I stood there in the kitchen, surrounded by the fruits of my labor, tears welling up in my eyes. How could he be so thoughtless? But then, a wave of determination washed over me. I wasn’t going to let Todd ruin this. I had worked too hard.
I took a deep breath and called my closest friend, Sarah. “Hey, Sarah,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “Todd just left for the bar to watch the game. But I don’t want to cancel the party. Can you help me?”
Sarah didn’t hesitate. “Of course, Claire. I’ll be right over.”
Within minutes, Sarah arrived, and together, we started making calls. We invited all of Todd’s friends and family, but instead of telling them the party was canceled, we let them know that Todd had had a change of heart and wanted to surprise everyone with a more casual gathering at the bar.
As the guests started arriving at the bar, Todd was sitting at a table, beer in hand, watching the game. His eyes widened in shock when he saw his friends and family filing in.
“What’s going on?” he asked, looking around in confusion.
I walked up to him, a smile on my face. “Surprise, Todd! You wanted a party, so here it is. At the bar, just like you wanted.”
Todd stammered, trying to come up with an excuse. “But I thought… I mean, I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
I just laughed. “Well, it did. And you know what? Everyone’s having a great time. And the best part? I didn’t have to clean up after the party.”
Todd looked sheepish, but I didn’t care. I was finally standing up for myself. I spent the rest of the evening chatting with our guests, enjoying the food and drinks, and having a great time. And for the first time in a long time, I felt like I was in control of my life.
From that day on, things changed between Todd and me. He realized that he couldn’t take me for granted anymore. And I learned that I was stronger than I thought. We had a long talk about our relationship, and we both agreed that we needed to make some changes.
Todd started helping out more around the house, and he even planned a surprise date night for me. And I started putting myself first, making sure that my needs were being met. It wasn’t always easy, but we were both committed to making our relationship work.
And the next time Todd’s birthday rolled around, he was the one who planned the party. And it was perfect.
