Roger Blackman was at his apartment in New York with his soon – to – be fiancee, Zoe Williams. They were talking about plans what to do this July.

“I think I have an idea what we can do this Independence Day,” Roger told Zoe.

“What? Stay home again as usual with the fireworks?” Zoe asked.

“Not this time. How would you like to go to Skegness and spend some time with John and Sally?” Roger asked.

“I’d love to!” Zoe exclaimed.

“And I do have a surprise for you too, but that will have to wait.”

“Come on, Roger. Tell me what the surprise is,” Zoe begged.

“You’re just going to have to wait.”

“Darn.”

What Zoe didn’t know was Roger went out and bought a diamond ring. He was going to purpose to her when they went to Skegness and were with Sally and John. He’d paid a lot of money for Zoe’s engagement ring. He of course knew that it was a real ring, but he didn’t want to loose it and then have to buy a whole new engagement ring. He knew for sure Zoe would love it and he also knew that Zoe would say yes once he asked her if she would want to marry him. He could already picture what her eyes would look like once he put the ring on her finger. He wouldn’t want to fly to Skegness with the ring but he thought he would change the plans with Sally and John so it would make it easier for everyone. Maybe on their honeymoon he and Zoe would visit John and Sally there in Skegness.

“Zoe, how would you feel if we changed our plans for Skegness and stay home for this year? We could have John and Sally fly out here,” Roger told her.

“That’s fine with me. I won’t mind,” Zoe told him.

“I’ll call them now and see if they agree,” Roger said and took out his cell phone and dialed their number.

John and Sally had been living together for some time now, but they aren’t married or anything. Roger didn’t plan on having him and Zoe live together until they got engaged. He thought that made more sense.

Zoe listened to the conversation, but she watched as her boyfriend leave the living room. Why did he leave me out here? He wouldn’t have done this to me and not let me hear the conversation,’ Zoe thought. ‘Maybe that man is up to something.’ Roger entered to the living room a second time.

“They didn’t mind coming here. Fourth of July is only a couple of days away,” Roger told her.

“I know.”

Roger kept Zoe’s ring in his shirt pocket. Zoe hadn’t yet figured out what he was going to do that year for Independence Day.

A couple of days passed and now Sally and John were waiting at the airport for Roger and Zoe. When Roger and Zoe came to the gate she and John had entered, the four friends gave each other hugs and handshakes.

“Glad to see you again,” Sally told her.

“I know.”

Roger and John watched as the two women hugging one another.

“You found a good woman there,” John whispered.

Roger nodded.

“I bought this ring for Zoe a month ago. It was the last one at the jewlery store, but I didn’t want to get to the store and find out it was gone. You know how much Zoe loves diamonds,” Roger whispered into John’s ear.

He watched as John nodded.

Sally nor Zoe heard what Roger had just told John. They were busy hugging and chatting.

“Should we all get out of here?” Roger finally spoke up.

“Good idea. Sally, let’s go find a place at the hotel. I’d like to unwind,” John told his girlfriend.

That’s when Sally and Zoe heard what John had just said. The two women agreed and then Zoe helped Sally and John carry their bags. As usual, John and Roger carried the heavy bags. When they entered the bus, hardly anyone was sitting. Roger figured a lot of people were already out of town because of it being Fourth of July.

“When we get to the hotel, John, do you want Zoe and I to help with the bags?” Roger asked.

“Thanks, Roger, but I think the bellhop would do that job,” John told him.

“Good point.”

The four of them said nothing much while on the bus. The driver seemed not to be talkative so he decided to concentrate on his driving. Roger had seen this many times before, but some of the drivers had been willing to talk with his passengers. This guy was different.

Roger and John were sitting across from Zoe and Sally. Zoe watched as Roger got a little closer to John and whispered something in John’s ear.

“What are they whispering about?” Zoe asked.

“I have no idea,” Sally said and she already knew what it was but didn’t want the surprise ruined for Zoe.

Zoe didn’t pay attention to see that her friend gave out a little white lie. ‘Why are my friends acting so strange? John and Sally didn’t start acting strange till now. And why was Roger whispering something to John when we’re all in the same place?’ Zoe quietly asked herself. She sure didn’t try hard enough to guess what her friends were acting strange about. She hoped it was something she would already know about, but she’d have to wait and see what it was sooner or later.

Five minutes later, the four of them got off the bus since it was John and Sally’s turn to get off. Roger and Zoe offered to help out with carrying the luggage off the bus and they accepted.

