dianepm
Professional Insomniac
Ok...before you all bite my head off I'm going to do an epilogue.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own U2. However I do own a hell of a lot of U2 Cd's. I don't know U2, never met them and probably never will.
To quote a good friend of mine.....this is a whole lot of pig slop.
Cover Me Chapter 12
“Mags, wait.” Kat calls out to me.
I turn around and practically yell “What!”
“I think we need back-up.” She says.
“Why?” I say not to patiently.
“How do you intend to communicate between us? If this were anyone else, you would go by the book and call in S.W.A.T. and probably ESU. All I’m saying is maybe we need help.” She says.
I look at Kat and just snarl. I hate it when she’s right.
I call Baxter and tell him what’s going on. I have to hold the phone away from my ear when he starts yelling at me for not telling him right away. He tells me to stand by and wait for S.W.A.T. and him to arrive.
I just pace back and forth. I get more and more frustrated with every passing second. Bono tries to calm me down but I just glare at him. In the distance I finally hear sirens.
Baxter gets there first and comes straight toward us.
“Report.” He says in a clipped voice.
“Mamma wasn’t in the house this morning when we got up, we searched the house and Edge and Bono found this note in her bedroom” I hand him the note. “I called 911 and came here.”
Baxter looks at the note, looks at me and says “Why didn’t you call for backup?”
“Honestly? I panicked.” I said. “All I could think was getting to Mamma.”
“Who changed your mind?” He asked.
“My partner, my sister, my brother and my boyfriend” I say with a small smile.
Baxter looked confused.
“Kat, Kris, Edge and Bono” I said.
At that moment S.W.A.T pulls up. I want to be in charge of this but Baxter out ranks me so I knew I couldn’t.
They have set up a command post and I go over to where Baxter is standing. I can hear him talking to someone.
“Get Williams and Smythe here. We need a team to go in.” I hear him say.
I normally wouldn’t consider questioning his decisions, but this isn’t a normal case. This is my mother and I wouldn’t trust those two to get my cat out of a tree, never mind getting mamma out of this.
“Sir, permission to speak frankly?” I ask.
“Go ahead Waters, but make it quick.” He says.
“Put me in.” I say. “It has occurred to me that she doesn’t know I’m a cop. If I can get her to trade me for Mamma, maybe we can get this resolved without anyone getting hurt.”
“No way. I am not putting my best detective in a position to get hurt.” He says.
“If I can get in there to talk to her, maybe I can get her to come out.” I say. “Please Lieu, let me try.”
He looks me in the eye for a minute.
“Go get wired and make damn sure you take every precaution.” He says.
I go over to where Bono, Edge and Kat are. I’m pretty sure how they are going to react to this so I brace myself.
I look into Bono’s eyes. “I’m going in.” I say.
“What do you mean you’re going in?” Bono says. His eyes narrow and he doesn’t look too happy.
“I mean I’m going to trade Mamma for myself. If I can get Mamma out I think I can resolve this without anyone getting hurt.” I say.
“No.” Bono says.
I reach up and brush my hand against the side of his face.
“Sweetie, I know you want to protect me, but this is what I do. She doesn’t know I’m a cop, so I have the advantage. I won’t be going in unarmed either. I will be able to communicate with the command post and they’ll hear everything that’s going on in there.” I say to him. “This is what I do best. I go in to dangerous situations and try to make it safe for everyone.”
He takes my face in his hands. His eyes pierce my own.
“I know what your saying, love. I just don’t like the idea of you being in danger.” He says.
“I’m a cop Bono, danger is just part of the job.” I say.
He just sighs and pulls me in for a hug. The other cops in the vicinity turn and find something else to do.
“Bono, you have to trust me. I know what I’m doing. I promise not to take any chances and I’ll be smart.” I say.
“I still don’t like it, but I trust you love.” He says.
I look up at him and tell him the one thing I’ve never told anyone else.
“I love you Bono” I say. I stand on my toes and kiss him. His arms just wrap around me and he envelops me in a hug.
