Chapter 4: Things Went Wrong, But It's Alright
"Misaki, I promise I'm not mad at you for dropping the cupcakes" Takumi said, grabbing a chunk of cupcake to eat. "It tastes just as good either way."
Misaki frowned as she looked at the plate of cupcakes that sat between them. Well, they couldn't really be called cupcakes anymore- they were actually just chunks of cake mix and frosting at this point. She grabbed a crumb from the plate and ate it sheepishly.
"Are you sure you're not mad? I kind of messed up everything" she said softly.
"No, you didn't" he replied honestly. "So far I'm really enjoying my day with Misa-chan!"
"But-mmph!" Misaki began to protest, before Takumi shoved a chunk of cupcake into her mouth.
"You look so adorable right now" Takumi chuckled at the sight of his flustered wife. "Come on, let's just go get some lunch."
Misaki finished swallowing the cupcake and let out a long sigh, mentally reminding herself of her goal to make her husband as happy as possible today. That couldn't be done if she continued to feel upset about the cupcakes, so she ought to just move on and make the rest of the day perfect. "Alright, let me go change out of these sweatpants first."
After she had slipped on a pair of black pants, she threw a thin black cardigan on over her pale blue tank top. Once she had her shoes on and her purse over her shoulder, Takumi followed her out of the hotel room and into the elevator.
"So, where do you want to go for lunch?" Takumi asked, taking her hand and lacing his fingers with hers.
"Don't worry about it, I told you I had plan right?" Misaki responded. "There's this really nice cafe a few blocks down I went to a few days ago."
"Alright my lady, lead the way" Takumi smiled, planting a kiss on her head.
It was a simple, very pleasant cafe. Nothing like the fancy one Takumi had brought them to yesterday for breakfast, but it had a calming, authentic atmosphere that they both enjoyed. They chatted about this and that over lunch- a Greek Salad for Misaki and a bowl of Chicken Alfredo for Takumi- for well over an hour. As they exited the cafe, Takumi was led by Misaki down a block, then a left turn, then another block.
"You seem to be taking me somewhere now- the hotel is the other way" Takumi observed aloud.
"Yup" Misaki replied, pulling him into an upscale clothing store.
"Uh, why are we here?" Takumi questioned with a puzzled look. "Did shopping recently become a hobby of yours?"
"No... I need a dress for the party that will be held at the end of the convention in three days. And, I figured since you plan on staying in New York with me, you could buy a nice outfit too" Misaki responded nonchalantly, looking out into the racks of clothes. She knew she couldn't look into his eyes when she spoke, or he would realize she was lying. She rarely lied to her husband, partly because he could usually see through her lies, but she didn't want to spoil the surprise now. The truth was she already had a dress for the party, but they needed clothes for their dinner tonight.
"Alright Misa-chan, but don't pick a dress that's too sexy, I can't have all the men at the party staring at my gorgeous wife" Takumi said in a low voice, snaking his arms around her waist.
"Let go of me, we're in public" Misaki scolded, lifting his arms off of her waist and turning away to hide her blush. "Besides, it's a work related event. No one will be dressed 'sexy,' and especially not me" she said matter-of-factly.
"Maybe not intentionally, but you look sexy in any dress you wear." Takumi smirked when she rose a hand to cover her reddened face.
"W-Whatever, you pervert" Misaki stuttered, rushing to a rack of dresses and letting out a huge sigh to try and calm down. She began to sift through different lengths, colors, and styles of dresses. "What do you think of this one?" she questioned after a little while, pulling out a knee-length, dark brown dress.
"I think you look beautiful in anything" her husband responded.
"That doesn't help, Takumi" she said, looking it over again. "You know I'm not good with fashion."
"Fine, fine, then what about this one?" Takumi suggested, holding up an auburn, floor length gown.
"Oh, that's nice" Misaki observed, a look of approval on her face. "How much?"
