Without You Around

I brushed a strand of my straightened hair from my face as I typed away furiously on a contract in my new office. I had just begun working for Fearless Records as a manager, and I was already being assigned to my first band later in the day.

I re-checked the contract about 10 times, before sending it to the printer. I sat back and stretched my back, before standing up and straightening my deep yellow t-shirt and the black cardigan over it. I made the short trip to the floors printer, before gathering my papers and walking back to my assistant’s desk.

“Hey Jenny, can you take these down to Kinko’s and have 7 copies made and bound at the top?” I said as I got her attention.

“Yeah, I’ll get right on that,” she said standing up, “Do you want me to put the phone message on, or just forward them to your office for now?”

“The message, I’m going on lunch right now,” I said smiling at her, “Thank you so much Jenny!”

“No problem Ms. Bell,” she said still seeming a little timid.

“You can call me Addison, Jenny,” I said laughing a bit.

“Alright, Addison,” she said before fiddling with the phone.

I left her to do her job, before walking into my office and grabbing my purse from under my desk. I pulled out my Blackberry and typed in the familiar numbers before hitting send and listening to the ringing on the line.

“Hey you,” Danny said as he answered his phone.

“Hey babe, we still on for lunch?” I asked exiting my office and fishing for my keys.

“I only get a short lunch today, since I have a press conference to organize,” he said sounding sad, “But you could always grab us some Panera and come eat it with me.”

“Alright babe,” I said laughing a bit, “I’ll grab our usual and be at your office in about 20. I love you.”

“I love you too, bye.”

When I got to my car, I called in our order to Panera, which meant it would be ready when I got there in about 10 minutes. Thankfully, traffic was light at 1:30 so I was able to get to Panera in record time.

“Pick-up for Addison Bell,” I told the clerk behind the counter.

“This may be really random, but are you engaged to Danny Kurily? Pete Wentz’s assistant?” the girl asked as she rang up my order.

“Uh, yeah, I am,” I said being caught off guard, “Where did you find that out?”

“Twitter, tumblr, and a few gossip sites,” she said nonchalantly, “But congratulations.”

“Shit,” I mumbled about the news being everywhere, “And thank you, it means a lot.”

I quickly grabbed our bag of food, and went back out to my car. I tossed my purse into the passenger seat, as well as the food, before pulling out of the parking space and making my way to Danny’s office.

When I got to the building I walked in and was greeted by the receptionist at the main desk. She paged Danny and waved me towards his office once he told her to send me in.

“Hey you,” Danny said as I opened the door to his office, “How’s the day been so far?”

“It’s been busy,” I said walking over and giving him a hug, “I have my first meeting with my first band at 3:30 today so I’ve been finalizing the contracts and such all morning.”

“You’ll do great sweetie, I know it,” he said ushering for me to sit in one of the leather chairs, “I’ll even cook dinner for us tonight and have it ready when you get home.”

“Have I told you that I love you?” I said with a chuckle, “Now let’s eat, I’m starved!”

We grabbed our lunches from the bag I had sat on the desk previously, and began eating our sandwiches. We talked idly while we ate, and even started going over a few wedding details absent-mindedly.

“Danny, quick change in-Oh, sorry dude, didn’t realize you were on lunch,” I heard a familiar voice say from the doorway.

I looked up and saw the one and only Pete Wentz leaning into the room. He casually left the door over and walked over to us, while extending his hand for a handshake.

“Hi, I’m Pete,” he said catching my hand, “You must be the famous Addison that Danny never seems to talk about. Congrats on the engagement.”

“Yeah, that’s me,” I said smiling a bit, “And thank you.”

“But before I forget Danny, change in plans for the press release,” Pete said leaning on the desk, “We’re going to exclusively release the details about my new project to Alternative Press for now, so it only needs to be short and sweet. After that’s done, you can go for the day.”

“Alright, I have it mostly done, so I’ll be out of here soon then,” Danny said sipping his drink, “You sure there’s nothing else I need to do?”

“Nah, you’ve done a lot today,” Pete said waving his hand, “Well it was nice meeting you Addison, I’m sure I’ll see you another time.”

“Same to you Pete,” I said as he walked out of the office, “I envy that you get off early!”

“To make it up to you I’ll make your favorite dinner,” Danny said finishing his sandwich, “And I’ll buy those cupcakes you love.”

“I knew there was a reason I love you,” I said leaning over and kissing his cheek, “And I should probably get going, I have to make sure my assistant got everything copied correctly before the band comes to sign everything.”

“Alright, I’ll walk you to the front,” Danny said gathering the trash and throwing it in the bin.

I picked up my purse and slung it over my shoulder before grabbing Danny’s hand and walking out of his office. We gave each other a quick peck, before bidding our goodbyes and heading our separate ways.

==================================

I trudged into the house at about 6:30 that night, and tossed my keys on the small table, before bending down and scratching Dingo’s head. I stood-up, stretching my arms above my head before taking in a big breath and smiling at the smell of stir fry floating through the house. I slipped my leather booties off, before walking into the kitchen, and smiling at the sight of Danny standing over the steaming pot of stir fry. He turned when he heard my feet hit the tile, and smiled up at me.

“I’ll dish this onto plates if you want to grab the wine from the chiller and pour us some,” Danny said as he turned off the stove.

“You just keep amazing me,” I told him as I pulled my favorite red wine from the fridge, “Have I told you I loved you today?”

“I think so, but I never get sick of hearing it,” he said, “And I love you too.”

I uncorked the wine, and grabbed two glasses from the rack before pouring the deep red wine into them. I set them at the dining room table, and Danny followed closely behind with our plates of food.

“I think I found the perfect venue for our wedding,” I told Danny after a few minutes of silent eating, “Do you remember that old church on 7th?”

“The old one with all of the stained glass?” he said earning a nod from me, “That would be perfect. It’s not too big, but it’s not too small. We should call on it tomorrow. Have you thought about a date anymore?”

“I was thinking April, since it’s 9 months away, and that gives us plenty of time to get everything finalized,” I said sipping my wine, “And I’ve always wanted a spring wedding.”

“Whatever you want, is what you’ll have,” Danny said smiling over his plate at me.

The rest of the night was spent with us watching TV and finishing our two glasses of wine, before crashing into bed around midnight. As I laid in bed and thought about our wedding more and more, I couldn’t help but to want time to speed up.

However, I knew that I would need the next 9 months to get everything together, and make the wedding the wedding of my dreams.