FOUR

He had done it. Jerry had figured out the perfect place to take Elaine. Driving down the street to her apartment, he couldn't believe how genius the whole thing was. She was going to love this!

He parked the car a surprising block away from her building and glided across the sidewalk to the door. He hoped she was home. He couldn't possibly tell her this over the phone. Once again, his genius even amazed him.

Jerry buzzed up, willing the speaker to crackle to life. Thankfully, it did.

"Yes?" Elaine's voice said, sounding tinny from the old hardware.

"It's me," Jerry said.

"Oh…Jer…hi. Come on up…" It was strange to her to be buzzing him up to her apartment instead of him buzzing her up to his own, but she did anyway and cracked the door open to wait for him. Within seconds he was there.

"Lainey, my dear girl, I do believe you are going to love me in a few seconds…"

Elaine turned to him from the counter and gave him a questioning look. If only he knew how much she already did love him…

"What did you do?" She asked, walking over to him and crossing her arms.

"Oh, Elaine…I don't know if you can take this. You might want to sit down, dear."

She smiled and sat on the couch. "Come on, Jerry…tell me!"

"Well…" He was trying to draw this out as long as possible. "I think you'll be thanking me profusely for this one…"

"Jerry!" She yelled, getting up and laughing. "Tell me already!"

"Ms. Benes," he paused, eliciting a groan from her. "You and I are going for an all-expense paid weekend trip to Chicago to see the hit Broadway show Cats."

She stood frozen in front of him, her mouth and eyes opened wide in an attempt to understand what he had just said.

"Get. Out!" She screamed, shoving him back with both hands in a full-strength push. Jerry laughed as she almost tackled him again in a hug.

"How did you do it?" Elaine asked, dropping herself from his embrace. She knew those tickets were impossible to get.

"Well…that show last month was the last the cast was doing in New York. They are now performing in Chicago, and when I found that out, I got tickets way in advance before anyone else could nab them before me."

"You're a genius, Jerry Seinfeld, an absolute genius," Elaine said, ecstatic. Jerry recalled saying something very similar to himself on the drive over.

"Well, I do try," he smiled. When she hugged him again, this time gently, he couldn't help but hold her tighter. When the length of their embrace became awkward, he forced himself to let go of her.

Looking back up at him, Elaine said, "When do we leave? And who else is coming?"

"Well, it's just you and me, first of all…these tickets were hard to find," and he wanted her to himself for once without a nagging George and distracting Kramer. "And what day is it?"

"Um, Thursday," Elaine answered, looking at the calendar on her refrigerator.

"Then, tomorrow."

"We leave tomorrow!" Elaine exclaimed happily. "You don't waste time, do you?"

"Nope…only the best," he answered. "I take it that I did good?"

"Very good."

"Great."

……………………….

"I still cannot believe that you got these tickets," Elaine said as she leaned back in the seat of the plane. "I mean, I can't thank you enough, Jerry…This was so sweet."

Jerry turned to look at her, smiling at her angelic features shining back at him. It felt good to have done something right, for her especially. It took all the strength he had to not kiss her right then and there. Her hair was falling down her shoulders in straight strands, so much different than the usual frizz she had had for the past years. She usually pulled it up in some sort of bun, but today she let it loose, and he loved that.

"How did you keep Kramer away, too? I was expecting a trip for the four of us when you told me you got tickets." She glanced out the window at the blue sky and clouds wafting by. "This is nice," she added. "Just the two of us…" Just like it used to be when we were a couple. Well, without the fighting…

"Yeah," Jerry answered. "We're only on the plane and already you're enjoying it. That's good." He smiled.

Elaine sighed as he winked at her. No matter what she had promised herself, she couldn't stop thinking about him. It was even worse now. It seemed that every day more and more of him was engrained in her mind.

"Passengers, please fasten your seatbelts. We are about to land in Chicago," a voice said from a piped in intercom.

……………………………

As Elaine rolled her suitcase into the hotel's lobby, she smiled in admiration at the classy place Jerry had chosen to stay at.

"Welcome to The Drake, sir," said the concierge. "Will you and your wife need a dolly?"

Jerry shook his head politely, "No thank you…I think we'll manage." He didn't correct the man's usage of the word wife.