"Um" Takumi searched for the tag. "$2,000."
"What?!" Misaki exclaimed incredulously. "That's crazy, I'm not paying that much for a dress! Can you try to find one closer to $200?"
"We can afford it..." Takumi countered.
"But why waste money on a dress when we could save it for something more important?" Misaki explained. It was true that they could afford it- after all, a diplomat and a doctor both earned hefty paychecks. However, Misaki would never forget her past, despite their current wealth. Having grown up poor, she had learned to cherish what she earned, so she didn't spend her money unnecessarily.
After searching for another hour, they finally left the store with a suit for Takumi and a dress for Misaki.
Instead of heading straight back to the hotel, the two decided to see the city and roam around. They enjoyed ice cream by Rockefeller Center and took pictures in Times Square. Their tourist adventure was cut short, however, when rain began to fall. Not wanting the new clothes to get wet, they hailed a cab quickly and headed back. By the time they got to their room, it was a little past five.
"What's next on the list?" Takumi asked his wife as they entered the hotel room.
"Uh..." Misaki trailed off. She hadn't thought of what to do in between the clothes shopping and dinner, since she had figured they would spend the rest of the day in the city. "We... we're going to...watch a movie!" She decided, heading to the TV and grabbing the remote.
"Oh? What movie?" Takumi smirked, knowing this definitely wasn't on the original 'list'.
"Um, you'll see" she said, flipping through channels. When she finally found a decent movie, the two sat together on the bed to watch. It was some old American film, and not a particularly good one in their opinion. They mostly spent the time joking about the film. When it was over, it was nearing 7:30pm.
"So do you have a plan for dinner? It's getting late." Takumi asked.
"Of course I do!" Misaki responded, getting up out of bed. "Wait here" she instructed, getting up. She picked up the bag with the dress she had purchased earlier and entered the bathroom to change. It was a knee-length, navy blue sheath dress with some light grey detailing down both sides. She slipped on the dress, then pulled her shoulder-length hair into a low bun and applied some light makeup before walking back out to where her husband sat.
"Wow, Misa-chan looks very elegant" Takumi said, stunned by his wife's beauty. "But I don't get it, why are you all dressed up now?"
"Go change into that suit you bought earlier and I'll tell you" she replied.
"Is this part of the plan?" He asked with a smirk.
"I'm not revealing anything to you, just change" she said, grabbing the bag with his outfit and throwing it to him. Although she had seen it when he'd picked it out earlier, she still marveled at how good he looked when he exited the bathroom. He wore a light grey suit over a white button-up shirt and a navy blue tie; the grey and blue color scheme matched her dress.
"You look even better than I expected..." she mumbled to herself, still staring at her gorgeous husband.
"What was that, my lovely wife?" Takumi grinned upon hearing her muttering.
"Huh? Oh, I didn't say anything!" She said quickly, running to the table by the door to grab her purse and stepping into a pair of heels. "We're going out now."
"Ah, is that why we're dressed up now? Where are we headed? It must be some place fancy."
"You'll find out soon enough" she answered vaguely with a smile, exiting the door.
"Ah, it's nice that the rain stopped," Misaki noted as they got into the cab and she gave the driver an address. Turning to Takumi, she said, "don't ask me anything, I won't tell you." To her surprise he didn't ask questions, that is until the taxi pulled up to the Golden Rose Restaurant.
Takumi's eyes widened. "Is this where we're having dinner?" he asked, his eyes fixed on the undoubtedly high-class restaurant.
"You guessed it" Misaki teased, proud that she had managed to shock her husband. She took his hand and led him inside.
"Hello, Ma'am. Name please?" The man at the front asked.
"Misaki Usui. I reserved a table for two at 8" She told the man, glancing at the clock that read 7:58pm.
He looked down at the reservations book, flipped through a few pages, then frowned. He flipped through a second time before looking back up at the couple in front of him, a puzzled expression on his face.
