"You've been spending a lot of time with Larissa," his father commented casually, eyes still glued to whatever program was playing on the tv. Chris hadn't really been paying it much attention.
"Yah," he wrung his hands nervously. "I'm going to ask her to marry me," he blurted. Robert coughed in shock and immediately clicked the tv off, turning towards his son who was sitting nervously upright in the other recliner in the family room.
Chris had been spending a lot of time with Larissa. Filming for their guest spots on "So This is Life" had ended over two months ago. It had been almost a month since they first made love. Something had been switched in both of them that night. They found themselves staying all night at each other's places more and more. Their need to be together was almost palpable. Chris wondered if she physically ached as he did sometimes when they were apart. He had contemplated asking her to move in, but something was still holding him back. He had no qualms about it whatsoever, but was afraid, even though it seemed that their whole "taking things slow" had gone out the window, that it would be too much for Larissa.
"That's, that's great news, son," his father stammered.
"You think it's too soon?" Chris furrowed his brow.
"No, no. I mean, sure, it's pretty quick, but that's your decision.I told you, if it's something you're absolutely sure of, go for it. Just, uh, threw me off, that's all," he chuckled.
"I told you she's the one, dad."
"I know, son. I've just never seen you like this before. I knew you were serious, but I had no idea you planned on marrying her so soon."
"I know it's crazy, but I just don't see any reason to wait for the rest of our lives to start. Don't repeat this to ANYONE, but...I physically hurt when she's gone. When I have too much time to think, which is more often than not these days, I can't help but wonder how I lived my life without her in it before. I want to start our life together. Right now." His father was speechless for several minutes.
"What?" Chris asked, laughing nervously.
"Just thinking," Robert shook his head. "I'm proud of you son. I know you're still young, but to be honest, I was starting to wonder if you would ever settle down. We really like her too, your mom and I," he paused. "Hell, I think even Catherine likes her." They both started laughing. "Just let me know what you need, son. When are you planning on asking her?"
"I don't know, exactly. Probably as soon as I get a ring," Chris chuckled. "Hopefully in the next few weeks."
Trying to get an idea for what kind of ring Larissa would love proved to be harder than Chris expected. In fact, he had contemplated just asking her straight out what she liked, but he wanted the proposal to be an absolute surprise.
Over the next week, Chris only ended up spending one night at Larissa's house. She usually only wore the same necklace and he had never seen her with rings on, so he had to resort to snooping through her jewelry box while she was in the shower the next morning.
Chris was surprised to find that Larissa actually had quite a bit of jewelry. He wondered why she never wore half of it. "Women," he thought, shrugging to himself.
Snooping hadn't been much help as far as deciding which color to go with went. She had a pretty even mix of silver and gold jewelry. He did notice a recurring theme elsewhere and it gave him the perfect idea. He may have also sneakily "borrowed" a ring in hopes that he would get the correct size.
Chris woke up that morning so nervous he thought he was going to get sick, several times.
"Get a hold of yourself," he chided himself. "You still have the whole day ahead of you." For once, he was glad that Larissa hadn't stayed all night. She had work early that morning, a double shift, in fact, so it worked out perfectly. He had all day to get things ready and, well, try not to puke along the way.
Chris' nausea eased up measurably once he picked up the ring from the jewelers. He liked the fact that it was the same establishment where his parents got their wedding rings some 40+ years ago. In fact, the same gentleman who started the business so many years ago still frequently helped the customers out front. It was hard to be sentimental in a town like L.A., but it gave Chris a warm feeling somewhere deep inside. Not to mention the ring was absolutely perfect.
After that, Chris stopped by a seafood restaurant he had found online. It was in the perfect location, right across the street from"their beach", as they called it. It was one of their favorite date night spots and the same place in Santa Monica he had first taken her too. They were both seafood lovers, but they had never been to this particular restaurant and Chris wanted to make sure it was up to snuff for their special night. He had contemplated getting takeout from their favorite place, Providence, but he figured seafood as a picnic dinner was a bad idea.
Chris entered By the Seashore and glanced around. It was definitely more casual than Providence, but the ambience seemed calm, subdued,which is what Chris was looking for. A young man, probably a few years younger than Chris, approached the hostess podium.
"Welcome to By the Seashore. Just yourself this afternoon?"
"Oh, no. Actually, I just dropped by to check the place out in person. I found you guys on the internet. We've never been here before and I'm planning kind of a special date tonight," Chris explained.
"Oh, very nice, sir. Would you like to make a reservation for this evening?"
Chris laughed. "I know you're just doing your job, but please.Don't call me sir. You're like, the same age as my girlfriend. And yes, I'd like to make a reservation for two this evening. Let's say...8 o'clock?"
"Very well, s-", the maitre d' caught himself. "Very well,"he jotted Chris' information down in the book resting on the podium.
