Roberta was honored with the request, truly she was. She was touched that her crossword puzzles meant so much to the people of her little city. But it was starting to cause so a lot of problems and it was making her second guess her work. But she wanted to help the guy out, truly she did.
About a week ago a young man named Phillip had sent her email. He explained that he and his girlfriend did the weekend crosswords together every week and that his girlfriend, Laura, did Roberta's weekday crosswords too. They had been together for five years and Phillip was working up the nerve to propose. He was hoping that Roberta would be able to hide his proposal in one of her weekend crosswords. Roberta was touched and immediately agreed (after checking with her editor) before realizing how difficult this was going to be.
Fitting the words in wasn't so hard, but she also had to decide how quickly the clue should be there. How obvious should it be? Should it happen right when the two start the crossword? Or should it be towards the end? What should the clue be that could lead the couple to this wonderful moment? Eventually, Roberta decided that it should come towards the end. She ended up corresponding with Phillip over email to help come up with the clue. They landed on: you're the one. Phillip said that Laura would be a bit sad if no one else could guess the words. Roberta also made sure 'Phillip' and 'Laura' ended up as answers that intersected 'will you marry me' in the crossword so that it was a bit more personal.
Then came the problem of the rest of the words. Now, often, Roberta would have a theme that would apply to a few of the clues. This was easy to take care of. There are so many things that are wedding or relationship related that it wasn't hard to come up with words to fill some spaces. But, the problem was with the rest. Roberta didn't really want to ruin the light-hearted and romantic vibe of the crossword with any serious or dark words, but she also didn't want to make the crossword too easy or too schmaltzy. She also wanted to include some current events as that's what everyone wanted.
Roberta knew she was overthinking this a bit, but it was hard not to when you knew that you were a key component in a proposal. Finally, the crossword was drafted, edited, and published. Roberta had given Phillip a heads up that the crossword would appear the next Sunday. He excitedly thanked her and promised he'd let her know how it went. Roberta smiled at that.
The next Sunday, Roberta found herself excitedly waiting by her phone, hoping it would ping any moment with an update. She had told her wife about the whole thing and, while Kim wasn't one for big romantic gestures, she found it sweet. So Kim made them coffee and decided to do Roberta's crossword to see her work in action.
The two passed the morning peacefully, but as time went on, Roberta got more anxious.
"What if she hated it?" worried Roberta.
"I'm sure she was over the moon, love," reassured Kim.
Roberta put her coffee mug down loudly, "What if she said no?"
"That wouldn't be your fault," Kim replied, putting a reassuring hand on Roberta's back.
Then, Roberta's phone pinged.
There was an email. Roberta held her breath and opened it.
The email read:
SHE SAID YES!!!
Then, another email came:
Also, please let us know your address so we can send you a save the date. I'll event throw in a plus one!
"Want to go to a wedding?" Roberta said, passing her phone to Kim, who sat beside her.
Kim kissed her cheek, "Of course, love."
And Roberta was happy, truly she was.
(Prompt by Kimisha Cassidy)
About a week ago a young man named Phillip had sent her email. He explained that he and his girlfriend did the weekend crosswords together every week and that his girlfriend, Laura, did Roberta's weekday crosswords too. They had been together for five years and Phillip was working up the nerve to propose. He was hoping that Roberta would be able to hide his proposal in one of her weekend crosswords. Roberta was touched and immediately agreed (after checking with her editor) before realizing how difficult this was going to be.
Fitting the words in wasn't so hard, but she also had to decide how quickly the clue should be there. How obvious should it be? Should it happen right when the two start the crossword? Or should it be towards the end? What should the clue be that could lead the couple to this wonderful moment? Eventually, Roberta decided that it should come towards the end. She ended up corresponding with Phillip over email to help come up with the clue. They landed on: you're the one. Phillip said that Laura would be a bit sad if no one else could guess the words. Roberta also made sure 'Phillip' and 'Laura' ended up as answers that intersected 'will you marry me' in the crossword so that it was a bit more personal.
Then came the problem of the rest of the words. Now, often, Roberta would have a theme that would apply to a few of the clues. This was easy to take care of. There are so many things that are wedding or relationship related that it wasn't hard to come up with words to fill some spaces. But, the problem was with the rest. Roberta didn't really want to ruin the light-hearted and romantic vibe of the crossword with any serious or dark words, but she also didn't want to make the crossword too easy or too schmaltzy. She also wanted to include some current events as that's what everyone wanted.
Roberta knew she was overthinking this a bit, but it was hard not to when you knew that you were a key component in a proposal. Finally, the crossword was drafted, edited, and published. Roberta had given Phillip a heads up that the crossword would appear the next Sunday. He excitedly thanked her and promised he'd let her know how it went. Roberta smiled at that.
The next Sunday, Roberta found herself excitedly waiting by her phone, hoping it would ping any moment with an update. She had told her wife about the whole thing and, while Kim wasn't one for big romantic gestures, she found it sweet. So Kim made them coffee and decided to do Roberta's crossword to see her work in action.
The two passed the morning peacefully, but as time went on, Roberta got more anxious.
"What if she hated it?" worried Roberta.
"I'm sure she was over the moon, love," reassured Kim.
Roberta put her coffee mug down loudly, "What if she said no?"
"That wouldn't be your fault," Kim replied, putting a reassuring hand on Roberta's back.
Then, Roberta's phone pinged.
There was an email. Roberta held her breath and opened it.
The email read:
SHE SAID YES!!!
Then, another email came:
Also, please let us know your address so we can send you a save the date. I'll event throw in a plus one!
"Want to go to a wedding?" Roberta said, passing her phone to Kim, who sat beside her.
Kim kissed her cheek, "Of course, love."
And Roberta was happy, truly she was.
(Prompt by Kimisha Cassidy)
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