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TONIGHT WAS THE NIGHT the world would say good-bye to Carrie Anderson, single-girl-in-the-city, and hello to Carrie Anderson, deliriously happy woed -to-a -wealthy-hunk

Ever since her boyfriend, Jaan, had asked her to dinner at Farallon, San Francisco'sat her bare left hand with a secret smile She'd have bet the contents of her 401(k) that, cohing down her left ring finger Farallon was their special place It here they'd dined for their first date, the night they'd first slept together, and their one-year anniversary

Dinner had been lovely Although, to be honest, she hadn't really tasted the butternut squash soup And she'd barely been able to s her grilled salmon on a bed of polenta With every hter, tenser knot And when the waiter had asked her if she'd like to see the dessert menu, she'd nearly bitten his head off No, I don't want flan, she thought I want an engage last, the waiter cleared their plates away and brought over two snifters of ware fan of the potent after-dinner drink, but as it was Jaue and stung her throat, but she didn'tinto his pocket For a ring!

Her very own Prince Char was about to bend down on one knee and ask her to becoh the scene at least a hundred ti to be filled with tears as he popped open the Tiffany's box; her hands would be treer She would whisper yes, and then they would kiss passionately to a backdrop of applause But Ja down on one knee Instead he si before her and said, "It's finally tian" Carrie's breath left her chest in a whoosh of disappointment

She knew she was supposed to gasp with glee, to offer Ja on at the very moment she said "yes" Carrie worked to s her dissatisfaction at Jaet her lips to form the one word that would ensure her position as newly crowned Princess of the San Francisco elite She pushed her tongue into her molars and opened her mouth She could do it, she could say it "Yes" was a one-syllable word Even her one-year old niece could say it But all that cah"

What rong with her tonight? Of course she was going toto have 24 children and live in a large ranch house in the wealthy suburbs of Palo Alto behind a re to drive a HUMMER with booster seats in the back, and she'd drop off her kids for swi lessons in the summer, piano in the fall They'd play tennis every Saturday with the Williaet their teeth whitened twice a year by his uncle John They'd have the perfect life, the perfect kids, the perfect e

It was all so perfect that Carrie's head swam She felt nauseous This perfect life hat she had alanted Wasn't it? Evidently, a badly h for James

He reached for her clammy hand and slid the enorer The huge jewel sparkled in the candlelight, but Carrie felt like it washer she'd never fit into his world of society galas and charity lunches Of gray-haired al, siliconeenhanced second wives Sure, during the past two years she'd learned to play her part to perfection She went to the right hairdresser, used the right personal shopper at Neiht tiht for a lifetime? And, she couldn't help but wonder, did she really want to?

Jah her reflections "TheI kneould look perfect on you, Carolyn And I was right"

A silent "as always" hung in the air between them

Carrie looked up fro than any other rin seee proposals were only a formality for a catch like him

And why did he insist on calling her Carolyn when he knew she , the way he was so fore her into his ie of perfection For her to be the perfect addition to his already perfect life On paper, Ja wealth and his Harvard MBA, coood looks put hiible bachelors One of her residential landscaping clients had set them up, and Carrie had been shocked, and terribly pleased, that he'd wanted to see her again On their second date, he'd hired a classical quartet from the San Francisco symphony to serenade her with Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Overture For the next two years he'd showered her with gifts and weekend trips to Paris

And yet :so None of her other lovers had treated her like a porcelain doll in bed At first, she'd felt cherished when Jas slow But as the weeks had rolled intowrong with her, if she wasn't sexy enough to drive her boyfriend wild

She felt like she was seeing the real James for the first time

Even though she hadn't agreed to marry him yet, he'd already closed the deal

Ring, check Fiancee gaping at size of diamond, check Now all he had to do was iron out the details "We will use Grace Cathedral for the wedding, of course

Mummy will have a ith the pastor for us They're quite close, you know The Olympic Club for the reception And then-" "Ja to stop the train before it picked up enough speed to sans have always honeymooned in Bora-Bora, so of course you can spend a olf" Carrie cleared her throat and tried to steel her nerves Could this be any more aard? Somehow, soain, "maybe we should discuss this at your-"

But James had already clicked open his cell phone and speed dialed darling Muot better-looking thanks to a two-hundred thousand-dollar diah the earpiece, and so to deal with the idea of waking up next to a gorgeous man who didn't really listen to her every day for the rest of her life, but the thought of having to do Sunday brunch with his mother fifty-two times a year (not to mention countless family dinners and parties) was truly vile