"Will You Marry Me?"
So far, Drake was doing great. Plan A had worked out fine. He had managed to get Melantha out of the house. Now, he would really be fortunate if his Plan B would work out fine.
His hands were sweaty, and he wiped it against his jeans. At this moment, he had no idea what to say to her. Mel, the love of his life, was digging through her dinner. He watched her as she ate each piece of chicken with so much elegance and fell in love with her all over again.
Drake knew he was a smart decent human being, but it had all been thanks to Mel whom he had met in a conference at the community college. She had arrived 20 minutes late and the hall was already occupied with little or no seats. Drake had been seated at the middle pew and had sighted her from the door. She looked ravishing in her denim trouser suit and high heels. Her hair pulled up in a pin went loose when she walked in. Her dark curly hair rolled beneath her shoulders. She had an embarrassed look on her face, and he had been compelled to go meet her. He offered her my seat and regretted it later because he had to stand for 3 more hours, but it had been fun talking with her. They both exchanged contacts and one thing led to another, they started dating. Now, here they were in her favourite restaurant on a Saturday night. Mel, oblivious to his giddy feelings and him, definitely nervous in finding the appropriate time to propose.
The couple seated ahead of us gave him the courage he needed. The man, a tall, lean gentleman dressed in a striped shirt and black trouser went on one knee and pulled out a ring. The hall went wide with squeals and applause. At that moment, Drake knew he had to follow his lead. If he were to sit back, he'd never get the chance to propose and maybe some other guy might go after his Mel and he wouldn't want that.
Slowly, he pulled the red ring box out of my blazer pocket and went on one knee. Mel was occupied gushing after the girl who got proposed and is sharing a kiss with her fiancé.
Drake was still on my knee, waiting for her to turn and look at me. Thank God for the lady that squealed "oh my God" because Mel finally looked at him. Her amber eyes went wide and her pink plump lips went agape. She cupped her hands over her mouth, muffling her sobs.
"I don't know why I delayed this. Maybe I was too timid or scared of the unknown, but now I know. My life became perfect the moment you walked into it. I don't know what my future will look like without you in it, Mel. All I ask is that you spend the rest of your life with me forever. Will you marry me?" Drake pulled out a 24-karat diamond ring from the ring box. Light bounced off the jewel and people were amazed. The ring was an original.
Mel was short of words. Her hands left her quivering lips and fell limp at her sides.
"Say yes. Say yes." People in the restaurant began to clap to cheer her up.
The cheer got louder, and suddenly the gathered crowd went mute when Mel joined Drake on the ground. They all watched including the waiters, with bated breath, awaiting her response.
"I do," Mel smiled, snaking her arms around his neck, "I will marry you, Drake."
There was an eruption of applause in the hall. Whistles resounded in the hall as the couple shared a passionate kiss and confessed their love for each other.
Melantha strolled the large office hall, her right hand clutching a file, listening to a Japanese song playing from her AirPods. She felt happy. Elated. Proud.
She felt like the luckiest woman in town to have gotten engaged to her boyfriend of 5 years. She pulled off her AirPods and sat in her work station, taking a swig from her mineral bottled water and replacing it on her desk. Her colleagues who had been waiting for her return, rushed to her desk. Each of them had a smile plastered on their face as they congratulated her recent engagement, anticipating a wedding invite.
"Thanks, guys." She beamed at them. The reminder she set on her phone sounded the alarm, and she pushed back her seat.
"Sorry, guys, but I have to keep the pleasantries short." She grabbed her jacket and her file.
"We'll be here when you return." One of her colleagues called.
Mel paddled to the conference room for her scheduled afternoon meeting. Getting there, she hears a round of applause which almost startled her.
"There she is," Her boss, Marcus alighted from his seat and went to where she stood, clapping her shoulders lightly. "The star of the day."
Mel couldn't help but roll her eyes as she was used to the praises her boss showered on her. "What's the occasion this time?"
