The Scroll
As I was getting ready to leave for Cadillac, Michigan, after the brunch with Paige, Kid, and August, August and Kid were texting me, telling me how much they loved her. Arden called me, asked for updates, and after I caught her up, she advised that I ask Paige to be official. While I wanted to, I was worried that it was too soon.
On Tuesday, March 28th, I called Paige from the cabin. During our talk, I jokingly mentioned that I had tried to get my revenge for the brunch situation by finding her best friend, Nicole, on Instagram. However, she followed like five Nicoles, and I wasn't going to go through each one. On Thursday morning, a few hours before I was supposed to leave for Chicago, I got a notification that Nicole had followed me. We spent the morning messaging and setting up a hangout at Topgolf for the Tuesday after Easter. When I was about to end the conversation, Nicole messaged, "Also, what's the hold up on making it official?"
I realized that if her best friend was asking me about it, Paige was ready to make it official. Nicole and I were scheming the entire time I was in Chicago, and Paige caught on to it. Nicole and her boyfriend had a date on the night of Tuesday, April 4th, and Paige and I had coincidentally, separately, planned a date. The day before, Nicole told Paige that she was going to get a cute dress for her date the next afternoon, and she asked Paige if she wanted to come along and do the same.
They didn't have a set time for when they would hang out, but I was picking Paige up at 5:00. Having not heard anything yet when my students left school, I panic-called Nicole, but unfortunately, Paige was with her. I was going to buy Paige flowers, but by the time I finished all the work I needed to get done, I just had to get dressed and pick her up. To my surprise, she handed me flowers when she came to my car!
We went to a restaurant called Pelino's Pasta. After our waiter sat us down and walked away, I told Paige I had to go to the bathroom and stood up to follow him. He walked to another table, so I awkwardly changed course, hoping any employee would make eye contact. A waitress did, and I motioned for her to follow me. "Hi," I explained, pulling out a small scroll, "I'm asking my date to be my girlfriend tonight. If you could put this in her dessert, that would be perfect!" The waitress took the scroll, and I hid in the bathroom for 5 minutes.
Pelino's serves three or four-course meals (depending on your preference). Paige and I got a three-course meal. Once our first two courses were over, I started getting nervous because I knew dessert was up next. With how much Nicole and I had been talking, me panic calling her in Paige's presence, and the fact that Paige had bought me flowers, I assumed she had to know it was coming (she didn't).
I was expecting the Tiramisu we had ordered to come on a plate; instead, it came in what can only be described as a fancy watering can. The scroll was in the spout, and our waiter faced the spout toward Paige. I assumed she saw it, which she did, but she thought it was just part of the aesthetic. All this girl wanted was to eat her dessert, as I launched into a heartfelt speech about how good of a time I'd been having with her. "... And I want to see what happens next," I said at the end of my speech. "But it might just be easier if you read the scroll!"
"The Scroll?" she asked. I awkwardly pointed to her dessert. She looked at mine, realized there was no stroll in it, looked back at me, and exclaimed, "When did you plan this?!" As if I'd just pulled off some big bank heist. She pulled the scroll out of the spout, unrolled it, and read the calligraphy, "Will you be my girlfriend?" She smiled, looked at me, and said, "Yes!"
Have a Greattastic Day and be Safe!
J. Mitchie Ulibarri
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