Never Say Die- Chapter 14

 

Chapter 14

 

 

            Rhys got a kick out of Pike Place Market, watching them throw the fish, taking his picture with the pig and wandering around checking out stands of flowers, produce and handmade crafts. We crossed the street to get coffee at a nearby Starbucks.

            “Marlene's coffee is better.” he muttered after taking a sip.

            “Well we're not in Wharton anymore Toto.” I teased, taking a drink of my own fruit smoothie.

            We walked the market from one end to the other and checked out the bottom floor, stopping for a few minutes to check out an artist doing caricatures and we even took a stroll through the pipe shop before heading back upstairs and outside to find something to eat.

            “Why don't we get some sandwiches?” I suggested as the perfect place came to mind.

            “Sure that's fine.” he replied and I pulled out my phone to look up the address.

            “It's down by Pioneer Square so we'd better take the car.” I said when I realized the walk was a bit more than a mile, the line would be long and they weren’t open for very long so any time we could save was a good thing. Rhys had no argument as I called for our ride.

            We pulled up near a restaurant simply called “Salumi” as noted by an orange sign with a pig over the name.

            Rhys's eyes widened as we got out of the car and headed for the front door, “Wait, isn't this the place that the Batali's run?” when I nodded with a smile he stared at me in awe, he was a big fan of Mario Batali and to him, this was just about as good as getting to meet the man himself. The smell of hot sandwiches and fresh bread hit us long before we reached the line of people trailing out of the door as they waited to place their orders.

            “Wow that's some line.” he commented sounding unsure about whether or not he wanted to wait in it.

            “It's worth it I promise you.” I assured him and took his hand while we waited. The line went faster than we expected after finding ourselves caught up in conversation with other customers over some salami samples that had been brought out. Before we knew it we were in the shop and ready to order two salami sandwiches.

            The smell was intoxicating as we rode down to the waterfront to eat our sandwiches in the sun, by the water. I wasn't exactly sure how we made it without gobbling down our sandwiches first but the salty sea air and sunshine added to the experience.

            I watched Rhys very carefully as he took his first bite. “Oh my god this is like heaven on sourdough!” he exclaimed with his mouth full and I laughed.

            “I told you it was worth it.” I replied before taking a bite of my own heavenly sandwich.

We didn't speak again until we were finished eating and went to throw away our garbage.

            “Wow Saydie you really know how to make a trip memorable.” he said, leaning down to give me a kiss that smelled like the sandwich he'd just eaten.

            “Mmm you smell and taste like that sandwich, I might have to eat you up too.” I teased, running my tongue across his lower lip before the kiss deepened and we were lost in each other for a moment.

            When we finally broke apart, he took my hand and started heading toward the other end of the waterfront. We stopped and picked up little handmade trinkets in the shops, shot glasses that said “Seattle” on them, he insisted on taking me on a carriage ride, which was actually pretty romantic...until the horse had to do his “business”. That was when we decided the ride was over and that we'd walk the rest of the way.

            I talked him into a tour of the Seattle Aquarium and we walked through fabulous displays of fish and other underwater creatures, hand-in-hand. He seemed to enjoy it in the end though he was resistant at first. He even bought me a stuffed seal on the way out.

            He wanted to go back up to the market and grab a few things that he'd tried but debated on purchasing, so we headed back up and I watched, amused, as he purchased pepper jelly, Seattle t-shirts for Elizabeth and Emily and a big bouquet of mixed flowers.

            “Are those for Marlene? They're beautiful.” I commented, leaning in to smell them.

            “Yes they are, they said I can have them sent overnight to her so I'm going to do that.” I nodded my agreement and watched as he grabbed another bouquet, this one beautifully done with dried flowers. I was surprised when he handed it to me. “Oh sweetie you didn't have to.” I said taking them into my arms.

            He looked me very seriously in the eyes and I could see the love in his gaze, “I will love you until the day these flowers wilt and fall apart, and then I'll love you a hundred times longer than that.” since they were already dried the chances of that was slim to none, making the gesture that much sweeter.

            “And I will love you even longer than that.” I smiled up at him as he leaned in for a kiss. The owner of the booth and several people around us were watching with big smiles on their faces and I blushed when I finally noticed. The lady running the stand enthusiastically encouraged us to use hairspray on the flowers to make them even more durable.

            Rhys took my hand and led me back to the car, we decided to drop our stuff off in our room and relax for a bit before changing for dinner.

            I carefully set my flowers on the rooms only table and immediately went to pack my purchases away in my carry-on bag.

A short time later we were cuddled on the bed together watching TV and Rhys bent to kiss the top of my head as I rested my head against his chest, listening to his heart beat.

            “Say?”

            “Hmm?” I answered absentmindedly.

I barely registered the fact that he seemed to want to say something but stopped and changed the subject, “What time is our dinner reservation?”

            I looked up at him curiously, “It's at 8 why? Are you hungry again now?”

