When Love’s In Fashion

“Close your eyes,” Atalia told her and Sascha played along, amused by her girlfriend’s antics. Sascha concentrated instead on the soft slip of the sand beneath her toes and the steady warmth of Atalia’s palm.

It didn’t take long before Atalia stopped them both and asked Sascha to open her eyes.

The first thing Sascha saw was a sandcastle, a small fort with carved in doors and even a moat.

Then she noticed it. A simple ring peeked on the top of the castle and Sascha’s breath hitched in her throat, suddenly hearing nothing but the rhythmic crashing of the waves.

Only then did she pick up on how nervous Atalia looked, or how she was dressed too finely for the beach in her Wicking maxi dress. Atalia’s palms were sweaty as she held Sascha’s hand again, this time cradled carefully with both hands.

“The sandcastle may crumble, but my love for you won’t.”

It almost drew a laugh from Sascha but as soon as the urge came, it was replaced with a heady rush, and Sascha managed to choke out, “I can’t believe you said that.”
Atalia dropped Sascha’s hands to pull out her phone, already set to a video and she held it out shakily, pressing play.

The video was a slideshow of pictures, all taken by Atalia along their three week long getaway- the Eiffel tower and Champs-Elysees in Paris, on Victoria Peak in Hong Kong, outside a ramen store in Xi Men Ding, Taiwan, on the elephant in Hoi An, but all of them shared something in common.

While Sascha was admiring the scenery or caught up in an interesting souvenir at the stores, Atalia was watching Sascha intensely in all of the pictures. Sascha immediately understood what romantic comedy heroines mean when they say to find someone who treats you as if you’re their world, because Atalia’s gaze was so raw and open there was no mistaking the emotion burning in her eyes.

The slideshow stopped on the final shot of them on the beach. Atalia’s hand was long enough that the camera captured half of their bodies and Sascha had her head thrown back in a laugh. This time, Atalia was not looking at Sascha but staring straight into the camera with a bright grin, her other arm stretched by her side to hold out a card hidden in her palm.

“When did you do this?” Sascha gasped, eyes starting to feel a little wet. She was right next to Atalia and she didn’t even notice-

Because the card read in Atalia’s signature scrawl, will you marry me?

“Sascha,” Atalia said, voice sounding stronger and more confident now. She plucked the ring from the sandcastle and dropped to one knee, head turned up at with this goofy smile.

“You’ve made the past month of my life the most blissful I’ve ever had. You curse in Spanish when watching police dramas and you’re always so vocal about your opinions; and you do that thing with your tongue that absolutely blows my mind. You’re the strongest woman I’ve ever met, you have a mind of your own but you’re willing to take my interests into account. I know we haven’t known each other long, but I hope we can have these treasured moments for the rest of our lives.” She took a deep breath and continued, voice dropping low, “Will you marry me?”

Sascha sniffed, tears spilling over now. “You’re stupid.”

Atalia was off her knees in a flash, reaching out to embrace Sascha and fitting her snugly in her arms. She rested her chin on the crown of Sascha’s head and closed her eyes. “I love you.”

Sascha buried her nose into Atalia’s collar and gripped the back of Atalia’s shirt, clinging on tight. “So stupid.”

Yes.