Emerald Eyes

57 - Bottle of Sand

I found Anna in the kitchen just as Julian said. As she noticed me, she gave me a hug: "Heyy, Line! You're finally here. So good to see you, girl!" "Good to see you too!", I answered, "You look gorgeous. That dress is amazing on you!" Anna was wearing a dark red neck-holder dress and her favorite necklace. "Aww thank you!", she smiled, "To be honest, I wanted it to be something special for Julian's birthday." "It definitely is!", I assured her, "I'm sure he loves it on you. You look stunning." "Speaking of him, do you think we should give him our present before the others arrive? I kind of wanna use the moment now that we still have him to ourselves.", Anna suggested. "Sure thing!", I agreed, "Let me just quickly go and get Martijn!" I walked over to the living room and I grabbed Martijn's hand: "Hey honey, I need you to come with me for a second." Martijn smiled and followed me out of the room: "What's up, beautiful?", he asked when we were out on the corridor where Julian couldn't hear us anymore. "We want to give our present to Julian before the other guests arrive. Anna worked so hard on it, so I guess she wants that special moment just for us and not in front of all the people.", I answered. "Awesome.", Martijn said, "Let's go then." I stopped him for a second. "Honey? Thank you again for contributing so much to the present. I know it means the world to Anna to go on that trip with Julian and us. She couldn't really afford it otherwise... So we both really appreciate it.", I said and placed a little kiss on his cheek. The three of us were taking Julian on a weekend trip to Ibiza in two weeks from now. No shows, no schedule, just free time. It was Martijn's idea and he had been the one to make sure it was all possible also financially. Anna had worked hard on the present itself. She took a see-through glass bottle and filled it with sand, made a few little palm trees herself and painted the bottle neck like the sky. Martijn gave me a shy smile, I knew he didn't really like to talk about money-related things, but it had to be said. "Baby, you know I really don't like to talk about stuff like that. But I'm just glad I can make it possible for us to go on that trip together. I'm so looking forward to spending some time you, especially, but Anna and Julian as well of course.", he answered and twirled me around in my dress, "You look stunning tonight, baby girl. Can't believe you're mine." Martijn pulled me into a passionate kiss, but after a bit I pulled away: "Come oooon... Let's go now." We then met up with Anna who held the wrapped present in her hand and asked: "Hey you two lovebirds. Ready to go?" We looked at each other and nodded our heads. Then the three of us went back to the living room where we found Julian. Anna and I light up some sparklers and we sang happy birthday for Julian together. After that, Anna stepped forward and said: "Sooo... We have a little present for you, Julian. It's from the three of us and I really hope you like it... You're really important to all of us and we..." "I guess we just hope you like it. Happy birthday, Julian!", I jumped in to help Anna out who was at a loss of words. Julian had a big smile on his face and accepted the present from Anna. He unwrapped it and opened the box that contained the bottle. "Wooow...", he said, totally impressed as he took a closer look at the bottle, "What's that? Did you make this, Anna? It looks amazing!" "I did.", she smiled proudly, "And thiiis... Is your ticket to a weekend trip to Ibiza with the three of us! Martijn helped us out a little and made sure you had no shows booked... so that way, we can all relax, enjoy the sun and spend some time together." "Ahhh that is awesome! Thank you so much guys!", Julian smiled. He then pulled Anna in close and gave her a quick peck on the forehead. Martijn and I looked at each other, smiled and knew exactly what the other one was thinking in that moment. Julian then came over to us and gave both of us a hug: "Thanks guys, it's really very much appreciated. I can't wait to spend some time with you guys in the sun!" Before we could say anything, the doorbell rang and the first few guests arrived for the party. Martijn and Julian went to greet them and I stayed behind with Anna. "I'm absolutely gonna kill you both if you guys take much longer to become official, I swear!", I chuckled, "I mean... That forehead kiss... Like come on!" "I knooow...", Anna said and hid her face in her hands, smiling still, "I love it when he does that. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside." "It's so cute... And he loved how you designed the present. Told you so!", I smiled. We then hugged and walked over to the living room, where Julian and Martijn introduced us to a whole bunch of guys they knew back from their days at music school. The guys quickly got the party started and more and more people started to fill the house. Friends, colleagues and a few of Julian's family members. Julian and Anna had prepared a whole bunch of snacks and drinks for the guests and everything looked amazing. We also found out once more that music people really knew how to party. Julian's DJ friends took over control on the party playlist and everybody had a great, the dancefloor filling up quickly. Julian seemed to have a great time and Martijn as well. I was so happy to see him all buzzing, re-connecting with friends he didn't get to see that often and that he got to share stories from all the crazy things he got to experience every day. He really deserved it.