            “Oh no, just wondered.” he glanced over at the clock, it was already 5. “I'm going to take another shower, it was a lot of walking today.” I nodded but remained silent, noticing that he looked a bit nervous maybe?

            “Are you okay? If the height or movement worries you we don't have to eat there.” I myself had gotten a little motion sick the first time I'd gone to the Space Needle and felt it moving slightly with the wind, combined with the fact that the restaurant rotated, it could be a little intimidating from 500 feet in the air.

            When he turned to look at me, I realized that I was way off the mark as I took in his confused expression. “The movement?”

            “The top rotates, which takes a little getting used to, and if it's windy sometimes you can feel the building move a bit because it's so tall and thin. I got kinda sick my first time there.” I admitted to him, feeling the blush rise on my cheeks.”

            He smiled, “I don't think motion sickness will be a problem but it's good to know.” and with that he disappeared into the bathroom, leaving me with my thoughts. I didn't need extra abilities to know that he was lying, it was plain on his face but I didn't press the issue, I was sure he had his reasons.

            Once he was done I decided take a shower myself just to help me wind down and relax, he was up to something, I knew it and it made me nervous in return. I stood under the hot water, feeling my body relax under the gentle flow, he couldn't be up to anything I couldn't handle. I was fairly confident that it didn't have anything to do with breaking up considering his profession of undying love this afternoon, so I was able to push that thought out of my mind.

            I couldn't come up with any other logical reasons for him to be nervous about anything so maybe he was a little afraid of heights and just didn't want to admit it. I comforted myself with the thought and found myself smiling, it would be a little bit funny if he was afraid of heights or motion sickness.

            Once we were both dressed, we stood looking each other over for a moment before heading out the door. He looked absolutely gorgeous in khaki slacks, a light blue button down shirt and a dark blazer, for a moment all I could do was stare. I could never get over how handsome he was for lack of a better word, I wasn't sure that there was a word in the entire world that could describe how perfect he looked to me.

            My outfit seemed to have a similar effect as he looked me over with a goofy grin on his face.

Finally, he spoke first, “You look beautiful.” he breathed with a slightly awed look on his face.    “I can never get over how beautiful you are, how did I get so lucky?”

            I smiled and managed to find my voice, “What makes you think you're the one who got lucky here?” I asked as I wrapped my arms around him and then pressed my lips to his.

            “Oh just a hunch.” he said without removing his lips from mine and our mouths curved into identical smiles.

            Once again we climbed back into the town car, which still smelled faintly of our lunch and suddenly I found that I was ravenous and couldn't wait to eat. We sat holding hands and for some reason it felt like Rhys's hand was shaking slightly, I looked up at his face but he seemed to be completely relaxed. Maybe it's just from the car, or maybe he's just hungry. I thought, deciding not to say anything.

            The car pulled up next to a beautiful fountain that was out in front of the Space Needle and I asked our driver to take a picture of us in front of it before he took off, he obligingly took my camera and snapped the requested photos from a couple different angles as well as one of us with the building behind us before handing it back and going to find a place to park.

            We walked into the gift shop and wandered around for a little bit before we went upstairs. I bought a few more shot glasses, post cards and a t-shirt before having them hold my purchases at the register while we went up to eat at the Sky City restaurant.

            I barely paid attention as the elevator attendant gave a spiel on how fast the elevator went and how tall the building was, I could still feel Rhys's hand shaking slightly in mine and now he had a hint of worry on his face but not enough for me to have noticed if his hand hadn't tipped me off.

            “Sweetie, are you ok? You seem to be shaking.” I asked quietly with concern in my voice.

            He smiled down at me, “I'm just excited to be here with you that's all.” he replied squeezing my hand. I noticed that the other elevator riders were watching us with small smiles on their faces, touched by his words. Since we'd gotten there it seemed like there had been someone to witness every romantic gesture he'd made and they all had those same looks on their face, you know the one that says, “Awwww!” like we were the cutest thing they'd ever seen.

            I smiled back and answered, “I'm excited too.” and he squeezed my hand in his as the elevator slowed to a stop and the attendant thanked us all for riding it before wishing us a good evening. We stepped out into the waiting area of the restaurant to stand in line behind two other couples before I could give them our reservation information. The wait was only moments once I gave them my name and we were shown to our table almost immediately.

            As we settled into our chairs the server came by and handed us our menus before filling up our water glasses. I looked around the circular room, the atmosphere was lovely and even romantic, dim lighting and oil candles lit on every table provided the perfect ambiance for our dinner.

            I heard Rhys's intake of breath and looked up at him to find that he was staring at the window ledge and the paper coaster sitting on it, slowly inching it's way past our table.

            He picked it up curiously, “I thought the whole top of the needle revolved.” he said not quite understanding.

            I smiled as I understood his confusion, “Actually it's the restaurant that revolves, people leave their coasters with notes on them and as the world turns, so to speak, people get the chance to read them all as they slowly circle the restaurant. They can be fairly humorous sometimes.”

