Chapter 691: A Different Time Part 5
The following evening found him picking his way through his muddy backyard, seeking a private place. He ducked behind a large tree and dialed Jorick's number. Like last time, it rang multiple times before he finally answered.
"Oren? Is something wrong?"
"Yes!" He tried to calm himself as he whispered, "Tomorrow is Saint Valentine's Day!"
Jorick chuckled. "You've had second thoughts?"
"No! Of course not! What kind of man would - never mind. The problem is the proposal!"
"I thought Katelina gave you some kind of checklist?"
"A useless one! I can hardly go on vacation to Paris with two small children! And how am I to dance with her, when she can't dance? As for poetry-None of them say what I wish to say! The only things I have are the ring and the flowers - and I still need to purchase those! What am I going to do?"
Jorick's laughter fueled Oren's fury, and he shouted, "This is not an amusing matter!"
"Oh it is, it is. Just not to you." Jorick snickered, but reined in his hilarity. "For starters, you need to calm down. You're trying too hard."
"Trying too hard? Are you insane? The trouble is that I'm not trying hard enough! Women demand perfection! Did you not spend five minutes with Jesslynn?"
"Yes, but Jesslynn and Etsuko are very different women."
"Women are the same, the same wants, needs, and desires!"
Jorick coughed lightly. "I beg to differ, but it's not worth the argument. We'll say she expects perfection."
"Deserves is a better word. Etsuko works from sundown to sunup, so much so that it is nearly impossible to catch a moment alone with her! She's raising two children that are not of her own blood, cleaning up after them, cooking human food for them, making clothes! She goes out of her way to please me. If she perceives I'm interested in something, she'll learn it too, just in case I want to have a conversation about it. Do you know she worked her way through the Encyclopedia of Warfare last year because I casually mentioned that military history was an interest of mine? The entire encyclopedia! Can you look me in the eyes and say that a woman such as that doesn't deserve a perfect proposal?"
"Yes, yes. They all deserve a perfect proposal. But it isn't necessarily achieved with flowers and amazing locations. What makes it perfect is that you propose."
"So you say, but I imagine your own proposals were done with careful thought! That at least I have. I've thought and thought!"
"You've thought too much. You're obsessing over details that don't matter. Women want only the promise, nothing more."
"Maybe once, but not anymore! It's a different time now, and women's expectations are different! Have you read a magazine? Looked on the internet? They want choreographed dancing, millions of roses, confetti falling from the heavens! It must be a spectacle to prove the immensity of the feelings behind it!"
"A magazine is a poor representation of reality, Oren. Just as a book rarely shows the truth. It's written with an audience in mind, to sell something; whether that's an idea, or in this case expensive proposal packages. Just say it. Show her the ring and ask her to marry you. You said yourself she's eager to please you. She won't complain."
Oren strangled back a cry of frustration. "Just because she doesn't complain doesn't mean she is pleased! Is it wrong that I'd like just once to do something to make her happy?"
"Obviously you do several things to make her happy, or she wouldn't be there."
"Of course she would! She owes me a blood debt! She cannot leave until I release her!"
He imagined Jorick shrugging. "Then release her."
Oren choked. "What?"
"Release her from her debt. If she stays, then you know she stays for you and not out of a sense of servitude. Or is that the reason for the proposal?"
"I don't understand what you mean."
Jorick chuckled. "If you're married she'll be less likely to go once the debt is paid? You don't need to trap her."
"I'm not trying to trap her! If you must know it feels-wrong to live together, raise children together and not be bonded by holy matrimony. Jesslynn would never have stood for it! Of course, I understand that, given what we are, the Lord will not bless our union, but still-"
"Tell that to Katelina. She believes God doesn't care what we are."
"I didn't call for a religious discussion. I need ideas!"
Jorick sighed. "I've given you my idea, Oren. Simply ask. The rest is not necessary. Do you want to talk to Katelina again? I can get her and-"
"No. No, thank you." He forced himself calm. "Never mind. I'll figure it out myself. I have twenty-four hours left."
"Then you should be fine. Good luck."
I'm going to need it.
***
By sunup Oren was no closer to the perfect proposal plan. He lay in bed next to Etsuko's sleeping form, and tried to relax. His mind played clips over and over, photos and videos of the "perfect" proposals. They were all insane. How could any man organize such extravagance in only a few hours?
"Perhaps I should postpone it until next year?"
Though he saw the logic in imaginary Jesslynn's idea, his heart didn't follow. He didn't want to wait. He wanted to do it now. And then, in the spring, they'd be married.
"Spring?" imaginary Jesslynn asked. "Summer is better."
Fine, summer. Or autumn, if she needed extra time to prepare. But not winter. No, by next Christmas they would be married. If he could only get her to say yes.
"If," Jesslynn reminded him. "As cobbled together as it will be, I don't believe I would, not given modern sensibilities."
She was right. If Etsuko said yes-and if she did, would it be because she wanted to, or because of the blood debt? What if that was the only reason she stayed? He could probe her mind, of course, and look for the answer, but she was already as accomplished as he was. She could block him, and afterwards what would happen? How angry would she be that he'd invaded her thoughts? He remembered well what happened when he tried with Jesslynn. The last time, she'd thrown a pitcher at his head and informed him that, should he try again, he would live the rest of his life alone.
That didn't mean he didn't catch stray thoughts now and then, but he'd never delved in purposefully again. Since Etsuko had become immortal, he'd tried to avoid reading her mind as well. Not that he could imagine her throwing a pitcher, but still-
"Still she might leave," Jesslynn said. "And in that case you'd deserve it."
Right.