“I love you too Mags.” He says.
I pull out of his arms and go over to where Kat, Edge and Kristen are.
“I’m going in.” I tell them.
Fifteen minutes later I’m wired up and I’m in civilian clothes, my usual black jeans and black t-shirt. I have my boots on and have put my secondary weapon in an ankle holster so it’s not visible. The hostage negotiator has been talking to the stalker and has made the agreement for the trade. I start to go in when I realize that I have nothing of U2. I always have something that says U2 when I go into situations like this. It’s kind of like a good luck charm.
“Dammit!” I say.
“What?” All four of them say at the same time.
“I don’t have anything U2. Kat, do you have a button or pin or something?” I ask.
“No. I’ll see what I can find.” She says.
“Why do you need something from us?” Edge asks.
“It’s kind of a good luck thing. I was wearing a U2 shirt the first time I did this and it came out ok, so ever since I’ve had something of the band.” I say.
Bono looks at me for about 10 seconds. He then pulls off the ring on his pinky finger. He takes my right hand and puts it on my ring finger. I just look into his eyes. It fits perfectly. He takes my face in his hands and gives me a hard kiss.
“Come back to me safe love.” He says and goes back to where the others are.
“Mike check” I say.
“Loud and clear.” I hear Baxter say.
The negotiator has made the deal to trade me for Mamma. I go up to the front door and I hear a female voice yell out.
“Put your hands where I can see them!” She says.
I put my hands shoulder height with them open.
“Turn around”
I turn slowly.
“Ok. I’m going to open the door and let her out.”
The door opens and I see that she has a gun held to Mamma’s head. It takes all my training not to just grab Mamma and take the woman down. Mamma sees me and starts to weep.
“It’s ok Mamma. The police are here. Just go over to where they are and they’ll take care of you.” I say.
With one arm the kidnapper pushes Mamma out the door and then grabs me and pulls me in. I look back to see Mamma run into Baxter’s arms.
The door shuts with a bang and she drags me into the living room. For a split second I can see my father with the gun and my mother yelling and crying. I shake myself back to the present.
“What’s your name?” I ask.
“You can call me Alicia.” She says. I can tell she’s lying. She’s an older woman, about Bono’s age with greying dark hair and dark eyes. She’s not much taller than me and she looks like she hasn’t slept in a week.
“I’m Margaret.” I say.
“I know.” She says to me. “Sit down in that chair and put your hands behind your back.”
I do as she says. She comes over and hand-cuffs me to the chair. I’m glad I had the idea to pin a safety pin to the back of my jeans.
“Where’s Bono? Why isn’t he here.” She demands.
“I don’t know. I’m sure he’ll be here soon.” I say. I hope they can hear and understand that I mean not to let her see him.
She just paces back and forth in front of the window for awhile. The curtains have been closed so no one can see in. My arms start to get a little sore and I seriously am craving some coffee.
“Why do you want Bono so much?” I ask her.
“He was mine first. I never should have let him go.” She says.
“You were his first girl-friend?” I ask, not quite understanding what she meant.
“Back in high school. He was mine and now I mean to get him back.” She says. She is pacing back and forth as she’s talking. I can hear it in her voice that she’s not all right. She seems to be a little manic. I start to wonder if maybe she has a mental problem.
“Why didn’t you just try to talk to him?” I ask. “I’m sure he would have made the time if you were old friends”
“I tried that. He didn’t even remember me.” She said with a bit of a sneer. “Now stop talking.”
She goes back to pacing back and forth, muttering to herself.
About a half hour later I try to get her talking again.
“Are you thirsty? I could really use some coffee right now.” I say.
She just looks at me. She then goes to the kitchen.
“Kat, you there?” I say in a quiet voice.
“Right here.” She says.
“See if you can get some information about her from Bono. Tell the S.W.A.T. guys to stand by. I think they’ll have to come in and end this. Tell them not to shoot her and to defiantly not shoot me.”
Alicia comes back into the room with a glass of water. She holds it to my mouth and I take a few sips.
