It was now February, and Mayor and Isabelle's second Valentines Day had quickly approached. Mayor was honestly still shocked that they were already on their second Valentines Day. It didn't seem like it was that long ago since that fateful night on the porch swing underneath the starry sky where he finally told the love of his life, his secretary, Isabelle, his true feelings for her.
Sure there had been a few ups and downs along the way. Mainly involving other villagers. The friendly teasing they received was more than enough to last a life time. Digby was especially hesitant at first. But considering he stopped by to drop off some samples to The Mayor, who had been talking about having his kitchen re-tiled, the one night Isabelle had slept over at his place - he was caught off guard. It was understandable. Digby was protective of his sister. He didn't want to see her get hurt. Not that The Mayor would ever do something like that. But over time he has gotten used to the idea, which both The Mayor and Isabelle were happy about.
The Mayor was currently sitting at his desk in Town Hall planning out his and Isabelle's evening. Isabelle was out delivering some paperwork to Tom Nook, so that gave The Mayor plenty of alone time to make sure he had everything set. He planned on taking her to her favorite restaurant in New Leaf, which also just so happened to be the fanciest as well, Le Récolte. It was a restaurant owned and operated by Franklin. Franklin had agreed to let the Mayor rent out the private party room in the back of the restaurant so that he and Isabelle could be left alone with just each other. Then after their meal he was going to take her on a carriage ride through the towns park, where they would be dropped of at the favorite spot: a little hill just on the other side of the park, where a very old peach tree stood proud. And while they were re-living their magical night from just a couple of years prior, he was going to give her the very expensive heart shaped, diamond encrusted earrings that he had personally commissioned by Gracie to match the necklace he had gotten her for their first Christmas together.
The Mayor smiled as he opened his desk drawer and pulled out the small leather box that had "GracieGrace" etched on it in fancy gold letters. He stared at it for several seconds before opening it. The earrings lay comfortably on the velvet padding within. He honestly couldn't wait to give them to Isabelle. This night was going to be perfect, and he knew it.
He was interrupted from his thoughts when he heard the large wooden door opening. He quickly closed the small black box and sat it back in his desk just as Isabelle walked in with a smile on her face.
"Hello beautiful—I mean... Isabelle." The Mayor said, a small grin forming on his face as he did. Isabelle playfully rolled her eyes. Mayor was always complimenting and flirting with her when they were alone. He would say something, and then immediately afterwards correct himself to be more "professional." Isabelle enjoyed it. She thought it was cute.
"Hello Mayor. I delivered Tom his paper work. He wanted me to thank you for your help." The Shizue spoke, relaying Tom's message. He replied with a nod.
"Thank you." He thanked his secretary-girlfriend. She took his thank you and made her way back to her own desk. She began shuffling through a few loose papers, reorganizing her work area. The Mayor watched in silence with amused smile on his face. "Don't tire yourself out too much, Isabelle. A little birdie told me that... apparently you and your incredibly amazing boyfriend have plans tonight." He joked, his grin returning to his face. This caused the yellow furred dog to look up at him. She rested her elbows on her desk, and her chin in her paws, propping her head up. She stared lovingly at him.
"Gossip sure does spread, doesn't it Mayor?" She questioned. The Mayor put his hands up.
"Hey, don't shoot the messenger." He replied. Isabelle let out a little giggle.
"Well, with such a fun night planned, I should try and finish my work. We do get off at four today." She said, glancing at the clock as she finished. It was almost noon, so they still had a few hours. But Isabelle was one tough worker. She liked getting her work done before anything else.
"That may not be a bad idea. I still have a few public works projects submissions I have to look over." The Mayor spoke as he once again took a seat at his desk. "You know how much the other villagers have been clamoring for a gazebo." He let out a light chuckle as he began to shuffle through some papers on his desk.
"I still think one would look just lovely by the town's garden." Isabelle spoke out, as she pictured it in her head. She thought the garden itself was beautiful already, but a gazebo would make it look that much better. The Mayor couldn't help but agree with her on that.
He didn't mention it out loud, but he thought maybe doing a picnic in the garden's possible future gazebo would make for a nice date night for the two. Maybe he would finally pass that particular public works project.
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Four o'clock came pretty slowly for the Mayor. He figured that was the case because he was actually really excited for it. He had the perfect night planned out for he and Isabelle, and he just couldn't wait to get it started.
