Michael opened his mouth and his eyes widened when he heard what his father just said.
Okay, he indeed married at a young age, and… he didn't have much experience with women.
However, that doesn't mean he's so stupid that he has to be beaten by his father.
Well… he admits that sometimes he doesn't understand Sarah, but he's not that stupid, is he?
"You talk like you have a lot of experience," Michael grumbled under his breath.
"Of course I have a lot of experience!" said Mr. Collins, rolling his eyes when he heard what his son said. "If we both seduce the same woman, they will choose me over you," he continued confidently.
Michael just kept silent when he heard that, decided not to reply and let his father talk about how he used to be so easy to get a woman. After all, he is his father, it's better to give in, right?
"Anyway, if your feelings for Sarah are really sincere, you'd better propose to her as soon as possible," said Mr. Collins back to the original topic.
Michael still didn't hear that and didn't say anything.
"You have feelings for her, right?" asked Mr. Collins to be sure.
Michael sighed when he heard the question. Wasn't his father too curious about his private life?
"Of course. She is the mother of my children…"
"No! I didn't mean that!" interrupted Mr. Collins quickly. "Do you have feelings for Sarah as a man to a woman? You're not seriously just seeing her as the mother of the twins, are you?" he continued with a worried face.
He knew his son was very stupid when it came to romance, but he didn't expect it to be that stupid.
"Of course! You cut me off before I finished my words!" Michael said angrily. "She is the mother of my children and the woman I love. Of course I intend to re-marry her."
Mr. Collins nodded in satisfaction when he heard that. Looks like his son was not so stupid.
"But like I said, Sarah wants to take this relationship slowly. I'd better just go with it," said Michael.
Mr. Collins gasped when he heard that. He took back his words saying his son was not stupid. What a fool he is!
"Do you really think she meant it that way?" asked Mr. Collins with a weary look. He then changed his sitting position to face Michael, because it seemed like the lesson was going to be a bit long and he didn't have to worry about his neck hurting from too much looking at the side..
Michael wanted so badly to say yes while nodding his head, but he decided to keep shut his mouth.
"If Sarah really wanted your relationship to start off slowly, seeing how she was, she would have walked out of your house, but she decided to stay, right?" asked Mr. Collins again.
Michael nodded without saying anything. Actually, he was the one who managed to persuade Sarah, right? However, he decided not to say anything.
"Then did Sarah ever ask your opinion about your relationship? You must have asked her that and she didn't ask your opinion, right?" asked Mr. Collins.
This time, Michael did not directly answer his father's question. His brain thought hard, trying to remember all the conversations he had with Sarah.
"She didn't do that, did she?" said Mr. Collins with a smile on his face when he saw Michael just silent.
Despite not wanting to admit it, Michael nodded his head.
Sarah never asked him that.
"Look? I told you I'm good at reading women!" said Mr. Collins with a triumphant smile on his face.
Michael just snorted at his father who looked pleased with that before finally smiling too.
Even though his father seemed to be teasing him, it was better than his father who was in the hospital when he was sick. At least this time his father looked happy.
"Then why do you think Sarah didn't ask that?" Michael asked suddenly curiously, wanting to hear the opinion of a self-described man who had a lot of experience with women.
"This is just my guess, but it looks like Sarah wants you to move first," said Mr. Collins confidently.
"What?" Michael looked disappointed with that answer.
"She had failed marriages with you before, and you are his ex-husband. Do you think she'll ask about your relationship with her? Or ask you to marry her?" said Mr. Collins looking annoyed.
"Other women might ask you that, but we're talking about Sarah, the woman who even hid her pregnancy from you and chose to raise her child alone."
After finishing saying that, Mr. Collins immediately turned his body to face the lake again and waited for the fish to eat the fishing bait.
He had already told Michael what he should and should have left the rest to his stupid son. He didn't want to get too involved, as his wife often did.
Michael paused when he heard his father's words. At first, he thought his father would just say something stupid, and he would just smile and nod when he heard that.
However, after thinking about it some more, what his father said seemed to make sense.
Sarah never asked him about the status of their relationship, and once said they were divorced.
Was Sarah really waiting for him to propose first?
In that case, should he ignore Sarah's words that told them to take it slow?
That day, Michael's brain was spinning hard about the question that seemed difficult to answer.
However, in the end Michael chose to save the question and make memories with his children.
After all, right now he's camping with his kids and his father, he better focus on that first, right?
***
Monday has arrived, and as usual Michael has sat at his desk. His face looks serious with his index finger tapping on the table.
He was thinking back to the conversation he had with his father.
Yesterday he hadn't had time to think about it because he was spending time with Sarah and the kids, and now it seemed as if his brain suddenly wanted him to make a decision from what he had been putting off for two days.
"Hmm…"
Proposing…. Don't... Proposing. . Don't….
"Let's just do it!" said Michael who seemed to have gotten his decision.
After all, he originally wanted to propose to her but suddenly became a coward because Sarah said she wanted their relationship to take it slow.
Better to do it than end up regretting it, right?
"Then... how should I propose," Michael muttered under his breath and again tapped the table with his index finger.
Should he have proposed to Sarah at the London Eye because he had proposed there before?
"Well… the London Eye is pretty good, the views are great too," muttered Michael nodding his head, but the expression on his face was that he wasn't happy about it.
Now that he had become a different Michael, wouldn't proposing to her at the London Eye be… too common?
After all, their marriage was once a failure. What if it fails again because he's gonna propose at the same place?
"No, I can't do it in the London Eye!" Michael shook his head, rejecting the idea.
Michael's expression became serious again, trying to think where to propose to Sarah, and how.
Should he take Sarah out to dinner again at the restaurant yesterday?
Michael shook his head, rejecting the idea again.
Apparently, the aura of the place wasn't good for proposing since he suddenly didn't go through with the proposal!
He must find another place!
While Michael was confused, suddenly someone knocked on his room, and the figure of James appeared carrying a folder in his hand.
"This is the report you asked for earlier," said James and then put the folder on the table.
"James," Michael called when the man had turned around.
"Yes?" he asked. "Do you need anything?"
"How did you propose to your wife?" asked Michael with a serious expression on his face.
His brain couldn't seem to come up with an idea of how to do it, so why didn't he try asking James about it?
"Eh?" James looked taken aback by the question. He didn't expect Michael to ask him that.
"You want to propose to Mrs. Smith?" James asked back without answering Michael's question. A smile appeared on his face.
"Just answer the question, James!" Michael said, a little annoyed.
"Well… I did it at my house. I cooked her dinner and put the words 'Will you marry me?' under her food," James answered with an embarrassed smile, thinking back on the incident.
"I didn't know you were that cringe!" Michael said with a shudder, not expecting that was his quiet secretary's way of proposing.
"Well… it worked. She likes it when I cook it and is very moved to see that," said James trying to defend himself. "Then I'll excuse myself." James then decided to leave immediately before his boss started asking him strange questions.
Michael's expression turned serious again.
Should he copy James' proposal? Maybe he'll ask the chef to write something like that under Sarah's food.
"Or… Should I try cooking?" muttered Michael suddenly. He'd look like he was putting in more effort if he was the one cooking the food himself, right?
Suddenly, something seemed to kick in Michael's mind. It seemed he knew what he had to do!