Elevator Valentines

Eileen rolled over to face Tad again. He was still on his side facing her, eyes closed. She saw Tad in a new light. He seemed much younger, now. Eileen reached over and placed her hand on his chest. His breath caught for just a second. Eileen's body lit up like she'd been plugged in. This isn't fair, she thought. He enjoys when I touch him. My body goes haywire when he touches me.

Tad barely moved as she caressed his chest. His respiration remained slow, even, relaxed. She was just about to ask if he was awake when she felt his erection brush up against her. What could she do to balance the scales tonight, she wondered? Eileen smiled when she got an idea.

'Don't move a muscle,' Eileen whispered. She slid down the bed, took hold of his erection and caressed it softly. She kissed and licked the head. Tad flinched and sighed when her lips encircled the head of his cock.

It was the night before Valentine's Day. Tad was due home late this evening after a business trip had taken him out of town for a few days. He had called earlier when she was in a meeting and left a message. His travel was on schedule. Eileen had worked late again. A new case file no longer meant only mind-numbing hours on Westlaw, but she was still an associate. The hours were still long.

Tad had recently asked Eileen to live with him, but she hadn't answered. In a way, it made sense. She spent most nights there. It was much closer to work, they could easily walk it together on nice days. But she was hesitant. Her parents were old-fashioned about cohabitation. While the rest of their contemporaries were living together and having children without getting married, they lived apart all through college. They didn't set up house until they returned from their honeymoon. Things were different now, they knew. But they would be crushed if she moved in with Tad.

It was seven-thirty when she pressed the button to call the elevator. Only a couple of minutes passed before the doors opened. Eileen pressed the G button, put down her briefcase, and leaned against the wall. The elevator stopped after a couple of floors and the doors opened. Eileen's eyes opened wide when Tad stepped onto the elevator. There was something about his appearance that looked familiar. Then she realized that he looked almost exactly as he did the day they met, a year ago. Except he was clean-shaven. 'Hi, honey,' he said as he hugged her.

Eileen's entire body lit up when he hugged her and kissed her cheek. It still drove her crazy that even after a year, Tad's slightest touch set her body aglow. She hoped he had the same effect when she was ninety. The elevator started down before they separated.

'I didn't think you were getting home until late!' Eileen greeted him.

'I took an earlier flight. I wanted to surprise you,' Tad said, his familiar lop-sided grin looking down at her.

The lights on the elevator blinked several times and went out. The elevator jerked to a stop. A year after meeting Tad, Eileen found herself standing in a dark, unmoving elevator with him.

'Crap,' she said. "Not again!'

'Well, last time wasn't so bad,' Tad said in the dark. 'If it hadn't happened, we'd never have met.'

'That's true, Tad. But I'd still rather start Valentine's Day elsewhere,' Eileen said, clearly exasperated.

Eileen heard Tad pick up the phone. After a moment he said, 'Phone's dead,' as he returned it to its cradle.

Eileen leaned into Tad and said, 'Weah,' mimicking a comedic version of an infants' cry.

Tad laughed. 'Well, care to sit with me while we wait to get rescued?'

Eileen sighed and took off her coat. Tad took his phone out of his pocket and activated the flashlight app. They sat side-by-side. Eileen thought Tad seemed a little too cheerful. But a smile was his nearly perpetual expression.

'Hungry?' Tad asked, as he took a box of protein bars out of his bag, followed by a bag of gorp, and the steel water bottle.

Eileen looked at him suspiciously. This Déjà vu sensation seemed fishy.

'What's going on, Tad?' Eileen asked.

Tad looked at her, trying to feign innocence. But the look on Eileen's face told him she wasn't buying it.

'What do you mean?' he asked. Eileen glared at him. He knew someday, he'd have to figure out how to resist that look. But now wasn't the time. 'Well, there is this, too.'

Tad handed Eileen a card and a small, flat rectangular box wrapped in red tissue. Eileen opened the card. She read the humorous and slightly suggestive card and smiled inwardly. She looked up at Tad, curiously, having no idea what was in the box. She unwrapped the package and read 'Tiffany and Co.' on top of the blue box. Inside the box was a necklace with a small gold and enamel pendant in the shape of a butterfly. It exactly matched the earrings she wore on their first date.

Eileen smiled at Tad. 'I love it!', she cried. She carefully removed the velvet-covered insert from the box, wanting nothing more than to wear her gift immediately. A folded paper fell out of the box onto the floor. 'You goof! You left the receipt in the box.'

'No, I didn't. It's in my wallet,' he responded. 'What is that?'

Eileen picked up the paper and unfolded it. It was a receipt from Tiffany. It had Tad's name on it. It read, 'Deposit, engagement ring.' Eileen looked up at Tad, speechless.

'If your answer is yes, we'll pick it out together,' he said simply. 'Will you marry me?'

Tad was shocked when she punched him in the arm. 'You engineered this elevator thing to propose?'

Tad grinned sheepishly. 'Guilty,' was all he said.

Eileen jumped on him and held him tightly. 'Yes! Now get us out of here.'

As if on cue, the lights came on and the elevator began descending. A security guard was removing a barricade when the doors opened. He smiled a question at Tad. Tad just smiled back.