Stealing her thunder

Maria turned around with a look of shock on her face. Directly looking at his hopeful eyes. Fortunately for her already racing heart, Steve was mostly dressed by now. Otherwise the sight of his bare body would have sent her over the edge. The only thing revealed being his surprisingly tan arms. Though she was feeling a bit flustered by his proposal, the thing that had caused most of her surprise was Steve beating her to the date invite.

After everything she had done to prepare a surprise date for him for tomorrow evening, after checking one of the boxes on his letter and placing it back in his room, after all her determination and courage, he was planning on stealing her thunder by this little impromptu invite of his. She didn't want to say no but she didn't want her first gesture to go to waste either. Filled with hesitation she looked at Steve, who was getting less hopeful of her accepting his invite with each second of silence that passed between the two of them.

Just before Steve rescinded his offer in order to save Maria the trouble, Maria said, "I'm not saying no. It's not that. It's just that I have to think about it for a minute. I am very tired right now and I can't think straight but tomorrow I am sure I can give you a proper answer." After that she quickly tried to run away. She stood up and said, "Well, I think those few minutes of talking have passed and we should both head to bed. I will return to my room for now but we will see each other tomorrow." Just before Maria walked through the still opened door, leaving Steve's room, she finished up her words by saying "Good night".

Just like that, before Steve had a chance to say anything in return, Maria had left the room, leaving a flabbergasted Steve behind. While he was staring at the door opening with widened eyes and a slightly dropped jaw, Steve tried to understand what had just happened. Then he let out a sigh and shook his head as he thought he blew another shot with Maria by moving too fast. He walked to the bed with his shirt in his hands, ready to get in bed. Clearing off the decorative pillows and throwing them in the small, hollow bench at the foot of the bed, specifically designed to hold all the decorative pillows and extra blankets, and looking dejected and sad while he did. That is until he missed and threw one of the pillows on the floor.

As he let out another sigh he bent down to grab the stray pillow, that is when he noticed the corner of a white piece of paper sticking out from underneath the bench. When he lowered his body for a second time, this time even lower than the first time. Now that he had a closer look, it seemed like the corner of an envelope. He pulled the paper out from underneath the bench and when he did, he saw that it wasn't just any envelope, it was his envelope. The one he had used to slip Maria his letter early this morning.

Maria had slid the letter under his bedroom door so hard, that it had managed to slide all the way under the small bench, making it hard to notice for Steve when he walked in after his long day of work. Steve himself had forgotten all about it after the day he had had but now that he was reminded, he became both excited and nervous.

Nervously Steve opened the envelope and grabbed the paper that was inside it. He unfolded it slowly and turned it around to see if any of the boxes had been checked. When he saw the checkmark in the box for tomorrow, he raised his fist in a yes gesture as he shouted those very same words in the softest voice possible. But considering his level of excitement, his softest voice was still loud enough to reach Maria's room through the walls and hearing his "Yes!" made her show a satisfied smile before she closed her eyes again and adjusted her head on the pillow.

Having gotten this piece of good news, Steve was dancing around the room with the letter. Making big and wild moves as he made his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth. All the fatigue he seemed to have felt before, had melted like snow on a warm spring day. He was feeling pumped, happy, excited, all kinds of positive emotions were filling his body. He stared at the checked box the entire time he was brushing his teeth. Stared at it as he made his way out of the bathroom and walked to his bed. He didn't even break eye contact as he lifted the corner of his duvet and got into bed. He let out one small happy sigh before he kissed the letter and placed it down on the nightstand before turning off the lights and closing his eyes to sleep. Waiting for the hours to pass and tomorrow to begin!