Darling Restaurant is one of the most exclusive restaurants in Victoria Island, Lagos. Located in the least populated part of the island, it catered only to the filthy rich.
The place felt and looked like money. From the high hanging chandeliers, to the beautifully crafted chairs and tables. The tablecloths were handmade and their cream color shone warmly in the cool light of the restaurant.
The floor was covered in beautifully designed tiles, the walls were equally covered in wallpapers. At this time of the year, the restaurant was fully booked. Any dinner here had to be booked in advance. No impromptu dates. Unless you had the money.
This was the restaurant I chose to propose to my girlfriend in. She's the light of my life and my reason for waking up each day. And so, she deserves nothing but the best. And the best is what I'll give her.
We're both agents in the DSS, Department of State Services here in Nigeria. It's through a mission we had worked together on that I had met her. And one year later, there's nothing I can do without her. And I want to seal it up with a ring.
While our superiors would frown at a relationship between agents, there was no clear law forbidding it. So we were free to do as we pleased. We loved each other, what else was needed?
Tonight, she had come to the restaurant as she did anywhere else, right on time. This was not my usual kind of date, I was jittery with nerves. She noticed and asked me what the problem was.
"Oh, nothing." I replied, trying to smile. "Your beauty is just out of this world. I can't get used to it."
She smiled at that, I let out a breath in relief. I had dodged that bullet.
The dinner went well, we chatted and laughed. The nerves never left though. I decided to get it over with.
As she was telling me about one of her sister's most recent extravagant spending, I pulled a case out of my pocket. Her words were barely registering with me, I was too focused on what I was doing. My fingers shook as I popped the case and took out a ring. It was a gold band with a diamond stone on top.
"Hey Samson!" She called my name suddenly, as she realized I wasn't paying attention. "You're not even listening to me!"
"Uhm..." I gasped, sweat breaking over my forehead.
Now was the time.
"Sophia Okorie..." I said her name in full as I got ready to go down on a knee.
"Samson! Watch out!" She screamed suddenly, pushing the table against me so I toppled backward just as a gunshot rang out. I fell hard against the floor, the chair cushioned the brunt of my fall, but I still saw stars. The ring slipped out of my fingers and out of sight.
"No!" I was very mad.
Pandemonium struck then, the patrons of the restaurant running helter skelter in search of the exit. Some of them simply got on the floor and laid down flat.
My training kicked in. I rolled off the floor, pulling out my service pistol from my waistband as I ducked behind the bar of the cashier's cubicle.
A short distance away, j saw Sophia pull her pistol from a strap around her thigh. I watched as she pulled back the hammer and ducked for safety. Love welled up in me for her. Then anger at the gunman.
Another shot rang out, and a bullet slammed against my hiding place. There was a crash as a bottle fell to the tiled floor. Another shot hit again. I couldn't dare try to shoot back, the gunman had me cornered.
Sophia noticed this and signalled me. Then with her fingers, she told me she was going to flank the man.
"No!" I mouthed while I also gestured.
She went anyway.
As I tried to sneak another peek at the gunman, another shot slammed into my shelter.
"Come on out!" The man taunted, his voice high over the screaming people. "Why are you so scared?"
"You are making a big mistake!" I called back to him, "just drop your gun and we can help you--"
He shut me up with another shot.
"I do the talking around here!" He screamed, his voice sounded close to tears. I couldn't see him clearly from where I was hiding. "Now come on out like a man let me kill---"
"Drop the gun now!" Sophia's voice rang like a bell through the hall of the restaurant.
I stole a peek then, as the gunman swerved to point his gun at her.
I felt fear slam into my chest. What if they shoot at each other? I ran out of my hiding spot, and caught up with the man from behind then grabbed his gun hand. I turned the nuzzle upward just as a shot rang out. The bullet slammed into the chandelier, sending it crashing to the floor.
The man turned once more as I wrestled the gun from his grip, he threw a punch. I ducked it and slammed mine into his stomach. As he doubled over in pain, I grabbed him and shoved him against a table.
Man and table toppled and fell to the floor, two bottles of champagne burst open ,their contents pooling over the tiles. The man tried to get up, but Sophia slammed the butt if her pistol against his temple. Knocking him out.
"Are you okay?" I asked her.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She replied, searching him for hidden weapons.
Letting out a deep breath, I looked around. The restaurant was in chaos. Now that the threat had been dealt with, the customers were running out in terror. I looked at Sophia as I slid my pistol back into it's holster. Then I froze as I saw her holding up my fallen ring. She was looking at it and at me in turn.
"I found it under him." She said, "so this is what was distracting you during dinner?"
The nerves were back. I couldn't believe it. I had just faced off a deadly gunman without breaking a sweat. Why was it so hard to ask the woman I love to marry me?
I looked at her, standing over the unconscious form of the gunman, in a pool of expensive champagne and shards of glass.
"Please, marry me." I told her, I had not planned it this way. It had simply dropped out of my mouth. And now that it was out, I looked at her expectantly.
Her face was expressionless as she looked at me long and hard, then at the ring. And at the gunman. I would have given a year's pay to know what was going on in her head.
Then she slipped the ring onto her middle finger.
"It fits." She commented.
I said nothing, nerves wouldn't let me say anything coherent.
"I will marry you Samson." She said finally.
Joy flooded into me, washing away the nerves. I got closer and pulled her into a deep soul searching kiss.
"You know our superiors might not like this." She said when we pulled apart.
"Yeah. But can't you see how good a team we are? We'll make them like us."
The gunman stirred, waking up. And the love of my life kicked him, sending him back to sleep. I don't know why, but I found it so romantic. She had knocked a guy out for me, twice.
"We'll take this guy to base," she was saying. "Make him tell us why he's trying to kill us."
"Yes." I replied, "but meanwhile..."
There, over the gunman's unconscious form, I kissed her again. Long and deep.
And this time, I couldn't stop.
The End