The Anniversary Scandal
It was the night before Samantha and Andrew’s five year anniversary. Samantha was sitting on her bed, thinking about what he could have gotten her. All she wanted was some good jewelry that she could wear to fancy occasions, or maybe something sentimental and romantic. She’d gone all out for him and she hoped after five years he’d know what to get her. She sighed and crawled under her comforter, dreaming about the next day.
That same night, Andrew was out on a run. He’d already gotten Samantha the perfect gift and he was celebrating with a night run in the woods, something he didn’t get to do very often. He was in his happy place, isolated from the world and everyone. After a while, Andrew turned around and headed back to the house.
The morning of their anniversary, Samantha was woken to Andrew’s voice next to her ear, telling her happy anniversary and that he made her breakfast in bed. Samantha thanked him, ate her breakfast and headed downstairs to open their presents.
Andrew went first, as usual, and as expected was overjoyed! He got everything he was asking for over the past couple months. Andrew was sure Samantha would love her gift. He grabbed a box wrapped neatly in sparkly paper and handed to Samantha. She tore apart the paper to reveal a beautiful quilt, embroidered with their anniversary date.
“Oh sweetheart I love it!” she squealed.
Andrew smiled bashfully and said “I wanted to get you something personal this year, so I’ve been taking quilting lessons just so I could make this for you. It’s 100% handmade.”
“Thank you so much!” Samantha said, hugging him.
Andrew laughed and relaxed on the couch, confident he’d finally chosen the right gift for her.
A little while later, Samantha announced that she was going out to grab a few things at the grocery store.
When she got to the store, she headed over to the deli meats and cheeses and got in line. She scanned the small crowd of people surrounding the counter and spotted one of her best friends, Margaret. Samantha smiled and waved them over.
“Hi Sammy! Great to see you!” Margaret said with a big hug.
“You too!” Samantha said. “How have you been?”
“Good! Do you like your present?” Margaret asked. “Andrew’s been worried sick that you’d hate it, but he wouldn’t tell us what he got you!”
“Oh, no, I love it! It’s perfect!” Samantha smiled.
“Oh thank goodness!” Margaret sighed with relief. “Andrew’s been so good with gifts lately! He just got Tom and I the sweetest thing for our wedding!”
“What’d he get you?” Samantha asked.
“He bought us a quilt for our new house! It’s gorgeous and it even has our anniversary date embroidered on it!” Margaret exclaimed.
It took a minute for the words to sink into Samantha’s head, but she eventually realized what Andrew had done and she was seething with rage and also a little bit hurt. She did her best to keep a happy face on as she said goodbye to Margaret and politely walked away, all the while trying not to completely break down.
As soon as she got home, Samantha rushed straight for the quilt and sure enough, there was a little white tag on the corner. “Made in China.” She went into her closet and rewrapped a brand new gift for her husband. She called him into the room, where she put her plan into action.
“Hi honey! I just realized I gave you the wrong gift! That was for Margaret and Tom’s wedding party! Don’t worry though, I didn’t forget you!” she said, smiling sweetly and holding out the new present.
Andrew was slightly disappointed, but he accepted the gift and began unwrapping it. He opened the box, revealing a tie embroidered with S+A and tiny hearts.
“I made it just for you! Don’t look at the tag though. Oh and just so you know, I got your friend Matt the exact same thing but with him and his girlfriend’s name on it. I figured since you obviously didn’t care about our anniversary, I’d show the same respect to you!” Samantha said sarcastically.
Andrew immediately started apologizing. “I’m so sorry, I never know what to get you so I thought if I bought this and said it was homemade, you’d--”
“No! You didn’t think! If you had you would have realized how stupid and lazy this is! I can’t believe you!” Samantha turned on her heel and stormed off.
Andrew stood there, looking utterly vexed and completely bedraggled.