Teaching Mia

Chapter 31 - Hangman

The next few days passed by all too quickly. Mia had texted her boss asking if she could take Monday off and he agreed surprisingly quickly.

“No problem. I was starting to wonder if you would ever ask,” he had replied.

But even though she had taken the day off, she still felt like it wasn’t enough time. Mia had taken Leo to all of her favorite spots in the city - the tram to Roosevelt Island, walking around Madison Square Park, the roof garden at The Met. All non-touristy places she frequently enjoyed going to. It always made a bad day feel better.

But there was still one place missing on the list and that was Greenacre Park in Midtown East. The place always reminded Mia of a secret Zen garden. It was a gorgeous private park surrounded by greenery. It even had a waterfall and the roar of the water always seemed to drown the rest of the world out. It was complete bliss smack in the middle of the hustle and bustle of New York City. An oasis in the midst of an urban jungle.

They walked into the park and as usual there weren’t that many people inside. It was relatively unknown and easy to walk past if you didn’t know it existed. They took a seat in a private area to the side of the waterfall, and Mia instantly felt like she had been transported to a sanctuary.

“Are you sure we’re in New York? This place is the true definition of a hidden gem. Now I know why you always talk about it so much,” Leo stated.

“I’m glad you liked it. You know I always like to call you from here,” Mia said with a smile.

“Really? Of course I would like it. I love that I get to see this part of you. Who you really are.” Leo smiled at her and then stared at the waterfall in front of them, concentrating on the movement of the water. They passed some time in a comfortable silence.

Mia looked at Leo and noticed he had a strange expression on his face. One that she had never seen before. Come to think about it, he had been unusually quiet that day. Maybe it was the reality kicking in that he was leaving the next day. Not wanting to bring up the dreaded topic, Mia thought of something else to distract him.

“Do you want to play hangman?” she asked him.

Leo turned at her surprised. “Umm…sure. I haven’t played that in years. Do you have paper or something to write on?”

“Even better. I downloaded this really great app on my phone. But playing against the computer can get a bit boring after a while, so it’ll be nice to play against someone for a change.”

“Game on, sweetness,” Leo responded simply.

Mia reached for her phone excitedly and started it up. Leo looked over her curiously as she typed in their names into player 1 and player 2.

“So how it works is that I’ll type a word or phrase I’m thinking of and it’ll lock it into the system. Then I hand it over to you to play the game,” Mia explained.

“Okay, so you go first.”

“No peeking,” Mia warned. Leo covered his eyes and a moment later she passed the phone over to him.

“Wow, it even has a chalkboard feel to it,” Leo said as he typed in letters. Two minutes later he handed the phone back to Mia. “Done.”

Mia looked at the phone and saw that he had guessed ‘hello governor’ correctly.

“I made it easy for you,” Mia said.

Leo chuckled. “I know you too well. Guess it’s my turn now, huh?” Leo took the phone back and typed something before handing it back.

Mia started playing her turn and a huge smile spread across her face when she was done. The message read ‘you are so beautiful’. She leaned over and gave him a kiss.

She didn’t have to think much about her next phrase to type in. Leo eagerly took the phone back for his turn. It didn’t even take him a minute to figure it out before he was staring intently in her eyes.

“And I love you, Mia. Forever,” he said with deep emotion. He diverted his eyes back to the phone and slowly typed something in.

“Last one,” Leo murmured.

Mia took the phone and concentrated on the phrase while Leo watched her every move. She had already guessed five letters wrong and was having a tough time figuring it out. It was a five-letter word followed by a two-letter word. So far she had an A followed by two R’s forming part of the middle of the first word. It should be simple enough, she thought. Was the phrase in Spanish?

She started going through possible combinations with the alphabet to find the first letter of the first word. Barr, Carr, Darr, Farr, Jarr, Larr, Marr...

She froze at the last one and her heart sunk in her chest. Could it be?

She didn’t dare to look up at Leo but she could almost feel a burn of heat through his stare. Her hand starting to shake as she slowly pressed an E, followed by a Y, and then an M.

The letters formed into words and suddenly it was there, staring right back at her.

Marry Me.

She was so caught up in the moment that she hadn’t felt Leo move. He clutched her hand and she realized he was leaning down in front of her on one knee. She looked at him completely mesmerized.

“Mia, I promise to love you for eternity. Will you do me the honor of marrying me?”

Leo lowered his gaze for a second and slipped a ring on her finger. It all happened so quickly Mia could only stare back at him, speechless.

Noticing Mia’s reaction, Leo spoke again, full of emotion. “I know it’s crazy and you might think it’s too soon, but I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I’ve never been more certain of anything. I just know we belong together. You make me want to be a better person and all I want is to make you happy. The rest we’ll figure it out along the way. Por favor Mia, cásate conmigo.”

Tears started to pool in her eyes. “Of course I will, Leo. I love you so much. You also make me want to be a better person. Someone I never knew I could be. And I want to make you happy, too.”

Leo brought her hand to his mouth and kissed the ring on her finger, before reaching up to grab her face and kiss her fervently. When he finally looked back at Mia, he had a smile on his face that spread from ear to ear.

“All you could ever do is make me happy. I doubt that there’s a single person in the whole universe that is happier than I am at this moment,” he said. “C’mon, we have to make a couple pit stops before going back to the hotel.”

“Where are we going?” Mia asked as she grabbed his hand.

“Well, straight away I think a fine bottle of champagne is in order. Followed by some strawberries and roses, lots and lots of them. And then I want to spend all night making love to my sweet fiancée. I want to do this the right way since I didn’t exactly plan this. You kind of handed it to me.”

“Leo, this was already the right way. I couldn’t have imagined a better way. It was perfect.”

“Well you deserve more. Always. And as your future husband, there are certain duties I need to fulfill…such as keeping you constantly satisfied,” he said with a wink.

As they exited the park, Leo couldn’t contain his excitement any longer and shouted, “She said yes!”

Before she could complain, he wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her temple. Mia laughed as she contemplated her future. If there was one thing for certain, there would never be a dull moment in it.