⋆•°.🤍*࿐LOVE IS BLIND!⋆౨ৎ˚⟡🫧🕯️˖ ࣪

ANNIE'S APARTMENT
new york, new york
april 1990, 7:30pm

annie smiled at her perfectly baked chocolate cake. after a week of nothing but long, tedious meetings about her poem book she couldn't wait to have a seat on her couch and eat her cake.

as annie settled onto her couch with a slice of cake in hand, remote in the other, she flipped on her favorite reality show marathon. just as she was about to take a bite out of her cake, her phone rang loudly.

letting out a groan of annoyance, annie threw her phone onto a couch nearby and turned up the volume of the tv to drown out the ringing.

annie was immersed in the tv show, enjoying the mindless entertainment when her phone started to ring again. this time, she let it go to voicemail again but within seconds, it started to ring again.

sighing irritably, she reached for the phone, "what?" she answered.

"someone's upset." john said.

annie couldn't help but soften at the sound of his voice. "i was trying to watch my show, you're interrupting."

he laughed. "sorry, didn't know a trashy show was more important than me."

she rolled her eyes, though a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "what can i do for you?"

"you can come over and have a date night with me." he suggested.

annie took a long look at her chocolaty cake and her trashy reality tv show, the perfect set-up. "aren't you date-d out? i mean we've gone on so many dates...each one interrupted and ending with us being unsatisfied. trust me, i love our dates but-"

he sighed on the other end, but she could sense the frustration in his tone. "i know, our dates get ruined all the time. but let's not let that stop us. we can have a date night in. i'll cook and we can eat on the balcony. no interruptions, just us."

she hesitated for a moment, the thought of cancelling her evening plans with her cake and tv almost unbearable, but the thought of spending time with john won out in the end.

she finally relented, "okay fine. but you better spoil me because i'm giving up chocolate cake and my tv show."

john chuckled on the other end of the phone. "deal. anything for you." he said before hanging up.

annie quickly changed out of her pajamas and into a much comfier outfit, slipping on some flats and grabbing her purse.

JOHN'S LOFT
new york, new york
8:30pm

annie looked around his upscale neighborhood as she rang the buzzer outside of his building.

john's voice crackled through the intercom. "it's open. come up." he said.

she let herself inside and took the elevator up to his penthouse.

when she walked inside, the lights were dimmed, the scent of freshly cooked food wafted from the kitchen, and a bottle of wine was already uncorked on the counter.

"i was starting to think you were going to bail." john said, coming out of the kitchen dressed in his casual clothes, his eyes sparkling.

annie grinned, setting her purse down and making her way over to him. "i almost did." she admitted, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"i'm glad you didn't." he replied as he placed a soft kiss on her lips.

he pulled away after a brief moment, taking her hand in his and leading her into the dining area where he had already set the table.

"dinner is almost ready." he told her as he pulled out a chair for her.

"what's on the menu?" she asked him as she took a seat.

"i decided to go simple. penne with vodka sauce and a side of garlic bread." he told her, taking a seat next to her instead of at the head of the table.

she raised an eyebrow. "it smells amazing, johnny and the place looks amazing." she said as memories floated her mind of the many times she'd been over. "hey, where's that armchair that dugan begged you to give up?"

john chuckled. "you mean the utile african wood one?" he replied joking as he mocked what dugan told annie as he began dishing out pasta onto her plate.

"yes! the one! where is it?!" she demanded as she took a slice of garlic bread.

he couldn't help but laugh at her enthusiasm over a armchair. "it's off to the side in my bedroom where no one will ever sit on it. it was too uncomfortable, dugan was just trying to torture me."

annie huffed, her eyes narrowing at him, "and how much did you pay for it?"

"i had to get your attention somehow. and plus all of the money went to charity." he defended as he took a piece of garlic bread for himself.

annie sighed, "can i at least sit in it once?"

john chuckled, shaking his head at her stubbornness. "i mean...if you want to, i guess you can."

after eating most of their dinner, they curled up on a couch in his living room, sipping on a second glass of wine.

annie leaned her head against his chest, savoring the peaceful moment.

he ran his fingers through her curls, "this is nice." he murmured.

she nodded in agreement, tracing a finger lightly across the fabric of his shirt. "it's what we needed." she said. "no interruptions, no distractions. just us."

"i've about had it with these secret dates." john admitted. "they all turn to shit."

"this one hasn't...at least not yet." annie said.

he let out a low sigh, "i know. but still, it's getting old. i just want to be able to take you out on normal dates, holding your hand without worrying about someone seeing us or ruining it."

"are we ready for that yet? i don't want the media to see us moving too fast and then dugan and cecily to see-" she began to ramble.

john stopped her mid-sentence with a gentle finger to her lips, silencing her worries. "i know you're worried, but we can't keep living like this. hiding in the shadows, it's not fair to either of us."

"let's hold off a little longer, okay? just a little bit longer." annie pushed.

he let out a frustrated sigh. "how long, annie? when will you be ready? when will we be ready to let the world know that we're together?"

"i don't know." annie admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. "enough time for them to get over the fact that we're out of relationships. the media picked up on the fact that cecily was a carbon copy of me and that dugan looked just like you."

john chuckled dryly at the absurdity. "great. the whole world knows we have a type."

she couldn't help but laugh, even though she knew he was half-joking. "that's one way to look at it.." she said. "but the comparisons don't exactly help our case, do they?"

"not one bit." he replied.

there was a tense silence between them, the weight of their secret relationship hanging heavy in the air.

finally, john spoke up, breaking the silence. "i just want to be with you. openly and unapologetically."

"and you will be, i promise." annie said with a slight nod.

john drained the last bit of wine from his glass and set it down on the coffee table in front of them. "i have an idea."

annie raised an eyebrow, curious. "oh yeah? hit me with it."

"how about we take a little trip to windmere manor?" he suggested, a big smile on his face.

annie's eyes widened in surprise. "you mean your family's hamptons house? are you serious?"

"dead serious. we could get away from the city, the press, and have some time alone together." he explained, the idea sounding better and better.

annie couldn't help but feel a flutter of excitement in her chest at the thought of spending time with john away from the prying eyes of the media. "okay, consider me in." she said.

housekeeping notes !

hamptons trip is coming up very soon...please remember to vote and comment ❤️