K.

Chapter 25- The Proposal (Part-1)

Just for the record, Kristen-mc, Kristin- Nick's gf. I know it's confusing but I wanted to include Nick's current wife instead of his ex kelly out of respect for his new marriage so please bare with me.

Also, not sure if I'm overthinking this but this chapter kind of felt weird to write. Like it was rushed but also too detailed? Not sure, but I hope it is still good enough to be readable because I did enjoy writing it at the end.
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I woke up from my nap to find Alex all snuggled and curled up underneath a thin throw blanket on the couch. Seemed like the separate bed that the receptionist had promised us did not get to us on time. I felt a bit guilty, seeing him lay there on the tiny couch after I took over the queen size bed which could've definitely fit two people given that things hadn't been so strange between us.

I looked over at the clock which hung on the wall above him. It was 5pm already. I had only wanted to rest for ten mins again after lunch but somehow it has extended to hours. Seemed like I wasn't fully lying to Alex about being tired.

I rolled around in bed for a few minutes more until I felt alert enough to get up and get going. I then had a quick shower and started getting ready for the proposal.

Alex woke up about half an hour later, probably from all the noises of me rushing to get ready. He quickly changed his shirt, combed his hair, put some cologne on and that was it. He was good to go, all in about 10 minutes. This was one of the few times I envied men.

Nick had already asked the hotel staff to arrange a romantic private date in their back lawn. So, our first task was to check if everything was alright there and make any corrections if necessary.

We had mixed feelings when we got there. On one hand, the venue was undoubtedly spectacular. The hotel was on this little hill by the ocean so we could see the entire town and the sea from where we stood. But on the other hand, there was such serious lack of decoration. Just an empty table with two chairs was all that there was on the lawn. Nick had specified that this set up was for a proposal and had even paid them extra for it and this is what they put together.

Alex and I talked about what we could do. The interaction was obviously uncomfortable, we were only talking because we had to. But by the end of it, we had a plan, which was what mattered at the moment anyway.
Alex decided that he'd go to the market to try to find something we could use to decorate. When he returned, we started getting to real work. He put the table cloth on while I arranged the fresh red peonies he had just bought in the vase. I also sealed a few candles to the candle stand and at the end, the set up finally looked worthy for a proposal date.

The rest of our work was for the after party. This was a tricky thing to plan because this idea was fairly new. Alex and I had come up with it on the spot and we wanted it to be surprise for Nick. We had to make all preparations for the party in secret.

The party was to take place in the same lawn but a bit to the other side so we had to jazz it up a bit. For the decorations, we decided to keep it minimal but warm. We already had some extra decoration pieces like string lights and candles. For the seating we ended up borrowing two large couches from the hotel. Now all we needed was music and booze. Arrangemengs for alcohol was made by the hotel in advance. The music, lucky for us, we had all we needed. Speakers, mic sets, guitars from the tour bus and musicians- well we surely had no shortage of them.

Now that we knew we had everything we needed, all we had to do was put it all together. Alex decided that he'd first get all the equipments from the tour bus while we still had time. Then, we got the hotel staff to get the couches and the table out in the lawn first. It was put facing the musical setup, so everyone could sit together and watch.
Now only one thing was left- lighting and decorations.