“thanks.” I say.
She goes back to pacing. It’s been about 2 hours since I’ve been inside. I can just imagine what’s going through Bono’s head. I find myself fingering Bono’s ring. I hear Kat’s voice in my ear.
“I asked Bono and he doesn’t remember an Alicia. I asked Edge too and he didn’t either. I told them to see if they could get their hands on an old year book. Bono told me to tell you that he loves you and to just hang on.” She said. “S.W.A.T. is ready and waiting for your signal. The code word is Mamma.”
“What happened back in high school Alicia? You said you never should have let him go. Why did you?” I ask.
“We went on a few dates but he was just starting a band so he didn’t have much time for me. I figured that I deserved better.” She said, still pacing.
“What made you decide to try to get him back?” I ask.
“Because he was mine first.” She says. “I always get things first. You don’t deserve him. You’ll never have him. He’ll never love you.”
I finger his ring again. All my doubts about Bono disappear. I know he loves me and that I love him. I start to realize that she’s not going to just let me go. I slowly work out the safety pin in the back of my jeans and start to pick the lock on the handcuffs.
“I need to go out of the room for a minute. Stay put or I’ll use this.” She says gesturing with the gun. She then leaves the room.
“Kat, put on Kristen.” I say.
“I’m here sis.” I hear her say.
“What is the most important thing I taught you when we were 14 years old?” I ask knowing that was when I taught her how to get out of a pair of handcuffs.
“How to French kiss a boy.” She says. She just chuckles.
“Ok then. What is the second most important thing.” I say with a little laugh.
“How to get out of a pair of handcuffs. What’s the plan?” she asks.
“Tell S.W.A.T. to be ready.” I say.
Alicia comes back into the room. She hasn’t noticed me picking the lock.
“How much longer before Bono gets here. I’m running out of patients.” She says.
“I don’t know Alicia.” I say.
She goes back to pacing. I get the handcuffs off but keep my hands behind my back so it looks like they are still there.
“I never did tell you my full name before Alicia.” I say. She has her back to me and I reach for my gun.
When she turns around I have it aimed at her chest.
“My name is Detective Margaret Waters and you’re under arrest for kidnapping my Mamma.”
The door bursts open and S.W.A.T. comes in with their guns up. They take her away and I go out the front door, look up to see Bono standing there just looking at Alicia. He seems to recognize her.
“My god.” He says. “That’s Ali. Ali Stewart.”
“Who?” I ask.
“My first girl-friend. Like she said, I was staring in the band we had back then and I never had any time for her. We just kind of drifted apart.” He says. “after all this time, she still thought I was hers.”
“You never were hers Bono.” I say. “some things just were never meant to be.”
“Look, I have to go back to the station house and do a Mt. St. Helen’s pile of paperwork. I probably won’t be back until late.” I say to Bono. “I’d like to actually go back to my own house and sleep in my own bed.”
“I’ll meet you back there then.” He says. He leans down to kiss me.
“I love you Mags.” He says.
“I love you Bono” I say.
That night when I get back to my house I find a surprise waiting for me. I walk in the front door and find the living room full of candles. The stairs leading to the second floor have candles and I can see into the bathroom at the top is full of candles too. Standing in the hallway is Bono. He is wearing a purple shirt, the first three buttons undone, and his black leather pants. He has no glasses on and is holding two glasses of white wine in his hand.
“Now this is a good way to be welcomed home” I say. I take the glass and take a big sip of wine.
He leans down and gives me a hot, hard kiss. I can taste wine and for some reason chocolate.
“I want you to go upstairs and get into the hot bubble bath I’ve drawn for you.” He says.
I just look at him and smile. There is nothing I love better than a hot bubble bath after a really hard day. I go upstairs into my room, where there are yet more candles and see the black night gown on my bed.
“Somebody’s gone through my underwear drawer” I think to myself.
I get undressed and take the night gown into the bathroom with me. The CD player has been set up in the bathroom and has some soft music coming from it. I just settle into the bathtub with a groan. I can hear Bono downstairs in the kitchen. I try not the think of the mess he’s making.
