Ch12 - A Quiet Dinner

After what seemed like a difficult day, Oliver and I were having dinner at my house. As we waited for it to arrive, we made light conversation; there was still some tension in the air.

I knew deep down that we both needed to unwind, and I knew that we were in no fit state to go to a restaurant tonight, so having dinner at my house tonight seemed like the better option.

I know that we had settled everything in the DLO before coming here, however I just felt a little bit awkward.

Don't get me wrong, I love Oliver and I know he didn't mean to lose his temper, it just so happened that the two of us were having an off day.

We are only human after all, and it hasn't been an easy day for either of us. We were sitting on the couch, Oliver had his arm around me; I was sitting comfortably tucked into his side.

I could feel his chest rise and fall, with every breath he took; it was soothing.

I still felt bad that I caused Oliver to lose his temper; I mean all I did was suggest that I finish up with the letters, because I knew that it was affecting him.

I knew that it would be best I apologised, I felt entirely responsible for what happened at work. If I had been paying attention, I should have filtered out the damaged envelopes with the torn stamps.

I sighed softly and then I turned to face him and then I spoke.

"Oliver I'm sorry, I haven't been thinking straight all day; I didn't mean to imply that you couldn't do your job when it came to the torn stamps on the damaged envelopes"

He looked at me and he smiled. He lifted my left hand and he ran his thumb over my engagement ring.

"Shane, please don't think that any of this is your fault, you have a lot to deal with regarding your sister. I know now that you were trying to make things a little bit easier for me. I should not have lost my temper, I must apologise again for raising my voice; please forgive my love, I promise that I will never do that again"

I was about to speak again when my doorbell rang, I got up to open it; our dinner had arrived, I paid the delivery guy.

I thanked him, and then I made my way into the kitchen; Oliver came into the kitchen and helped me set the table, I poured some wine into the two glasses that were on the table.

Oliver pulled my chair out for me, and he waited until I was seated; he then sat in the chair facing mine. Oliver said grace, we clinked our glasses and Oliver smiled at me.

We had dinner, and while we ate our food we made light conversation; we talked about what awaited us in the DLO tomorrow, and we came up with a strategy on how to deal with each box.

I looked at Oliver, I then tried to look serious and tried to sound serious when I spoke.

"I just hope there's no more old cameras or coconuts in any of those boxes"

He chuckled, he looked at me; and with a similar serious tone, however I could also hear the humour in his voice as he spoke.

"I do hope that doesn't happen again, as it took us a while to solve that particular case because of the coconut with the hole in it, and unfortunately we do not have the recreational vehicle to take us on another journey"

My thoughts flashed back to that time, I laughed softly remembering the journey we went on to find that young boy.

"It was rewarding at the end, don't you agree?"

He nodded agreeing with my statement. We finished our dinner, we topped up our wine glasses and then we made our way into the living room.

We sat down on the couch, we then turned to face face each other; he lifted my left hand kissed my engagement ring. I could feel my heart flutter, I placed my hand on the back of his head; we then kissed.

It was unlike any other kiss we have shared, this one felt loving, forgiving, understanding and it was reassuring too.

We pulled away when it seemed to get to much for us, Oliver took my hand again and held it against his chest.

We spent the rest of the evening talking, laughing, occasionally kissing, and we did typical engaged couple things, and we drank our wine in between soft kisses and holding hands.

It was nice to spend uninterrupted time together, the DLO isn't exactly good for privacy; and we are always busy cleaning the DLO and then sorting through the amount of dead letters we get from time to time.

Oliver turned to face the tv, he lifted his arm and I cuddled into his side. We sat like that for a while, Oliver kissed the top of my head, he then got up.

I looked at the clock on my wall, I noticed that Oliver was looking at it too. It was 10pm, we must have lost track of time. He looked at me and he smiled, before he spoke.

"Sorry my love, it's late; I will see you tomorrow, sleep well my Shane"

I nodded, I walked with Oliver to the door; I then walked outside with him, he stopped at the steps and he then turned back to face me; we kissed again, and it was one of those take your breath away kisses.

It took me a minute or two to get my brain to function again, once I regained the ability to speak. I smiled.

"Goodnight Oliver, have a safe journey home; I'll see you tomorrow at work"

I waited until he was in his car, and as he drove off. As soon as he was out of sight I went back inside and got ready for bed.

Tomorrow is going to be a long day...

TBC