The negotiation was intense, and although Chrissy knew he had me, I was holding out for as much as I could.
X-Men one through ten were on the table and part of the deal, if he wanted the alternative covers for issue one that was going to cost more.
He didn’t blink.
Did he know what I wanted the money for?
Reflecting back for a moment, it was probably a mistake that I asked his girlfriend for some advice, her opinion on some ideas for something special.
I bet she told Chrissy and he was using that against me now.
It cost me both X-Man and my first issues of Spawn, but now between that and the money I had from working some extra shifts on the weekends I had enough.
Enough for what yet, I still wasn’t sure.
We had been dating for a while and things were going really well.
I was happy, she was happy, and I wanted to get her something special, something that would express that.
Something that would capture the light she shared.
Not because of an anniversary, or a birthday, or any of our firsts together, not because of any reason, just because we were together and happy.
I first asked my best-friend’s girlfriend for some suggestions, what is something a woman would like to receive?
I got some good advice but I realized it was the advice of what she would have liked to receive, what was lacking in her relationship.
I wanted to get it right, this was important, so I asked my friend D.
He certainly had the experience, and his advice had some good points, but much of it seemed transactional.
I thought about it some more, coming to the conclusion that I would know it when I saw it.
Just lean into the feeling.
How did I feel when I was around her?
I had just enough money to cover it, a little extra for dinner that night at our favorite place, so I had it wrapped up and planned to give it to her the next day.
The plan was to give it to her in the morning, before I want to work so she could have it for the day, ease into it, and then we could just enjoy dinner together at our place over looking the city.
I could have given it to her after dinner, anchor it to that moment, but I also wanted it to be a complete surprise.
Which it was.
She wasn’t sure what to do with the small box, was it for her?
Why?
I could feel her expression of curiosity as she waited with me for the train.
I explained that it was just something from me to her, for her, how she made me feel.
She was surprised.
It was the light in her expression that I could see.
