The Event

The Event

By: Meko Kaprelian

He found himself walking La Rambla, the bustle of people and the foreign sounds that bounced off his ears gave him the sense of being small in a large place, but the tree-lined cobblestone boulevard, open only to foot traffic, left him romantically comfortable; all at the same time. It was early July in Barcelona; the warm sunny weather had the streets full of activities and tourists, that stimulated the senses. As he walked the Gothic-inspired city that’s nestled between the majestic Collserola mountains and the sapphire blue waters of the Mediterranean, he felt reassured that the location for “The Event” he had been planning for months couldn’t be more perfect. James on break from his duties as an inspector for a company contracted by the US government to build housing for the military in Djibouti, Africa, arrived in Spain a full day ahead of her, to meet with the planner he’d been working with online to finalize the preparations for “The Event”; following the GPS map on his phone he made his way to the meeting location.

Sophia Diaz came to Barcelona by way of New York and with her Puerto Rican heritage, she was able to speak Spanish, which helped her assimilate easily; her profession as an event planner in America led her to expand her talents to Spain. She and her photographer Maximo sat within a 17th Century courtyard at a small wrought iron table outside a quaint café. James got to know Sophia online via her business page and email chats a month prior when he was looking for the perfect vacation and way to propose to his girlfriend. In order to get accepted as a client James had to provide pictures of himself and his girlfriend. This didn’t seem out of the ordinary since the event Sophia had planned for his proposal relied on facial recognition; also this made it easy for them to identify James now that he had arrived to where they were sitting.

HOLA! Sophia and Maximo in unison shouted and waved to James as he made his way across the courtyard to them. “Hello” James replies and once finally together all shake hands and give a warm reception before sitting down at the small table. Espressos were ordered by all as Sophia opened up her planner. “We have a great scenario planned for you James”, Sophia exclaims, “I will capture it all on photo”, Maximo adds. “This is going to be amazing and spectacular, I’m so glad I found you and able to make this special event happen” James replies with great appreciation. “Your girlfriend is so beautiful; this will be perfect for her” Sophia comments. “Yes, they will make for beautiful photos and memories”, adds Maximo. “Does your girlfriend arrive tonight?” asks Sophia, “yes” James excitedly replies. “Perfect, we have all the actors ready and they’ll be in place tomorrow. They have been studying the pictures of you both and they’ll easily recognize you” Sophia explains to James; assuring him that “The Event” plan is ready. “I will be there but unnoticeable to your girlfriend to capture all the events with my camera; only you will be aware of my presence” Maximo informs James. “This is perfect and I’m excited” James says through a smile. “We have arranged for you to pay each actor for their services as you meet them” Sophia says as she hands James four envelopes containing 20 Euros each, the picture of each actor, and individually labeled: Artist, Gypsy Woman, Box-bearer, and Musician. James then draws the ring box from his pocket and hands it to Sophia. Feeling James’s hesitation Sophia says, “Don’t worry we will take good care of it”. James knew this all hinged on the ring and assured himself its necessity of turning over such an expensive object to strangers. “At 9 am I will meet you at our designated location outside Montjuic Castle” Maximo saying as he stands to shake hands with James. Sophia warmly embraces James and says, “it was such a pleasure meeting you”, James feeling awkward by the embrace replies with “Thank you and I’ll see you tomorrow Maximo”.

While the meeting was brief, James got the odd sensation that there was a mysteriousness surrounding Sophia and Maximo and their unexplainable warmness and interest in his relationship made James a bit nervous. James quickly put those feelings aside as he was excited to prepare for the arrival of the woman who had prompted him to make such a grand gesture of his love. A gesture that would not even have been possible for James, if not for the death of his grandfather, who had left James with twenty-thousand dollars in his will just a handful of months ago. James was now putting that money to use to whisk his beautiful girlfriend away to Spain and make the marriage proposal of a life-time with hopes of a wedding next spring. This of course all depending on if “her” answer would be yes.

Amongst beleaguered travelers Lila finally appears outside the terminal where James is anxiously waiting. She has never traveled so far from the United States before and she was extremely tired after the flight from Los Angeles. James and Lila embrace and kiss, “I’m so happy you’re finally here” excitedly He exclaims. Lila says, “I’m happy too” although clearly stressed from the past 13 hours of flying. “Let’s get to the hotel, we have an exciting vacation ahead of us that begins tomorrow, and you’ll need your rest” James calmly states as he takes Lila’s bags and hand. James smiling bright on the inside now that he had his beautiful girlfriend with him and knowing of the event to come.

