Writing for Fun
May 2019
The Proposal - Jeanette Rothwell
‘For Goodness sake, Jenny, we’ve been together now for 15 years, wouldn’t it make sense for us to get married. Our children would like it I’m sure.’
Mike spoke kindly but with a little edge in his voice. Jenny shrugged her shoulders and changed the subject.
There was the sound of their children returning from school and the topic was dropped. Their son, John, was 14 years old and his sister was 11. Both Mike and Jenny welcomed them home and set about their usual chores for the evening.
Jenny also had a 19 year old son by a previous marriage. He was currently at University. She had endured an abusive and controlling marriage with a handsome but cruel man who had now moved to the USA and was no longer in contact. However, he had left his mark on Jenny. She was happy in her present relationship with Mike but it seemed that the next step of getting married was, in her opinion, a leap of faith and she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She was a petite lady in her middle forties, with dark curly hair and a bubbly personality.
Mike was a kind, loving and tolerant man and an excellent father. He was in his early fifties, with a good sense of humour. He had met Jenny some 16 years ago and had fallen for her almost immediately and had broached the subject of marriage before but Jenny always left the question alone and they moved in together and subsequently had the two children.
The trouble was, Mike had been promoted in his job to Chief Executive of a successful chain of Department Stores and the fact that he and Jenny were not married was proving to be an embarrassment. There were many functions they were obliged to attend and could not be addressed as Mr and Mrs.
Jenny was just plain scared of the word ‘marriage’ although she realised that it was becoming an issue between them.
As a hobby, they were both members of a local choir which was quite successful and often invited to sing at functions UK wide. Currently they were rehearsing for a very special event to take place in a nearby function room which meant that they would be performing in front of many local people which would include friends and acquaintances.
The performance night was upon them and the members of the choir were getting themselves ready, men and women in separate dressing rooms. There was a long corridor between the two dressing rooms and she suddenly realised that she had inadvertently put Mike’s tie in her bag. She went out into the corridor to take it to him and she could hear the presenter, John Bishop, talking to the audience and making them laugh. They were due on in about 10 minutes. As she neared the men’s dressing room which was around a corner off the corridor she could hear Mike’s voice talking to a friend.
She was about to join them when she heard her name in the conversation. She gathered that John Bishop had agreed to let Mike have the microphone so that he could go down on one knee and propose to her when she was also on stage in the soprano section of the choir. The thought of such a public proposal absolutely horrified her and at first she didn’t know what to do. She was touched that Mike had gone to so much trouble and could find herself appalled at what might happen if she said ‘no’.
She decided to confront Mike with her knowledge. He looked crestfallen and very worried about her possible reaction. She turned on her heel and hurried back to her dressing room.
Soon the choir were assembled in the wings, ready to go on and take their places. Mike managed to edge close to Jenny and in an urgent whisper asked, ‘Shall I call it off or can I propose to you on stage?’ She looked down in deep thought. ‘Well, will you marry me?’ he hissed.
She threw him a provocative half smile. ‘I might,’ she said.