***Willow Pond***
Jennifer was surprised to see Jonathan's car home when she got home.
She parked behind him and came inside.
He was sitting at the piano, playing. She knew that meant he was worried.
She went and joined him on the bench.
"Hi".
He stopped playing and immediately wrapped his arms around her.
"Are you ok?"
"I think so".
"Are you mad at me?"
"I was in the beginning, but I'm not now".
"You still want to go to Egypt with me?"
She hesitated.
"Jonathan, I appreciate all the thought and effort that you put into this trip. I really and truly do. But the dream was very specific, that I had to do this alone."
He was quiet.
"I'm sorry, Jonathan. I just have to do this. I hope you understand".
"I don't understand. I don't. I thought the whole point of our lives was to do things together. I would never dream of doing something like this without you, regardless of what any dream says."
"Jonathan, look at it from my shoes. In my dream, there was a sign above the door that said "Single-Strong, Independent, noticeable, generous, loving, enlightened'. That tells me I need to do this alone".
"Do what you think you need to do".
He got up and grabbed his keys and left.
She went upstairs and packed, and cried as she did.
She came downstairs to make herself something to eat, and finally settled on toast and eggs.
She cleaned up the kitchen after she was done, and was just about to go back upstairs, when the intercom buzzed.
"Jennifer, it's me, can I come up?"
"Sure".
She opened the door. Marcy came in and didn't say anything, just gave her a long hug.
"What's going on?"
"Let's go sit on the couch".
Jennifer followed her.
"Jonathan came to the house to talk to Jake. I was trying not to listen, but I couldn't help it. Then, he saw me and asked me if maybe there was something going on that you didn't tell him about, like female stuff. He thinks that you are going to leave him when you get back from Egypt. The man is absolutely terrified".
"I can't believe he asked you that. I can't believe he didn't trust me".
"Jennifer, he does trust you. He is worried. He said he knows how women talk and he just wants to help in any way he can".
"What else did he say?"
"That he was going to stay at the beach house tonight so that you could rest and you guys wouldn't argue".
"I tried to tell him about the dream. He wouldn't listen".
"Tell me about the dream".
"When I was in the hospital, I had a dream. I was in a room, and it was a long room, and all white. Very peaceful. On one end of the room it said 'Follow your heart'. On the other end of the room, it said "Single-Strong, Independent, Noticeable, Generous, Loving, Enlightened'. On the left side of the room, there were all these pictures of me at different stages in my life. And on the right side of the room, there were pictures of the things that I have accomplished. There were empty frames for the things I said I wanted to do but haven't done. So, I feel like I should do these things. And I feel like since it said Single, I should do them alone. I tried to tell him that, but he got all hurt and left".
"Sweetie, was skydiving on the list?"
Jennifer nodded.
"And did he do that with you?"
She nodded. And then, a lightbulb went off. She started to cry harder.
"I messed up everything".
"No, you didn't. Just call him and tell him you want him to come home so you can talk to him".
"And say what? I can't very well beg him to go with me".
"Jennifer, he loves you. He's upset too. You won't have to beg".
"I have a better idea. You call him, and tell him that my flight is at 9 in the morning and if he wants to go to Egypt with me, to meet me at the airport. I will have his ticket, and I will pack his suitcase and leave it in my car at the airport".
"Ok, I will call him when I leave here".
Marcy stayed till Jennifer was calmed down again, and then she left.
On her way home, she called Jonathan and gave him the message, and reassured him that Jennifer wanted him to come, and she would be happy to see him.
"Thanks, Marcy".
He went to bed at the beach house, and set the alarm clock for 6 in the morning. That would give him plenty of time to meet her at the airport in time for their flight.
***Jennifer***
Jennifer locked up after Marcy left, and headed to bed. She packed his suitcase for him, and then put them both by the door. She climbed into bed, hoping he would come to the airport in the a.m.
***4:40 a.m.***
A car was driving down the beach road, all alone. The driver, fell asleep for a split second, and crashed into a pole, causing all of the electricity to go out in a 3 block radius. Jonathan's alarm clock went dead. The impact of the crash could be heard from the beach house, but Jonathan slept through it.
