The Girl I'm Going To Marry [three-shot]

[Sadie]

“I’ve met the girl that I’m going to marry.”

Joey’s announcement at the dinnertable created bouts of laughter among his family, who were often amused by the boy’s antics. As though trying to follow in the footsteps of his older brother, he had become quite the ladies’ man at his elementary school, and the messy valentines that he often received from the young girls in his class had become somewhat of a family legend.

On the opposite side of the table, Wally grinned at him and shook his head almost imperceptibly. Being on the brink of adulthood himself, he knew about childhood fancy and how it felt at such a young age to be smitten by special young ladies. While he couldn’t quite remember his earliest years, he could remember his various pre-teen crushes that came and went like surprise rain showers.

“Oh, really?” Mrs. Beetles asked politely, spooning another mouthful of soup into her mouth.

“Yes.” Joey craned his neck upward, attempting to look entirely important. “Her name is, uhm. . . I think it’s Kuki. And she’s like a princess.” It was fairly difficult for Wally to hide his snickering after that. Ah, what it would be like to think like a child again.

“Where did you meet her?” he asked the boy curiously. He wouldn’t have been surprised if this “Kuki” was a movie character who played a princess, given the strange name and the fact that Joey had become quite the television fanatic.

Joey swallowed the mouthful of biscuit that had expanded his cheeks. His voice was excited as he told the tale of his meeting with the girl who would apparently be his future bride. “Well, I was going to class, right? And she gave me a lollipop and said that I was the cutest boy she had ever seen and then Mrs. Swaney said that she was a teacher’s helper and I drew her a big heart and asked her to be my girlfriend and she laughed and said yes.” He finished off proudly, stuffing another chunk of biscuit into his cheeks.

His family tried to look appropriately impressed, but Joey hadn’t finished yet. “And tomorrow at our school fair, she wants to meet my family! So you all have to come!”

“Of course we will,” Mrs. Beetles reassured him, if only to appease his growing excitement. He was positively in awe at the idea of introducing his so-called girlfriend to his family, especially with the knowledge that Wally was single and he wasn’t.

Joy. Wally heaved a sigh of boredom and went back to eating.

--

The fair was much more extravagant than Wally could have predicted, but it still did nothing to impress him.

In fact, he wasn’t even sure why he was there. He was too old for the bounce house, and wouldn’t have enjoyed it anyway, too old for cotton candy, and the stuff made him absolutely ill, and too old for the silly entertainers with painted faces and leering eyes. And they freaked him out. So he wandered around the fair and tried to find something more age-appropriate.

It was well-done, he had to admit. The colorful tents and the bright lights created a sense of wonder that would have easily captivated small children, and the banners and streamers fluttered in the wind with dancing colors and designs. The flags, blue and gold for the school colors, whipped around and flashed their signs to the newcomers, showing school pride and a sense of adventure.

The people were even more entertaining. There was a man on stilts who looked as though he’d been walking on them since his birth, and a clown who made balloon animals like Wally had never seen. There was a contortionist, a female, who was walking on her hands while her legs spewed out in different directions while bent in a way that was completely unnatural. One man was riding a camel through the grass, and laughing as his animal spit at the children, who had made a game of avoiding the animal’s feet and saliva.

If it had been at least a smidgen more mature, and filled with teenagers instead of screaming children, Wally could have imagined himself enjoying it. But as of right now, there was nothing really of interest.

A small hand latched onto his finger and tugged, pulling it slightly out of its socket. “Come on, Wally, I found her!” Joey’s beaming face was more ecstatic than Wally had seen it in a long time, so he begrudgingly followed, keeping an eye out for any pigtailed girl in pink shorts that might have caught Joey’s eye with a gap-toothed smile.

Which was not what he found. At all.

He was slightly confused when Joey halted in front of a booth, which was being led by a girl who appeared to be Wally’s age. She was decidedly oriental, with long silk hair that hung in a raven-colored ponytail to keep the strands out of her sweat-covered face. Her eyes were light and animated, and she was smiling just as wide as Joey as she gave a fishing rod to a little girl and murmured something to her while pointing to plastic fish.

“Kuki!” Joey tugged out of Wally’s hand and went to pull on her sleeve, catching her attention almost immediately. The girl instantly lit up and scooped the boy into her arms, balancing him on one of her hips and chattering away with him. Wally couldn’t quite make out what she was saying, but it was quite apparent that Joey had captured her heart with his boyish charms. “-and that’s my brother, Wally!”

Wally looked up again to find that Joey was pointing at him, and that the female’s attention had turned to him. Instead of bolting away, like he’d been considering, he strutted over to the girl and nodded his welcome, sticking out a hand to the girl who was Joey’s declared ‘girlfriend.’

