Day 2

When I woke up next to Maura, I realized that I was probably the happiest girl in the whole world. I haven't done that for so long... Actually, it had never happened before because on the night of the storm I didn't wake up next to Maura. She was in another room - so far, far away. And we weren't even a couple back then. She was just my secret crush. But after that we have never spent the whole night together in a same bed, so we have never woken up next to each other before. It was for the first time, and I liked it so much. The warmth of her body next to me, the comfort of knowing she was there was liberating and comforting. I had a whole six days left to enjoy her, I reminded myself feeling very happy about it.

Maura was still sleeping, and she looked so peaceful and really beautiful even when I couldn't take a look into her gorgeous hazel eyes. I reached out to touch her, and she woke up.

"Good morning," Maura kissed me when she opened her eyes and smiled at me brightly. I could see she was happy too.

"Morning," I mumbled back.

"Should we get up or stay in bed a little longer?"

"Stay in bed. Definitely," I answered and placed a sweet little peck on her lips. I thought she would get the small and subtle hint that I gave her. Of course I wanted to stay in bed with her. The longer, the better. Should she even ask – it goes without saying.

"And what do you want to do today?"

"Sex!" my subconscious yelled at me eagerly, but I tried to suppress it.

"Do you have any plans?" Maura asked, looking at me. "Anything in mind?" she raised her brow.

"Uhm… I don't know."

I bit my lips because I simply couldn't think of anything but sex at that moment. And when Maura was so temptingly close to me, I was always thinking about sex. Can you blame me?! The way she asked if I had anything in mind sounded like a lewd suggestion to me, even though I knew Maura wasn't a type of person who would make any innuendo. She usually takes everything I say so literally.

"I say let's run around the beach."

"Are you insane?" I asked, flabbergasted by her suggestion. Her offer was in a totally opposite direction of what I thought she was thinking about. "It's so early. I am not getting up just to run around the beach like some insane… weirdo."

"Okay, no running," she agreed and I sighed in relief. I didn't intend to get up so early because the bed was so comfy. "Let's just walk then. I need to make my 10,000 steps per day."

"And do you need to do them all in the morning?"

"I have a routine, Jane. Usually, I walk to school, which as you know, is not close to my house. And on the weekends I just go for a long walk. Making 10,000 steps a day is just a minimum."

"Of course. How unthoughtful of me. Normal people just take the subway, even if they live near the place they work in. But that sounds way too crazy for you, hmm?"

"Jane, mock me if you want, but a morning walk on the beach is really healthy. Did you know that walking on the beach can help relieve stress, and the sunshine can help our bodies synthesize vitamin D?"

"Maura, look around. I am waking up next to you in this beautiful, magical place. What stress are you talking about? I am not stressed. Not at all," I underlined, smirking.

Of course, Maura won the argument and I had to get up so early in the morning and walk a few miles with her. At least she agreed to walk instead of run, so that was just a small win. A compromise. Which I did. Just to make her happy. I just couldn't say no to her.

After the long walk around the beach, we had breakfast and then we were just hanging around in our room, talking and resting. There was always something that I wanted to share with Maura, some old memory that I thought of, or any thoughts that were running through my mind at that moment. I shared everything with her, and there was always so much to say. I could never get tired of her. I loved our small talks, or when she shared some of her memories with me. We were waiting to get sunny enough in order to get a tan, so we just waited in our room.

It was early afternoon and we were getting ready to go to the beach. Maura was in the bathroom getting dressed, and I was already in my bathing suit, so I was taking towels and some snacks in the bag while I waited for Maura.

"Jane, I have a surprise for you!" Maura yelled through the bathroom door while she was still getting dressed.

"Alright, can I see it?" I asked, feeling really excited. I didn't know what she had in mind, but I already had something in mine. I had my theories about what her surprise could be. Maybe she would walk out of the bathroom in some sexy black underwear with black stockings and a garter. And then she would come near me and say something sexy in my ear. She could just say, "Let's screw the beach and have sex instead." Maybe not with the exact same words, because that didn't sound like something Maura would say since I have never heard her swear, but the meaning would be the same. We would quickly abandon our plans to go to the beach - I didn't want to go that badly anyway - and instead, we would do something much, much better. I could already imagine Maura wearing black underwear, going towards me with a slow, sexy gait… coming out of the bathroom, nearing me with lust in her eyes. And then she would...

At that moment, Maura got out of the bathroom, startling me out of my thoughts. I noticed she was wearing a whole bathing suit, and felt a tad disappointed.

"What do you think?" she turned around, so I could take a look at her from every angle.

"I like it."

"Jane," she came near, "did you know about my surprise? You already knew, or at least you suspected. Am I right?"

