Not My Style

Chapter Thirty-One

Chris smiled down at the little box. "Just so you know, I had this all planned out. I can explain." He adjusted himself on the floor so he was propped up on his knees.

I mirrored his movements, "I figured."

"I'm supposed to be on a knee, not you." I sat down and did not point out that he was on two knees. Chris looked at the box in his hands. "And it was going to be a surprise. I mean, more of a surprise," He snapped the box open. In my fidgety state it took all of my self-control to not get back up on my knees and peer over the lid. Silently, I cursed myself for not taking a glimpse at the sparkler when I had the chance. He abruptly closed it and looked up at me, "So?" I swear he had a boyish smirk on his face.

Excitement ballooned up in my chest causing me to bounce back and forth, "So?"

There was no denying the smirk now. He straight-up smiled mischievously, "I guess it's a little, um, cheesy, isn't it?"

My mind began to race. What on earth was he talking about? Truth be told, I'd let my imagination go pretty wild in the last few minutes. I mean Ringpop wild. Chris had seen the ring Paul gave me, albeit briefly. Physically, it wasn't anything special. It was a rather good sized diamond, especially on a teacher's salary, on a simple platinum band. It looked like an engagement ring you saw in the movies. There was an equally simple wedding band that matched it. Simple. So, I presumed that Chris would take the simple route. That being said, I also expected him to do it with his movie-star flare. As I stared at the box, all I could picture was an equally simple band with a gigantic sparkler attached.

A Ringpop.

It was fun to imagine it was the size of a Ringpop.

"So, when? You want to go now?" he asked.

The strange question broke my trance. I quickly looked up from the box which didn't quite look big enough to hold a Ringpop sized gemstone. "Umm, isn't that what you're doing?"

His brow wrinkled in confusion, "No."

"No?" Now I was beyond puzzled.

With one more forceful snap he opened the box. "I mean, I had a little speech prepared first. And then we'd... But it all..." He eased off of his knees and sat softly on the carpet across from me.

As his sentences and voice faded away, I interrupted, "First? What follows this?"

With a loud pop he closed the box yet again. "You didn't look inside the box?"

"Of course not!" I couldn't believe he thought I had snooped.

"Are you serious? Then why did you have it?"

"Oh jeez, it's a bit of a strange story," I mumbled as I nervously scooted toward him. I was practically in his lap. I apprehensively ran my fingers through his hair. I had all this nervous energy built up, so I focused on tousling his locks.

"When did you find it? Before Colorado? Where did you put it? Do you understand what it means?" Questions raced out of his mouth so fast my ears struggled to keep up. At once, he was up on his knees again, the movement caused me to fall off balance in more ways than one.

"Slow down, slow down, slow down," I said, pulling myself up again. Firmly, I placed my hands on his neck. "I didn't even notice it. Lucy asked for my help moving some of your stuff in the office so she could thoroughly dust. When I saw the mess you made and, well, starting putting it all together, I figured it must have just been left in the box we used to move the stuff. I went and found it and here we are."

He smiled warmly, "I have to admit, you do not strike me as one who snoops. Now I can explain. And really, I feel like I hid this very well."

"Well kinda."