Double shot

The night I asked Cyndi’s parents’ permission to marry their daughter, I was escorted out of the bar at which her former boyfriend, Mike, worked. He had been calling her in desperate attempts to rekindle their lost love. Cyndi told me she was frustrated and scared. Earlier that day, Mike called Cyndi at work. She sat at the nurses’ station where I first saw her and cried. I knew my intentions so I set out to remedy the situation.

When I walked in, I stood out. It was a sports bar and he was one of many bartenders. The place was filled with a Monday Night Football crowd, and I was dressed in a business suit. Mike recognized me because we had met a couple months before. He acted as if he was pleased to see me.


“Hey, dude,” he said to me extending his hand.


I was nervous and determined. “You’re gonna have to leave Cyndi alone,” I told him, “and to stop calling her. She doesn’t want you calling her anymore.”



"What did you say to me?" he asked, his head cocked to the left. Mike’s mood quickly changed. “Hey, Randy,” he motioned for a bouncer to come over to us, “this guy needs to get out of here.” Randy walked toward me. “You can’t come in here and say those things to me,” Mike said. “If she wants me to stop calling, she’ll tell me. Who are you?”



"I'm the guy who's telling you to stop calling her." I didn't want to get into a fight, but I was determined to accomplish my mission. Randy grabbed my arm and led me out. I walked with him, but never took my eyes off of Mike.


He never called again.


Later that night,when I asked for their daughter’s hand, Cyndi’s father cried. I wasn't prepared for that reaction, quite honestly. I was expecting more resistance. We had only been dating a few months. She was with Mike when we met. They were together for seven years. They were even living together. I knew that Cyndi was "the one" on our first date. So I saw no reason in waiting. Her parents agreed.

That weekend, I staged a mock surprise birthday party for Cyndi with 30 family members and friends. When it came time for her to open my gift, she was presented with a Cinderella throw pillow. The confused look on her face was thrilling. I told her the pillow was not for her. I placed it on the floor, got down on one knee, and asked her to be my wife. It was sudden, unexpected and perfect.


Later that night, we ate chocolate cake with butter cream frosting. The cake was decorated with Beauty and the Beast figurines, which was my mother’s idea because she felt Cyndi was the Belle that released the Beast spell cast upon her son. My father gave me a double shot of Jack Daniel’s.


It stung my throat on the way down; just like it was supposed to do.