A glass of Merlot before bed

Sehreen Daniels was from Fort Worth, Texas. She had lived there all her life, having never left the Metroplex area, not even for a vacation. She lived with her sister and her sisters husband in a small house in the Fort Worth Suburbs. The house was located in a little town called Watauga where she worked as the manager of the local Wal-Mart Store. Her sister worked for a huge marketing firm in Dallas. Her name was Sharry Daniels. Their mother had spelled their names a special way as a sign that her girls were special. Sehreen sometimes thought her mother had made a mistake spelling her name special because there was nothing special about herself. Sharry had all the special. Little did she know things were about to change.

That night at dinner Sharry told Sehreen that she and her husband were going to France and they wanted Sehreen to come too. Sehreen was ecstatic. She could hardly sleep that night thinking about Paris. Once she was on the plane Sehreen could hardly believe the view out the window of the plane.

After ten hours on the plane they finally arrived at Charles De Gaulle Airport. They took a taxi to Hotel Du Louvre and rented their rooms. Sehreen fell right to sleep as soon as she lay back on the bed. She didn't unpack, she didn't eat dinner and she woke up in her clothes.

After a hotel breakfast, Sehreen called her sister and told her she was going to rent a car and find a beach. She has never seen the ocean and she figured there was no better time to do so. She took a taxi to a car rental agency and rented the car of her dreams. A White Dodge Charger. It was a two hour drive to the nearest coast but she didn't let that stop her. When she arrived at the beach entrance she stopped and removed the T-tops her car had and started driving down the beach. She had never seen so much water. She stopped the car and just sat there staring at the water. The vastness of it brought up emotions she had never felt before.

.

Suddenly, Sehreen noticed a man with a gun. He was walking real fast straight for her! Fear shot through her body like a bolt of lightning. She had read countless of stories about women being abducted while on vacation in foreign countries. She didn't know what to do. She couldn't roll up her windows and lock the doors. She had removed the T-tops and put them in the trunk. She did the only thing she could. She put the Dodge in gear and floored it. The tires were spitting sand 6 feet into the air.

The car shot forward with all its power right into the water! Sehreen didn't notice. She was too busy staring at the man through her rear view mirror. He started yelling something but she couldn't hear it. Then she noticed it felt as if he car was floating. She looked away from the mirror to see ...it was! It WAS floating. Oh, my God! Oh, my God ! Oh, my God! That's all she could think! The man, who was now at the car said, "'What are you doing? Have you been drinking? You are on a private beach. You could be arrested for trespassing. You have to get out of this car before the tide takes you both out to sea!" Sehreen turned an off shade of white. She said, "No! What are you talking about? This is a rental. I can't afford to buy this car. I need to get it out of the water!" The man started puling her out and said, "You can't get it out without a tow chain. You need to get out! Now!" When he got her to the dry sand he said, "The tide is going out. I'll go get my Range Rover and some chain and pull it out." Then he said something in French into a walkie-talkie and had a brief conversation with someone. "My boss, Mr. Chastain, said to bring you up to the house. You can use the phone and put on some dry clothes. I'll come back for the car! What were you doing here?" he asked? "I am on vacation from the United States and I have never seen a beach before. I was just looking at the water." Sehreen answered. "That explains it ," the man said.

The house was beautiful. Sehreen felt embarrassed going inside all wet and with her car in the ocean. Everything was replaying in her mind like a bad dream. She turned to the man and asked , "What did you mean back there when you said,"that explains it"?" The man turned to her and said, "You are from the United States!"

"Mr. Chastain said you may go into the guest dressing room and find something to wear. He will be down when he finishes his business call. That is the door right there." the man said before going out onto the terrace and lighting a cigarette.

When Sehreen entered the room she almost went into shock. This is crazy. Where am I she thought. She knew where she was she was just taken back by everything that was happing to her. Surely, she wasn't supposed to wear these clothes. She searched the room and found a plain black dress that didn't look so fancy.

When Sehreen came out of the dressing room, someone had moved a table to the middle of the terrace and had it decorated with candles, roses and a bottle of Merlot. This was unbelievable. She didn't know what to think.

