I Suck at Valentine's Day
Eve Elliot
I've never been good at Valentine's Day.
Valentine's Day is like a sport to me, or a game of skill - like the complex scribbling of some whacked out algebra equation. Valentine's Day is something I simply suck at.
This year, work was so busy that I swear to God it was the middle of January and then bang, suddenly it's February fourteenth -- and so here I am, pawing through stringy bits of lace and floof at the mall after work, hoping to find something my husband might find the least bit attractive. Crotchless panties? I don't have time for a wax. A tiny balconette bra that shoves my tits up and makes my nipples poke out like pink torpedos? I'm too tired for this. Pink fuzzy handcuffs? Oh please.
All around me, worried-looking men are scurrying around with boxes of chocolates and bouquets of roses and let me tell you, I envy these fuckers. They can fulfill their romantic obligations for the whole year with sugar and flowers alone. What can a woman do? I can't very well plunk a KitKat in my husband's lap and shove some daisies at him - men aren't motivated by calories and greenery.
No, if you're a woman, you know what you have to do.
Sex. Riotous, ferocious, crazy monkey sex. A blowjob or three at least. (I petitioned my husband one year for us to officially strike Valentine's Day from our calendar and replace it with Steak and a Blowjob Day - he laughed and said we should celebrate that too.)
But as I said, I'm shit at Valentine's Day. I've never been mushy, I don't cry at Hallmark movies (or even watch them if I can help it) and I've never read a Valentine's Day card yet that didn't make me want to hurl. I'm into sex as much as anyone, but all the fuss and commotion and outfits and toys and everything - frankly, it's exhausting.
I'm about to leave and just pick him up an extra Big Mac on the way home when who do I see, wandering through the lingerie section looking like a startled deer? My own dear husband. His eyes are roaming over all the scraps of erotically charged fabric on display, and he even reaches out to touch a gauzy one-piece number before thinking better of it, and withdrawing his hand like the thing's radioactive.
He's not seriously looking...I mean, he's not actually shopping for me? My heart starts pounding out a foolish rhythm. He knows I don't like this crap. I know he doesn't like this crap (hey, I said I was tired and out of ideas)...so who is he buying this crap for?
No, he wouldn't. My husband? He'd sooner eat the living room carpet than have an affair -- he's like me, we're not interested in drama and passion and chaos, that's just too much work.
So what the hell is he doing here?
Before I can stop myself, I barge through the racks and roll up in front of him, planting my hands on my hips. I say nothing.
His face flushes bright red, and he crumples, folding in on himself with relief. "Oh, thank God," he says, putting out an arm with the expectation that I'll come in for a hug.
I stand my ground.
"What are you doing here?" I ask, menacingly polite.
He blinks. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm trying to buy something for you."
"Same."
I stare at him. "You're trying to buy me something?" I turn and flick at a sparkly thong. "From here? You know this isn't my kind of thing."
And just then, tears spring from my eyes and start dripping down my cheeks like I'm eight years old. Fuck, fuck fuck. I hate getting weepy. But just the thought of him buying nipple clamps or whatever for some young hottie makes my heart hurt.
He looks worried. "I know it isn't," he says. "But look, I'm sorry, I completely forgot this year, and I only realized on the way home, and the gas station was out of roses and the only chocolates left were the ones with the chewy pink stuff in the middle that you hate, and so I thought I can't go home with nothing, so I thought maybe I could find you a nice robe or some slippers or something..." he trails off piteously, his eyes wide and puppy-like. "I'm sorry. I should have thought of something earlier."
I am, for the moment, rendered speechless. This is unusual for me.
This gives him the opportunity to think, and slowly his brow furrows as it puts it together. "Wait a minute...if this isn't your kind of thing, and you know it isn't mine, why are you looking for something here?"
I close my eyes and sigh. "Okay, so, here's the thing. I forgot too. And I didn't want to come home with nothing either, so I thought I'd just see if there was anything here that doesn't scream 'hooker'."
He laughs. "Right. Of course. So you're not cheating on me then, buying a slinky thing for your young lover."
I snort. "Are you kidding? I barely have the energy for sex with you."
"That's my girl."
"So, you're not cheating on me, shopping for some butt floss for your side chick?"
"Is that what you thought?" He frowns.
"For a nanosecond. Maybe slightly longer."
He smiles, and it's the smile I really, actually, deep in my heart, love with all my soul.
"C'mere," he says softly, and extends his arm again. This time I step into the hug gratefully. "I'm actually touched by that."
"By what?" I say, but my voice is muffled by the big plaid scarf he wears every winter, the one that I hate and have tried to throw out but which crawls out of the donation bin of its own volition and winds its way around his neck every single year. "Which part?"
"The fact that you're worried I'm cheating on you. I'm taking it to mean you care."
"You know I care, Dumbass," I retort, punching him lightly. Dumbass was my first pet name for him back in college, but I only bring it out on special occasions.
"Oh I know, Bubbles," he replies in kind. Bubbles - as in airhead - was his pet name for me. "It's just nice to see irrefutable proof."
Something occurs to me, and I step back from him, smiling at him even as I calculate. "I just thought of something..."
His raises his eyebrows.
"I suck at Valentine's Day."
"I know, honey."
"No, I mean..." I step closer and lower my voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "I suck on Valentine's Day."
I hollow out my cheeks and poke my tongue to one side, just so he gets the idea.
He laughs. "Well, then, let's get you home!"