The Truth About Love

Enrapture

Soft rain rhythmically pattered on the roof above. The house below was silent safe for the weak fire crackling away on the last log in the fireplace.

He was resting in his big, comfy arm chair, trying but failing miserably to concentrate on his book.

By his feet laid his greatest distraction. She was laying before the fire, her gaze fixated on the multi coloured flickers of the flame. Wearing her worn out pajamas, her face swiped free of make up, she was still breathtaking.

He fingered his pocket, trying to open his mouth to say something, anything but as he often was in her presence, he felt at a loss for words.

Even after four years, she still left him speechless on a daily basis. Sometimes by the enormity of her sheer intellect and wit. At the same time, even this intelligent woman could so heart achingly endearing, he was often caught between the desire to maul her with his deep affection or gaze at her with his profound admiration for her.  

But he didn't always feel this way for her. In fact at first, she had reduced to a quivering, terrified mess. In her words, she had been meticulously setting up for her latest rally when he had unceremoniously barged through and shoved her signs down. In reality she had been putting up signs of a heavily crowded intersection and in an effort to get by, he had accidentally tramped one of her signs. In response, she had mercilessly cut him down in front of the intersection and he had been left both terrified and strangely enraptured by her fiery passion.  

His persistence had eventually won her over. After two weeks of sincere courting and a great deal of rationalising, she had bregudgingly agreed that she too felt quite charmed by him. And with that began, the best two years of his life.  None of that sincerity, persistence or passion faded, in fact both of them became infinitely more empowered over the course of the two years. She became more determined to fight for the causes that she so wholly believed in and he could say with full conviction that he became her unequivocal pillar of support to ensure that she continued fighting the good fight.

But recently he felt a void. A fragile gap in their otherwise perfect union.

So he tried, at first, to have her acknowledge the missing piece through discussing a topic that neither of them had ever broached before. Unsuccessful attempt one. Then he carefully planted items pertaining to the topic throughout the home. Unsuccessful attempt two. After several other fruitless attempts, he decided to take matters into his own hands.

Without a second thought, he bought the key to remedying the void and tirelessly worked to prepare his argument. Tonight, he deliberately invited her to sit by the fire to create the ideal atmosphere. It had been an hour but he still couldn't bring himself to say a word yet, despite the intensive preparation. So there he sat, wordlessly, with the item burning a hole in his pocket.  

He could begin by telling her that she had given him the greatest two years of his life. That her willingness to fight for her beliefs ignited a new strength in him everyday. That just earning a smile from her left him so entirely fulfilled. That anyone would be able to see that they challenged each other and made one another stronger everyday. That even sitting around, laughing about mundane topics with her made him so genuinely happy. That he had wanted a deeper, cemented commitment since day one but he held back in fear of holding her back from her dreams. But now? Now he wanted her to tell her without fear, about his dream. For them.

He dragged the ring out of his pocket, clutching it with a raw determination that she had helped him build, he said,

"Hey, can I talk to you about something?