On the edge

Chapter 12: Blue Topaz

When Sue woke up the next morning, it was only half past four, technically still nighttime, and the sun had not risen yet. Sue found herself wrapped in light-blue bedsheets, and James sitting next to her, in nothing but his underwear. The index and thumb of his right hand played with the ring he had held in front of Sue's face the day before, hoping it would explain itself better than he had. When he noticed that she was awake, James quietly smiled at her.
"You know," he said, "I get that you ran away."
"Jim, I-..." Sue began, but James shook his head with a gentle smile on his lips, as if he meant to say that she shouldn't worry about what had happened.
"I mean, I didn't even have the guts to actually ask you," he continued.

"It was kind was self-explanatory, though," Sue reasoned in his favour.

"And still..." James argued, slightly furrowing his brow.

"You know," he said again, "I had it all planned... But when I saw you there, in the shop, my brain just went into a full-on panic mode."

Sue caressed his shoulder and kissed it softly.

"I mean, even the wood..." James went on complaining about himself, "There's a legend about two lovers, at least as legendary as Romeo and Juliet; Naoise and Deirdre. Sadly, they suffered the same destiny... But from both their graves grew a Yew tree, all across the distance, until they met; and their branches intervened."

Sue listened attentively as James continued, "Not even death could keep them apart..."

And then, it seemed to suddenly hit him; he jumped out of bed and onto his naked feet. Sue lifted herself into a sitting position; bedsheets still wrapped around her entire body and watched James go down on one knee on his pastel-coloured carpet. Again he held the ring, he had put so much effort and time into, in front of her face. This time, however, he dared to speak.
"Blue Topaz for the sky above and the sea below," he said, "For I will lay down both at your feet if you ask me to."

James smiled a little, and so did Sue. It was funny, almost ridiculous, how much of a hopeless romantic he was, while she was quite the opposite. But she would have lied, had she pretended his poetic vein didn't get to her.
"Blue Topaz for loyalty and true love, two things I wish to offer to you today, and every other morning that there is to come; every day that lies ahead of us. And although they may be numbered in this life, I shall find you in the next one; and every life after that, and spend it by your side."
He held his other hand open so that Sue could put hers into his, and then James asked, with a soft voice so low, it almost was but a whisper; on his lips he wore an unusual confident smile, as he spoke, "Will you do me the extraordinary honour of marrying me?"

To swear off marriage just because her parents' went horribly wrong, somewhere along the way, would have been like never eating an apple again, after having had a bad one once. On the other hand, Sue also didn't think that signing a certificate, and making love legally binding, should be considered a necessity. But, how could she have said no to such a proposal? Listening to James' sweet words made her want to believe in everlasting love and that maybe, she was lucky enough to have a shot at it. She nodded, unable to suppress a smile, and laid her hand into the palm of his. James was just about to put the ring on her finger when Sue noticed that he had engraved a few words on the inside.
Boundless as the sea.
James was aware of her look, and so he quoted, while slipping the ring on her finger, Shakespeare's undeniably most famous play, "My bounty is as boundless as the sea, my love as deep; the more I give to you, the more I have, for both are infinite."
For a moment, Sue marvelled at the blond; she hung onto his lips, and every word he let slip past them, appeared to hit just the right spot. Then, rather unexpectedly, James rose from his knees and pulled her towards him. He kissed Sue as gently as he always did. Even in those moments when neither seemed able to retain their self long enough to close at least the door to his flat, and they ended a bit all over the floor, there was nothing quite comparable to the soft touch of his lips.
"Let's go," he said.
"Where to?" Sue wanted to know, "It's half past four in the morning."
"To the church," James replied, "Marry me today."
It sure sounded insane. And yet, very much like the kind of madness Sue wanted to be part of.
"Reverend Collins owes me a favour," James noted, jumping into a pair of dark-blue jeans.
"I'm sure he won't mind."