Ash poked his hand lazily out of the bed sheets and reached out for the phone on his nightstand which was ringing nonstop. He threw the blanket away, sat up on his bed, pulled down his shirt that was rolled up and finally answered the call.

Ash! Honey! Good morning!

Ash rubbed the sleep off his eyes. "Morning, mother."

Oh, were you still sleeping? It's noon!

"No, I wasn't." Ash sat at the edge of the bed and reached or his pants on the floor. "I'm just a little tired."

You don't wake up early anymore! You keep relying on Misty, don't you?

Ash could hear her giggle. He blushed a bit. "No, not really."

Well, I guess all men get a little lazy when they get involved! Are you eating well?

"Uh, I'm not ten."

You're so far and I worry about you! I miss being able to visit you in the evenings, sweetheart.

"We'll be coming soon for the holidays." Ash got up as soon as he put his pajama pants on. He walked over to the closet and a stack of magazines at the bottom caught his eye. "I miss your food so get it ready."

I'll make all your favorites, dear! Just get home soon.

"We'll visit you first, I promise." He was checking the magazines with a small smile on his face. There were several pages folded and he unfolded each one to read the content.

Okay, sweetheart. I won't take too much of your time. I hope everything at work is great.

"It really is."

Take care, dear.

"I'll call you tonight, mom."

I'll wait for the call! Bye, Ash!

"Bye."

He hung up and put his phone inside his pocket. He shut the magazines, put on a fresh clean tee shirt and left the bedroom. He cleaned up and went to look for Misty.

"Mist?"

"I'm at the kitchen!"

"I hope you left some breakfast for me." He got inside the kitchen. Misty was at the table, reading a magazine. Her hair was wrapped in a towel and the lovely smell of her Shea butter and Aloe Vera conditioner filled the air.

"Of course I did! Let me get the coffee."

"Thanks." Ash took a peek at the page Misty was at when she went to get the coffee pot. He pulled away and leaned back on his chair when she turned around.

Misty was back to reading her magazine. Ash was eating and watching her the whole time.

"Oh, I love this dress!" She suddenly picked up the magazine and showed him the page.

"Which one?"

"This!"

"Oh, yeah, it's nice."

"And look at this one—it's a little short but I like it! It looks nice even if it's short, right?"

"Uhm."

Misty giggled and turned to flipping through her magazine.

Either Ash was imagining things, either Misty was really hinting at marriage lately.

She's gotten in this 'magazines mode' exactly two months ago. She bought any fashion magazine she found and would keep showing Ash the wedding dresses. She even made a wish list on Amazon with golden and silver rings embedded in diamonds. He was sure she left her rings on her vanity desk so he can figure out easily her ring size.

Or maybe Ash was imagining things?

Misty never said anything about marriage. She never said she wanted to get married. It's been two years since they came to Goldenrod city and three since they started dating. He worked at the ministry from ten in the morning to four in the afternoon, and Misty worked in a spa four hours a day and four times a week. Honestly, both were fine, happy and comfortable in their jobs. They weren't too tiring and they had enough time to spend time together and go on dates in the weekends.

Knowing Misty, she'd have told him if she really wanted to marry, right?

Ash had mixed feelings about marriage. He knew he spent almost three years with Misty, and he loved her no doubt, and he wanted to spend the rest of his life with this girl. Would marriage make things better or worse? He wasn't sure. He's seen his parents' marriage fall into pieces before, and if he ever loses Misty, he'll lose his mind and his life will have no meaning.

But, of course, he could be just imagining things, and Misty could be just enjoying watching wedding white dresses and golden rings. Who knows? She's a woman. She likes those things.

"So, do you want to go out today? Let's eat outside." Ash tried to get her attention.

"We need to clean the house."

"We can clean it tomorrow."

Misty looked up from her magazine. "You're just so lazy at times."

"Who in the world likes cleaning?"

"I like my house clean."

Ash rolled his eyes. He pushed his chair to the back and got up. "Fine. Enjoy cleaning, then. I'll go on my own."

Misty smiled. "To the gym, maybe? You need to maintain those abs."