"I'm sorry Ma'am, but I see no record of a Misaki Usui reserving a table at our restaurant tonight."
"What?" Misaki asked, slightly irritated. "There must be a mistake, I called earlier today and was told that a couple had canceled, opening up a spot."
"I suppose I can go check in back at the phones if you'd like."
"Yes, please" Misaki sighed. "I called around 11 in the morning, if that helps."
When the man had left, Takumi turned to his wife with a smirk. "What is this, the mystery of the phantom phone call?"
"It's not funny!" Misaki huffed.
"Also, when did you have time to call this place? Oh, must have been after you burned your hand. How clever."
Misaki was about to retort when the man returned. "I believe there has been a bit of confusion regarding your booking earlier" he began, rather nervously due to Misaki's annoyed expression. "It seems that right after you called, the couple that had cancelled before called back to restore their reservation."
"And no one had the decency to call me back and tell me this hours ago?" Misaki raised her voice slightly, her agitation growing. "That's fine if they reclaimed their table, but I could have been notified so I didn't have to waste mine and my husband's time coming here."
"Misaki, it's alright, we'll just go somewhere else" Takumi said gently, placing a hand on her shoulder after noticing her rising temper.
"No, it's not alright! What kind of crappy service is this?" Misaki all but yelled at the man, who was sweating profusely by now. She slammed a fist on the desk for emphasis, instantly regretting this decision when a sharp pain shot to her hand. "Damn it!" She cursed loudly, realizing she had just slammed her burned hand down.
"I-I'm terribly sorry Ma'am, uh..." the man stuttered, flipping through his book rapidly, "we can offer you and your husband a free meal in three days, since that's our next open spot."
"No thank you, I don't think I'll be coming back!" Misaki spat out, rubbing her burned hand furiously, before turning around and storming out. Takumi followed behind her quickly.
"Misaki, is your hand okay?" Takumi asked, trailing swiftly behind her as she walked hurriedly down the street. As Misaki entered Central Park, making her way to a bridge, a light rain began to fall.
"No! Everything is ruined!" She yelled, quickening her pace as best she could in heels. He caught up to her on the bridge, reaching out and grabbing her non-burned hand.
"Misaki" Takumi said gently, blinking water out of his eyes as the rain began to pour down. She turned around, glancing up at him before focusing her eyes on the ground.
"I just wanted you to know that...that I love you" Misaki blurted, unsure of how to phrase exactly what she wanted to say.
"What do you mean? I'm not upset about the restaurant, Misaki" Takumi said, raising his voice slightly to be heard over the downpour.
"No... I mean, I really love you. You're the most important person in my life, and I would do anything for you. I'm so grateful to have the most considerate, thoughtful, kind, and loving husband I, or anyone, could ever ask for" Misaki said, meeting his gaze and feeling her eyes start to tear up. Am I about to cry? Great, how embarrassing! She thought; she rarely cried. No, it's just the rain, she lied to herself.
"It's just...you put so much effort into making yesterday great, and you're always doing things to make me happy. You still tease me too, but I know it's all just for fun." Misaki began to speed up as she felt tears escape her eyes and her cheeks heat up, despite the cold rain. She could also feel her voice getting louder as her frustration grew "I wanted this day to be perfect, to plan a day for you the way you planned one for me, but everything went wrong. First, I dropped the cupcakes that we worked so hard on, then I burned my hand, and then I messed up our dinner. Plus, this stupid rain's already ruined our clothes, what a waste of money!"
"Misaki," Takumi interrupted, worried. "Calm down, it's-"
"No, it's not okay! I never do anything for you!" She exclaimed, getting even louder. "I just want to show you that I care about you, but how am I supposed to do that when I can't even plan a nice day for you without screwing everything up! I'm sorry I forgot about our anniversary in the first place. I'm sorry that I ruined our day today. I'm sorry I don't tell you I love you enough. I'm sorry that... I'm sorry that..." she tried to continue, but instead broke out into a sob. Takumi pulled her in for a hug, wrapping himself tightly around her trembling frame.
