He stood there with a bouquet of roses and a smile. He was wearing a white dress shirt and gray slacks. His hair was combed perfectly and he looked as happy as could be.
“Hi, beautiful,” he said.
“Oh, my God, Jacob,” I squealed, as I lunged toward him. “I can’t believe you’re here! I thought you weren’t getting in until three.”
I jumped up and wrapped my arms over his neck.
“There was less traffic than I expected,” he said. “Plus, I was driving fast. I wanted to get here as quickly as possible.”
Jacob set the roses on the counter and then cradled me in his arms. He gazed into my eyes as he leaned in for a kiss. Our lips collided. It was deep and passionate, the kind of kiss you give someone when you haven’t seen them in way too long. We made for a while, before I finally pulled away.
“I missed you,” I told him breathlessly.
Jacob set me down on the floor and put his hands on my hips, still holding me close. “I missed you, too. I can’t tell you how happy I am to have you in front of me right now.”
He leaned forward and kissed me again. I was so happy that he had shown up early, even though I clearly wasn’t
ready for his arrival. When he pulled back, I reached up and tried to straighten out my hair with my fingers.
“Sorry I look like a total mess,” I said. “I just got out of the shower.”
“You look beautiful,” he said. “As always.”
“Can you give me a few minutes to get ready?” I asked.
“Of course. Take your time,” he replied. “There’s no rush.”
“Okay, make yourself at home. The couch is pretty comfy and we have Wi-Fi here. I won’t be long,” I told him. “I just need to get dressed and put on some makeup.”
“Sounds good,” he said with a grin.
Jacob stepped over to the living room and plopped down on the couch. I was giddy as I went back to my room to get ready. My strange day, which had started off with me throwing up, was now infinitely better since Jacob was there with me.
I didn’t waste much time. I straightened my hair and put on my makeup. Then I got dressed in my best-fitting jeans and silk blue blouse. When I stepped back into the living room, Jacob’s eyes lit up.
“Whoa,” he said.
I stepped over and sat next to him on the couch. His eyes were still locked on my body. I placed my finger underneath his chin and lifted his face until his gaze met mine.
“Hey, mister. I’m up here,” I said, with a playful smile.
“I don’t mean to stare, but you look incredible. A sight for sore eyes, that’s for sure,” he said. “I seriously missed you.”
Snuggling next to him on the couch helped to put me at ease. The ball of anxiety and stress that had built inside of me over the previous six weeks was instantly starting to dissolve. His presence was good medicine for me.
“Thanks for coming all the way up here to see me,” I said. “Did you have a good drive?”
“Yeah, the drive was good. It went by pretty fast,” he replied. “Driving into town wasn't actually as bad as I remember, so that's good.”
“I'm so glad you're here.” I snuggled into him a little more. “This is the first weekend I’ve had off from work in a while, so I plan on enjoying it thoroughly.”
Jacob’s eyes lit up and he faced me. “Speaking of work, did you find out the results of the competition yet?”
“I did,” I said. I had to struggle to keep my face straight. I didn't want to give it away yet. It was just too good.
“And…?”
“Let’s go get lunch and I’ll tell you what happened,” I said.