Sweep Me Off My Feet

“No… it’s okay.” Her voice was groggy. “What time is it?”

“Early.” He kissed her forehead again as she pulled away from him. She held the bedding against her chest and he smiled. It was cute seeing that she was still shy about letting him see her naked even though they had done a whole lot the previous night including her re-enacting the night they met at the club by grinding on his crotch.

“I’ll get breakfast delivered before we get started on the day,” he said.

“Started on the day, he said. I wonder what you have planned for today. Maybe another luau?” she asked as she struggled to keep her eyes open.

“No, nothing like that.” He was smiling. “I was thinking of something a little more relaxed today. Something fun and something that will get the heart rate going.”

He reached for the phone and called the front desk.

“I don’t want to sound like a total and complete idiot, but I think you just described a spin class,” she said, making him laugh. He stifled the laughter with his mouth and put a finger up.

“Yes, hello. This is Michael O’Brien from the Camden suite. I would like a full breakfast delivered to my room… yes, I did. High protein and lots of fruit… yes, please.” He looked at Angela. “Would you rather have toast or pancakes?”

She shrugged.

“Surprise me.”

“Two orders of toast…yes, thank you.”

He hung up and looked at her.

“So, no spin class.” He smiled at her. “Ever. At least not for me, but the mountains here are gorgeous. I thought we could take a hike together.”

She got off the bed, still holding the bedding against her chest.

“A hike,” she echoed, and he nodded.

“There is a spot out there which in my opinion is one of the best things I have ever seen…you get to take in the lush greenery on one side and the water in the horizon…” He forced out a laugh. “It is perfect.

“So, you have been here before?” she asked.

“Yeah, when I was ten and the world was all music and rainbows.”

She frowned.

“When you were ten?” she asked. “Is that how long it has been since you let loose and had a good time?”

He shrugged.

“I was thrown into a life of tough career choices when I was really young… so when the family went off on vacations, I was supposed to go to medical camp all because I showed more of an interest in fashion than medicine which is what my parents wanted for me.”

She bit her lower lip.

“I’m sorry, that sounds terrible.”

He nodded.

“It was, but hey, all that made me the man I am today, right?”

She secured the bedding and sighed loudly.

“I’ll go take a shower now.”

“Sure.”

Michael would have wanted to get into the shower with her and marvel at her wet, naked body, but what she had said to him was still fresh on her mind. She was not ready.

*****

Angela had never really been hiking. It was not a matter of not wanting the experience. For her, it was the fact that she had never really had the chance. But she was an outdoorsy kind of person and she took in nature the only way she knew how: the TV. National Geographic was one of her all-time favorite channels. She was just happy that she got the channel on basic cable. However, she realized that doing the actual groundwork was so much better than watching it on TV. Hearing the birds singing or the twigs and dried leaves crack under her feet, smelling the fresh air… it was far from the noisy city she had grown used to. She would have done anything to make that day last a little longer. But the one thing that made her happy to be out there was finding out that Michael had been right. That spot up there was perhaps the best she had ever seen, ever.

They were sitting in silence on what was probably the highest point of the island looking down at the vegetation and farmland when he reached for her hand. She leaned back, resting her head on his shoulder as they took in the perfection.

“This is nice, perfect, even,” he said in a soft voice.

“Yeah, it is. I could live out here… forever. Bring my son so that he can see what it feels like to play in the dirt, carefree, and I can probably get a greenhouse going, do some homesteading… maybe even get a few farm animals.”

He looked at her and smiled.

“You would give up a life in the city to stay here?” There was genuine surprise in his voice.

She shrugged.

“Yeah, why not? It is perfect out here. Just you and nature.” She smiled. “Like I have always had this fantasy, it’s stupid though.”

“Let me be the judge of that,” he said as he ran his hands up and down her arms.

“I have always wanted to have a place away from the city. Some place like Vermont where I can do some gardening in the morning and have long walks in the evenings… I’ve never really been there, but I have checked out some photos. It looks perfect.”

“Vermont, huh?” he asked as he pulled back her curls with his free hand and kissed her temple. It was not just a quick kiss. It was a lingering one laden with sentiment.

“You know, until right now, I had not realized that I had always pictured someone like you when I thought of what I would like my future wife to be like. Someone who loved nature as much as I did, and someone who paid more attention to Michael, the man, and not Michael, the designer.”

Angela felt her heart begin to beat faster.

“Why are you saying all these? I don’t understand…”

“Marry me,” he suddenly said.

The words were clear, and Angela knew that there was no way she could have heard the wrong thing. She wanted to turn around and look into his eyes just so she was sure she was not mistaken, but she did not have the strength to turn around, let alone the emotional capacity to handle looking into his eyes.

“What?” she asked in a whisper.

“Marry me, Angie. You are the woman I never knew I was looking for.”

She pulled away from him and exhaled loudly before she turned around.

“Michael… you hardly know me…” she started as she looked at him.