"Of course, Maura. That's exactly what I was thinking about just a second ago."

"So you guessed right then."

"And do I get a prize?" I asked, hopeful, teasing her.

"No."

"I knew it. I never win anything anyway," I replied, waving my hand dismissively. "Except the best girlfriend in the whole world," I quickly added in the end, trying to smooth the situation. Perhaps I looked a tad disappointed anyway, so I tried to cover it up.

"Smooth," she smirked. "But you don't look very happy about my surprise."

"I am happy, Maura. Inwardly." I tried to fake a smile, feeling kind of frustrated by the harsh reality. I was glad that she was wearing a whole bathing suit just because of me. I was very grateful for that. I was happy when she walked out of the bathroom wearing the bathing suit, but I would have been even happier has she walked out naked.

We spent some great time at the beach. We were both relaxed and happy to spend so much alone time together. We swam, walked around the sea, we tried to get a tan, and we even held hands because we felt really carefree. No one knew us there, so we could act like girlfriends freely without having any fears of getting caught. I liked that very much. And the best part was that Ma wasn't even there to ruin the mood like she usually did when she was around. Of course, she called frequently to check on me, but that was just a small hiccup I had to put up with. Overall, I was happy and carefree with Maura and we had such a great afternoon.

We were having dinner at some fancy restaurant that Maura insisted on going. She really wanted to go there because she read some great review in Yelp about it, and I couldn't say no to her. Since I knew she would love it so much, I didn't mind letting her pick the place. It wasn't my cup of tea, but I made a compromise because of my girlfriend. Since we didn't have very much in common, I guess that making a compromise was something I had to do for her. I knew that a relationship not always runs smoothly, and we both have to make compromises.

When we got there I tried to relax and blend in, even though I felt so out of place. I put up a good show, pretending that I always go to such fancy restaurants, trying to get all poshed up.

The waitress quickly came to take our order. Maura ordered a quinoa salad for herself.

"What about your daughter?" the waitress asked, ignoring me as I was some child who couldn't order herself. She irritated me so badly, but I didn't correct her, trying to seem cool about it only because of Maura. I didn't want to make a scene or embarrass her, so I swallowed my pride.

"I'll have the same," I said politely because I didn't want to start off on the wrong foot and make the waitress spit in my food or do something even worse.

"Do you have a gun?" I asked when the waitress finally left us alone, and Maura looked at me like I was insane for asking such a question.

"Of course not. Why would you need a gun?"

"To shoot the next one who calls you my mother."

"Calm down, Jane. It's not such a big deal. Don't make such a fuss about it."

"I'm not making a fuss. As you can see, I am very calm and carefree. I'm just slightly irritated, Maura."

"You look pissed off, Jane. Are you sure you're simply mad at the waitress for making a mistake, or is there something more?" she asked, leaning in to look at my eyes. "You seem kind of irritated and grumpy lately, and you've been acting strange since we came. What's going on, Jane?" She was scrutinizing my face, and she was looking for some clues as if they would be written on my forehead like a map.

"Nothing. I'm fine."

The waitress came back with our orders and we ate in silence. I hated being reminded about our age gap with Maura. It was driving me crazy, and lately that was happening very often. But I tried to let it go and enjoy our dinner. I simply wanted to forget about the stupid mistake the waitress made. But it was hard to erase it from my mind. I focused on Maura and our romantic dinner. She looked great in her fancy new dress. And yet I couldn't stop thinking about taking it off later that night.

We finally got back to our room after the dinner we had. We didn't eat dessert and left the restaurant early because Maura said so, but I was hoping we would get our own dessert sometime later. We both took a shower after we came back, separately to my disliking, but I didn't even ask for it. I was hoping we would spend a quiet night, enjoying each other's company. I couldn't wait to see Maura after she got out of the shower. I had a plan in my mind, so I needed to think it through until she came back.

We sat on the couch, leisurely watching tv together.

"I wanted a dessert," I whined and pouted at Maura, complaining about it. She looked at me. I got her attention, so I needed to make a move. "Why did we have to leave so early, Maura?" I asked.

"Don't be so grouchy, Jane, you'll get one."

"Soon-ish?" I asked, suppressing a smirk that threatened to give my plan away.

"Mhmm," Maura hummed, leaning closer for a kiss. I didn't need an invitation. I gave her a kiss once she got close, and she kissed me back. They weren't just sweet little pecks on the mouth – the kisses were so deep, and passionate enough to make me feel hot and bothered. Or perhaps I was so horny that I just couldn't help it. Just as we have started a heated kissing session, someone knocked at the door.

