"Michael, this is Linda Warren, Sadie’s mother." Maria looked proud to show off her husband. It was cute.
"No need to tell me anything other than her name. Linda, I see exactly where Sadie accumulated her beauty from. You are stunning. Bill, I feel for you, man. I've got the same thing between Maria and Kate. It’s hard having two amazing women around and keeping the prying eyes at bay."
"I will drink to that. It sure is."
Kate looked like she was embarrassed of her dad and ready to bolt.
"Kate, do you want to see the new hand bag I got. I just got it in the mail yesterday and I'm in love."
"Sure. I will follow you."
I walked back in the house and then turned to her and said, "I didn't really get a new bag. I just wanted to rescue you from the conversation. You looked miserable."
"Thank you. You’re awesome. I just can't stand all the love and mushy conversation. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against people being happy. I just had another awful date with my boyfriend last night. He's an asshole and I don’t think I can do this anymore with him."
"Then don't. You’re too perfect to be giving yourself to someone who doesn't appreciate you."
"Thank you. It’s just, ah, I feel like I'm giving up."
The door to outside opened and Ash walked in with a platter covered in steaks.
"What are you girls taking about in here?"
"Nothing, just girl stuff."
"Well, food’s ready. Let’s eat."
Kate and I got the plates and silverware out and set the dining room table. Maria came in with side dish after side dish. My mom helped her bring in even more dishes. How much food did we possibly need? This feast could feed an army.
"Maria, this is way too much food."
"No dear. Left overs are fantastic. Nothing will go to waste."
"I know, Linda and I will take anything you’re willing to send with us."
Kate jumped in. "Mom, I definitely want some."
"Mom, it’s Sadie's birthday, I think the bulk of it needs to stay here, for her to have."
"You all are acting like this is crack cocaine. It’s just food."
A gasp was heard around the room. Ash looked at me and said, "Sadie, take it back. My mom’s cooking is not just food."
"Alright seriously, you guys are acting ridiculous. It is only..."
Ash shoved a fork full of something in my mouth. I had no choice but to chew. Oh my God. Baked ziti with a crunchy parmesan coating hit my taste buds. Heaven was in my mouth, truly. I finished chewing and then said, "Whatever is left over of that, is mine." The whole table erupted in laughter. We all made our own plates and said grace before we ate. Ash’s steaks were delicious, as was everything else that was offered. I was so stuffed when it was all said and done. Ash practically had to roll me out to the couch. I wasn't alone. My parents were not used to eating like that either, and were just as miserable as I was. Ash’s family had no problem functioning afterwards. Apparently, you have to build up a resistance to Maria's cooking. Eventually, my mother and I waddled into the kitchen to help Kate and Maria box all the leftovers up to send home with people. There was a football game on too that occupied the boys, leaving us women in the kitchen talking.
"So Sadie, what are your plans for your business? Do you want to open your own shop one day?"
"Maria, I would love to. But that is a lot of responsibility and I'm not ready for that yet. Someday maybe, but not now. I feel like I rarely get to see Ash as it is. He's so busy between school and the fire house."
"My brother has always dreamt of being a firefighter. When we were kids, he was one for Halloween. He didn't take the costume off unless it was bath time. He even slept in it."
"Sadie did the same thing with her Cinderella costume. I had to replace it three times and sneak the new one in after baths. She would wear them until they fell apart."
"Well then, that explains why my son refers to you as his princess."
"Maria, that was a long time ago. I don't live in a make believe world anymore."
"No, but that little fireman is hell bent to give his princess anything her heart desires."
We all laughed. Maybe I still did want my happily ever after and Ash was waiting to make his dream into reality also.
"Maybe you’re right. We are still the same little kids waiting for our dreams to come true."
Kate looked at me and said, "It’s happening right now. You just have to open your eyes."
Eventually we all called it a day. Our parents got along so well that they made plans without us to meet up for dinner and drinks. Kate promised to call me so we could do the same. Ash and I said our goodbyes and then we went to the kitchen to clean up any leftover mess.
"I think that went awesome."
"I agree completely. Best birthday barbeque ever. Thank you, honey. I loved it."
