“Hey Sis! Come on in and join the torture! Did that really come out of my mouth? I meant fun.” James smiled as he raced inside to get some more chairs.

Diana made the introductions. Renee was the spitting image of her brother. The main difference between the two was their height. Renee was quite short when compared to James. Ryan, on the other hand, was a tall, skinny guy with an oddly shaped face. Maybe that’s what made him so attractive, Anna thought.

Renee was two years older than her brother. She was the one who had introduced him to Anna in the first place. Renee, like her brother, was a member of the swimming team, but a serious knee injury had ended her dreams of swimming at the Olympics. Renee had first met Anna in an aerobics class at the local gym. Renee and Anna had joined on the same night and quickly discovered that they had many similar interests, as well as their mutual lack of hand-eye coordination. They quickly became good friends, often going out together to the movies or on trips to the beach or even just spending the afternoons sitting drinking coffee in some of the small, but exclusive cafés around the city.

It was one night after aerobics that Renee asked if Anna would mind giving her a lift home. Anna happily obliged. When Anna had pulled her car into the driveway, James was just getting back from training. Anna almost died of a heart attack when she realised who he was.

“I didn’t realise that you were one of those Thompsons,” Anna barely murmured as everything fell into place. Anna had followed James’s swimming career ever since he became public property. She had spent hours arranging articles she had collected, watched all of his televised races, and even driven for hours just to watch him compete. Renee just laughed, it just hadn’t occurred to her to tell Anna about her famous brother. She figured Anna would eventually put two and two together and come up with the truth. Renee invited Anna to dinner where she formally met James. Within a few short weeks Anna had become more like James’s friend than Renee’s, with the exception of aerobics classes.

James and Anna’s relationship had been a very sheltered one, especially in the beginning. They avoided going out in public together; instead they decided it was just too much too handle when all they wanted to do was to have a good time and enjoy each other’s company. Then after a while they got tired of leading their lives in secret and began to sneak out. Anna would go to the movies and sit at the back of the cinema, James would sneak in after the trailers had finished and the lights had gone out. Then a few minutes before everyone else left James would duck out the way he came.

Anna was always reluctant to accompany him to anything public like movie premieres or awards dinners, but James was always expected to be there. Anna insisted that he go anyway and although he was hesitant, he always went as expected. He would show up with an actress or a model on his arm, just as he had done before he started seeing Anna. This kept away all speculation about James’s real love life and kept him in the gossip columns about the prospect of him dating. James knew he would be in gossip columns no matter what he did or where he went. They seemed to know everything about his life, so he felt a large amount of satisfaction and achievement when he was able to keep his relationship with Anna private.

***

James

Lately things had been so hectic James decided to do something nice for Anna–something to show her how special she was, something to make her smile, something to bring the sparkle back to her eyes. So he decided to cook. It was the most beautiful and the most romantic dinner Anna ever had. James set the table on the edge of the pool in the backyard. It was all lit up from the hundreds of fairy lights that hung from the trees and fence; in the middle of the table stood a single long red candle with its flame flickering brightly. James wasn’t a very good cook, Anna always found something positive to say; but this meal was nothing short of spectacular. They started with a side salad, followed by chicken in a light tangy apricot sauce, served on a bed of hot jasmine rice. For dessert James had truly outdone himself. He had constructed the biggest lemon meringue pie in history. Anna’s favourite.

Halfway through dinner things started to go amiss. James stopped eating and dropped down on one knee. “Anna. All my heart,” he started. James had such confidence in what he was saying it made him appear that he had no hesitations or nerves at all. “Forever. Marry me?” He looked up into Anna’s big blue eyes. Slowly, James slid a diamond ring on her trembling finger. Anna said nothing. Gradually, she closed her eyes and tears began to dribble out.

When she opened them a moment later and saw that James was still kneeling before her, she smiled. It was the widest most extraordinary smile he had ever seen. James shot to his feet. As he pulled Anna from her chair, he stumbled backwards straight into the pool. At this point Anna was laughing hysterically. She crouched beside the pool. James swam over to her easily, reaching up to kiss her. Instead of pulling away, he snaked a long arm up and wrapped it around her waist, dragging her into the water as well. Neither of them seemed to care that they were now standing fully dressed in the centre of the pool in James’s backyard.

Diana, who was in the kitchen, heard the commotion coming from the backyard and dashed out to see if everything was okay. She reached the pool fence and noticed that both chairs were now empty. She could hear Anna and James’s laughter but couldn’t see either of them. At that moment they both climbed out of the pool and came rushing towards the gate.

“What happened? I thought you were having dinner. I didn’t know you were planning on swimming.” Diana was laughing as Anna wrung out her long hair onto the pavers.

“Well, I guess we should tell her,” James said, shooting a glance to Anna, who all of a sudden became shy and was trying to hide behind James. “Mum, Anna said yes,” James admitted with a simple shrug of his shoulder. Diana watched as her only son’s face filled with happiness.

“What can I say? Congratulations!” Diana hugged Anna, almost cutting off James’s air supply while she yelled. “Michael! Michael, get out here! Quick!”

Michael came rushing through the door, letting it bang loudly behind him. “What! What’s going on?”

“Tell him, James! Tell him,” Diana exclaimed, almost jumping up and down with excitement. By this time Anna had begun to shiver. Her dress was dripping wet; her shoes were full of water, and all she could think about was a hot bubble bath.

“Dad, Anna and I are getting married.” The wide smile on James’s face hadn’t faded.

“Son, that’s great. Congratulations!” he said, embracing James enthusiastically. It was now a family affair.

“Come on,” Diana told Anna, guiding her inside. “We’ll get you into some dry clothes then we can celebrate properly.”

***

Anna

In the safety of the bathroom Anna had a moment to reflect and fully comprehend what had just happened and how her life had irrevocably changed forever. Glancing down at her very shiny ring, she thought how James was the key to her life’s happiness. She stood motionless in the shower, the hot water scalding her body. A knock at the door pulled her from her daydream.

“Who is it?” she asked awkwardly, trying to cover herself.

“It’s just me,” James whispered. “I have some dry clothes for you,” he explained, pushing open the door.

“Just leave them on the floor, thanks,” she said, turning off the taps. Anna stepped out of the shower, surprised to find James sitting there on the washing basket. Suddenly aware of her nakedness, Anna grabbed the closest towel and wrapped it tightly around her. “Now we have thirty seconds to ourselves, I have to ask. Are you sure this is what you want?” Anna said as she clumsily tripped over her own feet.