CADEN
It's the 14th February. Valentine's Day. And the last two weeks of planning Nini's surprise come down to this moment. I'm standing in front of my car, which is parked exactly in front of her dorm. Before I begin, I go through the list on more time in my head.
Caden's list to surprising Broadway
1. Say Anything
2. Love Actually
3. 500 Days of Summer
4. To All the Boys I've Loved
5. LaLaLand
6. The Notebook
It took me a lot of time to come to this list. Better said, it took me hours and hours of bingeing romcoms. After coming with this list, I had to ask around for help to make it come true. Jacob was on board from the start, helping me get some stuff I'll need tonight. Sofia also agreed to help me out, getting the clothes that play a huge role in this surprise. Everything is supposed to go perfectly. All for my beautiful date.
Which brings me back to where I'm standing. In front of their dorm. A boombox in my hands, and I'm holding it over my head. I take a deep breath and play the song. In Your Eyes. I set the volume so loud, that the people inside the building can hear it. Some of them look outside the window, smiling at me the moment they see me. I smile in return and wait patiently for the one I actually want to see looking from out that window.
The moment I can see Nini look outside, I have to smile. She looks perfect. She's wearing a nice red dress that matches her hair. Her lips are the same color and her hair is styled in a nice ponytail. As our eyes meet and she sees what I'm doing, her smile grows brighter. I can feel some butterflies, going through me. She mouths that she'll be right back and disappears in the room. Only to come out the main door seconds later, out of breath from running.
Phase 1 of my plan complete. Say Anything.
Phase 2 of my plan can begin.
I open the car door and take out the huge white cards I prepared yesterday. I hold them in front of her so she can read them. I know what they say anyway.
"Dear Broadway, the moment you walked into my life is my happiest moment."
"I love everything about you. Your smile. The way you kiss me. The texts we send to each other. The hugs you give me. Your eyes. Everything."
I can see her gasp and a tear rolling down her cheek. It's a tear of joy, I can see it in her eyes. I show her the next card.
"To me, you are perfect."
She gasps again and wants to run over to me to hug me. Although there's nothing I'd like more, there are still two cards left to show her.
"So now, I only have one question for you..."
"Will you be my Valentine?"
She nods and rushes to me. I throw the cards away to free my hands and be able to take her in. She wraps her hands around my neck, her feet around my waist and crashes her lips on mine. I hold even tighter to her and kiss her with the passion to show her what she means to me. My everything.
I hold her close for a few seconds. Until I gently place her down and open her the car door to the passenger's seat, for her to get inside. She smiles and I help her in. Then, I go around the car and to the driver's seat, ready to begin part three of my plan.
Phase 2 completed. Love Actually.
I'm driving the car and can feel Nini's gaze on me. She hasn't taken her eyes off me ever since she hugged me in front of her dorm. And she smiles. Such an honest smile that it gives me thousands of new butterflies.
I continue driving just with one hand, with the other I reach out for hers and we curl our fingers together.
"So, what's the plan for today? Where are you taking me?", she asks, to fill the silence. I smirk and respond:
"My lips are sealed, Broadway."
She sighs, faking being annoyed, and I have to chuckle. She then continues:
"But, I must say, I am impressed. I really am. Say Anything and Love Actually in one day. You're making progress."
I smile at the fact she recognized the scenes. Of course, she has. She is a romcom lover after all.
"This is just the beginning", I whisper, to which her eyes go big. And a smirk appears on her lips.
~
"You're crazy", she says, the moment we enter Ikea.
"I might be. But only for you", I answer. She chuckles and takes my hand.
"So, what are you planning on us doing here? Testing every bed until we find the best one?" she suggests. Not such a bad idea.
"I mean, we could, I don't know how happy the staff would be with that", I reply. Her cheeks go red.
"I was talking about sitting on them. Not making out", she says, throwing me an amused look. "Dirty mind."
I come closer to her ear and whisper: "Well, dirty or not, it's all about you."
Her cheeks turn even redder and I start smirking. I pull her closer and begin kissing her, until our lips our locking and all I feel is her. She's everywhere. In my mind. My arms. My dreams. My mouth. Everywhere.
As we let go, I go take a cart and make her a sign she should hop on it. She smiles and does as I asked her. I then pretend we would be at a race, steering the cart and making the edgiest turns. Of course, edgy, but not edgy enough for her to fall down or hurt herself. She's far too precious for that.
As soon as we're done with the cart, we try out every furniture there is. Couches, tables, beds. Everything. Nini begins telling me about her dream home, an apartment with a terrace, with a view over the city. She wants a large kitchen, so that everyone can cook together. She also wants a guest bedroom, in case her friends come visit. She wants a comfy bed in which she can relax after work. She wants a big TV on which she can watch her favorite movies. And she wants one more thing...