"I'll get it," I said, feeling exasperated. I cursed inwardly, and went to get the door. I didn't want to leave Maura like that, but I had no choice. Whoever was knocking at that time of the night, he'd better have a very good reason and maybe even a death wish.

I opened the door, and a man with uniform, obviously from the staff of the hotel, was standing there. He was the culprit for our interruption, so I just glared at him.

"Room service," he announced politely with a smile.

"We haven't ordered room service. We didn't order any services at all," I tried to explain to the man, sounding a bit harsher than I intended. But that guy just interrupted us, so I was kind of pissed off. He was the one to blame for our interruption with Maura. And I was in a big hurry to get back on the couch. I just wanted to get rid of him and get back to Maura – the sooner, the better. I had more pleasant activities ahead of me than talking with the stupid staff, explaining that they made a mistake.

"But-"

"We don't want to be disturbed, okay? Is there a 'Do Not Disturb' sign that I could hang on my door, so you could understand and stop knocking at our door?" I was ready to hit that man because he was standing there like a statue, as if he couldn't understand what I was saying.

"Jane, is that the room service?" Maura called from the living room, and came to see what was going on.

"Did you order it?"

I had no idea that she had called a room service. We already ate dinner, so I wondered what she had ordered and most importantly - why she didn't bother telling me.

"Yes, I did," she confirmed, coming to the door.

"You may come in," I said apologetically in the end. The man looked at me like I was insane. He served us so quickly, and he was obviously in a big rush to leave our room.

"Thank you," I tried to go with a polite smile, but after being so rude to him, it didn't do me any good. "The 'Do Not Disturb' sign, I was joking about it," I told him, but he left so quickly without even trying to be polite with me, or without saying anything. He was in such a hurry to leave, like he had just seen a big scary monster in our room. In that case, the frightening monster was no other than me.

I felt a tad guilty about it, but Maura was the one to blame. She could have told me that she ordered room service so I wouldn't yell at the innocent guy. I actually didn't yell at him, I just tried to tell him he made a mistake. As gently as possible. The staff would hate my guts, so probably it was for the best if we didn't order any room service from the hotel anymore. I still couldn't calm down after my mistake. I knew Maura would probably scold me for being so rude to the hotel staff and everyone around like I was the bad guy.

"I swear to God, I will kill the next one who knocks on that door."

"Jane, calm down. You were extremely rude to him. What's the matter with you?"

"How would I know that you ordered something? You should have told me about it."

"Are you trying to put the blame on me?" she raised her voice.

"No. Of course not. When did you order room service? Where was I?"

"When you were in the bathroom," she retorted.

"I knew we should shower together. See what happens when we don't?" I tried to lighten up the mood. I didn't want to fight. I didn't like it when she acted like that.

"I wanted to surprise you. I ordered strawberries dipped in chocolate for us and a bottle of champagne for me. I knew you'd want a dessert."

"Excuse me, are you drinking all alone just by yourself?"

"I am not alone, you are here."

"I gave you a slice of my pizza last night. Aren't you going to return the favor?"

"No, Jane, I am not letting you drink."

"Just one glass."

"I will tell your parents," Maura threatened, teasing me.

"Are you five?"

At that very moment my phone rang.

"I just wanted a sip of champagne, how did she find out so quickly?" I said when I saw that Ma was calling me. Maura giggled.

My mother probably read my mind even from such a long distance. She was really good at that. She was probably calling to yell at me for wanting to drink alcohol. I picked up, trying to sound normal. After all, I didn't drink - I just thought about it, considering my options. I had a long conversation with my mother. And as it turned out, she didn't know that I wanted to drink - I was just being paranoid.

After the long conversation that I had with Ma, Maura and I decided to watch a movie together. We curled up on the couch, and Maura played the movie. We ate the strawberries, and she drank some champagne. We decided to watch some soapy romantic comedy, which I didn't even like, but I didn't protest when she chose it. I just let Maura choose the movie, hoping she would enjoy it. I wanted to make her feel happy and relaxed, and I knew she loved romantic comedies very much.

I couldn't say that I loved the movie, but I watched with a certain interest. By the time it ended, I saw that Maura had fallen asleep on the couch. She drank a bit too much alcohol, and she had fallen asleep sometime during the movie, but I had no idea when that happened. I felt like we were acting like an old married couple. We had a fight about the man from the room service, and we didn't have sex at all. It sounded exactly like a married couple to me. I just couldn't believe she had fallen asleep during the movie that she picked herself, but I didn't want to wake her up, so I covered her with a blanket and left the room silently. I was sleeping in the bedroom since we couldn't both fit on the small couch. I was disappointed, but she was going to pay. I just had to think of a punishment.