Kirsten woke up; she smiled and knew exactly what day it was. The 21st of January, their 10th anniversary. She turned around, hoping to see her husband. Her smile faded, Sandy's side of the bed was empty.

'Did he really have to go surfing on our anniversary?' she thought as she got out of bed.

She put on a robe and walked down to the kitchen, at the table sat their seven year old son Seth and read a comic book.

"Good morning sweetie" Kirsten said and got a nod in response. 'What is up with everyone today?' she thought, getting more frustrated. She ate breakfast in silence and then she thought she'd take a shower.

"I'm gonna go and take a shower, and daddy is out surfing, just so you know, sweetie" she said to Seth, and got another nod in response.

She walked back to her room, wishing Sandy were there. She got undressed and got into the shower, she had woken up unusually early, so she could take a long shower. Half an hour later she walked out of the bathroom and noticed Sandy's surfing t-shirt lying on the bed.

'He's home!' She thought happily and realized he must be in the other shower. She got dressed in a romantic pink skirt and a white short-sleeved shirt. She put on a necklace Sandy had given her on their third date and then she went into the bathroom to brush her teeth and put on some make-up.

When she walked out of the bathroom she got very happy to see her husband standing in front of the mirror and tying his tie. She quietly moved closer to him from behind, he was so pre-occupied with his tie that he didn't notice her until she was right behind him and slipped her arms around his waist.

"Good morning sweetie" she greeted him in a cheery voice. He smiled.

"Good morning to you too" he replied and she turned him around to make sure his tie looked good. Then she kissed him, after a minute or so he broke away. He looked a bit guilty.

"I'm sorry honey; I have to get to work, tons of things to do. See you tonight." He said and gave her a quick kiss on her forehead before he walked out and left her alone in front of the mirror. She frowned and looked at her reflection. 'Not even a "Happy anniversary"?' she thought, something was wrong. She hurried down to the kitchen, no sign of Sandy, but Seth was sitting in the same position as earlier, though with a new comic book.

"Have you seen your father?" Kirsten asked.

"Yeah, he just left for work. Can you give me a ride to school?" Seth asked, finally looking up. Kirsten sighed.

"Ok, come on or you'll be late" Kirsten said and grabbed her bag and keys and started to walk towards the door with Seth right behind her.

'Have Sandy forgotten our anniversary?' she thought on her way out.

Sandy sat at his desk and was working on a case, it was almost lunch, he thought he'd go out and eat. There was a little restaurant close to his office that he usually went for lunch.

His phone rang.

"Yes?" he answered tired, it had been a stressful morning and he really needed a break.

"Hey honey, it's me" he heard a familiar voice say.

"Kirsten! What a pleasant surprise! What's up?" he asked.

"Have you had lunch yet?" she asked, she wanted to talk to him eye to eye, she wanted to know if he had forgotten their anniversary.

"No, I was just on my way out. Why?" he had a feeling of where this was heading.

"Can I join you?" she asked

"Sure." He hesitated; she asked the question for him.

"Where? I have some work to finish so I'd love if you could pick up some food and come over here. Is that ok with you?" she didn't want to go to a restaurant, she wanted them to be alone, in case he actually had forgotten…

"Yeah, sure. Be right there. Bye honey, I love you" he said and hung up.

'I love you too' she thought before putting down the phone and getting back to work.

Half an hour later Sandy entered the Newport Group. He walked up to Kirsten's office and saw that the door was open, he stood in the doorway and watched his beautiful wife working for a moment, before he knocked on the doorframe to get her attention. She looked up, and faked a smiled at the sight of her husband.

"Hey honey, come in." she said. He smiled and started to walk towards her.

"Can you close the door?" she asked, he frowned and turned to close the door behind him. When he turned back again Kirsten had gotten up from her chair and had walked over to a little table next to the windows. She waved at Sandy to join her and he walked towards her.

There were two chairs at the table and Kirsten was already sitting on one and Sandy put the food on the table and sat down on the other chair. He looked at her and started to pack up the food. He gave her her salad but she didn't touch it. She was starting to look angry.

"Honey what's the matter?" he asked, starting to get worried. What had he done wrong now?

"You don't know what day it is, do you?" she said annoyed. He thought for a second 'What have I missed?'

"No…ehm, the 21st of January?" he hesitated, there was something about that date…something important. Their first date? No, something else, something even more important…

Kirsten looked at him hurt. How could he have forgotten it?

"It's our 10th anniversary, but that obviously doesn't mean anything to you, otherwise you would have remembered it" she said and Sandy could hear that she was close to tears.

'Our 10th anniversary, how could I have forgotten that? I'm such an idiot!' He thought and got to his feet and walked over to Kirsten. He kneeled next to her and saw a tear run down her cheek. He softly wiped it away with his thumb.

"Honey, I am so sorry. I guess I had so much work to do I forgot this important event" he said. Kirsten turned her head away from him. Was that his excuse? She knew what he was going to say even before he opened his mouth again.

"Kirsten, I love you so much, please forgive me" he said.

'I knew it' she thought. She was still very upset. She didn't know what to believe.

"I just can't believe you forgot it, doesn't our marriage mean anything to you?" she knew that it was a stupid question and she knew what he was going to answer, but she didn't want to hear any more excuses.

Sandy closed his eyes, he opened his mouth to talk, but she was quicker.

"I have to go back to work, thanks for the lunch." She said and walked back to her desk. Sandy got up and didn't really know what to do.

Kirsten looked up from her computer, looked at him and said "Can you leave me alone, please?" in a tone colder than ice.

He looked at her sadly and started to walk out of her office. In the door way he stopped and turned around.

"I am so sorry I forgot. Just know that our marriage means the world to me, you mean the world to me" he said before he walked out and shout the door behind him.

For a minute Kirsten thought she'd overreact, but she quickly chanced her mind, he had forgotten their anniversary, so he had to face the consequences. She picked up the phone and dialled a number.

Back at his office, Sandy was lost in thoughts. 'What the hell am I going to do?'

A knock on his door pulled him back to reality.

"Come in" he said loudly and quickly bent over his desk, pretending to be working.

His young colleague, Karen, walked in. "Hey Sandy, your wife called when you were away. She said she might have to work late tonight"

'Yeah, anything to avoid me, right?' he thought.

"She sounded…upset. I know it's not my business, but have something happened?" Karen asked, worried.

"We had a huge fight at lunch" he said with a sigh. Karen sat down on a chair in front of his desk.

"Maybe I can help, my cousin is a marriage councillor, and she taught me a few things. Come on, tell me" Karen was very young, but a smart girl.

"All right, today I went to her office to have lunch with her, and she confronted me about something very important, something that I had forgotten" Sandy said, feeling bad just thinking about it.

"Okay…and that is…?" Karen said, she couldn't help him if she didn't know what the problem was…

"I had forgotten our 10th anniversary" Sandy said and looked down.

"Wow, I understand why she's so pissed off." She said looked like she was thinking.

"Yeah, I don't blame her. I have to make it up to her, but how?" he asked, mostly to himself, but Karen answered.

"I can help you with that. Today you're going to leave this place early so you have time to plan the best anniversary dinner ever. But don't go to some restaurant, it's much more romantic if you cook at home. Decorate the house with flowers, candles, and small presents for your wife and play romantic music." Karen advised. Sandy looked like he was thinking. A plan was starting to take form in his head. He suddenly smiled, to Karen's big surprise.

"Thanks Karen. Is it ok if I leave now?" Sandy said but he had already gotten out of his chair.

He was half-way out of the door when Karen answered "Sure, good luck"

'I'm going to need that for this too succeed.' He thought as he hurried towards his car.