“Wear something nice for dinner tonight” said David.

“Where are we going?” I asked

“You’ll see.”

I wore my sky blue dress with flower borders and my matching yellow shoes, ready for my birthday eve dinner. We walked along the atypically warm NYC streets all decked out. About half way into the walk, I started to get really curious about our destination. David had mentioned to his mother the other day that he would make reservations from the hotel when we got into the city. But he never told me of the name of the restaurant.

“Are we almost there?”

“Yes, right where those trees are,” as David pointed toward Central Park.

As we got close to the park, I noticed that we were approaching Jekkyl and Hyde.

“We’re going to Jekkyl and Hyde?” I asked. We had seen the infamous Jekkyl & Hyde jeep with the scary looking monsters piled in the back of the jeep. David had explained that the jeep drives around the city in hopes of leading customers to the restaurant.

“Yes, that’s it.” David said with a slight hint of sarcasm.

“I should have worn black then to go with the ambience.”

But we walked briskly passed J&H and proceeded to go towards the park.

Perhaps we were going to ride in the horse carriage and then have a picnic in Central Park. The idea of it always seemed romantic to me but then the smell of the horses overcomes the thought. But we walked passed the horses.

We then came upon the Trump towers and the massive globe statue that David had pointed out earlier that day. We finally walked up the steps of a grand building to Jean-Georges. The hostess led us to the most perfect booth seating, strategically set into the wall so it felt like we were a royal couple looking out at the other guests. I liked the booth seating so that we could sit close to each other. David then confessed that he had made the reservation a month and a half in advance.

We then decided to order the chef’s 7 course tasting menu. Thus we commenced the night of delectable French food. David also ordered some sparkling champagne and a bottle of white wine. I had some sips as usual and David tried to convince me to drink more. The food was spectacular and the service was great.

By the end of the meal, I excused myself to go to the ladies room. When I got back, I noticed David had ordered yet another glass of champagne for himself. After I sat down again, he turned to face me as he put his right arm around me.

“You know that I love you very much.”

The way he said it with a slight quiver in his voice and the closeness of his face to mine made me a little tearful from the sudden surge of emotion.

“I have a question to ask you.” He said. At this moment, my heart leapt as I anticipated what he was going to say.

He then presented a small green box from his inner suit pocket. I took it in my shaky hands and opened it to reveal a beautiful, sparkling diamond ring.

“Will you marry me?” He asked, at this point, we both had tears in our eyes.

“Yes!” I said as we embraced and kissed each other, tasting our tears. It seemed as if we were the only ones in the restaurant and the moment lingered on deliciously.

After wiping my tears and then his with my dinner napkin, we turned our attention finally to the sparkling ring. It looked breathtaking under the lights at Jean-Georges as the diamond exhibited its rainbow of colors. The smaller diamonds surrounding the band also flirted with the lighting and presented a dazzling sight.

“It’s so pretty”

“Yes, I thought you’d like the sparkliness,” says David.

David then went on to tell me about his month and a half of planning and how hard it was to keep the secret from me. I was completely surprised about the engagement, thinking that it was down the road in the next 6 months as we had discussed. We talked about David’s “sneaky” or “tricksy” factor and he was very proud of surprising me. My family was very happy for me when I called to let them know later that night. We subsequently met up with my family in the next 1-2 days to celebrate our engagement. I’m looking forward to my life with Davids!

Link to David's version