Rearranging their anniversary date was easy because the date itself was very simple. They had decided to celebrate on Saturday. On Friday, Eddie went to the grocery store and got all the ingredients to make Chrissy breakfast in bed. Then he went to the flower shop and arranged for the flowers to be delivered the next day at their apartment. When he came home, he worked on cleaning the apartment from top to bottom.
Chrissy got home from school and opened the front door. The place smelled like cleaning products and looked amazing. "Uhhh… Eddie?"
Eddie appeared out of their bedroom with a smile. "How did I do?"
"It looks great. Thank you so much for cleaning." She said, giving him a quick kiss.
"No problem. Just wanted to do something nice." Eddie tells her.
"That's so sweet of you." She wraps her arms around him. It is true that he wanted to do something nice, but that wasn't the complete truth. He needed the apartment clean for his plans for tomorrow. Now that everything was in place, he couldn't wait. And neither could she. "So what's the plan for tomorrow? How are we celebrating our anniversary?"
He shook his head and smiled mischievously at her. "It's a surprise, remember?"
She looks up at him through her lashes and runs one hand up his arm. "Can I have a hint?"
He knows exactly what she is doing. He won't tell her a thing, but if she wants to try then he isn't going to stop her from trying to coerce the information out of him. He looks down at her bedroom eyes. "I might be persuaded."
Chrissy smiles devilishly at him and pulls him down for a hungry kiss. She tastes delicious and his hands are all over her. They both pant and turn frantic. He lifts her up and her legs wrap around his waist. He flops her down on the bed making her giggle. Pieces of clothing come off one at a time. In a sea of sheets and pleasure, they give themselves to each other. Both knowing exactly what the other likes. Eddie always scoffed at the idea of sex being referred to as "making love" but honestly there's no other way to describe what they are doing. He feels so connected to her. Her love is so overwhelming, he's tempted to tell her anything she wants to know. But he knows this is a surprise she will like.
After she has her way with him, she leans up on one elbow and the sheet wrapped around her chest. "Was that enough persuasion for you, milord?"
Eddie smiles lazily at her. "Milady, while that was a valiant effort, I'm afraid I can't divulge the details of tomorrow's activities."
Chrissy huffs in frustration. "Seriously?!"
Eddie puts an arm around her to comfort her. "I promise you will like it. Do you trust me?"
Chrissy's face turns soft as she reaches out and touches his cheek. "Always."
"Then wait until tomorrow." He kisses her nose, then her cheeks, then her mouth.
When he pulls away, she looks sleepy. "Okay."
Xx
The next morning, Chrissy wakes up to Eddie nudging her awake. She opens her eyes and is greeted by a fully clothed Eddie. He is holding out a breakfast tray that has more food than she could ever consume in one sitting. "Good morning, milady."
Chrissy sits up rubbing her face. "Good morning. What's all this?"
"Breakfast in bed. Happy anniversary." Eddie says happily.
"Eddie! This is wonderful. Thank you. Happy anniversary." She gives him a small peck on the lips. "But there is no way I can eat ALL of this."
"It's not just for you. I gotta eat too." He pops a bit of bacon in his mouth to prove his point. Sarcastically, he says, "Selfish."
Chrissy laughs. "You're amazing. Do you know that?"
Eddie grins innocently at her. "There's more where that came from baby." He winks and they both laugh.
After breakfast, Eddie suggests Chrissy go shower and get ready for the day while he cleans up. She knows he's got something special planned but he's been so tight lipped about it she has no idea what it could be. She showers, does her makeup and gets dressed. She is surprised that Eddie hasn't interrupted her at least once. He is always sneaking a peek whenever she showers or dresses. But not today. It's been oddly quiet for a while but she just figures he just fell asleep or something. That man can fall asleep anywhere.
She comes out of the bedroom in some jeans and a cute top. "Eddie?"
She searches the whole apartment but cannot find him. Suddenly the doorbell rings, scaring her to death. She looks through the peephole at a long haired man holding flowers. She opens the door.
The guys smiles. "Glorious morning senorita. I'm Argyle from Buds Flower Shop. Are you Chrissy Cunningham, the queen of this castle?"
Chrissy giggles at the guy. "Yes I am."
A lazy grin appears on Argyle's face. "Well then these are for you."
He hands her the bouquet of daisies, her favorite. "Thank you."
"Don't forget to read the card. Have a righteous day, seniorita." With that Argyle takes his leave.
Chrissy smiles as she closes the door. She sniffs the bouquet and hurries quickly to place them on the kitchen table. She makes quick work of finding the card. It reads:
Meet me at 125 Merkwood Lane. It's right next to the studio. You can't miss it. Love, Eddie.
