Right in the middle of the exam period and I receive a call from a friend from act3. He says his violinist hunt didn't go too well and asked me to play the cello for Chandran's proposal to Amy.
In the spirit of conspiracy I agreed, upon which I had to sneak to the office with my cello early in the morning (on the day I was supposed to be studying) before anyone came, to see what pieces I should play. And I realised that the proposal was elaborately planned to the finickiest detail, from the date (full moon), to the exact spot/ bench at Botanic Gardens, to the lighting (tealights and more candles, to the 12 roses and scattered rose petals, with escape plans (we had a choice between camouflaging ourselves in the foliage or running (cello and case and stool and all) to a far away gate to hide).
It was, in short, like staging a play, the stage being the spot where Chandran would be proposing, with us the backstage crew scurrying around manipulating the lights, music and videocam.
So today was the big day, and the moon which was hidden behind clouds cooperated and wiped the smudges off its face. It all happened really fast, and Bobo provided the cues for change of music while I was trying to prevent my cello from slipping, and trying to distract myself from the black ants that kept biting me (mosquito repellent doesn't work!). And it was really embarrassing to be playing by a road! It was quiet no doubt but there were still quite a few cabs and cars driving by, the occasional jogging couple, and flocks of families coming out from Halia Restaurant who stopped and stared.
(It was after that I realised that they even timed the cello to start playing only when the jazz band took their break between sets...)
It happened so fast it was quite like a hit and run accident. It was only later on the cab back to the act3 office that Chandran messaged us to say that Amy said yes, upon which we exploded with euphoria. (I don't know what would have happened if Amy said no though.) But when we watched the video of the whole thing at the office, although we couldn't see their faces, we heard Amy's laugh, the part where she said yes to The Question, and how she kept repeating the word "perfect". And after that she cried, or at least we think, because we saw her wiping her eyes. This was before she spotted the camera's red light.
"Is that a camera?"
And we saw her pointing at the lens. Hmph. Then the fun was gone because, well, actresses act in front of a camera. Okay maybe we weren't supposed to be voyeurs in the first place but Bobo decided it was too good to miss being caught on camera. But when Chandran brought the candle near her face (so that we could see her expression), the lighting in the shot was so good she looked even better than she did in the 8 Days article stuck in front of Chandran's office space.
So rarely do men go through so much trouble. It was totally crazy, but undeniably fun. Then Bobo popped the question,
"So when is it going to be your turn?"
Haha.
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