Taking on the World, Together

((OOC: This thread is closed to Josu_T and ultimate_nerdslut. There will be others invited to join for certain times as guest writers. If you are interested in being a guest writer, find the OOC thread and let us know.))

Jason Winters happily placed the last few boxes up on the shelves. He was done work for another day. He moved from the backstock of his section to the break room and sat for a minute. He was very glad to have the job. It was working in the bulk foods department of a grocery store. He liked it for a number of reasons. The first was that it provided some much needed money for school. The second reason was because in bulk foods he was able to work at his own pace and do what he felt needed to be done in the day. It wasn't constantly asking for a new job from a supervisor, since he was often the only one there in bulk at any time. The shifts matched up for a couple of hours a day at most. Yet the reason he liked the job most was because it was working in the same store as his girlfriend.

He finished a glass of water and then got up from his seat. He put away his apron and gathered his things to go home. On the way out he spoke with his co-worker in bulk. They discussed the section mostly, until Jason was just about ready to go. Then they started talking about personal lives. He asked about his friends life, and then the question came. He grinned. "Tonight I am going to propose to her, just don't tell her. I want it to be a surprise. I just love her so much, I can't wait for her to be my wife." He smiled and then left.

As he walked out the doors he purposely didn't look at his girlfriend. He wanted her to wonder if something was wrong. He grinned and went to his car. He drove home first and picked up everything he needed. He then made a very important phone call. It was to her parents. He'd spoken to her father a month earlier, but he wanted to talk to him before finally going through with it. It may have been a bit old-fashioned, but he wanted to confirm her father's permission to marry her.

When the phone call was over he was very happy. He went and continued setting up the evening. He made phone calls to a number of friends and a few other places. He wanted to make sure it all went perfectly. He started to drive all over the city. He went into various buildings and handed small packages to different people. Everyone seemed excited to help out.

His final call was to her best friend. He made sure that she would get his girlfriend to all the locations and to the final spot. He hung up and then went to his final location. He got everything set up and made sure it looked absolutely perfect. When it was ready he went into the bathroom and got dressed in his best suit. By now she would probably have found his first stage and be well on her way. He combed his short brown hair, making sure it was just the way she liked it. His 6'0" average frame filled out his suit perfectly. It had been made just for him a couple of years ago, at his girlfriend's suggestion. It was a very dark blue suit with white pinstriping. He wore a purple striped shirt under it with a purple tie. He had a matching pocket square and made sure every aspect was perfect. His blue eyes looked at himself in the mirror and made sure that every aspect was exactly how she would want it. When he was ready he went back out of the bathroom, sat, and waited for the calls from people telling him she had reached each stop on her journey.

It started at his place, which he had left unlocked. He hoped she would wonder what was up with him and go in seach of him. He ignored any phone calls from her. He knew eventually she would call her best friend who knew everything and the two would start on their way. In his apartment they would find a note written by someone else telling him to meet them at the coffee shop that he often went to with her. She would go to the coffee shop and learn that he had been there, but he and someone else had left and gone to their favorite restaurant. Once there she would learn that she was really on a scavenger hunt of sorts. She would recieve her first small package with instructions on it saying not to open it until she was told to.

Clues would lead her to the locations of many of their most memorable dates. He had spent two weeks planning it all and he wanted her to have a nice trip down memory lane. As she neared the end she would go to the location of their first kiss, to where they had their first dance together, to where their first date had been. Then she would be instructed to go to where they had first met. That was the biggest test. They had met once, but hadn't spoken to eachother, and then on a day some time later, they had been properly introduced. He was at the first location. It was out of town at a friend's cabin by a lake.

He had the cabin set up just for them. Candles were everywhere, getting the perfect lighting in the room. He had their song ready to play on the stereo. He had even made sure everything was in her favorite colours. He had some of her favorite foods and desserts ready on the kitchen table so they could eat dinner together. It was all ready for them and ready for him to finally ask her to marry him. They had been together for close to two years and they had been the best two years of his life. He loved her more than anything and he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, that much he knew for sure.

Olivia Hughes loved her life. It wasn't her dream to work as a cashier at a grocery store but she really enjoyed it. She loved getting to talk to people all day and not having to be in charge. There was something freeing about getting to just come into work, doing her job, and being able to just leave it there in the store because she didn't have to worry about getting something ordered... or things coming in on time... or god forbid a walk with the managers. Olivia ran a hand through her long brown hair and glanced up at the clock to see that it was almost time for Jason to come say goodbye.