Her eyes were amused as she took his hand. “Kuki Sanban,” she introduced in a voice that was slanted with an accent. Yup. Definitely oriental. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Although he was taking away his brother’s edge by admitting so, Wally decided that she was definitely attractive, in a way that most girls had trouble achieving. “Wally. My little brother is quite smitten with you.” His lips twisted into a grin that she matched instantly, a small chuckle escaping her lips.

“He’s my boyfriend, didn’t you know?” she teased, setting Joey down so that he could play in her fishing game. Her eyes left Wally’s for a moment so that she could explain the game to Joey, but once the wooden rod was safely in his grasp, her attention returned to Wally with a startling ease. “But really, he’s adorable.”

Wally dug his hands in his pockets, smirking. “He’s a handful. You might want to be careful before you two take things too fast, or this relationship could end up badly.”

Her laugh was so incredibly delighted that Wally couldn’t help but feel happier himself when he heard it. “I’ll keep that in mind, but I think that this was a match made in heaven.” Wally found himself appreciating how easy it was to jest with her, as though her entire being was made with laughter and light.

“Who am I to stand in the way of fate?” Both eyes turned to the boy, who had let out a whoop of triumph when his magnet snagged a plastic fish. For a second, Wally felt a flash of gratitude at the boy for introducing him to the girl. Even as she watched his brother reel in the fish with a squeal of excitement, a happy smile curved her lips into a crescent moon.

“You know,” she told Wally, leaning against the edge of her booth. “Seeing as I’m apparently going to be in the family, we should get to know each other better.” She lifted an eyebrow at him while gazing at his face out of the corner of her eyes, pretending to have turned her attention back to the smitten child who was throwing in his line for another fish with unnatural enthusiasm.

“I completely agree.” Leaning next to her, the faint scent of vanilla wafted into his nose. “Shall I treat the happy couple to a gourmet lunch of hot dogs, chips, and soda?” He cracked a grin at her, gesturing to the grill in the distance where a hungry group had gathered.

Kuki laughed and hooked her arm into his, wiping off her forehead. “I think it’s time I took a lunch break. I’d be delighted.” The two straightened, and Kuki tapped the younger boy on the shoulder. “Joey! Let’s go get some lunch.”

Joey nodded eagerly and she offered him her hand. While her nimble fingers seemed to engulf his entire hand, it was obvious that he still felt a sense of pride at the fact that he was holding hands with the older woman. Then he eagerly began to pull them toward the source of food, while making exaggerated sniffs and announcing loudly how good it smelled.

Wally, meanwhile, kept his arm hooked loosely around Kuki’s as he struggled to keep up with his eager brother. No, he wasn’t going to mind having her around at all.

[Sadie]

Fate must have been rooting for them, for the day was infinitely close to perfect.

All it would take is a few moments and the sun would begin to fall behind the horizon, spilling its fire-colored contents across the canvas of the sky until the night would come after and mop up the vibrant mess. Then the stars would awaken and stretch their lightened limbs, until their reaches were seen even on the farthest point on earth. And after, the clouds that were drifting slowly above would disappear into the distance, and the clear sky would grin that them from above.

It was the perfect opportunity and Wally was going to take it. But first, there were a few orders of business to take care of, most of them mainly involving his miniature doppelganger that was currently smashing the computer player’s character in a two-dimensional wrestling game, complete with cheesy sound effects and the occasional melody that signaled victory.

So he sat down on the couch beside the smaller boy and waited for him to finish the match, watching as the mashed combination of buttons produced a body-slam that brought the digitalized fighter to the ground. As the gong sounded out of the television speakers, the boy let out a crow of victory and then started to set up another game, before he realized Wally was there. The corners of his mouth stretched upward into a boyish grin, complete with dimples and a gap in his teeth.

“Wanna fight me?” His head thingyed toward the game, and while Wally considered the idea that thrashing the small boy in a game would be fairly entertaining, there were much more pressing matters at hand that required discussion. So he shook his head, and the boy frowned slightly and put down his controller, looking at Wally expectantly. He must have known that Wally needed to talk to him.

So Wally cleared his throat and began to speak, with a much more serious note in his voice than he ever cared to achieve. He didn’t know how to break it to the younger one of the pair, and he was tensed for some tirade of destruction that would follow, one that would involve smashed pots and a broken lamp and a controller that would hit the wall on the other side of the room. Not exactly a beautiful sight.

Thus, when he plowed forth into subjects previously unchartered, he did so with the utmost caution. “Joey, you know that Kuki comes over here a lot. . .”

“Yeah!” The boy’s head nodded excitedly, and he grinned his gap-toothed grin, the one that seemed like it was going to tear his face in half if he smiled any bigger. His entire heart was just one big soft spot for the cheerful oriental girl, who had so neatly captured his naïve little heart with her charisma. “Is she coming over here tonight?”

