Girl Gets Her Man Ch. 21

"I asked you here, because I wanted to do this the right way."

They both seemed to sit up straight. He knew they were trying to stop him from doing it. They'd had some more than civil conversations since that day. They were just testing him, again. 'Well, I don't have that kind of time, today.'

"Mr. Croix, I am asking for your daughter's hand in marriage," scuttled out before he'd planned to say it. He stopped the man's response by saying, "I'm not even sure if she'd say yes to me, right now, but I won't ask her if you say you don't want me to. I wouldn't want her to have to choose between us. She loves you so much. She put up with a lot because she loves you so much. We all know that I'm not gonna go away if you say no. If I have to prove what I feel for her, I'll do it. If it takes the next two or four years to help you figure out that I mean it when I say I love her, I'll do that, too. We'll just be having these meetings every so often to see how much I can wear you both down."

Mr. Croix looked down at his empty glass and said, "Can I get another tea before I say what I was going to say?"

*

Joanne laughed as Daniel spun her out one more time. Dan was actually moving on the dance floor instead of his usual tentative steps to save embarrassment.

"What's gotten into you, tonight?"

He shrugged, "I don't know. I just felt like dancing."

He pulled her back in and stopped her from moving away. She absolutely shined in the flashing lights. He should have been nervous tonight, but he felt more anxious than anything. He'd been giving her false leads for two whole weeks. She'd let her guard down, finally, yesterday. He could tell because she didn't care how much her skirt rose up, or who was watching them dancing together. She was having fun. He felt his phone vibrate on his leg. He let her go and pointed to the phone as he moved toward the exit.

*

Joanne watched the back of his head as he hunched to try to hear the voice on the phone. She saw his black hair disappear out of the entrance and turned to join Jesse at the bar.

"Damn! I could have sworn he would have done something after graduation," her friend spoke directly into her ear. "What's he waitin for?"

"Nothing, Jesse. I think whatever he had planned wasn't ready yet. I'm not gonna sweat it anymore. You had me all worked up over it last week. You shouldn't have told me anything. Phase one, my ass. This is some long term thing. There may be a phase forty or fifty on his planner. I should check it the next time I stay over."

"You could stay over there, tonight! You can come back to help me pack, later."

"No, I promised," Joanne shook her head. "We'll spend our last night together, and pack you up in the morning."

Dan slid in behind Joanne and put a hand around her waist. She jumped until she realized it was him.

"Trust me," he purred as he tasted the salt on her earlobe.

"Of course," she always answered that way.

"Love me?"

"Absolutely," she looked up at him with that cautious smile she got when she was trying to figure him out.

He smirked, "Absolutely. That's a new addition. You usually say something like, you don't even have to ask." He scratched the back of his head and moved away, "Huh, absolutely. Absolutely, without question?"

"Well, I'll always have a few questions, but..."

He let out a sigh, "Oh, that's better, then. Thought you'd been replaced by a pod person, or something. Can I drop you gorgeous ladies off at home? Pop's got a problem, so I'll have to cut the night short."

*

Joanne and Jesse stayed up past three in the morning laughing and talking about memories of the apartment. After that, it took a while for Jo to get to sleep. She wasn't sure why. She'd been running through the day that her father found out about Jerry. She wasn't sure why it had forced its way back into her head. She'd been doing just fine while she was with Jesse. When she finally turned off the light and settled into bed, she heard this series of horn blasts. She pulled the pillow over her head and rolled away from the window. At first, she thought it was a car alarm, by the way that it repeated, but it changed into a song. She sat up in bed. Then a bright light cast strange shadows all over the room. She went to the window and looked down.

There were five men standing in a semi circle with black beaded suits standing on the street below. There was a curve of lights and speakers that took over the sidewalk across the street. 'Oh, no! Not now! Not Now! I look like crap!' Joanne tied a scarf around her head and searched for her robe as the mariachi started to sing. She caught the baggy T-shirt in her jeans as she kept looking for something to wear outside. They were calling out her name as she found the robe. It suddenly looked flimsier than she remembered. 'Shit! It's never gonna cover me enough.' She opened her room door to Jesse's smiling face.

"I guess, tonight was the night, after all! Here, you can borrow my long coat. Don't make that man wait for you."

