CHAPTER EIGHT

"How's your salad?" Sean asked me over lunch.

"Its great. Want some?" I asked with an outstretched fork.

"Naw, its cool. Thanks," he said smiling. I gazed out over the verandah of the small French restaurant. The mountains in the distance shone brightly with the freshly fallen snow. It was beautiful.

"Whatcha thinkin bout?" he asked me inquisitively.

"Nothing in particular. Just about how gorgeous the mountains are," I said with a finger extended in the direction of the large ridges.

"They are gorgeous aren't they?" he asked rhetorically.

I nodded. Just then a small girl probably around 9 approached us. "Hey sweety. Are you lost?" I asked maternally.

The youngster gazed at me with a confused expression invading her face. She seemed to have regained what she had lost previously, as she took a small step towards Sean. She looked right up at him, and took a deep breath. "Mister, may I pl-...pl-..please have your autograph?" she asked quietly.

I smiled and gave Sean a look. He had a concerned, almost frightened look on his face, which puzzled me. "Yes, baby. Let me see your book," he said all while looking at me. Something was weird.

"Thank you Mr. AJ. Me and my friends love your music." She smiled ecstatically, and then ran off. I smiled again at the thought of Sean giving his autograph, and looked up to see Sean gazing at me.

"What?" I said puzzled.

"Nothing," he said quietly, and looked away.

"No, come on now. Tell me. What's up? Who did that little girl mistake you for?" I asked concerned, and curious.

"I dunno. It was cute though. I wouldn't mind doing that more often. I wouldn't mind doing this more often either," he said while leaning over the table to plant a baby kiss on my forehead.

I gave him a skeptical look, and he returned it with an innocent, puppy dog look. Damn. Always worked. "Ok, ok. I believe you!" I said smiling. Eat your food already." I grinned.

"Sounds like a plan!" he said returning my grin.

"Is Victoria there?" Sean said into the telephone receiver. He was carefully planning how he was going to conduct this conversation.

"Yeah, who is this?" Victoria asked wondrously.

"Hey, its me, Sean," he said, still going over the plan in his head. It was going to be hard.

"Hey! What's up?" Vic asked, curious as to why he had called.

"Nothing much. I, um, wanted to uh, talk to you about something," he eventually spat out.

"Yeah? Shoot," Vic said, growing more and more curious as the conversation moved on.

"Well, do you think I could meet you somewhere to talk about it? I'd rather talk about it in person," Sean said hopefully.

"Uh, sure Sean. Is something wrong?" Vic asked concerned.

"Oh, no. Nothing. I just want to talk to you," Sean said unbelievably. "I値l meet you at the Mc Donald's on Hill and Clark in about 15 minutes," he said abruptly, before getting off.

"I wonder what that was all about," Vic thought, as she hopped in her car.

"I wonder how long I'd be put in jail if I killed my neighbor." I sat thinking while trying to study. I had a test the next day in Communications that I was not looking forward to. "I mean, at least there'd be some peace in jail. This was ridiculous," I thought, getting more and more frustrated as time went on. "Why haven't any other neighbors complained??" I wondered. "Oh well, things were going to change, even if I have to strangle him."

My test went ok, my day went ok, and I had a date with Sean to look forward to tonight. All in all, not a bad day. As I sat getting ready, I thought of him. He's so wonderful. I don't believe that I'm ready to settle down, but I've been thinking a lot about the future lately. Sean seems to fit in nicely.

I let my thoughts trail off as I applied my mascara. DING DONG. I retouched up my lipstick quickly and grabbed my purse as I ran to answer the door.

"Hey babe!" I greeted him warmly with a hug.

"Hey girl!" he said, returning my greeting. "You ready to go?" he asked upbeatly, while checking me out, from head to toe. I did the same to him, but I have a feeling I was more discreet about it.

"Of course I am! Cant wait!" I replied pleasantly. He outstretched his arm to me, and I gladly accepted. We walked out to the car, and he complimented me on how nice I look. I was wearing a silver knee length dress with a black cardigan. He opened my door, and escorted me in.

"So where we going?" I asked curiously.

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise," he said mysteriously.

"Oh come on! I値l act surprised then," I pleaded playfully.

"Nope! Nothings working this time babe." He glanced at me.

"Fine," I said, sighing. I smiled at him.

