Chapter 95: Surprise

< Dylan >
(Four months later)
Snow danced in the dark, like a choreographed ballet conducted by the chilly wind, as I watched Shirley play with the pile of snow with her mittened hands.
I was standing outside the porch of the guesthouse we were staying for three nights. We were currently in Norway on a winter itinerary. It had been around four months since we started our trip to various countries in order to get rid of the assassins of our father's gang who were after our lives.
As for Shirley's request, I was trying to get out of the clutches of the Mafia world, but it refused to leave me. It would take a longer time for the underworld to forget that Dylan Lewiston ever ruled it—till then I would have to maintain a low profile.
That being said, I wasn't entirely unemployed. I virtually maintained my company back in the USA. Also, sometimes, Shirley and I would participate in any car racing tournament we noticed on our trip, just for the fun of it. Like we had promised, we were stealing all the fun we could from this world tour.
However, I would be lying if I said the last few months have been all fun and joy. There were many bad times—moments when I and Shirley had to hide in the cupboards from our enemies, holding our breaths. There were also instances like where Shirley would start crying out of the blue. After all, she had been kind of depressed since the death of her mother and the betrayal of her father. I tried my level best to help her out of that, and now, it seemed she was truly over her depression.
She was out of her shell, back to being more annoying—just the way I liked it.
"Baby, come over here quickly," Shirley called out. "Look what I made," she giggled, pointing at the little snowman.
I twitched my lips, feeling as though it was missing something. "Love, why didn't you put a carrot as its nose?" I asked, sitting down beside her on my knees.
"Do you think I am carrying carrots in my pocket?" She narrowed her eyes at me.
"Who knows, love? You are wearing so many layers of clothing, you might just find it in one of your pockets," I joked.
Shirley was sensitive to cold, so she was covering her body with several layers of warm garments from head to toe—making herself look like a cute, chubby doll. But I was afraid she would get buried underneath it.
"You never appreciate me." She puffed her cheeks.
"You—"
"You don't have to force yourself to praise me now. I know I am awesome." I rolled my eyes.
"I—"
"There's no need to apologize, either. Since I am such a kind person, I have already forgiven you," she stated.
"Idiot," I muttered under my breath.
"Oh, shit, look at the time," Shirley gasped and stood up. I furrowed my brows and glanced at my wristwatch, finding out that there were only a few minutes left before the clock hit midnight.
"Oh," I let out in a bored tone. It was just my birthday the next day.
"Don't be such a downer, and come with me. There's something I want to show you." Shirley took a hold of my hand and started padding towards the woods, leaving trails of our footsteps on the snow.
Even though I wasn't too fond of my birthday because of the bad memories that came along with it, I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little excited about it this time. I was aware that Shirley was planning a surprise for me because I noticed her sneaking out of the bed last night; although I didn't get my hopes up too high.
As we were making our way into the woods, Shirley halted. I wrinkled an eyebrow in question. She just giggled and went behind me. Before I knew what she was doing, my vision went black as a piece of clothing was placed over my eyes.
"Love, what are you doing?" I asked, trying to get the blindfold off me.
"Just follow me, and don't try to peek," she warned and kept a firm hold on my hand, guiding me forward. I took every step cautiously unless I wanted to embarrass myself by bumping into a tree or sink my feet into the snow heap.
I couldn't help but wonder what she was actually planning.
After a few minutes, we came to another brief stop and she informed me, "Baby, careful. There is a staircase in front of you." I nodded my head and placed my sole firmly on it; the sound of wood creaking hinted at something.
"Is this a treehouse?" I asked.
"Who knows?" she shrugged, and I frowned, continuing to climb up.
When we reached the stable wooden plankton, Shirley let go of my hand. I didn't know why I felt panicked at the sudden abandonment.
"Love?" I called her out in oblivion. I tried to reach out to her, only catching nothing but the air in return. "Shirley?" I was starting to get worried. What if she got kidnapped? "Shirley, are you there?" I asked, my voice sounding more urgent and paranoid by each word.
"Wait," her sweet voice came from my right, and relief swept over me. "Don't move around too much." The sound of her scuffling steps and shuffling around comforted me.
If Shirley really was planning to surprise me with a birthday cake, then she was definitely taking it to another level.
"Don't worry, baby. I am here. Just wait a minute," she assured, and I released a sigh. I stood there patiently until she said in a meek tone, "You can take off the blindfold now."
The first thing I noticed, when I took off the black piece of garment, was the big, bold letters dangling beautifully on the well-crafted wooden wall.
"Will you marry me, Dylan?"
I swear I had a heart attack at what I had just read. My gaze lingered around the tiny space upon the small coffee table, where sat a birthday cake with my name on it, and balloons, banners, party hats, blowers, streamers, and festoons decorated the ceiling and sides.
I rubbed my eyes with the back of my sleeve to reaffirm if I was hallucinating or not. My doubts were cleared when my eyes landed on Shirley, who was kneeling down on her one knee.
My breath hitched at how gorgeous she looked. She had always been beautiful, but there was a different glow on her face that instigated something in me, which made my heartthrob. Her breath was pale against the numbing air. She blinked cautiously as the snowflake patiently kissed her face, captivated by the dusty illusion of the fairy lights that sat on her eyelashes.
Completely flustered by her scrutiny, I let out, "What the heck, Shirley?"
"That's not what you are supposed to say." She gave me a flat look, not paying much mind to my slack jaw, and sucked in a deep breath, closing her eyes for a second before boring her mesmerizing blue eyes into my grey ones.
