***Willow Pond***
Jennifer was at home, waiting on Jonathan to get home. They were supposed to go to dinner together as soon as he got home from the office.
She had been busy all day, working on a new article, and trying to plan a surprise vacation for them. It had been a few months since they had been able to take a few days and go on a real trip together, just the two of them. Alone time was long overdue.
Jonathan came in the door, and quickly came over and kissed her.
"Hi gorgeous. You look fantastic. I am going to quickly change so we can go. I'll be ready in 10 minutes".
"Where are we going?"
"It's a surprise".
She smiled, because she loved the fact that he knew she loved surprises, and that he loved to surprise her.
He quickly came back downstairs, and they left.
***In the car***
"Ok, it's hint time. Does this place have a nice view?"
"I wouldn't know. I can never keep my eyes off you".
"Awww.. that's sweet. Now answer the question".
He chuckled.
"Yes, it does".
"Does it serve only one type of cuisine?"
"No, it has a few different ones".
"Is it somewhere you and I have been before?"
"I have been there, you have not, I don't think".
"Is it Alejandro's?" Jennifer had told him last week that she wanted to go to Alejandro's.
"You got me! You are pretty smart, Mrs. H."
"Well thank you, Mr. H."
They stopped at a red light. A silver BMW convertible pulled up next to them.
"Darling, that car is so gorgeous. Have you ever wanted a BMW?"
"Every time I purchased the Mercedes, my choice was between that or the BMW".
"Well, if I was buying a car, I would definitely buy the BMW. I love the Mercedes, and I love my Porsche, but I had a BMW when I was in college and I absolutely loved it".
"What color would you get?"
"Silver, probably. I like the dark blue too".
They continued to chat on the way to the restaurant.
After their dinner, they were driving home when Jonathan suddenly went a different way.
"Darling, where are we going?"
"Well, there is a second surprise for today, and we are going to go see it".
She smiled big and laced her fingers through his.
A few minutes later, they pulled up to this ritzy store, in the heart of downtown.
"Surprise!"
"You didn't!"
"I did".
"For me?"
"For you".
He got out and came around to her side of the car, and opened the door for her.
"Darling….I can't believe it".
"Let's go check it out".
He unlocked the door and they went inside.
"It's a boutique. I bought it completely furnished, lock, stock and barrel. Up till now, it was casual clothes, but this is yours- you can sell whatever you want".
Jennifer was looking all around.
"Jonathan…I don't have a clue what I am doing. I don't have the faintest idea of how to run a store".
"Jennifer-I am going to hire you a consultant, and they will help you. We will hire managers and clerks and whatever else you need. I promise, we can make this work".
She started walking around, and began to throw ideas out.
"Evening wear….designer shoes and handbags…lingerie….business clothes…denim…paint the walls purple and silver and change the name…got to have a cute name…."
Jonathan was loving seeing her creativity come out, and seeing how she was planning even though she claimed to not know what to do.
He finally managed to drag her out of there about an hour later.
After he locked the door, she wrapped her arms around him.
"Thank you, darling. This is going to be fun".
He kissed her, and they walked to the car.
She was lost in thought the whole way home.
***Willow Pond***
Jennifer came inside and went and put her nightgown on, and then immediately grabbed her laptop. She started researching everything to do with fashion and how to run a successful boutique. Within an hour, she had a list of brands she wanted to carry, and a sketch of how she wanted the layout to be.
She had also looked up the names of some fashion consultants, and business consultants she wanted to talk to.
She had made a list of boutique names and finally decided on Crazy Harts. Crazy because of the crazy way she and Jonathan met, and Harts because, well, duh.
She decided they would sell evening gowns, dress clothes, shoes and handbags, plus jewelry and maybe a skin care line or a makeup line or two. She wanted to start slow, and build her way up.
Jonathan had fallen asleep next to her, on the bed.
She started to nudge him.
"Jonathan….Jonathan…."
"You are so beautiful…"
"No, not that. I have to ask you some questions".
