Valentines Day (finished)

February 4th

"Are you sure about this tie?" asked Matt.

"Of course," replied Stephanie. They were walking through the store, trying to fill out a few final things for Matthew's suit. "Ooh, look at these shoes."

"Why are girls so addicted to shoes?" MatPat asked. They were walking through Target and decided to take the shortcut through the shoe section to the checkout.

"I'm not that into shoes," Steph shot back, examining a pair. "Besides, these aren't even high heels or something. They're practical running shoes."

"Do you wanna get them?" checked Matt.

Stephanie looked at the price tag. "Nope. Mental note to self, never buy a Roshe."

She walked for the door, and Matt followed. He tried to look at the tag as he went by, and caught a $7.

That was January 28th. Now it was February 4th, and Matthew grabbed her running shoes on his way out.

*

Matthew jogged into Target and slowed down to walking pace. He meandered as fast as he could to the shoe section. He had the money in his pocket. By the time that she got up, she'd have a new pair of running shoes. Matt checked the sizes and found a pair that would fit her. He quickly made his way to the checkout.

The theorist-to-be examined the shoes. They were pretty worn out. The sides were splitting, the toe was almost gone, and he was pretty sure that on one shoe her heel could touch the floor. He couldn't wait to show her the new pristine shoes that he'd gotten her. He looked at the sparkling white shoes as they rolled along the conveyer belt. He could imagine her slipping her tiny feet into them and bouncing up to give him a hug while whispering in his ear- Wait? $75?

Matt looked at the numbers on the cash register. Sure enough, there it read, $75.48. Matt looked at the ten dollar bill in his wallet. Matt, begrudgingly, brought the shoes back to the section, but, not to be defeated that quickly, headed back home.

*

Matt struggled to find a job that paid well enough on craigslist. He finally found another person all the way across town offering seventy dollars. Because of the distance, Matthew offered to be there in two hours. Ten minutes the reply said they'd be happy to have him and Matt took off running.

He arrived on time and, still exhausted, helped bring in a bed, a television, a couch, two chairs, a table, and four table chairs. At the end of three hours he was offered a glass of cold water and the seventy dollars he was looking for.

Matt ran back to Target. The shoes were still there. Matt payed for the shoes and went home. On the way his alarm went off. He had about thirty minutes before another job interview. He sprinted into the house and threw the bag with the rest of the shoes and went to change.

*

Stephanie arrived home at her normal time. She dedicated about two more hours to Skyrim before deciding to go out running. She went over to the door and immediately noticed the bag atop all of the shoes. She looked inside the bag and was shocked to see the shoes inside.

"Oh no," she immediately thought. "He didn't get these for me, did he?"

Stephanie knew how much these cost, and they did not have that money lying around. She scrounged through the bag and found a torn up receipt. There was no going back, was there. Steph nervously unlaced the shoes. Then she slipped them on her foot in. They felt wonderful. She bounced up and down. It was like moving on air.

"Matthew," muttered Steph aloud. "Why are you so thoughtful?"

*

Matt was back by the time she returned home. He was lying on the bed, suitcoat unbuttoned. He was exhausted from a full day. "Matthew!" Stephanie angrily called when she entered their bedroom. "What were you thinking?"

The brunette squeezed his eyes then sat up. "I swear I didn't do anything wrong," he automatically responded.

"What were you thinking? I don't need new shoes. I was doing fine with the pair I had."

"And that's why I got you those," Matthew completed, looking down at her socked feet. "You would never believe that you needed new shoes. So I had to get them for you."

"We need that money," she argued, nearly yelling. "I saw the pricetag a month ago. These cost seventy-five dollars. That's a week's worth of food!"

"Stephanie," he calmed.

"What were you thinking?" she interrupted.

"Stephanie. They were on sale," he lied.

"What?" she asked dubiously.

"I've been watching them for a while. They were at the lowest they ever were. I didn't believe that they were gonna go any lower. So I picked them up."

"How much did they cost?"

"How about you let me worry about the money?" asked MatPat, caressing her hair.

Stephanie looked cross at him. "Matthew, you're unemployed. We can't-"

"It's okay," he interjected. "I made the money at a small odd-job I picked up." He pulled her onto the bed with him. "Is that alright?"

"I guess," she sighed into him. "I'm just really worried. Times are really tight right now."

"Don't worry," he replied. "One day I'll get a job and buying some shoes won't even register as a problem. At least, for now, we have each other."