Mid Way Through August

Sam

Time had passed. Maude and I had continued dating through the Summer. We had been separated recently; our schedules tended to clash - her working on the red carpet and weekend movie premiers while I was living the 9 to 5 at Nerd. I hadn't treated Maude to anything special recently over the past three months and I thought it was about time we spent a weekend together just chilling out. She had her hair down, and despite how gorgeous she looked she still managed to pester me.

"Come on babe, you still won't tell me where we are going?" Maude's whiny voice was funny.

"Noooooooooope." I answered back. I couldn't wait for her to see what I had in-store.

"You've made me take a weekend off work and for all I know you're breaking up with me." Despite her jokey tone I could hear an insecurity beneath her words. We hadn't had much time together, and while she may have thought we were growing apart I was just really glad and excited to spend time with her.

"I'm not breaking up with you." Even with my eyes on the road and my hands on the wheel I could almost feel the tension in her shoulders release as she relaxed her posture. A metaphorical weight off her shoulders.

The highway looked the same at this point, but I was watching for the exit.

"Sam is my boyfriend, Sam is my boyfriend and I've got mushroo-"

Her 'wonderful' singing was cut out by me blasting the radio.

"Hey! Do not drown the Maudio out!" She shouted at me.

"Sorry babe, I've just heard that song from you about a gazillion times."

"And you can listen to it a gazillion more once that record company gets back to Steve and I."

I briefly considered ripping the CD Player out of my car. And the radio. And the media system. And cutting the AUX Cord. Maybe I'd just buy a tandem bicycle and delete my iTunes account.

"It's okay babe, I prefer the acoustic." Wrong answer, apparently, as she continued her melody.

I saw my exit and pulled towards it slowly. Maude's eyes peaked up.

"So where are we going?"

"Put on the blindfold." Is all I said to her. I was so freakin' excited to show her my present. There was more green foliage on the sides as I pulled into the toll booth to pay for our entrance and parking.

I walked Maude slowly out and past everything else until we reached the landmark I was looking for.

I removed the blind fold and instead covered her eyes with my hands.

"Welcome," I spoke with a slight bravado, "To Universal Studios!" Lifting my hands up and letting her stare directly at the spinning globe which was lettered with Universal all the way round.

She slowly turned back to me.

"Babe." She said. As if in slow motion, her face went from completely confused, to astonish, to a humongous grin plastered across her face stretching from cheek to cheek.

"Babe, babe, babe!" She started hopping up and down until she jumped into my arms and wrapped her legs around my back. She stayed suspended for a moment before hopping off with a wild look of bewilderment found on a four year olds child's face. The clear sky and perfect weather rounded off the day. It was a perfect scene to learn about the world of witchcraft and wizardry.

"First stop," I said to her, "Harry Potter World!" She grabbed my hand and practically dragged me towards the train we needed to get on.

Maude

Oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god.

Oh, my, god.

Sam is my friend. Sam is the bestest friend. Sam is gonna have the bestest time of his life when we get back. I'd make sure of that.

But first, Harry Potter awaits. Sam must have had an unending wallet of nuts, sickles and galleons because he paid for everything without a slight hesitation.

Two butter beers, a Gryffindor cape and matching scarf, two wands (one for each of us) and fast tracks to every ride imaginable, before purchasing even more Harry Potter merch for the both of us.

We spent plenty of time just exploring and viewing all the shows and characters.

I then, of course, complied with his request of once we finished absolutely everything here we go back and see the other attractions, but I was too star struck to pay attention as my mind was being blown away.

More merch, more snacks (Sam bought me a turkey leg the size of my thigh) and an entire tour of the park, combined with a frenzy of pictures to the point where my phone was too full of storage, so I had to upload photos to the cloud and delete them just to fit in more with Sam.

The day in the park was unfortunately coming to an end. We sat in a patch of grass, eating away in comfortable silence, just people watching together. I felt a tear slip last my cheek.

"Maude?" Sam came and wrapped his hands round my back and pulled me in tightly. "What's wrong?"

"I owe you so much." I choked out. I was crying silently, tears just following one another. I wiped underneath one eye to try and stop my mascara from being ruined.

"You owe me nothing. This stuff is the stuff I wanted to do for you. You never asked me once."

"That's why I owe you so much," I turned to face him. "No one has ever paid so much attention to me, and just cared so much."

"Then I'm lucky I was the one to do it." He pecked me on the cheek and lay down flat on the ground, allowing my head to rest against his chest.

