Just then, Eion stopped and stood up. A waiter gave him a guitar and he cleared his throat.
“I never sing, Snow, but for tonight, it’s only you and me. I’ll sing for you.”
I gasped at that. “Wait, you’re really going to sing?”
“Yes. I had been practicing for the past months. In the Philippines, did you know that it was their practice to sing your heart out with a guitar and go to the house of the person you are going to woo. It’s called harana.” He informed me. His hands were tuning the guitar and he was trembling a bit. I flashed him a smile and gave him a thumbs up to encourage him.
He nodded, “It may not be your house and we’re on a ship right now but… I’m doing it. I hope you’ll enjoy this night, my love.” Saying that, he started to string the guitar and closed his eyes, opening his mouth to sing.
“When your legs don’t work like they used to before
And I can’t sweep you off of your feet
Will your mouth still remember the taste of my love
Will your eyes still smile from your cheeks?
The first verse started, and my eyes couldn’t help but stay glued at the rare sight of Eion singing at me. Eion looked nervous earlier, but now as he said those words, he was directly looking at my eyes. I kept his gaze, meeting his stare.
He said it was called Harana? It feels wonderful…I can’t believe it. If I had met Eion earlier, I would have thought all of this are ridiculous and cringy, but looking at him now, going to such lengths
I can’t help but feel my heart warming up and my cheeks reddening as he continued, And this time, he looked proud to sing.
And darling I will, be loving you til we’re 70
And baby my heart could still fall as hard as 23
And I’m thinking ’bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways
Maybe just the touch of a hand
Well, me-I fall in love with you every single day
And I just wanna tell you I am
So honey now
Take me into your loving arms
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars
Place your head on my beating heart
I’m thinking out loud
Maybe we found love right where we are.”
As he reached the chorus, I clapped at him and said, “Wow, who knew Eion you really have a good voice. You could pursue singing if you want,” I joked, and he laughed at me.
Pausing for a moment before stringing the guitar with another tune now. “That was just a warm-up. Now I’m going to sing what I had always wanted to tell you so please, listen carefully babe.”
I nodded and motivated him to continue.
“It’s a beautiful night
We’re looking for something dumb to do
Hey baby,
I think I wanna marry you.
I couldn’t help but swallow the lump on my throat now. Wait a minute.. marry? I clearly know this song. and why the hell is Eion singing this to me right now? No way…. biting my lip, I let myself hear the rest of the song.
“Is it the look on your eyes
Or is it this dancing juice?
Who cares baby
I think I wanna marry you
I’ll go get a ring to let the choir bells sing like oooh
So what do you wanna do?
Let’s just run girl
Don’t say no, no, no, no, no-no
Just say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,-yeah
And we’ll go, go, go, go-go
If you’re ready, cause I’m ready
Cause it’s a beautiful night
We’re looking for something dumb to do
Hey Snow,
I think I wanna marry you.
And stringing his guitar, he came to me and stroked my hair before saying, “Happy anniversary, babe.”
“Happy anniversary,” I replied, and with that, he was about to lean in and kiss me when I stopped him, still bothered with his song.
“Wait a minute, babe. Before we kiss, I want to ask why did you sing that?” I brought it up, waiting for his response.
“Oh, you mean thinking out loud?” He asked back and I shook my head.
“No, the Bruno Mars song? That last one with.. marry?” I gulped, biting my lip nervously. there’s no way he won’t do it now right? I mean… not now?
He nodded, looking all serious now. “Why? I really think I want to marry you, Snow.”
I paused at that as he stared deeply into my eyes. I cleared my throat, “Is that… is that a proposal?”
Not saying anything, I watched as he put his one knee on the ground, kneeling on me. Looking up at me, he smiled at me sincerely, his hand was cold and almost sweaty as he looked up at me with his emerald eyes. Breathing in deeply, he started to speak.
“I’ve been looking for the right time….” He trailed off. “And I think now is the right time.
I felt my hands getting sweaty from nervousness and my heart beating out of my chest. I look at Eion’s hopeful eyes, searching for an answer. “My Snow, do you recall the moment we first met?”
“Yes, I clearly remember how to jerk and arrogant you were.” I tried to joke but he continued, “I never knew that was the moment. Gosh, I find this all cringe but why do I love doing this for you, Snow? Anything you want, I’ll do it.”
He then sighed. “I don’t want to make this long, because I want to say the next things on my wedding vow but you know that I love you right? And you love me. You made me wait until we both graduate and have a degree now we both graduated, and I’m done waiting.” He paused.
“Just say it, Eion. Stop postponing it.” I demanded, smiling at him, knowing what his question was going to be.
