"Addison, it's time to bring Sal to the bowling alley! Where are you guys?!"
My eyes wondered when I heard James' voice from the other side of the phone. "What time is it?" I asked in a panic.
"It's almost two o'clock! Why are you guys here?!" James argued.
"Why didn't you call earlier! I could've been there earlier if you called earlier! Plus, that's what you were supposed to do! That was your job, not anyone else's!" I argued back.
"Well I'm sorry, I forgot." James apologized with annoyance in his voice.
I groaned and started scooting out of the seat frantically, so did Sal. I threw away my ice cream and grabbed Sal's hand, dragging him out of the ice cream shop.
"What's wrong?!" Sal asked with confusion.
"We're late." I said to Sal. I adjusted my phone in my hand. "What's the address?" I asked James.
"I'll send it to you by text." James replied.
"Just send me the goddamn directions! I am parked by Blank State Coffee and Kitchen. Type that in and send it to me, and quickly!" I replied annoyed with James, but also in a panic. We were crossing busy streets while Sal started panicking behind me. Everything was in a rush.
"I got it, I got it. I'm sending it now." James said.
"Okay, the restaurant is in view. I'm going to hang up now, just tell everyone we will be a little late." I replied fiddling for my keys in my purse.
"You better not be too late." James said.
"Shut the fuck up ferret." I said before hanging up the phone.
I unlocked the car and hurried in quickly. I fumbled to put the keys into the ignition since I was so frustrated. I could feel Sal staring at me as he slowly buckled himself in. I was upset and I didn't want to ruin Sal's birthday surprise.
"C'mon you stupid keys, get in the damn hole!" I grunted.
I kept missing the key hole. I screamed at the top of my lungs and threw my hands into the steering wheel. I crossed my arms on top of the steering wheel, placing my head on my arms. I started to cry. It hit me all at once and I couldn't help it. Sal slowly placed a hand on my back and rubbed it.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ruin your birthday." I weeped.
"Woah, you didn't ruin my birthday! I don't know where this is coming from Addison. You need to calm down." Sal comforted.
I lifted my head up and wiped my eyes. Sal kept his hand on my back as I took deep breaths.
"I think this is a stressful day, that's all." I said with a small laugh.
"What's wrong? Why did you get so upset?" Sal asked.
I inserted the key into the ignition and started the car. I pulled my phone out and got out the directions James sent me. "You'll see when we get there. For now, I just want to apologize." I said as I scanned the phone to see if it showed where our destination was. It didn't, it took us to a nearby parking lot. Smart James, smart. I handed Sal the phone.
"Give me the directions as we drive. I don't want to risk crashing if I held the phone with me." I said.
So, that's what Sal did. On our way to the parking lot, Sal told me which way to go. When we got there, he handed me back my phone and thanked him. We got out of the car and met with Sal on the other side. He held out his hand so I would grab it, but I didn't. I just gave him a cheeky smile and held something behind my back.
"What's behind your back?" Sal asked pointing at me.
I pulled out a blindfold. Sal gave me a confused look. "What is that?"
"It's a blindfold!" I chirped, springing on my toes.
"Oh okay, let me guess, you're going to blindfold me?" Sal asked. "Mhm." I hummed. "Why?" He asked.
"Because! It's a surprise! Now c'mon, let me blindfold you! Don't worry about safety because we are not crossing the street." I said as I put the blindfold.
"Good. Because if we were, I was going to kill you." Sal threatened.
"Highly doubt it, you love me too much to do that." I said tying off the blindfold.
Sal had a small pause. "Touché."
I waved in front of his face. "Can you see anything?" I asked.
"Addison, what the hell do you think?" Sal sassed.
"Well, I was making sure!" I said slapping his arm playfully.
Sal took a step back and swung his arm up. "There was no need to do that!"
I rolled my eyes then grabbed Sal's hand and started walking. He didn't expect it so when I tugged on his hand, he almost fell forward. I laughed as he stumbled on walking already.
"You could've warned me that you were going to start walking!" Sal yelled at me.
I rolled my eyes again. "Watch your step. I don't want you to trip and fall."
"Thanks for the warning." Sal said in a low, sassy tone.
The way to the bowling alley was a wreck. Sal kept tripping over his own feet and stopping every few feet to feel where he was. I was getting aggravated because we were going to be late to the party. Though, we finally got to the entrance of the bowling alley. I pulled out my phone and texted James to tell everyone we were finally there. He replied with an okay.
Here was the plan, I was going to unblind Sal, which he was relieved to be seeing again, and walk him into the doors. We were to take our shoes off and get our bowling shoes on. Everyone would be hiding somewhere out of sight of Sal while we got everything together. Sal and I would go pick out our bowling balls to play with. We would go set our balls in lane eight while everyone would pile up behind us. When Sal was to turn around, we would all yell surprise.
Well, Sal did get suspicious. When we went to set our balls down, he grabbed both of my hands and looked me dead in the eye.
"Why is there no one here? Why did you take me here when there is literally no one around?" Sal asked, his eyes full confusion.
I chuckled. "You should turn around you big doof."
Sal paused, keeping his eyes on me. "I-I know they're there." Sal stuttered. He turned to the crowd, who all had their phones out, all of them smiling.
Now, I was the one who was confused. I didn't understand what was going on. I saw Joe and Bessy who held themselves tightly. I saw Brian look at me with a big wide smile, and James did the same. A lot of the crew from the show gave us thumbs up, or had their phones out recording us.
I gave an uncomfortable chuckle. "Uhh, I think you guys are missing a 'surprise' in all of this. Y'know, like' surprise! Happy birthday! I-I don't know what is going on."
"This wasn't for Sal!" Someone yelled at me.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"You should turn around, ya doof." I heard Sal's voice echo.