Uncharted

8 a.m. came way to fast.

By the time my alarm clock began singing, it felt like I had finally fallen into a deep, rejuvenating sleep. I reached my arm out to turn the damned alarm off, but another hand hit the button before I could reach it. In my tiredness, I had almost forgotten that Jonny was pressed against my back, sleeping just as soundly as I was. As his arm drew away from the clock, he pulled me closer into his body, making the thought of getting up even harder to swallow.

"Don't go," he muttered into my hair.

"I don't want to," I responded, closing my eyes once again and hoping I could slip back to sleep. However, that pleasant thought was rudely interrupted by my phone ringing on the nightstand. I heard a groan escape me, as well as Jonny as I shifted and reached for my phone. Of course, it was bridezilla.

"Bailey Monroe," I chimed, trying to sound as awake as possible. It was obvious I failed as the bride spoke.

"You're still in bed?!" she shrieked. "I need you to meet me at the church in TEN minutes."

I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could, my phone was snatched from my hand. Turning my head quickly, I looked at Jonny, who was now speaking. "I'm really sorry, but Bailey isn't going to be able to make it today."

I heard an unholy chorus of screams from the other end of the phone, and I could feel my eyes widen at the thought. I could lose my job over if this bride wasn't magically thrilled. Jonny, however, didn't seem worried in the slightest. "I mean, she can show up if you'd like, but I'd hate to hear that some beautiful bride got the flu on her wedding day."

The word flu seemed to be magical. There was another bit of a rant on the other end of the phone before Jonny hit the end call button and handed me the phone back.

"What did you do?" I questioned, sitting up in my bed and running a hand over my forehead.

Yawning, he rolled onto his back and folded his hands under his head. "Just got you off of work for the day."

"Why?!" I practically screamed before throwing the covers from my legs and darting towards my closet. I couldn't afford a day off. "Mr. Allred is going to kill me if he finds out that I can't meet her. There's no one else who knows that client like I do. Her wedding is in four days! I have to b..."

My words were knocked off when I turned around and Jonny's lips found mine. It didn't take long for me to be back into a corner, hands running over his neck and hair. As much as I wanted to pull away, and scream, and fight, I couldn't. The fact that I couldn't physically move backwards thanks to the wall, along with the fact that I didn't want to, made it impossible. Finally, Jonny pulled himself away and placed his forehead to mine. "You deserve a day off," he said softly, looking me right in the eye.

"I can't afford a day off," I sighed.

Jonny took a step back. I could tell he was upset, but I didn't know what else to do.

"I just thought you'd want to spend the day together. Coach Q gave us the day off since we dominated on our road trip," his voice was drenched in sadness, and I couldn't take it.

"I want to," I began, taking a small step from the wall, but stopping short of him. "In four days, I'm all yours." As much as I wanted to finish this statement, I couldn't. The sad look on his face was enough to make me stop. Grinding my teeth finally, I nodded. "Fine, fine! You win."

That's all it took for Jonny to wrap his arms back around me and swing me through the air.

---

"Where are we going?"

We had been driving for nearly ten minutes now, and I was still uninformed as to where we were heading. Jonny had been cryptic about our destination ever since we hopped into the car. My hand sat idly in his as we drove down the road, and my eyes never left the window. I had a sick sense of paranoia that either the bride of Satan, or Mr. Allred would randomly appear on the street, see my car, and fire me on the spot. However, none of the faces I could make out where those of my boss or the bride. When we finally exited the city, I felt a bit better.

"It's a surprise," Jonny chimed as we left the city behind.

"You know I hate surprises."
"Which is precisely why I force them upon you."
"That makes absolutely no sense, I hope you know."

Jonny couldn't help but laugh at my words before he kissed the back of my hand. "I'm trying to take away your control," he explained. "The less that you have control over is more that I do. You don't have to be the event planner twenty-four seven, Bailey, but you try to be. You need to learn to relax and just...have fun."

As much as I wanted to argue, I knew he was right. The planner part of my brain had a terrible habit of taking over, and I didn't know how to make it stop. Instead of asking anymore questions, I squeezed his hand and went back to enjoying the scenery. I was completely lost. When we finally stopped, I was still no closer to figuring out where we were. Standing in front of us was a large, brink building. In a way, it looked like some giant warehouse used to slaughter pigs...or something.

"You haven't driven me out here to kill me, have you?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow at Jonny curiously.

"Not this time," he responded before turning the car off and climbing out.

I didn't even have time to question him before he was around the car and yanking my car door open. "Stay here," he instructed before walking around to the back of my car and popping the trunk. I did as I was told, and didn't move, but I tried to peer around the car to see what he could possibly be getting. Of course, I couldn't see anything. When Jonny finally returned to me, he had a large bag in his hand. "It's for you," he chimed with a smile.

Taking the bag, I slowly began to unroll the top of it. Inside were a pair of ice skates. At first, I was even more confused that before. When my eyes lifted to look back at Jonny, I noticed that his skates were also gripped tightly in his hand. A large smile spread across my lips before I threw my arms around his neck.

An afternoon of ice skating was exactly the relaxation I needed.