I loved him. But now wasn't right time. I knew I did, but now wasn't the right time.

Sam

I loved her. It was too soon to make a statement, so I bottled it up. It would come out sooner or later; but until then I kept her close to me where I could love her without having to say it.

"The days not over anyway." I remembered my other plans for tonight.

"What do you mean?" Her voice had returned to normal.

"I told you to pack an overnight bag. We'll swing by the hotel on the way back so I can park and you can freshen up."

She had a quizzical expression but I knew she'd love this.

The park was closing as we left so there was a slight delay as traffic was busy trying to get back on the Freeway. The hotel I had booked was a 5 minute walk away from our destination for the night, and only a ten minute drive here, unfortunately elongated by the rush, giving Maude more time to pester me.

"I hate it when you keep secrets." She made a pouty face at me.

"Patience, young Padawan."

"Don't use Star Wars against me Sammy." She pointed her finger at me in a very motherly tone, using that nickname I despised so much.

We pulled up to the hotel. It was fairly nice; it wasn't the most glorious building made out of marble, but it would do for a night.

The receptionist was extremely kind to us - maybe slightly due to Maude's trickery.

"And you're checking in Mr Bashor. Celebrating anything tonight?"

I opened my mouth to answer nothing, but Maude interrupted me.

"It's our anniversary."

"Oh wow, Mam, Sir, please just give me a minute." She picked up the phone and rang someone quickly. They seemed to have a brief conversation that I didn't care to try and listen in on. She hung up and turned back to face us.

"Well, seeing as our Honey Moon suite in completely empty for the next two nights, I'm willing to offer the both of you it for no extra charge, as well as a complementary bottle of something special to celebrate the occasion."

"That would be wonderful, wow, thank you so much." Maude and I expressed our gratitude.

"It's no problem. It's the top floor - I hope you don't mind, though, it has a rather unconventional balcony opposite." She winked at us and gave us courteous nod as we left for the lifts.

We got in the elevator to go up to the top floor.

"It's not nice to lie to people Maude. I'll let it go since it turned out well this time."

"I wasn't lying. It's been exactly three months!"

I sighed as she grinned happily at me. Her smile lit up the box.

We unlocked the door to the suite to find a large room, mainly in red and pink with dimmed lighting and several complementary goods. Bath robes, towels, a bottle of champagne, a box of chocolate, Egyptian cotton sheets, the whole nine yards - and an extra inch to top it off.

"Where's this balcony then?" Maude asked as she opened the door.

Outside was a small wooden decking suspended above the balcony below. In the middle however, was a medium size infinity pool with bubble and heat controls, with a perfect view over the skyline of LA.

There were various warning signs but we were adults and knew not to take such a delicate things as a joke.

It was now 6:30 and we didn't really have to leave until half gave us plenty of time to chill out.

"Maude, we've got more than an hour if you want to go shower and freshen up." She nodded and dragged me along with her.

I could only follow with a smirk on my face.

Maude

About 45 minutes later we finished up.

Showering, that is.

We both got ready and Sam told me the dress code was "casual-nice" so I whipped up a red dress and a short pair of brown boots with a heel, accompanied by a leather jacket.

Sam opted for black jeans and an untucked light pink shirt, and a pair of sneakers to complete the outfit. I could feel his eyes glued to me.

"Why are you looking at me?" I asked him, half curious and half sexy.

"I'm admiring." He then took a deep breath which sounded like an infatuated sigh. Like a love sick dog, I giggled to myself. I couldn't help but be happy about it.

"Come on, let's go." He motioned me and we began walking down the street of the hotel.

"We'll be back by 11," He told me, "Enough time to grab that bottle of Cham-pan-ya and chill in that infinity pool for a bit, huh?"

"Just like the hot tub before."

He gave me knowing eyes as we stopped at our destination. I looked up to a neon purple sign that glowed. It spelt out 'Pyro's' and I could only assume this was a bar or strip club.

It was something much cooler. We walked down about twenty steps till we reached the door. Sam creaked it open and we were thrown into a lively atmosphere of nostalgia and fun.

Pinball machines. Pool tables. Air hockey. Motorbike racers. Pac Man. Alien. Claw Machines. Murder Death 3. Dance Dance Revolution.

I was in a video game bar. And when Sam opened a tab and told me to go wild, I was transported to heaven.

We spent hours just playing games and hanging out. I honestly couldn't have asked for a better date. In between the stresses of the Los Angeles life I remember why I came here; to have fun. I hadn't laughed this hard or had such a good time in weeks. And I was glad it was here with Sam.