"You’re more than welcome but you know you still have your surprise coming up."
"You’re just plain mean! When? When do I get to find out?"
"Tomorrow morning, actually."
"Really?"
"Yep."
"I'm going to bed now. I will see you in the morning."
I ran up the stairs, changed my clothes, brushed my teeth, washed my face and jumped into bed. I looked at the clock and it was only 7:30. I didn’t care. This surprise of Ash's had been looming over my head for almost a month. The sooner I slept, the sooner morning would get here. I had almost fallen asleep when I smelled something amazing and it was coming closer. When it came into the bedroom, I recognized it immediately. My mom’s apple pie. Ash had brought me pie. I opened my eyes to see my gorgeous man holding a large bowl of hot apple pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream to top it off. Screw sleep. I wanted that bowl.
"Is that for me?"
"Well it was, until I saw that you were sleeping. I'm sorry to bother you. Go back to sleep."
He turned to walk away when I screamed. "Don't you dare leave with my pie."
He turned around with my bowl sticking out. "Your bowl?" As he waved it around.
"My bowl!" I jumped out of bed and tackled him for it. "That is my mom’s pie. Hand it over."
"Fine, psycho. Take your pie." He held out the bowl and I snatched it out of his hand. "And you said we acted crazy. Like food was cocaine. Ring a bell?"
"Um, Uh."
"What was that?"
"You have never had my mom’s pie. Eat."
I shoved a bite in his mouth. And his eyes rolled into the back of his head.
"Ring a bell?"
"I have an idea. I know a better way to eat this."
"Best idea ever!"
We had the stickiest mess to clean up when we were done, but it was worth every sheet we threw away. And the morning is just around the corner. Woo hooo!
I woke up to Ash nudging me. I wasn’t ready to wake up and one peek out the window told me I was right, it was still dark out. I tried to fall back asleep, but there was the nudge again.
"Why are you waking me up this early? I promise I will have sex with you when the sun comes up, just let me sleep a little longer, please."
He started laughing and said, "You got a lot more sleep than I did, considering I had to pack your bags. Now if you really want to miss our flight, then I will let you sleep."
I shot straight out of bed.
"Miss our flight? What are you talking about?" I looked over and saw all of our luggage packed and sitting next to the door.
"Your surprise awaits you, princess. Are you ready?"
"Work? I have appointments on my book, Ash. I can't just get on a plane?"
"It has already been taken care of. Now if you don't mind, I would love it if you could get ready to go. Pretty please."
I jumped up and hauled ass to the shower. Within minutes, I had bathed, brushed my teeth, thrown my hair up into a bun, applied some makeup and gotten dressed. I walked downstairs and found Ash carrying our stuff out to the car. I grabbed a bag to help when he turned around
and jumped five feet in the air.
"Did I scare you? I don't look that bad, do I?"
"Not at all, Sadie, I just never expected you to be ready so fast. I think you just set a personal record."
"I'm excited! So where are we going?"
"That part is still a surprise."
"Really? Can't we just call that part quits and enjoy our vacation?"
"Not a chance. This is going to go my way. You’re not breaking me now. I have held out this long."
"Fine, do we have everything?"
"Yes, and don't go getting pouty on me now. Believe me, you will like it."
"I'm sure I will just find out at the airport anyway, ha-ha. Bet you didn't think of that."
"I most certainly did. That's why we are flying a private plane out of a private terminal. "Private" being the operative word."
"You suck!"
We both laughed at that one. Once the trunk was loaded, we got in and were on our way to the airport. I texted Heather and Tony to tell them I would be out of town. Instantly I got back
Heather: HAVE FUN! I LOVE U
Me: I WILL. LOVE U 2
Tony’s came in while we were waiting to board the plane.
Tony: ENJOY UR TRIP. TELL ASH GREAT JOB ON PULLING IT OFF
Me: I WILL. LOVE U
Tony: LOVE U 2
I got the friends out of the way. Now I need to call my parents.
"Hello? Sadie, is something wrong? It’s early, honey."
