He had been planning this night for months, the night he would propose to Lauren. He always imagined them sharing a special meal at their favorite restaurant, ‘Tavolo della mamma’. They would gaze into each other’s eyes and then when the moment felt right, Eric would signal the musicians to play her favorite song, “Stand by me”. And then he would get down on one knee, show the ring and then give a speech and pop the question.

He had made restaurant reservations five months before the big day. The restaurant was usually packed and very hard to get into.

He rushed out the door from work and jumped into his car, feeling very excited. He got to her apartment and ran up the stairs, and got to her door. He knocked and then he heard a loud noise. It sounded like an elephant blaring into a megaphone.

The door opened and Lauren appeared. She was wrapped in her favorite green comforter, her hair was a mess, and her nose was a deep red color. “Oh hey, you’re early.” She said with the most congested nose he had ever heard, “Why don’t you come in and I’ll be ready in thirty minutes.” Then she grabbed a crumpled up Kleenex from underneath her comforter, and blew into it with the mighty blare of a trumpet.

“Are you ok? Because we can do this another night if we have to?” He said, not really wanting to hear her say that they should reschedule. “No I’m fine, it’s just allergies. Nothing a little bit of Benadryl and som-ACHOO!!”. “Sorry, some Benadryl and some DayQuil.” She said, then headed to her bathroom.

He sat and waited on her couch, checking his phone constantly for the time. He was just about to see if she was ok, when she came out in a red dress, she was stunning. “What do you think?” She said, with a loud sniffle. “You look beautiful” he replied.

“Ok, are you sure you wanna go out? I can reschedule, it’ll be no big deal.” He lied.

“I’m fine! I promise, now let’s go eat some of that sexy Italian food. ACHOO!!” She sneezed once more, and then grabbed her purse and then they walked out. They went into his car and they were on their way.

When they finally made it, they walked in and the restaurant waiting area was fully packed. They had scoot through bunches of people. But Lauren’s helped them. They finally got to the front desk.

“Sir, Madam, how may I help you?” The maitre’d asked. “Hi, I’m here for a reservation, eight thirty. It’s under the name Carpenter” he replied.

“Aah yes! Here we are, you are at booth 6, correct?” He asked. “Actually I’m at a table 6, the one by the window” he replied and the pointed to it.

“Umm, I’m sorry but we seem to have a reservation for that table already” he said. “I made a reservation five months ago, there is no way that somehow I lost that spot” he said, starting to get agitated.

“Oh, I think I’ve found the problem, apparently someone didn’t inform you that we already had a reservation for tonight, at that table..that was placed over seven months ago” he replied.

“Ok, fine we’ll take the booth.”

They sat down and told the waiter what they wanted to order, and then almost thirty minutes later they got their food. They talked and looked into each other’s eyes, when she wasn’t coughing and sneezing abruptly.

He got up to request the song from the musicians. When he got up there, the lead violinist said, “We charge twenty bucks for a request dude.” “Are you serious?? Oh forget it” then he took his wallet out and handed him the money. He walked back to the table, and heard the song playing. “Lauren, there is something I’ve been wanting to ask you for a long time” and then he got down on his knee. “Oh my god” she said. Then she put her hand over her mouth and ran through the restaurant, and to the bathroom. A few seconds later he heard a loud noise. It sounded like she was...throwing up. He said to himself, “Just great”, and then he drank his whole wine glass. The night was ruined it seemed. But it would be fine, he knew that she would say yes. He would just have to try again next time.