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„Who would I drink Burbon with?“ This question kept running around Melendez’ head, even months after Audrey had been out of the hospital. She and he had been dating for over a year now. And things were better than he had ever expected them to be. Lim had admitted to him, that she was scared of her feelings, when they had gotten together, he knew that was still the case. So, they had treated very carefully with their relationship. Overthinking every step and never rushing into things. While it had been exhausting at first, by now they had found their rhythm and were happy. So happy. Then this damned Christmas shift. When Neil had seen his girlfriend laying lifelessly on that gurney, it had torn his heart out. What was even worse, when he asked to see her file, he’d been told that he wasn’t her proxy and even if the whole hospital knew they were dating, patient confidentially was still in place.
Once Lim had been home, they had been cuddled up on the couch, craving to be close to the other. At first, they had just sat there in silence, holding each other tightly. It had taken her a while to open up and admit just how much all of this had scared her. How she felt like she had forgotten to do a lot of things in her life. She assured herself, he knew she loved him. Even if she didn’t shout it from the rooftops. One of the things she asked for him to do immediately, was to become her proxy. They had always talked about it, but never went through with it. Thinking they had time. Melendez had just kissed her very gently, still afraid to overwork her lungs. Tears were cloaking his throat. The fear of losing her, still sat deep in his bones. This icy feeling, was only now, that she was in his arms, slowly starting to leave. The next thing Audrey told him she wanted was to finally move in together. They had even managed to decide on a house to move into together, rather easily. Before her near death experience, they had always been looking for something they both liked a hundred percent. Suddenly, ninety percent had been enough.
They had moved in together, became each other’s proxy’s and yet, Neil still felt like something was missing. As if it wasn’t enough. He loved her. And he wanted it to be official. Sure, it wouldn’t change anything about their relationship, but to call Audrey his wife, the thought alone made him grin like an idiot. And he knew Lim technically wasn’t against remarrying. Even before they had gotten together, they used to talk about marriage, if it came up. Her answer had always been the same. She wasn’t really opposed to it but wouldn’t go out of her way again to get married. If she would ever find a partner, who’d be able to get her commit, and he wanted to get married, she wouldn’t stand in his way. After that, she usually laughed and took a drink. Saying she doubted that would ever happen, so thinking about it was for naught. Sure, this wasn’t the best answer, but at least she used to be willing to consider it. Well, here they were. They were head over heels in love with each other. The amount of times they were still too late for work, because the kisses in the car had gotten out hand was ridiculously high.
So, he decided to try. Asking wouldn’t hurt, right? Even if she didn’t say yes, she would know just how committed he was to her and their relationship. That this was it for him. Especially in the moments her feelings sometimes still overwhelmed her, and she doubted everything, this would remind her, he was right there next to him. And, if she had him, as her husband.
“Hey there. How was your day?” Neil called out from behind the stove, like he always did, when he was home before her.
“Surprisingly boring. The ER was dead today, but I suppose that’s a good thing. What about you? I thought you wanted to finish your whole paperwork until late today? Patringa told me, you went home earlier.” Audrey answered, as she walked over to him, after putting her stuff away. She kissed him and stole a bite from the food that was already prepared. She noticed, Neil had gone all the way and made their favourite dish from scratch.
“Yeah, turns out I didn’t want to do my paperwork after all. And I figured, having dinner ready for you was a way better use of our time. Especially, since we’re heading to Napa for the weekend tomorrow. I thought preparing a nice evening for the two of us would be a great start into it. Don’t tell Andrews about me playing hooky.” Neil gave her a cheeky grin, before kissing her. Then he playfully swatted her hand away, as she was about to steal another bite. “Go, get changed into something comfy and dinner should be ready then. The night is quite warm, up to eat outside?”
“Dr. Melendez, lazy as ever.” Lim laughed, stealing on more kiss, before starting to make her way up towards their bedroom. “But your secret is save with me, don’t worry, hun. And that sounds amazing. Thank you. I’m really excited for the next three days. Have you finished packing?” She called, already on the stairs. Neil just grinned. He loved everything about how this evening was going.
“What’s got you so giddy today?” Lim asked, in between bites, giving him a cheeky grin. Melendez loved her even more for that, she always knew his mood. They were sitting in their dining room niche on their balcony, opposite each other. Thus giving her the best chance to see him, having to force his face to not grin ridiculous with nervous every few seconds. Until now, they had talked about their day and their plans for Napa, telling the other to which activities they were most looking forward to.
