A/N Thanks for your reviews and encouragement and for reading. :-)
"Welcome to the Plaza Hotel, Mr. and Mrs. Reardon," the well dressed desk agent said greeting Jamie and Eddie. "How long will you be staying with us?"
Jamie reached in to the breast pocket of his sport coat pulling out a wallet and the department issued credit card. "Three days."
Eddie leaned forward adding her two cents. "..and nights," she said smiling at the clerk with wide eyes and a mischief smile. The hotel lobby bustled with people and activity as late morning was turning in to noon.
"Oh, how wonderful," the desk agent perked up, "is this your honeymoon?"
"Funny you should ask…" Eddie started.
"No." Jaime cut her off. "No, no. Not a honeymoon. We've been married for over two years."
"A babymoon?" The clerk said with a smile as he swiped the card.
Jamie wrinkled his brows in confusion. "A what?" He had no idea what a 'babymoon' was and didn't want to. "No, no…we're here for the Marriage Reflections seminar with Dr. Green."
Eddie slid her arm through Jamie's and smiled again at the desk agent. "But this is sort of a second honeymoon."
Jamie tried to clarify the comment. "Not really, honey, we already had…"
The clerk beamed. "Oh, second honeymoons are so romantic, and we celebrate them all here at the Plaza, and we'll do our very best to make yours just as special."
Jamie spoke up again. "But we're not on a honeymoon…"
The clerk reached around to a basket of long stem pale pink roses and handed one to Eddie. "A rose for the bride is a tradition at the Plaza."
"Thank you!" She said earnestly, taking the flower by its long stem and touching it under her nose and breathing in its sweet fragrance
He knew pink roses were her favorite flower but was trying to stay focused on the case. He whispered to her under his breath. "But we're not on a…"
She tapped the rose bud to the end of his nose, shutting him up and prompting a much needed smile.
~~00~~00~~
Stepping off the elevator in the sixth floor, they followed a uniformed bellman to their room, where he slid a key in to the door, opened it and then offered the key to Jamie. "After you, sir."
Jamie gave him a friendly grin, and motioned for Eddie to go first. Instead, she stood there looking at him with an expectant expression and a smile on her face. He motioned with his hand toward the door again. "After you, sweetheart." He waited and when she continued to stand in the same spot he felt confused. "Everything ok?"
"Aren't you going to carry my over the threshold?"
Jamie gave her a look and glanced pleasantly back at the bellman, and then back at her. "I did carry you over the threshold when we were actually on our honeymoon two and half years ago." He toyed with the key in his hand, standing his ground.
"But this is like a second honeymoon, isn't it?" She batted her eyes at him.
"C'mon sweetie, you know we did all of that on our actual honeymoon." He looked over at the bellman again who was now hastily organizing their luggage in the room.
Eddie exhaled and walked passed him. "Spoil sport," she muttered teasingly under her breath.
The room was a large bright corner room which had a sitting area with a large sofa and overstuffed chairs. A separate bedroom was furnished with a king sized bed and a vanity desk and chair. Large sunny windows were on each wall, overlooking Central Park. The department clearly arranged it so they could have separate rooms, but it was luxurious nonetheless. After tipping the attendant, Jamie closed the door behind him and decided he needed to square things away with Eddie. "Okay, Janko, we need to reset the ground rules for this UC. We are not honeymooners. We're just a regular old, run of the mill couple who is attending this marriage seminar. "
She talked as she found a tall glass which she poured water in to and then used as a vase for her long stem rose. "What's wrong with being on a second honeymoon?" She set the flower and makeshift vase on an end table.
"Nothing. But we're here to stay focused on Eric Green and keep the PDA down to a minimum."
"So I guess slipping my arm through yours at the front desk was excessive public display of affection? Sorry. My bad." She said sarcastically. "You need to chill out, Reagan. Were posing as a married couple, remember?"
There was a soft knock on the door and Jamie opened it. A waiter with a silver ice bucket and a bottle of champagne greeted him. "Good afternoon, Mr. Reardon. On behalf of the Plaza we'd like to offer you and Mrs. Reardon a bottle of champagne as you celebrate your honeymoon."
Jamie sighed but politely waved him in. The waiter discretely set the champagne bucket and two glasses on the coffee table, and then just as discretely made his exit, closing the door behind him. Eddie was tickled. "Hey, champagne!"
"No time." He looked at his watch. "The conference starts in thirty minutes. We better head down."
After brushing her hair and applying a light pink lip gloss, Eddie followed him out the door and in to the corridor and toward the elevator. "We could at least hold hands, Jamie. Or is that a PDA violation, too?"
He knew she was right, but he also knew being cooped up together in a room at the Plaza was going to have its temptations…or was it consequences? "I guess that's something that Brad does with you all the time? Hold hands?"
"His name is Bob, which you know, and…," she exhaled, "he's not exactly the hand holding, kissing type."
"What does that mean?" He asked, pressing the elevator button.
"Let's just say he's more of a main event guy and not in to the little romantic trivial things in life."