"Oh, almost forgot," he said, while searching in the glove compartment for something. "Ah ha," he said, seeming content now.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Close your eyes," he said imperatively.

"Wh-" He cut me off.

"Come on, just do it," he said laughing. He tied a blind fold around my head.

"What's this for?" I asked.

"I don't want you to see where we are going, or what direction we're headed," he said matter of factly.

"Oh man! I wont look. I promise," I said, slightly fibbing.

"Nope, I know you too well." He shot me a look. "I don't trust you." He smiled.

I sighed. "Ok then, fine!" I said laughing.

We finally arrived at the our destination at around 7:30. He carefully led me out of the car and out to where ever he planned on taking me. "We're almost there babe," he said. I could sense the excitement in his voice and it was exciting me.

"Ok, I知 waiting," I said, letting my voice trail off.

"You wont be waiting much longer, baby," he said slightly squeezing my small hand, in his large one.

The ground beneath me was soft, softer than normal flooring, and it got me thinking. I wondered where I was. I smelt something fresh, and I felt a cold breeze rustle my dress.

He stopped abruptly, and spun me around gently. He stroked my arm, and said, "Here we are." As he kissed my forehead he started to unmask me. Slowly, images started forming. Of where I was, what I was doing, and how incredible Sean was. As I looked around, I saw a single table in the middle of stretches and stretches of beautiful beach. The soft ground I'd felt before was the sand, and the smell, the ocean water. I gazed around at verandah he had set up, and the 4 musicians set up there playing beautiful classical music.

The table was set with 2 long candle sticks, beautiful china, and one long stem red rose. All I could do was stand there, speechless, in awe.

"This is incredible," I managed to choke out.

"I knew you'd like it. I wanted our 1 month anniversary to be special," he said warmly.

I looked at him in shock. He'd remembered and I hadn't! I felt so bad. I was going to go along with it though. "I知 so glad you remembered!" I said embracing him. "This is so special, and I'll remember this forever," I said, staring into his eyes.

That last part wasn't a lie. I would always remember this moment. No guy had ever made this much of an effort to please me. It brought a tear to my eye.

"So will I," he said, returning my stare. He leaned in, and we shared probably our most passionate kiss since we had first started dating. It was full of emotion, of longing, and of contentment.

"Shall we?" He said goofily while taking my hand in his. He pulled out my chair and sat me down in my chair. I was in complete heaven. The beautiful sound of the ocean crashing against the rocks, the sweet smell of the ocean breeze, but best of all, the man sitting across from me, watching my every move, and gauging my reactions to the most wonderful night of my life.

A man in a penguin suit came out of nowhere, and laid a silver platter with a silver lid in front of me. I gave Sean a look, as I wondered what he had in store.

"Go ahead, open it," he said, the excitement building up in his voice like a child on Christmas morning.

I smiled at him shyly, and slowly began to lift the lid up. I quickly put it back down, and said, "This isn't going to make me cry is it?" I gave him a pretend mean look. "Cuz you know I hate crying."

"I'll never break your heart," he said sincerely. "And I'll never make you cry." He grabbed hold of my hand, and continued. "I'd rather die than live without you, I'll give you all of me, Summer, that's no lie." He kissed my hand and smiled at me. I was burning up despite the cold ocean air. I looked down shyly, and when I looked up, Sean was gone.

"This way," he said, from behind me. He grabbed hold of my hand and led me down to the water. He let go of my hands, and starting taking off his shoes. "Well, what are you waiting for?" he asked me coyly.

"You mean, you want me to go in there?" I asked in disbelief.

"Well, yeah! Come on, don't be shy," he said, persuasively.

"But its cold!" I complained. I've had quite a lot of practice whining, and I was hoping I could use my skills to get out of this one.

"Oh come on! Live a little baby!" he said as he approached me.

"What are you gonna do?" I asked cautiously as I started to back away.

"Nothing I wouldn't have persuaded you to do in the end anyways," he said grinning.

"No! Don't you come near me!" I yelled, knowing it was too late already anyways. He grabbed me by my waist and hoisted me above his shoulders. "Put me down Sean! I知 warning you.." I said laughing, but trying to sound serious.

"No way no how babe! You池e goin in!" he screamed back.

He ran with me over his head, maintaining the balance all the while. As we grew nearer to the water, I starting freaking out. With one quick swoosh, we were in...

Chapter 9
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