Love Is Killer

Classic doo whop melded with the sounds of gentle humming. As The Penguins crooned on from the record player, Elena folded clothes and placed them in their respective luggage. Matching crimson with differing tags- a pumpkin printed luggage tag for her husband, and a Chocokitty one for her- both were open on top of the bed and nearly half filled. With a huff, Elena hesitated as she held up one of the new dresses she'd just bought and eyed the palm leaf print critically. Was it a little too casual? But maybe the other dress was a little too much for the small town they'd be going to . . . it would be a little embarrassing to stick out like a gawdy, sore thumb on their vacation . . .

"I don't remember this being so hard." Elena sighed, then jumped when warm hands dragged from the sides of her waist to cross over the gentle curve of her stomach.

"Darling," a warm, soft voice warmed the shell of her ear. "Are you overthinking again?" Chuckling quietly, Elena turned within the loose hold of her husband's arms to wrap her own around his neck. Rick leaned forward to press his lips to her forehead, lingering for a few seconds before his eyes looked over her shoulder to at their luggage.

"I guess I'm a little nervous." the confession was slightly muffled as her face was half turned in towards the round of his shoulder, thick maroon sweater unable to hide the sheepish tone.

"Why are you nervous?" Rick's tone was unassuming, ready to listen to whatever troubles the love of his life might have.

"Well it's been a couple of years since we've gone on vacation- Covid ruined our 2020 plans, and then I chickened out last year-"

"You still had concerns and understandably so," Rick interjected firmly, index finger and thumb coming up to bracket Elena's chin and raise her face up to look at him. "If both of us aren't comfortable with a plan, we scrap it. That's always been our deal, right?"

Rick waited patiently for Elena's brow to lose its furrow, and was rewarded when her small, uncertain frown reversed into lazy curls of contentment. "Yeah. We're always on the same page. If we're not," her tone strengthened as she readjusted her arms around Rick's neck and leaned further into him. "Then we reassess and readjust. By the way did you take out the recycling?"

Rick scoffed and swung Elena around to drop her against the bed next to the luggage, watching her squeak in surprise then crumble into a giggling mess. "Dork." Leaning over to put his forearms by her head, weight mostly off of her, Rick continued his pursuit of answers. "So is that why you're nervous?"

"I mean, not really . . . we still take our precautions. I guess I'm just nervous because we did skip two years- and we both love it so much, and I was so worried we might not ever return to it- but now we're finally starting again, and what if we lost our touch? What if . . ." Elena trailed off, her train of thought losing steam when she saw a grin growing on Rick's face. A little taken aback, Elena poked his dimples with her finger, snickering when he feigned biting at them.

"You know what?" Rick spoke suddenly, getting up suddenly and turning to walk out the bedroom. "I know what will make you feel better. Wait there!" The command was yelled as he walked away, Elena presumed towards his art studio. She rose up to sit criss-cross on the duvet, tugging her shirt back into place. A few moments later, Rick returned, holding something behind his back.

Elena couldn't help the way her smile grew, but she bit her lip to try and contain the giddiness. "What is that?"

"I was going to wait until we got to our hotel room, but . . ." Rick's arms moved forward to hand her a a thin, deep blue box. "I think you need to see it now."

Elena passed her hands just along the surface of the box, nails gently easing under the edge of the top and tugging until it popped up. What lay inside made her gasp and look up at Rick, eye shining.

"Oh, Rick . . . this is your best work yet." Elena breathed out as she reached her hand in and pulled out a mask. Silver accents in the form of tiny birds and flowers dotted a beautiful black silk mask, with orange LED wire.

Rick smiled, pressing his mouth to her temple and murmuring against the soft skin. "I know you were sad when your last one got ruined with all the blood from that woman last trip, so I figured I'd make you something new and pretty."

Elena couldn't find the words, so she turned her head and sealed their lips together sweetly for a few long minutes. When they retreated, she smiled giddily and said, "You know how upset I was that they kept fighting us so hard, too . . . Then I have to give you my gift!"

Elena reached underneath the bed, ignoring Rick's mutter of "Terrible hiding spot," and handed over a box wrapped cleverly in an old newspaper. Right on the front was a piece of an article about a gruesome murder at a resort lodge three years ago. "Happy early anniversary."

Rick chuckled as he unwrapped the box, before crowing in delight. "Honey," he crooned, pulling out the Buck 113 Ranger. "You knew I'd been planning to update my knife after I lost it when that asshole fought back. Thank you baby."

Elena accepted his body bowling hers over onto the bed, the both of them cuddling amongst her strewn clothes. "Oh," Elena sighed. "I feel so much better baby. This is going to be the best anniversary- and the best Halloween, ever. I can feel it."

Hey! Hope you enjoyed my flash story, and if you did, you'll probably like the fifth story in this disconnected flash series: Seize The Day. Enjoy the read!