Elaine noticed it, too. As Jerry checked in and led her to the elevators, she wondered what he was even thinking by not correcting the man. Usually he would've, unless of course there was some bonus for him if she pretended to be his wife. She really didn't mind pretending, either. In fact, she'd be fine with simply being the pretend girlfriend.

"Jerry…you have really outdone yourself."

"Wait 'till you see where we're staying," he stated, smiling over at her, green-blue eyes especially bright.

He hit the button for the floor they were staying on and escorted her to the far end of a hall.

"Jerry…Don't tell me we're staying in a suite," Elaine stated, awe in her voice. Though she had a good job and a pretty good income, she rarely spent time in fancy hotel rooms…especially not suites.

"Why, Ms. Benes, do you not want to?" He asked jokingly.

"We are! Jerry…" Her voice trailed off as she looked at him with wide eyes and shook her head. What was this all about?

"We are in fact staying in the Gold Coast Suite…" He led her to the far door, slid the key card into the slot, and grandly opened to door.

"Wow…" Elaine said, walking into the suite. The view from the many windows was great and the furniture and floors were spotlessly clean. Newspapers were fanned out across the living room's coffee table. Turning around, her mouth was still wide open.

"Do you like it?" He asked, already knowing the answer from the ecstatic look etched on her face.

"Do I like it?" Elaine said, walking towards him. When she threw her arms around him, she whispered, "This has got to be the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me."

"I'm glad you like it," he answered, voice low. Then, for the first time in a long time, he pulled her to him fully and wrapped his arms around her tiny waist.

The sudden squeeze Jerry had given her caused Elaine to jump slightly. But it seemed…right. She fit perfectly into his body, and when she eased against him, he thought he might not be able to let go. The smell of her, a mix of lilac and vanilla, was driving him mad.

When Elaine finally let her arms slide away, she smiled up at him almost knowingly. Coughing, Jerry placed his hand on the small of her back and said, "How about we see the rest?"

"Alright…"

They both walked through the thresh hold and into the bedroom, where Jerry felt a slight pang in his stomach. Elaine noticed the troubled look on his face and asked what was wrong.

"Uh…hold on…" He opened several doors in the room, which opened to be closets and a very nice bathroom that George would surely love. Shoot…

"What's wrong, Jer?" She repeated.

"Well, when I called for reservations they said that this suite had two bedrooms…or at least two beds…I think there's only…one."

Elaine's heart did a little flop in her chest. She knew this meant nothing, really, but just the thought of sharing a bed with Jerry made her head spin. Was this what true love felt like?

"Oh," she murmured with a small voice. "Well…uh…I can sleep on the couch…"

"There is no way I'm letting you sleep on the couch. This is your trip. I'll stay on the couch."

"Well I'm not going to let you stay on the couch either! You paid for all this, you did all this for me…you don't deserve a hard couch!"

They stood for several moments staring at each other, the implications finally coming together.

"Well, I guess we could…share…the bed…" He said, head spinning just as much as hers.

"I can sleep on one side, you on the other…it's a big bed…" She muttered, full well knowing that what she really wanted was to use as little space on that bed as possible and curl up with him.

"Yeah…no problem," Jerry answered. Yeah, no problem…

…………………………..

Their show was that night, and throughout it all Jerry could really think about was their situation with the room. Inside he was half cursing and half thanking the hotel staff for being wrong when they told him the suite had two beds.

Elaine clearly enjoyed the show, and as they both strolled down a Chicago street together after it, he was glad that she was happy. His next problem would be dealing with Kramer once he got home…the man would want a full explanation of why he wasn't invited along for the ride.

Walking side by side, Elaine stopped abruptly to stare out at the waterways in front of them. This city was so different from New York, and yet she felt oddly at home.

"Pretty, isn't it?" Jerry said, staring out through the buildings. A train car flew by in front of them, blowing back Elaine's dark hair. She tucked her coat tighter around her and smiled, nodding.

You don't even know beautiful you look right now…

That's what he wanted to say, but what he ended up stating was, "Interesting architecture."

Once again, she nodded, oddly quiet. With that, they turned and began heading back to the hotel.