Forever and Always

Diamonds are Forever

They had been going out for 5 years when Oscar decided that he was going to ask Cecelia to move in with him. He picked up the phone: 'Hi Lauren it's Oscar, can I borrow Abby for a while today?' Lauren turned her head and looked at her daughter with distaste, blowing a cloud of smoke from her mouth 'yeah I suppose so' Oscar flicked the kettle on and got a piece of paper and a pen to write a shopping list 'great' he smiled 'I'll be round to collect her at 11 okay?' Lauren made an affirmative 'hmm' sound and hung up. He sighed 'God, how I am related to her?' He chuckled to himself 'what a character'.

Abby was often round at Oscar's. He tried to keep her apart from her mother as much as possible so she still had a chance of a reasonable upbringing. She was a very smart girl and that was why Oscar wanted her help in the procedure. 'Okay, I need your help with something very important' he told her 'How do you feel about Cecelia being your proper Auntie?' Abby gasped and put her hands to her face 'Uncle Oscar, are you going to ask her to marry you?' 'Yes' he said 'Do you like her?' She nodded excitedly. He stood up and went to his kitchen cupboard to open a tiny safe hidden within. He pulled out a blue velvet box and took it to Abby; she opened it with a squeal. 'Wow! It's so pretty' she breathed 'do you think she'll like it?' 'Of course!'

The ring was beautiful; it was very expensive as it had a rare type of pink diamond in the centre with two smaller white diamonds on either side. He knew that she'd love it and he was so excited to give it to her.

Oscar and Abby spent the whole day thinking of romantic things to do for her when he proposed. 'I could take her to see a show?' Abby shook her head 'it should be simple otherwise she might know that you're going to propose because it's such a big deal'. He nodded and got out his phone to see if there were any helpful internet results 'What about in a restaurant?' Abby suggested, Oscar locked his phone and turned his head towards her 'go on' he folded his arms with interest 'take her out. Someplace nice maybe get her a new dress or something?' She continued 'that's one of the first things I ever said to her' he laughed 'how ironic'.

'So, I'll come to collect Abby on Saturday at 5:30pm yes?' Lauren nodded and shut the door in his face. 'She's so pleasant' he thought and got his phone out, 'Hey it Cecelia, leave a message' came her cheery answer phone 'hey it's me. Give me a call back when you get this. Love you speak to you soon' he hung up and left his sister's estate in a hurry. As he arrived back in his flat his phone rang, 'Hello lovely, you called?' She said 'yep I was just checking our plans for tonight?' 'Has anything changed?'

'Nope'

'great then I'll be there. I'll be round in about 45 minutes alright?'

'See you soon'

'love you'

'love you bye'

She hung up and turned back to Martin. 'Everything alright?' He asked 'Mm hm' she said as she picked up her coffee cup to finish the last couple of mouthfuls. They stood up to leave and they went back to her car, to say their goodbyes; he seemed surprised at the type of car she owned 'last time I saw you, you were driving a tiny Fiat' he commented patting the roof of her new white Mini 'it was getting a bit doddery in its old age' she said miming a Zimmer frame. 'See you next time?' 'Yep sounds good' said Martin giving her a hug before walking back to his own car and driving away.

She arrived at Oscar's flat a bit early but she knocked anyway. 'Hello' she said giving him a kiss 'I'm desperate for the loo' she called as she went round the corner to his bathroom dropping her phone and car keys on the side in the process. Her phone beeped when she was in the toilet and Oscar peered at it. She came round the corner to see him standing with his arms folded and his eyes were sad and broken, 'who's Martin?' 'My brother' she answered 'oh really? How come I've never met him before then? I really thought you were better than this' Cecelia walked up to him and held his hands. 'I love you. I would never cheat on you. I can't believe you think I'm like that' she said and he sensed the hurt in her voice. She went to pick up her keys and took her phone off of him 'I'm going home' she said flatly as a tear rolled down her cheek. 'Ces' he said catching her arm 'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to...' He pulled her into his arms in a warm embrace and she sank into him, wrapping her arms round his back. He closed the door and motioned to the sofa, they sat down and she snuggled up to him 'you've never met my brother because he's been in America since I was little and he's come back because his wife passed away and he couldn't live in the house anymore so he's come back to live with my parents' Oscar felt awful 'I'm sorry I didn't believe you' he said quietly 'it's okay, I wouldn't have believed me either. It's not the most believable story'. He was even more keen to propose now.

The week seemed to drag its heels but he was still getting excited. She seemed to have absolutely no idea and he didn't think that she would have even considered it. He woke up early on Friday morning to make sure he had time to find something nice for her to wear the following night. He picked up his keys and wallet from the kitchen table and headed out thinking of the most entrancing dress he could think of.