She had no idea he was going to be waiting in her front yard. In fact, it would have been the last thought on her mind. After all, she lived in Boise and he lived in Tucson and they had only ever joked about getting together.
He had been in Boise for a couple of days now, making sure he knew her routine. She had only seen pictures of him, lots of pictures of him, but he was fairly certain she would recognize him if she saw him, so he kind of stayed in the shadows, secretly flanking her for two days now. He felt pretty confident he wouldn't be discovered. After all, she wouldn't even suspect she was being followed. It wouldn't even occur to her.
He felt a little peculiar though, like he was doing something wrong. He wasn't a stalker but it did feel like he was stalking her or something like that. Overall, he was certain she'd be happy to see him, but still, he did feel like he was doing something wrong, and if anyone was actually watching his moves over the last two days, they'd have pegged him as a stalker. Oh well, he reassured himself, all this silliness should be over by suppertime.
They had met several months ago in an Internet chat room and had actually become quite good friends. They had spoken to each other a lot, both on the Internet and on the telephone. They knew a plenty about each other, and had a very friendly, very open relationship...healthy on all accounts. They knew about each other's jobs, some family stuff, likes and dislikes, etc. They had become fairly close, all things considered. Hell, they had even had cybersex more than once, both realizing if you can overcome the awkwardness and embarrassment of that, meeting in real life should be a piece of cake. They had laughed together over this revelation.
They were both passionate individuals, and sadly, both fairly lonely. Each tried hard to hide this reality from the other, but sometimes things slipped through. They knew each other well enough to know they weren't really fooling the other.
Over the last two days he had followed her from her house to her office, and then to her lunch spot and back to her office, and finally back to her house. For two days now, the same routine. He was glad for that. It had been a little tricky for him since he had never been to Boise before, but thank god it hadn't snowed in the last two days. He wasn't certain he'd be able to drive in it, let alone follow her without losing her.
Today he was going to finally let her know he was in town...that he was there to see her...to be with her. He was going to be standing outside her house when she got home from work. It was Thursday so he was hopeful she wasn't going to be going out with friends after work, but if she did he'd just wait for her until she got home. Although he did prefer she get home in the daylight. He didn't want to frighten her, or get pepper spray in his eyes.
He knew she carried a small canister on her key chain and it wasn't just there for looks. Oh well. He had his fingers crossed. He got out of his rental car and paced back and forth on the sidewalk in front of her house. If the routine of the last two days was any indicator, she'd be pulling up in a couple of minutes.
***
As she pulled into her driveway she wondered who this man was, sauntering down her sidewalk, his back toward her, heading to the corner. She instinctively got her mental guard up and as she grabbed her purse from the passenger seat also gripped her pepper spray comfortably in her left hand.
As her car door opened he stopped and turned around. From about 30 feet away he was uncertain if she knew who he was. Her red hair and pretty face shone beautifully under the setting sun. He flashed a huge grin at her but still he didn't think she knew who he was.
"Hi Renni," he said loud enough for her to hear him.
"Travis?" She was in disbelief, but at least he now knew she recognized him.
"In the flesh," he said and grinned again. As he continued to walk toward her she set her purse and keys down on the car seat and met him halfway. They embraced in a true lovers hug, and he lifted her off her feet as he squeezed her into him.
"Oh my god," she said excitedly, "what are you doing here?"
He kissed her square on the mouth, much to her delight, and then said, "I just wanted to surprise you!"
As they walked toward her car she assured him she was surprised...shocked in fact. Her heart was racing and her creamy white face was flush. She gathered her belongings from her car and they headed up the steps to the front door of her house.
She stopped on the landing of her front porch. "Um, do you have a car here? Did you bring any bags or suitcases, or did you just show up empty handed?"
He motioned to the rental parked across the street. "I figured I could get a hotel room nearby..." he didn't get to finish when she interrupted him.
"Go grab your stuff, silly," she said with a smile.
She unlocked her house and walked in as he hurried back to his car to grab his bag and laptop computer. As she walked into her house she leaned back against a wall and just grinned, clasping her hand and bringing them up to her chest. She could not believe he was here. What a perfect surprise, she thought, as she unbuttoned her coat. What a perfect surprise.
***