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Is this love or just make believe? [Feb M.T.]
February 14th, 1982; Age 6
Sunday
Pensacola, Florida
Tori's small hands were knotted anxiously together as she crept down the hallway from her room. It was Valentine's Day, and Tori was all of six years old. She tip toed down the seemingly long hallway, watching her parents door and listening as she passed it. She was determined not to wake them, and make it down to the kitchen. She figured once she was downstairs, it would be a little easier not to wake them. Tori made it to the top of the stairs and let out a small sigh; the first hard part was over. She had planned to make both of her parents breakfast in bed, and surprise them on this Valentine's Day. She was old enough to do something for them, and this is what she wanted to do.
Tori's hand grabbed the railing as she made her way slowly down the wood stairs. She had gotten used to their house here, in Florida. She liked the stairs, but not that the front door was directly in front of it. Her dad never let her slide down the stairs on a mattress, afraid she'd slam into the door. She had to resolve to bumping down the stairs on her butt, which was fun for a while until her butt bones started to hurt.
Tori made it safely to the landing at the bottom of the stairs, in front of her most hated and loved door. She had to admit their front door was really cool, being rounded at the top, with glass panels along the door. Turning her attention and focus to the kitchen, Tori almost let out a whine. Her father was already awake, and had already seemingly cooked breakfast. Tori frowned, crossed her arms, and marched over to her father.
"You're not supposed to be up," Tori told him matter-of-factly, looking up at him.
"Tori, you know I'm always up this early," He told her, laughing and leaning down to kiss her on the forehead and scoop her up in his arms. "Happy Valentine's Day, sweetheart," he told her, kissing her on the cheek before putting her down. "As my number one Valentine," he bent down to her level to whisper, "I made you breakfast."
Tori couldn't believe it. She didn't know if she was mad or really excited. She was lucky to have her dad, even though his job made them move around so much. He always made it an adventure for them, and she was starting to really believe it. She had already seen more than some kids she had met at school this year. Some of her classmates had never left the state, or even the town they lived in. And here she was, Tori Reyes, Traveler of States.
"But what about mommy?" Tori finally asked, having decided she was mad that she couldn't surprised them, but was really excited about what her dad had made her. "And what did you make?" Tori asked, just unable to see over the counter. She wasn't the biggest fan of the counters in this house.
"Well, Tori, I thought we could make mommy breakfast together," He told her, wiggling his eyebrows. "And I made you plenty. Go sit and I'll bring it to you," the words were barely out of his mouth before she was headed to the table. She climbed into the chair and scooted closer to the table, her focus going back to her father who was now bringing over what seemed like every breakfast dish. He brought over her current favorite breakfast which was french toast, along with scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, orange juice, milk, and a bowl of mixed fruit. And when Tori thought he had brought everything over to the table, he brought her over a small plate of freshly baked pastries. She looked up at her dad, "You made all this?" She was blown away, even for a six year old.
"Of course. You didn't think I couldn't cook, did you?" He grinned at her and she only returned it, before turning her attention to the feast he had set before her.
"We should make mommy pancakes!" Tori proclaimed, her mouth full of what looked like a little of everything; french toast, eggs, and bacon. Her father could only laugh, the sight of her too much to handle.
February 14th, 1993; Age 17
Sunday
Salem, Massachusetts
It was finally, officially, Valentine's Day. Tori Reyes was celebrating the only way she felt like celebrating. Alone.
Tori had further decided that she'd spend the day in the Village, roaming around and treating herself to whatever she felt like. She'd go where she wanted, spend as much time doing whatever she wanted, and leave when she wanted. That was one perk of being single on Valentine's Day. Technically.
After the magic shop and the candy shop, her feet had eventually lead her to the coffee shop in the Village, Leviosa. She was only slightly concerned when her feet carried her across the threshold and into the coffee shop. She knew she had no reason to be, really, as she had nothing to hide. As far as secrets went, she had few and they were well protected.
Tori managed to order, pay, and received her goodies without a sight of anyone she really knew. She made her way to the table furthest from the door, wanting as much privacy and silence as possible. She was also only slightly excited to see that from her seat, she could see the entrance of the shop. If anyone she knew came through that door, she'd know before they did. And well, because, people watching. She was only far too willing to deny that she had anyone she hoped to see. Especially on Valentine's Day. Tori got distracted by picking her scone apart and eating it, and almost missed the entrance of someone she actually knew.
