by M Andrews
Gran loops her arm with mine as we walk in the direction of the stage. “Sex is just the perk of any relationship. Your grandfather and I had plenty of it when we were first married.”
Dang, I didn’t need to know that. The church thing was enough.
“Our connection was incredibly strong when we first met. So much so that it was unbearable to be apart from each other. We spent all of our lives getting to know each other. We grew and changed together. You don’t need to know everything right now. What is your heart telling you about Christopher?”
“It’s telling me to go to New York. He also agrees with you that I should be going to design school.”
“I’m liking Christopher more and more. Great ass and he’s smart. Two great qualities in a man.” She nudges me with her elbow again. “You know what Christopher and I think you should do. What do you want to do?” That is the question of the decade.
I keep my promise to meet Christopher after the signing. Even if I tried to leave, Gran would drag my ass back. I spent most of the event, besides a few lingering minutes staring at Christopher’s sexy face, really thinking about what I want to do. Admitting that I was scared to follow my plans to go to design school felt like I was letting go of the fear. This is something I have dreamt of most of my life. I know someday I would regret if I don’t pursue it. This is an opportunity of a lifetime. If I do fail, at least I tried.
And there is Christopher, the man who makes me feel completely dizzy in all the good ways. I feel like myself when I am with him. The thought of him leaving makes my heart ache. I think Gran is right, Christopher and I have our entire lives to get to know each other, and I shouldn’t waste a single moment of it with doubts.
“I can’t wait to show the girls this,” Gran says, admiring her autographed photo of Christopher.
Christopher finally comes out from his makeshift dressing room, and he is all smiles when he spots us waiting by the stage. He strides over and slinks his arm around my waist. “I’m so glad you stayed,” he says, as he leans in to kiss my cheek.
“I think I am going to go get one of those lovely pretzels from the food court and let you two talk.” Gran carefully slides the photograph into her bag. Before she goes, she whispers to me, “Follow your heart.” She gives my arm a little squeeze. “Christopher, I look forward to seeing more of that cute ass of yours.” She winks at Christopher then turns to leave.
“I look forward to seeing more of you too, Linda,” he replies. He turns back to me. “Your grandmother is a hoot.” He chuckles.
“She is something else.” I shake my head. “There is something I want to talk to you about.”
“Does it by chance have to do with you and I getting to spend more time together?” The cheeky grin on his face is too cute.
“I have decided that I am going to move to New York and go to design school.” I feel confident with my decision.
“Heather, that’s fantastic.” Christopher scoops me up in his arms and spins us around.
He sets me back down on my feet and kisses me. “I just know I would regret not taking this chance, with design school, and with you.”
“I know this is going to be good for both of us.” He kisses me again.
For the first time in my life I know I am on the right path. I’m excited for this new adventure with Christopher.
7
Christopher
“Before you head off to your first day of school, I have a little surprise for you.” I take the dirty dishes from Heather’s hands and set them in the kitchen sink.
“I thought breakfast was my surprise?” she questions and leans up against the counter.
Breakfast was just the start of what I have planned for Heather today. We have to properly celebrate her starting design school. “Be prepared for a day full of surprises,” I tell her, as I reach into the refrigerator and take out the lunch I packed earlier. I hand her the brightly colored tin lunch box.
“You seriously packed me lunch. You are literally the sweetest boyfriend. If I didn’t have to be in class soon, I would totally blow you right now,” she says, investigating her lunch box.
“There will be plenty of time for thank you blow jobs tonight.” I wink. “I just wanted to make sure you have a great start to your new future.” I am really proud of her for taking this huge step. I know she had her doubts about leaving the comfort and safety of Pine Grove. And it took some convincing for her to agree to move in with me. But after about a week of living here in New York, all she could talk about was how excited she was to be starting design school and how she wanted to redecorate the apartment.
On my days off, we spend most of the time at the fabric stores in the fashion district. Heather would spend hours sifting through roll upon roll of fabric while I follow behind, lugging around all of her finds. My favorite part of the day is watching her at her sewing table with a pile of fabric and her sketchbook, taking all the designs in her head and bringing them to life. I am completely in awe of her and her talent.
“Thank you, Christopher. This is the sweetest thing you have done for me this week,” she teases.
“What can I say, I like to spoil my girl.” I kiss her cheek. I love this woman so damn much, and I will do everything I can to show her just how much she means to me.
“You don’t have to keep spoiling me like this. I know you love me, and I love you.” My heart feels like it is about to burst from my chest at her words. We haven’t actually said those words to each other yet. I was waiting for the perfect time. I wanted to tell her I loved her back in Pine Grove in that tiny dressing room, but I didn’t want to scare her off.
I cup her cheek in my hand and tilt her lips up to mine and say, “I love you, Heather.” I seal her lips with mine. Her lips are warm and soft and taste like maple syrup. I have to force myself to pull away before this kiss goes any further. I don’t want to keep Heather from school. If I had my way, I would carry her back into our room and keep her in bed all day. “We better get you to school.”
