"Hello?"

"Sweet Meggy would you be my sweet love for a lifetime?"

"You know I hate it when you call me ‘Meggy.’"

Justin sighed. "I know but it fit the song and the song fit you to me so I ran with it."

"Just like you ran on with that sentence?"

"You caught me. I don’t speak perfectly."

Meghann laughed at her boyfriend. I wonder when he’ll bring up the fact that he forgot our anniversary yesterday? "So what are you doing?"

"Oh, I’m figuring out how to make up for missing such an important day yesterday."

"So what did you miss that was so important yesterday?"

"It was Mom’s birthday and I forgot to send her a card, or even a gift, and now I’m trying to figure out how to make it up to her."

"Oh." I guess he still doesn’t remember that our third anniversary was yesterday, too.

Justin smiled at her distanced tone. "Yeah, I’m having a hard time figuring out what to get. I’m thinking about a ring, but I’m not sure."

"I’m sure you’ll think of something. You think of everything." Meghann sighed. Well, almost everything.

"I know something will pop into my head. Actually, I called to see if you’d do me a favor." Justin turned around and straightened his tie in the mirror.

"I swear if you didn’t tell me you loved me I’d think you’d be using me to do errands for you."

"Aww, Meg, you know I love you more than life itself. And I can’t imagine continuing my life without you."

Then how can you forget our anniversary? "Oh, really?" she asked instead.

"Yup. Who else would run out for coffee when he boyfriend is too scared to go get it himself? Or what other girlfriend would go to a warehouse to pick up a part for her boyfriend’s ever breaking down car?"

Meghann sighed and picked up a pen. "Where’s this warehouse?"

"It’s not that far. Right by the river. So you’ll do it?"

"Of course I’m going to do it. I don’t want to be dragging your sorry, albeit cute, butt all over town when you’re home."

"Aww, that’s so thoughtful of you to say. Anyway, you can pick up the part at six tonight."

"What makes you think I don’t have plans tonight?"

"Am I there?"

"No."

"Then you mustn’t be doing anything." Justin smirked.

"Why, oh why, do I have to have such a sarcastic boyfriend?"

"Because you love me," Justin replied simply.

"You got me. I love you."

"So you’ll pick up the part tonight?"

"Yeah, all right. When was the pick-up time? Six?"

"Yup. Now don’t be late. They close a little bit after six, and they won’t wait for you."

"Yes, sir. I’ll be there with bells on."

"Thanks, hon. You don’t know how much it means to me that you go to the warehouse. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart."

Meghann sat down and placed her shoes on the floor. "From the bottom of your heart? Whatever is going on at the warehouse must be pretty important."

"Yes, it is important. Well, I have to go. Talk to you soon, sweetie."

"So when are you coming home?"

"I’ll be home before you know it. I’m going to be late if I don’t leave now. Thanks again for doing this for me." Justin smiled as he paced in his room.

"Anytime, anything for you. You know that. I’ll talk to you tomorrow?"

"Yup. Bye, Meggy."

"Justin!" Meghann exclaimed but she was met with a dialtone. "Damn him. And he never once said something about missing our anniversary. He should be lucky that I’m doing this favor for him, considering."

~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

Meghann looked at the address in her hands, then back at the building. "This is where Justin told me to go, but it doesn’t look like anyone’s here," she said to herself as she neared the door. She knocked, and when no one answered she turned to leave, but was stopped by the unlocking of the door. She stepped in the semi-dark warehouse. "Hello?"

"Anyone here? I’m here to pick up a part for Justin Jeffre. Hello?" Meghann’s back stiffened as a pair of hands covered her eyes.

"Don’t scream. It’s me," a familiar deep voice breathed against her neck.

"Justin?"

"Yeah, it’s me. Don’t turn around." He kissed the side of her neck. "Didn’t think I’d forget our anniversary, did you?"

"Well… Are you going to take your hands off me anytime soon?"

