It was supposed to be one of the happiest days of my life.

Finally, I was proposing to Kiko. This was only right after all, where could I find a girl like her? She was a mix of everything, beautiful and y, smart, sophisticated and classy. She knows all the right stuff, the right people, the right clothes. She was the envy of women and because of her, I was the envy of men.

And I know she loves me.

I convinced my bestfriend, Sandara, to help me with my elaborate set-up at a building rooftop. She even helped me write my proposal for Kiko. I wouldn’t know how I’d do without her. She was my lifesaver, dependable as always.

I was sitting at the dinner table, waiting for her to show up. Getting afraid by the minute, that the food was getting cold and that my hands were getting sweaty or I would stutter or buckle in my speech.

And then she came in a vision of red, all tube dress, heels and lipstick. She was as elegant as ever. She neared the table and I helped her sit.

We started dinner with normal chit-chat, and she was thoroughly amazed with the ambience.

“This is really beautiful, Ji. You didn’t have to do all these. Is there an an occasion I don’t know about? Are we celebrating something?” she asked.

“Oh you’ll find out later. And I didn’t do this alone. Dara helped me” I said proudly.

“Oh I see” she said, frowning a little.

I saw the little pout she did everytime I would mention Dara in front of her, although she doesn’t know that I notice. Somehow when I am with Kiko, Dara becomes taboo.

“So how do you like the food?” I asked, trying to change the topic.

“It’s good” she said pleased with the steak Dara and I cooked, though I would never mention it to her.

“Wait until you see dessert” I said, building up her anticipation.

I brought out the apple pie and topped it with vanilla ice cream at the last minute, and then I hid the ring in the ice cream as a surprise.

“Oh apple pie” she said sounding disappointed.

“It’s good trust me. You have to dig into the ice cream to find out” I hinted, so I could ease her disappointment.

“But I don’t like pie and I don’t like vanilla.” She pouted.

“I thought you liked it too” I said, a little worried that things weren’t going as smoothly as I planned.

“Well, I only pretended I liked it because you keep on ordering it and having them for take-out” she pointed.

Well, it was my favourite and Dara’s as well, so I would always bring her home some. “I’m sorry” I said guiltily.

“Why are you sorry? Oh, it’s her favourite too right?” she asked pointedly.

“Are you still jealous of her? Dara’s my bestfriend okay. It’s nothing I could change or would change.” I explained again.

“You know what surprises me? Is that you’ve never noticed that I always order cheesecake.” She said.

“Of course I do” I said, trying to appease her.

“What flavour?” she asked.

I visibly paled. Errr…how many cheesecakes could there be?

She gave me this incredulous look, as if saying I told you so before she stood up to go.

The night was going horribly wrong from what I’ve planned. I thought it was or never.

“Kiko, please stop. Don’t go!” I said as I pulled her hand to make her stay.

“I’m sorry if the night hasn’t turned out as I’ve planned. But many things in life don’t usually go as planned and that makes those moments unforgettable.”

I fished the ring from the ice cream in her plate and took out the cue card in my pocket for my proposal.

“Once in our lives, we find that someone who means everything we have ever dreamed of and more. Someone we would want to share our life with. Someone who knows us inside and out; Someone who knows what we’re thinking even before we say it, who knows what we’re feeling just by looking into our eyes. Someone we could never grow tired of talking to and listening, who’ll be the last person we would see before we sleep and the first person we’d see when we wake up. Someone who would celebrate with us in our triumphs and be the shoulder we could lean on when we’re down, who would keep us on course when we get lost, who would stay when everyone has gone.”

I knelt down on the floor and offered the ring to her.

“Will you be my someone and marry me?”

Kiko looked taken aback before she finally spoke. “I don’t think I can Ji. I’m sorry.”

Shock would be an understatement to express what I feel from her rejection.

“You don’t even know my favourite dessert” she said.

“Are you still mad about that?” I asked, guilty and disbelieving at the same time.

“Yes, even if it’s petty, and it’s not even the thing that bothers me the most. It’s the other things you said that I have a problem with. God knows how much I want to be that someone for you but I don’t think I’ll ever be that for you.” she said teary-eyed.

“I don’t get what you mean.” I denied.

“Now, don’t start being naïve on me Ji. You don’t honestly tell me you haven’t even thought of her as you were saying your speech?” she asked.

“Let’s leave her out of this” I said, catching up on her thinking.

“I’ve waited 3 years for you Ji. I don’t have a lifetime more to wait. I love you but clearly I don’t think you love me as much as you say you do. So let’s stop this now before we hurt each other further. You already have someone, you just have to ask the right girl.” She said as she left me on my knees.

If there was one thing I got right about that night, it was that things don’t always go as planned. It’s always the things that go wrong that makes them unforgettable.