A Gentleman's Secret

~ The Proposal ~

The couple's seemingly romantic journey begins with short, innocent dates at local cafés, restaurants, and attractions. Their conversations are of the most ordinary, platonic kind with, occasionally, some caring words about health, work and family. Perhaps it is the combination of his sincere, fatherly, and intense gaze – whenever he speaks or stares at the girl when she tells the most ordinary bits of human life – his warm chuckles at her anecdotes, and the generous, large hands that give such perfect credit card swipes. For the girl, the simple phrases cure her from a loneliness she just realizes she has.

Depending on the shyness and eagerness of the girl and the mood, after a movie marathon or an evening walk in a beautiful park, the Gentleman sometimes unintentionally – or so the girl believes – holds or simply brushes her hand.

No matter the number of lovers she has had and no matter the reason for which she has had them, for a reason she cannot fathom, the girl blushes. During an optimistic course of action, both parties drop their pretense of modesty. The relationship then takes its turn for the passionate, earlier.

In the less optimal cases, more frequent and longer meetings, which always include shopping and dinner at renowned locations, will suffice. The Gentleman considers this as a mere game of patience; he knows that most girls have already sealed their fate when they secretly approached him.

When the girl falls into line, the Gentleman always asks her to accompany him on a longer trip. At this point, the lovers still haven't spent a whole night together. The girl, who usually comes from a relatively decent or protective family, is always too embarrassed to tell her family that she is traveling alone with a man decades older than her. Often, she pretends that she is traveling with a female friend of hers. The family is sometimes suspicious,but there is no guardian a pampered, trusted daughter can't convince.

From his numerous relationships, the Gentleman knows that it is not the day, but the night that allows the fruit of passion to grow riper. It is during the first night, on the soft linen of a president suite, to the scent of expensive wine, that she forgets the life she once had. It is during the ensuing nights that she forgets the people – lovers, family members, or friends – she once loved.

As reasonable as we may be, we always yearn for a more blissful life, even if it is an illusion. For the girl – or perhaps for any beings – this life is one drenched in love, an unparalleled respect for both her spiritual and her physical existences, and in luxury – not the sort about jewelry and gold, but a more personalized type, which the Gentleman, with his decades of wisdom, never fails to identify.

In the end, although the trip spans over several days, the girl always feels the need to either extend it or arrange another one. The Gentleman gladly complies. For each new trip, he brings her to a different heaven, always more beautiful, more luxurious.

Then, when the Gentleman knows that she will agree to the proposal – the key to the reward at the end of the thrilling journey, to the prize besides the excitement, itself – he brings her to a countryside villa, three-stories-tall with a beautiful garden and a large basement. They spend a few days traveling around, to the peaceful little town a hundred miles away, the closest cluster of living population, to the large forest surrounding the villa, and to the beautiful lake with turquoise water. The weather, there, is always so splendid and the sky, so blue that they calm the soul – and even the body – like soporifics.

On the last day, since the weather is still as beautiful as always, the Gentleman dines with the girl on the white garden table outside. In the villa, he has no family, nor housekeeper, no one, but the Gentleman has mastered the culinary arts so finely that he requires no help. The girl always exclaims in admiration.

After the dinner and a romantic walk under a starry sky, the Gentleman brings the girl in front of the locked door of the basement. He tenderly takes both her hands while staring intently at her.

"Do you love me?" he asks with an untypical seriousness.

"Of course, I do," the girl always replies lightly.

Just when the girl thinks his gaze cannot grow more intense, the darkness in his eyes expands enough to threaten to swallow a whole universe, the girl along with it.

"Will you give me your heart?" he asks again, this time with a sudden and frightening gravity in his tone.

Touched by what she believes is a display of utmost passion, the girl always consents with great ardor. The Gentleman gives her a smile she is not used to, but chooses to ignore since she still remains unsuspecting, then he unlocks the basement door. He leads her by the hand inside, closes the door, then turns on the light.

The basement is a single large room with white pillars sharing the weight of the floors above. It smells like antiseptics with the hint of another repulsive smell. It contains several beds, tables covered with metallic instruments, drawers, cupboards, sinks and a row of what seem like bookcases filled with jars at the far end.

The girl suddenly realizes that the basement resembles an operating room. As she takes a step farther toward the dead end of the room, she finally distinguishes the shapes in the jars and the letters on their labels.

"These..." the girl either remains quiet or, more often, tries to pronounce some words, like the sort, while phrases collide with her thoughts and her mind goes blank.

As if waking up from a dream, the girl always screams, then tries to escape through the door, only to find out that it has locked itself. The girl then either begs the Gentleman or picks up a tool to attack him.

The Gentleman remains still, not out of fear or confusion, but out of pragmatism. He knows that any attempts by the girl are futile and that no action on his part is required.

Just as the Gentleman predicted, the girl soon feels the effect of the soporific from her last dinner, then, despite her struggle to remain awake, falls asleep on the floor.

The Gentleman smirks at the new addition to his collection displayed on the bookcases of jars. On each of which is a label with a first name and a surname, and in each of which is a human heart, more often a woman's heart. The first jars contain his wife and their children's.

A wife and children no one – not even himself – remembers...

END

Note on music: a song about innocence (and probably the loss of it)

Also, according to some analysis, the MV is about the seven deadly sins.