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Hey Kitten,
Look, I was thinking about the whole honeymoon thing, and I want to clear the air. I want to whisk you away to paradise so I can schmooze you.
There. I said it.
I want to do something romantic, cliché, and something that we will never forget. Let’s be daring and adventurous together. An escape where we can pretend that we are Adam and Eve – NO APPLES OR SNAKES.
I hate snakes.
Do you want to go to Paris, France (not Paris, Texas… har har.) We can have coffee near the Eiffel Tower and some of those powdered donut bidets that people are always talking about. They are supposed to be delicious.
Shall we look at Tahiti, Fiji, Cancun, or some other tropical paradise? Will you wear a coconut bra for me if I beg and bat my eyelashes? I can make the big puppy dog eyes with enough inspiration, and coconuts would certainly do it.
We could go to New Orleans, Disney, San Francisco, NYC, whatever you want to do – let’s make it happen.
Yours truly,
Max
P.S. – please re-read the comments about the coconut bra and reconsider your initial NO response. I’ll be good. I swear. It’s just a fantasy, kinda like Velma from Scooby Doo. That’s a thing for guys, and let me apologize, now, because my gorgeous wife absolutely de-throned that hottie in the orange sweater… wait a second…
FORGET THE COCONUTS!
I’m ordering an orange turtleneck sweater right freakin’ now.
CHAPTER 16
ELANA
Leaving the airport had taken an act of strength that Elana didn’t realize was in her – nor the sobering realization that Max was gone and there was nothing she could do about it. Gone within seconds. Her life had been dramatically altered the moment he’d handcuffed himself to her, and now it was snapping back painfully like a rubber band.
And she didn’t care for it – any of it.
The loneliness, the isolation, the crushing silence as if the air was sucked out of the room and out of her car. She was sitting there in the parking lot of her office, trying to pull herself together, and it had hit her like a ton of bricks that there would be no ‘pest’ when she got home to gently swat her on the butt. No cuddling on the couch, no playful threats to streak from the bathroom to the bedroom to get his clothes, no random dancing in the kitchen, and no more laughter.
“Oh my gosh,” she wept as it slammed home painfully the three words that kept repeating in her mind.
Max is gone.
Max is gone.
Max is gone, and I love him.
“What am I going to do?” she sobbed, putting her face into her hands, not caring what time it was or how long she was there.
There was a hollow ache in the depths of her soul that hurt. For so long, she had fought back, pushed him away, and was frightened of getting hurt, and it happened anyhow. It ached at how much it hurt to see him go – especially not knowing when he would be back, and her world would resume.
“I should have absolutely ‘banged’ his brains out,” she wailed, curling her fingers in frustration. “What’s wrong with me? Dang it! Of all the stupid, emotional caveats to make someone jump through to make sure that I didn’t get my heart broken, and it’s freakin’ shattered anyhow!” she hollered angrily at her reflection in the rearview mirror. “You are a blasted moron, Elana Carpenter! CARPENTER!”
She slammed her palm against the steering wheel angrily several times before reaching into the center console to get some old napkins to blow her nose. She could barely breathe. She was so congested, her tears were leaving dots on her shirt, and she was pretty sure her entire face was blotchy from crying.
“I married the man and literally told the hottest guy I know ‘NO’… not to mention that he was my crush. I held out on both of us – and for nothing!”
And then paused, her sobs stopping as she let out a shuddering breath and hesitated as a thought struck her.
What if it was one-sided, and he wasn’t planning on coming back?
“Noooo,” she said in disbelief. “Surely not.”
