If Only She'd Loved Him

Chapter 40

Saturday 12:00 pm

Perched on a stool, Megan sat, swinging her legs.  Erik repeated his question to her.

"What can I get for you, sweetheart?"

"Oh, Erik, you know best," she replied, a trifle coyly, but he didn't notice.  "Why don't you surprise me?"

"OK.  We'll start with mimosas to celebrate, and then I'll make you lunch, something special just for you." Reaching into the cupboard, he pulled out two champagne glasses.  Next, he opened up the refrigerator and took out a bottle wrapped with silver foil at its top.

"I was saving this for just the right moment.  Can't get better than now, right?" He grinned at her, happy as a clam spared from a clambake.  He kissed her full on the mouth, then popped the bottle open. The glasses overflowed, spilling onto the counter in a surf of bubbles.

"I saw this in a movie once," he said as he linked his arm around Megan, so that he drank from her glass and she from his.  Her cheeks burned into roses as she swallowed.  Erik watched her.  Laughing, he did the same.          

"More?"

"Maybe, just a little," she agreed.

Megan raised her glass to her chin, then paused.  "A toast," she proposed, "to getting what we want."  She clinked her glass against his.

"And keeping it forever," he added.

"And keeping it forever," she repeated softly.  Megan sipped her glass, while he finished his in one gulp.  He reached for the champagne bottle again, but she placed her hand on his wrist, stopping him.  "Oh no, you promised me a mimosa, but—" she paused at the suddenly hard look on his face.  "Let's make them special.  You get the orange juice.  We'll drink that, then more champagne, then more orange juice.  It'll be like drinking a layer cake," she giggled. 

"Your slightest wish is mine," he replied.

Putting down the champagne bottle, he got the orange juice and poured it into two glasses.  Megan picked up her glass and smiled.  She sat for a minute, calculating just when he would open the door. Then slipping off the stool, she moved herself closer to the refrigerator.  Just as Erik opened the door, she put her hand out.  Orange juice sloshed all over, soaking her shirt.

"Oh," Erik cried out. "I'm sorry."  He reached for a sponge to dry her off, but she shook him away.  Holding her shirt by the sides, she went towards the archway that separated the kitchen from the living room.

"Not your fault, I'm just a klutz," she replied.  "Let me go dump this in the sink and change."

Suspicion slid across his face, but more than anything else, he wanted to be able to trust her.  "All right, sweetheart," he said as calmly as he could manage. "I'll get you a new glass."

Turning his back on her, he moved towards the sink.  But out of the corner of his eye, he watched to see where she would go.  With relief, he saw her head into her bedroom, and not make a try at the locked main door.

Megan hurried.  Dripping with orange juice, she ran into her bedroom and then straight to the bathroom. Yanking the shirt off her body, she pushed up the sink plug so the water couldn't drain.  Then she took the shirt and squeezed it with all her might over the bathroom cup.  She put the wet cup down into the cupboard below the sink.  After she had rinsed her shirt out in the sink, she returned to her room and quickly got dressed in a flowery print dress, which she hated but knew Eric would love.  Catching her breath, she returned to the living room.  He was waiting for her on the sofa. 

"What took you so long?" he asked, handing her another glass of champagne.  A second glass of orange juice lay on the table nearby.  "I was getting worried."

"Oh, I had to soak the shirt for a minute or two.  I didn't want my carelessness to ruin something you'd given me," she smiled prettily at him.

More relaxed now, he motioned for her to sit down next to him.  Leaning over her shoulder, he breathed in her hair.  "Orange juice suits you."

"Well, it would have if I'd left it on," she joked. 

Erik laughed with her, then put down his glass and kissed her.  She kissed him back with a smile, a smile she thought was due to her plan.  But as her breath quickened and her body tightened against his, she knew her happiness was not all due to the secret in the bathroom.