"I eat well to maintain them."

He chuckled when Misty rolled the magazine and hit him with it.

She got up. "Well, I might as well give you the shopping list since you're going out." She pulled a small paper from the fridge door and gave it to Ash.

"And don't buy too many snacks, okay?" She was hugging him from behind.

Ash looked down at the list. "I guess I'll be fine since this list doesn't include any of your crazy beauty products."

"Turn it around."

"Oh sh*t."

-

Misty sighed. She was finally done with cleaning the bedroom and sweeping the floors. She couldn't remember when Ash became so reckless with his clothes and socks. He threw them everywhere.

Ash wasn't back so she still had some time to kill before she starts making lunch. She left the apartment and went to ring the doorbell of her neighbor who lived next door. It was a college student called Dina who became friends with Misty pretty quickly.

The door opened, revealing Dina dressed in pink pajamas. "Oh—Misty! Good to see you!"

Misty got inside, instantly heading over to the couch. "Don't ask me why I'm here. I need to take something of off my chest so shut up and listen, okay?"

Dina giggled. "I like hearing your cute love stories anyway."

"Love stories?"

"What have you two been up to, lately? Hum?"

"Nothing." Misty pouted. "I'm pretty sure Ash is anti-marriage so it's going nowhere."

"Did he even say that?"

"No, but he doesn't react when I show him the dresses. He doesn't care." Misty sighed and pulled away. "I think I'm obsessed."

"Obsessed?"

"With the idea of getting married. It's haunting me."

Dina frowned. "You're not obsessed. It's only normal. Most girls wish to get married."

"Really? Do you?"

"Of course I do."

"I'm scared I'll ask him and he'll say no. I just don't want to lose him because of this."

"Well, if he loves you..."

"You don't know. Ash is a special case." Misty sighed again. She took out her phone to read the text she's received, knowing surely it was Ash.

She gasped when she opened it. "Dina!"

"What?" Dina joined her side to look at the phone screen. "Oh-oh!"

Ash has sent her a picture of a ring. He was the one who took the picture. It was a medium sized ring with a round diamond on the center.

"WHAT IS THIS?" Misty gasped again.

"Answer him! Answer him!" Dina shook her.

"Oh my God! The ring is so lovely! What do I do?" Misty let a loud shriek.

He sent another picture. Misty jumped up. It was a picture of another ring. It was silver and had a green gemstone.

"I don't like this one!"

"THEN TELL HIM!"

"But I can't!"

"MISTY!"

Misty was screaming. Dina was shaking her. "Misty! Tell him you want the first!"

Ash sent a third picture. This time, the ring was silver but rather thick, and it had three turquoise gemstones.

"I like gold but it's expensive!" Misty panicked. "And girls wear silver for engagement! What do I do?"

"It doesn't matter! Tell him you like gold!"

"He's recording! Wait!" Misty noticed Ash was recording a vocal message. She and Dina waited for it, frozen in their spots.

Misty hit the play button as soon as she received the message.

So, what do you think of these rings?

Misty gasped. "The jerk! He's playing with my feelings!"

"No, Misty! He just doesn't want it to be obvious!" Dina flailed her arms. "Just tell him you like the first one!"

"Okay, fine! I'll play this game!" Misty took a deep breath and started recording a message. "I think the first ring is gorgeous."

Misty sent it and turned toward her friend. "Do you think he'll buy it?"

"I'm sure!"

Misty couldn't help but feel excited. "Do you really think he'll buy the ring and propose?"

"Come on, those are engagement rings! I know one when I see one." Dina nodded. Her sister was engaged and her ring looked exactly the same.

The redhead put her hand on her chest. "I can't believe this. He was taking all of the stupid immature hinting seriously."

"Well, you were very obvious!" Dina said. "And you kind of annoyed him with it. You showed him the dresses and the rings everyday!"

Misty shrugged. "That was my intention."

"But doesn't this attitude make you a really bad pick as a wife?"

She grinned. "Too late."

THE END. 

 abbert21 I hope you like it because I made this especially for you ok ok happy birthday love  I hope you're having a great time