A Trip Down Memory Lane by Amicia Bianchi (classic fiction .txt) 📕

Okay, I can live with that, "we've seen some houses already and we loved this one the first time we saw it. But I know you, and you change your mind all the time," I made a face.

"I take offense to that," I crossed my arms over my chest.

Giving me a look, "we spent at least an hour this morning because you kept changing your mind on what tie you thought I should wear," he reminded me.

"OK point taken," I relented, "do you always have to have your way?" I grumbled under my breath.

"Not always, just most of the time," he remarked cheekily. "Now, I have gone through the trouble of retrieving the key so that we can have a second look."

I gave him skeptical look, "And Tiffany and Mike don't mind at all," I stated sarcastically. Tiffany and Mike Dubery were friends of our families and had been for years they were the ones selling the house. Although they were practically family didn't mean that they would simply hand over the keys for no reason.

"Of course not, Tiffany said that it was a darling idea and Mike, you know how he is," I giggled. Tiffany was always finding some new creative way to incorporate the word darling in almost every sentence in every way possible. As weird as it could get, it was purely a Tiffany thing and Mike was an entire different story.

"I think I can imagine that. What did Mike say?" Mike always seems to think everything that happens is somehow influenced by covert affaires. For Mike life is just one big soap opera.

"I won't tell you everything he said but-"

"Why?" I pouted.

"It's obviously not for your ears," he answered with a meaningful look.

I decided to leave it alone because although his antics can be sidesplittingly funny most of the time, Mike can also be crudely ribald. Mike's opinions are not for the faint of heart, I've found out having once overheard what he likes to call guidance for the guys. After that incident we talked about it when he had suggested it wasn't information for my ears and I agreed. Since then any time hementions that I've decided to just take his word for it.

"Anyway he had pulled me to the side with his guidance stuff and once Tiffany tried to get into the conversation he stopped. You know how he likes to pretend he's an angel around her," I rolled my eyes.

Tell me about it. He'll give you his two cents' worth of how the world is a soap opera as long as his wife isn't within earshot.

When Susan ran off with Jeff, the weekend he proposed to her, without telling anyone, had we told Mike, he would have claimed it was her running off with some new lover who was taking her back to his country. When Tucker, his son, had been acting weird he swore it was to do with some manipulative mystery women who had yet to be revealed in due time as one would expect in the next episode of a soap opera.

"So he says, 'whether you promise her a good time or however you kids say it these days, whatever. You should take her for a nice ride. However you can get her to come, you just do it. And you kids take your time it's one of those pleasurable experiences that you want a girl to remember because if you're like most people you might only get to do it once...'"

"Oh wow," I covered my mouth trying to hold down my giggles over his implications.

"So what do want because I'm not setting the goal if..." he didn't get to finish before I butted in.

"Set the goal, I want this house."

"Alright, two years max."

"I'm not following..." I said confused.

"The goal is that we'll buy the house in at least two years tops," he elaborated.

I sighed, "I wonder what it'll be like when we finally move in..."

"Concubine, I told you not to go getting ideas, who said you were moving in, what if I wanted the house to myself," he mocked me.

"Moving in here by yourself..." I repeated under my breath, "Not if my money's paying for it, you aren't. I want it all," knowing him his next comment would be that he was willing to give me a piece of the house or something, the stingy man.

"All of me? Why thank you I appreciate that but I don't come with the house..." I narrowed my eyes at him and tried not to laugh, "Just wanted to make sure we were clear on that. I come separately but I'm all yours anyway," he smiled.

"And I'm yours too."

"I like the sound of that," he pulled me against him and captured my lips in a fiery kiss.

When we finally pulled away from each other so that we could catch our breath I stepped backwards going further into the house.

I sighed, "Another goal, again, but at least it's not too hard and it's definitely something to look forward to. Can you imagine it, you and me in this house starting the next chapter of our lives together," I slowly spun around.

"That's a nice opening line for something, if I didn't know any know any better I'd think you were trying to drop a hint of some sort," I could hear the amusement laced in his voice before I notice mirth alight in his eyes.

I stopped at the foot of the spiral staircase and cocked my head to the side, "what are you talking about?"

"Well you're a rather dense patch, aren't you?"

