The Old Stories

  ***

  "Look, let’s get married!"

  She looked away from the colorful magazine she was reading and chewed loudly on her gum.

  "I’m serious! Let’s get married." He wasn’t sure why he thought it wasn’t going to work out. "We’ve lived together for the last 3 years, we’re good, we get along well… I mean, what are we waiting for? We can have kids as well…we have the space…"

  "Kids?" She stopped chewing. She put the magazine on her lap.

  "Well, yea… I mean… What?"

  "What’s wrong with you?"

  He stood there for a few moments, his tongue glued to the roof of his mouth. His chin was twitching. He tried to open his mouth, unable to decide what the right answer was.

  "I don’t know," he finally gave up.

  "Did something happen at work?"

  Someone had hit pause again on his audio-reproductive apparatus.

  "Yea… I mean, nothing happened at work. Everything’s fine. I mean, why shouldn’t we get married and have kids? What’s the problem?"

  "How are we supposed to have kids when you might lose your job?"

  "I’m not going to lose my job! We’re going to fight! We’re going to save the company! We won’t give it up! You know?" he burst out.

  "And what if you aren’t able to save it?"

  "It doesn’t matter! I’m still young, strong and healthy! I’ll find a new job! Let’s get married!"

  "I don’t know…" she hesitated. "Everything seems so uncertain."

  "Look," he said, as he knelt down and held her hand. "If we really want this, nothing can get in our way."

  She turned her face towards the window.

  "I don’t know if I’m ready for such a big step in my life. Maybe marriage isn’t the best thing to be discussing right now."

  His enthusiasm faded as he watched her. He looked out the window as well, as though the right answer was somewhere out there in the clouds.