Three Men On Tour: 9

The next three days passed in somewhat of a blur. Alicia was acting oddly. I kept on finding her looking at hotels online for instance. When I asked her if she was hoping for a holiday she sighed and mumbled something about checking out capacities and whether napkins were included. I was mystified so I spent the evening giving her back rubs and glasses of wine when I should have been bringing up the subject of going away. By the time Thursday rolled around I had clearly left it too late for her to be anything but annoyed. Still, she went on work trips all the time and it wasn’t like we had anything particular planned. There was even a remote possibility I could turn it into a positive: a chance for her to catch up with her friends without me hanging around, stinking up the conversation. Alright, I was clutching at straws…but she’d be mad at me for one weekend and then we’d forget about it by the weekend after. We’d been together too long to get stressed over silly arguments. Nothing was going to change because of one little holiday.

When I got home from work, I found her waiting for me. The house was filled with the scent of beef and the dining table was set to posh. I could tell she had an agenda but, after a flurry of emails that afternoon, so did I, so we stood blinking ingenuously at each other like meerkats playing poker.

Alicia chewed a strand of hair thoughtfully before catching herself.

“So how was your day?“ she asked.

“Not bad,“ I replied. “You know what Jamie’s like.“

“I thought you were going to stand up for yourself?“

“Well, it’s funny you should mention that…“

“Anyway.“ Alicia finished serving up the peas, straightened her skirt before sitting down and then smiled at me. “I didn’t cook dinner to talk about work.“

“You didn’t?“

The smile became a little less loving and a little more strained.

“No, I didn’t.“ Alicia sighed and then tried again. “Look, I’ve been thinking – we’ve been together a long time haven’t we?“

“I still think you’re pretty,“ I said quickly. This was a trap I’d fallen into before.

“But we’re happy, right? I mean, we work well together?“

“Okay,“ I said, although what we were talking about escaped me.

“See, I figure if we started looking now, we could get everything booked pretty quickly. I’ve already looked at venues.“

“Venues for what?“ I asked. I assumed she was planning a party. I envied Alicia’s ability to do grown up things. Like planning. Alicia fixed me with a venomous stare. Then it passed and she hit me playfully on the shoulder.

“Ian Anthony Chapman. I’m asking you to marry me.“

I didn’t know what to say. So I told her about the holiday. I could tell she was impressed by the volume of her yelling.