December
Stephen
Farnsworth and Verity Virtue fled to Berlin to escape the madness of the
wedding plans for her Uncle Charlie and Toddy; they had spent a lovely weekend
at the Regent Hotel from where they had been seeing the sights.
It had been
unseasonably mild over the weekend but from Monday onwards there was very
little sun to speak of, and it was bitterly cold, but they really didn’t mind
as they got to spend lots of time hugging.
The next few
days, they shopped at Potsdamer Platz, spent hours at Museums Island, and had
lunch at the rotating restaurant at the TV tower on Alexanderplatz.
Climbed the
victory column in the Tiergarten, visited the Berlin Zoo, went Christmas
shopping at the big department store, KaDeWe, and attended a liberal sprinkling
of Christmas markets, in fact you name it they did it and on their last
afternoon they went to the Gendarmenmarkt Christmas Market and it was
incredibly cold and they both over indulged on Glühwein when her phone rang, Miraculously
it was the first call from her since they had been there
“Yes, mum well
be home tomorrow afternoon, see you then” she said and hung up.
“What did she
want?” he asked
“Wedding
questions” she replied
“Can you
imagine what she’ll be like if we get married?”
“When we get
married,” he corrected her
“What do you
mean, when?” she queried
“I just mean it’s
“when” rather than “if”” he explained
“Oh, I see” she
said doubtfully
“Don’t you want
to get married then?” he asked in alarm
“Of course I
want to get married, and I want to marry your hon” she said reassuringly and
looked thoughtful as she drank another Glühwein then asked
“Are you
proposing?”
“Yes, I am, I
would have proposed properly but the glühwein took over” he admitted, and she
kissed him
“I want a big
wedding” she said “But…”
“But what?” he
exclaimed
“I will marry
you” she said, “but after I’ve finished university and I have my degree”
“I’m happy with
that,” he said “so does that mean we’re engaged”
“Yes, but…”
“Not another
but?”
“Two buts
actually,” she said
“And they are?”
“We mustn’t
tell anyone until the New Year, partly because it will be a year since…”
“Our first kiss”
he said
“Yes,” she said
and kissed him
“What was the
other the other reason?”
“Because if we
tell mum while she’s dealing with Toddy’s Wedding and Christmas her head will
literally explode”
“Agreed”
“And this is
the most important reason, I don’t want us to tell your parents before I’ve
even met them”
“I agree, very
sensible” he said “You’re very smart for a skinny, pasty ginger”
“And don’t you
forget it” she said and kissed him
“So, is that a
done deal then?” he asked
“It is” she
replied “We are officially secretly engaged”
“Are you sure?”
he asked
“Well, I’m sure
that I love you,” she said in reply “and I’m sure that you love me, so yes I’m
sure”
“Then that
calls for a celebratory glühwein” he announced
“Oh lovely” she
said
“I have a
question” she slurred “Do I still get a ring if it’s a secret engagement?”
“Of course you do”
“Goody” she
exclaimed
“Do you want to
wait until we get home, or would you like to get one in Berlin?”
“Berlin, I
think, as it will remind us of this moment for ever” she replied
“Let’s do it now
then” he suggested
“Let’s do it
right now” she concurred
A couple of
days earlier they spotted an arcade of shops in the east of the city and one of
those shops was called Sebastians, an old-fashioned jeweler’s shop, not one of
the fashionable jewelry chains, but an old family business, so they hailed a
taxi and headed east.
After driving
to the jewelers, what little German they knew deserted them due to an excess of
Glühwein but luckily inside Sebastians the jeweler, Christophe, spoke perfect
English.
They were only
in the shop for about fifteen minutes when Christophe showed them the perfect
ring, a Ceylon sapphire solitaire with a gold band.
The next
morning Stephen awoke first in the pale winter light of dawn with Verity
cuddled into him with her head on his chest and when she stirred, he said
“Good morning”
“Morning” she
said and kissed his chest
“I love you” he
said
“I love you too”
she replied.
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