“Taxi!” yelled John Trenton as he waved down the yellow vehicle. He quickly got in the cab and gave directions to the driver. John was a successful business man, working in New York City as an assistant manager for a large credit card firm. He kept glancing down at his watch as the taxi made it’s way through the streets of the Big Apple. It was 4:56 PM and he was already late. He was on his way to his girlfriend’s house. His girlfriend, Julie, lived on the other side of Central Park on Manhattan Avenue. He had planned to be there at 4:30 sharp, even earlier if he could, but he unfortunately got caught up with a problem in the network at work that couldn’t be pushed until tomorrow.

Everything was going well until he saw a large construction sign pointing in the taxi’s direction. The cab had made it to the corner of Central Park, and had come to a dead stop in traffic as the sound of drills and machinery filled the air. John sighed, but took to his feet hastily. He thanked the cab driver and gave him a twenty for a ten dollar trip. He rushed out of the car and started running as he unbuttoned his collared shirt with one hand and firmly gripped his briefcase with the other. Though John looked in shape, that wasn’t truly the case. Sitting around in an office cubical all day didn’t help much either.

He ran and ran. Sweat started to form above his brow and his briefcase began to feel like it had a rock in it. He carefully crossed the street and down the next block, trying to avoid the others on the sidewalks as best he could.

Finally he made it to her apartment building. Into the main lobby he ran as fast as he could. He watched as others around him stared awkwardly in his direction as he sprinted through the lobby. As he came to the elevator hallway, he watched as both elevator doors closed on him. Quickly he made a u-turn and headed for the staircase, which in fact, wasn’t particularly easy in the shoes he was wearing. He almost ended up face first on the floor, but luckily caught himself and continued on, panting heavily as he went. Her apartment was on the fifth floor, so he was confident that he could make his way up the stairs faster than the time it would take to wait for the only two elevators of the building to come back down to the lobby floor.

Third floor, fourth floor, and then finally the fifth floor came. His briefcase kept on getting heavier and heavier it seemed. But he was almost there. He couldn’t take a break now. It was already twenty minutes past five o’clock. His legs burned as he came to the door number 509. As he finally tried to catch his breath he knocked on the door three times, then took out his key, which Julie had given him to her apartment, and went in.

There was many people inside, ready and waiting. The three knocks had been a warning that it was only him.

“Is she here yet?” John asked.
“No, not yet. You’re lucky John.” responded a few people.

John let out an enormous sigh of relief as he knelt down on the floor in utter happiness. Julie had been away on a trip to Connecticut to visit her best friend and her train arrived back in New York at 4:20 PM. As he regained his normal breathing, he opened his suitcase and reached for a small box.

All of a sudden they heard footsteps in the hallway. Everyone quieted down and shut off the lights. The footsteps stopped at the door and they heard the scraping of keys against the dead bolt lock. Julie walked into the darkness, but before she could get two steps into her apartment, everyone yelled, “Surprise!”

Julie let out a small scream at first, overwhelmed by the situation, but then smiled that smile that John had fallen in love with. It was Julie’s birthday and John had gathered her relatives and his to give her a nice day to remember. But that wasn’t all.

John approached Julie and gave her a warm kiss on the cheek.

“You organized all this for me?” Julie asked.
“Yup, all for you Julie.” he answered.
“But I have one more question to go along with your birthday celebration.” he continued.

Julie looked at him curiously, “Hmm?”.

John got down on one knee and took out the small black box that he had gotten from his briefcase. He opened it slowly, revealing a gold ring with a flawless diamond embedded in the center of it. As he open the box, he spoke those words that are from the heart and soul of a person in love.

“Julie Marie Robinson, will you marry me?”

The look of astonishment, of joy, of pure delight on Julie’s face radiated throughout the room as everyone watched in nervous excitement.

“John Trenton, of course I’ll marry you!”