Couch Talk

“I can’t believe it!”

“What?” she said, wincing her eyes towards me.

“That you cried while watching How I Met Your Mother’s ‘Last Words’,”

“What? No, no, no!” her voice was a few octaves higher. “I’m not crying!”

I brushed my hands on her cheek, wiping her tears. Her cheek felt a little moister than usual. I bet she cried the whole episode.

“Then why are your cheek so moist?” I asked.

“Sweat, Honey. This place is so hot!”

I brushed her smooth wavy red hair. “You’re covered by two layers of winter blankets and you were asking me to hug you tight till you feel warm earlier. I’m sure it’s so hot down there,”

“Fine, I cried,” she said gingerly. “What’s the matter anyway?”

“Nothing,” I said.

Aislinn pulled herself back a few inches from my arms. I suddenly felt cold physically but her unbelievably wide eyes which were staring at me warmed me.

“Really, Pete?” she spoke in disbelief. “I know you’re lying, you’re biting your lips,”

“Well, it’s nothing important,” I said and stretched my back. “It’s just.. I love the way you cry,”

“What?” she shrieked for the third time this night. She sounded like she was offended but her eyes was just full of disbelief. “So, do you want me to cry all day long?”

“It’s not like that, Honey! Not like other people, you looked beautiful when you cry,”

“What?” The fourth time.

“Look, I love it that you cry. I’m not the man who think that crying is a ‘coward alert’. The fact is, crying shows you that you have a heart. But what makes me stunned is that you’re crying while watching HIMYM’s ‘Last Words’, an episode of a sitcom with a sad plot, that’s all,” I said. “Tell me, what makes you cry?”

She shook her head and smile. “Of course Marshall’s pop’s funeral, idiot! What, you don’t feel sad?”

“Well, of course I do, but it doesn’t moved me that much. I mean, Marvin Eriksen is just a minor character,”

“Oh. Well, for me, it moved me that much. I feel sad for Marshall,” she explained. “Losing your dad, losing your ultimate best friend in the world really sucks. Remember when I didn’t get out of bed for days after my godmother died? I felt incomplete by losing a friend. Moreover, Marvin is not just a friend to Marshall. He’s Marshall’s best friend, Marshall’s pop,”

“Well, yeah. It’s so sad that Martha’s gone. She’s one of your best friend,”

She nodded. There’s a moment of silence between us.

“But still, Marvin is just a minor fictional character and you cried!”

“Peter!” she shouted. She turned her face away so that I couldn’t look her in the eye.

I grabbed her chin and turned her face gently so she faced me. I looked at her and she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met. I love her wide eyes, her pointed nose, her thin lips, her red hair, her pink cheeks when she blushed. I love her anywhere anytime. She’s the love of my life.

Even when she is supposed to be in her ugliest look like right now, when she’s mad.

“Hey,” I said.

“Men are jerks, you know that, Pete? Their hearts are made of iron and steel, so hard to be moved. I can’t believe it that there are a human being like that,”

“Well, you’re marrying one of them,”

“Ha, unlucky me,” she rolled her eyes and gave me a fade smile.

“Look, I’m sorry that I teased you. But I love you,”

“Ha,” she said sarcastically.

“I mean it. You’re the only woman with the biggest heart I have ever known. You feel goddamn sad for a fictional character. I love how you’re easily touched,” I said. “Having a big fat heart is what every woman lacking right now. Women nowadays tend to be heartless, merciless, and selfish. And here you are, the only woman who still have a big fat heart and cares for everything, even a fictional character,”

She smiled and her smile light up my whole universe. “Thanks God I still have a big fat heart,” she said.

“Thanks God you still have a big fat heart. You’re the woman every man should have married, you know Aislinn? Beautiful, intelligent, too kind-“

“But I only want to be married to you,” she said.

“Thanks heavens!” I faked a sigh of relief to make her laugh though deep down in my heart I felt relieved.

“But don’t tease me like that again. It makes you look like a jerk,” she laughed and I felt warm though she’s still a little bit mad at me.

“I won’t promise,” I said humorously.

She made a horrible face to me and then continued laughing.

“Hey, you said that I’m beautiful when I cry. Am I more beautiful than when I was in my wedding dress?”

“What can I say?”

She grabbed a pillow next to her and hit me on my chest. “A woman is on her most beautiful look when she’s in her wedding dress. Other than that, she’s always uglier! Moreover when she cries! You’re teasing me again, aren’t you? I can’t believe you, Peter, after-“

I shut her lips by giving a quick kiss, “Seriously, will you shut up? I mean it, what if you always look beautiful?”

“Damn it!” Aislinn smiled and leaned closer to me. She grabbed the remote and continue our How I Met Your Mother marathon.