Chapter 12 — Preparation and reunion

Sydney:

I nimbly jumped over a pile of cow dung, sighing out a little thanks when my new shiny black pumps survived unstained.

It was my fault for coming to visit Astrid at her work, but I needed someone to go shopping with me. Ramon was supposed to fly in tonight and I wanted to surprise him.

Astrid worked as the Senior Veterinary doctor for Felt farms, so sadly, she's surrounded by animals all day. I know she loves it, but I'm not all for it. The farm hand I passed told me Astrid was in the cow pen, which coincidentally was where she and Aaro met for the first time. Not exactly a perfect romantic meeting surrounded by cow poop and hay.

What a first meeting to tell your kids.

I pushed through a red painted shed door and immediately the smell alerted me I was in the cow pen.

God! The smell really sticks with you.

I stepped carefully past some mooing cows, holding on to my bag tightly, following Astrid's soft lilting voice to the back of the pen.

There she was. In the last stall. Shoulder deep in the bum hole of a cow.

I sighed. Just what I needed, a scarring experience.

"Hey Ash," I chimed and her head shot up, her long red ponytail swaying as she beamed at me.

"Sydney!!" She squealed just before retracting her hand from the cow and motioning to her assistants to finish with the job.

She peeled off the soiled glove, wiping her hand lightly on her gray overall before bouncing to me, her green eyes shining.

"Syd, what are you doing here?" She breathed as she reached me.

"I haven't seen you in a while so I came over. I know Aaro won't let you go out with me."

She leaned against the stall door, crossing her booted feet. "I know right, sometimes he's so overbearing, he even wanted me to quit my job, but after two days of the silent treatment he gave up on it."

I chuckled. It was nice seeing Astrid so laid back and happy, she was positively glowing with happiness. Marriage looked good on her.

"I can't blame him, who would want their wife sticking her hands up a cow's bum hole?"

"A supportive husband, that's who," she paused, "I should probably call him. It's lunch time already."

"Stop being so mushy and clingy. I haven't seen you in weeks, can't I have some Astrid time? Aaro has been hogging you all to himself. I found you first, he can just bugger off," I pouted, crossing my arms.

She laughed out, her long hair swinging behind her "Try telling that to him."

"Come on, I need to buy some lingerie, and of course, I need your opinion."

She hummed, "Lingerie, hmm? You're lucky, I need some also. I want to give Aaro a scare when he gets back from Kent"

I laughed at the mischievous look in her eyes "Okay, just don't kill him, girlfriend."

~*~

"So, You're buying Lingerie for who exactly?" Astrid asked through the curtain as she tried on a black lace number with a garter belt and sheer stockings. I shifted through the rack, trying to find something just for me, but so far no luck.

"Do I have to buy lingerie for anybody? Can't I buy it for myself?" I asked, inspecting a red lace one piece.

"Uh, no, unless you have a secret stripping job I don't know about? You know those girls really make money."

I chuckled under my breath, "No, Astrid, I am not a stripper."

"So why the lingerie? Anyone special you're keeping from me?"

My hands stopped on the rack as I took in her words. She can't know. I still wanted to keep what was going on between me and Ramon a secret until we put a label on it.

I breathed out and continued my search. "Nope, no one special yet. I just want lingerie because I want it, okay?"

I heard the curtain draw back, and Astrid emerged, looking sexy as hell. The sheer stockings accentuated her long legs and the garter belt showed off her tiny waist. Aaro was a lucky man.

"Don't give me that, Sydney Esther West! I know you better than you know yourself. You don't just buy lingerie because you want it."

"Well, I am now."

"Bullshit!" she hissed, "Come on, just tell me. You know I can keep a secret."

I turned back to the rack and pulled out a white lace one piece.

"Can I just try this out before I spill out my guts to you?"

She rolled her eyes before stalking back into the dressing room. "Fine!"

I followed her with my pick, grabbing a pair of thigh-high white socks on my way.

By the time I had finished donning the set, Ash was already in her second one, a black sheer body suit thong.

"I can see your nipples in that one," I commented and she beamed.

"That's the point!"

She turned this way and that in front of the mirror before finally noticing me.

"Oh my, you look like a goddess! Whoever you're fucking is a lucky, lucky man."

I giggled, turning to the mirror to admire the set. White really looked good on my skin. I raised a hand and released the turtle clasp holding my hair up. My blonde hair fell to the middle of my back; it had grown a lot in five months.

The lace-up front was half undone, exposing my cleavage to the fullest. I wonder if Ramon would like this.

Astrid's arms wound around my waist. "So, who is this lucky fuck you're getting all sexy for?"

I should really tell her, I've kept this a secret for so long now.

"I'll tell you, but you have to promise not to freak out."

She rounded on me, hands on her hips. "I promise I won't freak out," she paused, "Is it someone I know? Is that why you made me promise? Oh my God! Is it Dennis? You know he's a huge dickhead right?"

I stifled a laugh, God! Astrid loses focus so easily.

"Nope, it's not Dennis, and yes, it's someone you know."

She tapped her chin for a minute, thinking before giving up and whining, "Come on, just tell me."

I took a deep breath before blurting out, "It's Ramon."

Her bottle-green eyes widened. "Oh my! You mean my brother-in-law Ramon?"

"What other Ramon do you know, Ash?" I drawled.

I wasn't expecting the extremely loud squeal she gave.

"Oh my God!!!! You guys would be so cute together!!!!!"

Overreaction.

She stopped squealing and pinned me with a serious gaze. "Wait, you do know he used to play around a bit, right? Doesn't that bother you?"

Honestly, it didn't, but as my feelings started to grow more intense, it had started to pop more and more into my head. There was no guarantee that he wasn't sleeping around with different girls in Italy.

No! Stop thinking about that, Syd, he said he loved you and he was sincere about it.

But even the most sincere guys cheat sometimes.

Ah, fuck! This is going to drive me fucking crazy.

"No, it doesn't bother me."

Liar.

~*~

I smeared on some more tomato red lipstick and ruffled up my hair a bit. Ramon had called a half hour ago saying he had landed and was on his way back to me.

Back to me.

God! I couldn't wait to see him.

I adjusted the body suit slightly. I had pulled out all the stops: I got Astrid to give me one of the bottles of wine in her cellar that she knows Ramon likes. I even cooked my famous roast lamb with spring herb crumbs and some St. Clement's pie, all waiting for him on the cooling rack of my oven.

Was it too much?

He could not be hungry and all that food would go to waste.

Fuck! Stop worrying Syd! I chided myself.

I drew the socks up and shrugged on my silk robe, letting it hang loosely on my shoulders.

I exhaled deeply and with one more glance at my bathroom mirror, I sashayed out.

Just as I reached the hallway, the doorbell rang and my heart leapt into my mouth.

He's here.

I skipped to the door and pulled it open. There he stood, he wore a gray blazer over a matching vest and a light blue dress shirt, his striped tie undone. His hair hung into his sizzling honey eyes, his thick stubble doing nothing to hide the devilish smirk on his face as he took in my attire.

"Fuck baby! I missed you so fucking much!" He hissed before drawing me into his arms and capturing my lips in a soul-searing kiss.