It was a crisp autumn evening. The couple was eating at a nice downtown restaurant. The air was filled with tension, neither party would admit to noticing. This year would mark their sixth year of engagement, tenth year of dating and eleventh of knowing each other. 

 

In the fall of her Freshman year at Baruch College, Amanda glanced at a man while sipping her all-too-milky but inexpensive latte at the local cafe, Devocion. This was her treat after what felt like a never-ending cycle of torture, Freshman midterms. The luxury of having time to enjoy a warm beverage and a handsome view was so rare she cherished every second. The man looked to be quite young, but had a full beard, kind-eyes and a haircut so well-fashioned, it called for other men to compete. The man caught sight of her peeking, returned with a smirk and took a long, attention-seeking, sip of his espresso. Being that she was shy, Amanda was instantly embarrassed. Her face turned into a bright pink and she turned her gaze away so quickly she forgot she had to swallow coffee in her mouth and began incessantly coughing. So much so that the man felt obligated to walk over to hand her a tissue. She thanked him quickly and proceeded to wipe her mouth. 

“You missed a spot,” said the man, 

“Huh, oh oh yeah I did. Oh sorry, thanks. Um where?”

The man went on to say “let me,” and took the tissue from her hand and wiped the coffee residue from the corner of her lip. Her cheeks were flushed yet again and became redder out of anger for blushing. He returned the tissue and introduced himself as Michael. Michael sat down and  began to converse with Amanda about his time at Baruch, he was a recent graduate of the college and left with a double-major in Finance and Statistics. He led on from this information into bragging about his new job in a top firm in the Kips Bay area. She definitely fell for the bait, considering she too was a finance major and took this as both a learning opportunity and romantic venture. The pair stayed for hours until the cafe finally closed for the night and agreed to meet up another time under the premise of “job prospects” for Amanda. 

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It seemed funny to Amanda that eleven years after their first  encounter at Devocion, two of his traits had never died. The first being that he believed it to be his duty to wipe the corner of her mouth, as though she was a child in need of care. The second, his ability to brag, to embellish and lengthen a story to the point of it losing its meaning. However, other parts of what she thought were his personality had soon faded after their first few months as a couple. Like his generosity, that quickly faded after they first slept together, or his flattery that began to have a critical tone as time passed. Regardless of these changes in the early stages of the relationship, the more she got to know him she learned to live with ugly parts. 

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Amanda thought about how by the time she was 24, she was living together with Michael in an apartment with a view of the bay. The pair spent many nights looking over the bay to see the bright lights of city buildings, similar to those they both worked in, with a deep appreciation for the life they lived but with an understanding that to attain this view, it took a great toll on their personal lives. Nine-to-five was a dream for them, their schedule felt more like Six-to-Eleven. Proximity did not entail the growth of their personal relationship rather it maximized efficiency. Both felt this need to keep hustling, as per the New York way-of-life, to maintain this high standard of living. It did come with perks, yearly couples vacations to the Bahamas or England, but at what cost. The couple rarely went out, and if they did, it would take weeks of planning and schedule changes. Their shared bed regularly contained one person, as the other member of this couple would be answering phone calls or emails early hours into the morning.

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After two years of living together Amanda called Michael out of the blue.

“Hi babe, what’s up?” Michael said as he answered Amanda’s call.

She in distress went on to say, “Babe, I twisted my ankle running up the stairs. I’m at NYU Langone. Room 213,” as an invitation for him to visit her.

“Oh love that sucks. I have to go. I have work. See you at 9. Love you,” he responded.

“Love you too.”

And that was that. He came to see her at 9. There was not a shred of urgency to attend to her during this time of need. She justified this by understanding that this was just Michael, he was just like this. He was busy. This was their relationship. Despite what she wanted to happen she knew he was predictable. 

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That was why it was both shocking but unsurprising to Amanda when Michael finally got down on one knee. The couple went on one of their rare dates to Baby Bo’s Cantina, a new Mexican place that opened up near the bay.  Then went on a stroll to the concrete park, or whatever it was, down by the water. They strolled, talked about work and planned their next vacation as they took in the view of the city’s lights, as they loved to do. As she bent over to tie her shoelaces, he took the opportunity to get into position and popped the question. The proposal was private, as was much of their lives. In both their minds, there was no answer but yes, this was just a formality. In the heat of the moment they kissed and hugged.The ring was then placed in her finger, the big rock glimmered as she turned it in the light of one of the lamp posts. 

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However, the excitement died down, the glimmer faded, life went on. The couple remained doing what they had done for years. Marriage was an afterthought. All discussions were about how they couldn’t get married until a certain plan was fulfilled, and when it was, more plans were established to replace it. Neither felt like they were stalling, that this living situation and prolonged engagement wasn’t unnatural. They were just busy. They just lived in New York. They were career people. They were still young. They had plenty of time.

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On their six year anniversary as an engaged couple, both partners had something to share Both pieces of information would be life-changing, but their lack of communication over the years rendered them too “chicken” to say what they needed to. So, after they ate dinner at the Flying Cock, the couple went down 34th street arm-in-arm making small talk in the direction of the bay. Again discussing work, a previous vacation, services they needed in their apartment block. The usual stuff they talked about. Michael was back to his humble-brags about this new investment he was dealing with at the firm and Amanda was pretending to listen as she delved deeper into the confines of her brain. It was hard for her to really engage when she had this pressing news. Michael only talked so he could think about something else, anything other than this information he was dying to spill. He didn't know why he kept it a secret for so long, maybe he wanted to surprise her, maybe he knew deep down how she would react. Both had pondered about how the other person would react to their piece for weeks. As they made it to the bay, they looked out again. This is what they paid for with their lives, this view of city lights across the water. The bright lights of office buildings. Years of never-ending work, for this. This view. This life. Was it worth it? After a lengthy silence, they peeled their eyes off the view and gazed at each other. They knew it was time,

“I, I um. I have some news,” Amanda said to break the silence.

“ I guess I have some too,” Michael responded while scratching the back of his neck. “Yeah, well um you go first,” he finished

“No you, I insist” she implored after, to take the attention off herself.

“Well, um, I received a Job offer in Spain, what do you think?” He asked looking for excitement he couldn’t find on her face.

“We’re pregnant Michael.”