close your eyes

Giving presents are a wonderful indicator of deepening feelings. And a little “close your eyes and hold out your hands” shows you want the recipient to be pleasantly surprised, see the joy of the gift on their face. And it usually means the present is unwrapped, or spur of the moment.

So this is a scene from Valentine’s Day in my WIP, titled We Fit, the sequel to We Three. Eric loves both Elena and Jess, so both of them receive the treatment. Enjoy the polyamory feels.

“Hello!”

“We’re in here,” Elena said, as she paused the movie she and Jess had decided to watch.

“I want you both to close your eyes, okay?” Eric’s voice was clear, but there was a bunch of sounds like paper rustling in his hands.

“Eric?” Elena asked.

He didn’t come into view. Instead he answered, “Humor me. It’s Valentine’s Day.”

Jess looked at Elena and the two shrugged. “Okay,” Jess replied as both she and the brunette closed their eyes. 

Jess felt a presence behind her shoulders. Mustache-topped lips brushed hers. 

The lips moved to her ear. “Open your eyes.”  

Jess opened her eyes and smiled up at his blue eyes. When she dropped her chin she saw his arm had come around her and he held a bunch of flowers, tangerine colored roses mixed with golden yellow daisies. A tiny golden bear clung to one of the stems. Jess reached out with both hands to gather in the flowers to her chest. A glance to her left showed Elena was smiling softly at her. 

“Thank you,” she whispered to Eric, her smile wide and her cheeks pink with pleasure.

He kissed her head. “You’re welcome.” He straightened. “El, eyes closed.”

Jess laughed as Elena rolled her eyes before closing them. Eric moved to the other side a moment of rustling occurred behind the couch as he stopped and bent before continuing. Jess held her breath as she watched him drop to a knee to present a bunch of red roses interspersed with purple flowers.

“Okay, open your eyes.” Jess watched Elena’s eyes opened and warmed herself at the bright light that came into brown as Elena gathered in the flowers in the same way Jess had. She buried her nose in the bouquet, then lifted her head out with a frown. Rustling in the center with her fingers, she found and withdrew a foil-wrapped nugget on a stick. Elena squealed, “Dulce Tipicos!”

“What’s that?” Jess asked. 

“Puerto Rican traditional candies. This is Pilones Ajonjili, lollipop with sesame.” She held it out to Jess. “Doesn’t it smell wonderful?” Jess sniffed and smiled. Elena popped it in her mouth, lips widening around the stick. 

With Elena’s mouth full, Eric explained, “I found them on my last flight. We branched out with a Puerto Rico leg from and to LaGuardia.”

Elena smacked his shoulder. Eric laughed easily; Elena was clearly teasing.

“I also made reservations at La Taberna Tapas for dinner tonight.”

Elena passed Jess an unwrapped lollipop. Unwrapping it, Jess pressed the lollipop against her tongue. Satisfied by the flavor, she continue to suck on it.

“What time’s our reservation,” Elena asked.

“Seven,” Eric replied. Elena kissed him again then got up from the couch disappeared into the bedroom.

“She’ll be in there until we leave,” Eric said as he settled onto the couch next to Jess.

Leaning back Jess took the lollipop out and said, “It’s good. is it hard to get reservations at this Taverna place?”

“Oh, yeah. But I’ve been planning it since we missed getting in on our anniversary.”

“Wow. Okay. You guys have a great time. Thanks again, for the flowers.”

“Oh, that’s not all for you either,” he said. “I thought you and I could see a Panthers game at the BB&T in a couple days,” Eric said. “I got tickets in a company drawing.”

“I’ll enjoy that.”

He asked, “Are you doing anything with Elena for Valentine’s Day?”

“We sat home today with movies today, and I really liked the relaxing together. But I’m taking her to see an all-women’s band tomorrow,” Jess said.

—

If you’re wondering, after what I’ve already shared from my WIP, why does this have Eric, Elena and Jess making plans, going out and doing all sorts of things, it takes place before any “pandemic context” scenes. It is an unfortunate fact that Florida (and most of the U.S.) didn’t start closing down to fight the virus until March 2020. This is a scene from mid-February (Valentine’s Day) when things were not yet closed. Let me know in the comments what you thought.

~ Lara