Carter P.O.V.

I didn't have any plans today, so I thought I would spend it working on Valerie's birthday project. I grabbed all the polaroids and took pictures on my iPhone of those, before syncing my memory cards and phone up to my computer. I reviewed the archives of footage before collating all the images and videos of her I had taken into one album, favoriting the ones that I liked the most.

I connected my phone to the bluetooth speaker, before leaning back in my seat to listen to the demo tracks Alec had sent over that he thought would be usable. I ended up picking a song titled lucky – alec santos, it had all the perfect lyrics and the right vibe to suit the video. (Imagine Better by Khalid, Drew Barrymore by Bryce Vine and Live a Little by FOOL).

I could only make it about a minute long, so I had to filter through what videos and images I wanted in particular, which was very difficult considering all the shots of her were stunning. I got to work with editing it all together, making sure it was absolutely perfect, before finishing up after a couple of hours.

I knew what I wanted to get Valerie as a gift already, after a while of contemplating. I didn't think she would be the type of girl to fawn over something materialistic, so I crossed out buying something designer. She's different. Maybe I could as a random surprise gift in the future... but... huh. The future? What? I let the thought sink in... shaking my head, I refocused my attention back to the task on hand; her birthday present had to be extra special.

I remember Val told me that she wanted to travel more, and that's when I had the genius idea of booking us a vacation somewhere. I hoped it wouldn't be too forward to assume she'd want to go with me, and that she would like the surprise. I decided on the French Polynesian Islands down in the South Pacific Ocean, more specifically, Bora Bora.

I called Trev, my manager, asking if he could get in contact with any of the resorts and hotels down there to see if they'd want to collaborate with me and provide discounted accommodation. I've done a few of these sponsored posts in the past when I've travelled, it was quite a nice perk to simply showcase the place off, sometimes they'd even offer your stay free which was totally sick. It was a win-win situation really, it gives them amazing exposure and a tourism boost. After confirming a deal, I booked two flights to leave for a couple of days after her birthday.

This was only the start I thought to myself, I wanted to show her the world. I wanted to give her the world. It's crazy that I had all these intense feelings about her, but I knew they were real. I didn't suspect it anymore, I knew I was falling in love with her.

Fuck. What do I do?

~

I got ready for the morning for another day of meetings to set up my merch line. There were all sorts of things to go through; graphics for the website, getting a legitimate domain, manufacturer to produce the clothes equitably and sustainably, as well as designs, logistics and finance.

After a few hours of meeting various important people and setting up the basics, we finally finished up. We'd have to have a few more follow-up meetings, but all that was left for now is to actually create the pieces I wanted. I was thinking hoodies, hats, t-shirts, shorts, phone cases, and then eventually expand into other items such as streetwear or gym gear. One step at a time. Maybe I could get Valerie to help me decide on colours and designs, she was always good at that sort of stuff, I thought.

Speaking of Valerie, I texted Ellana for a little while to ask whether Val was going to be doing anything on her birthday. I probably should have checked if she had any plans first. Woops. I just got excited over everything, and assumed since she was on summer break, she wouldn't have much on besides working. I'll just get her shifts covered, that way she has no reason to object, I thought evilly. Easy.

For the rest of the afternoon I chilled in bed on my phone, doing some research on all the organisations out there that I could make the first donation to from the profits made from my merch. I had only done a bit of charity work in the past, dropping some money whenever something popped up or going on promotional learning experiences, however I wasn't consistently signed up to one cause. This project would be a good way to ensure that I would always be giving back and doing something good in this world, with the advantages that my position has given me.

I selected the first three non-profit organisations; 4Oceans- a company that sells recycled plastic bracelets to clean pounds of trash from the oceans, Pencils of Promise- an education program that builds schools in third-world countries, and finally; the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. I even had a few more choices for the year after, humanitarian aid programs, hospital/medical research funding, women/child trafficking and enslavement prevention and endangered animal protection. I was so excited for everything to finally start coming together.

~

I sat on my bed with my cell to my ear, listening to the ringing tone as I waited for Val to pick up.

"Hi," her soft melodic voice answered.

"Morning sunshine," I said, as a giggle echoed through the speaker in response. I smiled, one of my favorite sounds. The other, being the way she says my name when she moans. It's bloody amazing, I smirked.

"Any plans today?" I asked, as I leant back on my arms, shaking myself away from the naughty thoughts of her.

"No, but do you want to be one?" she said cheekily. She kills me.

"Mmhmm, want to help me with merch ideas and designs?"

"Sure, come over."

