Whew. 5 hours of hardcore paper writing, editing and proofreading done. It still probably sucks but at least it's over. I checked the time on the large digital clock in the library. 6:02. Trevor said he would be late, but I really didn't feel like going back to my apartment and laying in bed waiting for him to be done. I decided that I would go visit him, even if I only got to see him for a few minutes before he had to go back to rehearsal. I texted him that I would be there in half an hour.
I packed up all my bags and dragged myself to the bus stop. I had to shuffle away from a few greasy men who looked like they were withdrawing from cocaine and silently cursed myself for waiting to leave the library until the sketchiest time of night. Luckily, I made it back to my apartment safely so I could drop off my books, wash my face (studying made me shockingly sweaty) and grab my purse.
The studio where they filmed the next step was close to the university, only about 4 minutes away from Yorkville. After getting off the bus, I kept my headphones in listening to All time low as a distraction until I reached the entrance. The sign on the door read in bold letters "CLOSED SET" but they didn't lock the door, and I had been there before without any trouble. I walked into the historic brick building, smelling of dust and perfume from the actresses. I snuck passed most of the camera crew and wardrobe people with out anyone batting an eye, but it looked like they were wrapping up for the night. Equipment was being tucked away into storage, and there were half the amount of people loitering than usual. I reached the main rehearsal space, "studio A" to find that Lamar, Isaac and Victoria were all standing in a circle laughing.
Victoria noticed me first and beckoned me over. "Hey Tessa."
"Hey guys." I greeted. "Where's Trevor?"
They all looked at each other with mischievous glances.
"What? What's going on?" I insisted. Why were they being so weird?
Finally, Lamar approached me and handed me a slip of paper with a sly smile. "This is from Trevor. He said to follow the directions to find him."
I furrowed my eyebrows. What was he up to?
On the paper in his horribly messy handwriting were steps of where to walk to and what bus stops to take. He even wrote which stop to go to for a double-decker bus! He knows me so well.
"Have fun," Victoria winked.
----------------------
I got the double-decker bus, so of course, my day was already 1000 times better. I anxiously tapped my fingers against my knee as the bus lurched forward jerkily. I wonder what Trevor had planned for us. It was our anniversary tomorrow, so this surprise excursion couldn't be unrelated.
After two buses and 40 minutes later, I reached the destination that Trevor had instructed me to get off at.
As I got off the bus, I scanned my surroundings. There were some clothing stores and bakeries, but nothing super notable. Until I glanced across the street and saw the sign for Riverdale Park. I've been wanting to go to this tourist attraction since I arrived in Toronto but I hadn't had the chance yet. I think I told Trevor that on our first date when we were touring the city, but it was one that we didn't have time for and we have each been too busy to do a fun adventure since then. Pulling out the now very crumpled instructions, he said to turn right after entering the sign for the park and walk 300 paces. He had a freakishly long stride in his walk, so I figured that would be about 400 paces for me. I walked along the fence line of the park for about five minutes after losing count of my steps,and paused to see where to go next. It said once I reached the cluster of trees at the edge of the park to follow the trail behind the tallest oak tree with a low-hanging branch.
And that was the end of the instructions, so Trevor must be close. Carefully avoiding fallen branches and large rocks, I began to climb the fairly steep hill behind the tree. Five minutes later, I was finally there.
He was perched on a large rock in a formal black button up shirt with a bouquet of lillies and roses, grinning at me. Behind him was the breathtaking skyline of Toronto with the picturesque sunset of blended oranges and pinks. Lain out in front of him was a big plaid picnic blanket with a large wicker basket.
"Happy early anniversary babe." he leaped off the rock and into my arms. I hugged him back tightly, relishing the scent of the surrounding pine trees and Trevor's earthy cologne. "Sorry for the long journey." He added as he pulled away. "But I figured you would like the double-decker bus more than an unstable taxi driver."
"You could have got me a limo, Mr. TV star." I pointed out with a smirk. "Would have saved me a lot of sweat." I made the point of dabbing my face with a tissue dramatically.
He rolled his eyes and pushed my shoulder affectionately. "Come on drama queen, let's eat."
He prepared all of my favorite foods. Bean salsa and chips, vegan mac and cheese, chocolate oat milk, and of course, the vegan shawarma from our first date. I hadn't eaten since the hashbrowns from this morning, so I gobbled it all up like a turkey who just learned how to chew.
Eventually, he hooked up the portable speaker he bought and we listened to Bon Jovi, All time low, some songs from the next step (to the dismay of Trevor who found many of them very annoying after hearing them so often) and to top it off, our couple song, You Belong with Me by the legend Taylor Swift. We screamed it at the top of our lungs as if no one could hear us, although many people could because the park below us was still pretty close. We had to stop after because we saw some cops patrolling below for drug dealers and we didn't want a noise complaint. By that time anyways, it was dark, so we laid down on the picnic blanket and decided to look at the constellations. While I was trying to be very scientifically observant by stating the constellations names, Trevor proceeded to respond with intelligent comments like "the big dipper looks like a toilet". I gave up trying to educate him and joined him in his ridiculous game of finding shapes in the stars. The first one I saw looked like a chicken. The next one he found said looked like a lopsided whale. This game we had to stop eventually too because we were laughing so hard that we couldn't even speak. When the laughter died down, we stayed laying down in silence, only our hands clasped together with Trevor occasionally stroking his thumb over my knuckle soothingly. We somehow spoke a thousand words to each other without uttering a sound, and that is why our relationship was so incredible.
The night ended with a passionate kiss under the moonlight, accompanied by Trevor piggybacking me down the hill as I tried not to drop the picnic basket.
