The Unexpected Romance

Chapter 5

"Well, we spent the past two days driving around Hartford looking around at places. Anything else you want to do before we head back?" Benji asked.

"Yeah. Remember last summer when Jessica and Ashley got engaged?" Emily responded.

"Yeah," Benji confirmed.

"I want to find their apartment and congratulate them in person," Emily suggested.

"Do you know where they live?" Benji asked.

"I do know they have an apartment in Harlem. I remember them saying it's on 125th Street," Emily recalled.

She remembered having the information in her phone.

"Well, let's give them a call and see if they're home," Benji suggested as Emily called Jessica.

"Hey, Emily," Jessica said, answering.

"Hey, Jess. Benji and I just moved to Hartford a couple days ago and we were thinking about driving down to Harlem later today. We thought about dropping by to say hi - will you guys be home?" Emily asked.

"Definitely," Jessica said.

"Great. We'll see you in a couple hours," Emily said, hanging up.

"So, are we heading over there?" Benji asked.

"Yep! Let's go!" Emily said.

Since it was noon on Halloween, they knew they would have to get going right away, if they wanted to make it to Harlem, visit, and get back to the apartment in time for trick-or-treating. The couple made a quick stop on the way to pick up a gift for the newly engaged couple. Once they picked it up, they placed it in a gift bag, and then continued the drive to Harlem.

Emily and Benji's timing was perfect; Jessica and Ashley had a day off from their jobs. Emily wanted to surprise them with a congratulatory gift, because they were really excited about Jessica and Ashley's engagement. They were happy to find out the two would be home, and excited to see their old friends.

By about 2 p.m., they arrived outside Jessica and Ashley's Harlem apartment and rang the doorbell.

As Jessica answered the door, "Emily! Benji! Please come in," she said excitedly as the two did so.

"Nice place you got here," Benji commented, admiring the apartment.

"Thanks. Are you in town visiting today?" Jessica asked.

"No. We just moved to Hartford," Emily said.

"Yeah, Emily got a secretarial job in a psychologist's office, and I'm going to be applying to work at a Starbucks," Benji explained. "My boss gave me a good recommendation."

"Sounds cool. Good luck on getting in," Jessica encouraged him.

"Thank you," Benji said as Ashley came into the living room.

"Emily, Benji, what are you two doing here?" Ashley asked.

"Well, we heard two months ago that you got engaged..." Benji started.

"...And we wanted to congratulate you two in person," Emily continued.

"Thank you," Jessica said, smiling happily.

"We're really excited about the wedding. Even though we don't have an official date booked yet," Ashley said.

"Well, when you do, you have to let us know," Emily said.

"We'll be sending a group text to all the Bellas when a wedding date has been confirmed," Jessica promised.

"Well, we'll definitely keep a heads up for that," Emily said.

"But we better get going. We want to be back in time for trick-or-treating. We still have to buy candy," Benji reminded Emily.

"Bye, guys," Emily said as she and Benji waved the two goodbye.

It was just after 4 p.m. by the time they made it to the supermarket. They were lucky there was still enough candy left in stock to get them through the evening. Their neighborhood was rather big, so they had plenty of trick-or-treaters that evening. When the evening was over, there wasn't much candy left. Before they went to bed, they received a group text from Jessica and Ashley confirming the date of their wedding. The wedding was scheduled for September 10th, 2022.