Perfectly Imperfect

Part 4 : No matter what, I'll be there for you.

"Hey Debbie! Is Meli with you? I tried to reach her phone but she is not available" I said on call with Debbie.
"What's today's date ?" She asked.
"Uhmm.. It's's February 14. Why?" I asked.
"Oh... She must be at the cemetery near our church. It's her parents death anniversary today" she said in a soft voice.
I was shocked and saddened; not for the fact that it's the worst day of Melissa's life, but the fact that she never shared about this with me. I could be the shoulder for her to lean on such a grievous day. I know it sounds more selfish. I was well aware that she lost the most important persons of her life. So, I just put the phone down and let the thoughts settle in my head.

It's been more than a month since I dated her and she seemed to really like me. She shared all her thoughts about her friends and moments at work so far. I shared my personal details of life with her, but she never wanted to share hers. Whenever I asked about her family, she just diverted the topic. I believe that she is still scared and needs time to open up. Her friends claimed that she is not serious about me and I'm wasting my time on her. I didn't believe them because her eyes told otherwise. Whenever she looks at me, every single time, they show how much she loves me. But something's stopping her and I don't know what it is.

I put the phone aside and dipped my head in work. I kept myself busy and waited for Melissa to call me back. By midnoon, my phone buzzed; it was her.
"Hey Meli-girl!" I said like a happy puppy, but not really.
"Hi. Sorry, I just checked my phone. I was stuck with some important work" she said, pretending like she is normal.
"Oh.. it's okay. I understand", I said, disappointed.
After a few seconds of silence, she asked "lunch at Mc Donald's?".
"Ummm yeah. Sure. I'll be there in 30." I said looking at the clock.

I took shower and dressed up. I took my car keys and looked back at the present I got for Valentine's. Yes! I remember that today is Valentine's day, but seems like a bad time to talk about it, right? Anyways, I bought the watch as a present, which she loved from a store a month ago. I took that and thought if it's the right time to give or not. I got in my car and put the gift in the glove box. I drove to Mc D and searched for her. She was sitting in a corner browsing her phone. I placed the regular order which we like, and walked towards her. She looked at me and smiled; that smile where she was trying to hide the pain. I asked if she was fine while giving her favorite burger to her hand. She took it and said yes. I started talking random things except Valentine's day. In a while, a couple had a grand proposal. The guy asked the girl if she will be his valentine and she said yes. She smiled looking at them. After we were done eating, we got into my car to drop her home. She looked down and asked "Do you remember today is Valentine's day?".
I said "yeah, I knew. But I felt that you were not in a good mood when I spoke to you on call. So, I didn't know if it's the right time to talk about it".
She looked at me and started playing with her bracelet. She was silent.
"Is there anything you wanna talk about ?" I asked.
She nodded no. I didn't want her to be sad, at least when I'm with her. So, I started a random topic and tried to make her laugh. She smiled with great difficulty for some of the talks. Suddenly, she paused me in the middle of a joke and said "Today is my parents' death anniversary".
I paused and pretended like I was shocked. I slowly pulled over my car to the roadside.
She started "Very few people know about this and I'm sorry I couldn't tell when you asked about them". I turned off the car and looked at her.
She continued "My parents... They... We were coming home from a party. I was pissed at the way my cousin, Jerry, misbehaved with me during the party. I was complaining to my dad but he said that nothing can be done about it since he is a commissioner's son. I was pissed and I started hitting him while he was driving. My mom tried to pull me back but I was too self-involved. All of a sudden, a tire got punctured and the car lost balance and accidentally drove into a tree. Mom and dad died at the spot. It was all because of me. I shouldn't have fought with them that night".
She sobbed out of guilt. I slided her into my arms and started consoling her.
"Hey.. you didn't do it to your parents. It was not in your hands. Don't put the blame on yourself, Meli. You would never hurt your mum and dad, would ya? No right? Calm down.. It's okay. I'm really sorry for your mom and dad's loss. And I understand why you hesitated to share it with me".
She kept crying and hugged me tightly. I was consoling her for an hour. After a while, she calmed down. She drank some water and added "This is the fourth death anniversary. I never felt like sharing this with anyone. I was scared that you'd be angry when you know about this".
While wiping her tears, I said "Look, when I started dating you, I admired you as a whole. Whenever you trust me or are ready to speak about anything, I'm here for you. No matter what, I will be there for you. Remember that. Okay?"
She nodded with that hearty smile with all her love and tears in her eyes. I kissed her forehead. She hugged me again tightly and said "Happy Valentine's baby".
I pulled back smiling and said "Happy Valentine's baby girl" and she kissed me.
We got back to our seats to start driving. While driving, I asked her "Do you feel better now?".
She said "yeah, feels good to pull it out of my chest. I feel lighter".
I replied "That's great. I'm glad you shared about it with me babe. Okay, can you open the glove box for me? I think I left my phone in there".
She unlocked it and saw the gift.
"Oh my God! Is that for me?" She said with her eyes shining with happiness.
"Yes babe. Open it" I said.
She unwrapped and opened the box and saw the watch. She was so surprised and said "How did you remember that?! When did you buy this? Oh my God! Steve, Thank you so much. It's beautiful!".
I stopped at a gas station and put the watch on her wrist. She really loved it. I looked at her happy face for a little while. I just couldn't wait to have her for the rest of my life. So, I said : "Meli, I know that this day for you is not like the day the whole world celebrates for. It's really unfortunate to lose your parents at such a young age and I can do nothing about it. But I promise I'll never make you feel alone. You can always count on me".
With a beautiful smile she said "Thank you babe for understanding and being there with me. It really means a lot. I'm glad to find a person like you who cares a lot about me even though I'm not perfect. I never thought someone would like me as much as I do".
I slided her hair away from her rosy cheeks and said "You are perfect for me. I wish you could see yourself through my eyes; then you'd see you're worth more than anything in this world for me".
She gasped and asked with a smile "Steve, do you—". I paused her and said "I've been thinking about this since a while. As a matter of fact, I think even you feel the same. Melissa, since the first day we dated, I couldn't help but fall for you every single day. Every moment I spend with you is beautiful. The way you understand my silence, my anger, my thoughts, my family, nobody did this to me. You care for me a lot but you don't show it in words. I can see how much I mean to you. You accept me as a whole regardless of the flaws. And I admire you the same way. All the little things you do makes me fall in love with you even more. Yes, babe. I'm in love with you".
She covered her mouth with her two little palms and just kept looking at me. After a few minutes, tears of happiness started rolling down her rosy cheeks which gave a relief to my anxious heart. So, I got down the car to propose to her properly. I bought a rose from the shop nearby and walked towards her side of the door. I opened the door and took her hand in mine and proposed: "Melissa, I love you, with all my heart. I understand if you need some time to respond because you have been through a lot today. So I won't expect you to say anything quickly".
She held my hand tightly and said "I love you too babe". I was not expecting that response so fast. It was like she waited for me to propose and she immediately said it. I was overwhelmed when she felt the same way as I did.

We got back into the car holding hands as we drove to her home. I dropped her and started getting back to my house. She called to my phone in the middle and said "Thank you for coming in my life. You are the best Valentine gift I can ever have". I just couldn't stop smiling all the way to my home. I was so happy. This long wait was totally worth it. I hope she recovers soon from her parents' accident and stops blaming herself. I hope February 14 can not just be her parent's death anniversary every year. It can be more than that; and I wanna make sure I will be there for her from now on.