The picnic table was beginning to seem like a good idea. Despite all his efforts, he couldn't keep the blanket from wrinkling up and coming up from the corners. The wind seemed to have a niche for finding its way under the blanket and pushing the corners up into the breeze. For all her excited wriggling, he couldn't keep the blanket spread out very well. He thought for a moment and just decided that it really did not matter so much. She looked far too breathtaking lying there on the blanket. He hadn't the heart to ask her to move to a cement table. Besides, he was comfortable lying there with her in the sun.
He and she had planned on having a picnic before, but life always seemed to intervene. The hastle of everyday chores left sparce time for such things. He had never given up on the idea; he had made her a promise. That was that. No promise made to her would be broken by him. Not without a fight.
He had to be sly. The best way to succeed in his quest was by stealth. He would make the plans for their outing a secret.
He began by going to a store he knew she frequented and buying her a sundress. She wasn't really a 'sundress person', but he thought the dress was a fine speciman. He also knew that if he gave her enough puppy dog faces that she would wear it for him.
The next item of business was a grocery list. He went to a local little wine and cheese shop to get something for them to snack on. He picked up several different types of cheese that he knew she had never had, not to mention a few that he knew they both enjoyed. He escaped the shop with only one bottle of wine. It was a nice selection, a dark red wine that the owner had recommended over everything else.
He knew that a picnic with her would be incomplete without a large selection of fresh fruit. He made the necessary stop by a fruit stand to pick up what he knew she would like. A few fresh apples, pears, mangos, peaches. He found some luncheon meat and some really nice tomatoes that he absolutely must have. All this went home with him and into a picnic basket. The basket was very very large so he fit a small cooler inside it. He wanted everything to be nice and fresh. He made sandwhiches; he sliced fruit. He packed a couple of wine glasses into the basket(along with a few beers and wine coolers just in case the wine went south). After he had everything ready and she was due to arrive home from work he snatched up an old blanket and tucked it away in his truck. In went the basket full of goodies; her dress was laid out on her bed.
She walked inside the house with the air of someone who is glad to be home. She lay her keys on the table and went upstairs to change out of her work clothes. On her bed was a dress she didn't recognize, along with a card. She picked it up and read it. "A little dress, a lot of wine, and a world of fresh air: a pass for two."
She had instantly liked the dress. He could tell by the glowing smile that had covered her face. She had been so excited to finally be going on a picnic! She could hardly contain her giddiness. She was radiant in the dress, and her mood was instantly contagious.
Now they lay here together. The sun was no longer out, but the day was still very pleasant. They had spread the blanket out next to an old oak tree. He had sat down on the edge of the blanket; she lay on her side next to him. He couldnt get over how beautiful she looked.
She had allowed him to feed her with his hands. Little peices of cheese, a few bites of sandwhich, almost all the fruit. She had scolded him playfully for having forgotten her popsicles, but it was all in fun. The wine had been a success; he and she both had adored it. The bottle was almost three-quarters empty. They just lay there drowsily talking a little, sometimes just holding hands. Neither paid much attention to the weather up abover their heads.
It started to raining gently in the meadow. A soft slow rain that sounds like music when falling on a tin roof. The kind of rain that can sooth the mind. He put all the food into the basket and stowed it away in the truck. He walked over and offered her a hand so that he might help her up. The most evil little grin formed on her face, and she took his hand and dragged him down onto the wet blanket. He lay their beside her huffing and puffing, still with his hand in hers.
He noticed how the rain fell across her forehead; how it rolled over her lips. It looked so soft there, on her lips. They were both now drenched there, laying on their blanket. He looked over her, taking notice of how the rain had brought the form of her dress to an even more astounding shape. She was the essence of seduction there, laying beside him on the blanket.
She crawled over and began to kiss him. His mind swam with a overwhelming urge to hold her. They made love on that blanket, in the rain. Afterward, when the day had given way to night, they still lay there. They formed shapes of the clouds, names for the stars. Soon the night opened up the doorway for morning. They awoke in each others arms. The drive home was short, and the trek to the bedroom was even shorter.