***Jennifer***
Jennifer got to the airport and checked her bag. She got through security and stopped and got a Starbucks.
She was sitting at the gate and resisting the urge to call Jonathan. She figured if what he had told Marcy was true, he would be there. She was trying to be more flexible, so she decided not to focus on what time he arrived, just that he arrived.
She tried to read but she kept looking down the aisle at people, looking for Jonathan.
She saw a man with a dozen roses, and smiled. And then it wasn't him.
Before she knew it, they were about to start boarding.
She pulled out her phone and texted Marcy.
"He didn't show. Thanks for trying".
Marcy sent back a sad face, and told her to have a nice trip anyways.
Jennifer boarded the flight, and got in her first class seat, and ordered a double vodka martini, straight up with a twist. It was going to be a long flight.
***Jonathan***
Jonathan woke up when the power came back on at 9. He called the phone company to get the time.
"At the tone, the current time will be 9:03 a.m.".
His heart sank.
He frantically called the airlines and asked them for the next flight out to Cairo.
"We have one that will leave tonight at 8, and you will get there tomorrow at 5 p.m.".
"I'll take it. As close to first class as you can get, please".
"Done".
"Thank you".
He hung up and sighed.
He hoped she would understand.
***Egypt***
Jennifer's plane landed late that night, and she took the car service to her hotel.
Jonathan had gotten them a beautiful suite at the Four Seasons.
"So much for romance", she muttered, as she entered the room.
She took a hot shower, and then went to bed.
***The next day***
She got up around 8, and ordered breakfast. After she was done, she got ready and headed out to go sightseeing.
She went to the Pyramids that were the farthest out, since the weather was the nicest. She took tons of pictures and then went to the museum that was located on the grounds of the pyramids.
She walked through the museum at a snail's pace, taking it all in.
She was documenting everything, as she had a story in mind that she wanted to do.
She was so excited after it was over to go back to the hotel and put her thoughts down on paper.
She stopped and had a late afternoon meal at a cute little Egyptian restaurant just down from the hotel. It was the traditional 9 courses, and by the end of it, she was stuffed.
She was just about to get up and head back to her hotel, when everyone at the next table started clapping.
The couple sitting at the table, looked to be American, young, probably in their late 20's.
The man was on one knee, and had an engagement ring in his hand. She was nodding and holding her hand out.
Jennifer smiled for them, and then headed back to the hotel.
She was nearly in tears but she choked them back and chose not to think about Jonathan.
She went to her room when she got back, and decided to take a bubble bath.
She settled into the tub for a nice, long soak.
After about an hour, she emerged, and put on her pajamas, and decided to do some writing.
She was lost in thought and looked down at her paper, and saw that she had only written one name. Jonathan.
She put the legal pad away, and decided to just go to bed.
She had just turned out the light when there was a knock at the door.
She got up and answered it, and opened the door to find Jonathan standing there with a bunch of fake flowers.
"Can I come in?"
She nodded and let him in.
He came in and set his suitcase down.
"I wanted to get you real ones, but this is the desert, so this was all I could find".
"Thank you".
"Did you have a great first day?"
She nodded.
"I tried to get here as soon as I could. Have you eaten?"
"Yes, I have".
"Well, I am starved. I am going to order room service. Do you want anything?"
"No, I don't". She went and washed her face and then came back to the bedroom.
He was sitting on the bed waiting for her.
"Jonathan, I'm sorry. I promise I am going to stop thinking about the dream. I don't know what is wrong with me, but I promise, it isn't you".
"It's alright. And I'm sorry I missed our flight".
"You missed our flight?"
"Yeah, the power at the beach house went out sometime in the night. I didn't wake up till 9".
She had a relieved look on her face.
"I thought you didn't want to come. I thought you skipped our flight".
"Not at all."
"And to think I almost called you from the airport".
"I wouldn't have made it on time if you had. This isn't your fault".
She nodded.
"I'm glad you are here".
"Me too".
She grabbed the camera and showed him the pictures she had taken that day at the Pyramids.
"These are the Pepi pyramids. There are two sets. Plus, a museum at the location of the second set. They were so beautiful and intricate and yet so simple at the same time".
His room service arrived then, and he let them in.
"What did you order?"
