Amy N Kaplan

It was December. The kids were all busy doing their own things and I had just started a new job.  We really didn’t have much time together for family meals anymore and I really missed that. So, when my boyfriend suggested that all six of us go out to dinner, his treat, at PF Chang’s (we’d never been there before) we all agreed.  A Friday evening was chosen, reservations were made, and all the kids made sure to clear the date so we could be there.

The week of the dinner each one of the kids backed out of going… not all at the same time, but by Friday none of them were coming.  I asked my boyfriend to reschedule, but since it was so close to Christmas, he didn’t think he could get another table for all of us.

My boyfriend picked me up and we went to the restaurant, alone.  I was a bit upset that none of the kids were coming, but he assured me that we’d do something with them to make up for it.

When we arrived at the restaurant we were escorted to a very large table (obviously for 6 people) in the corner near the host stand.  The waiter was really friendly and, since I had never been there before, explained a few of the dishes and told me about the specials.  They had a flourless chocolate cake with raspberries… oh my god I needed that cake!

Dinner was amazing.  The food was delicious, the waiter was almost overly attentive to me, but it was a good evening.  They brought out the dessert… yes, I ordered the chocolate cake before I ordered my dinner. At the same time that the cake was placed on the table, the waiter handed me a plain white box.  He said, “This is for you.”  I looked at him oddly, took the box and put it next to me on the bench.  Why on earth was the waiter giving me a gift?  Was it some sort of, “You’re the one millionth customer!  Here’s a free mug with our logo on it” type of thing?  I was confused.

My boyfriend asked me if I was going to open the box.  I told him I’d open it at home.  He then said, “But don’t you want to know what’s in it?”  Sure, I wanted to know, but the chocolate cake was right there. After several back and forth “discussions” I opened the box.  It was a giant fortune cookie decorated with pink sprinkles.  This thing was massive… but I had chocolate cake.

I told him it was a fortune cookie, closed the box and put it back on the bench beside me.  I was finally going to eat my cake!  As I reached for the plate to bring it closer to me, my boyfriend said, “Is there a fortune inside it?”  I told him there probably was, but I would eat the fortune cookie at home… right now there was a yummy looking piece of chocolate cake with my name on it!  He persisted and said, “But don’t you want to know what it says?”  Sure, after the chocolate cake.  We went back and forth with this for a few minutes and things were getting heated.  I couldn’t figure out why he was so mad at me for not opening the darn fortune cookie.

I relented and removed the fortune from the cookie.  I really just wanted to eat my cake. As I read the fortune, I was confused at first.  This was personalized. This wasn’t from the waiter.  This was from my boyfriend… he was proposing.  Oh my god I messed this up.  How on earth do I recover from this?  As thoughts were racing through my head, he tapped me on the shoulder.  I turned and saw the ring… I said, “Yes!”

The waitstaff were all in on this.  My kids were in on it.  He knew my kids and I loved opening fortune cookies… and he had one specially made for me.  I nearly ruined the whole thing!  The waiter brought over two glasses of champagne for us to celebrate our new engagement… and I finally got to eat my chocolate cake.