The morning sun and excitement greeted James as he awoke early with Lila still sleeping beside him. He quietly got himself ready and carefully removed the euros and pictures from the envelopes. He concentrated on the pictures then put the money in his pocket. He ordered room service than woke Lila up to inform her that a surprise awaited her. “Get up and get ready to leave soon, I have room service coming for you, a surprise also awaits you” James softly spoke to Lila. “What?” Lila questions. “You’ll see, just get ready, breakfast will be here soon too” James replies now with a little nervous urgency in his voice.

Lila emerges from the bathroom ready and looking radiant in a bohemian patterned summer dress. James was always in awe of how Cosmopolitanly beautiful Lila looked. Her Hispanic heritage shown through with long dark hair and stunning deep brown eyes, matched with a smile as bright as sunshine. James knew on looks alone he was out of his league with Lila and felt immensely proud to have such a beautiful women in love with him. James always wanted to do something special to show Lila how he felt but with his modest salary and demanding workload he never quite had the money or the time. The windfall from his grandfather’s passing and his company paying for the R and R to anyplace in the world as reward for taking the arduous Africa job worked out to James advantage and he was finally able and about to surprise Lila with the most outrageous marriage proposal.

Stepping from the cab James takes Lila by the hand, “Here we are!” James exclaims to Lila as he throws his arms open as if to present all of MontJuic’s beauty to her. “It’s beautiful baby” Lila replies with amazement at the grounds that were once a Catalonian military fort in the 17th Century. Now it’s a collection of beautiful gardens, walkways, and a massive fountain centerpiece that leads to over half a mile of stairs with a castle at the top. James spots Maximo on a walkway in the distance giving the wave to head down this path. Taking Lila by the hand James walks her in Maximo’s direction. “Young man, young man” James hears from an old artist sitting at and easel along the route. “Let me draw a picture of the beautiful lady” the old artist speaks again. Recognizing the artist from the pictures, James asks Lila to sit for the old man to draw her. “It’ll be a great souvenir of Barcelona” James says, “Is this the surprise James” Lilly jokingly inquires. Looking at least 80 the old artists hands trembled has he stroked the pad diligently with his pencil. “You are so lovely” the old artist says to Lila as he reveals his completed work. “It’s beautiful” says James “and look he drew a beautiful necklace with an old key around my neck” Lila points out. “Only 20 euros, if you want” the old man says holding out his hand to James. “We’ll take it” James says as he hands over the money.

Holding the picture in one hand James takes Lila’s hand with the other as they stroll towards the stairs and fountain. “Oh beautiful couple I have something for you” a frail old woman cries. “I see the beautiful lady and picture; I have something for you” again the old woman calls to them. James recognizing the old gypsy woman from the photos has them stop to talk to her and see the jewelry laid out on the ground where she sits. “Oh so beautiful, I have something” She pulls from a bag a key necklace that perfectly matches the one the old artist had just drawn. “Oh my” Lila full of amazement and with shock on her face replies to the old woman’s gesture. “You must have it; you are so beautiful it’s destiny it must be yours” the old gypsy quietly speaks. James hands 20 euros to the woman and puts on the key necklace around Lila’s neck. James can see Maximo in the distance capturing every moment.

Lila looking at James with suspicious eyes and quizzingly asks, “James what are you doing”, “Nothing” James emphatically states. “I think it’s old gypsy magic” James laughingly retorts. Now at the Fountain the two had a mountain of stairs to climb in route to the castle. Lila wanting to stop for pictures along the way James had to stubbornly prod Lila to wait as he knew what Lila did not. Finally making it to the top James could see Maximo amongst the crowd using the castle entrance stairs as seats to listen to the musicians playing along the castle walkway and rail that was set to the entire city of Barcelona as their backdrop. While it was a romantic sight, James’s nervousness began to set in as he knew the moment was drawing near.

Now their turn along the rail to take in the beautiful view of the fountains and all of the city, Lila was interrupted by a young man, “ma’am excuse me ma’am, your necklace matches the emblem on my box”. “Oh my it does” she says as she’s perplexed to the reason why. At almost the same moment James is approached by a musician asking, “Sir please let me play for you and the beautiful lady”. Recognizing both the musician and Box-bearer James knew now was the moment and with an audience of strangers astutely tuned to the scene being created, he ran flush with nervousness. Delicately the musician played “Marry Me” from Train, as the young boy hands Lila the decorative box. Removing the key from around her neck she is surprised to see it unlocks the strange box. Inside rests a ring box to Lila’s amazement, Standing with her hands drawn to her face; she gasps. On bended knee James takes the box and opens it showing Lila the ring He asks, “Will you marry me?”. Through tears and joy James hears, “Yes, Yes!” to which he raises and kisses Lila passionately if not relievingly. Again Maximo can be seen in the distance capturing every moment. To James surprise also in the box lay a black leather bound notebook with a letter reading, “The images of beauty grow old, fade, and die; but once it is written will stand the test of time, here’s to your beautiful love story” -Sophia and Maximo.

THE END