Epilogue Collin
I unpacked the last of my boxes and stepped back to take a look at my new apartment.
It looked empty. Probably because it was so much bigger than my apartment had been in New York.
And I didn’t have a roommate. Logan and I had decided it was time for us to have our own places.
But at least he was only a few doors down.
Getting the band to relocate to Phoenix had actually been pretty easy.
Marco had family here, and Logan was pretty smitten with Piper Lee, so smitten that he had started working out, which was a shock to all of us.
The only one who had needed any convincing was Jeremy.
He thought that New York was the most sensible and convenient base of operations for our band.
But once I showed him how much we’d be saving on housing and studio rental, he was sold.
I took one more look at my apartment and moved my sparse furniture around until I was satisfied. There was just one thing left to do. Tell Glory.
The last several months had been fantastic.
I had been in communication with Glory nearly every day, whether it was through texts, phone calls, emails, and yes, even the occasional letter.
But as much as I loved talking to her, I loved being being with her even more.
The band had been busy with recording new music and Glory had started an internship at an aerospace company in addition to teaching part time at Monet Cafe, so our opportunities to visit one another were limited.
She had come for a couple amazing weekends in New York, and I had spent a week with her in Phoenix in the summer, but it just wasn’t enough.
So I had made the decision to move, but I wanted it to be a surprise for Glory.
I was crossing my fingers that it would be a good surprise.
I left my apartment and climbed into my new car (another perk of moving to Phoenix), and drove over to Monet Cafe, where I knew Glory would be getting off in about 15 minutes.
I parked right in front of the entrance, then stood by my car and anxiously waited for her to come out.
When she finally did, the look on her face was priceless.
“Collin!” She exclaimed, running to me and jumping into my arms. After a long, dizzying kiss, she pulled away. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”
“I wanted to surprise you.”
She smiled and ran her fingers along my jaw. “I swear you get hotter every time I see you.”
I laughed. “If you mean that you make me hot, then yes, that would be absolutely correct.”
She rolled her eyes. “When are you ever going to learn to just take a compliment?” Then a cloud crossed her features. “I wish I had known you were coming. I have a presentation at work tomorrow, and it’s too late to reschedule it.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I replied. “We’ll hang out the day after.”
“How long are you here for this time?”
I tried to suppress a smile, but couldn’t. “A while,” I admitted. Glory looked at me quizzically. “Come with me,” I said. “I want to show you something.”
I helped her into my car and started driving back to my apartment.
Glory looked at me suspiciously. “You’re not taking me somewhere to kill me, are you?”
I chuckled. “And take all the sunlight out of this world? Not a chance.”
She smiled and stroked my shoulder, but I could tell she was a little unsettled, which made me nervous. We pulled up to the apartment complex and she looked even more confused.
“Collin, what’s going on?” She asked.
“I’ll show you,” I replied, taking her hand and leading her up the steps. I opened the door to my apartment and we walked in. Glory slowly glanced around at the framed pictures of New York and Chicago and my guitars mounted on the wall, then turned to me.
“Who’s apartment is this?”
I swallowed hard. “Mine.”
She stared at me, expressionless.
Oh no, I thought, I’ve made a huge mistake. I should have talked to her about it first. But then she threw her arms around me and started crying into my chest.
“I hope those are happy tears,” I ventured.
“Yes, I just can’t believe it!” Glory confessed. “You moved here?”
“Yes.”
“But what about the band?”
“They all moved here too. They were actually pretty excited about it.”
Glory’s eyes lit up. “Piper is going to be so thrilled. Does she know?”
I nodded. “She’s known for about a week.”
Her mouth fell open. “That’s why she’s been acting so strange!” She looked around the apartment again, then back at me. “You moved here for me?”
I could gaze into those amazing brown eyes forever. “Of course I did. I love you, Glory Parker. I want to put my magical fish in you.”
She covered her face with her hands, laughing in embarrassment. “I can’t believe you remember that.”
“How could I forget? That was the best sex education lesson I ever had.” I took her hands away from her face and pulled her close to me, running my fingers through her tight blonde curls.
“Just so you know,” she said softly, “I was seriously considering moving to New York.”
I laughed. “It’s okay, Glory. I think we both know that I’m more in love with you than you are with me.”
She gasped. “That’s not true!”
“If you could feel what I’m feeling right now, I think you would agree that it is.”
She winked at me. “Well, I’ll be happy to spend every day of the rest of my life proving to you that that is not the case.”
And she started by giving me a kiss that made me forget I was in Phoenix, or even on earth. That day, Glory Parker sent me into orbit.