Autumn Leaves (Watty Awards 2013)(Editing)

Chapter 32

Today was the day.

Tyler splashed his face with water, trying to calm his nerves. He’d barely slept the night before; he spent it tossing and turning and thinking of every possible scenario in his head, trying to mentally prepare himself for whatever might happen. He picked up the hand towel from the edge of the sink and buried his face in it. He had to be composed. He couldn’t let Nicki catch on.

When he walked back into their room, Nicki was up, getting dressed.

“Morning.”

She looked up at him and smiled.

“Morning babe. I’m going for a run. Want to come?”

He thought it over. A run could be just what he needed.

“Yeah, sure. Just give me a minute to wake up.”

It took Tyler a good half hour after he woke up every morning to become functional. It was a mystery to him how Nicki could spring out of bed and be ready to face the day. She came up to him and threw her arms around him, letting her head lie against his bare chest.

“I’m so excited for tonight,” she said, squeezing him around the waist.

“Me too.” And nervous as fuck.

He’d been preparing himself for this day for the last four and a half months. All of the time in the world couldn’t have made him any less anxious. Tyler had practiced over and over in his head what he would say, what he would do. He tried to imagine every response Nicki could possibly have. Anything that could go wrong. None of that was making him feel any better.

Nicki let her arms fall and backed away, focusing on the task at hand. “Should we bring Marshall?”

“Nah, I think you wiped him out yesterday.”

She laughed. “Poor puppy. Alright, get ready and meet me in the kitchen, k?”

Tyler nodded and watched her as she walked out of the room. He opened the middle drawer of their dresser and smiled. It still tied knots in his stomach when he saw Nicki’s neatly folded shorts and tank tops next to his crumpled up workout clothes. Tyler had promised himself once, not too long ago, that he would never let a girl keep her things at his place. He shook his head at his own immaturity. If he’d only known.

Once he’d gotten dressed and put on his running shoes, he glanced at the clock. It was eleven. He still had six hours before they had to be at the ball. And that was just for headcounts and pictures. It didn’t start until seven, and he had to wait until ten to ask her. It was going to be a long day.

** * * * *

Nicki took a deep breath beside him. “This is my absolute favorite time of year. Everything is so beautiful.”

Tyler glanced at his surroundings. They were coming up on the last weeks of nice fall weather, before it started to get cold. Not a single leaf was still green, but not many had fallen to the ground, either. The trees that lined the streets of their quiet neighborhood were vibrant with the shades of Autumn. He couldn’t help but think of the story Lisa had told him so many months ago of her and Zach; the moment she realized that she wanted to be with him for the rest of her life.

“Yeah, it is,” he responded.

They ran in pace with each other for a while. Lost in thought, Tyler didn’t notice right away that Nicki had dropped back. The absence of her steady breathing was the only thing that made him realize she was no longer next to him. He stopped short and spun around, looking for her. When he saw her, he laughed and shook his head.