Mickey - The View From Here PART TWO - Gallavich

Last Night At The Alibi

It was 7:15 when we finally parked in front of the Alibi. Eager to see Ian’s reaction to the surprise party, I did my best to hide the desire to just grab his hand and drag him into the bar. Trying to furnish our apartment had seemingly sucked the energy from my husband. It had been a long day, but I was about to make it better.

“Hey, I don’t wanna stay too long, all right? I wanna get back to the apartment so I can unpack my clothes,” Ian told me as we walked up to the front entrance. Convinced I had forgotten what today was, Ian was tired and disappointed. He was done for the day.

“Yeah, four or five beers, and we’ll go,” I told him, hoping to urge him into a better mood.

“One beer, and we’ll go,” he corrected me.

Shit, I might've went too far. He wouldn’t be acting like a moody bitch if I had just said, “happy anniversary" at some point today.

Trying to hide how worried I now was, I forced a laugh and attempted to proceed inside. “Fine.”

Before I could grab the door, Ian finally confronted me, not budging from his position standing next to the ambulance. “Do you seriously not know what today is?”

We are so close, Gallagher! Don’t make me ruin the surprise.

I pretended to be mildly annoyed. “Jesus Chri—I don’t know. Thursday?”

His beautiful eyes stared into me, helplessly begging for me to remember. “Twenty-first. Doesn’t ring any bells with you?”

I couldn’t admit it now. I just needed him to walk into the bar. “No. Should it?”

Those beautiful eyes were misted, his voice cracking as he informed me that, “it’s our wedding anniversary.”

Fuck!

“Oh!” I feigned ignorance. “Oh, shit.”

He tried to smile, but I knew my act had wounded him. “One year ago today.”

Although this wasn’t promising, I had no choice but to stick to the plan. “Hey, man. That’s great,” I grinned, patting him on the shoulder like I would with my brother.

The expression Ian wore on his face was painful and familiar. I hadn’t seen him look at me like that since my other wedding day. It reminded me how he had pleaded for reason, that if I cared for him at all, I wouldn’t marry Svet. This was supposed to be a surprise, not a exercise in breaking my husband’s heart.

I couldn’t handle it, my own eyes beginning to gloss over. Putting on my act again, I nodded to the door and urged, “come on. I’m thirsty.”

My mind was racing with doubt. Had I fucked this whole thing up? I thought that stealing or buying him some crap wouldn’t compare to the family gatherings he had been privy to for his whole life. He loved these people, his siblings, asshole dad, and many friends. It was one of the best parts of being a Gallagher.

But that look on his face…Maybe I was wrong.

Without another option anymore, I lead the way into the bar, holding the inner breezeway door open for him as I waited for him to reluctantly follow me.

Ian passed through the first door with his fists clenched. Maybe he was thinking about leaving, he wasn’t in the mood for company or a drink. As he walked through the breezeway, he came into view of the bar patrons and he hesitated. Everyone greeted him with an enthusiastic “surprise!”

“Happy anniversary!”

Everyone had noisemakers, happily welcoming him to his own party with nothing but love and cheering. All the familiar faces were there, except Frank who was either dead or wandering around Chicago in a daze. I even hired a few people from our wedding venue to play polka music in honor of our weird union. I thought he'd appreciate the attention to detail.

Impressed with myself, I smiled at my husband, waiting for his reaction. My smile grew wider when I realized he had truly believed I didn’t care. Didn’t he know he was my everything?

“Speech!” Lip hooted from the crowd before everyone else joined in.

“Speech! Speech!”

Reeling for the right words, Ian slowly paced out of the breezeway into the bar. “Um…” He scanned the room, noting every face I bothered to drag out for the occasion.

Glad to see him happy, I waited patiently for him to spout some gushy, idealistic, family's everything bullshit. Instead, his focus settled on me.

Tears of joy rimmed his eyes as he smiled and stated his speech. “I love this man.” Grabbing my face, he pulled me in for a passionate kiss and I knew my surprise had been a success.