14/02/19

THURSDAY

JANA

I pull in my car in front of Ryan's house. I take out my phone from the bag and call Ryan. After a few rings, he picks up, "Good morning!" I greet excitedly.

He groans into the phone, "What's the time Jana?"

"It's five in the morning," I reply enthusiastically, which is quite unusual since I'm not a morning person but I'm excited about today.

"Why are you calling me at this hour?" He asks in a sleepy tone. Aww! I can practically imagine him speaking to me with his eyes closed, lying on the bed.

"Come out of your house!" I order without giving him an answer to his question.

"What?" He asks in doubt. "Why... is there anything... special?" he slowly asks. I sigh in disappointment. He doesn't remember what's special about today? I thought he had plans... maybe he's trying to fool me by acting like he doesn't remember.

"Surprise!" I exclaim. I smile, knowing that he is going to love it.

"Okay," he mutters. "I will come down now," he says and hangs up.

I roll down the glass and turn on the radio as I wait for Ryan in my car. Ryan will never expect this kind of surprise. This will be a day full of good memories he can think about when he leaves this town.

He comes out of the house after nearly five minutes in his gray hoodie and ripped black jeans. How can someone look so adorable even after just waking up?

"Morning!" He wishes as he pops into the passenger seat, bringing me back from my adoration. Smiling, he takes my hand in his, raising it to his lips, he gives it a sweet morning kiss. Aww! I loved this new gesture! His eyes are still tired from lack of sleep, but he seems like he doesn't mind at all. "Tell me what's in your mind," Ryan demands.

I grin, "No way!"

He looks at me curiously, "Why?"

"Uh..." I trail off. Should I tell? No! "Just know that I got us some plans for us."

He raises his brow, "What plans?"

I turn to him, "It's..." I stop. I guess I shouldn't tell him the whole plan, let him wait and watch. I shrug, "Just the couple goals."

"Okay," he smiles brightly. "I'm excited."

I start the engine and drive off. He takes out my journal from the dashboard and opens the page with a bookmark. "So... sunrise? Recreating our proposal day?" He asks with a smirk as if he found out my plans. I just nod, biting back the smile forming on my face. That's just one, Ryan! I will keep the rest of my plans to myself for the time being.

I drive us to Sun Hill, Ryan is still holding my hand as romantic melodies play on the radio with the cold morning breeze making my body chill. We exchange glances in between, smiling at each other. There's romance in the air. I just want to freeze at this moment with Ryan. It's perfect!

We reach Sun Hill after ten minutes of driving. Sun Hill is a hillock, this is the best place in the town to watch the sunrise. As soon as we get out of the car, I switch on the flashlight on my phone as it's pretty dark. We walk through the middle of the trees hand-in-hand for nearly five minutes onto the top of the hill in silence.

We sit down at the edge as we wait for the sun to rise. Ryan wraps his arm over my shoulder and I put my head on his shoulder. This is exactly as on the day he proposed to me. I want to be with him forever! "I don't know how I will stay away from you so long," Ryan whispers.

I know it's going to be hard for us, but I want Ryan to believe in us. I immediately take his hand in mine and squeezes. I look up to him, "Don't worry about it, Ryan. We will always be together," I assure him with a smile.

The sun slowly rises and the bright morning light hits our face. We look at each other and smiles wholeheartedly. From the beginning of the day to the end, we will be together. Every moment of this day is going to be special. We sit there for some more time watching the sun slowly rise. We quietly watch the birds flying around and enjoy the silence of nature and the birds chirping.

*********

We get back to the car and I take out the journal. I strike out number 4, recreating the proposal.

#COUPLE GOALS: THINGS TO DO FOR RYAN AND ME

1. Movie date

2. Road trip

3. Go on a double date

4. Watch the sunrise (Recreating proposal day)

"I'm loving this couple goal thing," Ryan says, smiling. "But this one ended so soon," he pouts.

"It isn't over yet," I reply with a wink as I start the engine.

He looks at me in surprise, "Wait. You have more plans for us?" He asks and I nod. He takes the journal to see what's next. "Road trip?" He asks unbelievably.

"For the whole day!" I exclaim.

His eyes go wide, "For the whole day?!" He yells in surprise. "This is going to be awesome, Jana!"

I drive us to the nearby park. Since we are early, there are only a few people for the morning walk around the park. I take out a mat and basket from the boot of the car. "You got us breakfast?" He asks and I nod.

