AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I forgive you, Raymond. It was an honest mistake and I should not have held it against you so long.” He was staring at me now openly surprised.
“While I was in Veneza, Maria came to me.” His head came up sharply at Maria’s name, and I rubbed his arm gently to reassure him. “She explained everything to me, Raymond. It was then I knew how much of a fool I’d been. I wanted badly to make things right but you’d left Malibu by then. I thought I’d lost you forever and the thought drove me wild. I love you Raymond, and I do not want to ever have to be separated from you like that again.”
“Shhh.” A ghost of a smile passed over his lips. “You were never a fool. I’m so sorry, Sophie. Sorry for bringing you so much pain.” His eyes lingered on mine, “…for disrespecting you. Giving you what you’ve wanted since we met is the only thing left for me to do.”
I looked at him closely feeling a strong anticipation at his words.
“What do you mean?”
“I want the impossible. I want to go back and do this over. I want to meet that beautiful, intelligent, caring woman again and slowly bring her into my world until she can’t see hers without me in it. I want to treasure her every day of the week, every month of the year. I want her to know that because of her, I want to be a better man… the kind of man that deserves her. The kind of man she wants for all her tomorrows.
Moisture gathered behind his eyes as he spoke while mine spilled over.
Then suddenly he took a step backward and went on one knee, bringing out a small black box that contained the most beautiful and largest diamond ring I’d ever set my eyes on. It takes everything in me not to crumble into a mess on the shiny floor.
We had gathered quite an audience by then, everyone who had been silently watching us gave a loud gasp at the sight of the ring. I caught Kaitlyn’s eye in the crowd and she gave me a knowing look and a thumbs up, then suddenly it all clicked into place.
She was in on this; she had been the whole time. This explained why she was particularly fussy about my choice of clothes tonight and my entire look. I couldn’t believe this, I wondered who else was in on this too. My parents? Everyone here? This man really did this all for me?
I returned my attention to him feeling that my heart would burst any moment from all the love it was holding in. He had brought out the ring from the box and now held it gingerly in front of my middle finger.
“I want to hear her tell me she loves me because she does, not because she’s forced to. I want to ask her to marry me, and stand before a minister or priest… a rabbi for all I care, and watch her walk down the aisle and freely join her life with mine.”
“Raymond…”
“I tried so hard to understand you and a bit of your world these past few days, because I had hoped it will bring me closer to you even if you were not with me physically. I did try. I sought the help of your friends and your parents who gave me their approval. I studied everything there was to know about your beloved turtles until I could identify each one in my sleep.”
I laughed aloud at that.
“I pushed your campaign hard like it was my own, knowing if nothing else gave you joy, that would.”
I gasped aloud at his words, struggling to wipe the tears that were still spilling out from my eyes at his words. “It was all you behind the social media campaign and this function?”
He nodded tenderly, and I stared at him helplessly while trying to wrap my head around the magnitude of what he had done for me. When he’d told me he would move the world for me, he’d meant literally and figuratively.
He scooted closer and stared deeply into my eyes. “I love you, Sophie. I know I don’t deserve you right now, but I’m going to one day… God willing, you’ll take me up on my promise for tomorrows.”
My heart kicked hard as I removed the space between us and nodded yes to this proposal. The hall erupted in thunderous applause as everyone hooted and cheered. He put the ring on my finger, then drew himself up to place his lips on mine. I opened to the invitation of his tongue and kissed him with the whole of my being. He loved me… wanted forever. And the knowledge of his feelings fueled my passion even higher.
“Take me home, Raymond,” I whispered for his ears alone. “Make love to me.”
He grinned wickedly and whispered back. “I would like nothing more than that right now, but we can’t just leave our guests here can we? Not when the guest of honor has not spoken yet.”
“Oh my God, do you mean?”
“Yes, sweetheart. It’s your show, I only helped you set the ground for it.”
I didn’t know what to say, no words or years of preparation could have prepared me for a moment like this. He’d done this for me. The words kept revolving around my head as he pushed me gently to the podium. I walked confidently secured in his love for me and mounted the podium.
Looking down at the sheer quality of guests gathered who had come for my campaign made me emotional again. This sweet man of mine did it for me. I drew strength from his steady gaze on me across the room. My mouth welled up with words and I began to speak.
“When I was seven, I owned a turtle that my dad had bought for me as a birthday present. Her name was Shonda and I loved her fiercely. Dad knew how much I adored turtles, eagerly choosing to watch only cartoons and documentaries on turtles whenever I saw them. Mom said the first word I learned to pronounce was tutu, which was the name of a turtle in her favorite animation series,Going backwards.I have been in love with turtles for a very long time, so it breaks my heart whenever I saw injustice meted out to them.
A few years ago, I was in a beach just like this one when I witnessed something that made me really sad. A turtle which had found its way out of water was being tortured by a group of young men. Beach goers apparently, a mix of teenagers and young adults. The turtle flailed helplessly as it struggled to escape this young men who had fun tormenting it occasionally withdrawing into its hard shell which they still knocked hard against a stone.
“Leave the turtle alone!” I had screamed going after them with so much anger and purpose. Inflamed by these young ones who thought it was easy sport to torture helpless animals. Gaining control of the situation was made easier because I had a few friends of mine who were at the beach with me as well, my best friend Kaitlyn, and Jonas, a college buddy. We were able to chase them off but before we let them go, I schooled them thoroughly giving them a solid lecture against animal cruelty and why we shouldn’t hurt them. Years after, I’m sure those young guys would be more intentional towards animals and that was what mattered to me. I realized that talking about it wasn’t enough. Through my teen years, I’d led a silent campaign against turtle cruelty especially after Shonda was killed by two young teenagers who scaled our fence acting out a dare. Traumatized and heartbroken, I resolved that no turtle in the world would ever be hurt again. That has been my number one dream and I’m glad to see it is becoming a reality.
I would like to thank my beloved parents, James and Hannah Tucker for their unwavering dedication and unrelenting support towards my dream. I love you, Mom and Dad.” My eyes watering as I searched for them in the crowd and threw them a kiss.