“That’s what I want to talk to ya about. . .” Wally fumbled around slightly and dug his fingers in his pockets, but considering what they held, that did not help his situation at all. So he yanked his hands back out and twisted them into his lap, trying to approach the subject with a sensitivity that would belay the child’s predictable, unpleasant response. “You like her, right?”

The boy’s eyes did an obstinate, rebellious circle in their sockets. “Duh.” As though this would prove his statement easily, he pulled a bright red lollipop out of his own pocket and held it up in the light, displaying the shiny wrapper that held his delectable treat inside. “Look what she brought me last time!”

“Yeah, nice.” The only reason for his distraction concerning the treat was his distraction concerning more important matters. He didn’t know how to fish information out of the boy without making his own intentions completely clear. Why was talking to children so incredibly difficult, given their undeveloped minds and simple world views? “She must bring you a lot of treats.”

“Yup!” Unwrapping the sweet and shoving it into his cheek, he grinned happily. “The guy who’s gonna marry her is gonna be so lucky.”

Wait a second. “I thought you were going to marry her,” Wally said casually, poking at the bulge in the boy’s cheek. It took all the effort he possessed, but he managed to keep himself from sounding too interested at the boy’s dismissive statement.

Joey scoffed as though Wally’s brain cells had leaked out his ears and were now dribbling onto the floor. “No, duuuh. I wanted to marry her, like, a jillion years ago. Now I’m going to marry my teacher. Her name is Miss Johanson.”

Wally’s face burst into a smile and he tried to hide it from the boy. “So, Joey. You won’t mind if I married her?”

Joey’s eyes lit up, like sunlight reflecting off of emeralds. “You mean, like, she’d be my sister? And over here all the time?”

Wally laughed and brushed a hand over the back of his neck, knowing that a shade of dark red was creeping its way across his skin and into the tops of his cheeks. “Yeah. Yeah, hopefully.”

The boy let out a yell of joy and leaped into Wally’s lap, nodding his head up and down so quickly that his hair began to flop up and down with the motion of his head. It sent quite a few volts of pain into Wally’s legs, having the boy’s frame jumping on top of them, but he was too busy trying to settle down Joey’s obvious excitement at the prospect of having Kuki as a sister. “When’re you gonna ask her?!”

“Tonight?” Sheepishly, Wally pulled out the little velvet box from his pocket and held it out to Joey, whose eyes widened significantly into plate-sized orbs. His breath came out in a small exhale as he realized the importance of the box. Although they had known Kuki now for a long time, and even though she had become a regular family guest, the significance of the box was not lost on the small boy.

“What’re you waiting for?!” Joey yanked Wally off the couch with all of his small-boy might, and then began to push him for the door. In reality, his force didn’t do much, but Wally let him continue to think that he was capable of pushing his older brother around. He hesitated at the door, and then turned and grinned at the tiny version of himself.

A hand reached out and ruffled the crop of hair that sat loftily on the small boy’s head. “Love you, bro.” The only response he got was another push in the direction of Kuki’s house, and so with a laughter that signified the anxiety and excitement for what was to come, he disappeared into the darkness of the streets.

[Sadie]

It was a simple ring, and yet it was exquisite because of this simplicity.

The callused fingers turned the ring over, admiring the smooth quality of the metal and the way that it glinted in the dim light. It was elegant and would serve its purposes wonderfully, especially in such a fitting environment.

The environment? Oh, it was his pride and joy. Violin music in the background that was peaceful and romantic. Glass lighting features that cast the dim light into fragments around the room. A lovely color scheme in the carpet, wallpaper, and table settings that seemed to tie the whole thing together. The restaurant, he decided, was perfect.

Having seen many rings over the years, he was quite capable of judging the quality, and this one was superb. Simple, beautiful, and thin, a sign that the boy had taken quite some time in picking it out for his special girl. And if things tonight went as planned, then it all would be worth it when the night was over.

His fist closed over the ring and he looked up, into the noisy surroundings of the kitchen. Clanging pots and pans, clattering utensils, and instructions shouted in multiple languages between the paunchy chefs. The scents that were seeping out of the pots were delightful and once again, a strange surge of pride swept through him.

Reaching up, he snapped his fingers.

The room at once went quiet. Even the chefs that had been there for years were still respectful enough to stop talking when Mr. De Luca wanted silence. He was their scientist, their engineer, their artist, their leader. They had all come to love the tall man, with his salt-and-pepper mustache and hair to match. They served him and the population, admiring his culinary genius.

“Does everyone remember the drill?” he asked with a voice curved elegantly in an accent. Beneath his mustache was hidden a smile, one that he would not allow his chefs to see. He would remain stoic, untouchable, and perform his duty tonight without a single hesitation or slip-up. That was the way that he ran his little restaurant, and that was the way that he had made his success build up for after many years.