After about a half hour I get out of the tub, put on the night gown and go downstairs. He’s set the table for a romantic candle-light dinner for two. I go over to him and wrap my arms around him and press a kiss to the back of his neck.
“Hi sweetie.” I say.
“Hi love.” He says back to me. “Go sit down, dinner is almost ready.”
“Um, Bono?” I ask.
“Yes?” He says.
“Did you cook?” I ask in an innocent voice.
“No. I got this from Frederick’s.” He says. That is the Italian place that you need a declaration from the government to get a reservation.
“Looks really good.” I say.
We sit and eat and talk about everything but the kidnapping. After dinner we go into the living room. The music is on and is slow and jazzy. He takes me in his arms and we start to dance. I notice the ring on my hand and I look at Bono.
“I guess you’ll be wanting this ring back.” I say.
“Yes. I will” He says. That wasn’t the answer I was hoping for.
I take the ring off my finger and hand it back to him.
“Here then.” I say, just a little miffed.
“I do have something to replace it with though.” He says grinning at me.
He looks me in the eye and before I realize what’s happening, he’s down on one knee.
“Mags, I know it’s only been about a month but it feels like I’ve known you for my whole life. I have never felt anything close to the way I feel when we are together. I love you. I love the way you love your friends. I love the way you love your family. I love the way you protect other people, even those who want to harm you. I want to be with you. I want to be by your side. I want to be in your life. I want you to be in mine. Forever. Margaret, will you marry me?”
I don’t know weather to laugh, cry, yell, jump up and down or what. So I do all of it.
“Yes! Yes, I’ll marry you. I love you.” I say. I pull him up and kiss him.
He pulls back with a grin and a laugh. He takes my left hand and places the most beautiful diamond ring on my finger.
At that moment I feel more loved and wanted than I ever have. I know I’m loveable.
I look into his eyes and see my future.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own U2. However I do own a hell of a lot of U2 Cd's. I don't know U2, never met them and probably never will.
To quote a good friend of mine.....this is a whole lot of pig slop. Cover Me Chapter 12
“Mags, wait.” Kat calls out to me.
I turn around and practically yell “What!”
“I think we need back-up.” She says.
“Why?” I say not to patiently.
“How do you intend to communicate between us? If this were anyone else, you would go by the book and call in S.W.A.T. and probably ESU. All I’m saying is maybe we need help.” She says.
I look at Kat and just snarl. I hate it when she’s right.
I call Baxter and tell him what’s going on. I have to hold the phone away from my ear when he starts yelling at me for not telling him right away. He tells me to stand by and wait for S.W.A.T. and him to arrive.
I just pace back and forth. I get more and more frustrated with every passing second. Bono tries to calm me down but I just glare at him. In the distance I finally hear sirens.
Baxter gets there first and comes straight toward us.
“Report.” He says in a clipped voice.
“Mamma wasn’t in the house this morning when we got up, we searched the house and Edge and Bono found this note in her bedroom” I hand him the note. “I called 911 and came here.”
Baxter looks at the note, looks at me and says “Why didn’t you call for backup?”
“Honestly? I panicked.” I said. “All I could think was getting to Mamma.”
“Who changed your mind?” He asked.
“My partner, my sister, my brother and my boyfriend” I say with a small smile.
Baxter looked confused.
“Kat, Kris, Edge and Bono” I said.
At that moment S.W.A.T pulls up. I want to be in charge of this but Baxter out ranks me so I knew I couldn’t.
They have set up a command post and I go over to where Baxter is standing. I can hear him talking to someone.
“Get Williams and Smythe here. We need a team to go in.” I hear him say.
I normally wouldn’t consider questioning his decisions, but this isn’t a normal case. This is my mother and I wouldn’t trust those two to get my cat out of a tree, never mind getting mamma out of this.
“Sir, permission to speak frankly?” I ask.
“Go ahead Waters, but make it quick.” He says.
