Thankfully, she didn’t seem to notice. She was too busy dancing, throwing around her thick curly hair to the music. He was so happy to be out with her having a good time. Lately, they had seemed so busy with work that they didn’t get to do the fun things they used to.

Now, sitting across from her in the dimly lit restaurant, a single candle between them, he looked at her trying to figure out the words to say. He’d never done this before, after all. Proposing to a woman was something he had always planned to do, but the right woman had never come along. Until Janine.

He kept sneaking glances at her when she wasn’t looking. The way that the candlelight danced off her features just made her more beautiful. He didn’t even know that was possible. She smiled as she saw someone she knew across the restaurant, holding up her hand and waving at them. They often ran into people that took her yoga classes, and everyone loved her. She put her whole heart into everything that she did, and helping people was the most important part of who Janine was.

“I can’t wait to get my food. I’m starving,” she said, putting her napkin in her lap. The restaurant was fancier than any one they had ever been to. Cloth napkins and a maître d’. William had to check his credit card to make sure he was going to have enough money to pay for it, and that wasn’t something he often had to think about. It was just that expensive. But he wasn’t going to spare any expense when it came to proposing to the love of his life.

“Me too,” he said.

“Are you okay? You’ve seemed kind of nervous all night. Is everything all right at work?”

William laughed. “What could possibly go wrong on a boat?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. I just figured that something must be going on because we never go out on fancy dates like this, and you seem awfully nervous.”

“No. Just happy to be here with you,” he said, reaching across the table and holding her hand. Maybe he would do it right now. There was no reason to wait for the dessert. He should just go ahead and do it so that he didn’t have to feel nauseous all the way through dinner.

“I love you,” she said, smiling at him. Yes, now was the exact right time to do it. It was the romantic moment he’d been waiting for.

“Janine, I need to ask you something…”

Before he could finish his sentence or drop to one knee, the waiter two tables over started banging a fork against a wine glass. Everybody in the restaurant turned to look.

“Ladies and gentlemen, join me in congratulating Sarah and Tate who just got engaged!”

The whole restaurant erupted in cheers and clapping, and William felt like he was going to throw up. He’d missed his chance. There was no way he was going to propose to Janine right after someone else had already done it. He wanted her to have the perfect moment, and this wasn’t it.