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Johnny opened the bedroom door as quietly as he possibly could. It was pitch dark inside. Aisha liked to read for around half an hour in bed before sleeping, so the lack of light was a good sign. He pushed the door open a little more to peek inside. Upon sticking his head through the door,
all he could hear was his girlfriend’s soft breaths. She was asleep alright, Johnny could tell her breathing apart from when she was still awake.
After having confirmed that she was indeed sleeping, he gently closed the door from the outside. Johnny snuck downstairs towards the living room, where he picked up a yellow book that was laying on a table and brought it to Aisha’s telephone. The man opened the book somewhere in the middle and began flicking through the pages until he reached the letter M.
The page he was on included names and businesses starting with M and I. He started from the bottom of the page.
“Milfs, Milton, Miller, Mike, aha! Mikano’s!” He finally found the name he was looking for.
He put his finger next to the number to not lose sight of it while he dialled it into the phone he held in his other hand.
Mikano’s was a fancy restaurant in Nob Hill. It wasn’t his kind of establishment, but Aisha had always swooned over it.
And for this occasion, it would be the perfect place for his plan.
“Welcome, to Mikano’s,” a friendly, female voice greeted him over the phone, “how may I help you?”
Johnny was a bit nervous, this was different from ordering through the intercom at Freckle Bitch’s, “Uh yes, hey, I was wondering if, I mean I’d like to make a reservation for two. Please.”
“Certainly, a table for two,” the woman responded professionally, “what time and date would you like to make this reservation for?”
“Next Thursday at 8pm,” he answered.
“Very well, and your name?”
Crap, he didn’t think of preparing a fake name. Unless he wanted the cops or media waiting for them at the restaurant, he couldn’t give her his or Eesh’s actual names, so he said the first two names that came to mind, “Uh, Kim and Smith.”
“Very well, we do have a table free during that time,” this was a relief to hear. He had been worried that his reservation would be too short notice, “what is the occasion?”
Johnny felt a bit nervous before answering, but he reminded himself that this was a daily thing for the staff there, “I-It’s my woman’s birthday.”
“Oh that’s just wonderful,” she sounded more cheerful than before, “we will make sure to make it memorable.”
“Thanks, uh, another thing,” there was that lump in this throat again, “do you, uh, do you still do proposals?”
“Ooh,” the woman was gleeful at his request, “most certainly, yes. Do you have anything specific in mind? Would you like us to hide the ring at the bottom of her champagne glass? Any special decorations for your table?”
“Uh, no, I wanted to offer her the ring myself,” he couldn’t believe he was talking to someone about these ideas. He had planned this and kept it to himself for so long, not even telling the Boss about it, so this was the first time he shared his intentions, “but I was hoping that when I get on one knee after we finished our dinner, a violin player could approach our table and play a song.”
“My, that’s so romantic,” the staff swooned, “no problem at all, we can arrange that. What piece would you like to be played?”
Drat. Among all the other things to consider, he hadn’t thought of that detail. Truth is, he didn’t know a thing about classical music. And while Aisha’s songs were very urban and modern, she was still a classy woman who enjoyed that kind of music.
“I, hmm,” Johnny struggled to think of even one classical piece. He only knew melodies but no actual titles, “whatever you deem fitting.”
“Of course, we’ll make sure to have the perfect tune to accompany your proposal,” the woman sounded a little disappointed at his lack of preparation, but she stayed professional and assured him that they would make it work.
“That’s great to hear,” he felt a little more at ease now, a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
“Certainly, is there anything else that you have in mind?”
He went over the things he had envisioned in his head, and made sure he hadn’t forgotten anything, ”no, I think that checks everything.”
“Wonderful, we will make the necessary preparations for Thursday next week at eight, and we look forward to serving you, sir,”
the woman once again assured him that everything would be taken care of.
“Awes-, I mean splendid, thank you very much;” he waited for her to say her goodbyes before hanging up.
He put the receiver and phone book back before slumping down on Aisha’s white couch. His chest felt heavy after making that call. Up until now,
it had all been an idea, but now that he had made this arrangement, it felt so much more real. He retrieved a little, black box from his pocket and opened it. A diamond decorated ring sat on a white cushion. Johnny admired it for a brief moment before closing the box again and putting it back in his pocket. He continued reassuring himself that she was going to love it.