            He set the coaster down with a wry smile and picked up his menu without another word. When our waiter returned, I ordered steak while Rhys ordered their seafood pasta made with fresh, local seafood. He ordered two glasses of wine while we waited, I pulled out my I.D. which claimed that I was the same age as Rhys, the waiter didn't even glance at me twice- well, he did but not because of my ID- before handing it back and heading off to get our drinks.

            Suddenly Rhys looked serious and took my hand in his, “Saydie there's something I want to talk to you about.”

            I looked over at him and smiled, “If it's about the I.D. don't worry about it, they could never prove it's fake.” I said reassuringly before he shook his head and smiled back.

            “No, I don’t need to talk about that, there's some things I'd rather just not know.” he laughed nervously and that look was on his face again and I could feel his hand trembling in my own.

            He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by the arrival of our wine, seemingly grateful for the interruption, he took a drink before taking my right hand in both of his, looking me very seriously in the eyes and speaking again.

            “Do you want to get married?” he asked and his words hit me like a brick wall.

I could only stare at him in silence for a moment before I responded, “You're proposing?” I asked hoping that I didn't sound panicked as I took a sip of my wine to ease my suddenly dry throat.

            “No n-no...I don't mean right now, I-I just wondered if you'd consider it down the road...” he stammered seeing the shocked look on my face, obviously taking in the panic I'd failed to conceal and starting to reflect it himself.

            When I found my voice I cleared my throat before responding, “What made you think to ask?” I inquired, wanting to know exactly what was on his mind before I gave an answer.

            He re-arranged himself in his seat and leaned a bit closer to me before answering. “Well, when we were at the market I saw a couple in their wedding gear taking pictures down by the water. Ever since then I've had this image in my head of you in a beautiful gown walking down an aisle toward me barefoot and looking absolutely radiant with flowers in your hair, on a remote beach somewhere. I've never thought of anyone that way before now.” he replied honestly as he looked into my eyes and I felt like he was searching my soul. For a moment I wondered if we'd gotten to a point where there was such a thing as too honest.

            “I don't know....I-I'd never really considered getting married yet I'm only 19...” I stammered and trailed off before taking a big gulp and asking the question that was burning inside of me, “You would want to?”

He nodded, not quite smiling as he took my hand, I wasn't sure he knew how to react to my response.

            “I don't need months or years to know that you're the one Saydie, I want to spend forever with you. We don't have to get married or even be officially engaged any time soon, I know it's still early in our relationship but I just wondered if that was something you'd be up for down the road.”

            Tears filled my eyes as I saw the love in his eyes and felt that he meant every word, the current flowing between us felt stronger than it ever had. I knew that in reality I should have never answered the question but found that I couldn't stop myself as I replied simply, “Yes.”

            The smile that spread across his face was completely worth the answer as he leaned across the table to take my face in his hands and kiss me until I was breathless. When he finally let go and sat back on his seat, he reached into the inside pocket of his jacket. My eyes widened in surprise when he held his hand out to me and in his palm lay a band of white gold; it was thin with a raised band of beautiful plumerias etched into it over the smooth base band. I was touched that he remembered my fondness for the Hawaiian flowers just before fear gripped me, he had said he wasn't proposing.

            I'm sure the worry was plain on my face but he smiled and held my hand as he spoke,       “It's just a promise ring, I felt like you should have something to remind you how much I love you.” I still stared at him in stunned silence. “I'm going to marry you one day Saydie Mason, and I will do everything I can to make you the happiest woman in the world for the rest of our lives.”

I smiled gently at him through my tears, Silly boy, “You think I need a material reminder that you love me? If I ever needed a reminder, which I never would, but if I did, all I'd have to do is look into your eyes.”

            He smiled back as he leaned in to kiss me gently before leaning back again to wipe tears from my face with his thumb. “Okay then it's a reminder to the rest of the world how much I love you.”

            “I never considered the thought that anyone would ever love me enough to want to marry me.” I said honestly as the turmoil raged inside me. You shouldn't have agreed you idiot! What were you thinking? He's a human, you can't marry him! The words screamed at me in my head but it seemed, even louder than that, my heart was yelling exuberantly, YES! As it swelled in my chest, feeling like it would burst if I was any happier.I couldn't stop the feeling of exultation that arose in me despite the twinge of nervousness lingering in the background, if I was going to marry him someday then I'd have to let him in on my secret first and it could be a while before I was ready for that.

            “Any man would have to be an idiot not to want to marry you.” he said lovingly and I couldn't help smiling at him.

            “I love you so much.” Was all I could say.

            “I love you too.” he replied looking like he was already the happiest man on earth as he clinked his glass against mine.

            “Cheers.” he said and I nodded before taking a sip of the wine. We sat there hand in hand, with what I could only imagine were blissfully happy looks on our faces, lost in each other’s eyes as if nobody else in the world existed except for him and I.

I had definitely been right, this weekend alone had been exactly what we needed.