"Angelica, I don't know why you thought the mall would cheer me up. Just because it's where you go when you're feeling down, doesn't mean—"
"You just need to relax! Ohh, I know, couples spa day!"
"Uh, no."
"You'd love the hydrotherapy tub session."
"No."
She pouted. "Not even the chemical peel?"
"I don't even know what that is, but it sounds painful."
She let out a sudden shriek of excitement and shoved her bags into his arms. "Ooohh! That mini dress is calling my name! BRB."
Chuck sighed. Sometimes, she was completely impossible.
She met him in front of the pretzel shop a few minutes later. "Where's the dress?" he asked disinterestedly.
She suddenly looked very serious. "I didn't get it. It was $256! Isn't that absolutely ridiculous!"
"Well—wait, what?"
"They must be crazy if they think I'd pay that much for a dress."
"Ang, I've seen you pay that much for less. Are you feeling alright?"
"I'm feeling fine…It's just…we're engaged now. I'm a working woman. You'll be graduating before you know it. It's time for us to grow up. Which is why I brought you here."
He raised his eyebrows.
"You brought me to the mall to initiate me into adulthood?"
"Exactly!" She checked her watch. "Come with me, it's almost two."
She yanked his arm before he had a chance to protest. Mere moments later, they were standing in front of one of the places he dreaded most.
"Angelica…no."
"I already made you an appointment."
"Couldn't you just take me to get some painful dental work done? Or a prostate exam or something? Just…anything but…this…please…"
She rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't be so melodramatic! It's just a hair salon." She started to pull a struggling Chuck through the doors. But he wasn't going to have it. He stood rooted to the spot with a determination she'd hardly seen before. People started staring as they passed.
"Chuck," she hissed, her face pink. "You're embarrassing me! You're worse than a child!"
"Well, you're worse than a child all the time. I'm allowed to do it every once in a while."
She stopped struggling and sighed heavily. "Ok, you don't have to do this if you want." She pushed her bangs out of her face and looked up at him. "But," she said significantly, "I just thought that—" She smiled and locked her big blue eyes on his—"maybe you'd want to do it—" she brushed her fingertips across his chest—" for me."
He sighed, defeated. "Alright. Let's get this over with. Though I wanna let you know, this isn't because of the big doe eyes and the whole flirty thing. I don't fall for your old tricks anymore. I'm doing this because I want to—yeah. Definitely."
"Good enough for me." she replied triumphantly.
She led him through the doors and into a truly frightening room—worse than any dark and creepy dungeon. It was brightly lit, with wicker furniture, fresh flowers, and stacks of Cosmopolitan and Better Homes and Garden.
"Angel! how are you, my dah-ling?"
"Stefano!"
Chuck watched uncomfortably as a blatantly homosexual man air kissed his fiancée.
Stefano turned to Chuck. "Ohh and who is dees?"
"This is my fiancé, Charles."
Chuck gave her a dirty look. 'Charles?' he mouthed. She gave him a look that said 'just go with it.'
"Oh, Charles, but it is lovely to meet you. You are very 'andsome! Angelica is so luck-ee!"
Stefano bent as to kiss Chuck's hand and he pulled away quickly. "Alright! Alright, enough with the introductions, let's get this over with!"
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Chuck cringed as Stefano whipped his chair around to face the mirror.
Angelica nudged him impatiently. "Open your eyes."
"Ok..." He took a deep breath, let it out, and opened his eyes. He looked in the mirror. "Hey...I look...pretty good."
"And you were worried!"
Stefano gave Chuck a smug look as he removed the vinyl smock. "See, I am very good, yes?"
"Of course I'm not going to let anyone cut off that mop," continued Angelica, running her fingers through his hair. "You know I love your hair. It just needed a little straightening up. It's the same, but a little...cleaner."
He smiled at her. "I actually like it. That wasn't nearly as terrifying as I thought it would be."
She kissed his head. "I'm glad. Now, we've got more stuff to do, so why don't you pay and we can be on our way."
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Chuck struggled with the oversized plastic bags. He sighed. "Are we almost done? I'm starving. Let's get some food."
"You just had a giant pretzel! I hate you, you have the fastest metabolism in the world." She kissed his cheek and relieved him of some of the bags. "Yes, we're almost done. One more stop...right...here."
Chuck looked up. They were standing outside of Eyeglass World. He clutched his frames protectively, dropping some of the bags. "Hey! I like my glasses!"
"I do too! I just thought we might look-"
"I am NOT wearing contacts! And that is final."
"Oh, you're so cute when you put your foot down, darling. But I don't want you to wear contacts. Your glasses are part of your inexplicable appeal to me, Four Eyes. And, believe it or not, I don't want to make you do something you don't want to do."
"Wait, inexplicable? What do you mean by that?"
"Come on-"
"I mean, I'm sure some people wonder why I'm so into you."
She rolled her eyes. "Ok. Right."
He rolled his eyes right back at her. "Oh, I forgot. You're perfect."
"See, this is why I like you. You're so smart." She grabbed the fallen bags and his arm simultaneously. "Come on."
Minutes later, he was standing in front of a wall sized mirror, helplessly letting Angelica poke and prod and experiment.
"Ooohh, I like these!"
"No."
She made a sour face. "These?"
"Nope."
"Ooh, Ray Bans!"
"No."
She pouted.
"I don't do designer labels." he said matter of factly.
"Yes, I know. and you're so proud of that, aren't you?"
"A little."
"I'm getting you a Versace suit for your wedding gift."
"The ones we got today were expensive enough!"
"Well, you've got to have a nice wardrobe to make it in today's professional world, whether you want to admit it or not."
He sighed. "Yeah. Point taken."
"How about these?" she asked, picking up a pair of frames delicately.
"N-Well, those aren't bad."
She pulled off his thick black frames and replaced them with a similar, yet thinner, more streamlined pair.
The image in the mirror looked blurry to him. He repositioned himself and squinted until it made sense.
"Yeah..." he conceded grudgingly. As he continued to examine his reflection, his glum expression lightened. "Yeah," he said more cheerfully. "I really do like these."
"See, they're pretty much what you've been wearing, just a little more modern, a little sleeker, a little more...adult."
He sighed. "Adult."
"Yep," she said cheerfully. "That's us, adults."
He snorted. "More or less. Adults don't say things like 'BRB'."
"Hello, I was being ironic."
"I'm just saying, if you keep doing the silly things you do, no one's going to take you seriously. You're so intelligent, act like it."
"Chuck...I'm serious at work. I'm serious all day. But when I'm with you...I can be a little silly, a little unreserved. And I know you love me, despite it. I know you even think I'm cute, and funny, even though you get annoyed sometimes. The point is...I can be myself with you. And that's how I know I can spend the rest of my life with you."
He smiled. She wound her fingers through his and they turned toward the mirror. He had to admit, he did look pretty good post makeover. Like himself, just a little more...adult. They looked good together. And they looked happy.
She stood behind him and wrapped her slender arms around his chest. She rested her chin on his shoulder. "Look at us." She gestured toward the mirror. "We're engaged. You're graduating soon."
"You'll be getting a promotion anytime now, I know it."
"We're finally growing up." She finished. She wiped a mock tear from her cheek.
He grinned. "Shut up."
"Oh, you adore me."
He gazed at their reflection thoughtfully. Adulthood was looming. It was sort of terrifying, but mostly...exciting. He saw himself and Angelica learning, losing, gaining, traveling, experiencing, and growing old together. Adulthood was very, very close.
And it was going to be great.