Jen woke to a blinding flash of sun as her mother threw open the curtains of her bedroom. "It's 1:00, Jennifer! Get out of bed!" Her mother screeched as Jen rubbed her eyes.
"I'm up, I'm up." Jen muttered. Groggily she turned to look at the clock. 1:07 p.m. Ugh... she was awake, tired, and her body was sore. She smiled as Saturday night's events floated through her mind. Jen drifted off to a daydream this Sunday morning that was far sweeter than any sleeping dream she'd dreamt in the few hours that she'd actually been asleep.
Yesterday was her six-month anniversary with Dan. He'd planned a special picnic for the two of them that had been absolutely marvelous...
* * * * *
The phone rang around 4:00 p.m. "Ready, Jen?" came a familiar voice over the telephone.
"Can you give me like another half hour?" She asked, smiling.
"I suppose." He groaned, "I'm coming over anyway. I'll just hang out with your dad in the backyard for a bit while you get ready." Dan told her. They exchanged their goodbyes and hung up the phone.
Jen scurried around to get ready to go, because she'd been lazy all day. She had just stepped out of the shower and was dripping water onto her bedroom floor, clumsily wrapped in a towel when the phone rang. Smiling, Jen pulled the shade to her room, and dropped the towel as she began to get ready. Small drops of water dripped down her lovely body as she searched her room for the perfect outfit. She went to the closet.
"Hmm, got to find the perfect outfit!" she lamented to herself as she wrung her hair into the towel. "Got it!" she cried as she chose a light blue and sea-foam green sleeveless shirt that was made of two layers of light gauze. It was a very summery shirt, and it was slightly see-through. She smiled. Dan had always liked this shirt on her. She threw the shirt onto the bed, and went to her dresser to find the right bra and underwear.
As she selected the light blue Victoria's Secret set, she began to realize it was a little cold there in her room. The air-conditioning had just been turned on, although it really wasn't that hot outside. She looked down and noticed that her nipples were standing rock-hard atop her full breasts. "I'd better start getting dressed! He'll be here soon!" Jen thought. She slipped on her bra and underwear and slid into her tank top. She then pulled on her khaki shorts, and opened her bedroom door. She went to the bathroom, where she got out the hair dryer and her makeup bag. She hurriedly finished getting ready as she heard the door open and her father greeting Dan.
She came downstairs about 10 minutes later, to her father and Dan discussing CDs. "Ready, babe?" She asked Dan as her stomach began to flutter. He hadn't told her what he'd planned for them that day, he just told her to dress to be outdoors.
"You kids have a good time!" Jen's dad called as Dan rose from the table and walked toward Jen. "Thanks, Daddy! We will!" Jen cried as she followed Dan out the front door.
Dan opened the car door for her and she settled into her seat. "So where are we going?" She pleaded with him. He smiled and shook his head, not saying anything. Jen was so confused; normally Dan was not this quiet, but today he was being extremely secretive.
"Okay. I'm going to put this blindfold on you." He demanded. Jen was getting a little nervous, because of all the secrets surrounding where they were going. For all she knew, the jokester could be taking her to Chuck-E-Cheese, which she wouldn't so much mind, but he could also be taking her to the end of the earth. With Dan, there was no telling where they were going to end up.
About fifteen minutes later, the car stopped, and Jen's car door opened. Dan took her by the hand and led her for about 5 minutes as twigs crunched under her feet. She was a little worried. It sounded like they were in the middle of nowhere! Finally Dan encouraged her to sit. She did, trusting him fully, but still a little scared. She lowered herself to what she found to be a soft blanket sitting on the ground. He knelt next to her, and untied her blindfold.
As the blindfold dropped from her eyes, Jen gasped to see the beauty of the place Dan had brought her to. It was a small, grassy clearing back in the woods, with tulips sprouting up around the edges of the circular clearing. The tulips were all colors, yellow, pink, red, and a dazzling orange mix. There was a picnic basket in front of her and two blue candles sat in the middle of a large stump on which there were two plates, two wine glasses, and silverware for two. The clearing was about 10 feet around, and it looked like it had been carefully attended to. Sun was peeking through the trees, which made a beautiful canopy overhead. She turned to Dan.
"You are so amazing!" she told him.
She leaned over and kissed him firmly. She couldn't believe all the trouble Dan had gone to so this place would be perfect. He'd thought of all the little touches that would make it special. She loved being with Dan, and she wanted to make this the most perfect night yet in their relationship.
They moved over to the stump, where Dan opened the picnic basket, revealing a fairly elaborate dinner for just a picnic. He'd made a small tray of spaghetti and meatballs, because he knew pasta was her favorite food. He moved off to the side, where he produced a cooler from behind the row of tulips and brought it to the table. Everything was incredible! Jen was floored by his thoughtfulness and creativity in planning the night.
They enjoyed dinner, and a dessert of strawberry shortcake. Jen was falling more in love with Dan minute by minute. She wanted to do something for him that would make his night as amazing as he was making hers. She smiled to herself as they chatted. They were still sharing the bottle of wine he'd bought for their dinner.
"Babe, you know how I get when I'm drinking… sure you want to keep giving me that wine?" She joked, gazing into his eyes.
"So absolutely certain." He smiled back, leaning in to kiss her deeply on the lips.
It was starting to fall dark, as the two lay in each other's arms on the blanket, sipping wine and talking about everything. As the sun began to set, Dan rose from the blanket and produced several small candles from around the circle, and lit them. Their little clearing glowed in candlelight. Jen smiled, and lay back on the blanket closing her eyes. She opened them to Dan crawling over to her. She kissed him and whispered in his ear,