C67 sixty seven

I could hear a few vendors offering buko pie and cassava cake.

"Hmm, only five times so far," he shrugged.

"Wow! Only five times?! As in, only five times?" I laughed again. "Well, I've only been once, during our field trip!"

He shrugged. "So it's your second time?" he smiled.

I nodded.

"So it's your sixth time?" I asked him.

He nodded.

Wish it were all of us!

"Let's go!" he said with a smile.

I started walking, but before we could get far, he immediately held my hand. I glanced at him and he smiled back. Our fingers intertwined. With each step we took together, it felt like we were walking on the moon.

"There!" I pointed to the extreme tower.

"Baby, really? Right away? Don't you want to try something else first? You might get weak there!" he chuckled as I dragged him into the line.

"It's fun!" I said, despite my nerves.

He nodded. "Okay," pinching my hand.

We waited in line for what felt like minutes. The line moved, but because there were so many people, it took a while longer. Some girls were eyeing the guy in front of me, who was now really into hugging me. His chin was resting on my shoulder.

"Why did you decide to come here on a Saturday? I mean, it's Saturday and a lot of people don't have school or whatever," I complained.

"Baby, we haven't even been in line for 5 minutes and you're already complaining," he chuckled.

I rolled my eyes; it would be nice if there were chairs!

"It's taking so long," I muttered under my breath.

He chuckled. "There are only a few more people before us... One... two... three... four," he counted the people in front of us. "Just four more, Baby. We're next," he said, looking up at the tower.

I nodded. "Okay," I lazily replied.

A few more minutes and it was finally our turn!

"Just leave your belongings there," the girl said.

She pointed to a spot, so we nodded and left my sling bag there.

"Baby, put my wallet and cellphone in your bag, okay?" he requested.

"Sure!"

He quickly put his wallet, which looked like it was about to burst, and his iPhone into my sling bag.

As we sat side by side, he held my right hand. Before we were locked into our seats, we were asked to remove our shoes.

I could feel my heart pounding. Even before we had ascended too high, Cyrus called out to me.

"Baby!" He called out.

Some people even looked at us, smiling.

"What?" I laughed.

We were still ascending slowly.

In the distance, I could see Angel, Mawi, Sadnie, Elica, Khalil, Samuel, Ate, Mama, and Papa. They were waving at us from the other side, while Cyrus's friends, Aunt Alejandra and Uncle Armando, Akia, and Lianne were there too.

"Will you marry me?!" Cyrus shouted.

We were still ascending slowly. I couldn't see his face clearly. I could only see the side of it and feel his hand gently squeezing mine.

The people around us started cheering.

My eyes widened, and it felt like there was a lump in my throat. I bit my lip to hold back tears. I smiled because I was so happy. He really asked me! He did! Oh my god! The person that I want to spend my whole life with is asking me to marry him!

I was momentarily stunned by the beauty around me. I could see the vastness of EK.

Tears welled up in my eyes again, which I quickly wiped away. Cyrus was holding my right hand, so I used my left hand to wipe away my tears.

"Baby," Cyrus called out to me because I remained silent.

I bit my lower lip and took a deep breath.

Am I ready?

"Yes!"

As the signal sounded, indicating that we were going down.

I screamed as loud as I could, along with the tears that continued to fall from my eyes.

Damn!

As we finally landed, my knees were trembling. I felt them shaking, not sure if it was because of the ride or because of Cyrus's proposal.

As we unstrapped ourselves, I immediately saw Cyrus, his eyes reddening as he anxiously waited for me. He was only wearing loafers, having taken off his shoes.

He hugged me as I put on my flat shoes.

My tears rolled down my cheeks.

He checked if I had put on my shoes. When he saw that I had, he slowly knelt down!

He brushed his fingers through his hair, his eyes sparkling. I even saw Papa handing a small box to Cyrus.

My knees were shaking as I stared at him, biting my lower lip as he slowly opened the small box.

Something caught my eye.

Something I always wanted him to give me.

To me!

"Will you marry me?" He formally asked.

I nodded, unable to speak as tears streamed down my cheeks.

I heard cheers and applause. He carefully placed the ring on my finger. Then he stood up.

He grabbed both of my cheeks before slowly bringing his face to mine.

His lips touched mine.

His careful and loving kiss on my lips.

The kiss that slowed down time.

The kiss I will never regret.

The kiss that I will only ask from him.

Only him.