Chapter 403: Two steps away from a nervous breakdown
Andrew woke up on the Tuesday of the week that everything was going to happen with a knot of panic in his throat. He wanted everything to be perfect, had even had to contact May for help. He had somehow managed to ask for it without revealing too much of the plan, but he was a mess.
Maxwell, on the other hand, slept like a damn baby. Andrew wasn’t bitter. Okay. Maybe he was a little upset that he was as cool as a damn cucumber while Andrew was working himself up. Andrew was about to start grumbling to himself when he remembered that Maxwell stored everything inside until he exploded. Maybe Maxwell was doing that, and it wasn’t like they could talk to each other about what was going on.
They both knew why they would be stressed. Everything would be fine once Sunday came around and everyone showed up at the party. They had been told that they were having dinner at the restaurant again, and had just said that it was a monthly family dinner.
Everyone’s reaction had been happy since they were included in the family, but also had been alleviated. The only person who knew what was going on was Richard, and Richard wasn’t a snitch. There was a reason it took him so long to even tell Andrew about what was going on, and why he hadn’t told him who it originated from.
Richard was a damn vault, which was why Andrew wasn’t leaning on him. The man already had enough people’s worries. Andrew only had a few more days of this hellish stress.
Andrew carefully got out of bed, grabbing his phone and glasses as he did so. Pulling his glasses on, he checked the time on his phone and groaned quietly. It was early, too early, but he knew if he tried to remain in bed he would just be tossing and turning. It was crunch time, so he was simply unable to remain lying down.
Getting up, he made his way for the bathroom, got it out of his system before he headed for his closet and grabbed a shirt and then headed downstairs. He was using one of the laptops that Maxwell had just readily available. He had hesitated at first because he knew Maxwell would snoop, but Maxwell had made it very clear that no one was going to snoop on the laptop till after this week was over.
Andrew appreciated the honesty. He would be able to hold himself back until after the actual event happened, and then he wouldn’t be able to stop himself. Andrew was mostly okay with the fact that the man could see how many plans he had gone for, and then abandoned. Maybe it would be a cute thing that they could discuss together.
He wondered if Maxwell had the same plan? Knowing Maxwell, he probably had two plans, and one was for the winter fall months, and one was for the spring summer months. He probably had just switched documents when he found out about the timeline that Andrew wanted.
Andrew let out a chuckle as he stepped into the kitchen, staring at his laptop that was on the counter. The house was quiet with no other living soul moving about. The kitchen was illuminated by the soft glow of some lights that Maxwell had installed underneath the cupboards. It was actually a rather nice touch, and they left them on so that the house was never fully dark.
Andrew didn’t know who it was for, him or Maxwell, but he didn’t mind. It was always helpful in the morning.
Andrew moved around the kitchen slowly, flicking on the lights as he looked at his phone and then glanced at where the ring was stored. He quickly flicked his gaze away, knowing that the cameras could see everything, be it day or night, and he didn’t want to give Maxwell any hints.
He would not forgive him if he found it ahead of time.
Slowly, Andrew woke up, getting himself something to drink and something to eat as he opened the laptop and began to go over his plan once more. They had hired the photographer, she was all set to meet them on Friday afternoon at work. Maxwell had made sure that everyone knew he would not be available once the work day officially ended.
He’d even had to cancel a meeting that a bigwig had tried to schedule, and Maxwell forced them to move it to either Thursday, or next Friday. He was not budging, and that had earned him a lecture from his Father. Andrew wondered what the conversation they had was like, since Thomas had come out looking a little dazed, and Maxwell had looked victorious.
Ellis had only shook his head at the exchange, and texted Richard about it. That was how Andrew knew everything.
Andrew smirked.
It was honestly a great thing to take his mind off of the pressure he was feeling. Having an inside look, an outlet in Ellis and Richard was really making Andrew feel fresh and new. Richard had essentially slept with a man who was like ’okay, now we are an item and we are dating for marriage.’ Richard, who had never even had a girlfriend or boyfriend, had been flabbergasted, and had put his whole foot in his mouth.
Ellis had left after that, but not without warning that the conversation wasn’t over, like some kind of two bit villain. That was when Richard had gone to Maxwell and asked for advice. This had continued until Richard got tired of what Maxwell was telling him, and so he had gone to Andrew.
