A Romantic's Guide To Tears And Chocolate

Coffee Cups

There was a ring at the bottom of the cup of coffee I was holding; I could feel it when I picked up the cup. I heard the soft sound of it tapping against the side of the cup. Therefore, it was either a ring or the guy who made me coffee wanted to show me how much he appreciated my kindness when he screwed up my order by dropping a coin inside.

The cup was rather small, so I quickly drank it up and looked inside. The ring was a covered in a few drops of coffee, but it still amazed me as it shimmered in the coffee shop's lights.

In a way, I was a bit disappointed by this proposal. I was expecting something a bit more, I don't know, spontaneous? Nonetheless, I was overjoyed he was finally proposing to me.

I slowly moved my eyes up to look at my boyfriend of five years, Isaac. We met on the campus quad at our old college in our freshman years. I was a psychology major, and he was an engineering major. It was actually a pretty... unconventional meeting. He was playing football with his buddies and missed the ball, so it came flying right at the side of my head, effectively knocking me out.

I woke up two hours later with a hot stranger sitting by me at the nurse's office, profusely apologizing for attacking me with his football. I had obviously accepted the apology and somehow we got to talking. Not long after, we became fast friends. Then, about two months later, he asked me out.

Long story short, we stayed together all through college, which we actually just graduated from last summer. The two of us lived together in an apartment in the city. I was working as a guidance counselor at a middle school and he had landed a job at a factory. We were happy together, and life couldn't get any better.

However, I've been waiting for him to propose for quite a while. We've both discussed marriage, but he just wouldn't pop the question. I know it might sound selfish to say that, but I kept feeling like he might not want to, despite his constant assurances of his love and devotion.

So, even if this wasn't some grand gesture, I was happy it was finally happening. I searched Isaac's face for any sign of a hidden smile or something.

Nothing.

He continued typing on his laptop, oblivious to my questioning stare. I pulled the ring out of the cup and wiped it off.

"Uh, Isaac-"

"Oh, thank goodness, you found it!" I turned, a bit startled as a stranger came barreling towards me. It was some guy in his early twenties. He came over and grabbed the ring out of my hand before I could protest.

"I apologize, the worker doing our coffees seemed to have slipped this in the wrong cup. I had asked him to stick it in my girlfriend's cup so I could surprise her, but imagine my own surprise when she finished it and nothing was there. I'm just so glad you found it! God knows what I would have done if the ring was lost. Rings aren't cheap, you know? Thank you, you're a lifesaver!"

On the inside, I was slowly breaking as his words sunk in. I was also silently begging him to shut the hell up. On the outside, I kept a smile on my face and told him it was no problem.

I watched as he slowly walked across the room, ring hidden in his hand. When he reached his table, a young girl looked up at him and smiled. He grabbed her hands and pulled her out of her seat, causing her to look at him in confusion. Her look of confusion quickly switched to utter joy as he got on one knee. I saw him whisper a few things to her, promises of marriage, I'm guessing. She screamed yes so loud, everyone turned and watched as she leapt into his arms. The entire room was filled with claps as everyone cheered for them.

Smiling sadly, I turned back around and sighed. Looking up, I noticed Isaac's eyes on me. I could tell he already knew what I was thinking by the way he stared at me.