Through the circular windows that had been placed into the doors, Mr. De Luca could see the couple, laughing together as they ate their breadsticks. Such an adorable couple. The boy was obviously nervous, constantly flipping his blonde locks out of the reaches of his eyes with a nervous twitch. Only his green eyes continued to remain untouched by his apparent anxiety; they were alight with laughter and joy as they connected with the violet lenses of the girl.

She was exquisite in her own way. Although perhaps not a beauty by the standards of others, it was easy to see why the boy delighted in her. The way her head tilted when she smiled, the way her legs swung like an eager child waiting for a special treat, the way that her eyes crinkled up whenever she laughed. She was joyous and cheerful, and he was obviously smitten.

Mr. De Luca snapped his fingers once more, and the waitress went to the table and took their order on a little notepad. It was like clockwork, and Mr. De Luca had it timed to perfection. Once she had taken their order, the chefs went to it immediately, and the smell of spices and sauces began to fill the air.

A plate of seasoned Tortelli di Patata for the lady, and a lovely serving of Bistecca alla Fiorentina for the man. Classic dishes that would not take long for his skilled chefs to prepare. The restaurant owner kept his men bustling about, watching the pair through the window and looking pleased when the girl smiled after tasting her drink, a juice concoction that obviously delighted her.

After a long while, the dishes were ready to serve, and so Mr. De Luca clapped his hands and the waitress burst out, carrying them expertly and placing them in front of the pair, before sweeping away back into the kitchen and tittering happily about what was to unfold. Her friends giggled with her, and Mr. De Luca smiled himself, beneath the cover of his facial hair. Proposals were the highlight of working in such a place.

One of the girls meekly asked if they were ready to bring out the ring. The look on the restaurant owner’s face was enough to make her shrink back, as though she had suggested the ultimate blasphemy. “Timing,” he said simply, waving her away with a gesture. “It is everything.”

The wait was agonizingly painful, and it wasn’t until they both had polished off their plates that the time was close. The old man had very carefully made sure to place a smaller menu inside of his regular one, a sheet that suggested many desserts and wines. The boy had made his plan clear from the beginning, and Mr. De Luca watched as he casually pointed something out to her.

Her head bobbed happily, and Mr. De Luca made sure that a waitress was sent to that table to ask if anything else was needed. The boy pointed something out to her, and she nodded before collecting their plates and rushing back into the kitchen. She blurted out their order with a breathless excitement, but Mr. De Luca already knew what the boy was going to request, and it was already in the making.

A masterpiece. A chocolate cake that stood tall and bold, drizzled with a glaze that had a faint hint of raspberry. The inside of the cake was moist and filled with cream, and it was one of his items that was ordered the most frequently. Even in the middle of a large serving plate, it looked impressive and delicious.

It was almost through the doors when Mr. De Luca snapped his fingers once more, and the waitress paused, suddenly unsure of herself. But he simply wanted to place the ring on top, carefully perching it into the glaze, where it glinted brightly and stood as a flag for the future. Then he nodded, and, trying to hide her gleeful smile, she swept out and presented the cake to the table, before hurrying back into the kitchen.

Suddenly, all the chefs dropped what they were doing and crowded around the tiny windows of the two doors, watching the couple with excitement. At first she was so naïve, simply grinning when the cake arrived and saying something to him. It was incredible that he was able to appear so patient, although his fists were clenched underneath the table as he waited for her to notice. It was only a few seconds before she began to cut the cake for them, and her eyes fell on the little piece of metal on the top.

All of the kitchen staff held their breaths now, as her face went blank with confusion. Although they couldn’t hear her, she sent the boy a questioning look and pulled the ring out of the glaze, her eyes widening as she registered the small, golden circle. The boy’s face took on an entirely new flame and a few of the chefs chuckled.

Her lips formed what must have been a question, with eyes wide like a doe’s. His lips barely moved, and he must have mumbled a response, offering her a sheepish smile.

The effect was instantaneous. She burst into a grin, looking shocked and excited and flushed all at once. She responded quickly, and he burst out laughing, shaking his head at her and making Mr. De Luca wonder what she had said. Her own head bobbed up and down and the whole kitchen sighed happily as they watched her mouth form the word “Yes.”

Behind the closed doors, they erupted into a cheers, and the waitresses hugged each other, blubbering about how “cute” and “romantic” it all was. Beyond the window, the boy was red with pleasure and pride, and the girl slipped the ring onto her finger and beamed at it while tears began to form in the corners of her eyes.

Mr. De Luca sniffed, and one of the chefs took notice. “Sir?” His gruff voice was cautious. “Are ya crying?”

And all at once, Mr. De Luca was all charisma and energy again. “I never cry! Get cooking, Mr. Romano, before I have you out on the streets!” But as the chef hurried away, he was very glad to have a moment to himself, where he was able to wipe the single tear out of the corner of his eye as he watched the young couple rejoice.