The red table cloth blew in the breeze and Zac looked anxiously at the lighted candles, but they didn't go out. As he waited for Kate to arrive, Zac looked again at the panoramic view from the gazebo and wished that carpark wouldn't insist on spoling it. He wondered again if he should have picked Kate up himself, but he needed to maintain the temperature of the food, which would have been stone cold by now. As it was he was a little anxious about it drying out too much, despite the success of his previous experiments in this area.
At last he saw a familiar car arrived, and he jumped over the gazebo steps, almost running to meet it.
Kate
Kate pulled into a parking space and turned the car off, reaching for her purse.
As she got out of the car, she noticed Zac coming towards her, and she wondered what was going on.
Zac
"Good evening, milady," Zac greeted curtiously. "Please, allow me to escort you to your table."
He held out his elbow.
Kate
Kate took his arm, giving him a weird look.
"You're so weird sometimes, you know that right?"
Zac
"I hear its one of my endearing qualities," Zac nodded.
He lead her across to the gazebo, up the stairs, then let go of her arm so he could pull one of the chairs out for her.
Kate
"Thanks," Kate told him.
She sat down and then waited for him to sit across from her.
Zac
Zac placed a couple of plates in front of them and lifted the lid.
"Dinner," he grinned smugly. "And still as hot as it would be if I just cooked it."
He sat down on his own chair.
Kate
Kate smiled and a rainbow appeared in the fading light of the sky behind them.
"What's the occasion?" she asked.
Zac
"Well," Zac said slowly, knitting his fingers together. "I love you, Kate. And if we're going to get married then I want to start on the right foot. So..."
He slipped his hand into his pocket.
"I know you've already said yes, but I want to do this properly."
Zac got out of his seat and knelt down on one knee next to her. He held up the opened jewellery box and said:
"Kate Tucker. Will you marry me?"
Kate
"Nope," Kate said, with a straight face. "I've changed my mind."
She sat back in her seat, as though she were completely serious.
Zac
Zac opened his mouth, then closed it again, uncertain as to whether she was serious or not.
"Umm, well," he stammered.
"Yeah now there's an intelligent thing to say," he berated himself.
Zac sighed heavily and started to get up.
"Well, I suppose then I should take this ring back to Tiffany's."
Kate
Kate grinned.
"I'm kidding, you nerd."
Zac
Zac knelt back down again and took the ring out of its box. He grinned up at her as he took her hand.
"That's good," he said. "Because I think it'll look a lot more beautiful on your finger than it does in a display case."
He slipped the ring onto her finger.
Kate
Kate smiled at him and then looked at the ring.
"It's beautiful, Zac."
Zac
Zac smiled as he stood up, and kissed her softly.
"It's the most beautiful thing here," he nodded with a mischevious grin.
Kate
"I agree," Kate replied, nodding.
"Though I am aware of my own good looks, I admit, Tiffany is prettier than me."
Zac
Zac chuckled as he sat back down.
"Dang it," he said. "You were supposed to say something like 'more beautiful than me?' so that I could say 'no, but you're not a thing!"
He grinned.
Kate
"I never say what I'm supposed to say, or what I'm expected."
Kate smiled faintly.
"I thought you'd figured that out by now."
Zac
"Yeah, you're right," Zac nodded merrily. "Shoulda known better."
He grinned at her as he stabbed his dinner with his fork.
Kate
"So," Kate said, moving some food around her plate with her own fork.
"We should start this... wedding planning thing, right?"
Zac
"Well, since you want to get married before you hit Japan... yeah," Zac replied. "What did you want to do? Traditional? Outdoor? Something involving sky diving?"
Kate
"Traditional," Kate said after a moment's thought.
"Because we weren't very traditional with the proposal."
Zac
Zac nodded.
"Sorry," he said with a rueful smile. "Okay so a church then. Ike and Nikki got married in this nice church. I can show you later if you want. Unless you wanted the same church as Nat did in Georgia. I understand it's very popular."
Kate
"Uh, no. To both," Kate said, shaking her head.
She paused.
"I don't want... I have a church in mind. I used to go there... nevermind. It's in Atlanta."
Zac
"Okay cool," Zac replied. "Probably should find a reception hall there too. Didja want a big wedding or a small wedding? Or a medium wedding?"
Kate
"I don't know," Kate said, shaking her head.
"Can we start planning later?"
Zac
"Oh yeah, sure," Zac replied.
And thus the two enjoyed the rest of their evening together with none of their previous seriousness.