***Willow Pond***

It's 5. A.m. Jonathan and Jennifer are sleeping.

Jennifer wakes up with a killer headache, and gets up to take some medicine. She gets back in bed and Jonathan wakes up just as she gets settled.

"You ok, darling?"

"I have a horrible headache. Sorry I woke you".

"It's ok. Need anything?"

"NO."

She snuggled back closer to him and he put his arm around her. Eventually the throbbing in her head ceased, and she was able to fall back to sleep again.

***7 A.M.***

Jonathan woke up when his alarm went off, and kissed Jennifer on the cheek. He eased off the bed so as not to wake her, and headed for the shower.

After he was dressed, he came and sat back down on the bed and leaned over and kissed her.

"I love you, darling".

She stirred, and then puckered her lips for a kiss.

He happily obliged.

"Listen, I know it's only Wednesday, but I have a light day. So, as long as my board meeting doesn't run over, I will be home for the day by lunch".

"Sounds wonderful, Mr. H."

She kissed him again, and he pulled the covers back over her.

"Sleep well, Mrs. H."

He kissed her forehead and headed to the office.

Jennifer slept till about 10, and then got up and took a long shower.

Her headache was a dull ache at this point, which was much more manageable than what she had woken up with earlier.

As soon as she got out of the shower, the lights flickered. She could hear thunder outside as the storm rolled in.

She put on her wide legged yoga pants and a tank top that she knew Jonathan loved, and her slippers.

She went downstairs and opened the fridge, trying to figure out what she wanted to make them for lunch.

She grabbed the phone and called his office.

"Hi Deanne, it's Mrs. Hart. Can you ask Jonathan what he would prefer to eat- Steak salad or shrimp tacos?"

"Certainly. One moment".

Jennifer held on and made herself a sparkling water with lime while she waited.

"Mrs. Hart, he said he has lunch for the two of you taken care of".

"Thank you, Deanne".

She hung up and took her drink to the couch to wait for him.

She got settled under a blanket and was deep into a book when he got home.

She didn't even hear him come in.

"Hi darling". He leaned over and kissed her head.

"Hi. When did you get here?"

"Just now".

He came around the side of the couch.

He had brought her flowers and lunch for them from a new Italian place, Vermicelli's.

"What did you get?"

"Well, I got the Spaghetti alla Puttanesca for me, and I got you the Caprese salad, extra mozzarella, and the Spaghetti de Salsiccia."

"Perfect, darling".

She kissed him.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better. I think it's the storm that caused my headache in the first place".

She took a sip of her drink, and then set it down on the table.

"I am going to get us plates and silverware."

"I am going to go change clothes and I will be right back".

A few minutes later, they were back on the couch, and enjoying their lunch.

"How was your board meeting, darling?"

"Ok, I guess. The Oliver deal is about to fall apart. I think I am going to have to do something drastic".

"Oh? What do you mean, drastic?"

"Well, the deal is centered around me obtaining a company known as Oliver Incorporated. They are a smaller company, but they make a lot of products, like bath and body products, scanners, camera parts, all kinds of things. However, they keep saying that the owner, Brad Oliver, he owns a bank. And the reason that I am considering buying this company is because they are going under. Well, they keep saying that the bank is going under too. So, it looks as if I am going to purchase the bank as well. The only issue is I received word that some other bankers aren't ok with me purchasing the bank."

"Well, you have beaten others at business deals before, I am sure they will get over it".

"You're right".

They finished their lunch, and she cleaned up the dishes.

She put the flowers he brought her in water, and then went to find him.

He was on their back porch, on the hammock.

She came and joined him, and snuggled up to his chest.

"I love afternoons like this with you".

"Me too".

He kissed the top of her head.

The rain picked up again, as they laid there listening to its peacefulness.

She scratched his chest some, and he played with her hair.

She could tell he was worried about his business deal.

She kissed his chest and rubbed his arms some.

"Someone has a birthday coming up".

"Someone realized that just this morning".

"Does someone know what they want for their birthday?"

"Someone might have a wish…or two…"

"Well, if someone wants to make sure those wishes are granted, someone might need to clue in his…or her….spouse".

"well, darling, you see it's very simple. There are only two things that this particular birthday celebrant wants. Peace and quiet, and time away with his or her spouse".

"Well, hopefully, the spouse will be able to arrange that for the birthday celebrant. Is there anywhere specific that the birthday person would like to go?"

"Not really. Just a change of scenery is really all that's required".

"Darling…would it be possible for the spouse of this same someone to also get a wish granted?"

"I don't see why not, depending of course, on what that wish is".

"I have it on good authority that the spouse's wish involves a little of this". She leaned up and kissed him, capturing his lips in a very steamy kiss.

"And a little of this". She started kissing his neck, as she scratched his back.

He rolled them till they were both on their sides.

"Darling, this authority that you have about this person's wishes…do you think they might want something along the lines of this?" He started nibbling her earlobe.

"Oh yes. I am sure that is on the list".

The wind picked up a little, and Jennifer shivered some.

Jonathan wrapped his arms around her and then leaned close to her.

"what do you say, we take this party inside?"

"I would say yes, absolutely".

They shifted back to the original position so that they could get out of the hammock, when all of a sudden, one end of the hammock snapped, causing them to crash to the ground. Jennifer landed on her side, and Jonathan landed in a heap on top of Jennifer.

He quickly jumped up and off her.