“Put me in.” I say. “It has occurred to me that she doesn’t know I’m a cop. If I can get her to trade me for Mamma, maybe we can get this resolved without anyone getting hurt.”
“No way. I am not putting my best detective in a position to get hurt.” He says.
“If I can get in there to talk to her, maybe I can get her to come out.” I say. “Please Lieu, let me try.”
He looks me in the eye for a minute.
“Go get wired and make damn sure you take every precaution.” He says.
I go over to where Bono, Edge and Kat are. I’m pretty sure how they are going to react to this so I brace myself.
I look into Bono’s eyes. “I’m going in.” I say.
“What do you mean you’re going in?” Bono says. His eyes narrow and he doesn’t look too happy.
“I mean I’m going to trade Mamma for myself. If I can get Mamma out I think I can resolve this without anyone getting hurt.” I say.
“No.” Bono says.
I reach up and brush my hand against the side of his face.
“Sweetie, I know you want to protect me, but this is what I do. She doesn’t know I’m a cop, so I have the advantage. I won’t be going in unarmed either. I will be able to communicate with the command post and they’ll hear everything that’s going on in there.” I say to him. “This is what I do best. I go in to dangerous situations and try to make it safe for everyone.”
He takes my face in his hands. His eyes pierce my own.
“I know what your saying, love. I just don’t like the idea of you being in danger.” He says.
“I’m a cop Bono, danger is just part of the job.” I say.
He just sighs and pulls me in for a hug. The other cops in the vicinity turn and find something else to do.
“Bono, you have to trust me. I know what I’m doing. I promise not to take any chances and I’ll be smart.” I say.
“I still don’t like it, but I trust you love.” He says.
I look up at him and tell him the one thing I’ve never told anyone else.
“I love you Bono” I say. I stand on my toes and kiss him. His arms just wrap around me and he envelops me in a hug.
“I love you too Mags.” He says.
I pull out of his arms and go over to where Kat, Edge and Kristen are.
“I’m going in.” I tell them.
Fifteen minutes later I’m wired up and I’m in civilian clothes, my usual black jeans and black t-shirt. I have my boots on and have put my secondary weapon in an ankle holster so it’s not visible. The hostage negotiator has been talking to the stalker and has made the agreement for the trade. I start to go in when I realize that I have nothing of U2. I always have something that says U2 when I go into situations like this. It’s kind of like a good luck charm.
“Dammit!” I say.
“What?” All four of them say at the same time.
“I don’t have anything U2. Kat, do you have a button or pin or something?” I ask.
“No. I’ll see what I can find.” She says.
“Why do you need something from us?” Edge asks.
“It’s kind of a good luck thing. I was wearing a U2 shirt the first time I did this and it came out ok, so ever since I’ve had something of the band.” I say.
Bono looks at me for about 10 seconds. He then pulls off the ring on his pinky finger. He takes my right hand and puts it on my ring finger. I just look into his eyes. It fits perfectly. He takes my face in his hands and gives me a hard kiss.
“Come back to me safe love.” He says and goes back to where the others are.
“Mike check” I say.
“Loud and clear.” I hear Baxter say.
The negotiator has made the deal to trade me for Mamma. I go up to the front door and I hear a female voice yell out.
“Put your hands where I can see them!” She says.
I put my hands shoulder height with them open.
“Turn around”
I turn slowly.
“Ok. I’m going to open the door and let her out.”
The door opens and I see that she has a gun held to Mamma’s head. It takes all my training not to just grab Mamma and take the woman down. Mamma sees me and starts to weep.
“It’s ok Mamma. The police are here. Just go over to where they are and they’ll take care of you.” I say.
With one arm the kidnapper pushes Mamma out the door and then grabs me and pulls me in. I look back to see Mamma run into Baxter’s arms.
The door shuts with a bang and she drags me into the living room. For a split second I can see my father with the gun and my mother yelling and crying. I shake myself back to the present.
“What’s your name?” I ask.
