Snatched

“We’re celebrating?” I ask.

“Of course. Your first week at the internship,” my mom says.

“And your new apartment,” Mandy adds.

“And maybe this,” Finn says, and turns around to hand me the champagne flute that the waiter has just filled. I accept it blithely, then set it on the table, anticipating that I’ll need to wait for a toast.

Then I see it.

At the bottom, glistening, dotted with champagne bubbles. A ring.

“Finn, there’s a—“ I start, cutting the sentence off when I realize that he knows full and well that there’s a diamond ring in my glass. That he put it there.

I look up, first at Mandy, then my mother— they’re both smiling like crazy people. Finally, I look to Finn, whose face is spread in a wide grin.

“Kenley, my love. Mathlete. Tutor extraordinaire. Will you marry me?” he says, eyes sparkling.

My heart drops down to my feet; my hands tremble. I laugh, then gasp, then nearly choke all in a single breath. Is this really happening? Here? I stare at the ring again, tapping my finger against the glass like it’s a fancy fish in an aquarium.

Finn swiftly snatches the glass. He dumps the champagne out into the ice bucket, using his fingers to catch the ring. He shakes it off, then takes my hand. “I can’t put it on you if you don’t say yes.”

I close my eyes, take a breath. “Of course. Yes,” I say, though the words are whispers or heartbeats or sighs, I can’t tell which. Finn smiles, then carefully lifts my finger and slides the ring on.

He pulls me toward him.

“You ready to be with me forever?” Finn whispers in my ear.

“Yes,” I say.

He kisses me softly, and I’m dimly aware of everyone in the restaurant applauding. But all I can hear is the beating of Finn’s heart against mine, all I can feel are his arms wrapped around me, and all I can think about is how sometimes, if you truly believe, happily-ever-afters are possible.

THE END