Heads or Tails

Chapter 25

"You picked a Piano Bar?" I ask, stepping out of the cab and onto the sidewalk.

"What's wrong with a Piano Bar?" Ben asks, slipping his hand into mine as we walk up to the entrance. "I thought you loved this place."

I stop, thoughtful and remember some of the crazier nights Ben and our friends had here during University. He's right. I did love this place. My mind flashes to one particular memory during Orientation week. Ben had organized a night on the town with our friends to attend a new posh club. What he didn't consider was the possibility of a dress code policy. We were turned away because, unlike everyone else, we were dressed like typical poverty-level students in ripped jeans and band t-shirts. The bouncer denied our entry.

I remember Eric calling the bouncer a jerk and even swinging a fist at him.  Michael and Ben had to pull him away and down the sidewalk. Our big night out was turning into a disaster until Ben suggested we go to a piano bar a few blocks away.  Our group moaned and groaned about how only older people went there, which, ironically enough, old to us at the time was defined as a bunch of mid- to late-twenty-year-olds. But somehow, Ben convinced us it was a good idea.

I have to say that night is one of my fonder memories. We had the Piano Bar rocking and asked the pianist to play every Elton John song imaginable. Ben requested "Benny and the Jets" more than once, claiming to every patron at the bar that Sir Elton wrote that song for him and his late band members, formally known as "The Jets." No one believed him, but everyone loved Ben's drunken enthusiasm. And soon enough, the entire bar was cheering him on as he belted out his beloved song on stage with the pianist and a beer in hand.

Shivers run up my spine as a cool wind nips at my bare hands, snapping me back to reality, "You're right. I do love this place. I forgot how we have so many good memories here. Remember Benny and the Jets?" I ask, laughing.

"How could I forget?" he says, wrapping his arms around my waist outside the entrance.

Suddenly, I'm not cold anymore. He stares down at me, and I smile at him, wistfully remembering how we were once just friends - a chapter of our lives I can now keep close to my heart forever.

"Are we going in for that drink?" I ask.

Ben doesn't respond to my question. Instead, he kisses my cheek. Then he tilts my chin up with his thumb and index finger, enthralled at the moment and kisses me on my lips. We kiss for a long time, touching everywhere. I know people are probably walking by, and cars are zipping down the street, but I don't care because I am proud to admit I am one of those couples. Right now, we are a couple I would look at with envy as they kissed each other in the street.

I imagine us years from now with grey hair,  a body full of wrinkles and sitting on our front porch drinking homemade lemonade and watching our grandchildren play in the yard. I imagine looking back on this moment, thinking how lucky we were to have taken a risk (even though it wasn't easy) and fallen in love.

Ben breaks our kiss, placing his hands on either side of my head and cages me against the wall. He looks into my eyes and anxiously says, "Before we go inside, I want you to know how much I love you. You are the most beautiful woman in the world. I love everything about you, whether it is your weird obsession with playing the game Scrabble, the way your butt looks in a tight pair of jeans, how you are so focused on your career, or how you are always a listening ear just when I need one. I want you to know that when you told me tonight that you felt the same way I did, you made me the happiest man in the world."

I blush, looking down at the red heels Ben insisted I wear tonight over a pair of ballet flats, even though he knows I hate wearing heels. But I love that he challenges me. I love that he takes me out of my comfort zone, makes me take risks, and pushes me to live life to the fullest and in the moment.

Then Ben gives me a final smile before he pulls the door open and says, "Ladies first."

"SURPRISE!!!!" is the only thing I hear as I walk through the doorway, deafening my ears.

The shouts and cheers stun me silent. I look around the bar to see everyone I love and care about surrounding me. I am speechless, recognizing the hundred or so people staring at me. Some are my colleagues, some are my family, and some are my friends. At first, it was hard for me to comprehend what was going on until Michelle tossed a pink boa around my neck, and Jessica placed a flashy crown on my head that lit up with the number 25 on top.

Matthew pats Ben on the back, and Eric shakes his hand. Michael hugs me and wishes me a happy birthday. I stand entirely gob-smacked, wondering how this is even happening right now.

"What is going on?" I ask as my mother greets me with a hug.

Jessica glances up at Ben. "Ask him."

I looked up at Ben, not believing he could have done something like this for me. Did he throw me a surprise party?

"Did you seriously plan all of this?" I ask.

He nods, shrugs his shoulders and says, "Yeah. Seriously."

I lunge at him, forcing myself onto my tippy toes and kissing him right on the lips - in front of everyone. Cheers and claps echo all around us, and before I pull away, I feel Emily patting me on the back to hand me a flute of champagne with a congratulatory grin.

Ben gives me another quick kiss before turning to the pianist and shouting, "Benny and the Jets."

I burst out laughing and feel myself filled with warmth inside. The fear of getting older has completely vanished, and oddly enough, I am even more thankful that I made it to this day so that I could be here, right now, at this moment, with everyone I love and cherish in my life.

Jessica and Michelle surround me, holding a tray of shots. Michelle drapes her arm around my shoulders, saying, "Thank God you showed up."

"Did all of you know about this when you called me today?" I ask.

"Ben's been planning your party for an entire week," Jessica says, smiling. "He rented the whole damn bar for you."

I laugh.  "I was about to leave when he showed up at my apartment. He's lucky I hadn't left yet."

"He took a chance because he loves you," Michelle says. "Michael had bets going, though. You showing up with Ben in love again cost everyone ten bucks...well, except for Jessica. She was the only one who bet against all of us. So, thanks to you, she is sixty dollars richer tonight."

"Guilty as charged." Jessica smiles. "But that's because nobody knows my girl Megan as I do."

I hug her, thinking about how she is right. Nobody knows me better than she does.

"Okay, enough, I'm getting teary," Jessica says, waving a hand in front of her. "Now raise your shot glasses, ladies."

We comply with Jessica's orders without hesitation, only to hear her say, "Happy birthday to my best friend. Welcome to the quarter-century club. I love you!"

We slam back our shots in unison, and when I look up, I see Ben across the bar chatting with Matthew and Eric and Michael, sipping on a beer and just looking so damn delicious. I smile at him and marvel at how much has changed in such a short time. I was a neurotic mess, scared of love and commitment, pushing every man out of my life because I was too stupid to see that I had something real in front of me all along. When I'm with Ben, I feel safe and loved and free to be myself - I always have been.

At the end of the night, everyone stumbles out of the bar, still singing a stream of Billy Joel's greatest hits. I wave goodbye to all those I love with Ben by my side. I slide into the seat when a cab pulls up, just like it did years ago on a chilly New Year's Eve. And when Ben's hand catches the door, he says, "Do you want me to come with you?"

I don't question a thing. Instead, I do exactly what I should have done back then. I nod with a smile and let him crawl in beside me because I intend to return to my apartment together and be with Ben forever.

THE END

Thank you for reading my novel. Please feel free to provide any comments and/or feedback. Please don't forget to vote for your favorite chapters ❤️