Valentine’s Day: The Angst and the Glory

She was a goddess as far as I was concerned. I was scared to ask Emily to go to the Valentine’s day dance. It was a thought that consumed me because of the dire consequences of rejection. What if she said no? I was pretty sure I would never survive the unwanted attention and the scrutiny. Bobby was the track star in school . He was already broadcasting to anyone who would listen that she was going out to the dance with him.

Emily was always nice to me. I looked forward everyday to that smile. I waited to smell the fragrance of her hair to waft by as she elegantly walked the corridors. Every time she looks my way I melted. I decided that I have to ask her to the dance one way or the other. So I came up with a plan. I already knew I cannot ask her face to face so I wrote a letter. Then I slipped it into the slot of her locker.

Every day I saw her and every day she smiled at me. She said hi. She was friendly and charming. Everything seemed fine except I know she cannot have missed my letter to her. About that topic there was absolute silence. Man I wanted to ask her. I however did not and that ate away at me. I was secretly holding out hope that she would feel the same way towards me. I was sure that this was her way to let me down easy. Even though it was a gut wrenching experience for me I was glad she was kind enough not to reject me to my face. Ever since the first grade I have liked her. I rationalized that someday things might change. Deep inside though I was convinced that day would never come. That was such a sad realization. Life though must go on.

Three days before the dance I saw Emily talking to Bobby from afar. My heart sank. Bobby smiled and winked at her and then walked off in the opposite direction. Emily walked towards me and as she always does smiled as she walked by. I was grief stricken. They were going to the dance and as usual for the third straight year I am going alone. I walked what seemed to be an eternity until I finally reached our front porch. After lingering outside for about fifteen minutes I decided to go inside.

As I walked into the house I saw a large manila envelope at the edge of the dinner table. It had my name written on it in blue marker. I opened the envelope and there was my note that I sent to Emily with a handwritten message scrawled on it. “Yes I would love to go to the dance with you.” , the message read.
Cloud Nine was an understatement. Right after dinner I went to sleep dreaming the sweetest dreams.

I couldn’t wait to get to school that day. Just like clockwork she walked to her class as I stood outside my homeroom door. As she turned my way she asked with the usual beautiful smile. “What are you wearing to the dance?”, she whispered. “Blue.” I answered back. She paused right in front of me and said “I will wear something matching.” Then she planted a kiss on my right cheek.

Nowadays there is another girl that keeps my attention. Her name is Emma. She has long silky strands for her hair, the softest cheeks and two of the darkest deepest pools for eyes. When she looks at you it almost feels like her eyes smile only for you. Emma is my daughter. Oh and yes Emily is her mom. Yes I married her. It wouldn’t be right otherwise.


People also view

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *