Epilogue - "It's Like in the Movies"
(June 25, 2000)
Annie sighed and sat back with her tub of chocolate ice cream.
I'm pathetic.
Chris and the rest of NSYNC were on tour somewhere in the Midwest at that moment and she was home alone watching Audrey Hepburn movies and eating good old Ben and Jerry's.
It was not a typical depressed day. Oh no, that day was her twenty-eighth birthday. It was almost seven-thirty in the evening. And she had heard nothing from Chris.
She knew he was busy. But he couldn't call? Just a 'hey, gonna go on stage, but happy birthday'?
"Men. Big assholes. The whole lot of them. Why can't more men be like Gregory Peck? Now THAT is a man."
SJ had called to ask her to go out, but she said no, deciding instead to stay home and wait for Chris to call.
Maybe I should call SJ.
Just then, the telephone rang and Annie dived across the couch to grab it. "Hello?" She breathed.
"Hey there Mary."
"Chris! It took you long enough!" Annie shouted, but smiled despite herself.
"Long enough?" He asked.
"To call. It took you long enough," Annie explained.
"Oh, I'm sorry," he sounded confused, "Did I tell you I'd call or something?"
"No, I…assumed you would," she answered.
"Ohh…okay."
She frowned. He sounded a little too muddled for her liking. "You really don't remember, do you?"
"So I DID tell you I'd call," Chris replied.
"No, that's not it."
"So what is it, Mary? I don't get it," he pushed.
"Do you know what day it is?" Annie hinted.
"Uhh…June sometime. What does that have to do with anything?" Chris asked, sounding like he was desperately trying to understand the situation.
"And what's IN June, exactly?" Annie continued.
"Uhh…June? Nothing really. No holidays, no…OH my God! It's your birthday, isn't it?" Chris cried, as Annie heard realization hit.
"Yes, it's my birthday. And I've been waiting for you to call. You've never missed a birthday in all the time I've known you. And now that we're together, I thought…you know."
"I'm so sorry! It's so crazy here, all the days are running into one another. I've completely lost track of it all," Chris apologized.
Annie shoved a huge spoonful of ice cream into her mouth and let it completely melt in her mouth before she spoke again.
"Yeah, well, that's okay. You're busy. I understand."
"No Mary, I forgot your birthday. I can imagine you home alone sitting in your living room. Eating ice cream and watching romantic black and white movies."
Annie's eyes widened at the perfect description he'd given. "Chris, how did you…"
He cut her off. "Mary, I'm going to give you the greatest gift. If you could have ANYTHING…and keep in mind that I am a millionaire, what would you want?"
"That's easy Chris, I'd want you here," Annie answered simply.
Annie heard a click and then all she was left was, was a dial tone. "Chris? Chris?" She called into the phone.
"So you would want me here, leaning against your doorway?" A voice called behind her.
Annie spun around to see Chris, as she predicted, leaning against her doorframe. The phone and ice cream were discarded onto the table when she jumped up from the couch and ran to Chris, who met her halfway.
She wasted no time getting on her tip toes and crushing her lips to his in an electrifying kiss that strove to make up for all the time they had spent away from each other. Chris seemed shocked at first, but quickly recovered and returned the kiss with as much fervor as Annie gave it.
She moved closer, pressing herself against his chest and locked his arms around her waist, almost cementing her body to his.
When they finally broke apart, both breathing heavily, Chris held Annie's face between his hands and grinned mischievously. "If I had know that was going to happen, I would have come home a lot sooner."
Annie smiled back up at him dizzily with swollen lips, her whole world slightly over kilter from her surprise. "I can't believe you're here," she breathed in complete awe.
He ran his thumb over her bottom lip and answered, "You didn't think I'd forget your birthday, did you?"
That's when Annie smacked him across the shoulder. "That IS what I thought you jerk!"
Chris threw back his head and laughed heartily at that. "Don't tell me you haven't seen that trick in all the movies!"
"Well I wasn't thinking about that. All I was thinking about was the fact that my boyfriend forgot my birthday for the first time in eighteen years!"
"I'm sorry I made you worried, Mary," he apologized.
"Yeah, yeah," she grumbled before reaching up and kissing him again.
This time it was a slow, lingering kiss…the kind that evoked deep emotions and was beautiful enough to make a person cry.