Luckily for both he and Isabelle, they had managed to get their work finished so they could enjoy their date night without having to worry about it. Now they were just finishing some last minute tidying up of the Town Hall before they headed out for the night to go home and get ready for their date.
"And I think that just about does it." Mayor said as he stood back, taking a look around the Town Hall.
"It's as clean as a whistle!" Isabelle exclaimed, proudly. Again, she took great pride in her work. It didn't matter what it was. The Mayor couldn't help but smile over at her as she did.
"And now that our work here is done, I think it's about time that we head home and-" He began, but before he could finish, there was a loud, repeated knock on the Town Hall door. He and Isabelle looked over at each other, before he walked over to the door and opened. A somewhat panicked looking Rosie standing before him.
"Hello, Rosie. What's wrong?" Isabelle asked worriedly before The Mayor could even get a word out.
"Oh, Isabelle! I left my favorite seashell at the park by accident, and when I went back for it, Curt had it! Now he won't give it back!" Rosie exclaimed, a very distraught cloud appearing over her head. This caused Isabelle to frown. "I'm sorry for bothering you, Mayor. You were just the only person I knew to go to about this!" She looked back towards The Mayor as she continued.
"It's fine, Rosie. Don't worry about it." He assured her. "Let's go talk to Curt. I can get your seashell back for you." He continued. Rosie's smile returned, which was a good thing.
"Oh, thank you, Mayor!" She exclaimed happily. The Mayor offered her a smile and nod of his own in response, before the trio headed out of Town Hall in search of Curt.
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After reaching the park, they searched for the grey-furred bear they were after. Unfortunately though, they couldn't find him. This once again brought Rosie's spirits down. But doing his best to keep the situation from getting any worse, The Mayor assured her that they were going to find him and everything would be okay.
After not finding him at the park, their next best option was to visit him at home and see if he was there.
The trio reached the door to his house before knocking. Several seconds passed before they heard a noise from inside.
"Who is it?" A somewhat gruff voiced asked from behind the door.
"Curt, it's Mayor-" The Mayor started to respond, before being cut off as Curt opened his door.
"Whataya want, Mayor? Was just about to-" He started, before stopping when he saw Rosie was with him. "Oh, it's you again."
"Curt, Rosie told us that you have her favorite seashell? She would really appreciate it if you gave it back to her." The Mayor said, trying to sound as friendly as he could. He knew Curt was somewhat stubborn, especially when he was in a bad mood. So he wasn't sure how hard it was actually going to be to get him to return Rosie's shell to her.
"Now look, Mayor. I already told her if she can prove to me that this shell is hers, I'd give it back. But until then, I found it. I like it. I'm keeping it." Curt replied, sounding pretty annoyed at this point. The Mayor glanced over at Rosie, who's black cloud had reappeared over her head. Isabelle looked pretty distraught over the situation as well, and he couldn't have that. Tonight was HER night. Couldn't let a situation like this ruin it. So he got an idea.
"Ah, what about if I give you a seashell out of my personal collection? A shell of mine, for the one you found today." He said. Curt stood there thinking about it for several seconds.
"It'll have to be a really good shell, because I like the one I found." He replied. Mayor nodded, before pulling a small display case with shells in it out of his inventory. He opened up the case and let Curt take a look through them.
"I like this one." He finally said, pointing to a shell. The Mayor peaked over to see which one it was, his eyes slightly widened as he did. It was a White Scallop shell that Isabelle had found and given to him on their first date. He had honestly forgotten that he accidentally left that one in there.
"Oh, no. Curt I can't give you that one. It's special to me." He said quickly, hoping Curt wouldn't be too upset by it.
"Then I can't give you the one I found today." Curt replied. The Mayor frowned, before looking back over at Isabelle, who was still trying to comfort the upset Rosie.
Isabelle gave him the look telling him he knew what he had to do. As much as he cared about helping his Villagers, he really didn't WANT to do this. But he knew he had to. He sighed before pulling the sell out of the case.
"Okay, you have a deal." He finally said. A small smile formed on Curt's face when he said that.
"Alright! Let me go grab the other shell." He said, before turning and walking back into his house. The Mayor returned his shell case to his inventory, before staring down at the shell in his hand.
