“Soon, we don’t want to get home too late.” He turns to look at me and I see that he’s smirking. “Plus I have a surprise planned.”
“Really! Is it as good as the fabulous dresses?” I ask, smiling while I say it.
“I think you’ll like this surprise a little bit better, well, I hope.”
Is Drew Forrester nervous?
I’m not sure if I’m a surprise kind of girl. I guess I’ll find out soon enough.
A few hours later we’re all packed and loaded up in the Suburban, ready for the four hour drive to the city.
“What’s this?” I ask as we pull in front of Fenway Park. The street is deserted. “Is there even a game today?”
“No babe, no game. I just have to get some figures for the charity and I thought you’d like to see the stadium without anyone watching us. The game is tonight, in about nine hours or so. No one should be here except for minimal office staff.”
Drew jumps out of the car, as does our perpetual shadow, Steve. We walk up to a non-descript green metal door and it opens as we approach. Obviously someone is expecting us. “Hi Ryan,” Drew says as he greets the same young man from the other night.
“Hi Mr. Forrester, Miss Tannen, come on in.” Ryan steps aside to let us through the door and into the corridor underneath the stadium.
Ryan tells Drew which direction to go and smiles. He doesn’t follow us through the dusty cement and steel girder-lined passageways that wrap around under the grandstand seats and hold the concession stands and restrooms. Drew takes my hand and turns onto one of the ramps that leads up to the field.
It’s eerie being here when the park is empty. Our footsteps echo along the vacant passage as we walk out into the bright July morning. The park is just as vacant as the hallways below. There’s not even a groundskeeper anywhere on the perfectly maintained outfield.
“I thought you just needed to get something?” I ask as Drew pulls me down the same aisle that we used the other night and opens the hidden door in the green barrier next to home plate.
He turns and gives me a mischievous look, holding the door and allowing me to step out onto the dirt track around the field. As I pass by him I see something flash across his face, it’s brief, maybe a half a second, but I swear I see nervousness behind the playful façade.
“I will, I just wanted to take advantage of the field since there’s no one here to tell us no. Come on, how often will you get to stand on home plate at the greatest stadium on Earth?” Drew takes my hands and walks backwards, leading me toward the gleaming white base. “Isn’t this spectacular?” He holds his hands out and looks around. “God, when I was a kid I never thought in a million years that I’d be standing here with you today.”
“Please, like you never dreamt of playing baseball for the Sox when you were a kid.”
He looks at me and smiles. “Of course I did. I was going to be the starting catcher. Mike was going to pitch, and Matt was going to play first base.”
“But you just said you never thought you’d be here,” I spin around slowly and take in the incredible sight.
“I said I never thought I’d be standing here with you, not playing here, and definitely not here like this.”
I turn back to see what he’s talking about and time freezes. The breath is sucked from my lungs and my legs almost buckle beneath me. It takes a minute for the spots to fade from my vision and my heart rate to slow down enough to focus on Drew.
Drew is wearing his repulsive hat, having produced it from somewhere and is down on one knee. “Sydney, I think I’ve loved you since you said I looked repellant.” I smile at him as tears roll down my face. “We’ve been through hell and back, I’ve lived without you, and I don’t want to feel that way again.”
I kneel down on home plate with Drew, so I can see his expressive eyes. He takes my hands in his and kisses them. “I know that being with me makes your life more difficult sometimes, but being with you makes my life real. I can’t imagine facing reality without you. Sydney, will you marry me?”
Then he looks at me with that face that I adore. The honest and sincere Drew who always says exactly what he means. In that moment I know that I’m meant to be with him. He’s mine and I’m his, forever. “Yes. Yes of course I’ll marry you.”
He smiles, turns his hideous hat around backwards, and grabs my face, crushing his lips to mine. I wrap my arms around his waist and respond to his touch, opening up and letting him in. Our mouths move together passionately, sharing the moment as one. Drew pulls back and uses his thumbs to wipe away my tears of joy. “I’m so happy babe. My girl in my hometown at my favorite place, I can’t wait to make you my wife.”