Ties That Bind

Chapter 17. Surprises

Days would pass by very quickly; the couple becoming more attached to one another as they did intimately. As the weeks went by, things were moving fast and though that wasn't exactly foreign---it was still crazy to think about, so they didn't think about it. The two did their best to live in the moment of their relationship; not so much thinking of when it would end, where it was going. They let the relationship proceed without evaluation and they went with it.

It was noon on a Sunday; Stevie was getting ready for a shift at the diner and she was spritzing a bit of vanilla-gardenia perfume on her neck. Applying a subtle though toasty brown shade of lipstick to her lips, she did it staring at herself from afar since she was farsighted and she could barely see anything with detail up close without her glasses. Letting off a sigh, she stood and she slipped into her cream boots---that felt like the best thing to go with her pale turquoise uniform. After getting her shoes on, she took another look at herself in the vanity mirror and she kind of scrunched her hair, fumbling with it to fall right. Waving it off, she turned and she grabbed her purse and coat.

As the month of December approached, it was starting to get chilly, so she was wearing many more layers than she would.

When she made her way to exit her side door, she felt arms wrap around her from behind as she pulled the wood door shut.

"I have a surprise for you," he mumbled in her ear as he kissed the side of her face.

"Oh, yeah?" she smirked, turning her head to look up at him. "What's that, lover?" She ushered him back so she could take the step down from her cement steps and she spun around to greet him properly.

Pulling away from her loving kiss, "Follow me---" he took her by the hand and he guided her to the front of her place.

There, a brand new car awaited her.

"Oh, my God," she kind of mumbled. "Lindsey..." she paused.

"Well, you like it?" he came forward to look at her stunned expression.

"It's amazing, honey, but... Why spend so much money for me, on something like that?" she kind of gestured.

"Steph, your car is crap."

"Hey, she has feelings---" she arched a brow. "She's good still---she works."

"When I jump her," he rolled his eyes. "Doll face, your car is starting to have trouble going in reverse. I don't see how that is exactly safe and your engine is shit."

"I know that," she sighed, shutting her eyes because she couldn't argue that. "It's just... You shouldn't have spent money like this on me."

"I wanted to," he came forward and he gave her a kiss. "I want you to be safe and I want you to have it," he stuck the keys in her hand. "Also, you had said you were gonna get the engine replaced, but with arising issues such as the reverse gear---I figured that's a waste of money and I should just get you something new that that will last."

She stared at him for a long time and then back at the new vehicle.

"Just take it to work today---see how you like it and if you hate it, we'll get rid of it."

"Lindsey, I don't hate it and I'll bet it drives like a dream so you're really giving me no choice... But I do hate that we didn't really get to discuss this."

"It was a surprise," he mumbled.

"An extravagant one," she assured.

He sighed a little and kind of stepped back.

This wasn't the first tiff they had; others had been about small things such as him buying her things and her not taking the greatest of care of herself during the last part of her semester since she was stressed out and sleeping even less.