She leaned across him and turned on the light.
"Darling…..when do we take possession of the boutique?"
"We did today."
"Ok, so I made a list of what I am going to need. It's a pretty long list, but I am hoping you can help me with it".
"Is sleep on the list? Sleep should be on the list".
"Jonathan, be serious".
He finally sat up, and wrapped his arm around her.
"I need someone to help me go through the inventory of what is in there so that we know what we want to keep and throw out. I need someone to help me sell what I don't want, and I need someone to help me get in contact with the brands that I want to carry. I need a buyer and some furniture…. And I want to paint".
"Darling…I love seeing how excited you are about this. Really, I do. But, it's after midnight, can't we get some sleep and do all this tomorrow? I promise I will help you however I can, and we will get you whatever you need, but not in the middle of the night, ok?"
She leaned over and kissed him. "Ok. I'm sorry".
"It's ok".
She got up and put everything on the window seat and then came back to bed.
He turned the light off as she snuggled up to him and tried to sleep.
He rubbed her back as she fell asleep on his shoulder.
***The next morning***
They both got up when his alarm went off, and had breakfast and coffee downstairs.
"Darling, are you going to the office, or to the boutique with me?"
"Boutique with you first, then the office".
She nodded.
"I really am excited about this".
"I know, you were up half the night".
She playfully punched him in the arm.
"It's cute to see you so excited about something".
He grabbed her hand and squeezed it, before she took their plates to the sink.
They left together and she followed him to the boutique.
He gave her the key, and she did the honors.
They went inside and turned the lights on.
"Darling, I have an electrician coming, and a plumber coming and a general contractor coming to see if there is anything that needs to be fixed. And I am going to give you Lindsay and Megan from the office, to help you with inventory. After you get that situated, we can take the next step. I will hire you a business advisor if you'd like".
"I'd love it".
He stayed with her till the other people got there, and they started making lists of what they wanted to do.
Before long, she was off and running with the contractor and he was kissing her bye and heading to the office.
She worked till 6, and went home so tired she couldn't see straight.
***Willow Pond***
She came in the house and called out for Jonathan.
"Up here, darling".
She went upstairs and found him in their bedroom.
She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him.
"Darling, close your eyes".
She did as she was told.
He undressed her, slowly.
"Jonathan, this is very sweet, but-"
"But nothing, Jennifer. Just trust me".
She nodded.
After he was done undressing her, he scooped her up and carried her to the bathroom, and lowered her into the tub.
He had filled it with hot water and Epsom salts and relax bath salts.
"Ahhh…."
She opened her eyes and grabbed his face and kissed him.
"You are the best! This feels so good".
He turned the jets on for her, and lit her some candles, and then poured her a glass of wine, and left her to relax.
After about 20 minutes, he came and joined her in the tub and scrubbed her back for her and rubbed her shoulders.
After a relaxing bath, they climbed out and dried off and got ready for bed.
"I ordered us dinner. Dinner in bed, babe?"
"It sounds absolutely fabulous".
He went downstairs to get it and bring it up.
When he got back upstairs with their trays, she was fast asleep.
He ate by himself, and then put hers on the window seat.
He climbed back into bed and wrapped his arms around her and kissed her goodnight.
***A month later***
Crazy Harts was coming together. They had painted the walls purple and all of the shelves were either black or silver. She had hired a buyer and let the buyer figure out what lines they were going to carry.
Grand opening was in a week, and everything was coming together.
The goal was to get it up and running, and then she would only be in to check on things every week or every other week or so. She had hired a manager and several store clerks, and a bookkeeper. If Jennifer wasn't at the boutique, she was researching boutique trends, and looking up what other boutiques were doing and what they were offering. She had already earmarked in her calendar when the market trips were and had planned to attend.
The manager had a hiring day, and they hired some really good, sweet girls. Lindley was a sophomore in college, and had the sweetest disposition. Kelsey was 19, and had just moved to the city to be an actress. Allyson was 18, and starting college in the fall. Whitney was a fashion design major at UCLA. Sloane was just out of college and needed a second job to pay the rent. Jennifer and Natalie, the manager were pleased with all of them.