"Mom, I just wanted to tell you I will be out of town for a couple of days. I don't know where I am going to be able to give you details. Ash won't tell me anything."
"Sadie girl, Ash already spoke with us about this. Have a great time. Don't think so hard. Just have fun. We will see you when you get back. Oh and Sadie, I really do love that boy of yours. Good picking."
"He took care of everything, didn’t he? I can't believe he called you guys too."
"Of course he did. Now go have fun and call us when you get back home."
"Okay. I will. I love you guys. Talk to you soon. Bye."
I looked over at Ash. He had a shit eating grin spread across his face. It only caused me to smile back.
"You really should be proud of yourself. I had no idea and I always can figure out my surprises."
"I can't believe I pulled it off. You really have no idea, huh?"
"Not a clue."
A man approached us and told us our plane was ready to board. We stood up and I grabbed his hand to stop him from following.
"Before I even get on that plane, I want you to know that this is the best day of my life. Second to the day I met you. Thank you for loving me enough to go through all this trouble."
He leaned down to kiss me and said, "You are worth every second of planning this and so much more. I love you, Sadie. Now let’s go have fun."
We went down the tunnel that takes you out to your plane. When I entered it, I expected to see a normal plane with people on it. Boy, was I wrong. There were only a few seats and none of them were occupied.
"Ash? When you said private, you really meant private, didn't you?"
"Yes, silly girl, that's generally what the word means. Come here and sit by me, princess. The flight attendant is going to need to be able to get through and your kind of blocking the way."
I looked and noticed I hadn’t moved since I stepped foot on the plane.
"Sorry, just got a little shocked by it all. I don’t mean to invade your privacy, so please don’t answer if it’s inappropriate. But how much did this cost you, Ash? How could you afford this? I mean I can't imagine this cost any less than my annual income?"
"You’re wrong on all accounts. My dad’s company owns this plane, so it didn’t cost that much at all. As far as my finances are concerned, it is okay for you to ask. It’s okay for you to ask me anything. In the short version, I am very, very wealthy. Neither of us would have to work for the rest of our lives and still could live more lavish than we already do. I like the life we have. My parents never raised us to be dependent on our wealth or the spoils that come with it. So with that said, please princess, let’s just enjoy ourselves. It is your birthday week after all."
"Wow! I had no idea. I promise to have fun and I won't ask again."
"I know you had no idea. You love me, for me. That in itself means so much. It’s just money, Sadie. Happiness is what defines us, not the money."
I got up and straddled his lap, "We are the definition of happiness, you’re right about that. I don't give a shit about your money." I started to kiss him and it was getting me excited. My hips began to grind into him and he responded by grabbing my head to pull me down closer. As if I could get any closer.
"Hm hm. Excuse me. You need to return to your seat. We are about to take off. And please, buckle yourself in,” the flight attendant snapped and then walked away and shut the door to the cabin behind her.
My head was buried in Ash’s shoulder. I started to shake and then so did Ash. Slowly the laughs started to escape and then they were loud, obnoxiously loud. Have you ever tried to stop laughing? Yeah, didn’t work for me either. The harder I tried, the harder I laughed. Ash was right there with me. My head never left his shoulder. I thought maybe I could smother it out of me. Finally, I started to slow down.
"Do you want to sit here all day or can you please take your seat?" Then the door slammed.
We both lost it. I fell backward off Ash's lap from laughing. He jumped up to help me but he was laughing too hard. He had no strength. I eventually calmed myself enough to crawl over and knock on the door the crabby lady snuck back into and said, "We will be good now, promise."
Ash wasn't as good. He could not help but tease her. "That is, until we're in the air and the seatbelt sign turns off, then it’s game on. I always did want to enter the mile high club. What do you think, Sadie?”
"Ash, we are never going to get out of here now."
"Sure, we are. I could call someone and complain that the staff wasn't being professional or they can take us to where we are supposed to be going."
The plane started within a minute and we never saw the crabby lady until it was time to eat or drink. We flew for hours, lots of hours. I slept on and off to try and kill time, but I was too excited to stay asleep. The last time I woke up and looked out the window, water was under us.