“Can’t I just be excited to spend time with you? It’s been ages since we had a whole weekend to ourselves.” Neil shrugged, taking a sip from his wine.
“Neil, you’ve already got me. There’s no need to try to woo me.” Audrey teased, squeezing his hand, letting him know how much she appreciated everything he was doing for her.
“I don’t need to, but I want to.” Melendez answered, leaning over to kiss her for emphasis.
“Flattery will get you everywhere Dr. Melendez.” Lim smiled into the kiss, giving him a second one for good measure, before getting back to her food.
“That was delicious. Seriously, I have no idea how you can do that in that kitchen of ours. Should we order something in for dessert?” Audrey asked, after they were done. As always, getting up to clearing the table. Claiming since he did all the work preparing the food, the least she could do was take care of everything after dinner.
“If you have a look in the oven, you’ll see that I’ve already prepared dessert. I’ll go get the Bourbon and you get us each a piece? It’s still lovely outside and the sunset is really nice, how about we meet on the daybed and have nice night out here?” Neil suggested, trying to sound nonchalant. But suddenly his nerves started to flare up. Yes, they loved each other. Still, it would be a big step. Especially for Lim. He just hoped this was the right way to do things. Well, he wouldn’t go back now. So, he got up and set his plan in action.
“Divide and conquer. I love it.” Audrey called from the kitchen. “AND YOU’VE MADE MY FAVOURITE CAKE? And people wonder how we work. You know me so well, I love you.” She called even louder, making sure he heard her. Though, her attention was on the cake in front her. The smell alone made her excited. All she got as an answer was a loud laugh.
“And you’ve got a new bottle of our favourite Bourbon? Wait. Don’t tell me I have forgotten our anniversary.” Lim stated curiously, as she walked onto the balcony and saw the bottle from behind. Not that Melendez never did nice things for her, but those were suspiciously many in one night.
“Nope, you haven’t forgotten anything. But I’ve also got new Whiskey glasses and it felt wrong to not get a new bottle. Look, I even got you ice. I know, I know, you’re starting to like it neat. But we both know you still prefer it with a little ice in it.” He answered with a smile on his face. Walking over to take one of the plates from her and setting them on the small round table next to their drink. Hoping the notion would hide his nervousness. He couldn’t help but be fidgy.
“Okay, you not making fun of me liking it more with ice, proves something is up. So, what’s going on?” Audrey asked curiously, since everything was going fine, she didn’t think something bad was going on, so she wasn’t too worried. Maybe his mom was coming to visit for a month again or something like that.
“No, I’m just having pity on you. It must be rough living with such awful tastebuds. Here have a seat.” He teased, nodding towards their newly purchased daybed, which was way bigger than it needed to be, but so comfy, they loved it´.
Lim just huffed, rolled her eyes and made herself comfortable. Once Neil was sure, she was set for the time being, he moved the small table in a way she could see the bottle from the front and the glasses.
“Oh, the tumblers look fancy. Where did you get them?” She asked, once she had seen them.
“I’ve ordered them from a glass blower, I’ve read about. She’s famous for making the best Bourbon tumblers. Obviously, I had to see if that’s true.” He answered, sitting down next to her, kissing her cheek.
“Obviously. Well, let’s see if they live up to their promise. Want me to pour?” Audrey offered, turning her head to give him a short kiss. Did this lovey-dovey phase ever stop? It’s been one and a half years and yet they were still all over each other, every time they had the chance.
“Sure, go ahead.” Neil answered, biting his lip and leaning back a bit. Just waiting for her to get it.
Audrey sat up a bit, so she could reach the glasses better and looked at them. They did have a nice design and with a closer inspection, you could see a word engraved on each. YES? And YES!. With a questioning look she turned over her shoulder to look at her boyfriend. “Yes and yes? What does that mean? Is it something like, say no to drugs but yes to Bourbon?”
“Very creative, but no.” Neil laughed and continued to watch her, observing how her whole face was up to the challenge to figure it out.
“So there is a meaning behind it? It’s not just a design choice?” Lim asked, already knowing there was more behind it, without him having to spell it.
“Not just a design choice.” Neil confirmed, but didn’t give her anything else, except for winking at her.
“Okay, so how are we going to play this? You’re giving me hints and I’ll try to figure out the meaning?” She asked, her thumbs were stroking over the word on each glass, but her eyes were still fixed on his.
