We slid into a booth and our conversation picked up where it left off before. He, too, was making a career change and was moving back to South Africa. His departure date was one week before mine. Now I knew I had to calm my pounding heart. We obviously had no future together. He took my phone number and invited me to dinner sometime. I accepted, suppressing my sadness, knowing I would be leaving in two short weeks and the date would probably never happen.

我们拐进了一家路边小店，接着上次的话题聊了起来。从他的谈话中，我得知他也正要换一份工作，回到南非去。他的行程先于我一个星期。现在我明白我必须让自己冲动的心冷静一下。很明显，我们俩不会有结果。他问了我的电话号码，说以后会请我吃饭。我强忍着悲痛接受了，因为我知道两个星期后我将离开，这可能是永远都无法实现的约会。

But it did. He picked me up a few days later for a movie and dinner. We talked for hours about our lives, our hopes, our separate dreams--- mine in New York, his in South Africa. Never had I spoken so freely, so comfortably, with a man. He reached across the table and took my hand. I thought I saw in his eyes the same love l felt swelling in my hear. He said, "I'm just sorry I met you only one week before l leave."

可它竟然实现了！几天后，他来接我，我们一起看电影，吃晚饭。我们聊了几个小时，聊生活，聊希望，聊我们各自的梦想--我的在纽约，而他的在南非。我从不曾和一个男人谈得如此畅快，如此舒服。他握住我的手。从他的眼神里，我想我看到了正在我心中急剧膨胀的爱。他说。"我真的很遗憾，走前的一个星期才遇到你。"

"We still have seven days, " I said meekly.

"可我们还有整整七天。"我无限深情地答道。

"Then let's make the most of it." He helped me on with my sweater. Hand in hand, we strolled to the car and made plans for the next day and the next and the next. As he drove me home, Tracy Chapman sang, "Give me one reason to stay, and I'll turn right back around." Was his heart singing along like mine?

"那么就让我们充分地享受它们吧，"说着，他帮我穿上外套。我们手牵着手走向汽车，计划着我们的明天以及明天的明天。在他开车送我回家的路上，我心中响起了特蕾西·查普曼的歌?quot;给我一个留下的理由，我将会回头……"。不知他心里是否也在和我一起歌唱呢？

We spent part of every day together for the next week. I knew I was falling in love, but dared not speak it. I couldn't upset our chances for a lifetime.
在之后的一个星期里，我们每天都会抽时间在一起。我深知自己已坠入了爱河，可却没有胆量说出来。我不愿因此而破坏我们各自生活中的良机。

" And I know he loves me, too," l moaned to Stacy over a cup of coffee in my near-empty restaurant. "We've even talked about trying to get together over holidays. He's meeting me here soon to bring me a gift to remember him by."

"我知道，他也爱我，"当我和斯泰西在我那已快人去楼空的餐厅里喝咖啡时，我轻声说。"我们甚至已经在计划假期如何一起度过。他很快就要上这儿来，送我一件礼物做纪念。"

Just then, Bary strolled in. I stood to welcome his arms around me. We sat, sipping our coffee. "I will miss you so much, "he said softly. "But I know you'll think of me whenever you hear this. "He placed a Tracy Chapman CD on the table in front of me. Then he pointed to the song title, Just Give Me One Reason. "We can listen to the same music and remember each other."

正说着，巴里走了进来。我站起来，投人他的怀抱。坐下后，我们各自抿着杯中的咖啡。"我会想你的，"他无限温存地说道。"不过，我想当你听它的时候一定会想起我，"他拿出那张特蕾西·查普曼的CD放在我的面前，他指着那首主打歌《我只要一个理由》，说道："当我们听同一首歌时，我们都正在思念着对方。

"Oh, and one more thing to remember me by." He set a small box on top of the CD. The same awe I felt at our first meeting paralyzed me now. The love I saw in his eyes as we gazed across the table was gift enough for a lifetime. Finally I reached for the box and opened it slowly. A diamond ring!

"对了，还有一样东西。"他拿出一个小盒子放在CD上。我好像第一次见他那样完全怔住了。我们彼此凝望，他眼中的爱意是我一生都受用不尽的礼物。最后，我拿起那只盒子，慢慢地打开了它。一枚钻石戒指！

"Michelle, I have loved you from the first moment I saw you. On our first date, even before we had coffee, l knew you were the woman I was going to marry. I woke up this morning, desperate, thinking, it's May 3! In three days I'll lose my angel. Sure, my career in South Africa is a chance in a lifetime, but you, Michelle, are my dream come true. Please marry me."

"米歇尔，我见到你的第一眼便深深地爱上了你。在我们第一次约会之前，不，甚至在我们一起喝咖啡之前，我已经知道你是我要娶的女人。今天早上，我睁开眼睛，一想到已经是5月3号，我绝望极了，再过三天，我将失去我的大使。的确，在非洲的事业是我生命中的一个转机。可是你。米歇尔，让我的梦想成真。请嫁给我吧，亲爱的米歇尔?quot;

"Yes, Barry, yes, "I cried. "

"噢，是的，巴里，是的，我同意！"我流着泪答道。

I know what moving to New York means to you, but will you come with me to South Africa? I believe with all my heart, Michelle, that we were brought together on purpose. Nothing in my life is going as I planned it, but l know it's all a part of a bigger plan." Barry chuckled. "God has a great sense of humor, but a poor sense of timing."

"我知道到纽约对你意味着什么，可是你能到南非和我一同生活吗？我深深地感到，米歇尔，我们的相遇是上天的安排。我生活中的许多事都与计划背道而驰。可我相信那都是一个更大计划的组成部分?quot;巴里笑言："上帝的确够幽默，可却不太会安排时间。"

Exactly one year later, on May 3, we were married under an African sky. Our dream come true. Our chance of a lifetime.

一年后的5月3号，我和巴里在南非的天空下举行了婚礼。我们都梦想成真，也不曾错过我们生命中的机遇。