They had a training, and everyone did very well. Jennifer was so ready for the grand opening the next Friday.
***Next week***
Grand opening was in 2 days, and Jennifer was so excited she could hardly stand it. Everything looked amazing at the store, and they were hanging the sign today. She had the idea to have a giveaway with the first 100 customers, so she was organizing that, and Natalie was taking fliers all over town and distributing them.
Jonathan had asked some employees at Hart Industries to come to the grand opening and to come help out if needed. He was so proud to see her take this and run with it.
He went by and picked her up at the store around 6. He could tell by looking at her that she was dog tired.
"Hi darling. Feel up to some dinner?"
"I am starved, Mr. H."
He leaned down and kissed her.
"Me too. La Scala?"
"Yes, please. Just let me grab my stuff".
He waited by the door while she grabbed her things and said goodnight to the others.
They headed out and he drove her to La Scala.
***La Scala***
They pulled up and parked, and went inside.
They were seated almost immediately.
"So, after the grand opening weekend, how often are you going to work at the boutique?"
"I am not sure. I want to do it like 1-2 days a week, just to keep up with things. But everyone we have hired is great, and I know they can handle things without me."
"That sounds like a great plan".
After a nice dinner, they headed home.
***Willow Pond***
They stopped and got Jennifer's car, and he followed her to the house.
She came inside and immediately went upstairs to change for bed.
He was waiting for her in bed when she was finished.
"How about one of my classic massages?"
"Absolutely".
She immediately flopped onto her stomach and he began massaging her.
After about 20 minutes, she was so relaxed.
He climbed off her back and wrapped his arms around her.
She managed to mumble a "thank you" before she fell fast asleep.
***The next morning***
Jonathan woke up to Jennifer straddling him and kissing his chest.
He quickly returned the sentiment and they made mad, passionate love before getting ready for the day.
She was downstairs and had one of his favorite breakfasts ready- Spanish omelet with a side of bacon, and had made him coffee with her secret ingredients.
She was at the sink when he came into the kitchen.
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him.
"You sure know how to wake a guy up, Mrs. H."
"That was because I fell asleep on you last night, Mr. H."
"You earned it- you have been working your tail off to get the boutique ready".
"I know. I can't believe we open tomorrow night at 6. Are you going to be there to help me cut the ribbon?"
"Absolutely".
She kissed him, and then they ate and then headed to work.
***Friday***
Jennifer was at the boutique at 7 a.m. getting everything ready. They had one more display to put up, and then she wanted to hang some curtains so that they could do an unveiling after the ribbon cutting.
She worked till about 1, and then went home to get ready.
She was back by 4, running around like crazy. She had decided on a pair of black and purple palazzo pants, a purple Italian silk blouse, and some chunky silver and black flip flops.
Jonathan got there around 5, and just stood and watched her for a little bit. He was so crazy proud of her.
At 5:50, they went outside and taped the ribbon across the doorway.
She gave a small speech thanking everyone and telling everyone about the store.
"And I want to thank my husband Jonathan for buying me this boutique and letting me run it, and believing I could even though I told him I couldn't."
She cut the ribbon, and then everyone cheered, and they opened the doors.
She and Natalie hoisted the curtains, and people began to shop. They were giving away tumblers and t-shirts to the first 100 people, and coupons to everyone as well.
They finally closed at 10 p.m., and everyone shared a glass of champagne with her for a great first night.
"Ok, see all of you tomorrow. We are open 10-7 tomorrow, and 10-6 Sunday".
She and Jonathan locked up and headed home.
Neither of them noticed the man watching them in the parking lot. He had been sitting there since the grand opening. He had gone inside, and looked around some, but then returned to his car. As each employee left, he made notes on what they looked like, and what car they got into.
Across the top of the page, he wrote the words "Don't Underestimate Me".