I turned to see Bear running towards me.

“Fuck!” I muttered, shaking my head.

“Chloe!” he yelled. “Stop! Please!”

He rushed towards me, ignoring the attendant and closing the distance between us. He looked disheveled, his deep blue eyes filled with sadness and confusion.

He looks like I feel, I thought.

“Chloe, what are you doing?” he asked, staring down at me.

“I’m going home, Bear. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I just couldn’t.”

“Why are you doing this? This is your home now.”

“No,” I said, shaking my head, my heart breaking. “It’s not.”

“Chloe,” he pleaded. “Let’s talk. Just give me five minutes.”

I sighed and nodded.

“Okay, but I can’t miss my flight,” I said, moving away from the entrance and walking with him over to the window. The jet loomed, waiting to take me home.

“Chloe, I was a complete and utter asshole last night, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have had so much to drink and I should have been gentler with you. It’s all my fault. I got carried away celebrating.”

“It’s not that,” I said, even though it was a little bit. But people were watching us and the last thing I wanted to do was talk about him taking my ass in public.

“What is it, then?” he asked.

“It’s everything else, Bear. I don’t know how to do that job you want me to do. I’m clueless. And I just don’t understand what’s happening. Between us. With us. None of this makes sense.”

“Don’t you see?” he said, his voice gentle and soft. “This thing between us makes perfect sense.”

“How is that?” I asked. “Look, Bear, I’m not whatever you think I am. You can find someone else to fulfill those needs. You’d be better off with a woman like Zoe. Someone who fits your lifestyle.”

“Zoe?” he scoffed. “She’s a fragile fucking butterfly that I hate being around.”

“Well, whomever…” I said, my voice trailing off.

“Chloe, listen to me. Look at me!” he said. My eyes darted up, hypnotized by his piercing glare. “I thought I made myself clear the other day, but maybe not. I have never in my life met a woman like you. You’re special, don’t you see? I’ve tried being with other people, I’ve tried to make it work with other women, trust me. But it’s never been right. Not like this. Not till you, Chloe.”

“Bear, I don’t—,” I began.

“—let me finish, babe, please? When I met you that first time, I knew. I knew because something opened up in me, something about you ripped me wide open and crawled inside of me and never let go. It was like I’d been waiting for you my whole life. And then, when I saw you again, when we made love that first time —,”

“—that was not making love!” I protested.

“To me it was! To me, it was the beginning of everything that ever mattered. It was the confirmation that I was right all along. When I felt you around me, when I felt the perfection of our bodies fitting together like they were made from the same cloth, I knew, deep down, that you were the one.”

“The one for what, though, Bear? What do you want with me? What is all of this even about?” I cried.

“That’s a good question,” he whispered, reaching into his coat and pulling out two small white boxes with shiny red ribbons. “I want to show you what my intentions are, Chloe. These are for you.”

“What are they?” I asked. “The last time you gave me a present like this…”

“It’s nothing like that. One is dependent on the other,” he said, holding out one of the boxes to me. “Open this one first.”

I sighed, shaking my head.

“Bear,” I said. “I need to go.”

“Just open them! Please! If you decide to leave afterwards, I’ll kindly see you to the door of the plane myself.”

“Fine,” I said, my shaking hands taking the box from him. I pulled the end of the ribbon, untying the bow and letting it fall to the floor at my feet. Slowly, I opened the box and gasped when I saw the glittering diamond ring shining up at me.

“Bear!” I cried, my hand flying to my pounding heart. “Bear, this is too much—,” I said, shaking my head.

He held the other box out to me, his eyes shining with love.

“Now open this one.”

I opened the box quickly and pulled out a black velvet, diamond-studded choker.

“Chloe,” he said, taking my hand, “I love you. I love you like the moon loves the stars. I’d be lost in this world without you by my side. I know this is confusing, I know it’s all new and scary, but I promise you I’ll take care of you for the rest of your life, I’ll take you places you’ve never imagined. Yes, I have my issues, but I think our issues fit together perfectly. We’re like opposite sides of the same coin, can’t you see that? Being with you is like poetry, baby. We fit. Everything about us fits. Like the words strung together in a poem, as if they were made for each other. You’re my poem, Chloe. You were meant for me, don’t you see that? Opportunities like this, connections like ours, they only happen once in a lifetime, babe. We can’t pass this up, we owe it to ourselves to give in to this love, to this life together. We’d be fools not to try.”

I gasped, my head spinning, my heart racing as his eyes searched mine.

“But I need more from you, Chloe,” he reached up, caressing my face. “You have to accept both sides of me, just as I have to accept both sides of you. I need you to be mine. I want you to wear my ring, but I want you to wear this, too,” he said, brushing his fingers against the choker in my hand. “Do you understand, Chloe? I need you to be mine, in every way, forever and ever.”

He sank to his knees, the ring between his fingers as he held it up to me.

“I love you. Please be my wife, Beauty,” he pleaded.

I stared down at him, lost in his deep ocean eyes, lost in his enchanting words, lost in the simple fact that he’d told me he loved me.

My heart swelled with joy, with love, great waves of pleasure spilling out of my swollen heart. I couldn’t think, all I could do was feel.

Maybe none of this made sense, but whatever it was, it was definitely love.

“Yes,” I nodded slowly, tears falling down my face as he slipped the ring on my finger. He stood up, kissing me gently and then pulling away. He took the choker from my hands and placed it on my neck, fastening the buckle in the back, his fingers brushing against my skin and sending shivers down my spine.

“Look at you,” he whispered, staring at me with eyes full of pride and love. “Who are you?”

A slow smile spread across my face, the velvet clinging tightly around my neck, the ring heavy on my hand, as my heart swelled with pride and pure happiness.

“I’m yours, Bear. I’m yours,” I whispered through my tears.

His kiss was a thousand kisses, his love a thousand loves, and as we walked out of the airport arm in arm, I knew that our life together would be a thousand poems, worth a thousand heavens, in a thousand star-filled universes.