As the man she loved stood before her finally confessing, she was astonished at what he had done. She had not expected this, even for a second.
The signs were probably always there—she had been too blind to notice. Replaying the events over and over only made her feel more foolish for not realizing the truth sooner.
When Lana Christensen decided to marry her boyfriend, Rob Green, it was a whirlwind romance. Sure, they had their differences; she loved pink and purple, he loved blue; she dreamed of owning a black 69’ Chevy Camaro, he was a truck guy.
Their differences aside, Lana had always completely trusted Rob—but now, she wasn’t sure she could anymore.
Moving in together had started well. A two-bed place at the Orchid Gardens apartment complex in California wasn’t cheap. Lana, being a web designer, and Rob, a marketing specialist, made it affordable though.
Lana was ecstatic when Rob agreed to move there. The only problem—just one bathroom. Initially fine with this, after the first month, she knew something was wrong
The couple each had office jobs but had both been working from home recently. This extra time spent together required a lot of mutual compromises.
Rob had always been well-groomed and hygienic—Something Lana appreciated. Lately, he had been spending 45 minutes extra in the bathroom each morning though. Lana soon learned that he had a secret reason for this.
At first, Lana thought he was just losing track of time. Soon, he began staying in the bathroom longer and longer—sometimes more than an hour.
During their dating years, Rob never locked the door when he needed the bathroom. These days, however, he never failed to lock it and Lana was beginning to wonder why.
She tried to forget about it, but Rob’s mysterious “bathroom time” soon began to bug her.
Gently bringing it up one day, he nonchalantly brushed it off.
Saying that he was just having “tummy problems”, Rob quickly changed the subject. Still, something about the way he shuffled and looked nervous as he spoke drove Lana crazy.
Initially accepting his story, her suspicions were reignited when it occurred to her that she never seemed to hear the toilet flush. There were other clues too.
Rob always forgot the air freshener if he used the bathroom at other times of day, but his morning bathroom rituals were always odorless. Lana was now convinced that he was hiding something.
Noticing Rob always took his phone inside, Lana questioned him. He became upset and accused her of “acting crazy”. Pretending to drop it, she resolved to keep digging.
The next morning, Lana distinctly heard Rob on the phone. Listening at the bathroom door had become an unwanted routine. What she heard shocked her—Rob was speaking to a woman named “Jessica”.
Lana was immensely hurt and disappointed but knew she needed proof or Rob would just deny everything. The next time he went into the office for a meeting, she bought a hidden camera.
Installing it in the handle groove of their bathroom mirror, she could now finally see what Rob got up to in the bathroom each day.
The camera revealed Rob took short showers but spent the rest of the time sitting on the toilet and using his phone, always texting and making calls.
Discovering that Rob also stashed a little notepad behind the mirror, Lana checked it and was crushed. It was worse than she imagined—Rob was seeing more than one woman behind her back.
Reminders like “Thursday, 1 pm – meet Jessica at Radisson” and “10 am – lunch – Caprese Restaurant” jumped out at her. Lana was heartbroken.
Worse still, it was their first anniversary the next day. Rob told her to “dress her best”. Lana planned to confront him that very night and make him confess. Feeling resentful, she decided to play along—for now.
Reaching the “surprise destination”, blindfolded as Rob had requested, Lana’s mind was still seething.
Finally there, blindfold lifted, Lana stood inside the Radisson’s Caprese Restaurant—friends and family yelling, “SURPRISE”. The room was awash with beautiful pink and purple decor and a large banner proclaimed, “Happy Anniversary My Love”. Beaming proudly, Rob finally confessed, “I’ve been planning this all month.”
“Bathroom time” turned out to be Rob’s secret way of planning the surprise anniversary party. He had secretly been meeting with Jessica (the party planner) and Kristen (the decorator), all month long to ensure that every detail was just right.
Just when Lana thought nothing could make the night more perfect, Rob had one last surprise up his sleeve.
The setting was perfect with a pool view. Celebrating her marriage with Rob, her closest friends, and family, was everything Lana could have wished for.
After slow dancing to their favorite love song, Rob made a heartwarming speech. As he ended with the words, “…one last surprise”, the sound of a car engine revving loudly outside rang out.
It was so loud, it filled the entire room. Rob smiled, took Lana’s hand, and told everyone to follow him outside.
There it stood—a gleaming black 69’ Chevy Camaro—Lana’s dream car since childhood when her late father had owned one himself. A valet jumped out and handed Lana the key. Rob simply smiled and said, “It’s yours”.