Jonathan and Jennifer exited the plane, and held hands as they walked through the airport. They headed to baggage claim to get their luggage, and then hailed a cab.
Jennifer gave the cabbie the address of their home, and the cab driver told them it would be about 40 minutes.
Jennifer's headache came back with a vengeance, so she leaned forward and put her head on her lap and covered her head with her arms.
He leaned over and put his arm on her back and started rubbing her neck.
She leaned to her left, and put her head on his leg. She picked up her jacket and covered her face with it. She eventually fell asleep.
He woke her when they got to the house.
"Jennifer, we're here. Wake up".
She sat up and looked at him.
"I'm sorry".
"It's perfectly alright".
He took care of the cabbie and then they took their luggage in.
It was a very nice house, and as promised they found everything they were told they would find in the office.
There was a note from their agent.
"At the moment, the only bed is in the master suite. Another bed will be delivered in 10 days".
"Ok, so you take the bed, I'll take the couch".
"No, you take the bed. I'll take the couch. You are the one with the headache".
"You can sleep in the bed too if you want. As bad as my head hurts, I plan on passing out".
She picked up her luggage and started towards the bedroom.
The bedroom had a king-sized bed, with some blackout curtains.
Jonathan brought the rest of the luggage into the room and then went around making sure that the house was locked up.
Jennifer changed into her pajamas and then got out her medicine bag. She popped a sleeping pill, and climbed into bed.
He changed in the bathroom, and then came and climbed into bed as well.
They fell asleep, each on their respective sides of the bed.
***The next morning***
Jennifer crept out of bed, when she woke up. She went and found the kitchen and took a survey of what they had and what they didn't have. She began to make a list. She found coffee in the cabinet, but she couldn't find a coffee maker without looking through all the cabinets. She was trying to be quiet so that she wouldn't wake Jonathan up.
She went to the office and found a list of things in the house and where they were. The list told her where the coffeemaker was, so she got it out and put it on the counter and plugged it in. She got the coffee started, and after it was ready, poured herself a cup.
She took a sip and realized it was too bitter for her liking. She got out the milk, and another mug, and then began perusing the pantry for her secret ingredient. Once she found it, she added a few tablespoons of the secret ingredient to her mug, and then poured in some milk, and took another sip.
"Ahh…much better".
She found some bread and made some toast. She usually had fresh fruit and scrambled eggs for breakfast, but they didn't have any fruit in the house.
She found some jelly and put that on her toast. She was just about to go sit at the table when Jonathan came into the kitchen.
"Good morning".
"Morning. Coffee is ready, and I made some toast".
"Thank you. How are you feeling?"
"Much better, thanks".
They were quiet for a few more moments, and then she looked at him.
"I surveyed the contents of the fridge, and started a list for groceries. I also found a list in the office of what is in the house and where it is."
"Great. We can go grocery shopping today if you'd like".
"I think we need to. There isn't much in the fridge".
She took her plate to the sink and cleaned up the kitchen a little.
"We should probably look through the house a little bit".
"Not a bad idea".
The house was 4 bedrooms, 3 ½ baths, with a two-car garage, a large eat-in kitchen with newer appliances, a dining room, a den and a living room. One of the bedrooms was already made up to be an office, and the other 2 besides the master bedroom were empty. The backyard was nice and big, as well, with a large covered patio with a porch swing on one end and a hot tub on the other end.
"Nice place".
"Yes, I agree".
She walked back inside and headed to the bedroom and started unpacking.
She had hung up most of her clothes and was starting on her shoes, when Jonathan walked into the room.
"I'm going to take a shower".
"Ok, I'll clear out and let you have the room".
"You don't have to do that, it's your room too".
She finished unpacking, and then went to the bathroom to put her hygiene items away.
She found a huge closet full of towels, and got him one and handed it to him.
"Thanks".
She finished unpacking in the bedroom while he was in the bathroom taking a shower.
