Chapter 394: Her Idea

Stuart looked straight into Edie’s eyes, with a confused look on his face. He had no idea why she wanted him to open the box. He nodded his head and spoke in a calm voice. "Okay, I’ll open it for you."

Edie felt her heartbeat double time as she watched him open her little package. The butterflies in her stomach made her both nervous and excited at once. Stuart opened the box slowly with all eyes on him. She stepped back, and disappointment flashed in her eye. "It’s not a ring. It’s a necklace," she mumbled under her breath. She shook her head in disbelief. "What...is this?" she asked, her voice quavering.

Stuart stared down at her solemnly. "It’s a gift from Brittany. She forgot to give it to you and asked me to do it for her. I completely forgot about it until now," he explained. He studied her face, trying to read her expression.

As Edie looked at the necklace, she didn’t know whether to cry to be mad. "A necklace should be in a longer box. Why is it in such a small box?" she asked impatiently, unable to disguise the frustration in her voice. She tried desperately to control her emotions, but a surge of anger overcame her. "I don’t want it. You can keep it." She rolled her eyes in irritation.

Stuart frowned, and a serious look came across his face. "Why...I don’t understand?"

Edie spun to face him. "Never mind. It’s not important." Anger edged her words. "Let’s go."

On the drive home, Edie never said a word to him, and ss they walked into the house, Stuart tried to grab her hand, but she just pushed him away. He stood there in silence with a confused expression on his face. "What did I do?" He narrowed his eyes at her as he watched her go upstairs.

Mr. Bates rushed out and asked, "What happened? Why does Mrs. Yates look so unhappy?"

"I don’t know," Stuart said, shaking his head. "It happened after we ate. I don’t think I did anything wrong?" he said questionably.

Mr. Bates raised an eyebrow. "Did you forget to give her the flowers?"

"No!" Stuart said quickly.

With a severe tone of his voice, Mr. Bates asked, "So when you gave her the flowers, what happened next?"

Stuart thought for a moment, trying to remember everything step by step. "First of all, I took your advice and played a song for her. She seemed to enjoy it. Then when we were on our way out, and I remembered the gift that Brittany had given to me to give to her." Stuart took the box out of his pocket and showed Mr. Bates.

Mr. Bates looked at the box, and immediately he knew what was wrong. "Mr. Yates, you really messed up this time." He knew Edie must’ve thought he was going to propose to her, but instead of a ring, there was a necklace. Of course, she’d be upset.

"Why? Tell me what I did wrong," Stuart demanded.

"Mr. Yates, for your sake, I think it would be better if I explained it to Mrs. Yates." Mr. Bates hesitated a moment. "I don’t think you would understand."

Stuart nodded his head in agreement, but he was still confused. Not long after, Mr. Bates knocked on Edie’s door. "Mrs. Yates, would you mind if I come in and speak to you for a moment?" he asked in a slightly concerned tone.

Edie was still upset, but she opened the door and said, "You’re here on Stuart’s behalf, aren’t you."

Mr. Bates pressed his thumbs against the bridge of his nose, trying to figure out how to explain the situation to her. He nodded his head and chuckled. "Mr. Yates has pissed you off again, and he has no idea why." There wasn’t any other way he could’ve told her, but tell her like it was. There was nothing else that he could do. He felt bad for her, and he tried to say it the best way he could. "He’s not very good at this kind of thing. I imagine you were quite disappointed when you saw what was in the box?"

"Then why isn’t Stuart here right now?" Edie asked with pleading in her voice.

Mr. Bates could see the sadness in her eyes. "If he knew why you were upset, he would go out right now and buy you a ring. But then it wouldn’t be a surprise, and I know you want the marriage proposal to be romantic."

"Stuart knows everything about his business, be he doesn’t understand how to please his wife. It doesn’t seem fair." Edie lowered her voice and then raised it.

Mr. Bates felt little volition and surprisingly little bitterness. He didn’t want to be the one in the middle of their feud. "I’m sorry. I hope you understand. Mr. Yates needs some lessons on how to keep his wife happy.

"Look at my fingers and tell me what you see." She raised her hands and wiggled her fingers. "There still isn’t a ring on my finger. We’re already married, and I didn’t even have a wedding. The first time he gives me a gift, and it’s not a ring box. How could he not know why I was so angry with him? I thought for sure when he saw the expression on my face, and he would automatically know what was wrong. I don’t know how I could be so stupid to believe he could be such aromatic," she said in a sarcastic tone. "Does he even know when two people get married, they’re supposed to have rings?"

Edie was starting to get worked up over the whole issue, and Mr. Bates was starting to feel a little awkward. "I don’t know. Maybe he doesn’t know," he spoke in an uncomfortable tone.

Edie lost all hope in having the perfect marriage proposal. She shook her head and said. "Just forget about it. It’ll be fine. I should have never thought of anything romantic coming from him. He’s so good to be, and I should be satisfied with that."

Mr. Bates knew what it meant to her and thought she should receive the romance and surprise of a proposal. Especially since he knew how much they loved one another.

Edie stared out the window with a sad stare Mr. Bates had not seen too often. He knew how much she longed for this perfect day. Mr. Bates could see it. That was the pain in her face. Then he saw a tear form in her eyes. "Mrs. Yates, I’ll explain it to his step by step," he said, trying to comfort her.

Edie turned around and looked at Mr. Bates with excitement in her eyes. "I know what I’m going to do. Stuart doesn’t know enough to buy the rings, but I do. I’m going to surprise him!" She explained with eagerness.

Seeing her so excited, Mr. Bates burst into laughter. "Good idea!" he said with a tone of excitement in his voice as well.

Stuart walked in right when Edie said she was going to surprise him. He looked at her with a puzzled expression and asked. "What surprise?"

The second, Edie saw Stuart, her anger emerged, and she gave him the cold shoulder. "Nothing! Mr. Bates, thanks for your advice. It’s late. We should be going to bed," she said, sounding a little bitter.

As Mr. Bates walked out, he said, "Good night, Mr. and Mrs. Yates." Then he slowly closed the door behind him.

Stuart tried talking to her, but she wouldn’t answer or even look at him. She grabbed her pajamas and went into the bathroom and closed the door.