It didn't take long before Curt reappeared with Rosie's shell in his paw. "Here you go, Mayor." He said, extending the shell out. They did the trade off, The Mayor forcing a smile on his face as they did.
"Thank you... Curt." He said. Curt nodded.
"Pleasure doing business with you." He said, before closing his door. Mayor shook his head before turning to face Rosie.
"Here you go, Rosie." He said, extending the shell out to her.
"Oh, thank you so much, Mayor!" She exclaimed as she happily took it. She pulled him into a quick hug before backing off.
"You're welcome. Glad I could help." Mayor said, his smile becoming more sincere now. Sure he was still pretty sad about his shell that he had to trade away. But Rosie was happy again, and so was Isabelle. So that was a positive.
After saying their goodbyes, Mayor and Isabelle began their walk home to get ready for their special night. The Mayor couldn't help at glance down at his watch to check the time. It was now almost five-thirty. It had really taken them over an hour to find Curt and bargain with him about Rosie's shell. The Mayor began to grow somewhat panicked at this. Their dinners reservations for Le Récolte that had been set up were at six. They now had forty-six minutes to get home, get ready, and make it to the restaurant.
This was bad...
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After somehow managing to make it home in a somewhat reasonable amount of time, and get cleaned up and dressed, the couple headed out towards the restaurant.
The Mayor had done his absolute best not to sound like he was rushing Isabelle in her "getting ready" process. Because that's not what he wanted to do. However, once she was ready and met him at the front door of his house, she left him speechless.
"So, how do I look, Mayor?" She had asked. The Mayor had stood there in silence staring her up and down. She looked absolutely beautiful. She was wearing a pink, sleeveless dress. The top half had a lacy rose design going around it, with the bottom half being just a plain, silky pink material. A whitish-pink ribbon belt tied it off in the middle, and a somewhat thin darker pink jacket to really compliment the dress. She also wore a pink bow on her head to finish off the outfit. But on top of that, she was also wearing just a little bit off makeup. That was surprising on its own because she hardly ever wore makeup. She was also wearing the necklace he had gotten her for their first Christmas. That made him exceptionally more excited considering the matching earrings he was going to be giving her.
"Absolutely beautiful." He replied, this made her smile.
"You're sure it's not too much?" She had asked, somewhat out of nowhere, as they walked towards the restaurant. She had began to worry that maybe she had slightly overdone it. The Mayor shook his head.
"Of course not." He assured her. This calmed her down a little. Besides, compared to how beautiful she looked, he felt like he was underdressed. He was wearing a nice pair of new blue jeans, a light blue button up shirt, tucked in of course, and a black jacket.
They're walk was rather enjoyable. It hadn't gotten too cold out yet, so the wind softly blowing in a cool breeze was really relaxing. But eventually, they did make it to the restaurant, but where shocked at what they saw. There was a really long line outside of it. Longer than either one of them had ever seen before. They knew it was Valentine's Day, but sheesh.
They glanced at each other, before squeezing through the crowed and heading into the restaurant.
"Franklin, you guys busy, or what?" The Mayor said somewhat jokingly as he approached the turkey.
"Very! Very, VERY, busy!" Franklin exclaimed, trying to take a break for a minute. "It's been like this for a couple of hours now. My restaurant has never been so busy! There's even villagers coming from out of town JUST to eat here!" He sounded exhausted, yet excited at the same time.
"Well, being busy is a good thing, after all. It means people enjoy what you do!" Isabelle said happily, bringing Franklin's mood back up.
"That's exactly right, Isabelle!" He exclaimed. The Mayor got a little chuckle out of is excitement. He was proud of Franklin and all he had accomplished with his restaurant since opening it in New Leaf.
"I definitely can't wait to eat." He said excitedly. Isabelle happily nodded in agreement with him. That's when Franklin's smile faded and he let out somewhat of a nervous chuckle.
"Actually, Mayor... we're... kind of at full capacity for the night." He said. "I still have to seat the long line outside, and that's going to take hours."
The Mayor grew pretty confused by this. "It's a good thing I had a reservation then." He let out a chuckle as he said it. That's when Franklin nervously scratched the back of his neck.
"Well, I'm sorry to have to tell you this, Mayor, but I had to... give up your table." He said, causing The Mayor's eyes to grow wide.