She began, "Baby, I know it's not the appropriate time or place to propose to you like this. I also know you should be the one sitting here instead of me, but I think you deserve at least this much for putting up with a walking nuisance like me." I swallowed the lump in my throat. "To be honest, I was really confused about what I should do for your birthday. All of a sudden, this idea came to my head, and I was completely up for it."
"But this is..." I couldn't find the correct word to express myself. I was at a loss for words.
Shirley chuckled and said, "Are you going to start crying like a girl now?"
I made an unsure expression, shrugging my shoulders. I might just do that. After all, I was overwhelmed with her unfamiliar emotions.
"Dylan," she uttered slowly, making me realize once again how much I loved the ring of my name from her mouth, not to mention her sweet endearments. "Remember the times when I used to stalk you?" My lips curved up in a small, fond smile. How could I ever forget such a bizarre experience? I was used to being ambushed, but being stalked?— well, that was another story.
"Baby, remember when you held me on gunpoint, hell-bent on killing me?" I nodded slowly, not sure where she was going with all this. "Although I was grateful that you agreed to train me, I was really scared at that time and thought my time with you would be hell, but I eventually came to like you. I started liking your company more and more every day, and before I knew it, there was nothing more I wanted other than to be by your side."
I never knew I could feel such fuzzy feelings within my chest, just by mere statements. It was as if I was being rewarded after all the hardships I went through in life, all at once.
"When I finally came to realize that I was in love with you, there were a lot of fears in the back of my mind, such as your arrogance, rudeness, damn care attitude. But eventually, I came to love all of that because that's what makes you Dylan. I can't imagine Dylan not being sarcastic," she giggled at her own words, while I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.
She inhaled another deep breath and continued, "You know, I am very selfish. Even though I know that I am not worthy of someone as amazing as you, I am clinging onto you, holding you back to myself, when I know you could find someone better than me. But like I said, I am selfish," she paused briefly, a sad look flashed by her eyes before speaking up again, "I want to be with you, and I promise you, no one will work harder to make you happy or cherish you more than me."
I could see the tears gather in her alluring eyes as her voice started getting strained. "What we have between us, I don't want it to end. Ever. I want 'us' to last forever. In every life, I want to be born for you. Without you, I don't know what I would do."
I wanted to say that I felt the same and that no one else would ever hold my heart the way Shirley did— but my voice betrayed me.
"That's why I want to spend my entire life with you. I don't ever want to leave you. I want to laugh with you, cry with you, worry with you, stay with you. I want us to go through the good and bad times together, hand in hand. I can't imagine growing old with anyone but you," her voice was so sincere and earnest, it almost made my eyes watery.
I watched her with my glazed vision, fumbling through her pockets before taking out a small velvet box. With tears sliding her cheeks uncontrollably, she uttered, "So, Dylan, will you marry me and make me feel like the happiest woman alive?"
I bit my lips, holding back the tears that threatened to slip out. I looked up and blinked rapidly to dispel them before inhaling a sharp breath. I looked back at Shirley, who was watching my every move carefully, slightly anxious. I twitched my lips and tapped my index finger on my cheek in a thoughtful manner, muttering in a teasing tone, "Should I or should I not?"
"I have the knife ready, just in case you are planning to reject me," she ushered, proclaiming that she wouldn't take 'no' for an answer.
I laughed and kneeled down in front of her, finally saying, "Yes, I will marry you, Shirley."
Shirley let out a squeal and leaned forward, throwing her arms around my neck, releasing deep breaths. "Thank you so much, Dylan," she mumbled against my shoulder.
Then she pulled apart and took out the ring from the box.
"Wait," I said and ruffled through my coat pocket, checking if I had brought it that day. Fortunately, I had. I was carrying a similar small velvet box.
Shirley gasped and let out, "You too?" She seemed like she couldn't believe it.
"I was planning to propose to you before the new year, but it seems you have beaten me to it," I confessed with a hearty chuckle.
"And I thought I was acting on impulse. Thank goodness." She let out a relieved sigh, letting her shoulders slump down. She prompted back up quickly, clasped my left hand, declaring, "Since I confessed first, I get to make you wear the ring first."
I laughed and nodded, letting her slide the silver ring with little diamonds padded on it.
"Just so you know, I bought it with my own money." I raised an eyebrow in surprise. "From the competitions." A smile stretched across my face as I took her left hand and skidded the beautiful diamond ring through her fourth finger.
After that, she circled her arms around my waist, letting herself melt into my embrace. I stroked her chocolate brown hair gently, draping my arms around her body. I wanted this to last forever.
"I love you the most," Shirley whispered against the fabric of my jacket, a triumphed smile curled on her face.
"I love you more."
"I said I love you more," she protested, raising her head slightly from my chest, a pout forming on her lips.
"No, I love you more than you love me," I disagreed. Both of us stared into each other's eyes for a good amount of time before bursting into fits of laughter.
"We love each other equally." She made a peace sign and inclined towards me, placing her lips on mine.
I actually found my situation to be rather funny. Like, I encountered this person, and at first, I had hardly paid attention to her. I wasn't even attracted to her that much, but as I got to know her, I noticed myself falling for her. This person that was once average to me quickly became the most beautiful person in the world, even the most important. It's funny, don't you think? I never saw something like this coming, it kind of just... happened. But I am glad I did.
Shirley was the best thing I never planned. She managed to change a person like me. Surely, more positive changes were to come. The story of our love was only the beginning. Life would offer many challenges, and I knew I could meet them if Shirley was willing to face them with me.
After all, Shirley Hamilton melted my cold heart amidst all the mafia secrets.