Don't Wake Me Up - Shawn Mendes

PART TWENTY ONE

 Monday is just like any other. It feels weird coming back to reality, after what seems like a crazy-too-good-to-be-true weekend. So when I get to work, I shoot Shawn a good morning text so he can reply when he gets up.

"Good morning babe," he replies right away.

"Whoa, isn't it a bit early for you to be up?"

"I don't know, I've just felt super... inspired today! I have no idea why..."

"Shawn... what are you up to?"

"Ah! You'll see soon enough," he replies, with a short clip of him playing the guitar.

Oh Lord. Is it what I think it is?

"Should I be scared?" I ask him.

"Scared? Babe, why would you be scared?"

"I don't know, I've never had someone write a SONG for me!"

"Don't be scared, it's a good thing. I promise."

"Oh for you, I'm sure. But it's a bit nerve-wracking to be portrayed in someone's art. It's the depiction of how they see you, you know?"

"And you don't think you'd like how I see you?"

"Seeing oneself through anyone else's eyes is a bit weird, it's not just you!"

"Yeah... But I love you, it'll be good."

"Oh it'll be good, I'm sure! Wanna grab dinner tomorrow night? It's our 6-week anniversary, we could go back to that Taco Tuesday place!"

"Okay, so you don't want to do anything special for our 1 month, but 6 weeks gets something? Haha what's up with that?"

"Ugh, Shawn, I just want tacos. I tried to be cute. Never trying that again!"

"You don't have to when it comes naturally," he says, ever so smooth.

"Ha-ha. So, I have to work late tonight, so I'll just sleep at my own place. But I'll see you tomorrow night. 7, La Carnita?"

"I'll be there! Have fun at work. Love you."

"Love you too."

The rest of the day goes by quickly, as I'm super busy at work with a big project. I work until late, so I get home exhausted and go straight to bed. Since we stayed so late to meet the deadline, our manager agreed that we should come in later tomorrow, so that's good news!

Since the most important project is out of the way now, the day is pretty slow. We have a team meeting in the afternoon, but I don't pay too much attention. I text Shawn to see what he's up to:

"Hey babe, still having a creative day?"

"Yup! But I'll be ready to meet you at 7. Still on for tonight?"

"Of course!"

"How's work going? Did you get it all done yesterday?"

"Yeah. Now I'm in a meeting. Very stealthily texting you."

As a reply, Shawn sends me a gif of a ninja, and I try not to laugh. He adds:

"Don't wanna get you into trouble. Ttyl!"

"Can't wait."

I finally get back home, and I decide it would be cute to wear the same thing I wore when I went on that first Taco Date with Shawn, to see if he'd notice. So I get ready, and leave in an Uber. I get there a bit early, as I like to do, and I see Shawn, standing with his back against the wall, in the exact same place he was that first night. I get butterflies, and I can't believe he can still make me feel that way. I thank my driver and get out of the car.

"Hi there," I say as I get on my tippy toes to get a kiss.

"Hey," Shawn replies with a smile as he bends down to kiss me. "Ready to go in?"

"Absolutely."

We get in, and Shawn asks the hostess if we can get that table in the back. God, we're acting like we're coming back here after 10 years have passed, but I'm glad we can make something romantic out of going out for tacos. Once seated, we order two kalimotxos, and Shawn holds my hand across the table.

"So how was your day, babe?" he asks me.

"Well, it was pretty boring. The adrenaline from the big project has worn off, and we're only getting our new assignment next week, so the rest of the week is just gonna be helping out on smaller things. Not very motivating, if I'm honest. How about you? How are the songs coming?"

"The songs? Or one song in particular?" he asks me, knowing exactly which one I meant.

"All of it! But yeah, I mean, if you want, I guess, I'd love to know how my song is coming along," I say with a shy smile.

"Well, I think it'll be a hit. It's a very pop high energy song, and Teddy helped me make it as fun and captivating as you. I tried to incorporate little inside jokes," he pauses to laugh. "I hope you spot them!"

"Oh my, I'm so intrigued! When can I listen to it?" I ask, almost impatiently.

"Well, it's still only in the first stages right now, but we'll keep working on it. Soon."

"Soon... I hate it when you say that. You always say that!" I tease him.

He looks surprised, mouth gaping in a shocked smile.

"I promise! Remind me if I don't."

"Oh I will," I say seriously as I take off my shoe under the table. I extend my leg to touch his. "I won't hesitate," I say as I rub my foot just a bit higher.

Shawn lets go of my hand and leans back on the chair. He shoots me a look and shakes his head.

"Alice, not here, not now. You can't do this to me," he whispers.

I move my leg back under my chair and put my shoe back on. I open the menu to browse it and I invite Shawn to do the same with a look. He smiles at me and opens his menu too. We finally get the attention of the waiter and order our food.

When it comes, we're already deep in a conversation about which of the Harry Potter books is the best, so the waiter doesn't stay long and we start eating. We have a very nice date, with a few repetitions of that game of footsie. I can feel Shawn's nails dig into my hand when I do that, so I think we should maybe skip dessert and head home right away. We pay our bill and head out.

While we wait for the Uber, Shawn pins me to the same wall he was resting on earlier, and kisses me like no one's watching. The driver gets here and drives us to Shawn's place. Things get a bit heated in the back of the car, but nothing that we'd need the driver to roll up a partition... I kiss on Shawn's neck as I run my hand under his shirt. He tries to keep looking forward, but he throws his head back on the headrest and I can feel his hand on my thigh, again with that firm grip. He takes his other hand and puts it on mine above his shirt, and guides it down to his crotch. I can feel him through his jeans, very excited. It's quite hard to please through jeans, but very easy to tease as he tries to keep a straight face and tell the driver:

"You can let us out here, yeah right here is fine, thank you!"

We leave the car and almost run to the door. My back against the glass door, Shawn tries to unlock it as he's kissing me. He finally lets us in, and we head for the elevator. We have to be careful keeping our clothes on in there as the making out gets so hot and heavy. Finally, we burst through the door of Shawn's apartment.