Nothing Unusual

Lia energetically played until it was time for bed. The little girl, without anyone telling her, saw the clock and stopped playing at once. She stood upright and boldly announced retiring for the night. While heading upstairs, she called out for her mother. Giselle watched Lia, finding her act unusual. She then glanced at Lillian, who still occupied the chair at the dining table, completely engrossed in her phone. Giselle looked back at Lia and gave her a little nod. Lia returned a smile before running to the bedroom. Giselle informed Lillian that she was going upstairs. Even so, Lillian didn't react much. Giselle anxiously sighed to head upstairs, where Lia was in the bathroom, quickly brushing her teeth before coming out and hopping onto the bed.

"Lilly looks so worried, mom!" the little girl remarked as she took her spot, right in the middle of the bed.

"How's your Valentine's Day plan going?" Lia added to inquire.

"Terrible!" Giselle replied, admitting that it didn't look like it was going well. She hinted at Lia about how tensed Lillian looked all week and even during tonight's dinner. Lia giggled to agree with her mother.

"Well, she will be fine. She has to, right, mom?" the little girl winked as she spoke proudly.

Giselle hissed to stop Lia's teasing, but the little girl kept going for a while before Giselle had to give her the grumpy ice glare.

Lia finally stopped teasing her mother. Instead, she asked if her mother was secretly worrying inside.

Giselle felt tense despite everything that was going on in her life. However, nothing could amount to putting her in misery. She admitted feeling fine. Seeing how her answer failed to reassure her daughter, Lia, Giselle repeated herself until Lia believed.

"But mom, you are really taking a risk here. Why did you let Lillian plan Valentine's Day? Lillian is not a good planner!" Lia argued.

"No, she's not!"

"Mom, sneaking out on a school trip to take you to a beautiful place doesn't sound very convincing as a planner- entirely. What would have happened if something went wrong that night!"

Lia's casual remark about her mother's past startled Giselle. The little girl had grown much to the point where she could bring up a past event to counsel her mother directly. It was very mature of Lia to be frank with Giselle, but not right now, especially when the situation wasn't favorable.

"You sound like your father!" Giselle remarked.

"One of us should be reasonable!"

Giselle glared again.

"In this matter, I'm more reasonable, and you know it!" Lia valiantly claimed.

Giselle couldn't fight against that, so she let it go.

"Well, I hope everything goes well for you and Lillian!" Lia wished before getting comfortable under the blanket.

***

Meantime, downstairs, as soon as Lillian confirmed that Giselle was out of sight, reading a story to Lia and putting her to sleep, she snuck away to a corner. She then hurriedly called Jenna. The first call didn't connect, but so did the second when Lillian fumed to dial the third time, and it finally got answered.

Lillian Grey raged at Jenna for not picking up her emergency call. Despite secluding herself in a corner, Lillian didn't raise her voice except mutely screamed as much as she could afford to express her anger.

"Ms. Grey, what happened this time?" Jenna addressed jadedly.

"What happened? Why didn't you pick up my call the first time itself?"

It was surprisingly fun to switch roles once as Jenna pondered how many years she had been on the other end of these situations. She used to be the one who desperately called for Lillian when Lillian would barely make an effort to answer. Jenna wondered how the times had changed and how the tide was now on her lane. All these thoughts gathered to boast, but Jenna shook her head, realizing this was not the time to gloat or believe that karma exists. For once, this call was excruciating to handle.

"I had my reasons to ignore your calls, Ms. Grey. Now, tell me what happened now?"

"What do you mean what happened? Tomorrow's Valentine's Day, and I still haven't come up with a plan to surprise Giselle!" Lillian exploded quietly in a corner. She kept an eye upstairs and watched closely to see if Giselle was coming down. It was such a nerve-racking moment of her life.

"Ms. Grey!" Jenna groaned. The reason she couldn't come up to herself to gloat for switching roles this time was simply that Jenna had spent this past week hanging out with Lillian. Despite taking care of her work, she caught up meeting with Lillian every day to join her in her city stroll. And it was for the sake of coming up with a plan to surprise Giselle for Valentine's Day.

Ever since Lillian admitted to Giselle last week about looking forward to celebrating Valentine's Day, she had been using Jenna's free time to haul her to different places. The two would meet up to ride around the city to look for hot spots to surprise Giselle on Valentine's Day. At first, Jenna was willing to help since it sounded romantic. Nevertheless, at the end of the first day itself, Jenna's enthusiasm died from seeing Lillian reject every potential outlet.

No matter what restaurant they went to or a tourist spot they chose, Lillian declined by declaring that she couldn't feel that it was the best.