She lets out a heavy sigh. “Oh, okay, I guess I will go to class. But you owe me later tonight.” She points a warning finger at me.
“You can tell me all about your day while I go down on you.” I grab her by the finger and kiss the tip.
“You are such a tease.” She pouts and pulls her finger free.
“You can turn that frustration into beautiful gowns.” I kiss her cheek and tell her I love her again.
I walk with her down to the subway station. The day is only beginning, and it already feels like an oven on the train platform. I will be happy when fall gets here. Beads of sweat are trickling down the side of my face. The rush of air from the arriving train gives us a quick moment of relief. “Have a great day,” I yell to Heather before the doors slide shut. She smiles and waves as the train pulls away.
The flow of the crowd sweeps me up the steps and out of the station. The outside air is a slight reprieve from the oven of the subway station. But it is still hot and sticky as I make my way down the street to the bodega on the corner. After Heather moved here a few weeks ago, I took her to all of my favorite spots in the city and we discovered a few new ones that are now ours. I even showed her the best diner to get coffee close to her school for those early morning classes.
The first weekend, we took the train out to Boston, so Heather could meet my family. My mother proceeded to embarrass me by showing Heather all my baby pictures, including the ones of me naked. Of course, my family loved her. What’s not to love. Heather is one of the most kindhearted, genuine people I have ever met. We go out there every Sunday for dinner. My mother has already started asking when Heather and I are going to get married. I tell her we are taking our time to get to know each other. It took some convincing just to get Heather to move out and follow her dream of being a fashion designer. I don’t want to scare her off with marriage talk. When the time is right, we will know. Until then, I will treat her like the queen she is.
The phone is ringing o
ff the hook when I finally get the door to the apartment open. The bags I am holding in my arms drop out of my hands and I nearly trip over them on my way to answer the phone. I pick up the receiver and on the other end of the line is my agent.
“Oh my God, Christopher, thank God you’re alive. I’ve been trying to call you all day.” Jenet’s deep raspy voice announces.
“Sorry, I had some errands to run. What’s going on?” The first thought that pops into my head is that I am getting written off the show. It has happened to two other actors since I arrived. “Is it the show, are they writing me off?” I try to hide the panic in my voice.
“No darling, they love you. This is good news. I have a part for you in a movie.”
I nearly drop the receiver out of my hand when she says the word movie. I have been trying to break into film since I finished acting school. Jenet convinced me to do Starcrossed in the meantime to get my feet wet in the business and have something for my reel other than bit parts in Off Broadway plays that no one has ever heard of. At the time I thought it was her way of telling me I wasn’t good enough for movie roles. Apparently I was wrong.
“What kind of part are we talking about?” At this point I would take a non-speaking part if it meant getting my foot in the door in Hollywood.
“It’s a leading role in the next John Hughes movie. They want you to fly out to LA next week to read for the part.” A lead role in a John Hughes movie, this is fucking huge. “I told you I’d get you in the movies, kid.”
“I have to get the part first,” I remind her.
“You got this kid. I’ll send a messenger over with the pages and your plane ticket. You are going to be a movie star Christopher.”
I don’t want to get my hopes up, because I know how hard it can be to break into doing movies, but at the same time, I want to run upstairs to the roof of the building and let the whole damn neighborhood know how fucking happy I am right now. If I get this role, it’s going to change my life forever.
It also means that I will have to spend months at a time away from Heather. We are supposed to be spending this time building our lives together here. I don’t know how Heather is going to take this news.
The pot roast is nearly done, and the mashed potatoes are keeping warm on the stove. Heather’s favorite meal. Linda kindly gave me the family recipe, only after I promised to marry her granddaughter. That was an easy promise to make. I already have plans in the works to ask Heather to marry me on her birthday. I may not be sure about a lot of things in this world, but the one thing I do know is that I want to spend the rest of my life with Heather.
Just as the oven timer dings, I hear the door to the apartment open. “Honey, I’m home,” Heather announces as she steps inside. She pauses when the scent of pot roast hits her. Her face lights up with excitement. “Is that Gran’s pot roast I smell?” She practically bounces across the living room into the kitchen.
“Yes it is,” I reply, taking the roast out of the oven. The smell of it is making my mouth water in anticipation.
“Wow, Gran must really like you. Probably more than me, because she wouldn’t even share her pot roast recipe with me,” she says, reaching over to steal a little piece of the meat.
“I had to make a huge promise in order for her to hand over the recipe.” I swat her hand away as she comes in to take another piece.
“What did you have to promise?” She scowls at me.
“Oh, just that I have to marry you,” I say casually, as I shred up the meat.
“I take it by the fact that I am staring at the pot roast right now that you made the promise.” She gives me a side glance. “Is this your crazy way of asking me to marry you?”
