March 24th was a night that there was a leadership group with people from church at his apartment. He asked me what time i was coming and i said "seven thirty, of course, when it starts." A couple of hours later my roommate Meaghan texts me and says some things came up and she probably won't make it that night. So i texted Nathaniel and told him i was coming straight from work. He had some sandwiches and drinks for us and said he wanted to eat it on a favorite spot of his on campus. So we were walking past the beautiful trees and i was wondering, as i did every time i was with him over the past six days, if he was going to pop the question. A quiet picnic seemed the right time, but i was pretty sure he would do it on the weekend. After trading sandwich halves, so that we each had both, i joked, "we aren't allowed to be here; we aren't students." He responded it's a state school, so anyone is allowed on campus. Sipping my vietnamese iced coffee, i saw a police SUV drive by on the other side of the large grass area. I asked him if those were his friends. He responded that he didn't know all the officers. I responded playfully that he should know everyone in the department. Even though i was joking, because i knew he mainly worked with other CSO's and his supervisor while employed with the UCIPD. After a while of me nibbling my sandwich and Nathaniel practically inhaling his, the SUV drives by us and stops a little past us. I start to get nervous and try to think of what we are doing wrong. Maybe we aren't allowed to eat on these bricks since the plaque on the rock says that area was dedicated to some dude. They get out of the car and keep looking from us to each other before walking over to us. One tells us to put our sandwiches down and informs us they want to talk to us separately. The one has me stand just far enough away that i can't properly hear what the other cop was asking Nathaniel. Mine kept looking at a notepad in his hand while questioning me.
"Do you know this guy?" he asked me.
"Yes," i replied.
"How do you know him?"
"We're dating."
"Really?"
"Yes," and at this he gave me the strangest, concerned look that i read as "oh this poor girl is dating a crazy, mass murderer."
"How long have you known him?"
"Almost two years," and he gave me another look, like he is really surprised.
"Where did you meet him?"
"I met him at church."
"You met him at church?"
"Yes," i said, trying not to show my annoyance as i assess the situation and try to figure out what the heck was going on. I was thinking maybe there was an assault on campus and the suspect is "medium height, medium build, black hair, brown eyes, hispanic, mid-20's male," and they are inspecting everyone they can find that matches that description. Which is what, a third of Socali population? Not even Nathaniel, but people have mistaken him to be older and/or Mexican. I strained my ears to hear the others' conversation, and heard Nathaniel say "about half an hour" so i figured the cop asked him how long he's been at this spot to see if he has an alibi. I wanted to turn around and shout "you have the wrong guy!" but kept quiet, facing the cop talking to me, not wanting to make things worse.
"Do you love him?"
"Yes," I said after a pause. It was sort an odd question for a cop to be asking, but i decided that he was only questioning me to keep me busy while the other one questioned Nathaniel. Especially since he kept looking up at them.
"What?" I half-whisper out of the side of my mouth.
"Will you marry me?"
"What?" I repeat, wondering what the heck he is thinking. Why does he think he can just walk away from a cop like that? Doesn't he know i'd have the decency to pretend i didn't see anything so he can propose properly later at the time and place he planned?
"Will you marry me?"
"What?" I can't believe he was still standing there. I was sure that he was going to get tased at any minute for not cooperating or defiance or something. That is until i was proved wrong that very second by the cop walking around from the other side and taking pictures of us with my camera. Then i realized it was all a set up and this was the time and place he meant to propose. It didn't go quite the way he planned, since i was supposed to be asked if i knew Nathaniel was the "Infamous Mustard Face," at which point i catch on, turn around, and find him on one knee, but i think it was better this way.
"Yes," i finally answer, laughing along with everybody else.
