"Yes! God, yes!"
My eyes enlarged when I realized that the response didn't come from my mouth—it came from Mel's. After shooting her a well-deserved glare, I smiled softly at Ash, who was currently waiting for an answer to his sucky marriage proposal.
Sad to say it, but yes, it was a terrible way to propose. The ring was not the issue —in fact, I never really cared if I got a huge diamond or not. It bothered me that he proposed to me in a hospital cafeteria full of elderly patients when we were both covered in grime and sweat, and the fact that he completely ignored my personal opinions about marriage. Actually, everything about this current situation wanted to make me rip my hair out.
"Uh...Ash, maybe we shouldn't do this right now," I murmured under my breath. A blush crept up my cheeks as the incident became even more awkward.
His head shook. "No, I want an answer, right here, right now." His blue eyes, now icier, stared right into mine. A look of aggression formed on his face, and he somehow appeared to be meaner.
"Do you seriously want me to reject you in front of a whole crowd of people?" I spat back. As soon as those words were uttered, my hands flew to my mouth to keep in all the other words I had bottled up.
I can't believe I just said that aloud!
"Oh snap!" Nick bellowed while snapping his fingers in a "Z" formation. Obviously, he was just kidding around, but his joke made the vein pop out of Ash's neck.
Gulping, I instantly planted a hand onto his rock-hard chest, pushing him away slightly. He was extremely close to actually hitting Nick, and we were in a cafeteria full of people. On the other hand, if he did beat up Nick (which would be justifiable), we were in a hospital, so he could easily be fixed.
The blond-haired guy's face gradually transformed from a pale peach to a maroon red. His fingers clenched in fists, and he took a step back from me. I assumed my father believed that there was going to be a physical altercation because he was already crouching to pounce on the fight (if there was one).
"Are you fucking kidding me right now?" His voice, demanding and shrill, caused all the heads to turn in our direction. A few people inched closer to watch, almost like this was some form of entertainment.
"Don't say that word, youngin'," an elderly woman lectured, as she waved her chestnut can back and forth like it was a flag. Her dark grey hair was swept up in a bun, and the hospital gown was falling off her frail body. She probably was very sick.
"Oh, fuck off!"
An audible gasp escaped my lips as Ash dismissed the old woman rudely. The lady shook her head slightly before retreating back to her seat, about four or five tables away from us. Crossing my hands below my chest, I gave Ash a disapproving what-the-fuck look.
"Jack ass, go into the hallway. Let's talk it out there," I commanded and pointed to the exit leading out of the cafeteria.
"Don't say that word, youngin'," the patient repeated sternly, but we ignored her and awkwardly trudged out of the limelight.
Once we were in the hallway, I silently thanked God for making it almost deserted. The only sounds interrupting the complete silence were the beeps coming from the baby monitors. At first, we stood there leering at each other with our arms crossed. It would have been quite comical if our conversation wasn't so serious.
"Ash, what were you thinking? You know that I don't want to get married young--maybe not even at all. The funny thing is we weren't even officially dating. You completely skipped the dating phase and went straight to the marriage," I hissed, as my hand ran through my tangled mane. I desperately needed to go out of here to take a shower.
His eyes moved from the floor to my eyes. Frowning, he smacked his forehead. "Oh, I'm sorry that I love you. Apparently love's a crime."
Did he just completely miss what I just said? I almost felt like air was the only thing moving in between his ears. There was no way that he was this stupid.
Irate, I replied sarcastically, "And another thing, I thought the proposal was just so romantic. You know, because you proposed to me in a room full of germs and stinky patients."
His pearly whites clenched together as his face scrunched up in thought. In the distance, I could see a few nurses, dressed in navy blue scrubs, peering over some doors to catch sight of the drama unfolding in front of us. My eyes rolled. So inconsiderate and rude.
"You know that I'm not that kind of guy. What do you want? Do you want that rich jerk over there to buy you a million dollar ring and propose to you on the top of a yacht in the Caribbean? I can't afford that!"
I sighed, "This is exhausting."
His blond eyebrows furrowed when I spoke. The ends of his lips tilted downwards even more, and he jammed his hands into his pockets. "Because you won't come to terms with your feelings. I love you, Belle. Don't you understand that? For someone so smart, you're acting dumb."
"I understand. I just—"
"I love Belle Wilkes!" he screamed on the top of his lungs with flinging his hands around in the air. "I love her! L-o-v-e!" As the sentence went on, his voice rose three or four octaves.
His extremely noisy confession not only made about thirty nurses walk into the room to 'aww' and giggle, but it also woke up all the babies on the floor. A roaring, unified cry boomed throughout the hallway. The nurses rushed into the nursery to calm them down, but the crying only intensified. Grimacing, I smacked my hands onto my ears.
I was going to go deaf because of his idiocy.
"You idiot," I howled over the commotion, "you just woke up the babies! First you yell at grandmas, and now you cause babies to cry! You're a bad person!"
His blue orbs narrowed; his teeth smashed into his rosy bottom lip. For some reason, maybe it was the fact that the hospital lights made his hair and skin darken, he resembled a ferocious bear. My heart pulsed as I waited for the animal's next move. Everything I said had to be calculated if I didn't want to get mauled.
"I love you!"
"I heard you!'
"I loovee yoouu!"
"Oh my God, Ash, for the last time I heard you!"
"Marry me!"
"This is a never-ending circle; stop it!"
"Fine. Last question. Are you in love with me? Tell me that you love me, and I promise that I'll try to work things out, and I'll take back the proposal. If you aren't, well, goodbye."
According to Dictionary.com, love was a profoundly tender, passionate affection for a person. Did I have those feelings for Ash? Of course I loved him, but there was a fine line between love and in love. 'I love you' were words that couldn't be said without caution. And how would I know if I was in love?
My mouth opened to answer, but somehow, nothing left it. Possibly the harsh grey walls ruined my thinking and speech capabilities, or maybe I was a chicken. If I just proclaimed my love for him, everything would be fine.
But I couldn't do it.
"Okay, well, you made your point," he mumbled; the happiness in his eyes drained away. He pivoted around and slumped away, leaving me all alone in the hallway.
When the coast was clear, a tall, unattractive nurse with thousands of peircings came over to me. For some reason, she had a huge smile on her face, although she had previously watched Ash get his heart ripped out and jumped on. The features on her were almost witch-like.
"Since you don't want him, can I have him? He's so dreamy, and you know, I'm beautiful. We would make a perfect couple! I don't know what he sees in you." Her nose bunched up as she insulted me.
"Put a bag over your face, witch. I think I need to get glasses now since you're hideousness is ruining my eyesight," I retorted and moved to sit down in one of the comfy chairs in the waiting room. She started cursing at me, but I didn't care.
Everything was giving me a headache.
**
Hey, guys! So Southern Belle made it to #8 Humor and #15 Watty Awards. We might have a shot!
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