"I love the confidence in me your voice just held when you let me know that you thought I’d forget one of the most important days in my life. I know the actual date was yesterday, but I couldn’t get away until today. I hope you forgive me. Please?"

"You’ll know as soon as you take your hands off my eyes."

Justin smiled. "Not yet. When we get further inside."

"Come on, Just, how am I supposed to walk if I can’t see?"

"Easy." He closed the distance between them. "Let my body lead yours."

Meghann swallowed at his nearness. "All right. Let’s just go because I want to be able to see you."

Justin’s laugh ran through her body. "Are you saying that the only reason why you like me is for my looks?"

"No. At this point I can’t think of any of the reasons why I’m attracted to you. Maybe if I could see…" She felt his body move slightly left and followed.

"Does this help?" Justin softly kissed the bottom of her earlobe before removing his hands from her eyes and lowering them to her waist.

"Oh my god. Justin."

Justin watched as Meghann took in the sight in front of her. White lace was draped over the pipes and leftover warehouse equipment. He had spread a layer of red satin over a large portion of the cement floor. In the center of the satin sat a small round table with both a white and a red satin tablecloth, two tall burning candles and two covered plates. He walked behind one of the chairs that sat beside the table.

"Would the lady like a seat?"

"Oh my. He’s being a gentleman. Better take it while it lasts." She curtsied before him. "I’d love to."

Justin took her hand as she sat and kissed it briefly. He began to take the covers off the plates. "And now for the main course."

"Chicken parm. My favorite. You didn’t cook this yourself, did you?" Meghann raised an eyebrow at her boyfriend.

"Oh, c’mon, I’m not that bad of a chef." Justin sat down. "But, no, I didn’t cook this. I got it from Rachel’s."

"Wow, my favorite meal from my favorite restaurant. You sure know how to make a girl feel special."

"Only you make this part of me come alive. Oh, wait." Justin jumped up and disappeared into the darkness. A few seconds later soft music filled the air. Justin reappeared and sat back down. "Much better. Bon appetit."

Meghann raised her glass and the two began eating. They made small talk during the meal. When they were finished Justin cleared their plates. Meghann placed her napkin on the table and watched Justin’s body as he busied himself with something right out of her view.

"Whatcha doing over there, J?"

He held up a finger. "Hold on and be patient and you’ll find out."

"But what if I don’t want to hold on." She began to stand but he stopped her before she could take a step.

"That’s one thing about you. You are the most impatient and curious person I’ve ever met, but I’m not complaining. Now close your eyes."

"Again with not being able to see?"

"It’s just for a few seconds, not even thirty. Plus, that means that we have to be this close again." Justin stepped behind her and pressed her back against him. "Now will you close your eyes or do I have to cover them again?"

"I’ll be a good girl and close my own eyes." Justin felt her sigh against him.

He placed his hands over her eyes. "I still don’t believe you. I know you too well. Like I said, you’re the most curious person I know. Ever hear that curiosity killed the cat?"

"Good thing I’m not a cat. Are we almost there?"

"Yup. Now before I remove my hand and do what I have to do I just want to say something." Justin took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly.

"What is it, honey?"

"First I want to say that I’m sorry for not calling you yesterday. I know that if I talked to you I would have said something about tonight."

"I do believe you’re forgiven. We haven’t had a romantic dinner, just the two of us, for a very long time."

Justin placed his chin on her shoulder. "That’s another thing I want to apologize for. I know my job restricts what we can do and all, but I’ve been neglecting you. I’m sor-"

"You don’t have to say anything about that. I know you’re schedule is hectic and-," Meghann interrupted him, only to be interrupted herself.

"But I could have called more. You’re an angel for putting up with everything these past three years, especially this last one when we really began to hit it big." He nuzzled the back of her ear and kissed it before walking out of the lighted area. Another song began to play. "Please forgive how I’ve been acting lately," he asked her as she stepped into his arms.

"So am I forgiven? At least a little bit?"

Meghann nodded her head against his shoulder. By this time the were basically just standing in each other’s arms, not moving. Justin lifted her chin so their eyes could meet.