"What?! Why?" He said curiously.
"You were... late. Your reservation was for six. I held it for a little while after that, but there were just too many people waiting to hold it any longer." Franklin explained.
"Franklin, we weren't even five minutes late." The Mayor said. He was pretty frustrated about the situation, but he was doing very well at keeping a pretty cool head about it too.
"I'm sorry, Mayor. If you'd like, I can make it up to you and Isabelle with a free meal. On the house." Franklin said. The Mayor let out somewhat of a sigh, before glancing over at Isabelle.
"Don't worry about it, Franklin. It's Valentine's Day. It's busy. That's a good thing." He eventually said. Again, he was trying to remain pretty optimistic about the ordeal because he knew that's what Isabelle would want.
After Franklin apologized several more times, and both Mayor and Isabelle assured him everything was okay, they finally decided to leave.
The Mayor took that as a minor setback. Sure it was disappointing, but he knew there was still the carriage ride and giving Isabelle her gift in their favorite spot under the stars to look forward to.
The walk from the restaurant to the park wasn't too bad. "Oh, a carriage ride?!" Isabelle had said happily as she clapped her hands like an excited child. The Mayor smiled over at her as she did. He could say it a million times and it would never not be the truth: she was CUTE.
He hadn't told her what the full extent of his plans were despite how much she had questioned him. "You'll love it, trust me." He kept telling her. Eventually she had given in asking him, but he still thought it was funny.
As they approached the carriage, they overheard a conversation going on.
"Come on my man. There isn't any way you can squeeze in another ride?" They heard a smooth, jazzy voice ask.
"I'm sorry, but no. I have one more ride tonight and the people who will getting that ride should be here any minute." Another voice replied, this one somewhat more harsh, and aged.
The Mayor and Isabelle glanced at each other as they closed in. They saw three figures standing by the carriage, one of them being Kapp'n.
"They're's our last riders now!" Kapp'n said as he took notice to the two. The other two villagers turned around to face them as he did.
"Mayor?" The jazzy voice said curiously. The Mayor was pretty surprised by who it was.
"K.K.? It's been awhile." The Mayor said, extending his hand towards the musician.
"It sure has, Mayor." K.K. replied, shaking his hand. "Isabelle." He slightly tipped the hat he was wearing as he did. Isabelle smiled, offering him a slight bow of her own.
"So, what seems to be the problem?" The Mayor asked. K.K.'s smile slightly faded as he looked back towards Kapp'n and his carriage.
"I brought my girl into town to treat her to a meal and a carriage ride— been excited for it all day. But Kapp'n is telling him he's all booked up for tonight. Was lookin' forward to sittin' back and relaxing with her, enjoying the night." K.K. replied, glancing over at the white and brown furred female dog standing next to him.
The Mayor could tell that both K.K. and his girlfriend were both pretty disappointed about this. But what didn't seem to help was him knowing that he and Isabelle were scheduled to be Kapp'n's last riders for the night. He glanced over at Isabelle, who actually looked pretty sad about this.
As much as he wanted to take Isabelle on this carriage ride, Mayor knew what he had to do. Especially knowing K.K. had helped him out before when he needed it.
"You know what, K.K. why don't you and your lovely friend take the ride." He said, surprising K.K..
"Man, Mayor, are you sure?" He said curiously. Mayor smiled at him and nodded.
"Yeah, I'm sure. Go enjoy your evening." He replied. As he said this, Isabelle smiled over at him. She knew he was caring when it came to other villagers. That attitude was one of the many reasons she loved him.
"Mayor, you just don't know how much this means to me." K.K. said. "I owe ya one." He said. The Mayor waved him off as he did.
"No you don't. We are all good." He said. K.K. offered him another smile, before giving him a nod.
As The Mayor watched K.K. help his girlfriend into the carriage before climbing in himself, he couldn't help but let out a somewhat relaxed sigh. Putting his personal feelings aside to help others was something that he had done a lot of since becoming the mayor of New Leaf. Regardless of his position in town, it was just who he was.
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After saying their goodbyes to K.K. and his girlfriend, The Mayor and Isabelle decided just to walk through the park. Regardless of whether they were walking, or riding in a carriage, Isabelle still thought it was relaxing.
