As the soft sounds of Norah Jones played in the background, you spritzed your favourite Betsey Johnson perfume and fluffed your dress in the mirror. Today was your third anniversary dinner, with your boyfriend, Of Mice & Men's Austin Carlile. He had been out with the band making appearances at various Hot Topic's, radio stations and music stores, to celebrate the release of the band's latest album, Restoring Force. He had one last appearance to make today, but he had assured you that he would meet you at the restaurant. After one last hair and makeup check, you grabbed the Coach wristlet that Austin had given you for Christmas, and your phone, then called for the car service that you had used before.
You arrived at the restaurant a few minutes early, and waited until your table was ready. Every minute that Austin was not there, was every minute you spent wondering if the appearance had gone overtime, or if he had just forgotten. It can't be the latter, you assured yourself, as you decided to order a drink and call Austin to see where he was. You frowned when his phone, along with the phones of his bandmates, and everyone you knew who would be with the band, went straight to voicemail or unanswered. An hour went by, and Austin still hadn't shown up, and you were unsure if you should be hurt, mad, or both. Knowing that the restaurant had Austin's information on file, as you dined there frequently, you decided to have a nice, expensive dinner on Austin's dime. Holding your head up high, you left the restaurant, then called the car service to take you home.
"Did you have a nice dinner miss?"
"It would have been better had the mister shown up. Some anniversary huh?"
"I'm so sorry miss. That does not sound like him at all. Do you want me to take you anywhere? A strip club perhaps?"
For the first time since you reached and left the restaurant, a smile graced your face and you laughed.
"No, it's alright. I would rather just go home. I have a tub of red velvet ice cream with my name on it. Thank you for the offer though."
Once the driver reached your house, you tipped him extra, and let him help you out of the car. Expecting the house to be dark and quiet, you started to see red when you saw the lights on, and heard music coming from inside. Slipping out of your heels, you held them in your hand, and opened the door with the other.
"Baby, I can explain."
Austin said, as soon as you closed the door.
"Sure you can."
You spat back, as you tried to push past Austin.
"Baby please."
Austin grabbed your arm, but let go just as quickly.
"Just save it Austin."
You told him, as tears clouded your eyes. Turning away from him, you ran up the stairs and slammed the door to your bedroom, and locked it so Austin couldn't get in. You wiped the rapidly falling tears from your eyes, as Austin set up camp on the other side of the door and desperately tried to get you to open it. After you stepped out of your dress, and took the bobby pins out of your hair, you headed into the shower, to wash up and try to wash away the tears. When you eventually left the shower, you checked your phone, only to see about forty text messages from Austin begging you to let him in and explain. Instead, you turned the phone off and decided to enjoy the nighty and thong set that you had bought for that night, all by your lonesome.
After quite a bit of tossing and turning, and five episodes of Jersey Shore, you finally managed to drift off to sleep. It was three thirty am, when you found yourself wide awake and alone. You reached for your phone, and turned it back on. The look on your face fell, as all the messages that Austin had sent you after you turned your phone off had started to come in. It wasn't long before you lost count of the number of messages he had left you, via text and voicemail. And it also wasn't long, before you found yourself pushing back the blanket and deciding to head downstairs. You opened the door and gasped, when you saw a rose petals that had been laid out on the floor, in the shape of a heart and the words "I'm sorry. Please forgive me."
In the middle of the heart, was a shiny, red gift box with a white bow on top. Being mindful of the rose petals, you picked up the box and carefully pulled off the bow and lid. Your jaw dropped in awe, when you pulled away the tissue paper to reveal the patent red Louboutin pumps that you had been eyeing since the Spring/Summer 2014 collection was released. Leaving everything where it was, you headed downstairs, to find Austin sprawled out on the pullout sofa, snoring. You pulled the blanket back over him, and headed into the kitchen for a quick snack. You went to preheat the oven so you could warm the leftover lasagna, when you were greeted by a feast from Del Taco. After inspecting the bags, you found that Austin had gotten all your favourites, and that maybe he hadn't forgotten after all. Maybe he really did have a legitimate reason for not being able to make it to dinner. Just when you were about to go back to the living room and wake him up, you felt a pair of arms wrap around your waist, and Austin rested his chin on your shoulder.
"You really should have let me explain."
"Shut up stupid. And hug me. Then explain."
