Escape

Did I feel bad for writing that personal column in the paper? Of course I did! But do I regret doing it? I suppose a little bit now that I have told my lady that I am heading out with friends for the evening. I have been sitting here for ten minutes waiting for my date to arrive. I know it sounds kind of mean, but I have begun to grow tired of my lady. Over the years we have started to fall into the same old dull routine.

Is the date going to come? I look down at my watch, 18:37. 7 Minutes late isn’t too bad, thats fashionably late, women like to be fashionably late. Anyway they have so much to do in preparation for a date that they couldn’t possibly get somewhere on time. 

I see the waitress eying me up. So naturally, I eye her up back, she has a lovely body, curves in the right places, shame about the face though. Thats probably why she has slapped on the makeup like she is in plasterers college. Is plasterers college a thing? 

I know she isn’t eyeing me up to hit on me. Its because I am sitting here alone in her restaurant and haven’t yet ordered food. I booked one of the most expensive restaurants in town, O’Malleys. 

The waitress eyeing me up was beginning to put me on edge, what if the date doesn’t arrive? What if she has got cold feet and made a runner? 

But as I was thinking it I saw the flash of a dress come past the window of the restaurant. It must be her. It was a bright orange dress, flowers glistening in green and red sequins. I felt a buzz of excitement run through me, I felt like a boy bunking off school for the first time.

When she walked in through the door it wasn’t the face I was expecting. I knew her smile in an instant, and the curve of her face. She stopped and stared at me, her face a shifting set of emotions that didn’t seem to stick for more than a second at a time. First it was shock. Then a little bit of false love, the kind of face I had been putting up with for the past year or so. Then anger. Then finally switched back to a slight humoured expression. 

It was my lady. 

She walked to the table where I was sat and the waitress pulled the seat out for her. She didn’t do that for me. I look at her in stunned silence the entire time, is this who replied to my personal column? How has this happened? 

‘Oh it’s you’ she sighed as she pulled in her seat. The waitress shot a glance to the table, her ears perking up at the hint of a rumour that she could spread to the kitchen staff. 

Then suddenly and unexpectedly my lady burst out laughing, her laughter filled with joy and humour. Her laughter quickly became contagious and I felt it overtake me and I joined in. What a strange and outrageous thing to happen, we have been together so long and yet here we are replying to an escape call in a personal column of the paper. But then a question struck me. In the midst of the laughter I stopped and said, ‘I never new you liked Pina Colada!’. The laughter intensified as she grasped her stomach, I could feel the pain too. How long had it been since we had laughed so much? How could I ever have grown tired of this lovely lady? 

‘Yes I like them!’ She smiled breaking through the laughter and managing to stifle it for a moment, ‘I can’t believe you have never asked’ 

‘Two Pina Colada’s please’ I say to the waitress, whose face has now changed from intrigued to a strange mix of happiness and confusion. I could see her begin to chuckle at the scene has she walked to the bar. 

‘And getting caught in the rain I thought you hated that?’ I asked. The laughter had subsided now, we looked deep into one another’s eyes with a new found spark that had been missing for almost two years now. I had almost forgotten how beautiful I found her eyes, especially when they had the cheeky glint they had in them tonight.

‘No, I don’t hate it, I just scream and hope you will hold me tight and kiss me’ she replied. I see her mind drifting to her fantasy of being caught in the rain as she so often did. My lady is a dreamer, she always has been. ‘But instead you say come on then lets go, and stomp off in a hurry’ she laughed, breaking from her dream. 

I return the laugh, ‘I never knew’, the infectious laughter begins to burn back inside of us as the two Pina Colada’s arrive. We clink the coconuts together and sip the first taste of the coconut cocktail. I savour the lovely milky taste as it trickles down my throat and I see her doing the same. I have never seen such pleasure on her face, which definitely would set me back a few steps in bedroom confidence. 

‘And the feel of the ocean!’ I say mid sip of the cocktail. She gives me a look that I am so used to when she doesn’t hear what I am saying. It is usually when I am eating breakfast in the morning, or cleaning my teeth. I put the cocktail down and repeat myself, ‘the feel of the ocean, I never knew’ 

‘Well, that is partly my fault, we never had the money to get to the ocean, but yes I love the feel of it through my toes. Dipping into the cold sea, or sitting on a float with a Pina Colada in hand’ she held her Pina Colada up and we clinked coconuts again, taking a deep swig. 

‘Then there is only one thing for it’ I say after placing my coconut down this time. She looks to me expectantly, the anticipation sparking a childish look upon her face. I smile as I remember some of the times when I have seen the same look flash upon her face. ‘We need to escape’ I say. I look around the restaurant as though it is now the only obstacle holding us back from our dream. 

‘To the dunes of a cape’ she replies. I smile and nod excitedly. I know what that means, I just don’t want to wait until midnight.