Run Away [Completed]

25

"Are you ready?" Alden asked Maine as they sat at a table for two in the cozy restaurant that they both loved.

"Yes. But why am I nervous?" Maine said, smiling anxiously.

"I am too," Alden said, biting his lip. "But here it is..."

He placed a brown parcel on the table and watched as Maine opened it slowly with trembling fingers.

She gave a little gasp when the wrapper was removed and she finally saw the cover of the book. On it was a coffee painting of one of Alden's favorite picture of hers. It was taken five months ago, just three months after their ordeal in Palawan. They were having dinner at this same restaurant then and Alden took a picture of her because he couldn't get his eyes off her, and he wanted to capture how she looked like at that moment so he could always look at it whenever he wanted to.

She traced the painting and was amazed at how it easily highlighted everything that made her beautiful, things she wasn't even aware of until she was looking at them now.

At the bottom was the title of the book: Swimming in your Eyes. Sure enough, even with the monochromatic quality of the painting, her eyes were still able to jump out of it. They were very striking, and were like magnets that pulled anyone who looked at them.

She lifted the cover, her heart beating fast, and found the dedication:

To Maine, my muse, my everything.

She looked up. Alden was smiling nervously at her.

She flipped the page and found the Prologue. She took a deep breath and read...

"I first saw you on a dismal and dreary afternoon in January.

I was sitting outside a coffee shop contemplating life on a journal, when I looked up and found you walking out of the building across. You stood on the sidewalk, looking around, and even looked twice in my direction. I don't think you ever saw me though, but I caught a glimpse of your eyes.

I don't know what it was about those eyes that captured me, but a short glimpse of them was enough to make me want to get to know you more.

They say the eyes are the windows to a man's soul, and at that moment, even from 20 feet away, I found myself looking through your windows and into your whole being. I saw sadness and hopelessness and my heart ached to find out why.

That same evening I saw you again, and I got to look at you closer. There was a moment when our eyes met and I just felt myself being pulled into that pool of light brown splendor. They were talking to me, with a language that only my heart understood, and at that moment I already felt myself falling. I didn't know your name, I didn't know where you came from, but your eyes touched my heart and opened it to an emotion I never thought I would have."

Maine closed the book quickly, tears brimming her lovely eyes.

"I can't read this now," she said, taking deep breaths.

"Why?" Alden asked, alarmed.

"If I continue reading this, I might start bawling and you won't be able to stop me." she said.

"Do you like it?" he asked, tentatively.

"Oh, I do!" Maine said and Alden sighed in relief. "I love it Alden... I'm just overwhelmed. You never told me about this, I never knew that's how it started and now you're broadcasting it to the world."

Alden smiled nervously. "Actually that's not the only thing I'm broadcasting... There's something else."

He took a breath and flipped the book to the third from the last page, and then read the tiny paragraph in the middle:

"Nicomaine, I want to be swimming in your eyes forever. I want them to be the first thing I see in the morning, and the last thing I look at before I sleep at night." He paused and swallowed hard before reading again. "Because the first time I saw those eyes, I could no longer imagine not being able to see them for the rest of my life. And so I am taking this chance... a once in a lifetime chance of being with my soulmate, and I'm begging you to take that chance too. Maine... Will you marry me?"

He pulled the ring from his pocket, clutched it hard first with his eyes closed before showing it to her. He looked at her and she was staring at him in shock. For a moment he was scared that it was going to be a failed proposal. Maybe she thinks it was too soon, maybe she's not ready... But then her face broke into a tearful smile and she nodded.

"Yes." she said softly and he stood up, pulled her up from the chair and hugged her tight.
And then they kissed. They kissed as the string quartet played one of their favorite songs. There was a group of people clapping and cheering them on and Alden even felt the phone inside his pocket vibrating. But at that moment, they were in their own world.

Later that evening they got into the car, laughing and kissing and was simply high in love. Alden felt his phone vibrate again but he missed the call. He looked at the screen and saw three missed calls. He shrugged and threw the phone at the back seat and started kissing Maine again.