50 Shades of Drake 1 and 2

50SOD II: Chapter Eighteen

2 Years Earlier...

    "Yeah. No, I think I thought of everything." Aubrey surveyed the dinner table and lifted a hand to scratch his head. "Shit, you're right. Candles, I forgot the candles." He turned and jogged into the kitchen and started to open and close kitchen drawers. "I'm not home often enough to know where we keep the candles."

    His mother's voice was chiding on the other end of the line. "You probably keep them close to the stove, the way I did all throughout your childhood."

    He pulled out the drawer closest to the stove. "Ah. What would I do without you, Mom?"

    "I have no idea," she muttered.

    He laughed. "All right, I have to shower and get changed. I love you, I miss you. We'll get together soon, all right?"

    "Love you too, Aubrey. That girl had better appreciate you."

    "She does, she does." He pulled the phone away from his ear and ended the call.

    Anniversaries. Never easy. What did you get someone who had almost everything? What did you get someone who had the power to get the few things they didn't already have? He set his phone on the dining room table and headed into the master bedroom of the New York condo. The condo that used to belong to her, now belonged to them. Shared space.

    He reached behind his neck and dragged up the collar of his t-shirt. He pulled the shirt over his head and tossed it into the hamper tucked away in the corner of the bedroom. He walked around the bedroom in varied states of undress, laying out the clothes he wanted to wear for that evening. Nothing too crazy or too flashy. A nice, simple suit jacket and pants paired with a black dress shirt.

    When someone had just about everything they could ask for, you give them something precious that they wouldn't think to ask for. A nice, quiet dinner. Quality time. Of course, something sparkly just for good measure.

    Even though I gave her something sparkly a few months ago, he thought as he headed into the bathroom. And no piece of jewelry is going to compete with that ring that I gave her. He smiled as he showered. Sang and danced as he changed.

    He walked into the dining room, adjusting the cuffs of his dress shirt while looking around the room. His phone ringtone alerted him that he had a text message. The message was from her, letting him know that she was right down the street. Any minute she was going to walk through the door, and he still hadn't lit the fucking candles.

    By the time he was done setting out the food, lighting the candles, and turning on the music, he heard a key turning in the lock. He stood near the dining room table with his gaze lowered.

    The door to the condo swung open. Robyn entered, talking at the speed of light on her cell phone. When her eyes fell on him, she stopped speaking in mid-sentence. After ending the phone call, she observed the darkness of the condo and saw the flickering flames atop the dining room table. "What is this?"

    What is this? "This" was something that he was quite accustomed to. She wasn't the type of girl to remember anniversaries. If she kept a phone for more than a rolling twelve-month period, then her phone would warn her of the upcoming need for celebration, but other than that she remained clueless. He still went above and beyond, though. He still went shopping for her and still tried to plan something special. If anyone ever asked him why, he'd simply respond by saying that the person asking hadn't been in love before.

    Realization dawned on her before he opened his mouth to speak. "Oh God, that's today." She pocketed her cell phone and clapped her hands over her mouth.

    "I just figured we would keep it low-key tonight," he said, moving to pull up a chair for her. "I made dinner. Tonight can just be about us."

    She walked up to him and threw her arms around his neck. "You are the sweetest thing, you know that?"

    Even after how long he'd known her, her accent was still the very undoing of him. He reached up and touched a tendril of her hair. "You dyed your hair? Again?"

    Fire engine red. "STOP" sign red. She beamed up at him. "Do you like it?"

    His eyebrows shot up. "It's...it's definitely you."

    She laughed and swatted at his arm. Then she stepped around him and leaned over the table. "What did you make? Aubrey, you didn't! All of my favorite food? How did you have the time?"

    His eyes anchored on her left hand. "Where's your ring?"

    "How did you have the time to make all of this?" she asked him again, straightening her posture.

    He grabbed her left hand and held it up in front of her face. "Your ring. Where is it?"

    "It's right here," she said, fishing around in her coat pocket. She withdrew the ring and slid it on her ring finger. "There. Better?"

    He stared at her, still holding her hand in his. "Why did you take it off?"

    "Because we said we're going to keep quiet about it," she said, yanking her hand out of his grip. "And there's no way to keep quiet about it if paparazzi are taking pictures of me with this big ass ring on my finger. Damn, what is wrong with you?"

    He ran a hand over his head. "Nothing, I was just wondering."

    "Can we enjoy tonight?" she asked him. Her phone rang in her pocket. She pulled it out, looked at the screen, and smiled.

    Women have a number of smiles that they give. They have the, "aww that's cute," smile, reserved for puppies and babies. They have the, "nod and smile," which was used for the sake of politeness. They have the "smile of surprise," which is self-explanatory. Then there was the "not funny enough to laugh, but funny enough to smile" smile. Also self-explanatory. There is one smile that every woman had, and it was reserved for that guy (or girl, depending on preference). That was the smile she flashed when she looked down at the screen on her phone.

    Aubrey grabbed her phone out of her hands. He did it without thinking, completely on impulse. He did it knowing what he would see on the screen.

    "Missed call from: Chris Breezy."