Love Is a Bunch of Stupid Decisions

Chapter 11

Our travels from Baltimore to Chicago were met with the first heavy snowfall of the year. It wasn't too bad, though- sitting on a slow-moving bus with a bunch of tired broadway stars gave me time to get a lot of work done. This month was going to be the busiest (and the best) one yet- with Ben's birthday on the 11th, Christmas, which I'd be going home for, and New Year's, which we'd spend in Chicago. In addition to getting work done, all this time on the road gave me time to plan out Ben's birthday.

Ben would never straight up say that he wanted a surprise party, but I knew him well enough to know that he would love to have all of the people he loves together to celebrate. Emma and I already made plans to bring his family out to Chicago, and Sky, Iain, and Josh helping spread the word about a surprise party for him that we were going to have after the show on his birthday.

Several days after we get to Chicago, I find myself in Josh and Iain's hotel room, finalizing all of the surprise party details. "Alright. So, I'll go with Ben to the show, then leave while he's performing to come bring his family up and make sure that everything is all set. Then I'll go back before the show ends, and pretend that I can't find my phone so that all of you have time to get back here and get ready. I'll call you guys on Ben's phone to ask if you've seen my phone, then again later once we've 'found it', and that's the cue that we're on our way. Ok?"

They both nod, ensuring that we're all on the same page. "Sounds like a plan," Josh smiles.

I hear the door behind me creak open, and I turn to see Ben. "What are you guys talking about?" He asks, rubbing his eyes. It was 11:00, but it was clear that he had just woken up.

"... We're going out for ice cream tonight! Want to come?" Josh asks, covering our tracks.

"Sure," He shrugs, sitting down next to me. We spend the morning talking, careful not to let anything slip about the surprise party taking place the day after tomorrow.

Two days later, my alarm wakes me up at 8:00 AM. It was an early morning, by tour life standards anyways, but my sleep schedule is so whacked out from work that my body doesn't care too much. Ben sleeps like a log right through my alarm, giving me time to get a head start on his birthday.

I start with running to a nearby coffee shop, grabbing an iced vanilla coffee for him, and a mocha for me, just like we'd always have back at our favorite spot in NYC. I head back to the hotel, placing an order for room service- French toast, which Ben loved. It wasn't necessarily a classic homemade breakfast-in-bed, but it would do.

I'm walking through the lobby when several girls stop me. "Oh my gosh! You're Charlotte!" They squeal.

"Yeah, I am," I smile, wishing that I had done my hair or at least my makeup before coming out.

"No way! We're going to see the show tonight and we're so excited. Could you sign these for us?" They say, holding out Mean Girls cast albums.

"Of course! You guys are going to love the show," I say, signing them.

"We can't wait! Oh, could you do us a favor?" One girl asks. I nod. "Could you wish Ben a happy birthday for us?"

"Of course!" I smile. We take a few pictures, and then it's back to my breakfast-in-bed mission. It's 9:15 when I arrive back at our room, and he's still sleeping peacefully. I quietly make myself look a little bit nicer, and breakfast arrives at our room around 9:45. Deciding that I didn't want our food to get cold, I decide to wake Ben up.

"Ben..." I say in a sing-song tone, carefully crawling on top of him in bed. He shifts slightly, but doesn't wake up. I kiss his cheek softly, then his neck, then his nose. He perks up now, his eyes lighting up when they see me. "Happy birthday," I whisper, kissing him again.