When she heard the shower turn off, she left the room and went and finished making her list for what they would need for the house. She looked in the garage and found that they had a grill, and also that they had a second refrigerator and freezer out there as well. She looked at the car, and saw that it was a Jeep Grand Cherokee, older model. Looked reliable.
She went back in the house and saw Jonathan coming out towards the kitchen.
"I'm going to go shower now. It won't take me long. The list is on the counter if you want to add to it".
She was out of the shower and dressed in about 15 minutes, and ready to go about 10 minutes after that.
She had curled her hair a little, and was wearing some destructed jeans, a green sweater, and some taupe suede slides.
'She is so beautiful', he thought to himself.
"Ok, so it occurred to me in the shower that we have no clue where we are going."
"Yeah, I thought about that too. In the office, there is a list of directions on how to get places. This piece of paper says that Safeway is about 20 minutes away, and Trader Joe's is about 15 minutes away".
"Safeway is fine with me. We should probably meal plan before we go though".
"Meal plan?"
"Yes, plan out what we want to eat each day so that we know what groceries to get. The list I made was just for staples".
She got another piece of paper and started making a meal plan.
"what kinds of things do you like to eat?"
"I'm not too hard to please. I like most everything, except cooked vegetables."
"We can grill out if you'd like".
"We don't have a grill."
"Yes, we do. In the garage".
"Oh. Yeah, grilling out is fine".
He went and looked at the grill and saw that it turned on ok, and seemed to have a full tank of propane.
"Do you know how to cook?"
"Yes, I can make a few things. I can follow a recipe rather easily".
They figured out a few things that they both liked, and decided to just figure out the other days as they went along.
"We should probably go to a phone store and get one of those burner phones".
"Yes, good idea."
They gathered their things, and then headed to the car. Jonathan got the garage door open, and then got in the car. He handed Jennifer the directions, and she directed him to Safeway.
It took them about an hour to get everything. Jennifer grabbed one of their ads so that they would know what was on sale. They walked back to the car and loaded it together, and then drove home.
He carried all the groceries in, and she put them all away.
"Do you feel like going to a Target?"
"We can".
"If you don't want to, I can go alone".
"No, I don't think it's safe for you to go alone. I don't mind going".
"I'm not going to fall apart, Jonathan".
"I didn't say you would fall apart. I said I didn't think it was safe for you to go alone".
"Fine, whatever. Let's just go".
She grabbed her purse and they went and got in the car.
They got to Target, and grabbed a cart.
"What are we getting?"
"New pillows, new sheets, some bath stuff, a new mattress pad and whatever you want".
They started in the bed section first. She picked out the satin sheets, and opened them and let him feel them. They agreed on one set of cream and one set of green. Next was a new bedspread, at his request.
He picked out a dark blue one, and opened it.
"What are you doing?"
"Seeing how thick it is."
He wrapped it around himself.
"Nice. Here, come here and try it out".
She stepped forward, and he pulled her into a hug.
"Jonathan!"
"Hug me tight, so we can wrap it around both of us".
"I will not…you are trying to trick me".
She took the bedspread from him and wrapped it around herself.
"Feels fine to me".
She handed it back to him and went to the mattress pads.
"Do you want heated or not heated?"
"Heated".
She picked one and put it in the cart.
They headed to the bath stuff, and she picked up some of her bubble bath that she liked, and a few candles.
"Anything else you want?"
"We forgot pillows".
They headed back and picked out new pillows, and then went to the checkout.
They each carried two bags to the car, and put them in the backseat.
"Anywhere else you'd like to go?"
"I'm fine. We can go wherever you want to go".
They ran to the phone store, and they each selected a burner phone, and got some minutes for it.
When they got home, Jennifer took the bed stuff to the laundry room and washed the sheets and pillow cases.
She went and put the new mattress pad on the bed, and put the pillows on the bed.
She came back to find him watching TV in the den.
