Rose sat at the table typing and muttering at her laptop when her phone rang. She removed her glasses before answering. "Hello?" She sighed. "Hi!" David's sweet voice said.
She smiled. "Hey, what's up?" "Are you doing anything tonight?" He asked. "No," Rose replied. "Why?" "Well," He sang. "I was wondering if you would meet me tonight, I have a surprise for you." She could almost see him grinning.
Rose chewed her lower lip and smiled tugging her earring. "Oh, really, what is it?" He snickered. "You'll see." His tone was flirtatious. Rose wrote the address before hanging up. Excitement built up inside of her. She grinned wondering what David had planned.
Later that night Rose drove up to the middle of a deserted field of tiny flowers. She stepped out of the car dressed in jeans, a pink t-shirt and a jacket. She frowned puzzled. The field looked familiar but she didn't know why.
"Hi, you made it!" She heard David say. Rose turned and smiled. He was wearing jeans, a black button down shirt. He smiled as he took her hand. "Hi," She glanced around. "Where are we?" He wiggled his eyebrows. "You'll see."
They started walking. The further they got the more familiar the area became. They finally stopped at a huge lake and Rose gasped. They were at his family's lakeside!
"Oh, my god I don't believe it!" She said looking around. The area was just as beautiful as she remembered.
Paper lanterns hung across the trees, daisies were tied down to the trunks with violet ribbons, a white picnic blanket spread across the grass with a bottle of wine chilling in a bucket with two wine glasses.
"You like it?" He asked. "Yes," She gushed. "How were you able to do this?" David shrugged. "My parents never sold the land. It's mine, now."
Rose shook her head. "This is amazing." David smiled and offered her a seat on the blanket. She removed her jacket then sat and David poured two glasses of wine. She took a sip looking up at the velvet starry sky. "We always seemed the happiest here." Rose said thoughtfully.
David nodded sipping his glass.
She smiled touching the green grass. "We had our first date here." He smirked. "I remember. I was so terrified." She scoffed. "You were terrified, I was so nervous I got lost twice trying to find this place." He smirked. "Yeah but I wasn't scared until I saw you." David admitted.
She looked at him. "Why?" "You were so beautiful," He replied simply. David scoffed. "I wasn't sure what to say, what to do, I'm surprise I could even remember my own name." "It was nice, though." She smiled.
David chuckled. "I still remember you being afraid of getting into the water because of the Lochness monster." She blushed hiding her face. "You're never going to let me live that down, are you?"
"I thought it was cute." He smiled kissing her cheek. She smiled shyly taking another sip. After they finished David wrapped his arms and pulled her close. She relaxed in his embrace and gazed up at the sky listening to his heartbeat.
"This is nice." She said softly. He glanced at her and smiled. "How did you think of this?" She asked. He shrugged. "Well, I thought we would start over at the first place that made us happy."
She smiled a little then lowered her eyes staring at her shoes. "Well, I'm sure the other girls you brought here probably liked it, too." Rose said softly. He shook his head. "I didn't."
Rose glanced at him surprised. "You what?" "You were the only girl I ever brought here," David said looking at her. He sighed. "I mean the other girls were okay but they weren't you." "I missed you every day." He admitted.
Rose touched his face. "Well, I'm here, now, yeah?" He smiled. "Yeah." David cupped her face and kissed her, slowly, their lips slightly opened and gently tugging making the kiss intense. After the kiss Rose pressed her forehead against his and smiled. "I like this, being with you."
David grinned. "I'm glad cause' there's more." He reached over and turned on a Cd player then got up, slow soft music started playing. Rose smirked. "Impressive." He smiled extending his hand. "May I have this dance?"
She giggled and nodded. He gently pulled her up and she wrapped her arms around him. They swayed slowly together, his fingers moving up her sleeve stroking her forearm up and down. She rested her cheek on his chest taking in the scent of his shirt and briefly closed her eyes.
It felt so right and natural being in his arms like all the drama had never happened.
"I wish we had done this sooner." She said softly. He just smiled. David glanced at her as they danced and whispered. "I'm glad I met you." Rose smiled shyly. "Me too."
The next day Martha stood at David's office door feeling nervous but it was for the best. David was never going to see her more than as a friend and even though she loved him she realized she had to take care of her own heart and if she were to even have just a friendship with him she had to resign.
Finally Martha knocked. David was inside sorting through his cluttered file cabinet. "Come in!" He called holding a file in his mouth. Martha walked in tugging her fingers. "Hi," She looked at him strangely. "Am I disturbing anything?"
"Nah, my cabinet's just a bit of a mess." David said. He quickly put the files down. "So how can I help you?" Martha smiled weakly. "Um, David..." She paused. He tilted his head concerned. "What's wrong?
She exhaled and got the words out. "I've been given a job offer." "Oh?" He replied folding his arms.
She nodded. "Yeah and I've accepted." He frowned. It was rather sudden but he shrugged. "Well, I hate to see you go but that's what you want."
Martha swallowed. It was hard looking into those brown eyes. She nodded slowly. "It is," She replied. "I mean I love this job but I need to branch out, do other things if I stay I may miss out. I…I just need to get out...there." She managed to say.
David smiled sadly. "I understand," He came closer. "I gonna miss you Dr. Jones." David kissed the top of her head. She briefly closed her eyes fighting back tears. Martha looked up at him and smiled a little. "I'll miss you, too." "Keep in touch?" He said. Martha nodded. "Of course." She promised hugging him.
Martha slowly turned and walked out.
She sighed leaning against the door. "I'll be okay." She told herself and walked away.