He walked to the end of the boat while she lingered on in her room. Thoughts flooded through his mind, unsure yet excited. It was something he had never done before, the last of many such instances. He drifted back to a sticky summer day when he asked her to marry him, and it finally made sense. Everything was coming full circle, he thought. His parents had been married on a boat and were still going strong after 35 years. And now it would be him, after those shameful years through school and then grad school, stumbling through innumerable heartbreaks and wrong choices.

Her wedding day! It had finally arrived. Something fluttered in her heart as she pulled on her hair apprehensively. Caterers, waiters and family milled around, adding final touches to everything. She knew that he was the One and was glad she hadn’t settled down with the very first guy that was a probability. ‘Mr. and Mrs. Francis Chang’, she said out loud and shivered with delight. Hours blended into minutes till there were 5 minutes left.
He looked around, everyone dancing and happy after the wedding ceremony was done and congratulations had been making the rounds on the boat now not-so-far from the city limits. His hands clutched the small red-and-gold rimmed silk package in his hands as Clara posed for pictures in front of the cameraman’s lens. The perfect present for his perfect bride; he had searched high and low for his wedding present for her, running to malls for a week, combing through shops upon shops of everything that seemed right. Of this he was certain, a delicate diamond bracelet that would make her eyes light up. He was uncertain about choosing from a website in the beginning. But when the gift had arrived in the mail, the Wishwrapping that they had promised was exact plus more. He smiled as she walked toward him, went down on one knee; for old times’ sake, and held out his hand, the sparkle of the box and the sudden amazement in her brows making it all worthwhile