“Call us later,” Roger told them.

“We will,” John said as he and Sally watched their friends get back on the bus.

“What was Roger whispering to you about?” Sally asked John.

“He wants to propose to Zoe when the fireworks are finished,” John said.

“Sounds romantic. Can we come here again next year and you could do the same thing for me?” Sally asked.

“No thanks. I don’t know when we’ll be engaged,” John told her.

“Darn.”

John and Sally were from Skegness, which was in United Kingdom but they didn’t come out here to New York to see Roger and Zoe very often. John told Sally he didn’t feel like going out for supper that night. He just wanted to unpack and go to bed. Sally didn’t blame him since they had been on the airplane for so long that she agreed that going to bed was a good idea.

Maybe Zoe could try asking Sally what everyone was hiding from her she didn’t know about. In their friendship in the past couple of years, Zoe and Sally had never said one little lie to another. Zoe hoped Sally wouldn’t start that anytime soon.

The next day, Roger and John let Sally and Zoe do some shopping, but Roger already knew that the malls would be busy since it was fourth of this month tomorrow. Zoe had never pictured of being a fourth of July bride but maybe she would be when Roger asks her to marry him. She’d often thought about marriage to Roger but hoped it would come sooner or later. Roger listened to his girlfriend sigh.

“What?” Roger asked.

“I was just thinking about marriage, that’s all.”

Zoe meant it when she said that. Roger could tell she was right about that.

“Are we still doing the fireworks tomorrow?” Zoe asked him.

“Of course. You and I usually do that. Why would I change that?” Roger asked, secretly thinking of the ring he’d kept well – hidden in the past month.

He was happy he got a chance to get the last of the diamond rings before the next customer came in and decided to get it.

The day flew by quickly and now it was the fourth of July. Roger had spent most of the day with Zoe, but he would go up to his bedroom every hour or so. He was practicing his proposal for that evening once the fireworks finished for the evening. Roger cleared his throat.

“Zoe Williams, will you marry me? And cherish me until death do us part?” Roger said, grabbing the ring out of his shirt pocket.

He thought that was a good line for the proposal. He had to keep practicing until he found the right proposal for Zoe. He smiled as he put the ring back in its regular spot. And then he came to join his girlfriend.

“I do have a surprise for you, Zoey, but it’ll have to wait till tonight,” Roger told her, thinking about the diamond ring.

“Can’t you give me a hint?” Zoe asked as she watched Roger shake his head.

“If I do, honey, it will be ruined. I’m just waiting until tonight.”

And he did mean it. He hoped he wouldn’t loose it while they were at the fireworks with Sally and John and all the other people who were going to be there. He was actually going to propose to Zoe in front of a million people. Of course it was a romantic love scene, kind of what Romeo and Juliet did back in the day.

As usual, the evening came by quickly without Roger and his friends paying any attention. Now they were watching the fireworks. The weather that evening was nice and wasn’t raining, so it was a perfect night for him to propose. He felt his shirt pocket once again to make sure it was still there. He hid it in his shirt because he didn’t want Zoe to find out if he had an engagement ring lying around the house. That would ruin everything, he thought to himself but happy it didn’t happen. Forty – five minutes later, the fireworks were almost finished. Roger stood up and yelled as loud as he could so everyone who was there could hear him.

“May I have your attention?” Roger asked.

Everyone looked in his direction.

“Tonight was a nice night, but don’t leave just yet. I’d like you all to stay for a few more minutes and then everyone can leave.”

Then he took out his little box where the engagement ring was kept. Zoe’s eyes popped out as big as they could when she saw the ring. ‘Was this the thing John and Roger were whispering about when we were on the bus to their hotel? Why didn’t Sally say anything about this?’ Zoe asked quietly to herself.

“Zoe Williams, would you marry me? Until death do us part?” Roger asked as he put the ring on her finger.

“Yes, Roger, I will.”

Then everyone who was watching started to clap and whistle. This wasn’t often men would propose to women at a firework show on the fourth of July, so this was a good way to end the entertainment that night. Zoe kept looking at the ring Roger had just given her.

“What do you think of the ring?” he asked her.

“I love it! I’ll say this again. Yes, Roger, I will marry you.”

She said that with another smile on her face.

Note: I hope you all enjoy this short and late story on 4th of July. I didn't know about this site until later but I thought I'd share it anyway. Also note that the names came from a generator (look up character name generator and you'll see what I mean). Enjoy!