"You", she says, from where she was sitting next to me on the couch we were trying out. "I want you. It wouldn't be a home, if you weren't there with me."
I pull her closer to me and gently brush her cheeks with my lips. "You are my home", I tell her before I touch her lips and give her a kiss. She wraps her hands around my neck and pulls me even closer to her.
When I first saw the movie and saw the two going on a date to Ikea, I was thinking they must be insane. However, as we lean in deeper in the couch, I don't know what I was worrying about. She's all I need.
500 Days of Summer
~
"So, which milkshake would you like?" the lady at the counter asks me. Nini throws me a glance, immediately understanding what we are doing here. To All The Boys I've Loved Before.
"A strawberry one, please", Nini tells her, her eyes on me though to check if I wanted something else. I nod at her, to assure her it is okay. She smiles and after I pay for the milkshake, we go sit at the first free table for two.
"I always wanted to do this", she whispers after taking the first sip from her straw. I also take a sip from my straw, which only leaves her smiling.
"What?", I ask her interested.
"Share a milkshake with someone. L.J. and Peter were always so cute doing it", she answers a bit dreamy. With my eyes, I tell her we should do it. We both bend our heads down at the same time and take a sip from the straws. She chuckles hard and I have to smile just looking at her.
"You know what I liked about Lara Jean and Peter?" I ask.
Nini looks at me surprised: "You've watched the movie?"
"Of course."
Nini rewards me with a smile. The one and a half hour I've spent watching it suddenly feels worth it.
"What did you like about them?" Nini asks, reminding me of the initial topic.
"The love letters", I answer, and I can see how her face lights up.
"Me too. They were so sweet."
"They were", I say, reaching with my hand in my pocket and taking out an envelope from there. Nini's breath is gone. She just stares at the handwritten "Broadway" on the cover.
"You didn't...", she lets out, her fingers shaking as she reaches for the envelope.
"I did", I say, placing my hand on hers and giving it a squeeze, to assure her everything's fine and that she can relax.
Nini wipes out a tear and opens the envelope, taking the letter out from there. With her voice shaky, she begins reading it out loud:
"Dear Broadway,
A wise man once said: "You're just too good to be true". Before I met you, I didn't understand what he meant with that. Now, I do. It's in the way you talk. The way you smile. The way you laugh at the jokes we tell. The way you sing in the car. The way you make me forget the pain. The way you bite your bottom lip when you're nervous and the way you kiss me to let me know everything will be alright.
You're just too good to be true.
And I'm the luckiest guy on this planet to be the one who gets to call you mine.
I love you, my beautiful Broadway.
Yours,
Caden"
Her eyes are tearing up and she lifts herself up from her chair, coming to me. She wraps her hands around my neck and kisses me.
"Yours", she whispers in my ear between kisses. I immediately tense. And a wave of heat fills my whole body. I pull her closer until she's sitting on my lap.
"Yours", I whisper back, my mouth sunk in her neck. She chuckles and I continue kissing her, to make her understand I meant what I just said.
"Now I owe you a love letter", she says after some time. I smile and she must have felt it, since her chest rises and sinks faster as before.
"You don't owe me anything, Broadway", I reply. She lifts up my chin, so that our eyes can meet. Those beautiful brown eyes.
"I don't know about that. But right or wrong, I still want to give you a love letter."
"Thank you", I whisper back and also thank the universe I chose this movie to recreate. It has something special. And from the way Nini is smiling now, it makes me like it even more.
To All The Boys I've Loved.
"We still have some surprises left for tonight, Broadway", I tell her taking a bit of distance so that I can look at her. She smiles at me and I unwillingly stand up and make her a sign I'll be right back.
In a few minutes I'm back from my car, carrying a big gift bag for her. She looks at me confused, not knowing what to think of it.
I hand her the bag and say: "Open it."
She throws me a glance, then does as I asked her. She gasps as she sees the yellow dress inside, the one that looks exactly like the one Emma Stone is wearing in the movie. It was hard to find the dress, however, luckily Nini's best friend happens to be royalty and a fashion icon. She was the one to provide the dress and the outfit I will be changing in. She didn't even ask any favor in return or money for the clothes, only said she's happy as long as Nini is happy.
"It's beautiful", Nini says, placing the dress on her body to see if it would fit. It does. Perfectly.
"You can go get change. I'll meet you in front of the car in a few minutes."
She smiles and cheers once. I also go change and as I'm done, I go wait, leaning my back against the car.
