Post by Matt on Jul 2, 2023 13:15:49 GMT -6
It’s been over two years since the first time Charles had laid eyes on Holly back at the Bien Habille store in Miami and that’s why he’s brought her back there today, back to where it all began for them. The circumstances were a little different this time however, whereas the first time they had met Holly had been working there and Charles was a first time customer. This time, the store was closed and the two were just coming in to reminisce about old times. Holly having the keys and the alarm code made it rather easy to accomplish without any trouble, and once they were inside and the lights came on Holly was treated to a sight of flowers adorning the top of each clothing rack, petals on the floor leading a path towards the back and a spotlight shining down on the two of them.
“Did you do all of this?” Holly’s eyes are wide open as she takes in all of the nice little gestures of love that have been placed all around the inside of the store. She brings both of her hands up to her mouth to hide the gasp, clearly touched and overwhelmed by what he’s done, before she turns back to look at Charles where she quickly wraps her arms around him. “This is so sweet.”
“Well I had a little help, but yeah, it was sort of my idea.” After a quick glance around the room himself, as if he was scanning for any imperfections and finding none, he gently takes Holly’s hand and begins to walk her down the path of petals. As they take each step, the spotlight slowly follows them through the store. “Do you remember when we first met here? I was such a mess, I didn't even know socks and a shirt matching was a thing.”
“Yes, but you’ve really mastered the art of colour combinations now.” Holly laughs a little bit as she takes her free hand and uses it to tug at the side of his shirt in a playful manner. “I had no idea of all the great things that would come after we first met, but I’m glad we did.”
“So am I” He smiles down at her as they continue to walk through the store, the spotlight following them from above. They come across a shelf that’s holding a few pairs of pants and a note carefully placed on top, Charles stopping their momentum and looking at it. “Why, it would appear that someone has left something here, perhaps we should look at it?”
“Now I wonder who did that…” Holly is smirking a little bit, clearly amused by this entire experience that he has put together for her, and she lets go of his hand in order to reach for the little note placed on the shelf. “Someone clearly cares a lot about me to go through all of this trouble.”
“Someone clearly does care a lot about you, I might even suggest more than one someone” Charles reaches for the note and holds it out to her, face up. When she takes it and opens it up, she reads it aloud.
“Thank you for noticing me. Thank you for being there for me. Thank you for accepting me.” Holly’s smile grows bigger as she finishes reading the note, now looking up at Charles. “It isn’t Valentine’s Day, why all this special treatment just for me?”
“Just for you? I think you may be selling yourself a little short Holly…besides, the trail continues. We can’t be sure what this is all about until we get to the end, right?”
“By all means..” Holly giggles a little bit as she makes a sweeping gesture with one hand. “Lead the way, good sir.”
“Yes ma’am” Charles answers with a smile and begins to lead Holly back down the path. Walking through the shirt section, Charles stops at a display and turns to Holly. “This is the very rack where you showed me my first purchase of yours, do you remember what you said?”
“Do you have a permit for those guns?” Holly laughs as she wiggles her eyebrows a bit in a slightly suggestive manner, clearly making a joke, before she puts a more serious expression on her face. “I’m not sure I do remember to be honest, but I have a feeling you do.”
He couldn’t help but chuckle at her joke, nodding along. “Yeah, I do remember the first thing you said to me, and as much as I’d like to say it was a romantic thing but I believe your words were ‘Don’t you dare buy that shirt if you’re planning on wearing it with those pants’.”
“You were a little bit fashion clueless, it’s true…” Holly gives his arm an affectionate squeeze as she shakes her head, clearly better remembering their first meeting now, “...but also very willing to learn some pointers from a certain fashion designer.”
“I'd have been very willing to learn from anyone at that point but it was quite beneficial that it fell in your lap, so to speak.” He smiles, reaching over on the rack and plucking something out of the pocket, almost like it had been planted there ahead of time.
Holly leans forward slightly, curious about what else he had put together for this little surprise, the smile growing on her face as the excitement becomes more obvious. “What do you have there?”
“Oh this?” He asks with a coy smile, holding up a small piece of paper. He unfolds it and looks over it. “It appears to be a little map. If we follow it, maybe it'll lead to treasure?” He shows her the note with an X in the employee only section, giving her a quick kiss before leading her down the path towards the doors, all the while the spotlight following them along.
Holly follows him filled with excitement as she practically bounces along with every step, she gives his hand a squeeze as they are walking, pulling in closer to wrap her other hand around his arm so that she’s keeping a firm hold on him. “When did you even find the time to put all of this together?”