"Trivial?" Her remark bothered him, conjuring images in his mind that made him uncomfortable. Jamie had never met Bob, but now his dislike was turning in to hatred. He held his hand out. Eddie looked down at it and gently slid her hand in to his, and he wrapped his fingers around hers. Her hand was small and soft, but strong and warm—just like the woman it was attached to. He squeezed her hand gently. "Ready, shorty?" His voice was tinged with humor and affection.
"Let's do it."
~~00~~00~~
After signing in at the registration table, Eddie saw Eric Green standing just outside the entrance to the conference suite. He still resembled the young man he was in high school, tall and angular with short dark hair and piercing blue eyes. He wore an expensive suit and a professional presence. She squeezed Jamie's hand. "Hey," she whispered, "that's him."
Jamie guessed Eric to be about six feet tall and thought he looked like a well-dressed college professor. "Ok, you're up."
Eddie suddenly piped up as she walked over to toward the door. "Oh, my God, Eric! Is that you?" She smiled as she approached him.
Eric stood greeting conference participants when he turned to see who was calling his name. He immediately recognized her. "Eddie Janko?" He beamed and held a hand out to her.
"Oh, enough with the formalities," she said giving him a hug, her four foot frame dwarfed by his height. "I had no idea you were teaching this seminar!"
He laughed, clearly enjoying their reunion. "I changed my name from Greenway to Green about five years ago because I have a colleague with a similar last name and people kept confusing us." He looked at her to size her up. "I can't believe it's you! You're as beautiful as ever!"
"That's sweet of you, Eric. I changed my last name, too. I want you to meet my husband." She reached over and tugged on Jamie's hand. "This is my better half, Jamie Reardon."
Jamie smiled and shook Eric's hand. "So, you and Eddie went to high school together?"
"She was the cutest girl at Roosevelt High and the nicest. Being a book worm, I wasn't the most popular guy in school, but Eddie was always so nice to me. Everyone liked her."
Eddie patted his arm. "But you went to all the fancy Ivy League schools and now look at you, a big shot author and counselor!"
"Coming from you, I appreciate that. Listen, we're just about to get started but I'd love to catch up."
"Jamie and I are having dinner in the dining room tonight, why don't you join us?"
Eric's bright smile appeared to be genuine. "That's the best invitation I've had all year. You sure I wouldn't be imposing? A lot of couples kind of treat this like a second honeymoon."
She had a coquettish look. "Well, we are kind of having a second honeymoon, but there's plenty of time for that. Have dinner with us. It'll be fun!"
"Ok, great. What time?"
Jamie slid his fingers through Eddie's again. "Seven thirty?"
Eric had a rolled up program in his hand and he tapped Jamie's shoulder with it. "I'll look forward to it! Thanks, again!" He turned and headed in to the room, shaking attendees hands.
They watched Eric work the room. "What do you think?" Eddie asked him quietly.
"I don't know. He seems more like a nice guy than an international terrorist threat."
~~00~~00~~
Marriage Reflections was a conference for couples who were happy in their relationships. It was intended to help couples re-set their connections, and the day had gone as Jamie and Eddie presumed it would. There had been a combination of lectures, break-out exercises and a quiz that each person took independently that was intended to match couples familiarity with each other. As the end of the day neared, Eric stood at the front of the room and led the conversation toward a more personal topic. "So we've talked about a lot today which hopefully has brought you all some more clarity with each other, but we can't forget the most important intimate component to any marriage…sex."
A gentle murmur rumbled through the room as he continued. "I know, after several years, couples go through ups and downs, or peaks and valleys if you will, and there is no one-size-fits-all. But there should be a pattern that is right for you, so I'll just open it up to see if anyone would like to share about the pattern they have found that works best for them in terms of frequency or how it fits in to your life?"
The room was quiet. Eddie glanced around to see if anyone was going to answer. No one spoke up so she decided to take the plunge. "Well, Jamie and I have a really busy schedule, so we don't have a set number of times, but if we haven't been together by the end of the week, we make sure we find time to bang one out."
Jamie choked on the water he was drinking, setting the glass down on the table with a clatter. He coughed and reached for a napkin. Eddie turned and patted his back. "You okay, hon?" He nodded, still coughing trying to catch his breath.
Eric chuckled. "Thank you for sharing, Eddie, and for bringing up the most important point which is that it shouldn't be about quantity but about quality. Quality over quantity is the key that lasting relationships share." The heads in the room all nodded and he noticed the time on the wall clock. "This brings us to the close of our first day, so thank you all for your input and attention today. We'll pick it back up tomorrow morning at nine o'clock sharp. Have a wonderful evening!" The room filled with applause and chatter as people dispersed.
Eddie turned to Jamie, who appeared to be composed again. "You okay?"
He pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers and then looked at her. "We bang one out?" He huffed out a laugh and shook his head." Jesus, Janko."
"What?" She held her hands out in question. She spoke in a whisper. "We're supposed to be a hot couple."
"Just a couple," he stressed. "Nothing hot."
"Kill joy. You should be thanking me. I just made you the most interesting man in the room, lamb chop."
He looked exasperated. "C'mon, Mrs. Reardon." He said grabbing one of her hands and led the way back to the room.