The List: Part V An R.L. Mathewson Chronicle

The Content in the R.L. Mathewson Chronicles is not appropriate for children.

The material in this Chronicle is meant for the adults 18 years and older.

The List: Part V

            “Why the rush?” Nick asked, biting back a yawn as she continued to drag him through the beautifully decorated hotel lobby.

            “No rush,” she said even as her grip tightened around his hand and she quickened her pace.

            “How did she manage to get a Yankees tee shirt on Fluffy?” she heard Tina Reber demand as she quickly passed the obviously distraught author.

            She ignored the outburst and the small group quickly coming to see what had Tina upset and focused on her goal:

            Getting her husband out of the hotel and to their destination without him figuring out what she had planned for him. Not that she expected him to balk at what she had planned. She didn’t. In fact, Nick was a very supportive husband and when it came down to it, her best friend. There wasn’t much that they argued about, other than her sugar intake.

            The reason behind her secrecy was quite simple really.

            She wasn’t entirely sure that she was going to be able to go through with it. Since she’d added it to her list over a year ago she’d come up with excuse after excuse to keep putting it off. She’d made the mistake of informing Nick each time she somehow found the guts to even think about going to a place like this and every time just before he managed to pull into the parking lot, she’d chickened out.

            It had gotten to the point that if she even mentioned this particular item on her list, Nick would give her a small smile, sigh heavily and grab his keys and head for the door. He never bothered changing his plans for the day or even shut the car off when they arrived at their destination, because he knew that she’d chicken out, but not today.

            Today she was finally going to knock this item off her list for good. Well, maybe not for good. If she enjoyed this item then she’d most likely be bugging Nick to do it again.

            “Can we at least stop for coffee?” Nick asked, but didn’t try to make her stop, she noted with relief, too afraid that if he gave her any excuse not to go that she’d take it.

            “They have coffee there,” she lied. Well, she was pretty sure that she’d just lied since she’d never actually been to one of these places before and wasn’t exactly sure what they did or didn’t have there.

            “Fine,” Nick said around another loud yawn that almost had her feeling bad enough to cancel her plans for the day and let him go back upstairs to catch up on some sleep.

            Almost.

            “Where are we going? The rental car is parked over there,” he said when she bypassed the walkway that would have taken them to their rental car and instead headed towards the area that the concierge had pointed out yesterday morning as the area designated for taxis.

            “To get a taxi,” she said, hoping that he’d just go along with her plan without arguing.

            Apparently that was too much to ask for, because with a sigh of exasperation, Nick tightened his hold on her hand and with a small nudge, headed towards their rental car.

            “But,-” She started to protest.

            “We’re not wasting money on a taxi when we have a rental car,” he explained in a firm tone, the same tone that he normally used when he found her curled up in a ball on the bathroom floor, praying for death and promising anyone that would listen that she would never touch another sweet morsel for as long as she lived.

            “But-”

            “Unless alcohol is involved, we’re taking the car,” he said, pausing by the silver sedan to open the passenger side door for her.

            “There’s no alcohol involved,” she mumbled as she glanced at the taxis, wondering if she should try to drag him back over there.

            When she hesitated, he looked heavenward for a moment before shaking his head and promising, “I won’t ask where we’re going. You can put the address in the GPS to keep it a secret.”

            Deciding that this was probably the best compromise that she was going to manage to get from him so early in the morning, she accepted his suggestion with a nod and climbed into the car. As soon as he shut the door, she was fumbling with her bag, frantically searching for the address before he got in the car so that he wouldn’t see the name of their location. Just as she found the crumpled up piece of paper, Nick was climbing in and starting the car.

            Thankfully he focused on buckling his seatbelt and fighting back another yawn as she quickly typed in the address to their location on her phone’s GPS application. A minute later the GPS announced that they would arrive at their destination in twenty-two minutes, more than enough time for her to chicken out five or six times and convince herself to man up before they got there.

            “Why the rush?” Nick asked in a conversational tone that she wasn’t buying one bit.

            “No rush,” she said, proud of herself for sounding so casual even as she kept throwing nervous glances between Nick and the crumpled piece of paper in her hand, wondering if he already knew what she had planned.

            “I see,” he murmured, following the GPS’s direction by taking a left.

            He didn’t say another word as they drove and neither did she, too excited to say anything. She was finally going through with it!

            She couldn’t believe it! Finally, she was going to know what the big deal was. Of course, it would probably help her with her books, she mused, barely listening as the GPS announced that they would be arriving at their destination in four hundred yards. It would definitely help spice things up, she thought, barely registering the car pulling into a parking spot or Nick putting the car in park and shutting it down. But she definitely noticed when he figured out what her plans for the day were.

            “You…..you woke me up to drag me to an adult store?” he asked in a choked tone as he shot her a disbelieving look that she really didn’t appreciate, not one bit. She appreciated the fact that he started the car and sighed heavily even less a minute later, because he didn’t think that she’d go through with it.

            Well, she’d show him! She decided, reaching for the car door.

To be continued………

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