A/N: Currently writing three new stories, the last thing I needed was a new idea, but well. This is a loosely-connected collection of oneshots that can be seen as standalones and will see irregular updates. Basically whenever an idea strikes me, I write it :) Nothing big will happen, they are angst-free, action-free, drama-free and have a more domestic and fluffy-feeling to them. Strangely enough this part actually also has very little dialogue... Not sure about the rating. It might change in the future, or it might now. It depends on ideas I come up with. At the moment I have ideas for three more parts. Feel free to make suggestions, if you like :)
It started about a year ago, when both Carlos and I seemed to spend all our time at work, and less and less time with each other, enjoying the company. After months of continuously working ourselves into the ground, Carlos had decided we needed to get away for the weekend. He hadn't told me about his plan though, or the fact that he wanted to plan something and do get away.
So, I found myself on the outskirts of Trenton one grey, cold and rainy Friday morning, not entirely sure what I was doing there and just knowing he had asked me to meet him at this rather remote airstrip. It was a bit odd to be honest, but I had learned to not question situations and just go with the flow. About an hour later, I found myself seated on one of RangeMan's Privat jets and whisked away by my boyfriend, destination unknown. Five hours after that, we touched down on a small, remote and rather secluded island in the Caribbean.
Since I hadn't known what to expect - or what would happen - I hadn't packed. Not that this mattered to my man, since he had taken care of the packing and I assumed my wardrobe for the next few days would consist of only a few items and these items were probably not made up of a lot of cloth.
Carlos had booked us into a small hotel that offered only a handful of rooms, breathtaking ocean views and a private beach for its guests. When we checked in, we were told to be the only guests that weekend. Perfect. No one to actually bother us. Not that other guests equaled someone bothering us, but...well, I really was ready for some time all by myself that I only had to spend with my guy and no people around us that involved you in polite and unnecessary small talk.
"This is perfect," I announced to no one in particular and kept walking along the beach, figuring Carlos was hot on my heels. I watched the waves slowly crashing and cascading over the sand, removing prints that were left by animals, seashells or previous waves. It had a calming and grounding effect and I realized that this was the first time in weeks, if not even months, that I had time for something banal and unproductive like watching waves and walking along the beach, enjoying the feeling if soft and warm sand underneath my feet and between my toes.
It wasn't as if I had been surprised about the workload at RangeMan. No, I had seen how busy Ranger was for years and had always wondered how he had managed to actually squeeze me and my mayhem somehow in there. Especially now, when my day rivaled his in regards to meetings and paperwork and general tasks I needed to accomplish. My to-do lists over the past few months had seemed endless and like nothing ever got accomplished. But truth was, I got shit done, but things just kept getting added to my list, making it seem endless and like it wasn't moving anywhere. Ever since I had started working for RangeMan things seemed to have moved just one direction and that was up. As well into workaholic-territory.
So a break from all of it was more than welcome and a nice surprise. Especially if it included only the two of us and a beach.
Saturday we spent most of the day in bed, because… well, it was an amazing bed and our room had Seaview right from the bed. Not that the Seaview actually was the reason for staying in bed, nope that had actually been Carlos's fault and the fact that after dinner the previous night he had more or less pounced on me.
As mentioned before, both of us had been incredibly busy the past few months and most times were separated by several times zones or at least a few good hundred miles. The occasions where we were in the same city, we had so much work to do, we had simply been too tired for anything sexual. And okay, maybe the tired one had been me, since it seemed not even a zombie-like state would keep Carlos away from sex. That's men for you. Or maybe it was just my man who was wired like that…
So, after spending most of the night unintentionally timing our moves with the crashing of the waves outside, I decided I was too tired to move anywhere outside our room. Maybe the balcony was still okay, that was it in regards to distance I'd be willing to go for most of that day.
He did talk me however into dinner later that night. Or maybe that was just his suggestion and the convincing was taking care of by my grumbling stomach. After dinner he surprised me by not making our way back to the hotel, but further into town, ending at a place where he'd take me dancing the night away. Literal. I think we left when the sun came up, sweaty and happy, with a good buzz going on and a little tipsy. My feet hurt like hell, seeing as I had only planed on dinner and therefore worn heels which weren't the best of ideas when it came to dancing.