He leans into her as they walk, making it easier for her to hold him in stride. “Well you've been pretty busy with your work lately so Hayden and I had some time to plot things out, you know how much he loves surprises.” Charles answers as he uses his free hand now to push open the door to the dark employee’s lounge. “Ladies first.”
“Oh wow, you even had Hayden’s help, I’m impressed.” Holly gives him a small smirk before she steps inside of the room, looking back towards Charles. “Did you want me to turn on the light?”
Charles nods and Holly flicks the light on, though instead of all the lights turning on, there's just a spotlight shining down on Holly and the rest of the lights in the store turn off. She looks around the room and when she fully rotates, she now finds Charles down on one knee in front of her, holding an opened black box with a diamond ring shining in the spotlight.
“Holly Olivia Wakefield, ever since I met you in this very store I knew there wasn't anyone else I'd be as excited about meeting. Every day with you and Hayden has been a blessing in my life and I can't think of a more fulfilling existence than making the two of you happy for the rest of my life. Will you marry me?”
Holly brings up both of her hands to her mouth as she gasps out loud in surprise. The sight of Charles bending down on one knee as he holds out a ring, brings tears of happiness to her face, and all she can do is nod her head before she even dares to speak. “...of course I will!”
Holly cries out happily when she finally finds her voice before she rushes to wrap her arms around him in a big embrace, almost taking him down to the floor with her, as she buries her face up against his shoulder.
Charles had a pretty good idea of what her answer was going to be before he asked but there’s this wave of relief nevertheless as she exclaims her consent and embraces him. He gets to his feet, holding her under the knees as he stands so she’s perfectly cradled across his chest. “I’m so happy…I’ve got us reservations at your favorite place just down the street if you’d like to debut your new accessory. You can also find something here that matches perfectly if you’re so inclined.”
“I think you need to put it on my finger first before we make any other decisions…” Holly laughs as she finds herself placed back on her feet where she holds out her hand for him to place the brand new diamond so she can proudly show it off as much as she pleases.
“Right, of course.” He smiles and holds the box up so she can witness the historic moment clearly. Taking the ring out of the box, he slides it over her extended index finger, fitting perfectly. “Well? What do you think?”
Holly looks down at the ring on her finger, taking in the sight, letting go of the breath she had been holding as she brings her hand closer towards her face. She makes sure to get a better look at the ring before holding her hand up high above, right under the spotlight. “It’s perfect.”
Charles smiles and gives Holly a long, passionate kiss, bending her backwards in the process, her blonde hair flowing down to the ground. After a few moments, she’s brought back up. “I'm going to make sure you're always going to have to accessorize with it.” They both smile and share another kiss to commemorate the happy occasion.
“Did you do all of this?” Holly’s eyes are wide open as she takes in all of the nice little gestures of love that have been placed all around the inside of the store. She brings both of her hands up to her mouth to hide the gasp, clearly touched and overwhelmed by what he’s done, before she turns back to look at Charles where she quickly wraps her arms around him. “This is so sweet.”
“Well I had a little help, but yeah, it was sort of my idea.” After a quick glance around the room himself, as if he was scanning for any imperfections and finding none, he gently takes Holly’s hand and begins to walk her down the path of petals. As they take each step, the spotlight slowly follows them through the store. “Do you remember when we first met here? I was such a mess, I didn't even know socks and a shirt matching was a thing.”
“Yes, but you’ve really mastered the art of colour combinations now.” Holly laughs a little bit as she takes her free hand and uses it to tug at the side of his shirt in a playful manner. “I had no idea of all the great things that would come after we first met, but I’m glad we did.”
“So am I” He smiles down at her as they continue to walk through the store, the spotlight following them from above. They come across a shelf that’s holding a few pairs of pants and a note carefully placed on top, Charles stopping their momentum and looking at it. “Why, it would appear that someone has left something here, perhaps we should look at it?”
“Now I wonder who did that…” Holly is smirking a little bit, clearly amused by this entire experience that he has put together for her, and she lets go of his hand in order to reach for the little note placed on the shelf. “Someone clearly cares a lot about me to go through all of this trouble.”
“Someone clearly does care a lot about you, I might even suggest more than one someone” Charles reaches for the note and holds it out to her, face up. When she takes it and opens it up, she reads it aloud.
“Thank you for noticing me. Thank you for being there for me. Thank you for accepting me.” Holly’s smile grows bigger as she finishes reading the note, now looking up at Charles. “It isn’t Valentine’s Day, why all this special treatment just for me?”
“Just for you? I think you may be selling yourself a little short Holly…besides, the trail continues. We can’t be sure what this is all about until we get to the end, right?”