As they walked, the wind began to pick up, and it started to grow somewhat chilly out. Realizing her jacket wasn't doing much to keep her warm, Isabelle clinged to The Mayor for warmth. He could feel her just barely letting out little shivers every so often. He gave her a sympathetic smile, before pulling his arm away.
"Here you go, sweetheart." He said as he took his jacket off, before draping it over her shoulders. She gave him a loving, appreciative smile in return.
"Thank you." She thanked him. He nodded before wrapping his arm around her shoulder as they continued their walk.
The walk didn't seem like it really took too long for them. They made it to their spot at the very end of the park by a very old peach tree a lot quicker than they thought they would.
"It's so... beautiful." Isabelle spoke softly, as the pair stood there staring up at the night sky, admiring it.
"It really is." The Mayor replied, his smile having remained. Despite their dinner reservations being given up, and them letting K.K. and his girlfriend take their carriage ride through the park, The Mayor remained positive. He still had the best gift out of all of it to give Isabelle: the earrings.
He glanced over at his girlfriend as she remained lost in the beauty of the stars. While she was admiring them, he was admiring her. He was still so grateful for everything she had done for him, and he honestly just felt like he owed her the world.
"So... Isabelle. I got you something." Mayor finally spoke up, deciding he was too excited to see her reaction to wait any longer.
"Oh, you didn't have to. Everything else you did was so nice already." His girlfriend spoke, looking back towards him.
"I wanted to get something special made for my special girl." He said as he began to fish around in his pockets, but... he couldn't find anything. At least not the small box the earrings were in. He shook his head before he reached over and began digging into his coat pockets. Isabelle tilted her head in confusion. His digging started to become more panicked, and that's when she grew curious.
"What's wrong?" She said curiously. She watched as The Mayor once again began to dig around in his pants pockets, hoping he had just somehow overlooked it the first go through.
"No, no, no, no, no." Mayor said over and over to himself. He couldn't believe it, the earrings were nowhere to be found, and finally, that's when it hit him: he left them sitting in his desk drawer back at Town Hall. He immediately slapped his hand to his forehead in disbelief. Isabelle's confusion quickly turned to worry as she continued to watch him.
"Mayor, sweetheart, what's wrong?" She said as she reached out for him, the worry clear in her voice.
"I... I left your gift in my desk at the office." The Mayor replied, clearly pretty distraught over the situation.
"It's okay. It isn't going anywhere." She said, trying to calm him down a little bit.
"No, it's not okay. I've had this whole evening planned out for weeks. I was going to take you to Le Récolte, your favorite restaurant in town. Then we were going to take relaxing carriage ride through the park, and be dropped off at our spot. Then, to end an already amazing night, I was going to give you the special gift I had made just for you." The Mayor explained before looking down. "I wanted tonight to be special." He continued. It was obvious how hurt he was feeling over all of this. He had worked so hard to plan all of this out, only for none of it to go the way he wanted it to.
Isabelle stared at him sympathetically for several seconds, before finally taking his hands into her paws. This got him to look up at her.
"Mayor, I love you. And every night with you is special. You're my Valentine all year, not just for one day. I don't care about what you can do for me, or what you can buy for me. You are all that matters to me. Tonight has been amazing! It may not have gone the way you wanted it to go, but it's still been a great night because I got to spend it with you. THAT'S what matters to me." She spoke softly. Mayor stared at her in silence as she did. "Please smile for me. You work too hard to be upset about this. I had a wonderful time." She gently placed a paw on The Mayor's cheek as she continued.
"I love you too, Isabelle. I just want you to be happy." The Mayor said. This is when Isabelle's smile turned from a sympathetic one, one of pure bliss.
"I am happy. Every day I'm with you, I'm happy." She replied, before finally leaning in and wrapping her arms around him. That's when The Mayor's upset frown slowly began to curve into a smile. He wrapped his arms around her, hugging her back. He rested his cheek on the top of her head before saying anything else.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Isabelle." He said softly.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Mayor." She replied just as softly.
After, the two remained locked in each other's embrace as they stared up at the beautiful starry sky. Perhaps this was a perfect way to end the night. It may not have gone down exactly like The Mayor wanted it to, but as long as Isabelle enjoyed it, he enjoyed it too.
Happy Valentine's Day everyone!