Actually, he should have already been standing there. She glanced around to see if she could spot him shopping or maybe talking to someone. Instead she spotted him leaving.

He was leaving?!

Without saying goodbye?!

Immediately she felt like crying. Of course this was not an option, she still had another hour of work, and getting all pouty about her boyfriend forgetting to say goodbye was not going to win her any popularity contests with the other checkers or the managers. She tried to push it from her mind but anyone who knew her usual cheerful disposition and rarely saw her without a smile, could tell that she was upset as she tried to hide her feelings. Of course pushing these feelings down led her to getting a little flustered.

He had never forgotten to say goodbye before.

The last hour of her shift was frustrating and it seemed like every customer had some kind of an attitude with her or some problem with their order. It was probably just because she was upset. Of course the hour seemed to go by as slowly as possible. Once her shift was over she pulled out her phone and called him. Part of her was frustrated, the other part worried. He never just took off like that. She quickly got upset with the multiple unanswered calls. She closed her eyes as she sat in her car in the parking lot and stared at her phone as his voicemail started up again.

She hit the little red button to end the call.

She quickly called Becca.

It was a quick conversation that left Olivia more confused than anything else. She headed to the apartment that she shared with Becca. The young woman was waiting there and a quick change of clothes and some prompting found Olivia and Becca headed to Jason's place. What ensued was an adventure, that made the young woman smile at the thought of her boyfriend setting all of this up for her. He wanted a romantic weekend or just a night, because she was pretty sure that he normally worked the next day, but she could have been wrong. Olivia knew immediately where she needed to go. Her mind thought back to all the time they had spent together over the past two years, she loved him and while she had been hurt with his seemingly cool nature earlier today, it was clear to her now that he was a wonderful man and she was more than a lucky girl.

She remembered the day that they had realized they both worked at the same store. She smiled thinking about him teasing her about getting transferred there on purpose, of course it was not true but life it would seem had thrown her a bone when she had been moved from a store she liked working in, to a store she had never set foot in before.

She knocked on the door to the cabin at the lake.

She had a bag that Becca had secretly packed an mentioned later when she found out where she was going to be. She waited a moment before turning the door knob slowly and letting herself in. Her eyes fell on the soft lighting of the candles and the music that filled the room. She could feel goosebumps rising up on her skin as she thought about the first time they had heard this song, how sweetly he had kissed her, how he had made her feel as this song played.

She dropped her back quietly to the floor and made her way out of the hall to see what else was in store for her.

Jason waited with anticipation. Every phone call he got made him smile. Olivia was making better time than he had expected. It seemed she was having no problem figuring out where to go. He was happy with that. She clearly cared enough about him and their relationship to remember their time together. He enjoyed every memory, reliving their best times together. He was very excited for her to finally arrive.

When he got the final phone call he prepared himself. It was still a bit of a drive for her to get to where he was, but he was sure she would know where to go. He went about the cabin and made sure that everything was in place. It was all coming together perfectly. He had even made sure they got the weekend off to spend together. He had secretly spoken with the front end manager at the store and arranged that Olivia would have the weekend off. He had organised his own time off as well.

When she finally arrived Jason got up from his seat. She opened the door and he smiled at her. He let her look at the room first, then went to her. He kissed her happily and quickly appoligised for not saying goodbye after work. He led her over to the table where the food was ready. They sat and enjoyed the meal. It was very difficult for him not to just ask her right away, but he wanted to make everything absolutely perfect.

After dinner and dessert he finally asked her to bring out everything she had picked up during her little adventure. The package she had picked up at the first locations was to be opened last. He got her to open all the other packages. Each item was something that held some sort of meaning in their relationship, but also had letters blacked out on them, or placed on them. If she organised them in order of when they came about in their relationship the letters that were visible would spell out "Will you marry me Olivia?"

He watched her until she had everything lined up properly. He could barely contain himself as he told her to open the final package. As she unwrapped it he moved to one knee right next to her. The wrapping paper came away and a ring box was revealed. He looked up at her and asked her to read the words spelled out on the items. As she did he took the box and opened it, showing her his grandmother's wedding ring, resized and fixed up to fit her perfectly. He looked into her eyes and spoke softly, suddenly feeling quite nervous.

"Olivia, ever since I met you my life has been wonderful. I love you with all my heart. I can't handle the times when we are apart. Life without you would be miserable. I want you to be with me for the rest of our lives. Will you marry me?"