Mr. Chastain came down the stairs and opened the door to the terrace and said,"After you" in a soft deep voice. Sehreen followed him outside. He handed her a glass of wine and took one for himself. Sehreen felt a bit nervous. He just sat there for a few minutes looking at her before he spoke. "One of my security detail told me of your unfortunate situation. He has retrieved your car but it is quite undriveable. Is there someone you would like to call?" he asked. Sehreen thought, there is no way she was calling her sister. "Yes,prehaps a taxi?" she answered. " I will call you a taxi. Where are you staying?" he asked. "At the Hotel Du Louvre." She replied. "The Hotel Du louvre? In Paris? That is over two hours away. You drove all this way to see the water?" he asked. Sehreen explained everything to him. Again, he just sat there looking at her without speaking. Awkward. "You are very beautiful." he said. Okay, now Sehreen has become frozen stiff not knowing how to react to this. "You could stay here tonight since you are so far away from your hotel. It would cost well over 200 dollars in taxi to drive back to Paris. In the morning I will take you to a local car rental establishment. You can stay in one of my guest bedrooms. You would be perfectly safe. My chef will have dinner ready soon. We could have dinner and afterward I would like to take you for a ride and show you some iconic sights. It is not every day I meet someone from the United States. I very much would like to talk to you more." he said. Sehreen could not believe this was happening. He was so handsome. She didn't see a ring on his finger. She didn't know what to say. She remained speechless. "I insist. It is settled. Please excuse me while I go see what is keeping my Chef," he said as he rose and walked into the house.

Dinner was delightful and so delicious. During dinner he made her feel very comfortable. Turns out he was just an average man. He was a world accomplished architect. He was single and he was very funny. After dinner he said," Let us have one more glass of Merlot. It is my favorite. Then we can go for a ride." Sehreen thanked him for the lovely dinner. He stood up and took her hand and said ,"Come. I think you will enjoy this." He led her through the house to a set of stairs. He took the stairs two at a time looking back with a big smile. He opened the door at the top and the evening air flooded in. There was an outside on top of his house? Sehreen was puzzled.

The man had a helicopter on top of his house! Sehreens stomach felt as if she would loose her dinner from the butterflies in there. This is surreal. She felt like Cinderella. This was all too much but she had a great time. They laughed and yelled. Then they yelled some more. They had to yell. They were inside a helicopter. It was very noisy. They flew to Paris and viewed the Eiffel Tower in all its night lights. Then they flew above the Seine River for a ways then back to the house.

Once back at the house Mr. Chastain showed her the guest room. It was spectacular. He told her she could wear anything in the guest dressing room she wanted. He told her if she looked in the furniture drawers she would find night clothes. He said he would see her in the morning and he left. Sehreen was drawing a hot bath when there was knock at her door. He had returned. He stood at the door looking at her without speaking. He did that a lot. Then suddenly, he grabbed her into his arms and he kissed her. It was a long and passionate kiss. He looked at her one more time and he left for good this time.

When Sehreen woke up, breakfast was ready. Mr. Chastain was already there drinking coffee. He had waited to eat until she joined him. "Good Morning! I hope you slept well. " he said. "Yes, I slept like a baby. Thank you. I think its time I call my sister. She is probably worried sick about me." Sehreen said as she reached for the phone. He reached out real fast and took hold of one of her hands, "Sehreen, you don't have to leave! You said you had a week. Stay here with me for the week. Last night when I kissed you .....Do you find me attracive Sehreen?" he asked. Sehreen look at him and tried to say, "I do! Very much so!" ..but her throat was suddenly dry. "Then it is settled! Call your sister and tell her I will get you to the plane in five days." he said with a huge smile on his face. The rest of they day was as magical as the night before. He taught her how to ride a horse. They rode to the lighthouse and back. They walked hand in hand in the beach. They drank Merlot and they went jet skiing on the water. This man was amazing.

That night after a feast on lobster, they had the regular night cap of Merlot. Afterward Sahreen mentioned," I have had such a wonderful time but you have never told me your first name. " He smiled at her and lifted his wine glass as he said, "My name is Merlot . Merlot Chastain." Then he walked her to the guest room. He kissed her again standing at her door. He said ,"you don't have to stay in here by yourself if you don't want to. " He kissed her again. Then he led her by the hand to the master suit.

The next five days went way too fast. He took her to authentic Paris candy shops and spending money at the casino. He took her to Loucre Museum and taught her to play golf on his personal golf course on his property. They road boats on the Seine River and took boat tours. They spent time on his yacht and saw the Sainte- Chappell. Neither one of them wanted it to end. Watching Sehreen get on the plane was the hardest thing Merlot had ever donr. It physically hurt him to let her go. Sehreen too, cried on the plane.

There were three huge flower pots on the front porch when Sehreen returned home. There was a card attached. "Marry Me".... Her sister was a little jealous but more intrigued than anything. Sehreen didn't know how to respond to the card.

Sehreen couldn't drink her favorite Merlot wine because it made her think of him...and made her sad. For two weeks she had no glasses of Merlot before bed and everyday when Sehreen came home from work there was a huge flower display on her front porch. She had so many that her neighbors were starting to give her looks. Each bouquet came with one card. Each card said ," Marry Me". Sehreen flew back to France a month later. If not she would have to open a botanical garden sanctuary. She was married a week after that. On her wedding night as she was getting ready for their honeymoon to the Bahamas, Sehreen thought, "I will never have to do without my glass of Merlot before bed ever again."

\

-The End-

By

Mrs. Deborah Zbieronek