by Steven Wolff
*Zzzztttttt Zzzztttttt* Anica's phone vibrates with a new text from Mark.
“It works! Yay!!!” Anica says with a big grin as she saves his number.
Mark's joy turns to sadness as he sees his bag coming around the corner. That means their time is almost up.
“Do you see your bag?” Mark asks.
“Yeah, mine's the one with the pink ribbon tied to the handle.”
Mark grabs it and lifts it off for her.
“Thank you, my good gentleman.” She says.
“Just don't forget to leave a tip,” Mark jokes.
“We'll see.” Anica smiles wickedly.
They walk toward the doors and several vacant cabs are parked with the drivers opening the door for them.
“May I take your bags sir?” One of the cab drivers asks. Mark hands him his bag that is taken and placed in the trunk.
“And you ma'am, will you be sharing the ride?”
Anica frowns that she won't be going with him, as much as she wants to.
“No, I need to be going to this address.” She hand the cab driver a slip of paper with her hotel's name and address. The driver hands it to the other cab driver in line who quickly loads her bag in the trunk and then gets in the car. Anica turns and faces Mark, wrapping her arms around his neck. He wraps both arms on her hips.
“I guess this is good bye, for now.” Anica says.
“Not good bye. See you later. Good bye means you're not seeing me again.”
Anica smiles. “You're right; I'll see you later this evening. Too bad we didn't book at the same hotel.”
“Something tells me if we did, we'd never get anything done.” Mark jokes.
Anica stands on her tiptoes so her lips can reach his. She gives him a soft, gentle kiss, not wanting to break the kiss for fear of forgetting how wonderful it feels. Mark responds by grabbing her body and pulling her close to him, embracing her passionately for several long minutes before one of the cab driver yells, “COME ON YOU TWO… GET A ROOM OR GET IN. I DON'T HAVE ALL DAY”.
They part, both laughing and embarrassed.
They hug each other tight as Anica closes her eyes and cherishes the feeling of his big, manly arms embracing her. She stands there and watches Mark get in the cab, as he is driven away. Anica takes a deep breath and lets out a big sigh before getting into her cab.
“You on vacation?” asked the driver, making small talk.
'Vacation? What vacation? Oh yeah!' Anica remembers she's on vacation.
“Yeah, you can say that.” She says with a smile as she looks out the window.