There was this one time, more toward the beginning of Martina's and my relationship, when we were in her car and I began to sing.
Singing is something I like to do sometimes—especially as a joke—and Martina had told me that she liked my voice, so I decided to go for it.
The song that I was singing on this day was "All I Ask of You" from Phantom of the Opera. As I said, I like to joke around, so in my best baritone, with the song playing in the background, I just let loose.
No more talk of darkness/Forget these wide-eyed fears/I'm here, nothing can harm you/My words will warm and calm you
At first, I just took my singing as a joke. But when I looked over at Martina, I saw she was paying attention to the lyrics and had begun to take me more seriously.
So I continued:
Let me be your freedom/Let daylight dry your tears/I'm here, with you, beside you/To guard you and to guide you
Martina's interest continued to grow—she was totally digging it—and, suddenly, I realized that something was beginning to happen: what had started as a joke was turning into a real moment between us.
So I barreled toward the refrain—because what a refrain it was going to be!
Say you love me every waking moment/Turn my head with talk of summertime/Say you need me with you now and always/Promise me that all you say is true
That's all I ask of you
And when I looked at Martina after that line, after the refrain, she had tears in her eyes—and I can't say that mine were dry.
