Sorry I'm Late--Sparia
It was a beautiful evening in a beautiful restaurant. By now, they should have been halfway through a bottle of wine and debating dessert. Instead, Aria was sitting alone at the bar, nursing a gin and tonic. She didn’t even like gin, but it seemed appropriate for being stood up on your anniversary. She sighed and glanced at her phone. 7:45, no messages. Their reservation had been for six, and Spencer still hadn't shown up, called, or even sent a text. The bartender walked by, and gave her a pitying smile.
"Would you like a refill?" she asked. Aria shook her head.
"No thanks," she said. She’d already had the one, and she wanted to keep a clear head in case Spencer ever showed up. She should probably just go home at this point. Spencer had probably forgotten that it was their anniversary and that they had plans. But going home felt like accepting defeat, and Aria wasn’t ready to give up.
Just then, Spencer came rushing into the restaurant.
"Sorry I'm late," she said breathlessly. Aria's jaw dropped.
"Spencer, what the hell is that?" she asked, staring at a row of stitches on her wife's forehead. Spencer grimaced and sat down at the bar.
"That's why I'm late. There was a teensy tiny car accident," she said, trying to sound nonchalant. Aria's eyes bulged.
"You were in a car accident and you didn't call me?" she yelled, garnering the attention of several restaurant goers.
"Shh, I'm fine. Just a few stitches and a slight concussion. They fixed me up on the scene. And I’m sorry I didn’t call. My phone died," she explained. Aria closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose. Part of her was relieved Spencer hadn’t forgotten their plans, but the other part of her wished Spencer had forgotten if this was the alternative.
"Let's go home," she said, sliding her credit card toward the bartender, who took it and disappeared. Spencer frowned.
"But it's our anniversary! We're supposed to celebrate!" Spencer argued. With her and Aria’s busy schedules, they never had time to go out for a fancy dinner, and she’d been looking forward to this all the more for that. Again, she cursed the drunk idiot who had rear ended her going ten miles above the speed limit.
"We can celebrate at home. We can get take out on the way home, and we’ll watch whatever movie you want," Aria offered. Spencer sighed, but didn't protest.
"I really am sorry for being late. I know you were excited," Spencer said, getting into the passenger side of Aria's car.
"Spence, it's not your fault. And I was excited about hanging out with my wife. It doesn't matter where we are. How'd you get here?" she asked, realizing that Spencer’s car wasn’t there.
"A taxi. My car had to be towed. It's a bit worse off than me," she admitted. Aria shook her head.
"I wish you had used someone else’s phone to call. I would have been there with you," she chastised. Spencer smiled and kissed Aria’s cheek.
"I know. But there wasn't even that much time. It all happened really quickly.”
"Still. I'm glad you're okay. What happened? Is the other driver okay?" she asked. Spencer groaned.
"Ugh, some drunk driver didn’t notice that the light was red and I was stopped in front of him. He just kept right on going. He didn’t have a scratch, of course,” she said. Aria rolled her eyes.
“Of course,” she agreed.
“Anyway, I hit my head on the steering wheel, but other than that I’m fine. However, the medic told me I should be woken up every two hours tonight. I didn’t tell him that I didn’t plan on sleeping much tonight anyway,” she said suggestively. Aria giggled.
“I think I can try to keep you awake,” she agreed.
“Do you have work tomorrow?” Spencer asked, slightly embarrassed that she couldn’t remember. Aria shrugged.
“I’m supposed to get the next section to my editor by tomorrow night, but I was planning to do that from home. Why?” she asked. Spencer shrugged.
“I’m not supposed to go to work tomorrow, and I was wondering if you wanted to play hooky with me,” she explained. Aria blushed, remembering their days of playing hooky in high school and college. It hadn’t happened often—getting Spencer Hastings to skip class was damn near impossible—but when it did, they always had the best times. Spencer would never admit it, but Aria knew that the forbidden had always turned her on.
“Of course I’ll play hooky with you!” she said excitedly. Spencer grinned back.
“Best anniversary gift ever.”