2
TRAVIS
Present
“Tonight’s the night, right?”
Raising my eyes from the computer screen I’ve spent the last several hours staring at, the spreadsheet morphing into something that doesn’t even seem like English anymore, my gaze connects with Jasmine’s smiling face.
A grin of my own tugs on my lips as I nod. “Yup, tonight!”
She squeals, taking a seat in the empty chair on the other side of my desk. “How are you feeling?” she asks, resting her chin on her palm. “Are you nervous at all?”
Before I can respond to her, Nolan, my other friend slash co-worker, rounds the corner, plopping down beside Jasmine. “Nervous about what?”
“Tonight’s the night Travis proposes to his boyfriend,” Jasmine all but squeals in Nolan’s direction.
“Oh, shit.” He drags his gaze over to me, a smile upticking his lips. “That’s right. I forgot about that. Do tell.”
“There’s not really much to tell.” I continue clicking away on my mouse, trying to hide the nerves that are eating away at me, because,yes,I am nervous, but I don’t want them to know that. “He has to work late tonight, so I’m using it to my advantage, going home early, setting up, and having a nice dinner ready for him.”
“What are you cooking?” Nolan asks.
“I’m not cooking shit,” I reply with a chuckle. “Can’t cook to save my life. I’m having his favorite Italian restaurant deliver before he gets home.”
“Ahhh, I’m so excited for you, Travis,” Jasmine gushes, her hands cupping her cheeks as she smiles so big, her eyes squint. “I know you’ve had your fair share of difficulties with Nathaniel, but it seems like things have been so much better since you guys bought the house, and if anybody deserves this, it’s you.”
Tipping his head in Jasmine’s direction, Nolan says, “What she said.”
“Thanks, guys. I appreciate that.”
I’ve worked for Stratton Marketing since I graduated from college about four years ago. I started as an intern and worked my way up. Now, I’m one of their Senior Digital Marketing Specialists, along with Nolan and Jasmine. The promotion came a little less than a year ago, and with it came a pretty hefty raise.
Up until then, Nathaniel and I had been renting shitty apartment after shitty apartment. At the start of last year, he was also promoted at his job, but it was my promotion that got us to decide it was time to purchase a home.
That was an experience all on its own, buying real estate. It was something I never knew if I could do, but it was a goal and a dream regardless. Washington isn’t exactly the most practical state to buy a home in, but the fact that we moved to a smaller town after graduation worked in our favor.
We were able to find a cute little four-bedroom house on a tiny bit of land within our budget. Our golden retriever puppy, Nova, loves the fenced backyard that none of our other apartments offered, and I was able to set up a home office in one of the spare bedrooms for the days when I work from home.
Truthfully, there have been many times in the span of my relationship with Nathaniel when I didn’t know if we’d ever get here. We met in college, and basically had to learn how to be adults together. It was rough—downright brutal sometimes—going from never having an actual boyfriend to having someone I was suddenly living with and having to co-exist with.
But alas, here we are. Somehow, we’ve survived enough for me to spend what little I’ve saved up since buying the house on a ring I plan to give him tonight.
Jasmine and Nolan stay to chit-chat for a bit before they head back to their desks. Then my afternoon is spent in back-to-back meetings with potential new clients, allowing my mind to focus on something other than how nervous I am for how tonight will go.
It’s around a quarter past four by the time I leave the office. After a quick stop at the store to pick up our favorite bottle of wine, I head home. We live about thirty minutes from my work with afternoon traffic. Not terrible. Nathaniel is usually off by four, but since he’s working late, he shouldn’t be home until at least six, giving me plenty of time to get the house clean and set up.
It’s fall in eastern Washington, and it’s cold as shit this year. But luckily, the sun is out, shining brightly, and giving the illusion of warmth. I soak it in with the heat blasting, and the music turned way up. The closer I get to the house, the more the nerves in my stomach make themselves known. My hands practically tremble as I grip the steering wheel, and nausea washes over me in waves.
Sometimes, looking back on shit in hindsight, it becomes abundantly clear that the universe was tossing sign after sign in our direction. Trying to tell us something, trying to stop us from making terrible decisions. The types of signs that we reflect on after the fact, and think,shit, I should’ve seen that coming from a mile away.
This… Well, this is one of those moments.
As I pull up outside my cute little yellow house, the first thing I notice is the car parked next to the curb. I don’t recognize it, but it must belong to the neighbors. The next thing I notice is my garage opener isn’t in the car where it normally is. I got my car detailed at lunch today and must’ve left it in my office.
Grabbing the bottle of wine and my briefcase, I exit the car, locking it as I make my way along the path to the front door. With my keys in hand, I trudge up the two steps, but when I go to unlock it, I notice the door is slightly ajar. Not enough that it’s obvious, but it’s definitely not all the way closed.
My heart rate accelerates as I look around the neighborhood. My eyes immediately land on the car I’ve never seen on this block before.What if someone broke into the house?I was the last one to leave this morning, and IknowI locked it when I left. I’m a freak when it comes to that kind of shit. I triple check the house is locked at night before going to bed.