Everyone seated couldn't help but laugh.
Marcus was Dark flower's project manager. Dark flower is a large business enterprise known for production and wholesale of jewellery and precious stones and Mel was Marcus' assistant.
Marcus Steinberg is a jovial and playful man. While working for the company for 12 years, the 34 years old had been divorced twice and rumour has it that he wanted to get married again. Office gossip announced Mel was to be the fortunate bride but turns out she wasnt the one, but a flautist Marcus had met in a London theatre. Mel was engaged now and Marcus will still bug her as usual.
Marcus chuckled, taking his hands off her shoulders and stuffing them in his trouser pocket. "Hey, it's a glorious occasion. Guess what. I won't be needed up here any more."
He went to sit down in one of the office chairs, crossing his one leg over the other. He reached out for a glass of water and took a long sip.
"But I don't understand." Mel quirted up an eyebrow. A frown graced her forehead as she gave Marcus a quizzical look.
"You're the project manager now. You'll lead this meeting from now on." Marcus announced casually with a winked.
"You can't be serious." Mel laughed, dropping the items in her hand on the conference table.
When she saw that neither Marcus nor any of her colleagues and seniors were laughing, she gasped in shock.
"Oh my God," Mel's hand unconsciously flew to her chest. "Wait. You're not kidding."
"Congratulations, Melantha. You just stole my job." Marcus smiled heartily, taking to his feet. "And I'm glad you did because I've got a better one now."
The room erupted with a round of applause. Mel had never felt so lucky.
"Woah. Thank you so much." She said with a bright smile on her face while receiving congratulatory handshakes and bugs.
Marcus relaxed in his seat at the head of the conference table. "Don't thank me. Thank yourself. You're the most hard-working employee we've ever had. You don't think we give you employee of the month because you're pretty, do ya?"
Mel paced to her seat and relaxed into it, after which she flicked her hair. "Well, I am pretty so…."
Everyone in the room laughed again.
Marcus pointed at the projector behind Mel. "Like I said earlier, Mel. Your job as manager begins today right now. So fire away."
As though she had been waiting for this moment, Mel resumed the meeting from where Marcus had stopped and performed excellently well.
While she returned home, she didn't feel exhausted from the work load, she felt elated. Her joy knew no bound as her life was becoming the way she had hoped it would but when she parked her car in the driveway and walked into the house, she knew things weren't really going the way she had hoped they would.
Drake was pulling his luggage down the stairs when she stepped into the living room.
"Hey, honey." She took off her jacket and draped it on the coat rail.
When he didn't respond, she whipped around to look at him. "Drake?"
Drake ignored her, still pulling his boxes with him.
Mel reaches for his arm and he pushed it away.
"Get out of my way." He barked angrily, holding the door knob.
Mel stood in front of him making him let go off the door. "What's going on, Drake?"
Her eyes fell on his boxes and she asked. "Where are you going with this?"
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm leaving!" Drake retorted angrily, trying to push her out of the way.
"What? No. Wait, let's talk this out. What's really going on?" Mel tried to touch his arm again when he responded by shoving her out of the way.
Mel fell to the floor with a groan. "Drake, what's going on with you?"
"Stay the hell away from me ! I never want to see you again." Drake said, riled by her question. He threw the door open and went out with his luggage.
"No, wait. Drake !" Mel struggled to her feet and bolted through the door.
Drake held open the boot of Mel's Audi, throwing his belongings inside and slamming the boot shut.
"Drake !" She kept yelling his name with tears streaming down her face. "Wait up ! Drake what's going on? What did I do?"
Drake climbed into the driver's seat and shut the door.
Mel kept banging on the windows. "Drake. Drake, please talk to me. What are you doing?"
Drake started the ignition and sped off, into the distance. Mel kept screaming and running after his car, but she couldn't meet up. He was long gone.
