Date Night

I knock on the door but there is no answer. I know he is home as his car is parked in the driveway. Also, he gave me explicit instructions to be here at this time; 7:00. I try the door and it is unlocked. My favorite bottle of wine is sitting open on the dining room table along with two empty glasses.

"Don’t mind if I do," I say as I pour myself a glass.

I hear his footsteps upstairs. I am guessing he worked late, therefore he is running behind on his usual routine of taking a shower as soon as he gets home, which would explain why he didn’t hear me knock.

I take a seat on the couch and look at the framed picture of us in Paris. Our favorite city. The two of us sitting along the Seine with the same bottle of wine. Our two year anniversary.

I hear him call out to me, asking if I’m there. I answer him, letting him know I am here. He tells me he will be downstairs in a minute; that he has made dinner reservations for us at 8:00.

I stand up and walk to the mantel and see the encased baseball I gave him that was signed by Keith Hernandez along with the Sharpie marker that Keith used to sign it. I will never forget the childish grin on his face when I presented it to him. Still makes me smile to this day.

I sneeze then look around the room for a tissue. I can’t find one so I step into his small office. There is a box Kleenex on the desk. Next to the box of Kleenex is a small gift bag. The color, Tiffany blue. I silently take a peek inside and see the ring box.

(c) 2014 Brenda Thornlow

Brenda Thornlow is also the author of the new fiction series My Life as I Knew It and the short story, The Revolving Door. Available at Amazon. (Link below)