'Marvellous' I thought. We dolled ourselves up and taxied down to 'Fiesta' - apparently the most romantic and posh restaurant in Goa.
http://www.fiestagoa.com/
All excited, we drew up outside... and discovered it was closed! It was the only night of the week it shuts...
Boyf seemed extremely deflated and chain smoked for a while before announcing that we would have to come back tomorrow. Fine by me!
So back we came, 24 hours later, again dressed up to the nines. I was a little sceptical, if I'm honest. This restaurant is opposite Goa's biggest club. How could it be a romantic open-air dining experience if you're next to the biggest and loudest club? I soon found out. We walked through the most amazing pathways into the restaurant. They seemed to go on forever with wonderful foliage and lights. We must have walked halfway along the beach as by the time we got to the maitre'd there was not a sound of outside life. Taking us past enormous golden statues of Ganesh and chubby sofas, he led us into the restaurant and found us a beautiful table in the 'corner'. I use the term loosely as there were no real corners, just a smattering of tables laid out randomly dressed in rich coloured table linen. Beautiful.
Once we'd drooled over the menu and ordered some imported European wine (India is gorgeous, the food is gorgeous but the wine is shocking!) we settled into the evening and enjoyed the coastal breeze and atmosphere. The next hour is a bit of a blur to me honest. I remember ordering food and I remember eating it and I remember the proposal but I'm not sure at which point in the evening it happened.
I remember The Boy going of the loo with his rucksack, which seemed odd. He came back quite distracted and mumbled a lot. The next thing I knew, he was on bended knee with a walnut box in his hand! I can't remember what he said and I can't remember replying, I just remember crying .... a lot! Yes ladies and gentlemen, I'm a crier. And it showed. He was so nervous but thankfully my blubbing amused him and he said something about bringing me out to enjoy myself. Our waiter looked on completely bemused. I don't think he had a clue what was going on but what did we care?
So do you wanna see the rock then? Here you go.
What do you think? I love it! With hindsight I probably would not have had the henna tattoo put on that hand but what the heck.
So, what about that walnut box then... well it wasn't the one the jeweller had given us. This was one that The Boy had specially made before leaving the UK. In it had been a ring he had bought before leaving the UK too - he figured he couldn't turn up with no ring but knew me well enough to know I'd probably like to choose my own. The planning that had gone into this proposal was unbelievable! For three nights I'd sworn about his boss for making him stay so late at work - he hadn't been at work... he'd been at the shops trying to find a ring. He'd chosen one but the jeweller messed up and the wrong one was delivered so he was back to the drawing board. He'd also had a mare getting the walnut box made - yes m'dears, he had it made. And inside it was a beautiful inscription about me being his best friend and wanting to marry me. Oh god, I'm welling up just thinking about it.
And that's just the start of it. He'd decided to propose way back in June when we were trying to work out where to go on holiday. He figured that India would just about be special enough! and as for the girlfriends going suspiciously quiet, yes you guessed it, they knew too. And his best mate, yep he knew. And my dad. He'd asked Daddy B's permission before we got on the plane. In his confused state, my father thought that The Boy wanted to actually marry me in India.... Dad's eh?
So there you have it, that's why I had to say yes. What more could I want? Someone who can put that much thought into the proposal deserves an unreserved YES!
