Surprise, Surprise! { Qian Kun Series }

Chapter 7

"Nĭ lādŭzi ma?" asked Yangyang when he saw Kun emerging from the bathroom, holding his stomach.

"Dude, I don't want to discuss my diarrhea with you. I need to lie down," Kun said, pushing past Yangyang. He crawled into bed and lay on his side in the fetal position, waiting for the stomach cramps to stop. "I don't even know what I'm so nervous about," he chided himself. "It's not like it's a marriage proposal or anything."

Kun reached over to his nightstand and picked up a blue velvet box. He opened it and examined the rings inside. The silver couple's rings were simple but elegant. Engraved on the underside were the letters "K+M forever." "Is it too soon?" Kun pondered. The thought that Maryluz might reject his offer to take the relationship to the next level terrified him.

"What am I worried about?" he thought. "Didn't she say she loved me after the whole Sal incident?" Thankfully, Sal had made a complete recovery, but the incident had brought Kun and Maryluz closer together. They knew they could count on each other when the going got tough. Still, Kun's stomach was doing flips every time he thought about giving Maryluz the commitment ring.

He had it all planned out. He would take her for a nice dinner, and when the dessert came, the ring would be lying atop it. Granted, it wasn't terribly clever. The ring in the dessert trick had been done to death, but frankly, no better method had occurred to him. So, he decided to stick with a classic.

Kun got up from the bed and willed his guts to co-operate so he could get through the night without another bout of diarrhea. He rooted through his closet, looking for something to wear. His white IZOD shirt? No, too basic. His Gucci blue Oxford shirt? Too bougie. He sighed and threw himself onto the bed dramatically.

"What's up with you?" asked Xiaojun as he entered the room. "You've been acting weird all day."

"I want to give Maryluz a couple's ring tonight and I'm freaking out. I don't know what to wear. Everything in my closet just seems wrong," Kun complained, aware that he sounded like a teenaged girl.

Xiaojun looked in his own closet and threw Kun a FLYDAY striped boxy T-shirt and a pair of black skinny jeans and said, "Geez, dude, calm down, already." Kun studied the outfit and decided it would work. So, he put it on hurriedly and combed his hair, adding a mist of hairspray to keep it in place. He grabbed his keys and stepped out the door. This was a moment he was glad he had his Korean driver's license. Maryluz was busy at her shop, so they had agreed to meet at the restaurant, but at least he could drive her home afterward.

When he got to the restaurant, Maryluz was already there waiting for him. She tapped on her watch playfully as he neared the table.

"Sorry, sorry," he said, giving her a kiss on the cheek before sitting down.

"Well, as penance for being late, you bought me this pricy bottle of wine," she said pointing at the bottle sitting on the table. "I had to do something while I waited," she reasoned.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. There were issues," he said, not wanting to expound upon his digestive distress.

"Whatever. You're here now," said Maryluz. "You should have seen Sal today. He jumped up on the top of my refrigerator and took a flying leap onto the kitchen island. It was something to behold," she gushed.

Kun nodded and smiled. "Well, I'm glad you like him. Just don't like him more than you like me," he warned.

"Too late," quipped Maryluz. "He's become the most important man in my life."

"Oh, geez," breathed Kun. "You and that cat," he groused. Changing the subject, Kun asked, "What do you want to order?"

"I think I'll get the fried chicken," Maryluz mused.

"I take you out to a nice restaurant and you want the fried chicken?" Kun asked.

"Hey, you know I'm not a fancy girl," she replied.

"Well, how about some cheesecake for dessert?" he asked, hoping to nail down her dessert order so he could make plans with the waiter about the ring.

"Cheesecake?!" Maryluz asked incredulously. "I thought you knew I hate cheese."

"Yeah, that's right," he said. "You take the cheese off the pizza every time. But, you know, cheesecake doesn't even taste like cheese."

"I'm well-aware of your love of cheesecake. Go ahead and get it for yourself, but I want ice cream," she said, folding up her menu.

"Ice cream!" thought Kun. It would be pretty hard to put a ring in ice cream. "Damn! I'll have to come up with a new idea," he thought.

All throughout the dinner, Kun's mind raced, wondering what grand romantic gesture he could come up with on the fly since his ring in the dessert idea had failed. He picked absently at his steak.

"What's with you? You seem off," Maryluz commented, taking a bite out of the drumstick she held in her hand.

Kun looked up and said, "I'm fine. It's just that ---."

Maryluz' phone buzzed. She held up one finger and said, "Hold that thought." She began silently reading the text.

"Oh, shit, shit, shit!" she said, rising from the table and grabbing her purse. "I have to go. The refrigerator at the shop isn't working and I just lost 500 appetizers that have to be re-done for a wedding tomorrow."

"Can't someone else handle it?" asked Kun.

"You're kidding, right?" Maryluz responded as she took one last swig of wine that was left in her glass. "How can someone else handle it? It's my business."

"Yeah, but you have workers you could call in. Why do you have to get up in the middle of dinner and leave like this?" he continued.

"You know, some of us have to work for a living," Maryluz spouted.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? You think I don't work? You think it's easy to rehearse for hours on end. Do you think it's not hard work to get out in front of thousands of people and do a three-hour concert?" Kun responded, clearly hurt by her implication that he didn't live in reality and didn't know what hard work was.

"God, Kun! I don't have time for this. As we speak, all the dairy products in my fridge are rotting. The lettuce is wilting, and the sliced turkey breast is gathering listeria! I don't have time to stroke your ego!" Maryluz shouted, causing several restaurant patrons to look up from their meal. "I gotta go. We'll talk later," she said as she rushed away from the table, texting the shop manager as she walked.

Kun sat at the table with his head in his hands. The waiter approached. "Any dessert for you tonight, sir?"

 "No, I'd like the check, please," he said dejectedly. He opened the box and looked at the rings. He wondered how the night had taken such a wrong turn. He knew Maryluz was mad, but he wasn't sure if it was serious or if she was just annoyed. Her response seemed to stem from something deeper than just the situation at hand. As he stared at the glittering rings, all he knew was that his carefully laid plans had fallen through. He sighed and closed the velvet box, placing it in his pocket.