“You can call me Alicia.” She says. I can tell she’s lying. She’s an older woman, about Bono’s age with greying dark hair and dark eyes. She’s not much taller than me and she looks like she hasn’t slept in a week.
“I’m Margaret.” I say.
“I know.” She says to me. “Sit down in that chair and put your hands behind your back.”
I do as she says. She comes over and hand-cuffs me to the chair. I’m glad I had the idea to pin a safety pin to the back of my jeans.
“Where’s Bono? Why isn’t he here.” She demands.
“I don’t know. I’m sure he’ll be here soon.” I say. I hope they can hear and understand that I mean not to let her see him.
She just paces back and forth in front of the window for awhile. The curtains have been closed so no one can see in. My arms start to get a little sore and I seriously am craving some coffee.
“Why do you want Bono so much?” I ask her.
“He was mine first. I never should have let him go.” She says.
“You were his first girl-friend?” I ask, not quite understanding what she meant.
“Back in high school. He was mine and now I mean to get him back.” She says. She is pacing back and forth as she’s talking. I can hear it in her voice that she’s not all right. She seems to be a little manic. I start to wonder if maybe she has a mental problem.
“Why didn’t you just try to talk to him?” I ask. “I’m sure he would have made the time if you were old friends”
“I tried that. He didn’t even remember me.” She said with a bit of a sneer. “Now stop talking.”
She goes back to pacing back and forth, muttering to herself.
About a half hour later I try to get her talking again.
“Are you thirsty? I could really use some coffee right now.” I say.
She just looks at me. She then goes to the kitchen.
“Kat, you there?” I say in a quiet voice.
“Right here.” She says.
“See if you can get some information about her from Bono. Tell the S.W.A.T. guys to stand by. I think they’ll have to come in and end this. Tell them not to shoot her and to defiantly not shoot me.”
Alicia comes back into the room with a glass of water. She holds it to my mouth and I take a few sips.
“thanks.” I say.
She goes back to pacing. It’s been about 2 hours since I’ve been inside. I can just imagine what’s going through Bono’s head. I find myself fingering Bono’s ring. I hear Kat’s voice in my ear.
“I asked Bono and he doesn’t remember an Alicia. I asked Edge too and he didn’t either. I told them to see if they could get their hands on an old year book. Bono told me to tell you that he loves you and to just hang on.” She said. “S.W.A.T. is ready and waiting for your signal. The code word is Mamma.”
“What happened back in high school Alicia? You said you never should have let him go. Why did you?” I ask.
“We went on a few dates but he was just starting a band so he didn’t have much time for me. I figured that I deserved better.” She said, still pacing.
“What made you decide to try to get him back?” I ask.
“Because he was mine first.” She says. “I always get things first. You don’t deserve him. You’ll never have him. He’ll never love you.”
I finger his ring again. All my doubts about Bono disappear. I know he loves me and that I love him. I start to realize that she’s not going to just let me go. I slowly work out the safety pin in the back of my jeans and start to pick the lock on the handcuffs.
“I need to go out of the room for a minute. Stay put or I’ll use this.” She says gesturing with the gun. She then leaves the room.
“Kat, put on Kristen.” I say.
“I’m here sis.” I hear her say.
“What is the most important thing I taught you when we were 14 years old?” I ask knowing that was when I taught her how to get out of a pair of handcuffs.
“How to French kiss a boy.” She says. She just chuckles.
“Ok then. What is the second most important thing.” I say with a little laugh.
“How to get out of a pair of handcuffs. What’s the plan?” she asks.
“Tell S.W.A.T. to be ready.” I say.
Alicia comes back into the room. She hasn’t noticed me picking the lock.
“How much longer before Bono gets here. I’m running out of patients.” She says.
“I don’t know Alicia.” I say.
She goes back to pacing. I get the handcuffs off but keep my hands behind my back so it looks like they are still there.
“I never did tell you my full name before Alicia.” I say. She has her back to me and I reach for my gun.
When she turns around I have it aimed at her chest.
“My name is Detective Margaret Waters and you’re under arrest for kidnapping my Mamma.”