Meghann raised her left hand and ran her fingertips down the side of his face. "Has anyone ever told you that you have the most expressive, not to mention beautiful, blue eyes ever?"

"No, not ever." Justin chuckled as he shook his head. He took her hand off his face and began caressing her fingers. "What did I ever do to deserve you?" He sighed as she laid her head back on his shoulder. "Whatever it was had to be good. Not only did I fall in love with the most beautiful woman, my mom even likes her. Now that’s impressive."

"That’s right. She also loves the fact that we got together at her birthday party three years ago. I was embarrassed that my aunt decided to take it upon herself to fix me up with a date for her friend’s birthday, but I took one look at you playing with the neighborhood kids, and I fell head over heals."

"Well, I’m glad I was the one to be able to catch you. You know what? This hand looks kinda bare. Especially this finger," Justin kissed one of her knuckles before disappearing in the darkness again.

Meghann looked down at her hand. What in the world does he mean that my hand looks bare, especially this finger? Meghann thought to herself as she looked at her hand. Why would one stand out more than the others? Why would my left ring finger stand out from the rest… Shock overtook her body as she realized what she just thought.

Justin stood in the shadows, watching realization spread across Meghann’s features. Good. I can see that she caught my drift. Now for the kill. Justin walked slowly toward her. "Ready for more?"

"More what?" she asked in a shaky voice. Meghann looked up as he neared her, her heart speeding up with every step he took.

"More time with me. Say…about a lifetime full of time." Justin lowered himself onto one knee and withdrew an arm from behind him and showed her the open jewelry box. He smiled at her wide eyes and continued. "As the first line of the song we just danced to said; I can’t imagine life without you. At this point I don’t even want to try to. I don’t think I can. Emotionally, you’re already a part of my family. My mother’s been bugging me about making it official since about the day we met, but I was never ready. Until now."

"Ready to what?" Meghann closed her eyes and prayed the words coming out of his mouth were real.

Justin took the ring out of the box and held it at the end of her finger. "Ready to admit defeat. To admit that I have found the one woman I want to spend the rest of my days next to, the one I can’t live a moment without. As I said I can’t picture living this life without you. I need you to keep me sane when things are getting out of hand and to add insanity to my life when it gets too boring. What I’ve been saying basically can be summed up in one question. Meghann Sullivan, will you marry me?"

Meghann laughed through her tears and began wiping at the tears that now fell down his cheeks. She took a few deep breaths until she felt capable of speaking.

"I would be honored to marry you, Justin Jeffre. You have captured my heart and my soul. I, too, can’t imagine living without being able to call you mine. To be able to say that, yes, that you Justin, decided that you can’t live without me and also tell them I feel the same way about you."

Justin grabbed her hand and placed the ring on her finger. It took him a few tries because both their hands were shaking, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was the fact that they were about to start a whole new aspect to their relationship. An aspect that they knew would change them forever, and they were willing to accept that change with no holds. Justin held onto her hand as he stood up and pulled her close.

"I love you. Meghann. I’ll make sure you’ll never regret this decision. I know it’ll be tough with my job, but we’ll make it work, we’ll-" Justin began talking but was cut off by Meghann’s lips on his. He cupped her face in his hands and was surprised he was still standing on his own free will his knees felt so weak. He gave a soft moan of satisfaction as she pulled away.

"Talk about nervous rambling." Meghann laughed and squeezed his hands. "I know everything will be okay, J. I have never once regretted any of the past three years so I don’t foretell regretting spending the rest of my life with you. Everything will work out. I promise."

Justin kissed her forehead. "I know it will. With you by my side anything’s possible."

"And I’ll be here forever." Meghann locked their pinkies and began swinging their arms together slightly.

"Forever is my promise to you. From this day forward I’m going to be standing next to you. I like the sound of that. Don’t you?" Justin looked down to find her eyes closed.

"I like the sound of that." She opened her eyes and stared into his. "How about we seal it with a kiss?"