"Are you all right?"

"I don't know."

She held her hand out to him and he helped her up.

They walked inside, and he locked the door behind them.

He turned to her and wrapped his arms around her.

"How about a hot bath, and some of your favorite tea, and then maybe one of my famous massages?"

"Yes, please". She was holding her side as she walked upstairs.

He helped run a bath for her, as she gingerly took her clothes off.

He helped her into the bath, and she leaned back against the tub. He sprinkled some Epsom salts into the bath and then went and got her some aspirin and water.

He scrubbed her back for her, and then went back downstairs. He got the hammock off the stand, and brought it upstairs.

He sat by the bathtub as he tried to fix the hammock.

"Looks like we are going to have to go hammock shopping. This one is toast".

"Oh no, I love that hammock. Can you tell what caused it?"

"Yeah, too much weight on this end made the hook snap."

Jennifer got out of the tub, and wrapped a towel around her. After she was all dry, she put on pajamas and her robe.

He stood up and wrapped his arms around her.

"Feel better?"

"Much".

"What do you say we order La Scala and have it delivered?"

"Sure."

"Same as usual?"
"No. I think I just want a garden salad, with grilled chicken on the side. No dressing".

He placed the order and then they went downstairs.

He helped her get comfortable on the couch.

"How about a cocktail, Mrs. H.?"

"No thanks. I think I just want some sparkling water".

He brought her the sparkling water, and sat by her on the couch.

"Darling, are you sure you are ok? We can call Susan if you think you need to be checked out".

"No, you know I hate hospitals. I would rather stay here with you. I'm fine, honest".

He gave her a foot rub, and they discussed the upcoming Mission Street Orphanage charity auction.

"I was thinking, Darling. What if, this year, we had a Parisian theme? We could string up tons of lights, and make an Eiffel tower, and do everything in midnight blue and white, and serve French food…what do you think?"

"That's an idea. But what would we make the Eiffel Tower out of?"

"I can put my best engineers at the office on it".

"I also thought about a bright, neon theme. We could do black lights and give everyone glow bracelets and necklaces and everyone could wear neon or bright colors, and we could have a disco ball".

"That could be fun too".

She rested her head on his chest while they sat there chatting.

Finally, they decided to do a murder mystery theme.

"Darling, there is someone at the office who loves to throw murder mystery parties. Why don't we ask her to plan this for us? That way it will be a surprise for us as well what happens that night".

"I like that. We could bring everyone together, and have a sit-down meal where the murder takes place, and we can do the silent auction before and the live auction after."

"And then dancing and dessert after all of that".

"Perfect".

"But how will we decorate?"

"We could do it patriotic -red, white, and blue".

"Blue tablecloths, white napkins, red flowers on all the tables. Dark blue chairs. Or, should we do everything black and tell everyone to wear red, white, and blue?"

"I like that better".

Jennifer got up and got a legal pad and started writing everything down.

She made a list of things for her to do, and a list of things for Jonathan to do.

Her list was pretty long: invitations, pick a date and place, pick a caterer, florist, hire musicians, hire wait staff, coordinate auction items.

His list was considerably shorter: Get tux dry cleaned, contact murder mystery person, figure out who they are going to honor as Person of the Year.

Their dinner arrived, so they agreed to stop working on it for a bit and eat.

They turned on a movie and got comfy on the couch, and ate on TV trays.

Jonathan had ordered the steak and shrimp, with a baked potato.

He got up and got both of them some more sparkling water, and then sat back down.

"Shrimp, babe?"

"No thank you".

She barely picked at her salad. She ate most of her chicken, and drank all of her water.

She did the dishes after dinner, and then came back to join him.

She was leafing through a magazine about California architecture, and trying to think of a unique place to have the auction.

He was about to fall asleep when she grabbed his arm and showed him a picture of a penthouse in Los Angeles with a spacious rooftop.

"Darling, this is perfect! Lots of natural light, ample space, can hold up to 200 people, has its own parking garage, we can bring our own vendors".

"How much?" He was still half asleep.

"Oh darling, the kids at the orphanage need us".

"How much?"

"Darling…we have to have the right place with the right feel so that we set the mood for the auction".

"How much?"

"$175/hr."

She waited, for him to be mad.

His eyes popped open.

"They want how much?"

"$175 an hour. So, last year's auction ran about 5 hours counting cleanup, so that's almost $900."

"Sounds good to me".

She was so excited.

She leaned forward and kissed him, and then started giving him a chest rub.

She planned out other details while he fell asleep, and about an hour later, she decided it was time for bed.

"Jonathan…let's go to bed".

He stirred and turned towards her.

"In a few minutes".

She gave him a peck, and then she resumed planning. She wrote down some suggestions for the big-ticket item they would give away, and for who she thought they should honor as person of the year.

She also got the food planned out; she decided on spring rolls, sliders, loaded baked potato skins, cherry tomato bites, and veggies and dip, for starters.

She set the notepad down again.

"Jonathan….Jonathan…."

"Not yet babe".

She leaned really close to him.

"Darling, I am going upstairs, and I am going to put on the lavender nightgown that you love. Now, you can stay down here and sleep, or you can come join me…"

She kissed him.

"Up to you".

She had no sooner gotten up and folded up the blanket, when he woke up a little more.

"Where are you going?"

"To put on my lavender nightgown".

She leaned forward and kissed him and then headed to the stairs.

"Darling…wait for me".