“You have a MD, are considered to be one of the best surgeons in the country. I’m sure you can figure this out without any hints from me. Don’t you usually love to prove to me just how smart you are?” Melendez teased her, clasping his hands together behind his head, so they wouldn’t give away what an emotional wreck he was being on the inside.
“Fine, but I’ll pour us a drink before the ice melts. Is that okay?” Lim answered, showing him she was up to play.
“Absolutely. Go ahead.” Neil grinned, his stomach was in knots now. Any moment and she would have figured it out.
Lim took the bottle and like always, scanned the label. Usually, she looked for the place and year it was brewed. Just to know. Usually, this took her only seconds. Usually, she already opened the bottle at the same time.
Today, was different. Her hand stopped mid-movement to open it. And her eyes stayed at the same place of the label. Neil was pretty sure he knew where. But he wasn’t sure for how long though. Since it felt like time had stopped. Audrey had stopped moving completely, only her chest was rising and falling a bit faster than usual. He could see her eyes flicker back and forth over the four little words. Will you marry me? He hadn’t been able to decide what to write. So he ended up with the most important ones. This was what it was all about.
Neil had really wanted to give her the time to answer, but he couldn’t stand the tension anymore. So, he started to explain. “Yes-exclamation mark means, yes, absolutely. Yes-question mark means, ah yeah, you haven’t really thought about it, it’s not a no, but we need to talk before a definite answer and I figured if it’s no, you either drink straight from the bottle or we won’t be needing glasses anyway. But, love, I just want to say, no is just as fine. Because in the end, I want to spend my lifetime drinking Bourbon with you. Whether we’re married or not. I wanted you to know here I stood, that’s all. We can forget about all this again, if it’s not for you and just celebrate our weekend in Napa.” Neil had sat up a bit straighter, his hands were now back on his lap. He wanted desperately, to take her hand, but he knew this was a big moment, so he gave her space. Not wanting to force her into a reaction.
“2005?” Was the only thing Audrey asked referring to the drink’s age, her eyes still focused on the bottle.
“Yeah, the year we met.” Neil answered, and Lim just nodded, her focus still on the object in her hands. His confidence starting to dwindle with every second more she just kept staring at the Bourbon. He wasn’t good with silence, so he continued to talk. “I didn’t get you a ring, because I know you aren’t the biggest fan of jewelry, nor are you the showy type, neither do you really care for traditions. And you’d have to take it off before work anyhow. So, I thought this would be more us. But if you want a ring, I can get you one. Should I have gotten you a ring?”
It took a few more moments, but then Audrey looked up, with a smile on her face and glassy eyes, shaking her head. “No. This is perfect. You are perfect. And, you are right. This is us.” She answered, her voice taken over by emotions. With that, she put the bottle away and half crawled over to him, taking his face in her hands to give him multiple short kisses, before getting lost in a longer one. Neil’s hands had found her cheeks as well. Though, this time he instead of going in for a second kiss, he pulled back a bit to look her in the eyes. Then he admitted a bit breathless “Not that I don’t love, you telling me I’m right, right now, I’m kind of anxious for some other words from you. Again, no pressure, I just want you to know where I stand. Still, I’d like to know your thoughts as well.”
Audrey just grinned at him and nodded. Then she sat up straighter and leaned over to grab the bottle, as well as the tumblers. This movement was enough for Melendez to breathe a bit easier. Sure, he would have been able to handle a ‘no’, but this, this was his dream coming true. Even if it was a maybe.
Lim filled both tumblers, then handing him one, with a smile on her face. Neil took it with the biggest grin on his face. Already raising it to toast.
“You haven’t even looked, which one I’ve handed you.” Audrey laughed, now turning her whole body towards him, getting more comfortable. Though, she knew they wouldn’t stay like this for long.
“Right. Sorry. You being open to the idea, that alone is already making me so happy.” He answered, still not making any move to look, he was too busy staring her in eyes. She was happy too. The answer didn’t matter. This moment, them being happy mattered.
“I’m sure you’ll be even happier in a moment.” Audrey just stated, biting her lip excitedly.
“Yes?” Neil just breathed, holding the eye contact.
“YES!” Audrey almost shouted too giddy to watch her voice, before turning her tumbler towards him, the one with the question mark. “Here’s to a lifetime of drinking whsiky together.” Lim toasted, lifting up her glass with the brightest smile on her face.