Chrissy rushes out the door and sees Eddie's van still parked out front. She climbs in her car and heads in the direction of the studio. Her mind reels with excitement trying to figure out where she is going. She thinks of where the studio is located and what is near it. She has been to the studio plenty of times but she has never paid close attention to what is around it. She turns on Merkwood and see the studio which has an address of 120. There are several businesses attached to the building the studio is in. But none of those businesses match the address on the card. The building next to it does though. 125 Merkwood Lane is a Family Video. She smiles as she parks in the parking lot. What Eddie has up his sleeve, she doesn't know. But she can't wait to find out. The Family Video is not that big and she spots Eddie immediately. She gets deja vu from spring break last year.
She walks up behind him. "Eddie?"
He turns. "Chrissy Cunningham. Fancy meeting you here."
Chrissy watches him closely and realizes he's recreating their chance encounter from last year. "Indeed it is. What are you renting?"
He smiles as she plays along with his game. "Well normally I'd get one of my favorites, Halloween, but I think I'm gonna switch it up this time." He flashes the VHS in his hand to reveal Goonies with a big old lazy smile on his face.
Chrissy's eyes light up and she smiles brightly. "I love that movie."
Eddie nods. "It's one of our favorites. See I figure we can start a tradition. Each year we rent The Goonies and one or two other movies we both have never seen. Then have a movie marathon like we did on our first date."
"I love that idea!" She invades his space and runs her hands up his chest making him inhale deeply. A sexy combination of love and lust reflect in his eyes as she inches closer to him. "And I love you."
She pulls his neck down to meet her lips. They kiss for a solid minute before pulling away. Eddie rests his head on her forehead. "I'm so glad you like it, I thought it was a good idea then I got in my head wondering if it was lame or cheap. This is a big bulk of the surprise but I do have one or two more tricks up my sleeve."
She smiles and looks at him through her lashes. "It's perfect."
They end up renting The Goonies, Mannequin (Chrissy's choice) and Lost Boys (Eddie's choice). Once they get home, they waste no time in starting their movie marathon and order Chinese food from Chrissy's favorite place. They snuggle on their old worn couch and veg out until they see Kiefer Sutherland turn Chinese food on screen to worms, maggots and blood, then Chrissy pretty much loses her appetite after that. Eddie, however, is completely unfazed. He orders Chrissy a pizza. Chrissy calls him her hero which makes Eddie blush. He isn't any hero but if Chrissy thinks he is, then that is what he will be for her.
When the movie ends, they are done eating and clean off the coffee table before starting Mannequin. Something has been on Chrissy's mind ever since the video store. She finally voiced it out loud. "So you consider our first date as the movie marathon we had during spring break?"
Eddie nods. "I mean… kinda… yeah. Don't you?"
Chrissy looks up at him a little unsure. "I guess. But really the first time we hung out is when we got high the night before."
He waves a finger at her. "Oh contraire, milady. The first time we hung out was the middle school talent show."
She narrows her eyes at him. "You know what I mean."
He gives her the same expression with a sense of teasing. "And you know what I mean."
She nudges him with one of her feet as he sits down and throws her legs over his lap as she rests her back against one of the couch arms. He tickles her gently, making her squirm a little. "I guess you're right about it being our first date."
"Remember how I said I had more tricks up my sleeve?" He asks her with a hint of mischief in his eyes.
"Yes…" she says, waiting for him to continue.
"I figured after this movie, we'd watch The Goonies from a different perspective."
He reaches in his pocket and reveals a small bag of weed making Chrissy laugh. "Where did you get that?"
He shrugs nonchalantly, "From Argyle, at Buds Flower Shop. He does some moonlighting as a rare plant specialist. In my hand, I hold his prized Purple Palm Tree Delight."
Chrissy laughs but then gets a serious look on her face. "What about all the smoke?"
Eddie shakes his head with a grin. "Oh milady, who said anything about smoking it?"
They make quick work of making the brownies. When they are in the oven, they start the next movie. Eddie's favorite character is Hollywood and his outrageous sunglasses he is always wearing. When the timer beeps, they get the brownies out and let them cool. At the end of the movie, Eddie groans when he hears that damn song by Starship that Chrissy has been obsessed with. She sings along in delight. She loves the movie of course. Chick flick and happy endings are her jam and he loves that about her.
They eat their brownies and turn on The Goonies. They spend the whole movie giggling and kissing. It's the funnest night Eddie has had in a long time. They make love and before they drift off Eddie tells her to set an alarm. When she asks why, he explains that they will go out taking pictures if she wants. Chrissy smiles up at him. "Thank you."
He looks down at her thoughtful expression. "For what?"
She kisses his chest. "For recreating the best week of my life for our anniversary. I can't wait to do this every year with you..."
He releases a breath, thankful he did a good job. "Forever."
They haven't talked about marriage even though Eddie's thought about it a lot. But in that moment, Chrissy knows he means it. She doesn't know if he means marriage or not. All his talk of forced conformity, she isn't sure if he ever will propose, but deep down she hopes one day he will. But she will take him and whatever future he wants to give her. Married or not, she is his for life.