Impossible Dreams

"You remember that room that I said was locked?"

"Yeah."

"I hope we spend many nights in there."

"So are you gonna take me there or what?"

"I was going to say what are you waiting for, you have the invitation."

"Lead the way."

I had no idea what this room could possibly be other than the one thing he said it was not. As we went back in to the landing at the foot of the stairs, he unlocked the door to the mystery room. "There are actually three rooms behind this door."

"That seems impossible."

"Do you want to open the door? I want you too. I mean, I can't open all of the doors here." And without hesitation I slowly opened the door in the excitement of the opportunity to find out what this door hid.

"Wow, Nick." The room was very plain but there was a jacuzzi front and center of to the left was a stairwell that had a door on the right at the bottom of that landing. "I like where this is going."

"That isn't our final destination tonight."

"Oh?"

No."

"What's down there? Is that it?"

"No, that's the sauna. This door was the cheapest part of the interior additions we put in otherwise they wouldn't be here."

"Then the other door over there is the magic room."

"Of sorts, yes," or at least I presumed that he hoped it would. It was a mirror to the door we walked into in the exact same position on the opposite wall.

"May I?"

"Open it." May I just say on the record that what I was about to see was a new level of surprise from him.

I gasped, "Niiick, this is beautiful!"

"I made the racks myself. I'm not great with carpentry but I thought it would be a fun side project to tackle."

I was left in awe. It was a simple room with brick walls. Wine racks on either side and barrels along the wall on either side of the door. The top half of the back wall had a chalkboard with a diagram of what wines were in which part of which rack with refrigeration and warming boxes for both wine and food for pairing with the wine. And in the center of the room, a decent sized portable table with a refurbished shipping palette atop four empty barrels, surrounded by bigger and comfier looking directors chairs for seats. "This seems like it was quite the undertaking."

"It wasn't too bad."

"I didn't know you were bougie like that."

"I'm not. This house was the holiday gathering hole back in the day and we had good times. Maybe in the near future, we can start creating good times of our own - as a family." He talked about settling down. The whole relationship thing was breezing by with him. "Don't read too much into that, we have all the time in the world and you're the only person I intend to share it with."

"This whole day has been unreal."

"I wanted to have a room for special days and moments."

~~~

Dottie was floored upon seeing the wine cellar. "Can we stay in here forever?" I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and gave her a loving embrace.

"We can have dinner in here at least." That was my plan from the start.

"I'd like that," she said, now almost at a whisper. I was excited to present dinner from the warming box. I had bison tomahawk steaks marinated in a garlic butter seasoning and a dash of Montreal steak seasoning resting on a bed of asparagus and mashed potatoes served with a side of gravy. I also added a baked potato with the fixings on the side because I'm truly a meat and potatoes guy as they say.

"Whoa! That's a massive plate of food."

"Medium rare, as you like."

"I take my steak medium, though."

"Yes, but bison meat cooks quicker than typical beef so you have to be careful. If I cooked mine medium well, it would wind up well done." I had had plenty of bison burgers in my day to know that, but still sparingly enough to make it worth the trip.

"I see," she said as I began pouring the glass of wine. "What's the selection this time, Mr. Sommelier?"

"Easy Dottiekins. This is not one of my go-to dishes to pair with, specifically a Sangiovese I'm familiar with. I don't traditionally use bison for tomahawk steaks nor do I have wine with bison usually."

"Well excuse me!"

"Okay, Warden Walker," I said. That was the character's tagline in Louis Sachar's 'Holes' that I was reminded of. "Anyway, it's a Casisano Colombaio Brunello di Montalcino 2015." That was a really good year for me. I was doing something I loved while finishing up my undergrad and got to graduate a semester early by December. She was still quiet as if she was trying to consume the meal through telepathy. "Well? Dig in!"

"You were right."

"Of course I was, but I wasn't looking to be right nor was I needing to hear it from you this time. I was looking to make sure it wasn't over-cooked."

"Okay, I get it. I remember. It's because you love me."

"Damn straight! Just don't expect me to cook like this all the time, yeah?"

"Well I'd like to cook for you sometimes too."

"I'm sure you would."

"Well think about it. I come from a culture of cooking too. It's not like we can't both cook if we're sharing everything else now." She had a fair point.

We both finished our meals and were quite satisfied. I took the dishes away and put them to the side to take up later. She was still finishing her wine so I felt the need to get the ball rolling on setting up the mood for the sunset she wanted to watch. "Can we stargaze this weekend? I bet it would be really cool."

"You're asking the astronomy person if they want to stargaze? That's one of the other things you haven't seen."

"Don't tell me you have an observatory."

"Of sorts, yes I do. My telescope takes pictures. But I get to stargaze now." I was already daydreaming in her eyes when she asked about the event in question.

"Aww."

~~~

"The stars don't shine any brighter than you, precious."

"I want to be the sun to your earth," I said as we got out of our chairs and started walking to meet at the end of the table.

"You do that," and you know what? I did. He got a kiss for his troubles as he had grabbed my finished wine glass and maneuvered us toward the counter to put it down.

"I love you to the moon and back."

"I love you too, Dottiekins." we continued kissing until we gently bumped into the palette. I'm glad that he had it reinforced because he lifted me onto it. My shirt would have snagged on the palette if it wasn't refurbished. This was totally not him, but romantics sometimes do crazy things when they're in love.

Perhaps he was in the mood. Perhaps his sexual frustrations of not having been with a woman for so long, even though just a few months ago we had an experience we'll both never forget. Perhaps... he's having a primal urge as a man that he didn't think he had in himself. Maybe even all three and/or something else. I could feel the adrenaline rushing through him for whatever reason it was and it was getting me feeling the same way. "I'm sorry."

"About what?"

"I know we're together, but you did want to see a sunset and I don't know why I flew off the handle like that."

"I want to continue that in this room someday." And I wasn't just saying that either.

"No, but I'd like to continue that tonight somewhere else."

"I do too." Who wouldn't want to let such a hunk get romantically involved with them?

"What are we going to do about dessert?"

"You made dessert? Why don't we have it on the porch, can we?"

"I don't see why not. Make your way to the porch and I'll be right out with it."

I was surprised at how confident he was that I knew my way back up for not having a sense of direction. Though I did have one thing to do before I went to the porch. I spruced up in the upstairs bathroom and found my one of my best negligees hoping we would indeed pick up where we'd left off in the wine cellar.