Secluded Affair

chapter 12

You walk out the double patio doors in awe of the scene; it looks like something out of a movie. You slowly turn in every direction facing the garden, taking in its beauty. You catch some movement out the side of your eye in the far corner of the back garden. You turn in that direction and see Jon lighting the last few candles. You stand there watching, letting him finish doing what he's doing; he reaches into his pocket, pulls out a remote control, hits a button, and comes to some soft, slow music. You decide to retreat into the house; you lightly run back towards your room, close the door and go into the bathroom to slow your breathing down. There comes a light knocking on the bedroom door:

"Cori, can I come in?"

"Yeah, give me two seconds", you shout through the ensuite door.

He opens the door and comes in, looks around for you, then takes a seat on the bed, waiting for you to come back onto the bedroom. You open the door and look across the room at him, he looks up, and you can see the weariness on his face, even though he tries to hide it.

"Baby, I'm so " he stops talking as you place your fingers up to his lips.

"Shh Jon, listen, please. Look, I read your letter, and yes, I completely understand everything you said, and I accept your apology for taking your shit day out on me, but everything I said out in the kitchen stands. I won't be dictated to or kept tabs on. This thing between us is 50/50; all I ask for is honesty, communication between us, and trust. Trust in the things I say to you, Trust in me, trust my love and everything I give to you. Yes, there will be times I'm difficult to love and be around just exactly like you. I'm under no illusion of fairytale fantasy here, Jon, this is ain't going to be no walk in the park, but we have to work together and believe in each other. If we can do that, then we have a fighting chance."

You pause to take a breather. Jon stands up and cups your head with both hands and kisses you; this kiss is neither hard nor gentle. You can feel the emotion flowing through his lips, all the things he wants you to feel from him. You wrap your arms around his waist and kiss him back just as passionate as he is kissing you.

"Baby, I never want to be the reason why your eyes are sad and lose their sparkle, or why you cry sad, angry tears. I know we are only two weeks into this, and much has happened already, but I don't care. I'm all in 100% if you are?"

"A million per cent Jon."

"Follow me," Jon says as he takes your hand pulls you through the house towards the garden. You gasp at the sight; it still takes your breath away even though you already saw it. You follow Jon up the candlelit path to the little area under the big tree in the back, and he's laid out a blanket with a picnic basket on and some bubbly in an ice bucket.

"Please Join me, Darlin,"

"Of course, gorgeous" Jon helps you sit on the blanket and takes a seat next to you. You turn and look at him and notice something is still bothering him.

"Babe, what's wrong, and don't say there is nothing, or I will hit you with a pillow. I can see it written all over your face."

"Oh, I don't want to talk about that just now. I want to enjoy my night with my beautiful fiancee under the night sky and not ruin this day anymore. Can we put a pin in it till tomorrow" he says, looking into your eyes with a shy smile ghosting his face?

"I get it, honey, yes, we can put a pin in it till tomorrow, but you will be telling me everything. Oooh, that's the first time you've called me your fiancee; I love it," you leaned over and kissed his cheek.

"So, what did you get up to today on your little adventure?"

"I went for a drive around the coastline and found this beautiful little chapel, I couldn't resist I went in for a nosey around and met the lady, Nancy, who runs it, and we ended up chatting for a couple of hours over a cuppa, she helped me put things into perspective. You should meet her sometime you would love her, she's a ball buster for sure. So then I went for a drive further around the coast, found some charming little towns, and got some lovely little presents."