Highland Wedding - A CHICK LIT ROMANTIC COMEDY (SAMPLE ONLY)

The Proposal

"Jack, will you marry me?"

Plenty of people are traditionalists. They believe, even though we are well into the 21st century, that it is still the man's job to propose marriage. When I said to Katya I was thinking of proposing to Jack, she told me to go for it. The modern woman blah blah... before shuddering.

My best friend has a dim view of marriage, given her mother's track record. And she hates the idea of being the centre of attention. As do I. Just not as much.

Jack and I live together and we share a cat—an old, grumpy moggie called Mildred. Not my idea, the name but her previous owner was an old guy who needed to go into residential care. The home didn't allow pets (backwards of them) so we inherited her. I love Mildred. She thinks I'm okay and Jack she tolerates—just. This is the norm with cats. If dogs think they are human, a cat thinks it is God.

My point is there's no need for Jack and I to get married—I just think we should. And I know our friends and neighbours in the small village where we live would be delighted. It's a long time since there's been a wedding in Lochalshie. Funerals are standard, but nuptials are few and far between. The only other candidates are our friends Stewart and Jolene, and Jolene point blank refuses. Katya says she reckons Jolene doesn't want to tie the knot just in case someone better comes along. And with Stewart, that bar isn't high.

Back to my proposal... I've discussed it with Mildred, sworn her to secrecy and chosen a date. A year—give or take a day or two—to the day we first got together, although we've known each other much longer than that.

The venue for where I pop the question? Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the annual Lochalshie Highland Games and a rare sunny day in a remote village in the north-west of Scotland...