Coffee Talk

“We need to talk,” she said to him quietly as she played with the straw. Denise and Evan have been going out for the past seven years.  They had talked once about getting married, and decided to postpone it until they had both graduated college.  1

In a couple of months, Denise will get her degree in teaching, and Evan will finally get his degree in law.  2

Evan planned to propose to her on their anniversary in Denise’s favorite bookstore, Barnes and Nobles.  He had it all figured out and had asked the staff to help him out, which they were more than happy to do so.  Yet, it seemed all the planning he did will be wasted. Evan’s shoulders felt heavy to him as he struggled to fight the sadness and anger down and keep it under control.  Doesn’t she know I love her and would do anything she’d asked me to, he thought, I don’t think we’ve ever had a disagreement.   3

Not once had they had a fight that lasted for more than four minutes.  Not once had they had a disagreement that ended in breaking up for they were both intelligent, logical individuals who sat down and figured a solution out together.  Not once had they had a problem of any kind until now.  4

Oh shit, he thought, she said those dreaded damn words!  What do I do now?  Evan looked away for a moment, took a few deep breaths, and said the first thing that came into his mind, “What’s wrong, baby?”5

At that sincere question, Denise started laughing uncontrollably.  Her shoulders were shaking with mirth and her eyes were crying a river!  Oh my god, she thought, he figured it out! Evan was more surprise than insulted at her reaction to his question because he was too busy figuring out what he said that made her laugh.  Denise saw the look in his eyes, and calmed herself down, saying, “Trying to figure what you said that made me laugh, aren’t you?”6

Evan smiled and said softly, “Yeah.”7

They knew each other so well that they barely asked the most obvious question anymore, unless of course, asking the said question could be a way to elicit a smile from the other. Denise smiled in return and said with all the pent-up hope, anxiety, and excitement that she’s been keeping inside her the past month, “Evan, sweetie, I’m pregnant.” 8

He didn’t know he was holding his breath until he let it go.  It is going to work out after all, Evan thought, as he signaled one of the guys to bring over the “special” cheesecake to the table.  9