Several drinks, several games and several Sam losses later we stumbled out of the bar together and back towards our hotel.

"That was awesome Sam!" I gave him a big hug and felt his chest warmth against my head in contrast with the slight chill in the night.

"It was pretty cool, wasn't it?" In Sam's right hand he carried a bag full of stuffed toys we had both won.

Though, admittedly, Sam was a lot better at beating the system than I was. It was rigged anyways.

We had collectively an assortment of things; Sam had won himself an iPod nano and watch, but he had won me a large pink stuffed elephant, a banana giving a thumbs up and a giraffe with a lovely smily face. I had won a small gorilla, aptly named Harambe. I'd save him for later when I needed the dicks out. Metaphorically, of course. We also had an assortment of pretty cool key rings.

"Come on, let's get back quick - that pool sounds real tempting right about now and I know you like champagne." Sam smirked and pulled me along the path quicker.

Our elevator ride up to our room was nothing short of passionate; we kept it PG (since Sam did point out the CCTV camera...) but we quickly hurried into the hotel room together, Sam slamming the door shut behind him.

Sam

I had not anticipated a jacuzzi, and neither had she.

But with enough bubbles and heat, it was almost like we weren't completely naked in front of each other in a hot tub.

The bubbles almost comically covered her chest while leaving mine exposed, as everything else was hidden underneath a layer of thick foam. We both rested on the lip of the pool, overlooking the sky line.

The first five minutes were made of an awkward silence. Maude and I had been naked in front of each other before we were dating and after, but usually we were... preoccupied, and didn't have time to think things through. Over time however, the silence grew comfortable as I began playing with her wet hair (hair, on her head, dammit) and we began conversation.

I honestly couldn't tell you how long we were there for. There was no measure of time, and soon enough I was certain that hours had flown past. I was completely relaxed, and slightly tipsy, but in a state of pure harmony.

The endless night sky eventually did come to an end, but we weren't there to see it. Only at the first light of dawn did we decide that we had been here long enough, and the empty bottle of champagne and discarded box of treats was probably a helpful indicator. I was pretty darn tired, probably too tired to be self conscious in front of Maude as I helped her out of the pool.

Or too drunk.

"Sammy, babe, I'm gonna quickly wash the chlorine out of my hair before I go to bed." I nodded to her, and slapped her ass as she made her way through the bathroom door, her replying with a high pitched yell and a playful smack on the arm. I did follow her in, just for the sake of brushing my teeth, and quickly left for her to attend to her own business. I grabbed a pair of Calvin Klein boxer briefs from my overnight bag and popped them on before collapsing onto the large mattress. I plugged my phone in to the wall to let it charge as I scrolled through my Twitter feed. I could have passed out there and then but I made the decision to wait for Maude to get out of the bathroom so I could cuddle her before catching some shuteye.

There was one thing I didn't expect though.

"Oh Sammmmmmy..." I heard Maude's voice call over to me.

"Yes darl-" My words were interrupted with the sound of my jaw hitting the floor.

I'm not sure what the one thing I didn't expect was though; whether it was the matching lacy white underwear and bra, the matching sexy stockings with a large silk bow on each leg, or the lustful expression on her face accompanied with her biting her lip, I was certainly taken aback. She turned off the lights to the room where I could only see a few feet in front of me, her blonde hair acting as a beacon in the darkness.

She strut her way to the bedside table, maintaining eye contact, grabbed the white, fancy, foot long matches the hotel provided, struck it against the box and began lighting candles. She had lit two, to the point where I could maker facial features out perfectly again, and spoke once more.

"You know bunny," She spoke seductively and lit a third candle.

"I had such a great time tonight." Her voice was almost dripping with desire, and the fourth candle caught fire.

"And I really just want to say I really appreciated you taking care of me." The fifth and final candle became ablaze.

She walked around the bed closing the draping curtain which shielded us from the outside world, the low dimmed light from the candles the only thing illuminating us, besides the match that was quickly running out of time in her hand.

She climbed into the bed with me, and looked me straight in the eye.

"And I just wanted," She blew out the match just before it reached her finger tips.

"To repay you." She whispered out, followed by a devilish grin.

There was a 0.00001 second decision where I was making up my mind between getting a Good Nights Rest or getting a Good Garrett's Lay.

The cuddling could wait.

I hope you enjoyed this! And as always, leave a review :)