Chapter 3
Knowing that Bruce loved her was more than enough for Kate. Feeling it all over her being, was the icing on the cake. It was as if when she woke the next morning, life was brand new.
Bruce had not spent the night with her because he had a flight out the next morning to a consulting gig. It was best anyway because Kate had a full schedule herself for the day. She just hated the fact that after such a passion filled night, they would have to spend the next day apart.
Waking up that morning without Bruce on the other side of the bed made Kate appreciate what they were building together. Deep down, she wanted more, but she spent so much time convincing herself that it was alright to be emotionally unavailable because it was easier to focus on work.
Her diamond promise ring was truly a reflection of the love Bruce felt for her. It was obvious that the next step would be marriage. She dreaded thinking about what would happen if she did not accept the proposal right away. Having an impending proposal lingering over her was starting to cause a bit of anxiety.
Kate’s mind twirled around wondering when Bruce could possibly be thinking about popping the question. Would it be some special date and would he come up with some all out big production when he did ask? Knowing Bruce, he would concoct some elaborate proposal and completely catch her off guard. His spontaneity was one of the things that she loved about him.
As she rolled over, spreading out all over the cool sheets, she heard her cell phone chime. It was time to get her day started and jump head first into work. Scrolling through the day’s agenda, she saw she was scheduled to do a few calls with potential clients and to follow up on a style seminar that she wanted to put together. Once again, a schedule with back to back events.
Bruce was scheduled to fly in by early afternoon. Kate wanted to do something special for him, especially since he always managed to do something for her to make her feel like the she was the center of his life.
She called her assistant Amelia and asked her to make reservations at an Italian restaurant she had been wanting to try. No sooner than she confirmed with Amelia, Kate called her back and told her to cancel the idea. Maybe she would cook for Bruce and do a little something intimate.
Quickly looking up a meal online that was easy enough for her to make, Kate gave Amelia the task list for the day, asking her to do a little something extra by picking up the groceries for her impromptu dinner.
Kate had to pull out all of the stops tonight and make Bruce feel as wonderful as he made her feel regularly. Before she knew it, it was early evening. She would have to hurry to get home and start cooking if she was going to get dinner done on time. Bruce had already called and said that he would be by that evening around seven.
Once Kate came home, she eyed all of the ingredients that Amelia left for her. Trying to make sense of the recipe was like trying to read a foreign language. She pulled her hair back into a pony tail and prepared herself to get elbow deep in pasta and homemade alfredo sauce. Pots boiling, frustration rising, Kate thought repeatedly about ditching her entire plan to cook for Bruce. She could order out instead and pass the food off as something she whipped up.
The sauce began boiling over, bubbling all over the stove. Kate cursed more than once.
“Kate. Where are you?”
She heard Bruce’s voice coming in from the living room.
“In the kitchen.” More cursing.
“Whoa! What is going on here?”
A sense of relief settled over Kate when she saw Bruce come in to the kitchen.
“I tried to cook you dinner. I tried.” She was practically whining and about to cry. When Bruce laughed, she did not find anything funny.
He immediately set about cleaning up, using the dish towel to wipe up the spilled sauce, turning off the overheated pot, and throwing a few things in the hot, soapy water in the sink.
“You are a life saver.”
“I can tell. A few more minutes and this entire kitchen would have gone up in flames.”
“Does it look that bad?” Kate questioned.
Bruce nodded. “Just a little worse. What on earth were you making?”
Kate shrugged. “I had this recipe for chicken alfredo. Everything was going well until the pot boiled over then things started going haywire. This is the last time I try to cook a full meal. Next time I will start a little smaller. With something like salad.”
The two of them burst out laughing.
“Starting small may be just what you need. Salad it is.”
Kate felt defeated. “Is there any way we can salvage any of this?”
“I think that it is over, my love. Let’s order something for dinner.”
Kate sighed. “I really wanted to do something special for you. You always do so much for me.”
Bruce smiled. “Don’t let me stand in the way of your surprise. I will back off.”
“It’s all been ruined. I did not get the opportunity to finish all of the preparations,” Kate replied, frustration filling her voice.
“Sweetheart. It’s fine. Trust me. It’s the thought that counts.”
By the way the kitchen looked, Kate wanted to take him up on the offer to stop cooking. Things could only get worse from there. She shuffled through the drawers, finding the take out menus.
Bruce took her by the hand. “Why don’t you let me handle this? You can go ahead and finish your surprise and I will have the food for us shortly.”
Kate took a deep breath. “Fine. Okay.”
Bruce took a bunch of the menus and walked out of the kitchen. How had he come through and made everything so calm so quickly?
She went about setting the mood. Lighting votive candles all around, turning on the soft jazz and dimming the lights. As she finished, she heard the doorbell ring. Bruce had taken care of the food. Now she needed to clean herself up a bit and get ready for dinner.