This choice: Interrupted Intimacy on Valentine's Day (Reserved) • Go Back...Chapter #6The Valentine's Day Matt's-Heartacher by: worstfailure   "Hoooooney, Mari's here!" your mother said in a sing-song voice as she opened the door to your bedroom. Catching sight of you, she gasped loudly. "Oh, Matt, you look sooo handsome! I told you that outfit was my best work yet! Mari won't know what hit her!"
You finished adjusting your bowtie and turned away from the mirror. You were dressed in a black tuxedo that your mom had been slaving over for a week. She'd tossed out outfit after outfit over perceived imperfections you didn't even notice yourself, but you had to admit the tux she'd made for you was a pure work of art. She'd really outdone herself. You just hoped you didn't ruin it by throwing up all over it.
"Thanks, mom," you said, donning a confident smile to mask your fears. "Do you have the ring?"
Lauren beamed, reached into her purse and pulled out a small box. Popping it open, a diamond bigger than your head glimmered in the light.
"Check!" she said, before putting it back in her purse.
"Excellent," you said. "And you know you need to be at--"
"Le Petit Cuisine."
"At--"
"10:30."
"And--"
"I'll wait for your text before going in, I know, I know! Come on, Matt, I know I can be a teensy-bit careless now and then, but there's no way I'd ever mess up my son's proposal!"
A "teensy-bit careless" was the understatement of the millennia, but it wouldn't do any good to dwell on that now. You'd made your choice when you decided to include your mother in your proposal plans. You loved your mom dearly, but she wasn't the most dependable person in the world. Unfortunately, you really didn't have anyone else you could trust with this. Ideally, you could've gone to Jenna for help. Your little sister was, by far, the smartest person you knew. You wanted to believe that when the chips were down, you could depend on your sister to help you, but the simple fact of the matter was you couldn't. Her pranks had only gotten more extreme and more frequent overtime, spurned on by her new affected girlfriend, Piper. If you went to your little sister for help, you knew there was a non-zero chance she would ruin your proposal with one of her "pranks" just for the hell of it. At least if your mom screwed up your proposal, you knew it'd be an honest mistake.
Thankfully Jenna and Piper had been so wrapped up in planning Weston University's Valentine's Day Dance, they'd been too busy to torment you this past week. In fact, they'd headed out to the party half an hour ago while you were busy showering, which meant they couldn't pull any last minute tricks either.
However, even with the merciful absence of your mischievous sister, you still couldn't shake your feelings of overwhelming nervousness.
Everything needed to go perfectly tonight. Over these past few months it had felt like you and Mari had been drifting further and further apart, both due to Jenna and Piper's antics and due to Mari's increased workload. And you couldn't help but notice the way Mari seemed to be flirting more and more with her fellow lifeguard, Selena Morrow. Every day it felt like your position in Mari's heart was less secure than it was the day before. Now it felt like if you didn't act when you had the chance, you'd lose her forever.
So you'd bought a ring and planned out what you believed would be the perfect night to pop the question. First a romantic walk through the park where the two of you had your first ever date, then a special screening of Mari's favorite classic romance movie at a drive-in, and finally fine dining at Le Petit Cuisine.
Depending on how everything went, tonight would be the best night of your life or the worst.
Nerves wracked, heart beating a mile a minute, your mom carried you downstairs.
Mari was waiting in the doorway. She wore a low-cut red dress and pearl necklace. Her lips were painted red, her chocolate-colored hair was lustrous and flowed down to her bare shoulders, mascara was applied to emphasize the two perfect beautiful blue pools that were her eyes. All your fears and worries melted away at the radian sight of the love of your life.
"Hey there, stud," Mari said as you departed Lauren's palm and boarded hers. "You're looking especially dapper tonight."
"And you look... like a goddess," you said truthfully.
Mari's cheeks reddened at that. "Wasn't expecting that level of sweet-talk," she admitted, smiling. "Gonna have to up my game to keep up."
"Alright, you two," Lauren said, unable to contain the smile that nearly filled her whole face. "Let's get a picture for posterity!"
