Lead Me On
Angie grabbed my hand and said: “Come with me.”
I nearly dropped my sandwich as she pulled me unceremoniously to my feet. So startled was I that I had no choice but to wolf my snack and wipe my hand on the butt of my jeans while she led me away from our spread blanket on the grass. We had arrived at the park minutes ago. I grumbled and took begrudging steps as she continued pulling me forward before turning back to glance at our items spread on the blanket, especially the straw basket containing our food.
“Angie, our stuff–”
“We’ll come back for it soon,” she said impatiently while pulling my arm. “Come on. There’s something I want you to see.”
“Can’t it wait? You know there’re people around, right?”
“Nobody’s gonna steal our stuff, Jeremy,” she replied. “This is something that can’t wait. Please.”
There was no winning when it comes to Angie wanting to have her way. I sighed and allowed her to lead me away from our blanket and picnic basket towards a cluster of maple trees and bush that formed a wall on the east section of the park. The fall season was almost upon us, and already the trees starting to shed their leaves. The ground was littered with yellow, dead leaves and broken branches. I have wandered plenty of times around this dark part of the park. It was safe now that the leaves were dying, so there was little expectation of encountering something weird and dangerous. But sometimes, you never know with people.
“Angie, you know this park isn’t always safe,” I warned as she led me further into the dense bush. “Especially around here.”
“Do you remember the last time we got lost in here?”
I did remember; I especially remembered why; the memory raised a smile on my lips. “That was months ago,” I reflected.
“Twelve, to be exact,” she said. She wasn’t leading me anymore as we now navigated our way amongst the trees, holding hands while stepping on dry, dead leaves rotting under our feet. “That’s how long it has been. Do you remember what led to us coming here?”
“Sure, how can I forget.”
She smiled as she was also preoccupied with the memory we shared. “You used to wear those silly French hats, the ones that made you look like an English terrier. I grabbed the hat off your head that day and ran into these woods. Do you remember?”
“Yeah, and I remember chasing you into this place. But I doubt if this was the same route we took.”
“Oh, it is. Maybe it isn’t, but I remember we stopped at that tree over there.”
Angie pointed at the tree that was ten feet in front of us. It resembled every other tree in the woods, nothing special about it, and I had no idea regarding her intention.
“You finally caught me and pinned me against the tree like this,” she pressed herself to its bark with her cheek pressed against it. Angie went on smiling while she continued to reminisce about what occurred between us that fateful day.
“I stuck my butt at you,” she muttered, “you lifted my skirt and stuck your cock inside me. You fucked me while I held onto the tree. You remember?”
“Yeah, of course. That was a terrific night. So tell me, what again is so special about this tree? There’s plenty around.”
“I know it is because right before we finished and left, I did a crude carving of my initials into it so I can remember. I first did that, then days later, I came back and carved your name beside mine. Here it is.”
She stepped away from the tree to show me what she meant. I drew closer and saw she had indeed carved out her initials, including mine, linking them with a plus (+) symbol in-between, all of which was encased in a heart symbol.
Angie Prescott + Jeremy Phillips.
I felt my hand over the etching. Angie had cut deep into the tree; I could only imagine how long the effort must have taken her.
“Why did you do it?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” she replied.
I looked at her and didn’t say anything; words seemed to defeat me at that intimate moment. Her eyes were already speaking to me before she uttered her following words.
“I love you, Jeremy.”
“I love you, too, Angie. You’re the air that I breathe.”
“This is our temple–our moment . . . if you won’t mind.”
“You want to get married?”
Angie’s eyes shimmered like diamonds welling up with tears. She paused to sniffle, then dove into her jeans pocket and pulled out a heart-shaped and opened it before me. My eyes popped with surprise at the glittering pair of engagement rings inside. I looked at her, too amazed to say anything. The irony of the moment wasn’t lost to me, and she sensed it, too.
“You came prepared, babe,” I said.
“I’ve been waiting for you to say those words to me. I don’t think I can wait any longer.” She stopped to wipe tears off her eyes. “Will you marry me, Jeremy Phillips?”
“Yes, I fucking will marry you, Angie Prescott. Will you be my wife forever and always?”
She gave me the brightest smile amid sniffles. “Yes, I fucking will!” she cried.
I slipped one of the engagement rings into her left hand’s fourth finger while Angie did the same to mine, and then we shared a long, passionate kiss as if to seal the deal.
“Now, how about we return to enjoying our picnic,” I suggested.
Holding hands, we left our love-carved tree behind and made our way back towards sunlight in the park.