The cabin was absolutely lovely, it was definitely set up for a romantic night and she was more than ready to take full advantage of having it all to themselves. Her heart was beating fast, he was all dressed up, and she was wearing a not very special sundress, it was cute but definitely, at least in her own mind, not up to par with her surroundings.

She certainly didn't have anything special to wear in her bag.

But Jason didn't seem to mind.

Everything was perfectly made up, the candles had a beautiful glow and the cabin smelt wonderful, it was all so romantic. He definitely looked more than sexy in the clothes he was wearing, she loved it when he dressed up and knowing that he was doing it for her right now brought a smile to her face. Everything seemed so wonderful, their time together had been the best time that she had ever had in a relationship. There was something deep between them that she had never fully felt with any of the other men she had dated before.

This night was special.

All nights with Jason were in their own way, but this night, there was something else going on and she was hoping that her heart racing the way that it was would be right as she played with the 'clues'. It was her job to put them together, she wasn't really paying attention to the letters written on them, she was just going over what significance each item held to them. Some of them were romantic and others, well a few of the items an outsider would never understand. She felt everything slow down as Jason spoke.

She looked over at the items he had her assemble and could see now that they spelt out the very question that he was asking her himself. She looked down at the ring box and the ring inside. Immediately tears began to well up in her eyes.

"Jason!" She said. "Of course! Oh, I love you! Of course I'll marry you!" She threw her arms around his neck and kissed her fiance.

Jason was scared, terrified that Olivia might say no. He had barely been able to ask her the question. After he had time seemed to stop. His heart felt like it would cease beating. His chest felt tight and his stomach was upset.Then she said yes. In reality it was not long at all, but to him it had been like an eternity. Suddenly his world was complete. He returned her kiss happily.

He got up from his knee and hugged her. He kenw he had to be the happiest man on the planet at that moment. She was the most wonderful woman he'd ever met and he felt lucky to have her. He didn't think life could get any better.

After a nice long hug and kiss he stepped back. He picked up the ring out of the ring box and took her by the hand. He looked into her eyes as he slowly slid the ring on her finger. A tear of joy slid down his cheek. He lifted her hand so she could take a look at it. Once she had a good look at it he leaned in and kissed her hand softly. When he looked into her eyes again he smiled. "I love you Olivia"

He took out a camera and took a picture of her. They spent some time fully documenting the evening and his proposal. It was something he wanted to remember forever. When they put away the camera he pulled her into his arms and held her. "What do you want to do now Olivia? My plans for the evening are over, but we have all weekend together and can go wherever we want. We have the weekend off and the cabin if we wish to stay here."

Olivia happily took picture after picture with Jason. This was the happiest day of her life so far, of course her wedding day would trump that and... well when they decided to have kids. Her mind reeled at the thought of a family, white picket fence, and a puppy. She was very aware suddenly that she was being asked what she wanted to do. There were so many things that they could do, about half of them involved the two of them alone.

The whole weekend to themselves.

It was unheard of really.

Typically they worked, even if he did happen to get one of the days off she always worked on the weekend. Weekends were usually the busiest simply because people were off at their own jobs or were planning parties or to bbq. It had been a long time since they had both had a day off together let alone a weekend off together. She supposed that they would have to start doing things like this more often...

Now that they were to be married.

They were to be married.

It went through her mind once more, a smile flitting to her lips. That smile lit her face up. She had to think of what she wanted to do with their weekend. What did she really want to do? She didn't want to leave the cabin... She didn't want to leave his arms. This was their moment, the start of their lives together.

"A weekend along with my fiance sounds perfect to me," she said giving him a kiss.

Jason held Oliva in the embrace. He loved the feeling of her body against his. Her warmth felt nice. She seemed lost in thought, so he sat and pulled her down onto the couch with him. He liked how happy she looked. The smile made her face even more beautiful. When she finally answered him, somewhat, she kissed him. He smiled and returned the kiss, deepening it.

When their lips parted again he chuckled. "You know, that isn't really telling me what you want to do, but I'll give you a few minutes to figure it out" He grinned and kissed her again. Then he lifted her up and shifted her so she was on his lap. He held her there for a while, simply enjoying having her near. He heard the music still playing softly.

After some cuddling on the couch he made a suggestion. He looked into her eyes with a big smile. "Would you like to dance? I think it would be a nice way to end our evening together. I really like having you close."