"Please, calm down" Takumi said softly, not need to raise his voice over the downpour when they were this close. "Don't be sorry for anything, Misaki."
They stood there, Takumi wrapped around his wife, for a minute, allowing her to calm down.
Pulling apart from the hug, Takumi cupped her chin with his hands and wiped a mixture of rainwater, tears, and runny makeup from her face with his thumbs. "Misaki, you know how much I love you, but I know how much you love me too. We've been together for over 10 years, so you don't need to prove anything to me." The two starred into each other's eyes as Takumi continued. "I show my love for you by doing things like what I did yesterday because I want to. I'm not trying to set some level of expectation for you to meet at all. The way you show your love is different, but not in any way less important. You show me this cute, emotional side of you that you don't show to anyone else. You trust me enough to be yourself completely, and you're always there for me. That's all you need to do, and that's all I could ever ask for."
He squeezed her tightly and continued on. "Besides, I really enjoyed today. I thought that teaching you to make those cupcakes was fun, and I don't care that you dropped them because they still tasted delicious. I told you before, but as long as I'm with you, it doesn't matter what we do. Just spending time with my wife makes me the happiest man in the world. Being with you is the best anniversary gift you can give me."
"Thank you, Takumi" Misaki whispered, wrapping her arms around him and resting her head on his chest.
The first thing Misaki noticed when she woke up was the sizzling noise coming from the kitchen. Rubbing her eyes, she reached over to check the time on her phone. 8:04 am. She rolled out of bed and made her way to the kitchen, where her husband was stood with his back to her, facing the stove.
"Good morning my love, I'm almost done making breakfast so you can sit at the table if you want" Takumi said. After a minute, he brought two plates over to where she was sitting.
"Omlette, yum" Misaki said, taking a plate from his hands.
Takumi leaned over and placed a light kiss on his wife's mouth before taking a bite. "What do you think, better or worse than last night's pizza?"
"Well, maybe I'm biased, but everything you cook is delicious" she responded with a smile. He chuckled as they began to recount the details of last night's dinner situation. After the incident on the bridge, they had ended up eating pizza for dinner. They must have looked crazy to everyone else eating there, a well-dressed and undoubtedly rich couple soaking wet and eating pizza at a greasy fast food place. The cashier had even looked a little scared when Misaki had gone up to order, dripping water onto the floor and rubbing some runny makeup out of her eyes.
"I think the cashier thought you were going to attack her or something with the way you were scowling at her" Takumi laughed.
"I was only frowning a little, and that was because my hand still hurt" she said, smacking his arm playfully. "Anyways, unfortunately you're going to have to find something else to keep yourself busy today, because I have work. Luckily my first meeting isn't until 11:00, so I've got 2 hours before I need to leave."
"Want to skip another day?"
Misaki rolled her eyes at that. "Takumi! I love you, but I'm not skipping the whole damn conference for you."
"Ah, so stubborn. But, I understand. I hope you enjoy your work today then" Takumi sighed.
"I will" Misaki smiled.
"I don't know what I'm going to do while you're at work... I guess I'll just sit here and think about how much I miss you until you come back" Takumi sighed again.
"N-no, don't say that" Misaki stuttered awkwardly when she noticed his piercing emerald eyes staring intensely at her. "What are you looking at me like that for anyways?"
"I was just thinking, I have 2 hours with you before you go, so I shouldn't waste a second right?" Takumi said plainly.
"What? I don't get-" Misaki's sentence was cut off by a pair of lips. She felt her husband's hands cup her cheeks gently as she leaned in.
Takumi broke the kiss so they could get up- they had been leaning over the kitchen table- and pressed his forehead to hers. "I love you" he breathed before his mouth captured hers once again.
"I love you too."
The End