Curvy Pipe

“I came as fast as I could,” Sally said as she rushed through the front door of Daren’s apartment. “You didn’t use the bathroom or wash your hands again, did you?”

Daren tried to steal a kiss from his girlfriend as she hurried down the hallway toward the bathroom, but all he got was a snootful of her perfume.

“No,” he said, feeling foolish as he chased after her.

Sally was already sitting on the bathroom floor in front of the sink by the time Daren caught up with her.

“Are these all the tools you have?” she asked pointing to a tiny pair of pliers and a flathead screwdriver. Sally was clearly annoyed at her boyfriend.

“Well, yes, I guess so,” Daren replied. “You know I’m not very handy.”

Sally rolled her eyes and threw her hands in the air, then picked up the pliers. “Why would take your class ring off when you were washing your hands, anyway? “

“I guess I wasn’t thinking.”

“I guess not. And what exactly have you tried?” she asked, bobbing her head back and forth to get a bead on the drain trap.

“Well, I tried to take that curvy pipe off … but I couldn’t get it to move.”

“Curvy pipe!” Sally was beside herself. “And what are you going to do if I can’t get it off, either?”

“Well, I have a plan for that,” Daren said.

“Do tell,” she said grabbing the bottom of the S-trap with one hand.

“Well, I thought we could both …”

Sally held up a hand.

“Hold up,” she said. “This is really loose already.”

“It is?”

“Yeah. Maybe you got a little further than you thought.” She motioned to him. “Here hold your hands underneath to catch the gunk when I pull the trap away.”

“Ewww!” he said, but he squatted down and put his hands under the pipe. The class ring on his right hand banged against the trap, but Sally didn’t seem to notice.

“Really got your He-Man vibe popping today, huh, Daren?” Sally teased. She tugged on the trap and it pulled away from the vertical drain pipe. Something rattled inside the curved tube.

“I think we’re in luck, mister!” she said, smiling.

“So, like I was saying,” Daren picked up from before, “I thought we could both …”

“This is the cleanest pipe I’ve ever seen,” Sally said. “And it’s dry, too.”

She held one palm up, ready to catch the ring, and tilted the pipe with the other.

Daren turned toward her, propping himself up on a knee.

“I thought we could both …” he said again.

The sparkling diamond ring tumbled into Sally’s hand, and she frowned, confused. Then she gasped and flashed her eyes to Daren’s.

“I thought we could both … love each other forever,” Daren finally finished his sentence. “Will you marry me?”

Sally dropped the pipe to the tile floor, but Daren could hear her answer even above the clanking metal.

It sounded just like wedding bells to him as she threw her arms around his neck.