Lucy and I had been married for twenty years. The last five had been rough in parts; we hadn't been unfaithful or anything, but there had been arguments. The kind that don't get resolved by bedtime. The kids were older now, even self sufficient, but work and finance had been a nightmare. It was time to reinvest, to reinvest in ourselves before it was to late.
As a start I booked a beach side hotel, it's an hour from our city and we took ourselves there early in the day. Getting away had been traumatic in its own way; the kids, usually so placid, had played up. The journey had been full of self questioning, should we just cancel and try again another weekend. Added to that the September day was just grey.
Even as I pulled up short of the hotel, there was still unease in the air. As I headed the car for the carpark a wedding car pulled up and seconds later a new bride and groom tumbled out. It was corny, but it shifted the mood. Young and full of hope, their image transformed us. We looked into each other's eyes and talked briefly of our own wedding day.
Magically the sun came out too.
I burst the bubble of optimism, "l hope we are not above the dance floor."
Lucy smiled and replied, "Wedding crashing and a dance might just fit the bill."
I parked and we wandered in. Beth, from her name tag, on Reception made us very welcome and informed us our room was ready. I asked, "Does it have a view over the sea?".
Beth responded, "We saw your request on the booking. It's all sorted."
She gave me a knowing wink that Lucy missed. I relaxed, I had put a couple of bits in place to set the mood and Lucy was about to start finding out. I picked up our overnight bags and set off to our room, following Lucy the key master.
Lucy opened the door and as we entered the smell of fresh flowers was obvious. Yellow lilies filled a vase, just as I had planned. Lucy soaked them up with her gaze and turned, there were tears in her eyes. It was all I could do to say, "I think we have the wrong room."
Lucy punched me in the chest and then hugged me. We exchanged sweet endearments. Lucy explored further opening the doors onto the balcony. The sun was still holding its own in between the clouds. On the ornate metal table in a silver bucket full of ice nestled a half bottle of Champagne. Two glasses were cosseted in white linen serviettes.
Lucy looked at me and said, "Definitely the wrong room."
I cracked open the bottle and filled two glasses, "Let's have a great night. You deserve it."
We took in the view of the seafront and the waves rolling in on the shingles. A few windsurfers were out playing in the waves. A couple of minutes later and with our glasses practically drained we were chased back inside by a rain shower that started suddenly. We downed the remains of our glasses and hugged. I suggested exploring the town. We did just that, holding hands as we walked in the streets. The smell of the sea in the air. Lucy spotted a second hand bookshop and ducked in. The smell changed dramatically to that of musty books as I entered. Lucy disappeared down a row of bookshelves and I steeled myself for a long visit, anticipating that she would pore over a number of volumes. I was wrong, she reappeared a minute later and said, "Buy me this."
She thrust me a disheveled copy of "Romeo and Juliet". I, of course, said, "Are you sure? That was quick."
Never one to miss a double entendre Lucy quipped, "Well let's hope I'm no setting a precedent."
The day was taking a very pleasant direction. I hustled the price down with the owner who had seen the romantic exchange and wanted £20 for the book. I was pleased to get it for £10, but knew I was still over paying.
We went to find a beach side café. We walked for almost half a mile before we found anywhere. The place was deserted. The unfaithful weather had seen off the other tourists, chased them away or back to their hotels. The "Squid and Olive Café" has a view of the sea and a pleasant feel. We ordered coffee and cakes. We sat and looked over the beach. I read a few bits from the book to Lucy. It could not have been more idyllic. We stayed awhile, another squall of rain passed through. We decided to make for the hotel via the beach.
Full of cake we wandered back along the beach and collected some Cuttle fish to take home for the chickens. Pleased with out treasure we arrived back to the hotel. Once there Beth, the receptionist made a fuss of us and asked, "Do you have any plans for dinner? You see the restaurant is booked solid until 9pm and the function room is full with the wedding."
Lucy started to look disappointed, I jumped in, "So any suggestions Beth?".
Right on queue Beth said, "Well we do have one room. It's a garden room off to the side of the hotel. It's certainly private. We could serve you there?".
This is actually an exclusive part of the hotel and I had booked it specifically. Beth and I underplayed it.
I said, "Let's go for it."
Lucy seemed a little unsure, but consented on hearing that there was a Chiminea to keep off the autumn cool. Heading to the room I asked, "What now?".
Lucy responded, "I hope that cake has gone down."
I thought my luck was in, but I had misunderstood.
"Gym time", was Lucy's announcement.
I watched as she stripped off her shorts and blouse. Her bra was suddenly gone too. I stared on, admiring her body. She had kept her trim body toned and her abs were smiling at me. Becoming conscious of my gaze she turned away to remove her merino knickers. "Pervert", she said out loud.
I simply let out a whistle and said mournfully, "Must we go to the gym?".
She didn't reply. She pulled on her shorts, a sports bra and a top. I quickly changed too. As we finished tying our laces and both stood up, Lucy pulled me to her and for the first time in ages spontaneously kissed me passionately. She wrapped a leg around me and stated, "Keep this up and you might get lucky."
There was a twitch in my pants that Lucy felt. She pushed me away and said, "Not that lucky. Down boy."
We headed off to the gym. I grabbed our swimming bag and a pair of robes in case we fancied the pool. Once down at the gym we threw ourselves into a thirty minute interval session, followed by a cross fit type workout. Needless to say we were both bathed in sweat, our clothes sticking to us. Lucy looked amazing. She was getting admiring glances from the other male patrons as she had dispensed with her top. The short, shorts and sports bra combo were working a kind of magic. Lucy knew what was going on and flashed me occasional cheeky smiles as she leant over or stretched.