Joanne slid the coat over her shoulders and zipped it up over her t-shirt and boxer shorts. Her heart pounded in her chest as she tried not to fall down the stairs in her haste to get down to the street.

When she finally got down to the ground floor, the lights had been turned out, and the band was playing softly. She couldn't see the band. There were so many of her neighbors in the way.

Daniel's voice cracked out of a set of speakers, "Ladies, and gentlemen, I'd like to thank you for coming out and sharing in this special event. We'll be here for a little while longer, then you can all go back to sleep. I'd like to play one more song, when she gets down here. Joanne? You out here, babe?"

She felt a shove to her back as she heard, "Alright! Clear a path, Stupid Asses! This is her party," come out of Jesse's mouth.

There wasn't enough time to feel embarrassed. She was shoved through the people and into the bright light before she could think.

Daniel walked out from behind a standing height keyboard and gave her a hug, "As always, you made me wait. What were you two doing up there?"

"Uh, talking, about memories" she said as he pulled away.

Daniel was wearing the same shirt he wore at the club. 'He must have been sitting out here the whole time.'

"Well, let me get this done, so these people won't be that mad." He walked over to the keyboard and motioned for her to come over. He leaned down and whispered, "I was gonna play another one, but I think this one is pretty appropriate."

When he started, she immediately knew what he'd meant. He sang Overrated by Gavin Degraw. She didn't believe it. He was looking right back at her in that way he looked at her in a cafeteria a little over 6 months ago. The look hadn't changed. He hadn't known everything there was to know that day in the cafeteria, but it didn't matter to him. When he finished the song, she heard the crowd clapping behind her. He stepped out and took her hands.

"How'd you like the serenade? Like the mariachi? It took me a while to get them on standby. they're really popular this time of year," he smirked.

"Daniel, you ...didn't have to ..." She could barely talk, because she was too busy trying not to cry. "I mean, all of this!" She hid the closing of her eyes with a wide smile.

"Oh, yeah, there's one more thing," he looked down and rummaged through the pockets of his jeans.

When he stopped looking for the item, he dropped down to one knee. 'I knew it. I knew he was looking for a ring. Oh! I can't stop crying, now!'

"You don't have to..." Joanne tried to get him to stand up.

He just held on to her hand and said, "Let me do this."

She stepped back and closed her eyes again. Her eyes were so wet, she could clear them. There he was on his knee, and all she could think of was all of the people looking at her. 'I can't do this with everybody watching. Why can't he be normal and do this at a restaurant or after sex.' She felt him take her hand and kiss it.

"Look at me," he said.

She looked down into those slate blue eyes.

"No more running, Jo. I love you. I've loved you for a long time. I've been thinking about things, lately. I'm at the point where I need to make an honest woman out of you or your mom will probably kill me."

The half-hearted joke made her smile. A little ripple of laughter started over her shoulder. She turned to see her neighbors smiling.

"You know what I want? A little privacy," Daniel grunted into the microphone on his collar then pulled it off. He shook his head and blinked at a spot on the sidewalk. He then focused on Joanne's clasped hands.

"Now, where was I? Oh, yeah, I was making a complete idiot out of myself in front of some oh...thirty people."

"Danny? Can I just say yes, now, and get this over with?"

He winked at her, "No way. I'm already down here, and I didn't ask yet."

"But, Danny..."

Daniel shook his head at her, "Do you know what it took to get me down here like this? I'm gonna make this count, because I don't plan on having to do this again. Do you understand me?"

She nodded without another protest.

He took a deep breath and continued, "I want you to know that I've wanted to make babies with you since the first day I saw you. It was strictly a superficial thing. I knew for a fact that any kids you'd have would be gorgeous, and I wanted in on that deal."

She dropped her head and smiled.

"No, seriously. It was only later that I figured out that I wanted to be with you. That's all I've ever really wanted. You see, you've been a bit flighty, and I've been a little stupid. Okay, a lot stupid. So, it's taken me a while to get to this, but I think it was worth the wait, right?"

"Yeah, I think so," she sighed.

"So," he raised his left hand. There was a gold band with three diamonds set in a diagonal pinched between his thumb and first finger. "Can we make it official that you'll be spending the rest of your life with me?"

"Yes, Danny. Yes," she moaned as she shoved him back onto the ground and smothered his face in kisses.

The End