Anniversary

Chapter One of When we were Us

I still feel hesitant to call this a diary. I don't really know where to start. Since this is supposed to be the story of  Finn and I, I guess I should start by talking about us.

3 months. I counted the months left till our second anniversary. It was a big deal for someone who has previously never been in relationships like me. My dating experience consists of one short-lived semi-romantic endeavor, an even shorter-lived make-out escapade and bouts of dates in-between. And then came along Finn. It was love at first sight. Our eyes met, he smiled and a year flew by.

I still smile remembering our first anniversary. I was excited for obvious reasons. I had gathered my friends months ago to come up with the perfect gift. It took me hours to prepare. I wore his favorite dress, put on make-up, straightened my hair the way I knew he liked and even put on heels, me! I literally  ran to our rendezvous. The first sign that something was off was the way he was dressed. Finn loved dressing up and he used any opportunity to get suited and booted. Yet that day he was dressed casually. Still, no way did I even suspect that he had forgotten our anniversary. I mean we'd been talking about it for weeks! We'd been talking about it the day before! But yes, he had forgotten.

I was understandably upset. But I put on a brave face and went along with the date. He apologized but not even him buying me french fries (a bribe, I tell you) could cheer me up. By the end of the night, I kissed him good-bye as if everything was normal and handed him the gift.

The next day I was inconsolable. My friends tried to cheer me up, telling me he would make it up. But nothing he could do would make up for the fact that he forgot our very first anniversary. But I was wrong.

A few days later he called me and told me he would pick me up. I was perplexed. He didn't have a driving license let alone a car. But I got ready anyway and waited for his miscall toleave my house. When he miscalled, I went out and my frown instantly turned into a smile. Finn was wearing a suit with a red rose in his hand and a car behind him. His friend Blondie waved from inside the car. I waved back. Blondie was one of Finn's younger friends. He had a group of them following him around and doing him errands, for what reason I cannot figure out till this day. He affectionately called them his man-slaves. He had offensive nicknames for all of them based on their personalities. I think Blondie is self-explanatory. He treated them rudely, like he did with everyone (with me being the exception), yet they all adored him.

Finn hugged me, wished me a happy anniversary and opened the car door. A huge present was awaiting.

"Take it up to your room." He told me with a smile. I did but as I was going up the stairs, I felt it move. I had an inkling as to what it was but I refused to believe it. No, he isn't that crazy, I thought. Apparently he was. I took the box up to my room and opened it. A puppy popped up! I realized my friends were right. He did make it up. But there was more to come!

I had already decided to forgive him but his clumsy attempts to make our anniversary perfect warmed my heart. By the time we got inside the car, he remembered that he had forgotten to buy me a card. We stopped at a stationary and I witnessed him buy me a card and write down a sweet note. The note informed me that the puppy was born on our anniversary and that she would serve to remind him of our anniversaries. Her name? Annie! Yes, I know, cheesy! But I loved Annie.

We then proceeded to go to Dirfo, a famous place outside my home city Asmara where you could park your car and enjoy nature. It had the most breath-taking scenaries. Blondie discreetly left us alone and went to enjoy a beer at a nearby cafe. Finn then popped out a bottle of my favorite wine. But he forgot to bring wine glasses and  an opener. Finn insisted on opening the bottle using his key but the cork went inside and started floating in the wine. He then presented me the bottle and we proceeded to drink the wine straight from the bottle.

It was the perfect anniversary, or it would have been. Two weeks later Finn lost the puppy. First he forgot our anniversary and then he lost our Anniversary. I was devastated at the time. But now I remember Finn's clumsy attempt at making our anniversary perfect fondly.