Rushing back to the house, Mel dialled his number, but it went straight to voicemail. She even tried calling his friends but none of them picked up.
Dragging her hand through her hair, Mel kept sobbing.
"Please, pick up." She said, redialling Drake's number again in hope that he'll pick up, but her hope was dashed.
Mel collapsed to the floor sobbing terribly. In the midst of her sobs, she felt a sharp pain in her stomach. A whimper escaped her lips as she clutched her stomach, wriggling on the floor in pain.
"Aargh !" She screamed when the pain got intense. Beads of perspiration gathered above her lip and neck. She could hardly breathe.
"What's going on?" Her voice came out rasped and weak.
She tried to stand up but she couldn't. Her bones felt heavy, and she crumpled to the floor. Mel knew there was no way she could reach the kitchen cabinet for some pills so she stretched her hand to get her phone and quickly dialled 911.
The phone rang for a few seconds before it finally clicked.
"911, what's your emergency?" A female voice inquired.
"Please, hurry to 14th Woodbow and Houston." Mel's voice came out in a whisper. Her beautiful amber eyes were dark at the rims with running mascara. The fronds of her hair were glued with sweat on her forehead.
"Ma'am, is everything alright?" The emergency responder inquired again.
Mel felt strength leaving her body. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she sniffled. "Please, help."
Everything else faded away the moment her eyelids grew heavy and gave into the darkness.
Mel threw her eyes open and instantly regretted it. The lights in the room were too bright. She turned on her side and sat up on the bed. The white curtain were drawn, shielding the windows, but she could tell it was still dark.
Her senses heightened when she observed her surrounding. The walls were painted white and had little decoration save for the potted plants by the window sill. A brown sofa was seated beside her bed. The scent of air freshener did not subdue the smell of disinfectant and Mel plugged her nose with her fingers.
Her eyes fell on the ECG machine and heart rate monitor. She got the answer to her question.
"I'm in a hospital." She whispered.
Bile rose in her throat and she hurried to the waste bin, hurling all her stomach's content. Wiping her lips with the back of her hand, Mel sat on the floor. Her vision blurred and she felt queasy.
"Ma'am?" A fruity masculine voice asked.
Mel looked up only to find the blurry image of a figure in a white coat. She blinked again, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands.
The doctor was dressed in green scrubs and a white coat. He was a middle-aged man from Mediterranean descent with bronzed skin and striking blue eyes. His hair was messy from lack of combing, but it didn't look awful. Mel felt sick again. His looks reminded her of Drake. Her Drake.
"Come on. On your feet." The doctor put his arms around her and helped her to the bed. He also called some nurses to help clean the mess she made.
He sat on the sofa beside the bed and with a smile, introduced himself. "Hello, Ma'am. My name is Hershel and I will be your doctor for today. You had called the emergency line last night?"
Mel nods slowly. A flood of sobs and tears followed.
Doctor Hershel reached for her hand and gave it a light pat. "You were lucky, Miss - -
"Melantha. Melantha Cress. What is wrong with me, doc?" Mel lowered her head to hide the tears about to spill from her eyes.
Doctor Hershel pulled out a kerchief from his pocket and gave to her which she used to dab at her eyes.
He sat on the sofa and flipped over the file in his hands. "There's nothing terribly wrong with you, ma'am. In Fact all I have to say to you is congratulations."
"Congratulations? I don't understand." Mel asked, staring at him, confused.
Hershel was moved. She had absolutely no idea but he had to tell her. It was good news.
He explained further. "The symptoms you experienced such as dizziness, irritation, having a sensitive sense of smell, throwing up and loss or gain of appetite might seem like symptoms of an ill person, but you are very much healthy, ma'am."
Mel rose from the pillows with a concerned look on her face. "I don't understand."
"In essence, all I'm trying to say is that you're 2 weeks pregnant. Congratulations, Miss Mel." The doctor smiled.
Mel's eyes widened in shock. "What the?"