The moment she steps out of the restaurant, my eyes widen and I freeze. She's gorgeous. Spectacular. I have never seen anything more beautiful in my life. The way the dress shows off her silhouette. The smile on her lips as she sees me wearing a copy of the tux Ryan Gosling wore. The way her hair compliments the color of her lips beautifully. She's stunning.
I must have just sat there and stared for a while, since she begins to look worried at her dress.
"Is there a problem?", she asks me. I clear my throat to overcome the heat that was now growing in me.
"You are perfect", it's all I am able to whisper, although that isn't really a problem. She gets it and smiles.
"Well, so are you", Nini replies coming closer, wrapping her hands around my neck. I gently brush my lips over hers.
"You are the most perfect one. Damn it, Broadway. Your smile. Your eyes. The stars themselves have never shone as bright as your eyes do now."
She chuckles and kisses me, softly, gently, to make me feel it. She then gives me another kiss, hungrier and wanting.
"They only shine for you, my love."
I pull her closer and get lost in her again.
~
I parked the car close to the top of the hill so that we don't have to walk much. I take her hand and lead her to the place I found a few days ago, looking for the best location to recreate the next scene.
As we arrive at the spot, she gasps.
In front of us is a bench with a view over the city, just like the one in LaLaLand.
"It is...it is just so...it's perfect", she says, although she hasn't even seen the surprise yet. I take out my phone and play the song from the movie. Then, I take her hand and ask:
"May I have this dance?"
She looks at me surprised and chuckles. "I thought you don't dance."
"I don't sing, but I don't have a problem with dancing. Well, I don't have a problem because it's you I'll be dancing it."
She smiles and gives me her hand. I help her climb on the bench and I follow her. The moment we're standing on it, I begin tap dancing like they did in the movie. She looks at me and can't hold a chuckle.
"You know how to tap dance?" she asks, her voice clearly showing how surprised she is.
"I learned it. Especially for today. You should ask Jacob. All he could see last week was me dancing to tutorials in our living room."
LaLaLand
She stops dancing and comes closer to me, wrapping her hands around my neck.
"Who would have thought the great hockey legend knows how to tap dance?" she asks me, brushing her lips over my ear. My heart skips a beat. She's so close.
"It came with the fact of falling madly in love with you", I reply. I can feel her chest rising and sinking faster against my own. It sends new waves of heat in my body.
"You're madly in love with me?" she asks me. I don't even have to think about the answer.
"Of course, I am. Broadway, I am so in love with you, sometimes I don't know what's up and what's down. Day or night. Right or wrong. All I can think of is you. Only you. You're my every thought, my every dream, my every breath. I never thought I could love this much. Yet here I am. Madly in love with you."
Tears roll down her face again and I start wiping them out with my thumbs, cupping her face in my palms. She smiles.
"I am madly in love with you too, Caden", she says, before she wraps her feet around my waist and I place my hand protective on her back. She crashes her lips on mine and the music in the background fades away, Nini being the only thing that fills my senses.
~
"This is the last stop of the day", I say, entering with the car through the gate of the studio film set. I've asked Jacob for help and he managed to pull some strings to make it work. His parents are film producers, so he convinced them to allow me and Nini to use their set tonight.
I stop the car and Nini still looks surprised as I get out and come to open her door. I take her hand and lead her inside, where everything has already been set. The romantic background, with rose petals on the floor and many small lights lightening up the ceiling like stars. I lead her in the middle and come back after a few seconds, as soon as I get the most important thing of my surprise started.
The rain machine.
Nini gasps as drops of water start pouring down on her, getting her hair and dress wet. I come join her in the rain and pull her closer in my arms. She wraps her hands around my neck and smiles. Our clothes our so wet now that I can feel the shirt on me like a second skin. I catch Nini checking me out, to which I cough softly. She chuckles and her cheeks turn red.
"It's always the rain scene, isn't it?" I ask, to which she nods.
"Always the rain scene."
I lift her up from the ground as she starts kissing me so passionately that I think I might catch fire any second now. My whole world only spins around her, her hands on my body, her lips on mine, her scent all over me. All I can think of is her.
She kisses me more and I keep her in my arms, not wanting to let go of her, to place her back on the ground. She must have noticed since she smiles and continues locking our lips.
"I love you, Caden", she whispers, not going any inch further from me.
"I love you too, Broadway", I whisper back. She smiles again and I can feel the "rain" rolling down her face. She doesn't seem to mind.
"This is better than any romcom I've ever seen. You're better than it all", she continues, and I kiss her.
"You're better than all my dreams", I reply.
To that, her hold on me gets even tighter and she kisses me again.
I've never felt happier.