Love Is a Bunch of Stupid Decisions

Chapter 6

"Alright guys, that's it for the day," Casey said, clapping. They had gotten out of rehearsal an hour early, which meant that they didn't have to be back to get ready for hours. Tonight was opening night in Philadelphia, and while the cast was rehearsed, excited, and ready to perform tonight, I found myself with more work to do with each hour that passed. Ben finds me in the audience quickly, sitting in the seat next to me.

"Whatcha workin' on?" He asks, sounding like a curious 5-year-old.

"Amanda asked me to do an Integrated Marketing Communications audit on Mean Girl's last advertising campaign, so I'm just finishing that up. Then I'm doing some market segment research for our next campaign." I say, knowing that it probably won't make any sense to him.

"I don't know what any of that meant, but you looked so damn cute saying it," he responds. I lean over and kiss him, grateful that they were done early so that he could take my mind off of work for a while.

"Get a room, you two," Sky shouts, making his way out of the theater. Ben rolls his eyes, and I just laugh.

"Are you doing ok? You seem stressed." Ben says, rubbing my leg.

"Let's just say that this job is just shaping up to be a lot more work than I expected." I rub my eyes, waking them back up since they'd been staring at a computer screen for so long.

"Do you want to take a break for a bit? Maybe go for a walk? We don't have to be back for a while, maybe we can get some coffee or something."

"That sounds perfect," I smile, packing up my things.

It's late October, the Philadelphia streets are illuminated by the lush orange and red trees that line them. It's a perfect fall day, the kind where your nose gets runny if you're out for too long, but you don't even mind because it's so dang beautiful out. Even though I'm wearing a long-sleeved shirt, I end up wearing one of Ben's sweatshirts over it.

"Are you excited for tonight?" I ask, a question with an obvious answer.

He nodded, squeezing my hand. "At this point, I'm just ready to go, you know? I wish we could fast forward a few hours and just do it."

"Meanwhile, I wish we could slow time down," I laugh. "I'm starting to question why they put a 20-year-old girl in a job as important as this."

"Because they see you the same way I do. A talented, smart, totally capable girl who's absolutely perfect for this job. You may not feel like you are, but trust me, everyone can see it. Do I need to break out the butterfly analogy again?"

I start to laugh, thinking back to our very first accidental coffee date, when I had asked him why he wanted to go out with a girl like me. It felt like forever ago. "No, I think I've got the point. Thank you, Ben." I reach up on my tiptoes, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

We stop at a small local coffee shop, getting Chai Tea lattes since we're feeling so fall-ish. We decide to keep roaming the streets of the city since they're breathtakingly beautiful this time of year. We end up in some small suburb, with children playing on sidewalks as their parents sat on their small front porches.

"Have you ever thought about how many kids you want someday?" Ben asked, breaking our silence.

"I want three. Two boys and a girl." I grin. "Have you ever thought about it?"

He nodded, his lips forming a small smile. "I always wanted two kids, a boy first, then a girl, and a dog. A golden retriever." He had the most pure and precious smile on his face, and I got butterflies in my stomach at the thought of him and I having a family someday.