Ryan helps me spread the mat and we sit down comfortably. I open the basket and hands him the sandwich and orange juice. We talk as we have our breakfast. After spending some time in the park we get back to my car.

"Where are we going next?" He asks excitedly, turning to me.

"So, excited?" I ask.

"Very much," he replies. "I'm lucky to have a girlfriend like you," he leans into me.

Slightly pulling him back, I take a jar filled with slips from the backseat. It is full of places we can go today. I hand the jar to him. "You can choose."

He excitedly takes out a slip and reads out loud, "The Echo Forest."

"Let's go!" I cheer happily. I set up the map in the car before driving off. As I drive, Ryan silently looks outside. He isn't so happy. Something is bothering him...

"Ryan..." I softly call.

"I don't think I can ever leave you," Ryan says, looking back at me.

"Ryan..." I call softly. "Going to St. Stephans was your dream. Distance will never make me love you less," I try to sound convincing.

"I will miss you so badly," he says, leaning back to his seat.

"Ryan, it's you who should convince me," I pout. "We have six more months to be together. Cheer up, boyfriend!" I exclaim.

"You are right," He agrees. "I will make this six-month special for us."

We get out of the car after the thirty minutes drive. We walk into the forest for nearly one kilometer. After the long walk, we pause to take a deep breath. We go and stand at the edge from where we can see the whole town. It's beautiful! After seeing around for a while we walk back to the woods.

"Now we are going to bury a time capsule!" I announce.

"My girlfriend is genius!" He compliments.

"It isn't my idea," I pause. "It was in Jenny's letter... Noah and Jenny buried it somewhere here," I say looking around.

He nodded in response. "What are we exactly going to bury?"

I shrug, "Anything you want us to keep for long." I sit down on a fallen branch and takes out a wooden box from my bag. I open it and keeps a few photographs of Ryan and me in it.

"I will write a letter to you," Ryan says after contemplating for a few minutes.

"I would love that," I reply with a beam. I hand him a piece of paper and a pen to write down. It will be so nice to look at all these after a long time. I write down our name and date on the box. Then, I take a piece of paper and write down our love story in short.

"I'm done," he says while folding the paper.

"Let me read it," I put my hand forward indicating him to give me the letter.

"No way!" He denies my request. I pout, hoping he will let me read now. "You can read when we open this on..." he trails off. After thinking for a moment he opens his mouth to speak. "Same day, next year."

"Fine!" I reluctantly agree with him. Noah and Jenny couldn't open it even after two years... but they will dig it up soon. They both will be so happy finally!

I keep two of our letters along with the photographs and a flower in the box before closing it. I look around for a perfect spot to bury and then after our little efforts of digging, we bury it near a tree. "Ryan, what if we forget the place we buried?" I ask stupidly.

"Let's carve our name on the tree," Ryan suggests. I nod, taking out a stone from the ground. Finally, after our great efforts, we carve R and J on the tree. I also hang up a dream catcher on the branch of the tree. Let it be there for a memory of us.

After the whole time capsule thing, we walk towards the other end of the forest. It led us to a beautiful lake. Knowing it's an echo point, I scream, "Ryan, I love you!" And it echoed few times. "Jana! I love you too!" Ryan screams back. We laugh at ourselves and sit on the edge, our legs dipped in the cold water.

**********

After coming back from the forest Ryan takes up to drive the car. Before driving off, he takes out another slip from the jar. "la place des amoureux," Ryan slowly reads out and looks at me confusedly. "What's there?"

"A special place," I wink.

Knowing I won't give him much detail he drives as per the map. After getting down from the car, Ryan looks around the place. He looks back at me with a proud smirk, "Love locks!"

This is a shopping street with love locks on every corner of it. Another specialty of this place is that it's fully covered in white color. Looking so damn beautiful. Every wall, every shop is in white giving it a unique look. And also, this place is known for its special miniature gifts. I found about this place from Jenny's scrapbook. Thanks to Jenny and Noah again!

Ryan and I walk into one of the corners to put up the love lock. Once we reach the corner, we stare at the beautiful place for a minute. It's filled with lots of love locks. One of them must be Jenny's and Noah's!

I take out a lock with R and J from my backpack. "You have lots of this in your backpack?" Ryan laughs, teasingly. We kiss for a moment and lock it on the fence over many other love locks. And now, one of them is ours!

"Let's do miniature gift shopping," I say as we walk down the street.

"Jana..." Ryan calls, stopping us from walking further. I look up at him, "Even though this is your plan, bringing us here..." he smiles. "I found something."