Richard had apparently liked Andrew’s advice and had reached out to Ellis and asked if they could have a discussion. He had explained the facts, apologised for his reaction, and opened the discussion to a reasonable, logical conversation. It was...very Richard, but Ellis didn’t seem to mind.
There was a reason the man wanted to hook him in and seal the deal. He liked him.
How did Andrew have all of this knowledge? Well, Ellis had come to him once they were back in the office looking for advice. So not only did he have Richard’s side, he had Ellis’ as well. Andrew had obviously told Maxwell, and that had been helping both of them. At least, he hoped so.
Either way, Maxwell loved the gossip of it all, and was great at playing it off like he knew nothing. So was Andrew, since his advice was so good both men kept coming back to him for it. He wasn’t even tailoring it to what he was being told, he was just making sure that they were being true to themselves. The relationship would fall apart otherwise, because how would they fall in love with each other if they were faking who they were?
Andrew went through his plan, the schedule made to the exact minute with the kind of attention to detail that would tell anyone who was watching him that he’d done it several times already. He wanted everything to be perfect. As much as it was his proposal, he was proposing to the Maxwell Beckett. What had happened, how it had happened, would be all over the news. There would no doubt be a press conference or something like that.
Maxwell liked attention, and would probably proudly show off his ring to anyone who would listen. Andrew loved that about him, so he wanted it to be perfect.
He pulled up the next document that was full of what he wanted to say. He was going to print it out on Saturday morning, before he got the day started. He was still making small edits, his heart in his throat. Was he going to be able to say this without crying? God, he hoped so.
He wanted some photos without him bawling like a baby.
He was sure that Maxwell would look pretty, handsome, put together, and then there would be Andrew. Tall and sobbing next to him. He could already tell that he was going to be a mess. He’d made sure that the outfits he was going to wear for Friday and Saturday had napkins in their pockets. Nice ones, made of fabric.
He’d gotten them as a Christmas gift from Luis, a small smile in her eyes as Andrew had unwrapped them. It was thoughtful, and a little bit of a dig. Andrew didn’t mind, since it was a thoughtful gift. He just didn’t think she thought they were going to be used so quickly.
What outfits were they wearing? Well, he’d been chatting with Maxwell about that. It was a rather cute concept, and one that Andrew had come up with, not Maxwell. Andrew had his own reasons for it, but he was glad that Maxwell had agreed.
The one proposing was going to wear a classic black suit, while the one being proposed to was going to wear a more fun suit. Of course, Andrew and Maxwell had selected the fun suits together, and Andrew liked it more that Maxwell had an opinion on his outfit for Friday.
Maxwell had selected a burgundy suit. It wasn’t just burgundy, but instead had a velvet pattern on top that you could only tell was in it up close. From afar, it looked like a plain suit. He’d also gone for a classic white dress shirt, with a bright salmon coloured tie. It wasn’t a combination that Andrew would ever pick out for himself, but Maxwell seemed to think it was a great combination, and who was Andrew to deny him? He knew more about fashion than Andrew did.
With that being said, Andrew had gone for a more boring style suit for Maxwell. Andrew could tell that it hurt the man that he was going to be wearing something ’normal’. Slate grey, more on the bluer side so that it complimented Maxwell’s eyes. Andrew had wanted something calmer, not because he wanted Maxwell to be underdressed, but where they were going...
He would stand out more if he was in something normal.
He had gone for a more fancy, Maxwell-like dress shirt though. It was vibrant. A cream base colour with lots of tiny, blue flowers. It went well with the grey of the suit, and Andrew chose a tie in the more common blue tone. Maxwell seemed mildly disappointed, but Andrew had pulled him close and promised him that it would make sense once they got to Saturday.
That only seemed to disappoint Maxwell more, but Andrew could tell it was more because he had to wait, not because of Andrew’s selection anymore.
Andrew mouthed along to the words he’d written, feeling his eyes water and he sighed, taking off his glasses and putting them to the side as he pressed the meaty part of his palms into his eyes. This was so exhausting.
How did people plan these for months without having a nervous breakdown? Andrew had only been planning for maybe a week, throwing money at anything that others said was impossible, and that was causing him to want to jump off a bridge with stress.
Thank goodness Maxwell was okay with getting engaged so quickly. Andrew would not have handled it well if he had hummed and hawed, saying he wanted to get engaged after his birthday. Thank goodness for Maxwell.