Ireland is for Lovers

Chapter 1

I landed in Dublin early in the morning, like around 8 am, local time. I decided to give everyone who works for me two weeks off for vacation, mostly so I could fly to Ireland to see my old boyfriend, like I had been planning. And thankfully, Max was able to get the time off from work as well (he works for a property management company). As I made my way off the plane, I was suddenly hit with a wave of nerves. Why was I so nervous? It's not as though we're strangers meeting for the first time. In fact, I had just seen Max last year, and we've kept in close contact since then over Facebook. Come to think of it, he's always kind of had that effect on me, but in a good way.

I managed to get through customs pretty quickly, and as I made my way toward the baggage claim area, that's when I saw him standing there, waiting for me. He broke into a huge smile when he caught sight of me, and I waved casually, and started walking a bit faster, to close the distance between us. When I got to where he was waiting, he threw his arms around me, and picked me up and spun me around,earning a few amused glances and chuckles in the process.

He set me back down, kissed me and said the thing he always greets me with when we haven't seen each other in a long time: "Hello, Love."

"Hey sweetie," I said, my smile getting bigger.

He glanced at what I was wearing, and says with a smirk, "Nice shirt....." (I was wearing Jack Skellington pajama pants and flip flops-- because you can take me out of Florida,but you can't take me out of my flip flops-- and the rugby shirt he let me keep)

I laughed and said "Thanks. This guy I used to date let me keep it last time he came to visit."

"Oh yeah? He's got excellent taste in sports teams," he said with an amused laugh,then adds,"You have luggage, I take it?"

"Just a couple of suitcases"

We went to wait for my bags to come down, and as soon as they did, we made our way to his car-- a midnight-blue Range Rover. While he put my stuff in the trunk, I started towards what I know as the passenger side; he sees where I'm headed and says "I didn't think you'd feel like drivin' after your long flight...."

I stopped mid-step, and go "Riiight..... It's opposite here. I forgot."

He walked up behind me, put his arms around me again, and kissed me on my jaw, and says to me "No worries,Love. I did the same thing when I got to Miami," with a slight chuckle.

As we drove away from the airport, he asked me how my flight was.

"Long. I actually managed to sleep for some of it, though. Heh, at one point,my seatmate, who's from here, commented on my shirt, asking if I had been to a match recently; I said I had actually never been. I think he might've been a little embarrassed when he heard my American accent. I just told him the shirt was a gift from a friend....." I gave him a sly grin on that last part.

Max laughed and said "Well, we might just have to correct that while you're here, now won't we?"

After a 20-ish minute drive to his place, on the east side of town-- in the Docklands (which kinda reminds me of Tampa's Channelside district), we went in, and after we dropped my bags in his bedroom,he gave me the official grand tour (I've sort of seen his place-- mostly the living room,though-- from when we video-chat, every Sunday). He's got a spacious, 2-bedroom flat overlooking the harbour. And really, 'flat' hardly does it justice..... It's more of a loft. And the view of Dublin Bay from his balcony is horrible (and I say that facetiously).

After I've seen pretty much everything there is to see, we both plop down on his couch, and I cuddle up to his side, and lay my head on his shoulder. After a few beats of silence between us, he shifts so he can lay back on the couch, and he pulls me with him as he does. After we had both gotten sufficiently comfortable, he asks me what I'd like to do for the rest of the day.

I thought about it a minute, and said "Well, I'm trying to avoid taking a nap so I'll actually sleep tonight..... Jet lag,take me away.... (we both had a good laugh at my little Calgon joke) I'm actually good right here,like this,though."

"Good by me. However, I thought we might meet up with some of my mates for dinner. I told them you were coming into town, and they-- well,their girls, mostly-- wanted to meet you...."

"Sure. I'd love to meet your friends," I said as I yawned heavily.

I must have dozed off for a while, because I suddenly found myself alone on Max's couch. As I reached for my phone on the coffee table, I noticed a note tucked underneath it. The handwriting was definitely Max's; it read: "I know you said you were trying to avoid a nap, but you just looked so peaceful, as well as beautiful, so I stepped out for a bit. Be back soon. M"

I smiled at the compliment, and opened my phone to check my messages. I had a few texts from Lindsay, asking if I had gotten here okay, and a couple of work-related emails. I was in the middle of texting Lindsay back when Max came in from wherever he had stepped out to.

"There's my girl," he said when he saw me, sitting cross-legged in the middle of his couch, now scrolling Facebook.

Hey. Where'd you disappear to?"

"Oh,I took a walk around the block," he said as he sat down next to me, "I see you found my note....."

"I did. How long had I been out when you slipped out from under me?"

"About half an hour, and I was only gone about half an hour.....", he trailed off.

I just nodded and asked, "What time are we meeting your friends?"

"Half of six"

"Okay; I just wanted to know so I'll have time to shower and get the plane-funk off of me, and make myself presentable for your mates", I said with a laugh.

He laughs as well, and just says, "Well, that shouldn't be too difficult; you're always presentable to me", and kisses me on the tip of my nose.