I pondered my statement again and wondered what he could mean when I finally realized, "are you saying that I was trying to propose to you?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

He shrugged as he approached me, "it's happened before," I tried not to laugh.

"I wasn't, I'm waiting for you to do that," he clicked his tongue as he walked past me.

"This woman... waiting for me you say and when do you think that'll happen fifty years from now," he ranted quietly almost to himself.

"I don't get it, what are you talking about," I furrowed my eyebrows, thoroughly perplexed.

"Would you open your eyes already? I've been trying for an entire month to propose to you but when I drop hints you don't get it, man you are so clueless," he complained.

"You have? I really haven't noticed..." thinking back on it, maybe he was and that would explain a lot. "Oh, yeah well sorry about that," I admitted sheepishly, "but I would though..."

"Would what?"

"Agree to marry you if you asked."

"I know and it's because I'm so awesome that I don't see how you would want to say no."

Rolling my eyes, "cocky prick."

"But you love it or you wouldn't be marrying me."

"You got me there, I love to hate on you, but you do the same."

"Yeah well that's part of the reason I'm marrying you," I slapped him in the arm and ran up the stairs when he reached out to grab me. Following closely behind me he eventually caught me when I took off down the hall toward one of the bedrooms. I knew I needed to think of something to set his devious mind elsewhere before I found out the plan that causing the wicked twinkling in his eyes. Suddenly the idea came to me...

"How are we going to tell our parents at dinner, should we just come out and say it as soon as we walk in or wait until after dinner..." I trailed off thinking of other possibilities.

Suddenly he smiled deviously, "I have an idea..."

~~~~~~~ Part 3~~~~~~~

"Would you slow down?"

He didn't answer.

"Hey stop walking so fast,"

"Why are you walking so slow,"

"It's not a matter of me simply walking too slow if I have to run just to keep up with you,"

He smirked, "you know, I actually like to watch certain parts of you when you run so there are certainly benefits to exercise,"

I snorted, "You weren't even looking at me as a matter of fact you barely pay attention to me these days,"

"Well..."

I narrowed my eyes in response knowing where he was going, "you'll stop now if you value your life," crossing my arms. With a snobbish attitude, "open the door," I stood in front of the door not opening it.

He stepped forward and opened the door, "well if you're going to have that kind of attitude you can stay outside." Before he could walk through it I did,

"Ladies first," I told him as I breezed by him.

"You're not a lady and don't act like you're incapable of opening a door by yourself you opened the car door by yourself didn't you?"

"That's because as soon as you turned off the car you left me and started power walking to door," I argued.

"Well I guess I've got to start doing that more often don't I," he remarked.

When we got to the door just before the dining room where everyone was I stopped and waited. "What, are your arms broken," he looked from my arm to the door knob before making eye contact. I simply cleared my throat and looked at him pointedly.

"Ladies don't open doors for themselves when there is a gentleman next to them," I stated when he just continued to stare at me.

"You've been reading your little historical romance books again haven't you? You always act like that every time but what you don't get is that you've never been a lady and I'm the type to leave you standing there just to see how long you'd keep up the charade." As he pulled open the door he leaned in, "shine my little firecracker, this is where the show really starts," he whispered kissing me on the cheek and I silently smiled in response.

We walked into the dining room where everyone had already taken their seats. Casting a glance at him I took one of the two empty chairs at the table and he took the one to my left. We had been the last to arrive so as soon as we sat down they started dinner.

"What took you guys so long to get here we were about to call you to let you know we'd just start without you," said Charlie, who happened to be sitting in the seat to my right. Charlie had been his roommate for the past three years that we lived in the dorms before we moved in together.

"That would have been fine we were just trying to sort some things out," he raised an eyebrow but didn't comment further when I didn't elaborate. No one said a word most having similar expressions of suspicion but Mike looked like the Cheshire cat with a wide conspiratorial smile on his face and winked when we looked in his direction. Although not seeing her husband's smile Tiffany had a small knowing smile of her own.

"Sort some things out? What kind of a lame excuse was that," he whispered and I shot him a glare.

"Now ya'll leave those children alone," grammy Velarose spoke so that everyone could hear with that brillant smile of hers, she was my mom's mother and was just the sweetest person one could ever know. Her voice was a winsome interweaving between a southern drawl