You shot Mari a nervous look at Lauren's choice of words, worried she'd catch on to your mother's strange behavior, but Mari merely smiled for the camera. Letting out a sigh of relief, you smiled too as your mom took a picture of the two of you with her phone. The two of you said your goodbyes to your mom but as you headed out the door, she gave you an incredibly conspicuous wink. Even Mari caught that and your girlfriend arched an eyebrow at you questioningly once you were outside. When you only chuckled awkwardly and shrugged in response, she dropped the subject, to your immense relief, and walked you to her car.
You were placed in the cupholder as Mari got into the driver's seat, and cringed as you realized your shiny black shoes were now sticky with old soda residue.
"So, you, uh, you know where we're going?" you asked, as you covertly tried to peel your shoes free of the sticky substance they were stuck to.
"Yep, I got your text earlier. Don't you worry your studly lil head about anything."
The drive passed smoothly enough. Mari took up most of the conversation, telling you all about her work at the Oasis and how things were progressing with the new lifeguards. Well, relatively new at least, they'd started 6 months ago after all. For your part, you had embarrassingly little to contribute. That was one of the things that killed you most about your sister's pranks. Despite so much time passing, nothing new had happened to you outside of being squashed by new people due to Jenna's machinations. So, doubting your girlfriend wanted to hear about the new freckles you'd noticed on your mom's left asscheek after being tattooed onto it for a week or the new bunion you'd noticed while stuck on her own mother's foot the following week, you decided to keep your mouth shut.
Besides, once you reached the park, you were sure you'd have no shortage of things to say as you and Mari walked down memory lane.
"Here we are," Mari said cheerfully as she put the car in park. Though you hadn't said anything, you'd wondered if she'd gotten turned around during the drive, since it'd taken longer than it should've.
As she got out of the car, you in hand, you took one look at your surroundings and did a double take!
This wasn't the park!
This was the entrance to the Weston University gymnasium!
You were left reeling. You'd texted Mari, giving her the address of Old Oak Park! What had happened?! Why had she taken you to Weston University?!
The answer came along with the sound of a dreaded voice, "Mari! Hey, girl!"
You whirled towards the noise, half in anger, half in fear, and watched as Jenna approached. Your sister was dressed in a conservative but pretty blue dress. Her girlfriend Piper was visible on her shoulder, wearing a green, sequin tux. Smiles were on both of their faces. To anyone else, there was nothing sister at all about their expressions, but you knew them both better than that.
"Hey, Jenna! Hey, Piper! Thanks for buying us tickets to the dance at the last minute," Mari said. "You really saved us there. It would've been nice to go to visit Old Oak Park, but the lil stud's right, better to go somewhere dry rather than risk a downpour." Mari looked up at the sky. "Strange, doesn't really look cloudy."
"No kidding. Sorry, my big bro's such a worrywart, Mari," Jenna smirked.
"Oh, that's alright," Mari giggled. "I still think I'll keep him."
As Jenna led Mari inside, your brain was in the midst of crashing harder than a computer from the 90's. Smoke was practically coming out of your ears as your mind went for a reboot, trying to process just what in the everliving hell had happened?!
Somehow Jenna tricked Mari into thinking I cancelled our walk in the park due to weather... and that I wanted to come here instead? How?! Mari said she got my text--
Your eyes went wide as your hand went to your pocket and pulled out your phone! The only time you hadn't had it on you had been when you were getting ready for your big date. Jenna could've easily had Piper hack into it and send a message from you to Mari with new instructions. Checking your messages, you didn't see any new ones to and from Mari, but that didn't mean they didn't send them. Piper could've easily deleted her message and Mari's reply, then left with Jenna before you were the wiser.
As you checked your phone, a text came in from Piper.
"You really gotta get a better password, Matty.  "
You looked up, glaring at Piper as she slipped her phone into her pants pocket.
"Wait'll you see what we have in store," Jenna said, looking over her shoulder smirking. "This'll be a killer Valentine's Day!" You have the following choice: 1. Continue |
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