Behind the Fame

The Proposal

Sara

"Jessica Brooke... Will you make me the happiest person in this entire universe and marry me?"

She was crying, staring into my eyes. I could not make out the emotions from her eyes as mine went blurred with the welling up of tears.

She did not say anything and just stood there. I can't anymore determine if she was looking at me or simply just staring. What I am sure of is it seemed time has stopped and we were in that awkward position for quite some time already as my knees started to shake and getting numb.

I cleared my throat and said, "Je—Jessica?"

Nothing. It seems like she froze. Her face was still wet from her tears but she was not blinking, it seems she was not breathing, nothing.

Then I said, "I'm – I'm sorry if I caught you off guard. I'm sorry of this was too much for you... I', ----"

Then she cut me off and said, "Just—Just give me a minute. I'm sorry."

Then she ran as fast as she could passing by our family and she did not even notice.

I fell on the floor pf the platform staring in to the ocean. I absolutely have no idea what just happened.

Our family just sat there in silence, wondering what happened. None of us wanted to move.

Hours passed by and still no Jessica in sight. The rest of us were still in the same position as if we were all frozen in time. I just know that it's deep in the night already as the moon is high above the sky.

Jessica

I froze. Memorize all came flashing back. Memories of my previous marriage. Can I? Am I ready to go through that again? At first I was looking deep in her eyes then it went from that to plain staring. As soon as I had the courage to move, I ran. I kept running until my legs hurt and allowed myself to fall on the shore, with the water touching my feet. I sat there, bringing my head to my knees and cried.

I love Sara. I really do. And yes, I want to build a life with her. I look at my future and all I can see is her and our children. Why do I have to be so messed up? I cried harder cursing myself.

"You shouldn't be too hard on yourself, Blondie."

"Go away Eric!" I quickly answered, forgetting that we were in a different continent. Then it hit me. "Wait! What? Eric? Why? How? Why are you here?"

"We're all here. You Mom, both your Dads, your sisters, Sara's family. Then there's Judy and I too."

"But how---"

"Sara has planned this for a while now, Jess. This has all been planned out. The dinner? It was not just some resort package she made you believe. It was an intimate dinner with all of us there. We were not supposed to show our faces until you say 'yes' but instead you ran. Why?"

"I'm a mess. I know I want to spend my life with her. But when she knelt and asked, everything that has even happened to me with my marriage with Chris came floating right back. I'm scared..."

Eric wrapped his arms around me and I started crying again. Then he said, "It's okay to be scared, Jessica. You've been in a very traumatizing marriage. But fuck him Jess. Sara is in no way close to him. Sara loves you. She breathes you. Nothing she does or says that's not about and for you. Gosh she even loves Luke way more than that bastard does! Jess, baby, we all won't be here if there's at least one of us who does not believe in this. She's your person. She's the love of your life. She was made for you Jess as you are made for her. Do not let your past haunt you and destroy what the future holds for you. Again, it's okay to be scared. But be scared with the right one. Okay? I love you, you know that right?" He then kissed the top of my head.