It had been an interesting place, built in a rather secluded street and more or less next to the water, with dancing on a proper dance floor as well as the beach if you liked. So about an hour after arriving I had slipped my heels off, thrown them in some corner and dragged Carlos out to the beach, where my feet found relieve and we could do the same dancing and working up a pretty nice sweat as inside. Leaving hours later, I was surprised to find my shoes still around, having expected for them to find new owners or simply being discarded by someone who assumed that the owner had long left.
Carlos had wanted to hail a cab for the way back to the hotel, but seeing how they were rather sparse and I liked the coolish morning air, I talked him into walking back.
"You do realize that it is at least a walk of half an hour, don't you?" Carlos asked amused and I had to admit that I hadn't known. But well.
"I know now, but it is nice and the sun is coming up," I smiled and grabbed his hand, pulling him softly after me and hoping my directions were correct. Since he didn't correct the way I headed I figured I was spot on.
We made a quick stop at a vendor who sold fresh coconuts, surprised he was still open, but I figured it was probably one of these never really closed-things, and continued a few moments later into the sunrise towards our hotel.
We made it to our hotel when the sun had managed to rise above the horizon and went to bed for a few hours, starting Sunday a little later and with brunch downtown. Afterwards we explored the oldtown as well as every nook and cranny, staying away from the main road, seeing as that was mentioned in every guide book and staff at our hotel had indicated similar suggestions.
It was a nice change seeing Carlos so relaxed as he had been the past few days, seeming to be able to let go from all the stress in chaos which was without a doubt waiting for us back in Trenton and just enjoy the moment down here.
Instead of dinner at a restaurant we actually decided we'd just get something from one of the many street vendors, taking our purchases down to the beach and eating by the ocean. I'm not sure where Carlos had managed to get the bottle of wine from which he presented me with, as well as paper cups, but it was perfect. Maybe not fancy, but fancy wasn't something he or me were in need for. Though, I did know that when it came to me, Carlos liked to go a little overboard and nothing ever seemed good enough.
"Can we just stay here?" I asked jokingly, enjoying the last night to the fullest.
"Just say the words, Babe," Carlos replied with a smile and a certain seriousness that told me that he really would somehow make this happen.
"As nice as this trip had been, you and me both know that we would get bored within a week, if not even sooner. But maybe we should come back here at some point."
"As often as you like," Carlos just said agreeingly.
We finished the bottle of wine over the course of an hour, collected all our trash and discarded everything, making our way slowly back to the hotel, on foot once more. The distances here weren't that far and it was once more a nice night, making it less like a chore, but rather a nice activity.
After the great weekend, Monday seemed a little moody weatherwise. While we had enjoyed plenty of sun over the past few days, the sky was rather grey on Monday. It wasn't cold, but not particularly warm either. The forecast apparently was rain for the next few days. Looked like had picked the perfect time for our weekend.
The jet was waiting already when we made our way to the airfield and I had to admit I wasn't even sure whether he had been parked here the entire weekend, or whether they had flown back and just returned.
Carlos picked our backs from the trunk and brought them on to the jet, exchanging a few pleasant words with the pilot as well as the air hostess that was mandatory. It wasn't like she did an awful lot to be honest, but someone once explained to me she needed to be on in order to comply with FAA regulations. She did however whip up a great coffee and did a stellar job with the food.
If my job ever annoyed me enough, I figured I'd ask Carlos about switching careers and picking up the job of our hostess. It would mean I'd get a uniform and my work was probably rather limited since the jet wasn't constantly in use. Speaking of uniform, I was almost certain that this would be pretty much the only argument Carlos would need in regards to be being convinced. Watching her, I realized that the uniform had a decent length and wasn't ugly per se, but I had seen prettier ones, meaning if I ever really thought that could be a job for me, I'd need to change the uniform into something a little more flattering. And maybe shorter, seeing how Carlos had a thing for legs, long ones in particular. Good thing I was equipped with spectacular ones – his words, not mine. But for now, there was no need for a change, especially since I wasn't dumb enough to suggest improvements that could technically entice my man. Not that I actually worried about his faithfulness. Nope, but you didn't need to temp him either, did you?
I had just finished my thought, when a coffee was put in front of me, pulling my thoughts away from her, the uniform and jobs I most likely would never have anyway.
"We should do this more often," I suggested a few moments after takeoff and saw him just smile at me. And that's how our regular weekend getaways were born. We'd take turns in regards to ideas and who'd arrange for the next trip, but between the two of us, we managed to cover quiet a bit of ground and had a very nice variety off trips.