Today was the day. Not just the day. The Day, with a capital D. Not only was this the day of Anya’s release, it was the day that marked her new freedom, the start of her new life, and the beginning of something new (hopefully). Anya had a lot of free time in prison, and she spent most of it day dreaming and planning out this day. She analyzed every detail, ensuring it was nothing short of immaculate. And here it was, stretching out in front of her like a red carpet.
Anya twisted around in her prison bunk. By the colour of the light outside, she predicted it was about six AM, meaning that she still had a few hours before she would meet Charlie. She silently dropped herself down to the floor, careful not to disturb her bunkmate, Tanya. Tanya had a strange fear that Anya would try to murder her while she was sleeping, which caused a dramatic kneejerk reaction to every one of Anya’s innocent movements, and Anya didn’t feel like being kicked in the stomach today.
Anya had very few possessions. This was true even when she was living out in the world, but especially so in prison. All the books in her cell would be returned upon her release. She had a spare pair of shoes, a few sanitary products, and a pack of candy, which she had purchased from commissary with her last few dollars the previous night but was too nauseous with excitement to eat. The only other things she owned were wrapped carefully in a sock. In that sock were two silver wire rings, with two crystal gems set in the center. When Anya had decided to make them, she spent an entire week thinking about how she was going to get the materials to make what she wanted. In the end, it was easier than expected. She took the metal wire from the inmates who worked in maintenance, who were only too happy to have an excuse to rip off their superiors. The gems came from a set of earrings that were donated to Anya when an older inmate had overheard what she was doing. She then passed the materials off to Farrah, an inmate who had worked for a watchmaker before prison and was quite skilled when it came to crafty projects. When Farrah had given the rings back to Anya, she cried.
That was a year ago, two years into Anya’s sentence. But she had been planning this since the day after she spoke to Charlie on the phone, when the other girl vowed to wait the three years for her. Anya told herself that if Charlie made it two and a half years, she would move forward with the plan. But she couldn’t help herself - at two years she just had to get the rings made. At that point, she was certain. She had never been more sure of anything in her life.
Anya ate her last meal of prison porridge and was finally called to the warden’s office. From there, she was marched down to the release room, stripped of her orange jumpsuit, and given the bag of belongings that had been confiscated when she entered. The warden then told her she was allowed to leave whenever she felt ready, and the prison guards left, locking the door to the prison behind her. What once had trapped her inside now kept her out. Anya picked up her only outfit choice in her fingers. These clothes felt like they belonged to someone else. But she put on the jeans and white tank top, slipped on the heels, and surveyed herself in the mirror. No makeup and naturally her hair was an untamed mess, but she looked alright. Maybe even a little better than alright.
A deep breath, and then a hand on the doorknob that would take her outside. What if Charlie was late? No, she wouldn’t be. Not unless the world was ending. The light that met her gaze when she opened the door almost blinded her, and she raised a hand to her forehead to block the harsh sun. That hand immediately dropped when she saw Charlie there, and Anya’s feet, independent of her brain, began to sprint toward the other girl. Crying and laughing at the same time, Anya threw herself at Charlie, knocking them both backwards a step. Anya buried her head in Charlie’s shoulder, her tears flowing freely now.
“Wait, wait.” Anya forced herself to take a step back. “There’s one thing I need to do before we go.” She stuck her hand into her pocket - a gesture that might have seemed innocent, except that Anya was rooting around for a certain something. “Charlotte,” Anya began with a smile. “I simply will not get into this car with you as your girlfriend. Frankly, it’s insulting to what we’ve been through and how long we’ve been doing this. I would rather walk then call myself your girlfriend one more time,” Anya said dramatically. And then she dropped to one knee, just like she had seen in all her American movies. “Will you take me home as your fiance instead?” Anya asked, holding out her makeshift ring for Charlie to take or deny.
Charlie was sure she had only gotten about a couple of hours of sleep last night. She just couldn’t stop thinking about how Anya, the love of her life, was about to be released from prison and they were so close to being able to live the life that they had been planning for the past three years. It was happening in less than twenty-four hours, and because of all that excitement a full nights sleep was definitely off the table. However, the lack of sleep had zero effect as Charlie still bounced out of bed with a grin on her face and a full tank of energy.
“Wow Char, either you’re just way too happy or I’m about to go into your bathroom and find white powder everywhere.” Jackson laughed as Charlie practically skipped out her room. The younger Chambers sibling didn’t live with the family anymore. Him and Wesley both decided to get their own place together - a couple of floors down - as they had both finally decided to take dating seriously and wanted to seem like charming independent bachelors. Charlie got teary eyed at first but knew that the kids would need to leave the apartment at some point. “Get fucked Jackie! I’m just so excited because my darling love comes home today!” Charlie sing-songed as she danced around the kitchen, grabbing a breakfast burrito off the counter - Jackson must have done a breakfast run for everyone, since they needed to fuel up and work fast to get everything finished for Anya’s arrival. Jackson just laughed at his sister, shaking his head, and went to say hey to the rest of the house as the girl went to make herself look presentable.
After about an hour and a half of freaking out about what to wear, how to do her hair and what make-up look to go for, Charlie was finally ready. Wesley had now arrived, car keys at the ready and dramatically placed them in Charlie’s hands as she reached the living room. “If I see a scratch on my baby, you’re dead meat Chambers,” Wesley grinned to show he was - sort of - joking, “You make sure she gets back here in one piece, okay? It should take you twenty minutes to get home so we’ll make sure all the decorations and everything are up in plenty of time.” Wesley pulled Charlie in for a hug and patted her on the back, signalling that she should get going. The woman quickly grabbed her purse and darted out the door towards the car.
The drive over to the prison was the most nerve-wracking car ride of Charlie’s life. Each second was a second closer to holding her baby again, properly. Soon enough she was parked outside the prison and stood outside her car, nervously waiting to see her girlfriend’s face again. In her haze of excitement, Charlie had actually arrived ten minutes early - which was painful to wait through. Finally, just after ten, she could make out Anya leaving out the front door. As she saw Anya sprinting, Charlie couldn’t help but laugh as tears flowed freely from her eyes. Once they were slammed together in an embrace, she held on so tight as if the other girl was going to slip from her fingers again. “Orange was so not your colour, you look so good baby.” Charlie laughed with a sniffle and pulled back to take a good look at her girlfriend. It was almost weird to see her dressed in regular clothes, but it was such an improvement and was a detail that made this all feel so much more real and special.
When Anya stepped back and began talking, Charlie tilted her head to the side in confusion. What was the other girl doing? She noticed her trying to fish something from her pocket and as she spoke about not wanting to be called her girlfriend anymore, Charlie’s heart stopped. Okay whatever was happening was either about to be really good or crush her entire world. But no, Anya wouldn’t break up with her the minute she’s released? She looked way too happy for that? Charlie’s thoughts of confusion were quickly answered as she watched her girlfriend go down on one knee which caused her to gasp and cover her mouth with her shakig hands. She looked in shock for a moment or two before violently nodded her head, crying even more - if that were possible - and pulled Anya up before crashing her lips onto hers. “Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes” Charlie planted extra kisses between each answer out of pure joy. “There is nothing I would want more in this world than to be your wife.” Charlie wanted to scream with happiness, this truly was the best moment of her life. She then held out her left hand for Anya to place the ring on, and than was when she noticed that it was a makeshift, handmade ring. “Wait...how did? When did? It’s beautiful.” Stumbled over her words, her brain scrambled from all this happiness.
