Love Hate Relationship

Chapter 15

"We're gonna be late," Clarke said.

"I know, I know."

"Your mom freaks out when we're late."

"I know."

Clarke and Finn were driving to the Collins residence for Thanksgiving dinner. It was "their" holiday, always hosting at least twenty people for dinner. The last couple of years Clarke's family was invited also, so it was a big family event.

Finn looked over at Clarke. "So my dad and I golfed with this guy today, John Murphy."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, he's a plastic surgeon. Owns a clinic here and in Portland. Guy screams money."

"Cool, if you're into that I guess." 

"He has a boat, and he owns a house in Baja, Mexico, on the beach. Said we can use it if we ever want to get away."

"Wow, you golfed with him once and he's already letting you stay at his house?"

"He seems like a good guy. I'm gonna golf with him next weekend too. We kinda hit it off. He thinks I should just bite the bullet and join the club."

"We're still just residents, we can't afford that place."

"Well, my dad is willing to help. You know he expects me to join someday anyway. What do you think?"

"It's up to you, if that's what you want, then do it. I know you love to golf."

"Really? Great. What did you do this morning?"

"Nothing much, just went for a run." Clarke wasn't being totally truthful. She did go for a run, but she also had spent a couple hours at the nursing home.  Her grandmother used to live there, but had passed last year, losing her eight year battle with Alzheimer's. She was named after her Gram, Evelyn Clarke, her dad's mom. She had always been Clarke's safe haven, the one person in the family who never pushed, never demanded, and accepted her for who she was, and not for who she should be. Clarke had visited her as often as she could get away during those years, which was tough because of med school. Now, her visits would consist of just holding someone's hand, anybody who needed it, or helping them eat their breakfast or lunch. She didn't feel the need to tell people she did this, so she kept these visits to herself.

They made it to the house just as all the guests were sitting down for dinner. They both endured a glare from Finn's mom, Margaret Collins.  She always looked so stern to Clarke, and she couldn't remember ever having heard her laugh out loud.  Finn's dad, Robert stood up and gave the yearly toast, thanking everyone for attending.  Clarke's parents were sitting across the table and she gave a small smile to her mom, who was also a little glarey over their tardiness.

When his father sat back down, Finn stood up and cleared his throat.

Clarke looked up at him expectantly. Finn never gave a toast, but he didn't have a glass in his hand.

"Uh, I just wanted to say something." Everyone stared at him as he nervously fidgeted. "Uh, first off, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, um, so, I have an announcement, well, not really announcement..."

Clarke smiled and looked over at her mom, who raised her eyebrows in question, and Clarke just shrugged her shoulders, she had no idea what was going on. When she turned back to Finn, he was on one knee in front of her, and her heart stopped beating as he reached for her hand.

"I just wanna ask, Clarke, will you marry me?"

For a millisecond, there was no sound, and Clarke's heart seemed to remain still and she wasn't breathing. Then suddenly everyone was talking at once, and Finn was slipping the ring on Clarke's finger, and people were clapping and pulling Finn up into a hug, grabbing Clarke and embracing her. Her parents were suddenly standing in front of her.

"Oh my god, you two, this is wonderful. Clarke, this is the greatest thing, you two are perfect together."

Her dad had his arms around her, "Princess, I'm so happy for you."

Her mom was beaming, positively beaming, "This is the best thing you've ever done, we're so proud of you honey."

The hugging and kissing seemed to last for hours, but truth be told, it was only a few minutes. Clarke felt like she was having an out of body experience, that she was looking down from above at everyone congratulating them. Everybody was so happy, everything seemed so perfect, except for one thing.  

Clarke never said yes.

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End of Chapter 15