"Okay. See you soon baby."

I greeted her with a kiss on the lips once she opened the door, as her slender arms wrapped around my tall frame to pull me down closer. I loved holding her body, it felt so right.

She pulled away with a giggle and gave me one last peck. "Come on, let's get to work or we'll never finish."

"I wouldn't mind," I winked, earning a chuckle in response. She disappeared into her bedroom before pulling out a book and some stationery, placing it on the dining table as she sat down. I noticed she had the personalised pens I had given her a while ago in the mix. My heart swelled at the sight, as my lips curved into a grin. Holy shit I'm turning into a lovesick idiot smiling at pens. I don't remember the last time I've ever felt like this. It's kinda freaky.

"Okay, so this is my sketchbook, I'm not that good, I mostly randomly doodle when I get bored, like those café sketches you've seen me do," Val said, as she turned open the pages to reveal a mixture of grey, pencilled images and other colourful patterns and scribbles. She flipped to a blank page and grabbed a pencil out to start. "So, what have you thought of so far?"

"Hmm I was thinking of having maybe my last name formed into some sort of logo I suppose," I explained to her, as she nodded and started sketching out my name in different shapes and fonts. I watched keenly as she moved her hand in precise strokes, concentrating on the paper as she drew away, lost in thought.

"I really like that," I pointed to one of the sketches. She perked up at the sound of my voice and followed my finger to one of the designs. They were block bubble letters with BRY on top and SON underneath. It looked sick, it'd be something I'd buy if I saw it.

"Yeah?" she smiled shyly at me.

"Yeah," I affirmed with a nod.

"Hmm... we could have it plain or we could do this..." she started as she replicated the picture but added a few wavy strokes through it to make it look cooler, kinda like the words were melting... kinda like an ice-cream cone... I chuckled as the thought hit me.

"Thinking about something sweet are you?" I raised my eyebrows teasingly, as her cheeks blushed. "I'll treat you to some after," I pressed a kiss to her forehead, "to say thank you."

She ran her tongue across her lips, before grinning sheepishly. "Thanks, Carter."

We got back to discussing more ideas for the merch, deciding on the colour palette of a range of blues, greys, black and white. We chose a simple shaka hand gesture (a.k.a the surf's up symbol) outline in neon blue for the phone case, whilst she designed a white "mandala" pattern she called it, for the other phone case style, placing my name discreetly into the mix of swirls, dots and lines. It was amazing to see her hands move fluidly through the patterns, creating something that reflected how beautiful and unique she was. I could watch her all day.

The hoodies were going to be white, black and powder baby blue with different designs available in all the colours. The first will feature the quote I used often: "all we have is now" in lower case on the centre of the chest. The other would have the staple brand logo BRY SON in the corner, and the last design would have an unfilled, sketch outline of my head with my hand running through my hair, enlarged on the back. Some would also have BRYSON running down the arm of the sleeve. I was so ecstatic at how it all turned out.

"You'll need to get a proper graphics designer to get perfect stencils to apply on the apparel and stuff, but yeah..." she trailed off as she shook out her hands and wriggled her fingers from the tension.

"Yeah will do, these are amazing though Valerie, they're perfect." I leaned in to kiss her on the lips. She cupped her soft, warm hand around my jaw, rubbing her thumb against my cheek. The feelings that erupted inside of me every time we kissed was indescribable, it was more than fireworks, they were like shooting stars.

"I believe I owe you something," I pulled back with a whisper, as she treated me to one of her sweet smiles.

We drove down to a gelato place with good ratings on Zomato, where Val ordered two scoops of green tea matcha ice-cream in a cup, savouring every lick as she spooned the creamy goodness into her mouth. I chuckled at how she devoured the thing so enthusiastically. She really does love her ice-cream...

I took her hand in mine across the table. "Hey Val, go out to dinner with me Wednesday night?" I asked.

"Hmmm," she sucked on the spoon in her mouth, "I'll think about it," she winked mischievously. I rolled my eyes and shook my head at her with a chuckle. This girl.

I raised her hand to mine and kissed the back of it affectionately. "Please?" I murmured against her skin, peering up to meet her stormy eyes, giving her my best puppy dog ones.

"You're too charming for your own good, Carter," she chuckled.

"Is that a yes?" I raised my eyebrows at her expectantly.

"Yes."

I shot her triumphant grin, before we discarded the cardboard cup and wooden spoon in the recycling bin, and made our way back home. I now have a small dinner date to plan for, it's been a while since I took her on one.

There was also something important I had to do on this date.