“By all means..” Holly giggles a little bit as she makes a sweeping gesture with one hand. “Lead the way, good sir.”
“Yes ma’am” Charles answers with a smile and begins to lead Holly back down the path. Walking through the shirt section, Charles stops at a display and turns to Holly. “This is the very rack where you showed me my first purchase of yours, do you remember what you said?”
“Do you have a permit for those guns?” Holly laughs as she wiggles her eyebrows a bit in a slightly suggestive manner, clearly making a joke, before she puts a more serious expression on her face. “I’m not sure I do remember to be honest, but I have a feeling you do.”
He couldn’t help but chuckle at her joke, nodding along. “Yeah, I do remember the first thing you said to me, and as much as I’d like to say it was a romantic thing but I believe your words were ‘Don’t you dare buy that shirt if you’re planning on wearing it with those pants’.”
“You were a little bit fashion clueless, it’s true…” Holly gives his arm an affectionate squeeze as she shakes her head, clearly better remembering their first meeting now, “...but also very willing to learn some pointers from a certain fashion designer.”
“I'd have been very willing to learn from anyone at that point but it was quite beneficial that it fell in your lap, so to speak.” He smiles, reaching over on the rack and plucking something out of the pocket, almost like it had been planted there ahead of time.
Holly leans forward slightly, curious about what else he had put together for this little surprise, the smile growing on her face as the excitement becomes more obvious. “What do you have there?”
“Oh this?” He asks with a coy smile, holding up a small piece of paper. He unfolds it and looks over it. “It appears to be a little map. If we follow it, maybe it'll lead to treasure?” He shows her the note with an X in the employee only section, giving her a quick kiss before leading her down the path towards the doors, all the while the spotlight following them along.
Holly follows him filled with excitement as she practically bounces along with every step, she gives his hand a squeeze as they are walking, pulling in closer to wrap her other hand around his arm so that she’s keeping a firm hold on him. “When did you even find the time to put all of this together?”
He leans into her as they walk, making it easier for her to hold him in stride. “Well you've been pretty busy with your work lately so Hayden and I had some time to plot things out, you know how much he loves surprises.” Charles answers as he uses his free hand now to push open the door to the dark employee’s lounge. “Ladies first.”
“Oh wow, you even had Hayden’s help, I’m impressed.” Holly gives him a small smirk before she steps inside of the room, looking back towards Charles. “Did you want me to turn on the light?”
Charles nods and Holly flicks the light on, though instead of all the lights turning on, there's just a spotlight shining down on Holly and the rest of the lights in the store turn off. She looks around the room and when she fully rotates, she now finds Charles down on one knee in front of her, holding an opened black box with a diamond ring shining in the spotlight.
“Holly Olivia Wakefield, ever since I met you in this very store I knew there wasn't anyone else I'd be as excited about meeting. Every day with you and Hayden has been a blessing in my life and I can't think of a more fulfilling existence than making the two of you happy for the rest of my life. Will you marry me?”
Holly brings up both of her hands to her mouth as she gasps out loud in surprise. The sight of Charles bending down on one knee as he holds out a ring, brings tears of happiness to her face, and all she can do is nod her head before she even dares to speak. “...of course I will!”
Holly cries out happily when she finally finds her voice before she rushes to wrap her arms around him in a big embrace, almost taking him down to the floor with her, as she buries her face up against his shoulder.
Charles had a pretty good idea of what her answer was going to be before he asked but there’s this wave of relief nevertheless as she exclaims her consent and embraces him. He gets to his feet, holding her under the knees as he stands so she’s perfectly cradled across his chest. “I’m so happy…I’ve got us reservations at your favorite place just down the street if you’d like to debut your new accessory. You can also find something here that matches perfectly if you’re so inclined.”
“I think you need to put it on my finger first before we make any other decisions…” Holly laughs as she finds herself placed back on her feet where she holds out her hand for him to place the brand new diamond so she can proudly show it off as much as she pleases.
“Right, of course.” He smiles and holds the box up so she can witness the historic moment clearly. Taking the ring out of the box, he slides it over her extended index finger, fitting perfectly. “Well? What do you think?”
Holly looks down at the ring on her finger, taking in the sight, letting go of the breath she had been holding as she brings her hand closer towards her face. She makes sure to get a better look at the ring before holding her hand up high above, right under the spotlight. “It’s perfect.”
Charles smiles and gives Holly a long, passionate kiss, bending her backwards in the process, her blonde hair flowing down to the ground. After a few moments, she’s brought back up. “I'm going to make sure you're always going to have to accessorize with it.” They both smile and share another kiss to commemorate the happy occasion.
