Zel-kun’s Words

Well, I did it.  I proposed to Zai.  We were planning on moving out, and I figured the time was ripe.  I’ve been wanting to do it for a bit, and her uber-traditional family will have a much easier time with her moving out with her fiance than her boyfriend.

And now… story time!I had decided that I would get her an emerald ring, being as she has a thing for emeralds.  I went to the Jared jewelry store (he went to Jared…), and I must say I was very impressed by the service I received.

I am not a rich man, I understand that I probably could not afford most of the items there.  I have been to stores (high-end clothing stores, mainly), where after I told the salesman, who up to that point had been waiting on me hand and foot, how much money I had to spend (usually a few hundred), and he promptly abandoned me.  This was not the case with Jared.

I will say that from start to finish that I was treated royally, the salesman made sure I knew that they would happily re-size it for free, and ordered the ring in white-gold in case she liked that better.  I was also offered a cup of cappucino.  You’d think I was spending thousands of dollars.

I applied for the Jared credit card.  Mainly because he asked nicely, the voice of a man trying desperately to meet a quota of credit apps.  So he went back and ran the credit check.  I knew I’d be cleared for the price of the ring (which, for the curious, was more than I make in a week, but a little less than I make in a month), but when he came back and said I was cleared for $6500, I was floored.  I remember a time when Best Buy would only give me $601.  Not sure why such an odd amount.

“Sure you don’t want to look around a bit more?”   He asked, hopeful for maybe a little more commission.

“Nah, I like the ring I have.”

“No problem,” he said.  But for a brief, very brief moment, I could see the look on his face that said ‘you cheap bastard.’  I don’t really blame him.  I guess its customary to dive deep in debt when you buy an engagement ring.

So…

The Proposal…

I knocked on Zai’s door, my hand nervously feeling the little box in my pocket.  I had a whole speech in my head, which was promptly forgotten as she opened the door.  I put my arm around her and said, “I got something for you, dearest.”  I pulled the box out and opened it.

I had, in my jangled and nervous state, thought that the message got across, as she looked at it breathlessly.  She took it from me and walked to the kitchen, “Look mom, Jon got me a little present!”

Wait… what?

I saw the train derail, the entire morning’s plans of taken an odd turn.  As Zai and her mother talked about the upcoming day, where we would look at a place, her mother continued to poke at Zai that she wasn’t married yet.

“Well, there’s a ring…” I add feebly, a statement which didn’t seem to be acknowledged.  I brienfly thought I’d have to buy another ring and retry.  Like a World of Warcraft quest gone horribly wrong (I didn’t make the analogy there, I made it here.  I was far away from thinking of video games at this point).

And they go off talking a bit, to which I finally stop them both and say, “Listen!  You two don’t understand!  I’m asking Zai to marry me!”

The two looked at me, utterly shocked.

So, yeah, I probably couldn’t have botched that any worse than I did.  But she said yes, so the end result was good.  She told her dad, who’s reply was, “Okay.”

One word.

So, there you have it, the story of a man who stumbled through his proposal, to a woman who despite all that, agreed to marry him.

Zel-kun out.