"Do you want steak or chicken for dinner?"
"Steak".
"Do you like yours marinated?"
"Sure".
She went and marinated the steaks and then came back and sat on the other end of the couch and started reading a book.
After about an hour, he moved closer to her.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Yes, you may".
"How long are you going to stay mad at me?"
"I'm not mad at you".
"Really? We never resolved our conversation from the plane, and if I recall correctly, we left it with you mad at me".
"I told you that I believe you when you say it meant nothing to you".
"Then why are you acting like you are still mad at me?"
"I'm not mad at you, Jonathan. I don't know what I am, but I'm not mad".
"Do you believe me that she was kissing me and I wasn't kissing her?"
"I'd like to. But, you didn't see what I saw".
"I swear to you, I wasn't kissing her. Maybe I should have pushed her off me or something, but it all happened so fast. I have no interest in her whatsoever. The only woman that I am interested in is you".
"Then why didn't you tell her to leave before the kiss?"
"I did. I was in the process of telling her to leave when she kissed me. And I was trying to keep her quiet because I thought you were asleep and I didn't want her to wake you up."
"That's sweet".
"It's the truth".
"I believe you. I'm sorry I doubted you".
"Thank you".
She got up and went and got the phones they had gotten and plugged them in to charge. She loaded her minutes onto her phone.
"We need to figure out tomorrow".
"what do you mean?"
"Well, you have to be at work at 8, and I have to be at work at 9. We both get off at 5. So, you can drop me off and then take the car and come back and get me if you want, or I can take a bus and you take the car".
"I don't want you to have to take a bus. What if I drop you off and then come pick you up?"
"I'm fine with that".
She got up and went and put the sheets in the dryer, and then started working on dinner.
She popped her head back into the living room.
"Do you want baked potatoes with dinner, or mashed potatoes?"
"Baked, I guess".
She got the potatoes in the oven, and then came back to the couch.
"We forgot to get firewood at the store".
"I will run get some when the game is over".
She got up and got a blanket, and covered herself with it.
"I guess since we are going to live together, we should figure out somethings about each other".
"Like what?"
"Like, what setting do you like on the thermostat?"
"I like it at 70 in the winter and 69 in the summer".
"I can live with that. I have to have a fan on me at night".
"Same here. And what about coffee? How do you like your coffee?"
"With some creamer in it, the sweeter the better".
"I think we can live together without too many issues".
"I hope so. There's only one bed".
"Jonathan!"
"I was kidding…I know you would never kick me out of the bed".
"Don't push it".
She went to lay down on the couch, and pulled the covers around her.
"Is the TV too loud?"
"It's fine. I just have a bit of a headache".
"Well, you are in luck, because I happen to have the perfect remedy".
He got up and went and got a bag of frozen vegetables and brought it back to her.
"Here, sit up."
She sat up.
"Now turn this way". He sat behind her.
"Put your head between your knees".
She did, and he placed a bag of frozen vegetables on the back of her neck.
"Ohhh that's cold".
"I'm sorry, let me get you a towel".
He got up and got her a towel, and put it under the bag of vegetables.
Then, he started rubbing her shoulders.
"That feels amazing".
"What part of your head is your headache in?"
"The top front, I think".
He found a specific pressure point, and rubbed it for a few minutes.
"Is this helping?"
"Yes, it is. How do you know how to do this?"
"Had an accident when I was in the navy and they sent me to a chiropractor. He told me about using pressure points to alleviate the pain".
She reached up and took the veggies off her neck, and sat up some.
"Thank you".
"Anytime".
She got up to go to the kitchen, but he grabbed her hand and pulled her back.
She fell back into his lap, and his lips crushed hers in a passionate kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back with as much fervor as he had kissed her. Both of them wanted this kiss to last as long as possible.
She broke the kiss when she heard the dryer go off.
"I have to go get that", she stammered. She ran out of the room as fast as she could.