"How did you get here? You didn't have a day off, did you?" Annie asked, when the initial shock wore off and her logic returned.
Chris chuckled. "Where have you been all day girl?"
"Right here on the couch," Annie answered, "Watching Audrey do her thang."
"What time is it?" He asked, rather abruptly in Annie's opinion.
"Umm…ten to eight," she responded.
"Ahh…perfect," he picked up the remote and flicked the channels just in time to see Kurt Loder, an MTV news VJ come on the screen for the hourly news report.
It seems that teenagers all over Illinois will be upset. A huge wind storm completely disassembled the stage that was meant to hold pop sensations NSYNC tonight for a date on their No Strings Attached World Tour. The venue plans to reschedule the concert for sometime in August. Meanwhile the members of NSYNC get a well deserved three day break before continuing up again in St. Louis.
Chris clicked off the TV and stared at Annie expectantly. "Well there ya go."
"Oh my God, you have three days off? Really!"
"Yup, the other guys are in Kentucky, but I convinced management to let me come up here. The fact that it was your birthday really helped out. It was perfect."
"It was fate," Annie added.
"Honey, you've been watching too many of these movies. It's not healthy."
Annie smiled and laid her head down on Chris' lap where they both sat on the couch. He stroked her hair soothingly. Soon her whole body became languid.
"This is the best present. I couldn't have asked for anything better."
"Well I hold on now, I haven't even given you your gift yet," Chris argued.
"This isn't it?" Annie asked.
She felt his legs shake as he laughed. "I'm gonna come all the way here and only bring myself as a gift?"
"Good enough for me."
"Well not me. Get up so you can open it."
Annie sat up and Chris dug out a small box from his jeans pocket. He handed it to her and she was about to take when she stopped.
"Hey, didn't I tell you back at the end of last year not to get me a birthday gift?" Annie asked.
Chris scrunched his face up. "I don't…oh yeah…well then, this isn't a birthday gift."
"Oh no?" Annie questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"No, this is a…two month, sixteen day anniversary gift," he responded confidently.
Annie shook her head in a amusement and snatched the box from his hand. "Just give me it."
"Oh please, don't be pretend like you don't want it."
She stuck out her tongue at him before lifting the top off the box. She gasped when she saw the ring she had torn off in a rage in the studio. But it was completely revamped. The heart shaped diamond was huge in the center with tiny rubies outlining it. The band was thicker and it sparkled magnificently in the light. But there was no mistaking it. Underneath it all, it was her ring.
"Oh my gosh, Chris, I thought I had lost this!" She exclaimed.
"I picked up after you left and was just waiting for the perfect time to give it to you," he admitted.
"This is…it's so beautiful!" She declared before slipping it onto the middle finger of her right hand.
"No," Chris said quietly.
"What do you mean, no?" Annie asked.
Reaching over, he took her right hand in his and gently tugged the ring off. Annie noticed his own hands were shaking.
He dropped that hand and picked up her other hand. Pointing to the finger next her pinky…her ring finger, he questioned, "Why don't you wear it there instead?"
His eyes timidly met hers. He saw them widen as the full impact of her words hit him. "What does that mean, Chris?" She whispered.
He opened his mouth and then closed it again. "Umm…will you laugh at me if I asked you to be my wife?"
Letting a giggle escape her lips, Annie shook her head. "I wouldn't have, but you ruined it now."
"Well how about this? Even though technically we've only been together for two and a half months, in actuality we've been together for years. We're connected in every way possible. You're already my best friend, I trust you with everything. We've experienced amazing highs and terrifying lows, and it's only made us stronger. We've already…been intimate…and I think we're pretty compatible in that category…"
"Chris!" Annie hissed.
He smiled at the blush that spread across her face and caressed her cheek lovingly. "I've still got it."
"Shut up."
"See, that! That was us…being perfect. We can laugh in a situation like this. And, I mean, when it comes down to it…I love you, Mary. It's you now, it's always been you, and it always WILL be you. I know that already. So I figure, why wait to show everybody else what we already know?"
Annie had her chin to her chest, so Chris hooked a finger under chin and lifted her face up. He saw the tears slipping down her cheeks and brushed them away with the back of his hand.
"That was beautiful," she said.
"So what do you think?" He asked again, "This finger instead?"
"Yeah," she agreed, "That finger instead."
**The End**