Professor Charles Sage.
Tori almost choked on the piece of scone that she had just put in her mouth. She grabbed for her coffee, taking a small sip to help wash the scone down. After a moment, she leaned back in her seat and sipped her coffee slowly. He was one of her teachers, and seeing a teacher in the real world was like seeing a dog on two legs. She watched Charles, only too intrigued to catch him interacting with his daughter. It was a topic that they had never really talked about, even with all their time spent working on assignments in his office. She'd never admit it or let Charles admit it, but she did care for her grades. Having him for the first time as one of her teachers in her final year at SIM only made her a tad anxious, and led her to spending some time in Professor Sage's office, as she worked on a few assignments.
Tori watched the two of them interact, his lips moving as he spoke, and her mind wandered back to a few days prior. She had realized a bit too late that Valentine's Day this year was on a Sunday, and if she had wanted to do anything for Professor Sage, she'd have to do it Friday when they had class. And she planned to do exactly that.
Friday before class, Tori had officially set everything into motion. She walked with Dakota to her class like usual, and said goodbye to him before heading into class. She found her normal seat and settled in, unpacking her notebooks and pens. She had glanced at the front of the room when she walked in and noticed Professor Sage hadn't arrived yet, so once she was unpacked, she settled her focus on the door. She watched as students trickled in, waiting for the most important one on the class. Without Professor Sage, they wouldn't have class that day. And as glorious as that sounded, she wanted her plan to play out.
After what seemed like forever after class should have started, but was really only a minute or two, Professor Sage bustled into the classroom, briefcase in one hand with papers and files under his other arm.
"Sorry, class. I got a little held up. You know what this holiday does to people," Professor Sage said, giving a chuckle as he moved to set his belongings down.
Tori watched him carefully from the front row, watching as he moved about in a frantic chaos. He hadn't even realized, and Tori saw the exact moment he did. He almost froze, finally finding the stuffed teddy bear, accompanied by a bottle of whiskey and a small box of chocolates on his desk. Tori could see the blood rush to his cheeks, and bit her lower lip to keep from laughing. Some of her other classmates weren't as disciplined as she was, and burst out laughing and clapping, hooting and hollering. 'Professor Sage has a secret admirer!' one shouted, and Tori lost it. She joined the rest of the class and laughed, watching as he hauled the items off his desk and into his top drawer.
"Enough, enough!" he called, trying to regain control of his class.
Tori could see his cheeks flush, the blood rushing to the surface of his skin. His attempt did nothing, so he turned his back to his class and began to write the day's agenda on the board. He knew they'd eventually tire themselves out and quiet down, so he let them. Once Professor Sage turned around, Tori noticed three hands immediately shoot up. One guy behind her didn't even bother to wait to be called on, instead speaking anyway, "Who's the note from? Your girlfriend!?" Professor Sage did his best to keep his composure at the question, and Tori did her best to keep hers. This was far too entertaining. She could still hear 'ooooh's and fake kissing noises from the back of the class. They were having plenty of fun giving Professor Sage a hard time over what seemed like his little Valentine's Day secret admirer.
"Alright, class. Come on," he insisted. "Let's get lecture started, so I can give you your assignment for the day," he said, and the mention of an assignment seemed to quickly shut them up and resolve them into groans.
The lectures was one of the shortest to date, with a more lengthy group assignment. Tori was not thrilled about that, but looked up every so often to see what Professor Sage was occupying himself with. Once or twice she saw him looking or reaching into his top drawer, most likely playing with the gifts he had hauled in there. It only made Tori grin; seeing him rattled even a little was so fun.
February 14th, 1994; Age 18
Monday
Salem, Massachusetts
Tori had not spent most of the day wondering how her night was going to play out. She had been at work, focused on the stupid and idiotic guests that had come in for the week. Some had asked for the weirdest requests for their room, like whipped cream and balloon animal balloons. She could only laugh at some of the requests she got, and would even laugh at the people who asked over the phone. "Are you serious?" she's always ask. One out of ten times, they were joking. Which Tori found even weirder, and sometimes filled the request even after they claimed it was a joke. "......yes," would usually follow, and Tori would laugh again and agree to it. They were so embarrassed that Tori couldn't help but go with it and enjoy it. She never knew why they'd request these things if they were so embarrassed, instead of just bringing their own things to party with. Valentine's Day, man.