The following days were only hell for Jenna as they became a tourist in their own city.

"Ms. Grey! We literally toured New York City, and you couldn't pick one- one spot to celebrate Valentine's Day. I mean- I even took you to the Museum of sex as a stupid suggestion. You didn't even agree to that!"

"That was an interesting suggestion though! But I can't take Giselle there. This is our- first Valentine's Day!"

"First Valentine's Day! I know. I know! You've said that a thousand times this week."

Lillian could hear the exhaustion in Jenna's tone as she frustratingly admitted Lillian's craziness over this week.

"Nothing impressed me, Jenna! I couldn't decide. This is our first time celebrating together- I don't- I flunked. I messed up."

"You did mess up very bad, Ms. Grey!"

"You don't need to repeat that. Tell me, what should I do? I'm literally hanging by a thread right now. Giselle thinks that I'm all planning a super-duper surprise for her. Here I am, cluelessly speaking in a corner with you like an idiot."

Jenna sighed again. Handling Lillian's emergencies could easily take away her poor life. Still, she wasn't that reluctant. Deep down, Jenna wished for Lillian's well-being. Yet, considering Lillian's current state, there was nothing Jenna could suggest anymore. Valentine's Day was tomorrow, so Jenna ended up strictly warning Lillian to go with a classic idea.

"Ms. Grey! Just pick a fancy restaurant. If you can't find one, I can help you with that."

"You have that much power?"

"I have a lot of friends all around the city. You did know that Mr. Ricardo often asks me to book places for meetings, right!"

"Of course, he would ask you."

"Excuse me!"

"Jenna! I keep telling you that guy is overworking you, and you keep doing everything he says."

"Ms. Grey, it's not. Mr. Ricardo isn't overworking me."

"Yeah, he does."

"Ms. Grey. I thought you called me in for an emergency."

"Wow, great! Switch subjects, right!"

"I will hang up if you keep fooling around."

"Fine. Why bother. I know you two work freaks very well. Anyhow- help me out, Jenna! What should I do?"

"Didn't I just tell you that? Just pick a fancy restaurant for a candlelight dinner and then buy her some jewelry. That'll work for a surprise," Jenna repeated her classic plan.

Lillian's silence was enough to let Jenna know that the classic plan didn't impress her.

"Ms. Grey! You had an entire week to plan for a surprise, and you couldn't do it. Just admit defeat to Ms. Giselle. I'm sure she will forgive you despite feeling disappointed. At least that way, you could be honest with her."

"No, Jenna. I- I have to do something!"

Jenna remained quiet for a while before making an unusually bold suggestion.

"Why don't you just propose to her, Ms. Grey? That could be a stunning surprise!"

Lillian choked on air that she covered her mouth to prevent coughing, which could potentially alert Giselle. She moved away from the spot for a change of air and picked another corner to isolate herself.

"I can't even plan for a Valentine's Day surprise, and you want me to propose, Giselle! That would literally take me years, Jenna!" Lillian silently burst out again.

"Ms. Grey! Why did you call me? What do you want me to do? At least say that, and I'll just do it. Don't ask me for help like this. Valentine's Day is tomorrow. Tomorrow! We can't do anything at this moment except reserve a table at a restaurant, and honestly, considering the occasion, I don't think we could even find reservations at a good place at this time. You know what- just order pizza and celebrate Valentine's Day at home. It suits your style!"

Lillian was left without hope, and her call with Jenna soon came to an end as she knew what Jenna meant. There was no time to plan for a surprise. What shocked Lillian at the moment was the fact that her ignorance of the days passed to her knowledge. She should have been cautious at least of her time to come to a decision. However, this was over. That being said, in the next few minutes, Lillian tried her best to reserve a table at a fancy restaurant. As said, she asked for Jenna's help, and with her, she was able to reserve a table rapidly at a decent place. She couldn't find any fancy spots since all of them got booked already.

***

Giselle finally came down to find Lillian in the living room, busily engaged in her phone.

"Are you busy?" she called.

Lillian jerked at once from hearing Giselle's voice. She hid her phone away immediately. Giselle overlooked, and the two locked eyes for a moment to instantly look away.

"No. Just… this and that," Lillian replied while Giselle called for tea and stormed into the kitchen.

She made tea for both and came to deliver, joining Lillian on the couch, but sitting a little far from each other.

Lillian didn't like the set distance between them and grabbed her mug to get close to Giselle. Giselle sweetly hid her smile to feel pleased.

"Finally!" Giselle gasped.

"What?"

"Nothing! It's just- you've been very busy to ignore me these past few days. It's alright! I know you had things to do."

