Rich People Problems-Kwan 2017 (WWT)

and perched majestically on one of its seats, dressed in a midnight blue paisley sherwani
with matching trousers and turban, was Charlie. Astrid’s jaw dropped, and she ran out of
the room onto the open veranda. “Charlie! What’s all this?”
The elephant strode over to her veranda, and she was almost at eye level with Charlie as
he sat on top of the elephant. The mahouts guided the elephant so that it stood alongside
the balcony, and Charlie leapt off the howdah onto the terrace where Astrid stood.
“I wanted this to be a surprise. I haven’t wanted to tell you until now, but Isabel signed
our divorce papers last week.”
Astrid let out a little gasp.
“Yes, I am a free man. Completely free! And I realized that in all the craziness of the
past few years, we’ve just talked about getting married as though it was a done deal, but
you know, I never properly proposed to you.” Charlie suddenly got down on one knee and
stared up at her. “Astrid, you are and have always been the love of my life—my angel, my
savior. I don’t know what I’d do without you. My dearest sweet love, will you marry me?”
Before she could answer, the elephant let out another roar, and then curled his trunk
upward to grab something from Charlie’s hand. The animal then extended its trunk
toward Astrid, waving a red leather box in front of her face. Astrid took the box gingerly
and opened it. Sparkling inside was a five-carat canary diamond solitaire, encircled in a
delicate floral scrollwork of white gold. It was an unusual setting, unlike anything that a
contemporary jeweler might design.
“Wait a minute…this…this looks like my grandmother’s engagement ring!”
“It is your grandmother’s engagement ring.”
“But how?” Astrid asked, utterly confused.
“I flew down to Singapore last month and had a secret date with your grandmother. I
know how important she is to you, so I wanted to be sure we had her blessing.”
Astrid shook her head in disbelief as she stared at the precious heirloom ring, covering
her mouth with her right hand as tears began streaming down her face.
“So how about it? Are you going to marry me?” Charlie looked at her plaintively.
“Yes! Yes! Oh my God, yes!” Astrid cried. Charlie got up and embraced her tightly, as
the crowd of dancers and musicians cheered.
The two of them walked downstairs into the courtyard, and Shah Rukh Khan bounded
toward them to be the first to offer his congratulations. “Were you surprised?” he asked.
“My goodness, I’m still in shock. I didn’t think I could still be surprised at this point in
my life, but Charlie really pulled it off!”
In the euphoria of the moment, no one noticed the series of bright flashes coming from
the highest turret on the southern end of the fort. It came from the sunlight glinting off
the telephoto lens of a Canon EOS 7D, the camera favored by paparazzi and private
detectives.
And it was pointed straight at Astrid and Charlie.