"Where are we going, Ash? The ground is gone." He laughed at me looking out his window.
"Yes, Sadie, the ground is in fact, gone."
"You’re still not going to talk?"
"Not about where we are or where we are going. Anything else you want to know and it’s yours."
"How did you cancel all my appointments without me knowing?"
"I called your boss. All the people from your work helped. Every one of your clients were willing to be pushed back for a week, if it meant I could surprise you like this."
"But my book looked the same?"
"They copied your appointments onto a second book."
"You’re pretty awesome, you know that?"
"I do."
"Since I have zero idea where we are, can you at least tell me how much longer?"
"The last time you slept, I asked. So I would say” he looked down at his watch "in about 20 more minutes."
I sat straight up in my seat. "Really? I am so excited!" I couldn’t help but clap my hands and jump up and down. Ash's faced morphed into a very happy one.
"That right there, made all of this worth it."
"I am going to show you just how worth it, as soon as we get to where we are staying."
"That is what I'm counting on. If not, I'm showing you. Either way, it’s on."
The crabby lady came out to tell us to fasten our seat belts and prepare for landing. I looked out of the window again and saw land. Thank God. I was tired of being on a plane, private or not.
After we landed, I finally learned where we were. Due to a man greeting us saying, "Welcome to Fiji." My jaw dropped and I turned back t
o Ash, "Fiji? Are you kidding me? Holy shit!"
"I think I'm enjoying this even more than you."
"That's not possible. This is incredible!"
"We aren’t done yet."
"What do you mean, we're not done? Are we not staying here?"
"You will just have to wait and see."
"Oh my God! I'm dying here."
"Please, don't. I kind of like having you around."
A woman walked up to Ash and said something I couldn’t hear. He responded and then took my hand. "Come on, princess. It’s time to go see what's next."
I gladly accepted his hand and followed him to a car waiting outside for us. Several men were filling the trunk with our luggage. Ash put me in the car first. He then followed me and closed the door.
"This next part is going to be a blast."
"I know. I shouldn’t even ask. I'm finally catching on"
Ash leaned over and kissed me, confirming my answer. We rode in the car for another half an hour before we came to a stop. The driver came around to open the door and the first thing I saw was the most beautiful water I have ever seen. The color of it was so blue, it was almost green. Aqua would be the perfect description. The sand was white. Not yellow or brown, but pure white. I couldn’t move. It was amazing.
"Sadie. Honey, you need to get out of the car if you plan to enjoy the trip."
His voice snapped me out of the trance I was in.
"Sorry. I kind of got lost in thought."
I stepped out of the car and the wind and smell of the ocean hit me. Amazing, did not do this justice. No words could. Ash was at my side in seconds and he grabbed me to pull me to him. Standing there with Ash was a perfect moment in time. Another man, other than the driver, walked up and shook Ash’s hand. He said everything was ready when we were. Ash looked down at me and said, "You ready to do this?"
"I have never been more ready for anything in my life."
We walked down a path that led us eventually to a helicopter pad. Did you hear me? A freaking helicopter pad! I was lost once again. I turned to ask Ash and then decided there was no point. He was not telling me a thing. To be honest, I kind of loved it that way. Surprises generally suck. This one just seemed to get better and better. We walked over to the man standing there waiting, obviously for us. He held his arm out directing us to board. We got in and sat down, meanwhile my heart rate quickened. I clinched onto Ash’s hand. He looked down at me, still beaming that beautiful smile of his. The pilot got in after securing our bags. He started it and the blades began to turn. I have never done something so crazy in my life. Two seconds later, we were off the ground and flying over the ocean again. The sun was beginning to set, making everything look beyond perfect. The helicopter ride itself could easily be measured as my favorite part up until this point. Everything looked like a post card. A chunk of land was ahead and it seemed we were going straight for it. I waited to see if we were going to turn, but we never did. On the back side was a concrete pad that the driver landed us on. After he cut the engine, the pilot got out, walked around to open the door and reached for my hand to help me out. As I was stepping onto the concrete he said, "Welcome to your island."
Finding Solace Page 41