"The number 3 combo. A fried chicken sandwich, some stuffed vine leaves, and 2 traditional Egyptian dishes, taboulleh and something called Cold Mezzah. Plus, a bottle of champagne and some bottles of water, and sliced toasted pitas on the side".
"You are going to eat all that?"
"I am going to try all that".
"Fair enough".
He quickly changed into his pajamas, and then came back to the bed to eat.
She sat with him while he ate.
"Wanna try a stuffed vine leaf?"
"Sure".
She tried one, and ended up liking the whole thing.
"That's really good. I taste rice, lemon, tomato, parsley, and olive oil".
"Try this. It's Taboulleh".
She liked that too.
He wasn't a fan of the Cold Mezzah, but she loved it, so she ate the whole thing.
"So, what did you like best out of all of this?"
"Probably the stuffed vine leaves. What about you?"
"I liked everything but the Mezzah. But I liked the fried chicken sandwich and fries the best".
"Imagine that".
He poured them some champagne, and handed her a glass.
"Thank you".
He moved the cart into the hall, and then came back and joined her in bed.
"Darling, what do you say we start this vacation over, and just forget yesterday entirely?"
"I'll drink to that".
They clinked glasses, kissed a few times, and then took a sip.
They both spit the champagne back into the glass.
"Ugh! This is disgusting!"
"That has to be the nastiest champagne I have ever had".
Jonathan got up and got them water bottles instead.
Jennifer guzzled hers in an attempt to get the taste out of her mouth.
Jonathan called and ordered some more pitas and stuffed vine leaves and water.
He laid back on the bed next to her.
"Well, so much for getting tipsy with you tonight".
"Are you tired?"
"A little. I walked a good bit today. But I took a bath when I got back here, so I'm alright".
"How was the flight?"
"It was fine. How was yours?"
"Fine. Our returning flight will be better".
"I hope so".
Their new room service order arrived, and he explained that the champagne wasn't the same as in the US.
He tipped the guy and the brought the cart back in, and gave Jennifer the stuffed vine leaves, and then brought the pitas and water over as well.
They shared everything, and then decided to head to bed.
She pulled the covers back and they slipped under them.
She reached up and turned out the light, and then snuggled onto his chest.
"I missed you".
He kissed her forehead.
He rolled them so that she was on her back, and started kissing her neck.
She unbuttoned his pajama top, and ran her hands up and down his back.
He lifted the nightgown up and over her head, and tossed it on the floor.
She lifted her feet up and used them to get his pajama pants off, while his mouth found hers in a frenzied state of passion.
He moved lower to her breasts, and sucked on them while she ran her fingers through his hair.
He moved back up to plant some kisses on her jawbone and nibble on her earlobe again.
"Now honey…"
He sank himself inside her, joining their bodies together. She brought her legs up around his waist, and they rocked their hips together, while he kissed her.
She reached down and pulled his hips closer to her, and tightened around him, and they went over the edge together.
It was hot, passionate, intense, and romantic.
He pulled out of her and rolled her till she was laying on his chest again.
"Happy vacation to us".
"Happy vacation indeed".
A few minutes later, they were both asleep.
***4 days later***
Jennifer and Jonathan had one more day in Egypt, before they were going back home.
They had seen all of the pyramids that she wanted to see, and had gone to all the ruins sites as well, and all of the museums.
She had really enjoyed their trip, but she was also ready to get home.
They were in their hotel room, and she was taking a long bath because her calves were killing her.
Jonathan was taking a nap.
She got out of the bathtub and came into the bedroom.
He was lying diagonally on the bed, on top of her pajamas.
She grabbed the pillow and threw it at the end of the bed and laid on it and fell asleep with him.
He woke up about an hour later, and decided to give her a massage.
She woke up to him massaging her back with massage oil.
"Have a nice nap?"
"Yeah, did you?"
"Yeah, I did".
"Darling, what do you say next weekend, we go back to the cabin?"
"Sure. We can take some of the meat with us, and have a quiet weekend, just you and me".
"Great. I will take off Friday, and we can drive up Thursday night".
"Perfect".
After about an hour of massaging her, they snuggled up together and fell asleep.
Jennifer dreamed of snow all night long.