"You found what?" I ask confusedly. What's on his mind?

He points to me a board, I look up at it 'Couples shopping challenge'. We walk closer to it to read further.

1. Something you think they will love

2. Something that brings back a memory of us

3. Something that reminds you of them

4. Something for us

5. Something when you miss them

"Sound nice!" I say, patting Ryan's back in appreciation.

"I know," Ryan smirks. "Let's do this challenge!" He cheers.

"Cool! Let's come back here after 20 minutes." With that, we walk apart to do the shopping. I wander around the shops looking for the best things.

What will I buy for us? Something we will love? Uh... what do we love? I look around in the shop to find the most special gift both of us will love. Looking through the little things, I find couple mugs. This seems perfect! I buy a mug with the writing 'You belong to me' on one and 'I belong to you on another.

Number 4 is done!

What will I give Ryan to look at something when he misses me? Such days are coming... so I should buy something nice. I look around in the shop and find a key chain with an airplane. But what attracted me is the quote on it. 'Distance means so little when someone means so much' This quote is the best for us!

Number 5 is done!

Back to number 1... Something he loves? What does he love? Mmm... Guitar! Miniature guitar! I walk to another shop with miniature gifts for music lovers. I immediately find a miniature guitar. I got what I was looking for!

"I can write something on that if you wish," the shopkeeper says.

"Okay..." I stop to think. I tell him what I wanted and he writes it on the striker 'I love when you play for me'. After the packing, he finally hands it to me.

Number 1 done!

Something that brings back a memory of us? Something which reminds us ... of course sunrise! But what kind of gift can I find at sunrise? I wander few shops and couldn't find anything related to the memory of us. I sigh, disappointedly.

My phone started ringing suddenly, I pull out the phone from my pocket and it flashed Ryan. I swiped right to pick up the call. "Hey, Ryan!"

"Hey, Jana. Turn around," he says.

I turn to see him waving at me from the end of the street. "Done?" I ask.

"Just one more I have to find. I just want to let you know that we just have 10 minutes left." I can see him smirking at me from the distance.

Just 10 minutes left, what will I do? "Oops. I'm hanging up, then," I say and hang up.

As I hang up I notice my phone's wallpaper. It's the picture we took at the beach. Beach souvenirs! It's the best memory of us. I squeal with happiness. People around me give a weird look, but I don't care. I got what I needed! I enter a nearby shop and buy a small beach souvenir with sand and a few shells in it. I add the picture of us into it and tie it around perfectly.

Number 2 is done!

One more to go! Something that should remind Ryan of me? Is there something like that? Oh god! Help me, I don't have enough time...

Looking around the shop my eyes caught hold of a pretty photo frame. Idea! I buy the photo frame and add a photo of us hugging each other. It's incomplete without a quote... Surfing through the internet, I find the best. 'Hold me and never let me go'

Number 3 is done!

Finally, I have done all! I'm sure Ryan will love it. I walk back to the place where we promised to meet. I look around for him and when I didn't find him around, I check the time. Just 1 minute left! I sit down in an open restaurant over there waiting for him. When the final minute got over I dialed him. "Hey, you are late," I smirk.

"No, I'm not," he denies. "I'm just behind you," I quickly turn around to find no one. He fooled me!

I groan, "Hey, where are you?"

"It was nice to see you excitedly waiting for me," he says. I roll my eyes in annoyance. He is somewhere here! He can see me...

"Where are you?" I ask once again, impatiently. I look around and find him waving at me with one hand. His phone fixed to his ear with the support of the shoulder and the other hand full of bags. He quickly walks over to my table and occupies the seat next to me. "You are late!" I whine.

"Not even a minute," he claims.

"Whatever!" I roll my eyes at him. "So... here are my gifts for you," I say, placing a big box on the table.

"Wait. First, I will give you my gifts," he says.

Smiling, I take over the box from him. I quickly open the lid to see five small boxes in it with numbers. He has done it in a very good way. I mentally appreciate him.

Number 1: Something you think they will love.

I open to see a golden moon with a star attached to it. There are also golden lights in it. He's very thoughtful! "Now you can create a night sky in your room," he says.

Number 2: Something that brings back a memory of us

It is a cartoonish proposal photo frame. So cute!

Number 3: Something that reminds you to them

I open the lid to reveal a matching black phone case with 2 hands holding each other with the caption 'always and forever' Yeah... we will be together always and forever!

