Polite yet non-committal.
‘You want children?’
I whip open the curtain, ready to rescue him.
‘You don’t have to… answer any questions,’ I say, but Matteo is laughing.
‘Yes,’ he says. ‘I think we settled on… was it seven or eight kids…?’ Then his jaw drops as he takes me in. His eyes travel the length of my body.
‘What do you think?’ I ask, feeling nervous. This all feels incredibly real. I look stunning. There’s no other way to describe it.
He visibly swallows, his eyes not leaving mine. Dark swirls of emotion.
‘We’ll take it,’ we say in unison to the assistant.
She smiles enigmatically as though to say, of course you will. ‘Now, sir, you next.’
* * *
A short while later, Matteo and I are carrying oversized wedding bags with huge wedding ring images on them. They will be very difficult to hide.
‘I still can’t believe you refused to try on underwear and wedding suits for the assistant. She wasn’t pleased,’ I say with a laugh. This whole morning has me giddy.
‘I can’t believe you let her bully you so easily into it.’
He’s right. ‘I basically did everything she told me to do,’ I say. ‘What does that say about me?’
Matteo stops walking. ‘It says that you are respectful and polite and very, very easily persuaded. It’s adorable.’
When the assistant tried to boss him around, he just said a flat, ‘No thanks,’ in such an authoritative tone that that was the end of it.
‘Well, you’re…’ I struggle to think of anything negative. He’s gorgeous, manly, decisive and incredibly generous and thoughtful.
‘What next? Rings?’
I nod. ‘If you’re sure? But please, I feel really guilty at how much this is all beginning to cost. Can we get some joke rings from somewhere?’
He rolls his eyes. ‘No time. Let’s just buy them now.’ He points to the jewellery department up ahead. It is conveniently placed near the wedding boutique. As soon as I spot the classic gold wedding bands, slightly rounded, very simple and chic, I know that’s what I want. The assistant gets a his ’n’ hers tray out. She takes out a large ring with lots of smaller loops on and quickly sizes our wedding fingers. Within seconds, she hands Matteo a very elegant platinum and gold wedding band and he tries to put it on. It’s way too small. The assistant giggles and nods her head towards me.
Oh, gosh.She wants Matteo to put it on me. To give him credit, he takes it all in his stride. He gives me a cheeky smile. I give him one back.
After all, it’s only a bit of fun. As far as he’s concerned. Whereas my heart is beating off the scale. Blood is swooshing through my veins like a white-water rapid. This is the stuff of dreams. Quite literally, because I have dreamt about him every night since we met.
‘Where did you propose?’ the assistant asks him.
Matteo’s smile drops.
‘You didn’t propose yet?’ the assistant says.
Matteo shakes his head slowly. I try not to turn into a pile of mush as he takes my hand very gently and slips the ring onto my finger. He fixes me with those dark swirls, and I feel myself literally melt. ‘Connie. Will you marry me?’
My whole being is suddenly flooded with every emotion known to humankind. Tears prick at my eyes.
I love him.
I do.
I love him.
