Thanks for the replies. I'll definitely keep posting what I have already written. Whether I can motivate myself to continue writing after the show is gone I'll just have to wait and see. But thanks for your feedback anyhow.

The Decoy Plan

Marissa turned the corner into the street of the small café that Ryan had been brunching at just as he walked out on to the footpath with another guy in his early forties that Marissa assumed was Roger Anderson. She pulled over into a No Standing zone across the road and lightly touched the car horn to try to catch Ryan's attention. She knew that he wouldn't have been expecting to see her in a car … well at least not a bright red Mini Cooper. Maybe a cab or a limo would have been a possibility.

Ryan looked up as Marissa waved frantically at him. She was scared that he wouldn't realise that it was her but she needn't have worried. The huge smile that broke out onto his face proved that he had indeed realised that she was waiting for him. He waved back and then spoke quickly with the guy that he was with and then made his way to cross the road to her. Roger waved to Marissa and winked at her so she imagined that it was his way of saying that Ryan had taken the bait. She couldn't wait.

She quickly hopped out of the car and made her way to the passenger seat as he drew near. "You drive." She said as he hesitated momentarily and then slid in behind the steering wheel.

He leaned over and quickly kissed her. "So this is the surprise. Where are we off to?"

"You'll see. Just keep your fingers crossed that I don't get us lost." She replied.

"It's difficult to cross my fingers and drive at the same time." Ryan said.

"I'm sure that you're more than capable." She replied and then laughed huskily as a thought came to mind.

"What's that laugh all about?" Ryan asked. "It sounded kind of smutty." He smiled.

Marissa shook her head from side to side. "You'll think that I'm depraved or something."

"I doubt it. Try me?"

"I was just thinking that I've seen you driving into me while you fingers were otherwise employed and you never seemed to have any problems doing both things at once." She said meekly as she could feel the flush start to rise up her neck.

Ryan smiled. "When it comes to making love to you … I seem to be able to find previously undiscovered talents."

"Good." She replied softly. "I hope that you've still got a few of those left because you're going to need them." She remarked.

"This sounds interesting. So exactly where are we off to?" he asked as he pulled out into the line of traffic.

"Just go to the end of this road and turn right and merge onto the motorway heading south. And I'll give you instructions from there. I hope you had enough to eat because it will take us a few hours to get there."

"Is this a picnic or what?" Ryan asked. He imagined that it would be … but if it was going to take a few hours to get where ever they were going then it would be very late before they returned.

"No." Marissa shook her head. "Although we may have a picnic while we are there."

"Exactly where is 'there'?" Ryan asked "And whose car am I driving?" he asked, looking at the full CD stack and mints in the console. This was no hire car.

"As to where we are going … you'll have to wait and see. It's a surprise. Remember? As for the car … I borrowed it from Emma. It's ours for a whole 2 weeks so we can just take our time and properly enjoy our honeymoon. We don't have to have it back until we are due to return to LA. And I've organised some accommodation for us that is private. No prying eyes. We'll be able to do what ever we want." Marissa said dropping her voice so that Ryan couldn't help but know exactly what she was hinting at.

Ryan's face broke into a huge grin at her not so subtle hint. "This sounds interesting. I think that I like my surprise." Ryan said the smile on his face adding credence to his words. "What about clothes and things? Do we need to go home and pack first?" he asked.

"Nope. All here." Marissa replied indicating the two small bags on the back seat.

Ryan glanced at them. "That's it? For 2 weeks? For both of us?"

Marissa nodded.

"You normally have more than that just for your shoes." Ryan said laughing.

"Well maybe I'm not planning on wearing shoes." Marissa replied.

"What are you planning on wearing?" Ryan asked huskily.

"Not much at all." Marissa replied watching Ryan's Adam's apple move as he swallowed thickly. "Do you have any problems with that?" she asked.

"None at all." Ryan said as he could feel his body respond to the thoughts of them spending 2 weeks enjoying the pleasures of the flesh. Now this was what honeymoons were supposed to be like. Not what they'd been through the last few of days. His mind started to wander, as he imagined just what they might find to amuse themselves with for two whole weeks when all of a sudden he remembered. "Aw Shit!" Ryan said.

"What?" Marissa asked thinking that she knew only too well what was coming. But she had to pretend to be surprised.

"Shit. Shit. Shit." Ryan said.

"What?" Marissa asked … a little more urgently this time.

"Roger … the guy that I just met with … he wants me to have a look at a project in Venice for him. I knew that you loved Venice so I didn't think that it would be a problem. I sort of told him that we would meet him there next weekend. He has to go back to London today for a few days but he'll be in Venice from Friday until Monday so I said that we'd catch up with him then. I guess that I'd better call him and tell him that we can't make it after all."

Marissa used all her newly acquired acting skills as she looked at Ryan with disappointment on her face and sighed. "If he's an important client then you'd better not do that. Remember you have an unemployed wife to support now … so you'd better look after the clients you have. Plus you're right." She smiled. "I do like Venice. And I'd love to show you around it. I guess that we'll just have to have a short break in the middle of our honeymoon. We can go to Venice for the weekend and then come back and resume where we left off."

"You'd do that?" Ryan asked marvelling at the fact that she would be so considerate.

"Well Venice really isn't that hard to put up with." Marissa said smiling at him. "It mightn't be quite what I planned but then maybe I'll be getting bored with you by then anyhow." She said teasing him.

"Bored with me?" Ryan asked pretending to be offended.

"Uh huh. You know. A few days with just you and nobody else for miles ... I mean there's a good chance that I'll need some sort of outside stimulation after a few days of it … or should I say … you."

"I promise to give you all the stimulation that you can handle." Ryan replied. And then it was Marissa's turn to swallow thickly as she thought about all the things that that statement could imply. Ryan laughed as he watched the effect of his words on Marissa. "But if you don't mind us having the weekend in Venice then that would be great. I must admit to looking forward to going there. I studied a lot of their architecture during my course at college and I've always wanted to go and see the real thing."

"Well we can't have you miss out on the real thing." Marissa teased thinking only about their wedding. It would be the real thing this time.

"So it's settled?" Ryan asked. "A few days at your private retreat then Venice for the weekend and then back to the retreat to finish off what we started?"

Marissa nodded. "Although I'm not sure that where we are going could actually be called a private retreat. That sounds a little grandiose compared to what it really is. But I guess that it will do." She smiled.

---

A few hours later, thanks to James' list of directions, Ryan pulled the car onto a small dirt lane that lead to an old farmhouse set amongst some vineyards. They had pulled off the main road about 15 miles out of Lyon and the last signs that Ryan had noticed were for Beaujolais, but that was a while ago. Now … he had no idea where they were.

"This is it." Marissa announced proudly. She had been concerned for a while that they were lost. They hadn't seen another car for quite some time. Not since they'd driven through the small village a while back that she knew they would have to return to if they wanted fresh bread or milk.

As they got out of the car, Ryan smiled at her obvious excitement. The farmhouse was rustic and quaint but not at all what he'd been expecting. He'd imagined that Marissa would have wanted some pampering … some luxury.

But all she wanted … was him.