“All I can say is that I’m not asking you tonight. I will just leave you to wonder when it is going to happen.” I grin and chuckle.
“Christopher Reynolds, you are a dirty tease.” She pouts. Asking her now would take all of the fun out of surprising her. Besides, it would be way too obvious if I did it tonight.
I load up the fork in my hand with some of the meat and hand it to Heather as a consolation prize. “Tell me all about your first day.”
“It was amazing. The professors are cool and chill. I met some new people, and we got our first assignment for the week. We have to create an outfit out of non-conventional items. Like with wrapping paper and coffee filters.” Heather’s face is beaming while she talks about her classes and her idea for the dress she wants to make. Her excitement is infectious, she has me eager to see what she creates.
I hand Heather her plate of food and take a seat next to her at the table. “I have my own bit of good news. I talked to my agent today. She wants me to audition for a lead role in the next John Hughes movie.”
“Christopher, this is huge. Baby, I’m so happy for you.”
“If I get this, it means I will have to be on location for a few months. I hate to leave you here alone.”
“I’ll be fine, Christopher. Like a very wise and sexy man once told me, this is an opportunity of a lifetime, you have to go for it.” Look at her, using my advice on me. “I will miss you, but I will have school to keep my mind occupied. When do you audition?”
“I leave for LA on Monday.”
“I can help you run lines if you want,” she offers with a smile.
“I would love that.” I return her smile. I never should have doubted that Heather wouldn’t be supportive of me breaking into movies. She is one of the kindest souls I have ever met, and I am lucky to call her my girlfriend—and someday—my wife.
“Looks like we are both going to be living out our dreams.”
“I have to get the part first,” I remind her. The audition doesn’t necessarily mean I have the job.
“Please, you are going to kill that audition.”
I love how confident she is in me. I am going to need that to get me through this audition.
“I love you.” I lean across the table and kiss her. I am so damn glad I’m the one who found Heather that night at the club.
Epilogue
Heather
Five Years Later
Sweaty palms, check. Nausea, check. The overwhelming urge to run, double check. Do all fashion designers feel this way during their first runway show? I thought someone was playing a trick on me when I got the letter saying I was chosen as a Parson’s alumni to have their own show at Paris Fashion week. Little ole me was going to be presenting a spring collection on models with the likes of Chanel, Versace, and Yves Saint Laurent. It didn’t fully sink in until I was on the plane heading to Paris. I may have thrown up in the airplane bathroom. Sweet Christopher helped clean me up before we landed.
Christopher has been amazing through this whole thing. He really deserves an award for being the best husband in the world. Even when I was a stressed-out basket case going on no sleep and surviving on coffee, he was there to refill my mug and carry me to bed when I finally passed out at my sewing machine. He made sure I took breaks to spend time with him and our son, Jason. It shouldn’t surprise me, though. Since day one, Christopher has been my rock. He encourages me to be my best. He is there for me when I need him the most. Whether it is on the phone when he is away on location or staying up all night with me back when Jason was having trouble sleeping through the night. He even lets me dress him for his movie premieres. I am incredibly lucky to have him in my life.
The stage director points at me to let me know it is the end of the show, and it is time for me to make my walk down the runway, as is customary for all the designers. I take a deep breath before I step up onto the stage. As I round the corner, the lights hit me, and the crowd rises to their feet, the roar of their clapping brings a smile to my face. The only faces I am looking for in the crowd are Christopher and Jason’s and I find them standing in the front row. Christopher is holding Jason in his arms while Jason claps and waves at me as I pass by. My two sweet men make all the late nights, worrying about skirt lengths, and whether or not people are going to like my
clothes, worth it all. No matter what happens after today, I will still have them to come home to.
After the show, my head is still spinning. My designs were a huge hit. Several personal stylists requested pieces for their clients, and the big news, Macy’s wants to include my spring collection in their stores. I can’t wait to get back home and tell Gran the good news. If it wasn’t for her applying to Parsons for me, and forcing me on that plane, I wouldn’t be here in Paris now. I owe her so much.
“Jason, didn’t we tell Mommy that her show was going to be a huge success,” Christopher says.
“Yes, you were both right.” I kiss Jason on the cheek, then rise up on my tiptoes to give Christopher a kiss. “I never should have doubted my boys. Thank you for always believing in me.”
“Wove you, Mommy,” Jason says. He takes my face in his little hands and plants a kiss on my lips. I can’t believe my sweet boy is three already. It seems like yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital. He is our honeymoon baby. I found out I was pregnant exactly six weeks after our honeymoon. Christopher and I talked about starting a family once I finished design school, but Jason had other plans. He may have been a big surprise, but I love this little boy with all my heart.
“I love you too, little man, and I love Daddy too.” I smile up at Christopher and think how truly lucky I am.
The End
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