Her Secret

She was checking the list; bags at door, fridge cleaned out, and neighbours would check mail. Okay all seems done. Their first chance in months to have a couple of days together and she was going to surprise him. She had booked them a night at a hotel, dinner in the restaurant, a chance to relax and unwind.

7am so he should be home shortly and after he had a cup of coffee and a shower they could head off and escape the daily grind and have some quality time.

8am and still no sign of him. Well she wasn’t surprised.. sometimes he had to work overtime and would call when he could. 2 years of marriage had educated her to the flexible lifestyle they had to lead. His job meant she often ended up going to events by herself and never made plans too far ahead.

9am he called and gave her the bad news. Yes he had to work overtime. An incident had occurred and they were short staffed and he wasn’t sure what time he would get home.

9:15am… she carried the bags back to the bedroom and unpacked.
9:30am popped into neighbours and advised that she wouldn’t need the mail checked
9:45am put the kettle on and make a coffee
10am having finished the rant and rave of another trip cancelled and having vented her frustration as to her surprise having been cancelled she decided time to cheer up and see what if anything on the television might be worth watching.

10:15am nothing but news on the television.. no great dramas so time just to put the feet up and read a book.

Noon… she must have really needed the catnap. Feeling like she was not yet in the land of the living she wandered back to the kitchen and turned on the kettle. No he hadn’t arrived home as yet… well he would be tired when he arrived… She realised she hadn’t called the hotel to cancel their booking.. she hoped they would understand and let her reschedule yet again…

2pm and she heard his car pull into the driveway… he was looking like death warmed up and in that land of the walking dead…
“sorry love, just couldn’t get away”. He was using the wall to lean against.. she guided him towards the bedroom and made sure he had a shower and tucked him into bed. Before she even got to the bedroom door he was already snoring.

9pm a figure appeared in the lounge… he was walking but the brain was certainly not awake… she guided him to the couch and headed to the kitchen to get him a coffee and something to eat.

9:30pm Having had his fill and the brain had finally awoken he now realised that the day was over and he actually had two days off. Two whole day, luxury after the past few weeks. Time to take control
He had been as quiet as a church mouse when he woke up and had packed their bags and managed to get them into the car without waking her. Rechecking his list, he had made a phone call and checked the hotel still had the booking. She had looked so calm curled up on the couch, she must have dosed off waiting for him to wake up. He just had to work out how to get her into the car so they could head off..He made sure as he made a few noises to wake her up that he gave the best performance of still being really tired and not really with it.

11pm having successfully negotiated getting her into the car, and having made a couple of quick phone calls he had organised the neighbours to check mail and yet had a nagging feeling they were laughing at him… maybe he was more tired than he realised… paranoia was setting in.

She hadn’t really said too much… he must have sounded strange telling her he wanted to go out for something to eat. Late at night and bundled her as quickly as he could into the car and headed off. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could fool her as they continued their drive.

“so just where are we going for dinner” her question filtered through his thoughts…
‘ah. Mmm well “ he wasn’t sure, didn’t want to really spoil the surprise but what else could he do
‘the guys at the station mentioned a place not far from here. So thought we should try it’

1am “just why are we are here’ she asked
“well, I ..hmmm well, wanted to surprise you.. I know we didn’t get away for our anniversary last month and haven’t had time for us so I booked us a couple of nights here.” He paused.

She leaned over and kissed his cheek.. Yes there had been times when she hated his job, the shift work was frustrating and there were times she really wasn’t sure why she put up with it all. But it was times like this that she knew it was all worth it. No she wouldn’t tell him of her original booking for staying here at the hotel and how she had discovered when trying to reschedule he had also made a booking. It would be her secret. She would let him believe he had managed to surprise her.


Thanks for taking the time to read this short piece. I welcome any feedback whether negetive or positive... its the only way to learn.