Tori, on the other hand, always came prepared. Usually. What good was a plan if it fell through because you forgot, or didn't have something? So dumb.
10:37 PM. Tori approached the familiar front door and exhaled the breath she didn't even realize she was holding. "F***, okay," she mumbled to herself. She could see the lights on in the house and with it being Monday, she knew he was up. She raised a fist and knocked on the door, waiting patiently as she heard his footsteps close in on the door. Moments later, the door unlocked, opened, and light flooded out. Her eyes found his and she couldn't help the small smile that came across her face.
"Hey, I brought.. a late dinner?" Tori almost asked, peaking behind him and into the house. She could see the papers strewn across the couch and coffee table and nodded, "I figured that you might have forgotten to eat," Tori raised a brow, knowingly. She raised the bags in her hands as evidence.
He returned her smile, "You figured right," he said, and Charles Sage moved aside to let her in.
Tori crossed the threshold and headed to the kitchen, setting the food down on the counter. She knew his kitchen as well as she knew her own by this time, and moved around his kitchen, grabbing plates and silverware for them.
"What'd you bring?" Charles called from the living room. She could hear the papers rustling as he cleaned up the table and couch for them.
"You'll see," Tori answered, grinning to herself as she unpacked the Chinese food she'd just picked up. She loaded the cartons onto the plates before gathering everything, and some napkins, and heading over to the coffee table in the living room.
"General Tso's chicken, dumplings, pork fried rice, chicken lo mein, aaand of course white rice," Tori spoke, unloading the cartons from the plates onto the table and pushing a clean plate in front of him. She set his silverware and napkin by his plate and with a snap of her fingers, a whiskey on the rocks appeared for him and white wine for her.
"There, I think that's everything," Tori said, looking around and nodding before focusing her attention on him.
"Oh, and," Tori seemed to remember something, and with that, she leaned in and kissed him deeply on the lips. She broke the kiss but kept her face close to his, their lips nearly touching. "Happy Valentine's Day, handsome," Tori said, kissing him again.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Tori," Charles replied and smiled, returning her kisses with one of his own. "And thank you for dinner," he said, chuckling. She knew him well. She opened each of the containers of Chinese food, pushing them his way.
"Dig in," Tori said, and that was all the encouragement Charles needed. Within moments, Charles was shoveling food into his mouth and Tori grinned, loading up her own plate with chicken, lo mein, and rice.
"I almost forgot," Tori said, digging her fork into the lo main on her plate, "I made apple crumble for dessert," Tori grinned devilishly as she looked at Charles, watching as the biggest and most childish grin covered his face. "And ice cream," Tori added, wiggling her eyebrows. He nodded and returned to his food, seemingly eager to finish it if only to have dessert.
- - - - -
11:17 PM. Tori shifted the pillows on the couch around, trying to get them in a more comfortable position. She had put a movie in for them to watch, had just plated them up some pie and ice cream, and had even poured them glasses of milk. Tori noticed something brightly colored peaking out from between the couch cushions and with some reaching and wiggling, Tori pulled the thing free.
Tori almost laughed at the thing she was clutching in her hands, looking up to see Charles walking back into the living room. She held up the stuffed teddy bear holding a bright pink candy heart that said 'be mine' on it. "You still have this?" Tori asked, remembering the stuffed teddy bear from the Valentine's Day incident in class the year prior.
Tori could have sworn she saw a light blush creep across Charles' features, "Well, yeah. It's cute," Charles defended. Tori laughed and shook her head, "It is, isn't it?" Tori looked at the stuffed teddy bear in her hands and back at him as he settled in on the couch next to her. "I mean, that's what I had hoped," Tori said, setting the teddy bear on the couch next to them. She could feel Charles' eyes on her and looked at him, grinning. She could almost see the gears turning, his mind working.
"It was you! You left that and the whiskey on my desk last year!" Charles said, looking a mix between confused and surprised. Tori laughed and nodded, leaning over to kiss him on the lips. "I'm glad you enjoy it," Tori told him, moving closer to him to snuggle with him. "But as for this Valentine's Day, we still have a movie to watch," she told him, grabbing for the remote and hitting play.
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