All of my writing is fiction and the stories and characters are all products of my imagination.
They were created for my fun and, hopefully, your enjoyment.
Some of the events in the stories are not particularly condoned nor encouraged by the author but are there to create and enhance the story of the imaginary characters and their lives.
Comments are always encouraged and carefully reviewed. All characters within the story are 18 years of age or older.
Ratings and comments always welcome and carefully reviewed and greatly appreciated.
Hope you enjoy!
This story is a little shorter than most of mine but the thought for it just kind of popped into my head one day so I decided to go ahead and write.
Not a lot of characters here for sure.
Jenna was puzzled. Robert had texted her and told her, when she got home from work, to take her shower and get dressed so they could go out to dinner. Not that they never went out to dinner, just that it usually happened on Friday or Saturday night and not Tuesday. She wondered what he was up to. Their first wedding anniversary was on Sunday and maybe that was what he was up to. She'd just have to wait and see.
Jenna got home, stripped off her dental hygienist's uniform and took her shower. As she was deciding what to wear, she heard Robert coming in the front door.
"I just have to change my shirt and I'll be ready," he called to her. "How you doing?"
"Almost there," she answered. "What's going on?"
"We're going out to dinner," came the innocent reply.
"It's Tuesday."
"Are the restaurants closed on Tuesday?" He was being his usual teasing but annoying self.
"You know what I mean."
He had gotten to the bedroom and was changing his shirt. "Just thought I'd do something special."
She decided she wasn't going to get any more information so she might as well drop it. But he did have a smug little smile on his face which annoyed her just a bit. She hated to be teased and, if she was getting a present and knew it, she wanted to know what it was right now and could drive herself nearly crazy wondering about it. Robert, who was always very kind, sweet and considerate, did enjoy the teasing and she just knew he had something, some gift maybe, to surprise her with tonight.
They went to a nice restaurant, not 5-star or anything, but a quiet place with good food and good wine to have with dinner. Jenna got some potato-crusted flounder, something she had ordered other places and was anxious to try here. Robert got a pleasant surprise as they had prime rib, something often only found Friday through Sunday at a lot of restaurants. With baked potatoes that were cooked to perfection, some simple broccoli doused in butter of course, and hot rolls everything was excellent. After dinner, simple slices of strawberry cheesecake and another glass of wine, along with building anticipation and expectation from Jenna and it seemed like a perfect evening.
"You've been looking at me all evening like I'm the cat that swallowed the canary," Robert finally said, raising his glass for a third refill of the wine.
"Why shouldn't I," she replied. "This is certainly out of the ordinary and I just suspect there has to be a reason for it. Plus, it certainly has been pleasant and maybe we should do it more often. Besides, you know how I like surprises."
Now it was his turn to smile. "Yeah, right," he said. "It is fun to watch you squirm though."
"I haven't been squirming."
"Your butt has stayed put but your brain has been squirming."
"You know me too well. Just let me ask then. Is this about something special."
"Of course, it is. Why else would I take you to dinner on Tuesday?" More torment as he took another sip of wine.
She just stared at him as he stared back at her.
"Oh god, do you want me to promise to do something weird later tonight or something. You know I'm about to die."
"Well, I do love you and hate to see you in such continued anguish so, here you go." He reached into his pants pocket and took out a folded paper. He held it toward her and, when she reached for it, he pulled it quickly back. "About that weird stuff for later," he teased as her eyes got wide. He offered the paper again and she reached for it tentatively and grabbed it this time. She looked at him and shook her head, then began unfolding the paper.
When it was open, she looked at the top and the first word she saw was "
Itinerary
." Her mouth dropped open and she looked at Robert with a huge smile on his face. She began to read. It listed airplane flights and times, named a small Caribbean island, a resort there, and a room number as well. She could hardly believe what she was reading.
"Who did this?" she asked, realizing as soon as she said it that it was a silly question.
"Moi," he answered, "for you and our one-year anniversary. "I wanted to get ahead of you because you're always so good about things like this. Was I successful?"
"Oh my gosh, I could kiss you."
"Go ahead," he teased, knowing it wasn't like her at all to do something like that in a quiet restaurant like this.
"Oh my gosh," she said again, then looked around and stood up and leaned across the table. He could see that she was crimson at the thought of doing it but, overcoming her embarrassment, she was still going to do it.
He stood up and leaned across the table and their lips met in a warm but brief kiss. Both sat back down.
"I think you'll like it," he said excitedly, leaning in a little toward her. "It's a small island with not so many tourists and so, much more private, no kids allowed so there won't be that problem. Just some time to swim and lay on the beach and eat and relax and enjoy things."
"Are you kidding? How could I NOT like anything like this?" Her face was nearly radiant with excitement. She was looking at the paper again. "So, we leave . . . " she was searching. "We leave not this Friday but the next Friday."
"Right. I was afraid this Friday would be too soon plus, both our parents wanted to have us over to celebrate our anniversary. Saturday with my parents and Sunday with yours." Jenna and Robert were both only children and both sets of parents wanted to be involved in everything that happened in their lives.
Jenna was just reading the paper over and over. In addition, her mind was recalling their honeymoon when there was no money and they had spent three days at a motel about 50 miles from where they lived. Both sets of parents were of modest means so when Jemma went to work as a dental hygienist and Robert went to work as an engineer, they had more money than either had ever been used to. They certainly weren't wealthy by any stretch but were moderately comfortable, even though she knew that this trip was certainly a splurge for them.
"I love it when you smile like that," he said.
"Oh my gosh," she said again. Then she looked at him with a very special look. "You know that something weird I was talking about earlier. This may be enough to make it happen."