The travel agent was able to book us on a non-stop flight that departed that evening, a fact that didn’t bother me at all. The prospect of spending three weeks in Hawaii with Jennifer was something I was really looking forward to.
“If we’re leaving tonight, I have to get packed,” Jennifer said after she finished the call. “What about you?”
“I suppose I better pack, too,” I said. “Although I hate to have to leave you, even for a little while.”
“We’ll be together every minute for the next three weeks,” Jennifer said.
“Every minute,” I said. “You mean we’re even going to go to the bathroom together?”
Jennifer giggled. It was the loveliest sound I’ve ever heard. “You have a silly side I never knew about, don’t you?” she chuckled.
“Wait,” I said. “Your ribs will be sore from laughing when the next three weeks are over.”
She smiled gently. “I’m hoping something will be sore,” she retorted, and blushed furiously.
“OK, I’m going to go get packed,” I said. I gave her a gentle kiss and headed for my house.
After I got my things together, I called Roscoe’s office and told them I’d be away for three weeks and would be setting the call-forwarding on my phone to direct all of my calls to them. I told them I’d let them know where I was staying once I arrived, so they could reach me in case of emergency. Then I got back in my car and headed back for Jennifer’s house.
Jennifer, wearing a loose denim dress that buttoned down the front, was ready when I got there and, since it was almost a four-hour drive to the airport, we packed our bags in my car and headed off.
“Things are going pretty fast, aren’t they?” Jennifer commented as I drove along the freeway.
“Does that bother you?” I asked.
She reached over and laid her hand on my leg. “No,” she said softly. “I am a little scared, though.”
“Of what?” I asked.
“What…what if this feeling I have for you really isn’t love?” she murmured. “What…if…”
“If it isn’t love, I don’t know what it is,” I said, interrupting her. “And you have me now. You aren’t going to get rid of me.”
She stroked my leg. “I don’t want to get rid of you,” she replied. “Not ever.”
We stopped and had something to eat on the way, then continued on to the airport. I wanted to be sure we arrived in plenty of time to check in and go through security.
When we arrived at the airport, I parked my car in the long-term lot, and we walked to the terminal. We checked our baggage and got our boarding passes, then we went to one of the lounges to have a few drinks before the plane left.
Even though airlines aren’t so good about arriving on time, they’re all excellent at departing on schedule, and we did. At the appointed time, we went through security, boarded the plane and were shown our seats in first class by a very efficient and friendly male flight attendant.
“This is nice,” I said, looking around. “It doesn’t look like there are going to be a whole lot of people up here with us.”
“I don’t mind, do you?” Jennifer asked.
I leaned over and kissed her. “Of course I don’t mind,” I said. “If you’d thought about it, you could have reserved all of first class for us.”
“I never thought about that,” she said, then she giggled.