An Untraditional Proposal

Trina finally finished Mendel’s favorite dinner, gourmet chicken marengo.

It took her all day, but it would hopefully be worth it at the end of the night. She had been setting up a romantic-looking dinner ever since Mendel had gone to work that morning. Candles were set around the room, including a small candelabra on the table.

She set the chicken marengo on the table, sitting down immediately afterward. She fumbled with the small box she had put on the table earlier. She opened it to look at the simple silver band she was going to give her boyfriend. Was it good enough?

It better be good enough. She couldn’t afford anything else without taking any of her boyfriend’s money, and she wasn’t going to do that. The thought of it reminded her of Whizzer... then, of course, reminded her of Marvin.

This was surely going to turn out exactly as she’d expected, but maybe Mendel would just reject her instead, sparing her feelings, unlike Marvin had. Marvin. Marvin… This was going to turn out like Trina’s marriage to Marvin. Maybe she was just too blind to see it the first time, but she knew it now. She just did.

Maybe this was a bad idea. Women like her aren’t supposed to marry a second time. There’s only one man for every woman out there, one husband for all of them. Even if it’s a flop and their husband turns out to be gay! Or maybe that’s just Trina’s problem. Perhaps everyone deserves another chance. A fresh start. Someone who truly loves them for who they are, not someone who’ll treat them like a mother, but like a wife.

What if her beloved psychiatrist said no though? Would it be because he doesn’t like the ring? Or that he doesn’t like the setting? Or maybe because he doesn’t love her anymore? Or that he never loved her in the first place? There were just so many reasons he could say no.

Mendel walked in a while after she had finished perfecting everything.

“Trin, I’m h-”

He was mesmerized by the fancy show that led to the dining room. He followed a small trail of candles to find Trina sitting at the table, waiting for him. She was wearing a lovely, dark red dress that had a low neckline.

“Am I forgetting something?" Mendel asked.

“I just wanted to set up a romantic night for us, that’s all.” Trina said nervously.

Sweat dripped down Trina's forehead as Mendel slowly sat down at the table. He looked around the room, clueless on why Trina was doing this. He peered down at the chicken marengo,  gasping at the delightful smell.

"You made chicken marengo!" Mendel beamed with excitement.

Trina nodded and smiled at him, trying her best to look comfortable.

"Would it be ok if we started eating, Trin?" Mendel asked.

"Go ahead! Do whatever you please, darling."

Mendel grabbed the knife and cut perfect portions for each of them. Trina smiled and poked at her food as Mendel quickly dug into his part of the dinner.

"This is so good!" Mendel said while stuffing his face.

"I'm so glad you like it." Trina giggled.

She popped open some fancy-looking wine as Mendel continued to scarf down his food.

Lots of laughter and talking had gone by, and Trina still didn't feel like it was the right time to propose.

"Del?" Trina quietly asked, knowing this was a horrible decision.

"Yeah?" Mendel said with his mouth full.

"Would you… maybe… like to play a game?"

Mendel piped up and nodded.

"Ok, how about… 21 questions?"

Mendel nodded again, confused on why she would pick this game out of all the other games out there.

"I'll start." Trina bit her lip while thinking of a question.

She sat and pondered about what she could ask for a moment before deciding on a decent question.

"Is there anything you'd wanna change in your life?" Trina asked.

Mendel sat and thought about everything in his life. His nice house, his terrible car, his decent job, his friendly neighbors, his intelligent step-son, his incredibly amazing girlfriend, and more.

"Nope." Mendel answered.

"Nothing at all? Not the house that we live in? Not the car that we drive? Not me?" Trina stuttered.

"Of course I wouldn't wanna change any of that! I love everything about my life, especially you." Mendel took her hand in his and squeezed it tight.

Tears started pouring down her cheeks and she started smiling.

"Is everything ok?" Mendel asked.

"I- I love you, and I wanna ask you a very important question even though it isn't my turn." Trina barely made out through her tears.

Her boyfriend nodded, "You can ask me anything, my love."

Trina slipped out of her seat and walked over to him, carefully getting onto one knee as he stared at her.

"What's going on, babe?" Mendel forced in before Trina could take out the ring box.

The velvety black box felt soft in her delicate fingers as she opened it. The words seemed to die on her lips as Mendel started crying at the sight of it all. They stared at each other's tear stained faces until Trina could get the words out of her mouth.

"M-Mendel Weisenbachfeld, I love you with all my heart. A-and on this day, I have decided to show my love to you by proposing to you." Trina said through both of their sniffles.

"Yes, baby! Yes! Of course I'll marry you!" Mendel pulled her up into a kiss, causing her to drop the ring box.

"I can't believe you did all this to propose to me." Mendel said.

"It's just because I love you so much, baby." Trina said.

"I can't wait to be your husband!"

"And I can't wait to be your wife!" Trina almost started to cry again.