Valentines Day (finished)

February 1st

Matt's eyes were pierced by the alarm clock. The time told him that Steph was definitely asleep. Matt slipped out from underneath her arms. He snuck into the next room and opened up her briefcase. He pulled out the large stack of papers. He'd talked to Stephanie about her job before. It wasn't too hard, and if you knew what you were doing, you could pretty easily complete the work. All that it took was time. And that's what Matthew had.

The first hour was a slow drudge; fighting with his rustic memory, his clouded judgment, and eyes that really wanted to close themselves. The next hours it took off, though. Before he knew it he was a paperwork-machine. He was flipping through pages and jotting down dozens of notes a mile a minute. That was on January 31st. When he finally checked his phone he was surprised to see that it was 4:45. Now it was February 1st. Matt finished off the last page and went back to bed.

He slipped back under the covers and under her arms. He drowsily snuggled up her. His breathing synced up with Stephanie's warm breath that was caressing the back of his arm. Matt let his head fall into the pillow. When Matt had finally got ready to fall asleep, he heard Stephanie shift.

"Love," she called softly. "It's time to get up."

Matt resisted, curling into a tight ball.

"C'mon," fought Steph by poking his face. "It's time to seize the day."

Matt shook off her hand, but she was persistent. Matt, realizing that he'd be getting zero sleep, spun around and give her a kiss. Stephanie was a bit surprised by his sudden movement, but fell into the kiss. They stayed like that for a long while, until Matthew blissfully separated.

They stayed cuddled up together until Matthew got out of bed and pulled her into another kiss. He carried her into the kitchen, kissing along the way. He set her on the counter and began to make them both a bagel.

*

Stephanie arrived at work with a bit of a blissful smile. She opened up her briefcase and got to work. The day was a pretty simple process. Fill out paperwork, have lunch, fill out more paperwork. Steph, however, was a great worker, and was the first one to be done. Seeing that she had a bit more time on her hands, she went back to her desk and pulled out the next day's work.

She frowned as she began the work. The first page was filled out. Everything was already done. She flipped to second. Same result. The third page. The fourth. Fifth. It was all finished. It was all done. There was nothing to do. She slipped the work into her box, then requested the rest of the day off.

Her boss must've been in a very good mood that day. He totally understood that Stephanie was done with today's work and tomorrow's work. He said that it would totally be fine if she decided to take the day off. In fact, if she wanted to take the next day off, too that'd be fine. Stephanie sighed and went back to her desk.

A few minutes she was called back to the office. Apparently her boss was serious when he said that she could just take the next two days off. Steph nervously packed up her briefcase and purse. She left the building wearily and drove home, a bit confused.

*

"Yes, I want it to be a surprise," Matt responded.

"I'll have to take it out of her vacation time-"

"That's fine. We're not planning going on a vacation. We can't afford it."

"Okay then. I'll try to get her back home then."

"Thank you. Goodbye." Matt closed the phone. He'd successfully convinced his wife's boss to let her have tomorrow off. Matt took a long gulp of water and helped lift the couch into the house. When he set the last piece of furniture he smiled and turned to the owners. He'd found a quick moving job on craigslist.

The owners counted him out $150. Matt thanked them and took off jogging for the next job. He helped the next group move in their furniture. It was exhausting work, but he did have enough to receive his $150. Matt then jogged home to buy the tickets.

*

Stephanie sighed when she got home. "Hey honey," she called. "I got to come home early. Where are you."

Matthew was sprinting around their room and packing two suitcases. "Matthew?" asked Steph, walking into their bedroom. "What are you doing?"

"Packing for you," he answered, like that explained everything.

"Why?" she asked. Matthew placed one of her tops into the bag and she took it off, knowing that you shouldn't pack that top.

"Well, it's the first day of valentines, right?" he responded, putting in some pants and a sweater. "Well, how did you enjoy your gift?"

"What gift," she asked, taking out the item's he'd just put in the suitcase. "Do you seriously know how to pack a suitcase?"

"Fine," grumbled an exhausted Matt, slapping the bag a bit. "You pack it. We're going somewhere cold." He sighed and sat on the bed. "I filled out on some of you paperwork last night."

Stephanie gave him a strange look. "Why'd you do that?" She grabbed the bag and went over to the dresser.

"Well, I thought that it'd make your life easier. Plus, I'm sort of doing a two fold gift."

"You do realize I could be fired for letting you see private information," she asked, quickly packing everything she needed.

"Be a devil," Matt shrugged. "I love you too much to let this deal slip by."

Stephanie shook her head. "Where are we going?"

"The airport," Matt responded.

*

Matt was impressed on how well he was able to keep the secret. The location he was flying to was so obscure and not where they were really going anyway, Stephanie had no clue where they were heading.

"It's the Grand Canyon," she guessed, as they waited for the plane.

"The flight literally said we're going to Pennsylvania," he argued.

"You're trying to throw me off the scent. I know it."

Matt gave her a sideways hug, laughing a bit. "Sure honey, I'd take a plane to a place that we could drive to see."

Steph didn't let him get any rest as they boarded the plane, took off, and began their flight. The only time Matt got rest was when Stephanie curled up into him and tried to get some sleep. Even then, Matt was to terrified to actually get any sleep. So, he sat there, awake and playing with his wife's hair, as the clock passed midnight.