We had just gotten back from a small one year anniversary trip to Los Angeles. It had been one year since we had our first kiss, the one kiss I'd never forget in my whole life. Our anniversary would be the next day, which was a Monday, so our trip was from Friday to Sunday, the current day.
I was drinking hot chocolate on the terrace and looking at Jeffrey who was outside talking on the phone. I didn't understand why he had to go so far away from me to talk on the phone, but I refused to let it have me overthink.
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Finally hanging up, Jeffrey came over to me, stole the cup from my hand and drank half of it. Oh, how he did that all the time. He would usually say that he didn't want something and eat or steal what I had. I loved him nevertheless, my silly boy.
''What are you so secretive about?'' I looked at him with a jokingly, dramatically suspicious expression. There was a moment of silence, maybe too long silence.
''Secretive? Uh, no munchkin, I'm not secretive about anything'' he replied before he grabbed my hand and led me inside. ''Come cuddle me till I fall asleep, will ya?'' he sat down on our big couch in front of the fire and opened his arms for me to join. I laid my body on his and rested my head on his warm chest, where his heart beat against my ear; oh how I enjoyed that sound.
''Can you imagine we've been together for one year tomorrow?'' I smiled at the thought. To others, one year might not sound extraordinary but to me it did. One year of getting to know each other more and more, one year of falling in love, traveling, experiencing new things together, having arguments. One year of pure love.
''I can barely believe that you're mine, baby girl. I can't fucking believe it'' he caressed my hair and I couldn't stop smiling at his sweet words. It was me who couldn't believe that he was my boyfriend, my man.
✧
The next day I would be at work until 3-4 pm. Jeffrey had decided to stay home that day so he could ''wait for me with a nice dinner to celebrate'', as he said it. I was on my way to the car when he started calling me. His voice was panicked, agitated and I turned worried immediately.
''Iris, please come home quickly if you can'' he said, breathing heavily.
''What's wrong? Are you okay?'' I got in the car in a millisecond, throwing my bags randomly on the backseat.
''It's Bandit, he's ran away again. I can't find him''. Oh no, fuck. I drove out of the parking lot insanely fast.
''When?'' I asked.
''I don't really know. I went to feed the animals and when I was back Honey was alone. I called his name and all that, but nothing. I am on my way to the closest neighborhood to look for him now'' the closest neighborhood was quite a bit away, since our house was pretty much surrounded by trees, fields and forest. ''Could you please take the fields and maybe the forest?'' he asked.
''Of course I can. I'll be there soon. Call me if you find him'' I said, worried as fuck about Bandit. How could he run away?
''You too, drive safely please''.
I arrived home in less than 5 minutes after ending the call. Without doing anything else, I jumped out of the car and started running towards the trees at the end of the field behind the house. I kept calling Bandit's name, kept running and checking every single bush, tree and everything in between. Where was he?
When I reached the tall pine trees it was already getting darker because they were so dense, so I turned the flash on my phone on and followed the trail. Fuck, Bandit, please let me find you. Tears were starting to gather in my eyes as I kept looking and searching with no success. I couldn't bare losing Bandit, he was like my child. I loved him too much.
Walking, I kept hoping Jeffrey would call to tell me Bandit was found, that he was safe, but my phone wasn't ringing and it drove me crazy. I knew that in a bit there would be a clearing and no idea why, but I hoped that he would be there asleep or something.
What confused me was that with each step I took, it was getting lighter and lighter. That until I realized that there were lights hanging in the trees, lighting up the path. Who'd put them there? It was weird, that part of forest was owned by Jeffrey, so no one was allowed to go there without permission.
A few meters later I noticed candles on the ground and at that point I was too fucking confused. I followed the trail and when I noticed what it led to I froze. In the middle of the clearing was Jeffrey with Bandit at his side; why hadn't he called me to tell me had found him? Forgetting about that and about the lights around me, I ran to Bandit to hug him tightly. When I did so, I noticed something hanging from his collar, a second tag that had something carved into it.
Will you marry my dad?
There was no air coming out of my mouth or nose, I was just frozen. I looked up at Jeffrey who was now calling me over to him. I had no idea how I could walk, when my legs were jelly and I was shaking like crazy. Jeffrey grabbed both my hands and looked at me with bright, almost wet eyes. I could feel every single beat of my heart, every pound; it was so strong I thought my chest would burst open any minute.
''Iris, my love'' he spoke as he looked me in the eyes. ''My sweet, sweet girl, the love of my entire life'' I could literally feel the love. I was shaking. Was it really happening? ''You are the best gift that life has given me. You are the one I want to be with, the one I want to give my love to for the rest of my life'' his eyes were watery but full of love; I was in shock, in love.
He went down on one knee as he reached for his pocket and took out a small, blue velvet box and opened it. ''I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Iris. Be mine forever, be my wife. Will you?''.
I nodded my head like crazy before kneeling down in front of him so I could kiss him. ''Yes, I will''.