The door bursts open and S.W.A.T. comes in with their guns up. They take her away and I go out the front door, look up to see Bono standing there just looking at Alicia. He seems to recognize her.
“My god.” He says. “That’s Ali. Ali Stewart.”
“Who?” I ask.
“My first girl-friend. Like she said, I was staring in the band we had back then and I never had any time for her. We just kind of drifted apart.” He says. “after all this time, she still thought I was hers.”
“You never were hers Bono.” I say. “some things just were never meant to be.”
“Look, I have to go back to the station house and do a Mt. St. Helen’s pile of paperwork. I probably won’t be back until late.” I say to Bono. “I’d like to actually go back to my own house and sleep in my own bed.”
“I’ll meet you back there then.” He says. He leans down to kiss me.
“I love you Mags.” He says.
“I love you Bono” I say.
That night when I get back to my house I find a surprise waiting for me. I walk in the front door and find the living room full of candles. The stairs leading to the second floor have candles and I can see into the bathroom at the top is full of candles too. Standing in the hallway is Bono. He is wearing a purple shirt, the first three buttons undone, and his black leather pants. He has no glasses on and is holding two glasses of white wine in his hand.
“Now this is a good way to be welcomed home” I say. I take the glass and take a big sip of wine.
He leans down and gives me a hot, hard kiss. I can taste wine and for some reason chocolate.
“I want you to go upstairs and get into the hot bubble bath I’ve drawn for you.” He says.
I just look at him and smile. There is nothing I love better than a hot bubble bath after a really hard day. I go upstairs into my room, where there are yet more candles and see the black night gown on my bed.
“Somebody’s gone through my underwear drawer” I think to myself.
I get undressed and take the night gown into the bathroom with me. The CD player has been set up in the bathroom and has some soft music coming from it. I just settle into the bathtub with a groan. I can hear Bono downstairs in the kitchen. I try not the think of the mess he’s making.
After about a half hour I get out of the tub, put on the night gown and go downstairs. He’s set the table for a romantic candle-light dinner for two. I go over to him and wrap my arms around him and press a kiss to the back of his neck.
“Hi sweetie.” I say.
“Hi love.” He says back to me. “Go sit down, dinner is almost ready.”
“Um, Bono?” I ask.
“Yes?” He says.
“Did you cook?” I ask in an innocent voice.
“No. I got this from Frederick’s.” He says. That is the Italian place that you need a declaration from the government to get a reservation.
“Looks really good.” I say.
We sit and eat and talk about everything but the kidnapping. After dinner we go into the living room. The music is on and is slow and jazzy. He takes me in his arms and we start to dance. I notice the ring on my hand and I look at Bono.
“I guess you’ll be wanting this ring back.” I say.
“Yes. I will” He says. That wasn’t the answer I was hoping for.
I take the ring off my finger and hand it back to him.
“Here then.” I say, just a little miffed.
“I do have something to replace it with though.” He says grinning at me.
He looks me in the eye and before I realize what’s happening, he’s down on one knee.
“Mags, I know it’s only been about a month but it feels like I’ve known you for my whole life. I have never felt anything close to the way I feel when we are together. I love you. I love the way you love your friends. I love the way you love your family. I love the way you protect other people, even those who want to harm you. I want to be with you. I want to be by your side. I want to be in your life. I want you to be in mine. Forever. Margaret, will you marry me?”
I don’t know weather to laugh, cry, yell, jump up and down or what. So I do all of it.
“Yes! Yes, I’ll marry you. I love you.” I say. I pull him up and kiss him.
He pulls back with a grin and a laugh. He takes my left hand and places the most beautiful diamond ring on my finger.
At that moment I feel more loved and wanted than I ever have. I know I’m loveable.
I look into his eyes and see my future.
)
) then I'll start thinking of another story.
off to read!
the pinky ring was a nice touch too!
Happy Holidays and New Year to you.
)
great end for a great and original story 
I love that Bono gave her his pinky ring 
