A new home. A beach house, two immense floors, just a short block away from the beach. Ah, East Hampton; a zone of virgin ground, still barely habitated, this house being one of the few in the recently available lot of a thousand miles of extension.
He hadn't told her he was buying it. It was a secret he kept for six months, because he wanted to take her there and offer it to her for her birthday. At first, when he thought about getting a new place for them both, he wanted to have one built specially for her, but when he expressed his wish to his realtor, the man came the next day with fresh news: The first property on that ground was being built already, and it wasn't going on the market until it was ready, but of course, he could get his way with that house. He asked to see it, and he thanked the odds because it seemed as if it had been designed by he and Donna. It was still at half of the building process, but considering the ongoing works and the preliminar plans, he thought about buying it as soon as he could get it. Also, if he sealed the sale already, he could order whatever changes he wanted.
And that's what he did, months later: he took her there. When they were dropped there, and she stood in front of that huge place, she didn't know why she was even there, he hadn't wanted to tell her.
"Why are we here?" she asked with a smile, admiring that house with fine eyes, examining it. Before he answered, he wanted to check her expressions, just to confirm she liked it. Well indeed, his guts were right; basing only in her face, he knew she liked it.
"Happy birthday, sweetheart." It came out of his heart, slow, deep heavy words.
She looked at him. "What?" and furrowed her brows. Maybe he was going to tell her a story about this place and why it is important to him, and the 'happy birthday' just came out. He had told her that three times today already, and it wasn't even noon.
He tucked his hand into the pocket of his jeans, and out came a key with a red heart shaped acrylic keychain attached. "I hope you like your gift."
Her jaw dropped, her lips opened. Her head shook, "No way".
He handed it to her, she took it, still not believing he… he bought her a fucking house? This man.
"Did you-"
"Yes, Donna…" he stepped forward until his mouth could brush her forehead. "I bought you a goddamn house, yes." and he kissed. "C'mon, I want to see whether or not it's exactly like I asked it to be." he started walking and climbing the stone steps. She followed, still a bit dumbfounded, the key intertwined in her fingers. As they were going up, -it was a long-ass way up the steps- she couldn't stop the admiration growing in her chest by seeing that vast sea; that white virgin sand, the clear blue sky, the sun hitting them deliciously, the fair amount of cold giving that autumn satisfaction. She turned her sight the other way… nothing but grass and trees. Only them and the sea.
Up they were, forty hundred and thirty feet away from the edge of the cliff. She plugs the key in, twists twice, and the wide glass door opens.
She smelled vainilla. She looks down to the floor, white marble, it's slippy. To their left, the kitchen; an aisle, as she likes. To their right, a black wood table, shiny and large. A bunch of fruits in the center, in a wicker basket.
"So?" he asks, a smile in his face, she's not talking.
"It's... gorgeous." she says abruptly, still taking everything in. In the center, a fireplace, a tv. In front of it, a white leather couch. It's huge, by the way. Another carob tree table, smaller, with tiny flowers in the center.
Against the opposite wall, painted in baby light blue, a body-length painting of a brunette woman floating on clear water. Her expression is peaceful. "That's beautiful!" she exclaimed as she crossed the first floor to admire it closely.
"I thought you would like it." he said, his voice resonating while he followed with slow steps.
"Who did it?" she turns around.
"An old college pal's daughter, Francesca. She's very talented, apparently. I ran into him last month and I mentioned I needed artworks, and he told me his daughter has a website. It's… wonderful."
"It is." as she looked around, she saw the long marble staircase with wide steps beside her. Then she looked at him, still in a cloud. Tenderness took over her. "What's upstairs?"
"The best part."
She nodded, and smiled wide. His mouth looked deliciously tempting, but she saved those cravings for later. "Let's, then."
She went up and he followed behind, checking in silence that everything was exactly like he asked. The staircase turned as it led to the second floor. The sea in all its magnificence, shown through a full length window with white divisions for every piece of glass. A long hallway, ample, because they both despised narrow spaces. First door at the right, a bedroom. Black and white patterns, classic, simple, but beautiful. She was just about to open the opposite, the first at the left.
"The rest of these doors in the hallway are guests rooms." he added.
"Guests rooms?! All of these?" she exclaimed and turned to him.
He smiles, and he nods. "Just in case. We invite whoever we want, or we don't."
They keep walking, side by side, and she counts a total of four doors in the hallway. It's a long-ass hallway, considering the bedrooms are generously spaced. When the walls disappear, the light of the day comes again, the wide windows at each side. At the left, all she saw was green of inhabited ground. At the right, the beach again. Like an indoor gallery, the rest of the marbled way is fenced by black metal railings with a beautiful flower pattern. Then the path comes to an end and splits in two, because in front of her, was the two-parts black sliding door of the bedroom.
She turns around, leans against the railing. "What's in there?"
He grins. "Our best."
She walks impatiently fast and slides that door open. The king size, the black thick fluffy bed clothes with white details in it, "Oh Jeez, those windows!". It was an incredibly bright room, the view of the sea to their right and paintings on the back wall. At the left, three doors. She walked inside, and she noticed the white plush carpet which covered up to the surroundings of their bed.
"Are we Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, or something?"
He bent lightly to her ear, "Aye, my lady." And his hands go up her arms, making her whole body get goosebumps.
At their left, three doors. That room was big enough to have more rooms inside of it, apparently. "Oh God, this never ends." she says while she stares at him.
"Go, open them."
There she goes. The first door, their bathroom. An insanely huge bathtub, black and white decorated like the rest of the house. She sighed when she saw the delicate lights above the bathtub; she was going to try that first.
Then the next door: his closet. It was empty, of course, as was the third door: her closet. It was as large as she always wanted her closet to be. That's when she turned around with her jaw down, and no word came out. He smiled so wide his cheeks hurt; he knew he would win her over with this.
"No shit."
"And…" she felt his arms evolving her. "Wait until you see the front garden, which is… magical."
She turns around. "Well, let's. Take me."
Another chapter will be posted soon. I'd love to know what you think and feel about this! Next chapter will contain domestic and simple stuff between those two, and a good M rated part. Thanks for reading!