“So Snow, will you marry me?”
There, he finally said it. Silence fell, but I felt a cold sweat coming to me. I don’t know how to react. I am speechless.
“C’mon, give an answer, my knees are hurting here, Snow.” He joked, looking at me expectantly. “Or is this the proposal you wanted? Not like the one I did last time?
Before I knew it, my eyes were swelling up with tears, so much that my vision became blurry but I didn’t care, right now, all I cared about was Eion kneeling in front of me. Biting my lip, I instantly grabbed him and embraced him into a hug, not able to speak up now as tears still gushed like a waterfall.
“So is that a yes?” He asked.
“Y-yes, Eion. Yes. I’ll marry you.” I exclaimed happily. “I don’t know what to say, Eion. It’s perfect. I love you.”
“I love you too, Snow!” And before I knew it, his lips came crashing down on me, hard. He wiped my tears on my face and he then broke our kiss and twirled me around in happiness. We were both chuckling without a care in the world.
“You don’t know how many times I rehearsed this, Snow… too many times.” He said. “And it felt good that it came out as a success.”
We laughed at it and when we recovered, I asked him “Whose idea is it anyway?
“Aunt Maggie helped me. and I did everything.”
“I’m really surprised you can afford this. I never expected this. You were never the type to do this… thank you, Eion.” I said, gazing at him.
“You’re welcome, babe. As I’ve said before, I’ll do anything for you. anything.” He responded, then as if an idea popped in his head, he grinned at me.
“So? Are you going to ask my order or what?” He said, smiling. I raised my eyebrows at him in confusion.
“Remember that line I said to you when we first met at the shop? Why not reenact that? What do you think?” He suggested.
I nodded, liking the idea. “Okay then, as you wish, sire.” I said.
Clearing his throat, he closed his eyes and started.
“So? Are you going to ask my order or what?” He repeated, his face now expressionless and mimicking his past self.
I tried hard not to laugh and answered, “Thank you for your time this afternoon, sir. What exactly do you want?”
I tried to recall what expression I was wearing that day to mimic it now and remembered that I looked at Eion irritatedly with a fake smile on my face that day.
“Strawberry ice cream,” he demanded.
“Do you want it topped with anything? Any add-ons?” I inquired and realized I had forgotten to ask in a polite manner. “Uhm, Sir,” I clarified.
He scowled as he shook his head no. “Just the plain one.” I nodded my head in agreement and handed him his order.
Acting as if I’m giving him his ice cream, I gave him an imaginary one and said, “Here you go, sir.”
Eion instantly broke into laughter and walked away from me, “Now he is the moment I ran away and you chased me because I was handsome.”
I scoffed at what he said, “That was not the reason.”
He shrugged, “Admit it, you find me handsome the moment you see me.”
I shook my head, denying it. “No. I really find you irritating.”
He snorted and gave me a look, “Really?”
I sighed, now admitting it, “Okay fine, you were handsome but irritating.”
“Good. I find you beautiful but so prideful. You wouldn’t even take that tip I gave you, psh.” He said, rolling his eyes.
I stuck my tongue at him childishly, “Whatever, I really can’t imagine how I managed to endure every attitude you gave me. I must be so strong.” I said, praising myself.
He chuckled sheepishly at me, “Well, it’s all in the past, Snow. All in the past.” He reasoned out. “Let’s focus now on the present and on our future.”
Well, he’s right about that. Now that we’re officially engaged, what now?
“So, have you planned on the wedding?” I suddenly asked, which caught him off guard. “When do you want it?”
He pursed his lips, thinking about it for a while before saying, “How about tomorrow?”
I blinked at him, “Eion, I’m serious.”
“Snow, I’m serious too.” He fired back. I gave him a look that said ‘really?’ And he threw his hands up in the air in surrender. “Okay, I’m kidding. Not tomorrow. I’ll tell you the date soon.” He then ran towards the railings and motioned for me to follow.
“The view here is much more beautiful, babe. Come here.”
Doing as he told me, I approached him and he wrapped his arms behind me. He planted a soft kiss on my neck and gazed at my brown eyes. I met his emerald eyes. The wind blew around us and I can’t help but stare at the beautiful diamond ring on my fingers.
“It’s so beautiful,” I mumbled out loud and I heard him agreeing to me, still gazing at me.
“Yeah, it is.”
“Where did you get it?” I asked and he shushed me. “Just from my old friend. We have a lot of time for that Snow, Stop asking about that, we have a lot of time for that. For now, let’s just enjoy this moment, okay?”
I nodded. It’s a perfect moment. How I wish it would never end.