friends. As each of them took turns nodding, it became apparent Fiona’s confusion grew by the second. While she was distracted, trying to decipher the meaning of my words, I reached into my pocket and before she could turn back around, I’d dropped to one knee in front of her.
Soon, however, gasps from her friends riveted her attention on me once again.
Fiona turned, expecting me to be standing above her. But now, in the position I’d assumed, she slapped her hands to her face and covered her mouth.
She began to shake as I knelt, producing the small jewelry box with a single motion. I stretched my fingers across the top of it and with a gentle tug pulled it open, showing her and everyone assembled, the brilliance of the engagement ring.
Fiona’s eyes darted between the ring, me, her friends, and back again. Before I could utter a single word, tears began to stream down her cheeks. Undaunted, I continued to lift the box towards her. When at last it looked as if she might lose consciousness before I had a chance to ask her, I leapt into action.
“Fiona,” I began, as I locked eyes on her. “Not for all of the billions in the world would I want to live another day knowing you weren’t with me. And so, in the presence of your friends and mine, I want to know… Will you marry me?”
With tears streaming at an almost unstoppable pace, Fiona struggled to speak. Hardly able to grunt in approval, she instead, extended her hand towards me. Taking it as a symbol of her acceptance, I removed the ring from the jewelry box.
As I did, I reached for Fiona’s small hand and slid the engagement ring onto her finger. In spite of her tears, I insisted on getting an answer to my question. The entire group remained hypnotized, standing in silence as the scene unfolded before them.
“Well, Fiona, what’s it gonna be?” I said, as I turned and gestured towards the other people in the room. “Everyone wants to know. Yes or no?”
But almost as soon as I uttered the words, Fiona began to rock back and forth, listing in place as if she were a rudderless boat. I stood as quickly as I could, but it was too late.
For just as I neared a standing position, Fiona’s eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed to the floor in a heap, unconscious.
FIONA
“Fiona,” I heard Gabe say.
Groaning, I stirred to consciousness as I rolled my head back and forth on one of the luxurious pillows in my room.
“Fiona,” Gabe repeated, only this time several decibels higher. “Wake up.”