"Did you miss me?" Lillian asked.

"I did! But, it's fine. It's nothing. Don't mind it."

She didn't know what prompted, but Lillian leaned in to kiss Giselle. She had no words to say except express her love naturally. The kiss did not disappoint Giselle because it healed all the anxiety in her.

"So, are you prepared for tomorrow?" Giselle finally asked.

The light in her face became dull along with her loving gaze. She returned to her spot, almost giving herself away except admitting having a plan for tomorrow. Giselle wasn't sure what to make out of Lillian's expression. She wondered if Lillian was acting to hide the surprise or did she accidentally forgot to plan for Valentine's Day itself. Giselle had no clue, and that bugged her to meddle.

"What's the plan for tomorrow?" she took a chance to ask.

"That's Secret! You will know tomorrow!"

"It'll be Friday, Lillian! I might get a call to work or from Lia's school. I need to know the plan. You can tell me," Giselle earnestly appealed.

"Then it will ruin the surprise!"

"I already know you are planning to surprise me. Telling the plan out loud isn't going to ruin the surprise entirely."

"But it won't be exciting."

Giselle grunted within.

"My excitement is getting to spend time with you, not some fancy restaurant or receiving a bunch of flowers."

That was hopefully going to be the big surprise for tomorrow but having Giselle guessing it easily ruined the leftover spark for Lillian. Regardless, Giselle's words magically moved Lillian to admit the truth. She surrendered and came out about ignoring all of Jenna's suggestions to flunk the whole plan eventually to celebrate Valentine's Day. As much as it shocked Lillian to see herself admitting the truth unexpectedly, what bothered her more was Giselle's state of serene. Giselle didn't react much or show any disappointment. Even though Lillian tried her best to look Giselle in the eye while confessing, she still couldn't recognize what went inside Giselle's head. Only when she finished the story to anticipate a response did Giselle finally move from her spot.

She put the cup on the nearby coffee table to recollect herself.

"So, you made no plans?" Giselle asked.

"No. I still got us a reservation."

"Do you like it?"

Lillian faltered to admit that she wasn't impressed, but couldn't do anything about it. She needed to do something to celebrate their first Valentine's Day together. Although, if tried, she could have gotten a reservation at a better restaurant. Still, Lillian didn't feel excited about her abrupt plan.

"And you're telling me that it will ruin the surprise for me!" Giselle remarked sarcastically.

Lillian remained speechless from her remark. She felt disappointed in herself. Seeing her face down, Giselle cupped her face to confront her straight.

"Can I suggest something?" she requested.

Lillian's eyes curiously gleamed. She hurriedly nodded without replying.

Giselle hesitated for a moment. She looked concerned and desperate at the same time. Despite feeling all mixed emotions, her eyes remained determined. After taking a couple of deep breaths, she made her suggestion.

"Should we visit you, dad?"

Lillian's face dropped all kinds of excitement at once as the colors died from hearing what Giselle just said. Lillian Grey became paralyzed for a moment.

"I mean- does your father know that we're together? You met my family, and they even accepted our relationship."

Lillian had no choice but to interrupt Giselle to inform her how her father, Edwin Grey, already knew about Giselle and Lillian's wish to be with her.

"Okay, but you met my family after we got back together, but I didn't meet your father. And even if he knows already, I would love to meet him formally as your partner!" Giselle sincerely spoke to appeal.

"Wait for a second... we're celebrating Valentine's Day, right? Not Thanksgiving or Christmas!" Lillian exclaimed to doubt the unfolding events.

"Lillian! We are not young-young to feel all shy and excited about Valentine's Day."

"Who set the age limit to feel excited and shy!"

Giselle grunted, "Fine!"

"Listen to me! This works well for us, right? You aren't interested in your last-minute plan. And if we're going to eat and celebrate Valentine's Day, then we can do that anytime and anywhere."

"There's more to eating and celebrating Valentine's Day, Giselle. Not just eating- and celebrating."

Giselle exhaled out loud.

"I know what you're trying to say, but this is not the time to meet my dad!" Lillian added from her side.

Even though Lillian didn't like her last-minute idea to go with a classic theme for celebrating Valentine's Day, visiting her father seemed much worse than all her efforts included this entire week. However, Giselle was so determined that Lillian couldn't sway her away easily. She couldn't rule out the suggestion even directly.

Having nothing impressive to do for tomorrow, along with Giselle telling her to wish to meet Lillian's dad, eventually made it reasonable for Lillian to consider. It was Giselle requesting with her eyes, all shining and full of hope. Seeing her full of vigor influenced Lillian. Although, she wondered if there was a way to get out of this.