Part 3: The Valentine’s Day Adventures of Buck Tom, Wicker Lily
By cecesees at February 8, 2012 | 9:35 pm | Print
Last week, our seemingly perfect pair left us with a few thoughtful gifts they’d scoured the neighborhood to find for each other along with many unanswered questions. (The week before that, things got a bit X-rated).
When our favorite hubby, Buck Tom, picked up some terrapin chocolates and flowers for his Wicker Lily from Margie’s Candies, he’d also grabbed a heart shaped box of treats for a mystery lady. Wicker Lily left us wondering what her Valentine’s Day outfit would be, as well as the reason she was bumping up the size of her corset even though she wasn’t eating any more than usual. And then there was our favorite unsolved question: What is Wicker Lily going to wear for her and her hubby’s Golden Anniversary Dinner and Valentine’s Date at Cafe Laguardia’s Medieval Dinner?!
Chocolates from Margie's Candies
The Chicago night was chilly on the 14th, but the neighborhood streets had a loving vibe. Lovers held each others’ gloved hands as they strolled the sidewalks, with the sweet scents of candies and flowers filling their nostrils. On a very similar night 14 years ago, Buck Tom gazed at Wicker Lily, his new bride, standing across from him. Their eyes met as they exchanged vows, and since that fateful day they’ve never taken their eyes off each other. Or so we thought.
Buck Tom had to run a couple of “errands” before their dreamy evening, thus the twosome decided to just meet up at the cafe.
Buck Tom left the apartment with a heart shaped box of chocolates from fabulous Margie’s Candies, which he’d read all about on pages 12-13 of the Celebrate! magazine. Wicker Lily caught a glance of the heart-shaped box out of the corner of her eye. There was a lily flower taped to the front of it. She shook her head, thinking Buck Tom must have forgotten that her favorite flowers are roses?
Cookies from Red Hen
She pulled her outfit out for the night, purchased from Corseterie Custom Apparel. What did she pick? That beautiful jumper! Paired with a medieval style blouse to go with the pumps Buck Tom left on the foot of the bed that morning (from Couple’s Corner). Their bed was covered with rose petals from one of the roses in the $14.99 bouquet delivered by Isabella’s Bridal and Flowers. There was also a basket on each side of their bed. One basket was perfectly wrapped by Wicker Lily, sprayed with her favorite perfume and overflowing with Heart-Shaped cookies from Red Hen Bread and “O”-inducing adult toys from G Boutique. The other basket Buck Tom gave an honest effort in wrapping was stacked with all sorts of toys to please each other from Couple’s Corner.
Placing the hanger in the closet next to her red satin corset and purple kimono, she slipped on a black, velvet coat and leather gloves and headed for Cafe Laguardia.
On her way to the restaurant after grabbing a last minute gift, Wicker Lily stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of a woman on a bench on Milwaukee Ave. She recognized Logan Sherry immediately, her best friend from college, holding a lily flower. Logan Sherry placed the flower to her nose, opened a heart shaped box of chocolate, and pulled out a note. Eyes swelling with tears, Wicker Lily quickly hailed a cab and swelled the lump forming in her throat. What was she going to say when she confronted Buck Tom? What exactly was going on?! She arrived at the restaurant, her make-up freshly redone. She took a deep breath, and opened the door.
Carlos welcomes the couple to Cafe Laguardia
Buck Tom immediately grabbed her hand gently, helping her to her seat. Wicker Lily awkwardly smiled at his full medieval garb ensemble. He kissed her glove gently then placed her arm around his and lead her inside Cafe Laguardia. They sat down at the Medieval Meets Motown Celebration. Not even the music from Rhythm City could lift Wicker Lily’s spirits. Her fingers wrapped tightly around the present under her napkin. He grabbed her free hand and asked her what was wrong. She burst into tears, “I saw Logan Sherry with the box of chocolates and flower you had earlier! You’re cheating on me!”
In shock, Buck Tom gasped and turned pale as a ghost. “Wait,” he said, as she freed herself from his limp grasp and ran for the door. He turned Wicker Lily around, caressed her face, and said, “Listen darling dear…I didn’t cheat. I have, however, been house hunting.” He pulls a key from his pocket. ”Logan Sherry is 
our Realtor. Happy anniversary, Wicker Lily!”
She burst into tears of joy! They kissed passionately and hugged, then quickly ran inside so the waiter wouldn’t give away their table. Something silver and X-ray-ish caught Buck Tom’s eye next to the table. ”What’s this?” he asked. Wicker Lily blushed and and reached for the small sheet of film, but he snatched it up. His face lit up and a smile stretched across his face. ”I couldn’t fit into a corset the other day at Corseterie, so I went to my annual check up the next day and asked why,” she said. She bit her lip, giggled, then squealed, “I’m pregnant!”
What happened after the dinner is up to your imagination, but let’s just say there were many reasons that made this Valentine’s Day a golden anniversary to remember for our joyous couple, Wicker Lily and Buck Tom, soon to be three. Where do you think their new pad should be? Buck Town or Wicker Park? Logan Square? And help us think of baby names, too!. BuckWickie? WickBuck? ChiWick? Leave us a little comment with your suggestions. I’d really like to thank all of our lovely advertisers, too, for being great, fun places for our fictional folks to check out and for supporting the work that we do. I hope these stories have helped you to get a start on finding gifts for your sweeties. 
Happy Valentine’s Day from all of us at Chicago Pipeline!
by Caitlin ‘CeCe’ Carroll
About the author:
CeCe!
About CeCe: A former magazine journalism student and current babysitting fool, among numerous gigs, CeCe, who sums up the six things she could never live without, presumably in order of importance, as, “Coffee, cigarettes, breakfast, whiskey, and air, of coarse,” explores the ‘hood with fresh, wide open eyes, covering a variety of topics that interest her and hopefully you, too. Got something cool for CeCe to check out? Send her an email.
Ed. note:. Thank you to the following Valentine’s Day Story Sponsors. We encourage you to “love locally” this Feb. 14, 2012 at small, indie-owned establishments that would love to enjoy your business!
Margie’s Candies , 1960 N. Western
Isabella’s Bridal & Flowers, 1547 N. Western
Red Hen Bread, 1623 N. Milwaukee Ave.
G Boutique, 2131 N. Damen
Couples Corner, 2014 W. Division
Corseterie Custom Apparel, 1514 N. Ashland
Cafe Laguardia, 2111 W. Armitage
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