said.
Meg smiled.
“ You
already talked to Michael?” Meg asked.
“ I
thought that was the more traditional thing to do,” he
admitted.
“ We
all know you are nothing if not traditional,” Dana said as she
took a sip of her wine. Meg picked up the velvet case and opened it.
“ Oh
my God,” she gasped when she saw the ring. It was the kind of
thing that made you get a safe in the house. It was the most perfect
rock she had ever seen. She looked up at Steven. “You have
outdone yourself Davenport,” she said in a low voice.
“ It
was my grandmother’s. She gave it to me and told me to only use
it when I know I want to spend the rest of my life with the love of
my life,” he explained. “So, two months ago when I took
Julie home, I brought it back with me and had the stone replaced.”
“ Oh
my God, some men are so damn romantic,” Dana gushed as she took
a sip. “All I got was a nervous guy delivering a cake with the
words ‘will you marry me’ on it.”
“ Hey,
that’s good. I got married in Vegas under the influence of God
knows what,” Meg laughed. Steven smiled at them and leaned
back. “So, it looks like you have everything under control.
What do you need us for?”
“ Apparently
I need some sort of grand gesture. Grand gestures are not my cup of
tea,” he said.
“ So
in other words you want us to tell you exactly where you should go
down on one knee?” Dana asked.
“ Well,
not exactly…okay, yes,” he muttered. “Or how I can
do it differently. I don’t want to do some cliché
thing,” he added.
“ Davenport,
clichés are clichés because they work,” Dana said
looking at him. Meg took another bite and nodded.
“ I
second that,” she agreed.
“ What
do you mean?” Steven asked. Meg rolled her eyes and shook her
head.
“ Men
will never get it. Here’s the thing, mister. Women love
clichés. They live for clichés. The only reason why
chick flicks are such a success is because of the happily ever after
endings that producers love so much,” she said as she looked at
Steven.
“ I
second that,” Dana said as she took another sip of her wine.
“ So
you want me to do what everybody does? Go down on one knee in a
crowded restaurant or have ‘will you marry me’ on the
kiss cam at a basketball game?” Steven asked. Dana and Meg
exchanged a look before they both shook their heads. “That’s
what I see on most American movies. So to me, that is the cliché.”
Meg laughed.
“ Stereotype
much?” she asked.
“ Trust
me when I tell you those are the only grand gestures I know of. And I
don’t think she would like that,” he frowned.
“ Actually
she wouldn’t. She hates attention,” Meg agreed.
“ You
could always do what Kanye did and get a band,” Dana said
matter of factly. “A really big band,” she added.
“ How
big was the band?” Steven asked. Dana raised an eyebrow.
“ You
do realize that I was just kidding, right?” she said. Steven
shrugged.
“ This
is not a very good time to be joking. I literally feel like I am
about to explode,” he said.
“ Oh
come on. It’s not that bad. You should be pumped,” Meg
said. Steven looked at her and shook his head.
“ Pumped?”
he asked. Meg nodded.
“ Yeah,
pumped. Excited. It is exciting what you are doing,” she said.
“ What
if she says no?” Steven fretted. Dana laughed.
“ That
woman loves you. There is no way she would say no to you,” she
promised.
“ Yeah,
if I was you, I would be all calm and collected,” Meg
suggested. Steven ran his fingers through his hair
“ I
have never done this before, so forgive me if I don’t know how
to make a decisive move on the most important day of my life,”
he panicked as he raked his fingers through his hair. Dana looked at
Meg and smiled.
“ You’re
nervous,” she said. “That is so sweet,” she added.
“ I
never thought you had a nervous bone inside you,” Meg told him.
Steven looked at his untouched glass for a moment before