You muttered, as you turned around in his arms, and wrapped your arms around his naked torso. While the food warmed in the oven, you listened as Austin explained that not only had the signing gone overtime, he had to run around and beg the staff at the Louboutin store to let him in after hours so he could buy the shoes for you. He then spent the next forty five minutes finding an open flower shop that had fresh Hydrangea flowers in stock, because he knew you loved them. By the time he had gathered everything, including a box of baked good from the Babycakes NYC bakery in LA, it was already past the reservation time, and he had decided to just go home and wait for you there.
"YOU SHOULD HAVE CALLED ME! I WOULD HAVE UNDERSTOOD!"
You pouted in his direction, as he placed the flowers and baked goods in front of you.
"I realize that now. But I really thought I was doing the smarter thing by coming home and waiting for you here instead."
He replied, as he kissed your forehead, then went to take the food out of the oven.
"When did you find the time to go to Del Taco? Or did you already have the food before you came home?"
"I paid Aaron and Amanda to go for me. They brought it sometime around midnight."
Austin placed the food in front of you, and pulled his stool over so he could sit beside you.
"Ugh, I'm pretty sure that was better than the lobster dinner I had. Thanks for that by the way."
You giggled, as you kissed Austin's cheek.
"Anything for my beautiful lady."
He rolled his eyes at you, and got up to throw the trash away.
"So, do you have anything else planned or was the shoes, flowers, and baked deliciousness all there was?"
"Oh there's one more thing. BUUUUTTTTT, you need to sit here and wait, while I get it ready."
"Fine." You pouted. "Can I at least wait in the living room?"
"Fine. But you have to close your eyes when I tell you to."
You narrowed your eyes at Austin, and nodded in agreement before, you walked over to the sofa and made yourself comfortable.
"Okay, babe, I need you to close your eyes."
Austin called from the direction of the laundry room.
"They're closed!"
"Are you sure?"
"AUSTIN ROBERT!"
You heard Austin giggle, and creep out of the laundry room. Keeping your eyes closed tightly, and your arms crossed in front of you, you heard Austin creep behind the couch and open the door to the backyard. Just before the door closed, Austin said you could open your eyes but that you were not allowed anywhere near the back door, or any of the windows to try and look outside. Blowing your hair out of your eyes, you grabbed his phone and decided to invade his instagram and post on his behalf. Once you got tired of that, you tormented Alan via text, then started playing Angry Birds Star Wars.
"Babe?"
You looked up, and saw Austin as he stood right over you.
"Am I allowed outside now?"
"Yes. But you have to close your eyes. One last time."
Austin helped you off of the couch, and covered your eyes, before he guided you outside into the backyard. He walked you off of the deck, presumably around the pool, and a couple more feet past that before you came to a stop. Austin lifted his hands from your eyes, and stepped away, before he told you to open your eyes. They shot open, and your gaze fell down on a tiny, squirming, corgi puppy with one floppy ear.
"OHMYGODAUSTINILOVEIT!"
You squealed, without taking a breath, before you kneeled down and picked it up in your arms. It licked your face, and you felt the collar on its neck, to find out that it was a boy and his name was Yoda. There was an additional gift tag tied onto it, and you turned it around, to find Austin's familiar scrawl telling you that you should put the puppy down and turn around. You put Yoda back in his back, and turned around to find Austin down on one knee.
"I had this big speech planned in my head, but now I can't even get it out. Baby, I love you. You've been there for me through everything, the good, the bad, and everything in-between. You've been the most amazing person that has ever come into my life, and I'd like it to stay that way forever. I never thought that I would say these words again, but you've changed my mind. Will you marry me?"
You wiped the tears from your eyes, before you told answer the one word he had been waiting to hear.
"Yes."
With his hands shaking, he slipped the ring on your finger, then stood up and picked you up; spinning you around in a wide circle. He stopped and pressed his lips to yours, and was only stopped by the excited yips of Yoda, as he walked around Austin's ankles.
"We should probably get inside, before we create a disturbance."
You whispered to him. He nodded in agreement, and without putting you down, he bent down to pick up Yoda and the ring box, before heading back inside.
"Can we just stay down here tonight? I'm kind of comfortable already."
You asked Austin, as you lay on the pull out sofa, with Yoda snuggled beside you.
"Anything for you."
Austin replied, as he got in next to you, then reached over to turn off the lamp. You snuggled into his chest, and traced his tattoos with your finger until you fell back asleep. Although the night didn't go exactly as planned, you couldn't have been happier with the outcome.