Number 4: Something for us

I open the pack to find two jean jackets. "Turn it around," Ryan says. I turn to see the writing on it 'The one' It's a couple thing! I stand up and pull the jacket over my frock, it suits me well.

"Wear it, Ryan," I request. He wears it over his white shirt. We stand closer for a look. Now it looks perfect!

Number 5: Something when you miss them

I open to see a black pillow with the writing 'hug the pillow until you can hug me'

Aww! I gonna miss him a lot! I pull him into a hug immediately, "I gonna miss this so much," I say as a teardrops down to my cheeks.

*********

We get back to our car after lunch. "Where next?" I ask, tapping my foot.

Ryan takes out another slip, "The Graffiti café," he reads out loud. "I guess I have heard about it," he says, trying to think.

"You will love it!" I say.

Ryan drives us there and parks the car in the lot. Ryan confusedly looked around, not finding anything. "Where is this café?"

"It's underground," I reveal.

"What? Really?" He asks in surprise.

Holding hands we walk down the steps to the underground tunnel café filled with graffiti. "This place is amazing!" Ryan says leaving my hands, walking towards the wall to have a better look at the graffiti. "You have been here before?" He asks turning to me.

"Never before!" I reply. "Noah and Jenny were here before... They have spray painted their names on one of these walls," I respond.

"Let's see if it's still here," he says, grabbing my hand to take a lookout at it.

We look on the tunnel walls and finally found it written as Noah and Jenny in white paints. "We should do the same," Ryan says, looking back at me. He takes up the spray bottle and paints our names on the wall while I spray 'We were here on 14.02.19'

"Isn't it nice to create memories at all the places we go?" He asks and I nod smiling.

**********

Ryan stops the car nearby the Beach as per the next slip he chose. "You have something to do here," I say unbuckling the seat belt. He raises his brow, wanting to know what is a task he gets to do. "Play the guitar for the crowd!" I exclaim.

I get out and open the boot of the car and hands Ryan his guitar. We sit next to each other in the boot. He started playing a sweet melody, giving me smiles in between. Quickly a group of people gathers around us, listening to Ryan play.

After playing guitar, the crowd appreciated him. Then we walk down the beach and settle ourselves. We watch the sky get orangish as it goes down. "I want to spend every sunrise and sunset with you... till the end of my life," I say, facing Ryan.

Without giving me a reply he takes out something from his pocket. "Happy valentines day!" He says, raising a ring to me. I knew he was acting like he doesn't remember. I observe the ring for a moment. It's a very pretty ring with two hearts. "But your gift is way more special, Jana. A whole day creating memories." He slips the ring onto my finger and looks into my eyes, "You made my day." He quickly pulls me into a warm hug. We stay like that for a while before sitting down.

I look up the sky for the Moon. But unfortunately, it isn't full today. I want to make a wish with Ryan... But it's okay, we already made beautiful moments. "You love stargazing so much?" He asks.

I turn to Ryan, "Yeah."

After stargazing for a while, we had dinner at the beach.

*********

"So this is the last place where we are going to celebrate Valentine's day," I say killing the engine.

We quickly get down and Ryan looks up at the board 'Water Lantern Valentine's Day'

"This place seems special..." he says, looking around. "But I feel more special being with you." Ryan takes my hand in his and squeezes.

The place is crowded with couples all around, enjoying valentines day in their ways. When we look at the lake it is almost filled with floating lanterns.

After walking around for a while we take up a lantern and writes R and J. We kiss before floating it in the water. It lit brightly as it slowly floats around. We stand up and take a look at the lake, it's so beautiful with many such lanterns. "This day was very special, Jana. I enjoyed every moment I spend with you and I want you to be with me in every moment of my life," Ryan whispers.

I lift my heels, keeping my hands over Ryan's shoulder. I look into his eyes before closing them. I kiss him passionately as the fireworks begin in the background. I want to create moments with him till the end of my life.

I sit comfortably on my bed. Taking out the journal and pen, I write about this amazing day. It was way too special than I imagined. Ryan really loved it. I flip to couple goals page and strike out number 2.

#COUPLE GOALS: THINGS TO DO FOR RYAN AND ME

1. Movie date

2. Road trip

3. Go on a double date

4. Watch the sunrise (Recreating proposal day)

5. Show up unannounced

6. Make ice cream together

I take out my phone to text Noah. I should thank him, he made it possible.

ME: Hey Noah!

ME: Thanks you so much. We had a great time!