Romantic Comedy Proposal

Joey needed to fly back to the Philippines on short notice, so Cate and I had to prepare our despedida for him on short notice too. While he and Gelle went to Suntec City to buy his gifts for his family, Cate and I hurriedly wrapped our Christmas gifts for him and set those and a bag of Ruffles on the living room table under the Christmas tree. But something was missing. This was not it. What else can I do? A lightbulb lit up above my head just then. And it was not one of the christmas lights from the tree.

I knew that Joey wanted to marry Gelle and that they had been discussing this for some time now, but Joey had not yet gotten around to asking her formally about this. There was no better time to do so than now. So I asked him if he wanted to. He said yes, but that he had not been able to buy a ring yet. I said that didn’t matter. He just needed to pop the question with a plain ring which he could exchange for the real thing later on. Did he want our help? Cate and I rushed out of our flat and into the mall even before he had agreed to the plan. By the time he replied with his okay, we had completed the purchase of a faux diamond ring, a bottle of faux wine, and a mini bouquet with a fresh red rose at the center. We had also already hatched a plan which I texted to Joey while Cate completed the wrapping.

It was close to midnight by the time our couple arrived home. We asked Joey to unwrap his presents under the tree. It was past midnight when he was down to his fourth and last christmas present. He carefully tore off the pink glossy paper, revealing a tiny purple jewelry box inside. “Wow..what could this be?” He wondered out loud. All part of the act. Gelle, sitting beside him on the couch, echoed his sentiment. He flipped it open, revealing a ring. He looked at Gelle then asked, “Will you marry me?”

If this had been a movie, Joey would have said those lines seriously. If this had been a movie, Gelle would have said “Yes!” and Joey would have slipped the ring on her finger, handed her a flower bouquet and they would have kissed under the lights of the christmas tree while Eric Benet’s “The Last Time” played in the background.

But this wasn’t a movie, so Joey asked his question while laughing. Gelle first laughed in disbelief, then started sobbing while saying, “Nakakainis ka!” over and over. I hissed “sagutin mo!” to Gelle and “nasa baba yung flowers!” to Joey. And Gelle wanted to laugh when Cate played “The Last Time.”

But this was not a movie. It was real love unfolding infront of my eyes.

Bah… I’ve always liked romantic comedies over the serious ones anyway! Happy engagement, Pa and Ma!

P.S. I can now add engagement to my portfolio of gimiks. 😉