“That is a huge invasion of my privacy, Viktor. If I wanted to share that with you, I would have.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry.”
“You must be really stressed,” she said.
“Why do you say that?”
“Because you’re not arguing with me.”
“I guess I have other things on my mind. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I like it when you’re agreeable.”
He laughed. “When am I not agreeable?”
“When I want to pay for things on my own.”
“Oh … well. Yeah.”
“Listen,” she said, changing the subject. “Can we go hiking when you come?”
“Sure.”
“Like serious hiking. You have a backpack and hiking boots, gear?”
“I do.”
“Awesome. I’d really love that before the weather gets too cold.”
“I would love it too,” he agreed. “How’s your mom?”
“She’s okay. Been kind of tired lately. I think maybe she’s trying to do too much.”
“You going to see her this weekend?”
“Yeah. I’m driving up tonight and staying over.”
“Good. Does she need anything?”
"She needs a few things for the house and she’s running low on groceries. I'm going to take her shopping in the morning.”
“Sweetheart, I’m getting another call. I have to take it. Give my love to your mom. I’ll call you later.”
“Okay, love you.”
“Love you too.”
Amanda barely made it to the private airstrip with only a few minutes to spare before Viktor’s plane touched down. She left work early, hoping to surprise him. She navigated to the hanger where his plane would be stationed just as the plane door was opening. She got a text from him telling her that he landed and was on his way. She felt giddy as she waited for him to disembark.
A few seconds later he exited the plane and hurried down the steps carrying a backpack and a duffel bag. He headed straight for the car he ordered, too distracted to see her standing to the side. She quickly walked up behind him as he was handing his bags to the driver. She tapped his shoulder and he turned around. As soon as he saw her an enormous smile flashed across his face and he swept her up in his arms.
“How did you get here?” he asked, delighted that she had surprised him. “You left work early?”
“Yeah, I left a few minutes early. I wanted to be here when you landed. Almost didn’t make it.”
“Where’s your car? I’ll ride with you.” He turned to the driver and handed him a couple hundreds. “Sorry. Won’t be needing you.”
The driver just smiled and thanked him for the generous tip for doing next to nothing. Viktor picked his bags back up and turned to follow Amanda to her car.
“Actually,” Amanda said. “How quickly do you think you could get us to Bangor, Maine?”
“Is that where you want to hike?”
“Small confession. I booked us an all inclusive, two night, three day camping and canoeing expedition. We cast off tomorrow morning.”
Viktor just stared at her for a moment, not knowing if it was a joke.
“I used your credit card,” she added. “Payback for paying my credit card off.”
“Payback?” he grinned. “I’m not sure you understand the concept.”
A huge smile crossed her face. “Yeah, well. I don’t want to hurt you, so that kind of limits my options.”
He couldn’t wipe the smile from his face. “You really booked a camping trip?”
“Hopefully the foliage will be good. We should be hitting peak.”
Viktor didn’t know what to say. He just stood staring at her.
“What do you give the man who has everything?” she said, trying to explain her reasoning. “There’s nothing I can physically buy you that you can’t buy yourself or don’t already own … the one thing I can give you is a memory.”
Without warning, Viktor suddenly kissed her. He dropped his bags and squeezed her tightly as he continued kissing her. After a minute he pulled back and looked in her eyes. “You are amazing.”
“That’s because you’re rubbing off on me,” she replied with a grin.
He was still grinning from ear to ear and felt simply ecstatic at the prospect of enjoying three days canoeing and camping in the woods of Maine with her. “This is by far the best gift I’ve ever received.”
“Oh … pressure,” she nervously joked. “Maybe wait until the trip is over to say that?”
He chuckled. “It doesn’t matter what happens on this trip. The fact that you thought to do this is what really makes me happy.”
“Well, I hope the trip doesn’t suck,” she laughed.
“Nonsense. It’s going to be amazing.” He stroked her hair and kissed her lips. “Let me talk to my pilot.”
An hour later, they were in the air headed to Bangor. Once the plane leveled off, Viktor got up and went to the bar.
“You want something to drink?” he asked.
“What do you have?”
“What do you like? I have just about everything.”
“Everything?”
“Beer, wine, vodka, gin, rum, Kahlua, Sambuca, brandy, whiskey …”
“Okay, okay,” she cut him off. “I get the point.” She joined him at the bar to look over the selection. “Cinnamon liquor sounds interesting.”
“Here, try it.” He poured some in a glass for her.
She took a sip. “Oh my, that’s delicious.”
“You want it like that or you want me to make you a drink?”
“I’ll drink it like this.”
“Want more?”
“Please.” She held out her glass.
He poured her a generous amount and then poured himself a brandy. She was going to return to her spot in the recliner but he grabbed her hand and brought her to the couch where he put his arm around her.
“How was your day?” he asked.
“Hell on earth,” she answered and then gave him a big ironic smile before taking another sip.
“Quit your job,” he said with a tone that didn’t even resemble a request.
“I can’t quit my job,” she responded with a touch of indignation. “How will I pay my bills?”
“Hmm. If only you had a rich boyfriend who was willing to take care of you.”
She shook her head. “I’d lose my health insurance.”
“I’ll buy you health insurance.”
“And my 401K.”
“I’ll put a million dollars in a fund for you.”
“Viktor …”
“2 million.”
“Stop it!” she pushed his arm off of her and
