So, everything seemed to be going my way lately, until earlier this morning. That’s what I needed to talk to Cedric about. Maybe I would wait until tonight when we got home. I didn’t want to ruin his pie.
“Sweetie, I have to get back to the office,” he said.
“Okay.” I sulked.
Cedric kissed my forehead. “Can you get the bill?”
I shook my head. “It’s on the house.”
“No, I insist. Get me the bill. I’m going to hit the bathroom, just leave it on the table.”
“Okay.”
I walked over to the cash register and wrote up the bill charging him for the bagel and coffee, but not the pie.
When I got back to booth number three, Cedric was still in the bathroom.
On the table was a crisp lone fifty-dollar bill. I laughed as I realized the joke Cedric was playing on me giving me the same tip he did on that first day.
As I took the money, I noticed the words ‘I Love You…Turn Over’ were written on the front. My heart flipped and tears started to form when I saw the words ‘Will You Marry Me?’ written on the back.
I covered my mouth with my hands and turned around toward the bathroom. Cedric was walking toward me slowly and landed right in front of me on his knees. His eyes were filled with more love than I could ever hope for and one tear streamed down his cheek.
As I looked around, I noticed that Max, Delores and Mr. Short, all had smiles on their faces and I was pretty sure they were in on this the whole time.
Cedric grabbed my hand and kissed it. “Allison Ophelia Abraham, you are the single most precious thing to me in this entire world. If someone had told me last year, when I first laid eyes on you here at this diner, that you would end up loving me half as much as I loved you from that first moment, I would have thought they were crazy. Something deep inside me then told me that you were my future, even if there were going to be many obstacles to get there. When I look at you today, I see everything I have ever wanted. I see my unborn children. I see the person I am going to grow old with. I’ll love you til the day I die. Will
you marry me?”
I stood in shock with my hand over my mouth as Cedric opened a blue Tiffany box, showcasing a beautiful princess cut diamond.
“Princess cut, two carats…I hear this is what women like,” he said.
“Oh Cedric…it’s…it’s beautiful,” I sobbed. “I love you…so much.”
“So, sweetheart…will you be my wife…what do you say?”
Cedric stood up and held me as I started balling.
I needed to tell him. Now.
“Cedric, can we go outside for a minute?”
Cedric’s eyes lost their luster as his concern clearly grew. “Sure…sure, sweetheart.”
CHAPTER 41
CEDRIC
My heart sank when she didn’t immediately say yes to my proposal. She seemed really emotional and the walk from the inside of the diner through the door onto the sidewalk seemed to take forever.
I put the ring back in my pocket as we stood on the sidewalk. The breeze was blowing Allison’s hair all over the place and the sun shined into her green eyes, making them almost gold.
My heart pounded out of my chest and the coconut cream pie I had just eaten was starting to come up on me. I couldn’t bear it if she was going to tell me she wouldn’t marry me. The thought of that was unfathomable.
“Cedric…”
I put my hands on her shoulders and squeezed them. “What’s going on?”