"Hold
on..." Leo whispered, "You're almost there."
"How much
farther?" I waved one hand out in front of me, while the other held
tightly to Leo's grasp.
"Almost,
just a little farther." Though I was blindfolded, I could hear the smile
in his voice. "I'll tell you when you can look." He continued to
strategically steer me through a maze of trees in the outside woods.
"Okay, and...?" I pressed the matter of his
secret, "What is it?"
"Would you be
patient! You'll see in a minute."
Turning: right,
left, left, right, left again. It felt like we were just walking in circles,
and without my sight, it felt almost sickening. But I knew deep down I could
trust him, even though after a few months of being married, he still
disregarded the fact that I HATED surprises.
"Alright..."
He stopped and tugged at the knot of my blindfold, "You can look
now!" I felt the warmth of the afternoon sunlight beam down on my face as
the blindfold fell away from my now open eyes. My excitement building up since
forever finally released, and I shrieked, "Oh my!"
"So, do you
like it?"
I stared in
disbelief, "Do I like it?" I pointed, not sure what to make of it,
"It's a tree house! A real tree house! ...in a tree!"
"I
know," stepping behind me, he wrapped his arms around my chest in an
affectionate hug, "It's not the most romantic thing ever. But, I built it
myself when you told me you always wanted a tree house, and never got one
growing up." He kissed my cheek, "So, there you go!"
"Awww,
thank you! But... I'm not a kid anymore Leo, don't you think I'm a little too
old for tree houses?"
He squeezed me
tighter, "Nah!"
I shattered into
surprised screams, feeling his fingers seek for my ticklish spots, "Ahhh! Oh
gosh NO! ...Please, stop it!" I was forced into laughter as I struggled to
escape his hold.
Catching the
contagious sound, he laughed with me, "You may be all grown up, but I know
there's a playful part of you in there somewhere!"
I screeched
through my breaths of intense delight, "Nooo!" Unable to hold myself
up anymore, I collapsed to the ground,
Letting me go, Leo bent down on his knees,
meeting me in the cold, leaf covered, ground, "Did I get it out yet?"
Gasping to catch
my breath, I yelled at him, "What the heck?!?"
"I don't
think I've succeeded." He furrowed his eyebrows, "Hmmm... Must I act
on more drastic measures?"
He lifted his
finger, and I jumped in reflex, "Oh, no!" I giggled, and sat up attempting
to shuffle backwards for a safer distance.
"Okay then,"
He smiled, and in that moment, not even the sunlight draping over us could
compare to the feeling of warmth I felt from him, "Just for a few hours,
let's forget all about the problems of this world... the nosy paparazzi, the gossiping
news reporters, and my stressed out agents ...let's live like we're eight years
old again. Who cares if you're 'older' and I'm famous? It'll be fun!"
"I never
said I wouldn't play along! You didn't even gave me the chance to decide! ...It
wasn't fair play."
"Oops
sorry," He flashed me a wink as he offered his hands to help me up... but I
hesitated, questioning the motives behind those fingers and that deceiving grin.
"Don't
worry," He chuckled with amusement, "I'm not gonna touch you."
"You
promise?"
A thoughtful expression
passed over him for a moment, "Uhhh... maybe."
"Maybe?"
I took his hands and let him help me back up to my feet, "What's that
supposed to mean?" I brushed a few leaves off my sweater and raked even
more out of my tangled hair.
"It means,
that it depends on how you behave." His thoughtfulness morphed into a
mocking smirk.
"Oh
please," I smirked back at him and though he was much heavier than me, I
challenged myself to give him the hardest shove I could muster up.
"There she
is!" His face lit up as he nearly tripped, "That's the girl I was
looking for!"
"Really???"
I smiled, thrilled that I had pleased him, "In that case... Race you to
the top!" I took off for the tree house ladder.
"Hey!
That's not fair play!" He lunged after me.
"Oops
sorry," I teased him, "Welcome to my world!"
"Oh, you're
so gonna get it!" He called up after me.
I squealed as I
climbed up into the dead end of the tree house, up here, there was no place to escape
his revengeful tortures.
*****
"So, can I
ask you again?" Leo laid beside me, allowing a moment of truce for me to catch
my breath.
Tangled in his
arms on the tree house floor, I closed my eyes feeling exhausted with defeat,
but at the same time, content. Still, he continued to pester me with
interrogations, "Do you like it? ...This tree house, I mean? After all, I
built it for you."
"Yes,"
I murmured slightly annoyed, "It's very nice."
"Are you
okay?" He laughed at me, "You're not even looking at it."
Although I was tired,
one more weak laugh managed to escape, "Am I okay?" I opened my eyes
and shot him the 'look', "What do you think!?! I'm practically dying here...
remind me again why I married you?"
Though, of course I was exaggerating, I aimed to make him feel guilty.
"Gee, I'm
sorry," He looked almost sympathetic, "But I was just trying to teach
you a lesson."
"Oh brother!" I didn't have the
strength to retaliate, so I ignored his comment and turned my attention to observe
the inside appearance of the tree house. The dark wood panels and the
symmetrically framed windows, it actually wasn't too bad. I decided that I liked
how the outer walls were built around the wild branches growing from the trunk,
it gave a sense of vintage beauty. Almost as if this little structure had been
built here for years, until new branches finally sprouted, and broke
desperately through the walls, searching for sunlight on the other side.
Leo nudged me, "Hello? You still in
there? Or did you drift off to dream-land?"
"Yeessss,"
Still trying to calm down my deep breaths of air, I replied, "I'm still here."
"And?"
He raised his eyebrows as if expecting something from me.
"And
what?"
"You still
haven't answered my question."
"Oh
sorry... Thank you for building this for me, you did a good job. It's just what
I would've wanted." I smiled, breathing in the fresh forest air, soothed
by the sound of leaves rustling in the wind, "I feel like we should just
spend the night in here." I sighed, relaxed, but still aching.
"Yeah,"
He took in a deep breath himself and whispered, "That sounds nice." He
paused, as if a troubling thought occurred to him, "But please don't tell
anyone. It's our little secret, okay?"
"Yeah,
okay." I smiled to myself as a ridiculous image came to mind, "What?!
You don't want the paparazzi showing up on the doorstep of our little tree
house in the morning?"
"Ha, ha,
very funny." He sat up to look at me straight on, "The only thing I
want showing up on this doorstep is you... got that?"
I wrapped my
arms around his neck, pulling him closer, "Yes sir... there's just one
problem."
"What's
that?"
I whispered,
"You brought me here blindfolded Mr." I suppressed a
giggle, "Right now, I have no idea where we are, or how to get back to where we started from... So, I wouldn't
consider that fair play either."
"Oops, sorry,"
He glowed with a playful smile that lit up his blue eyes, "Welcome to my
world."
Written By~Ally Elaine, Edited By~Madge