Freedom

"It's time to go!"

He spoke with an enthusiastic, cheery voice. He had finally done it - he made his dreams come true after all of his efforts. Granted, it wasn't his dream job to be an affiliate marketer, but now that everything was all set up and organized the entire show basically ran itself! He was making $10,000/mo after taxes, his employees were happy with their work, and he could sit back in his chair after a long time and sigh! Ahhh…

But he wouldn't stay like that for long - now that he had the money he would travel across the United States and see everything he always wanted to see. Niagara Falls, Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, and Yosemite were all on his list with a lot more to come as he thought of it.

To top it all off, he was almost completely emotionally healed from his previous failure of a relationship. He could admit to himself that he wasn't the man he wished he was, and that he couldn't give her everything she needed. While he had been down on himself for a long time, he decided that enough was enough and he let go of the past and looked forward to a new day, and a new life. This trip certainly wouldn't hurt, either!

He was standing in the living room when he spoke these words, and when he did, his beaming girlfriend emerged from the bedroom and gave him a warm, tight, smiling hug. He hugged her back and whispered "I love you" into her ear. They parted, stared at each other for a moment, and began loading their suitcases into their newly acquired motorhome.

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They had quite the drive from Florida to New York, and since their relationship was fairly new, she wanted to ask a couple of questions.

"I'm so excited!" She squealed with delight as they began heading down the road. She reached out her hand to squeeze him, and this prompted a smile to emerge on his face. She lay back in her seat and began to relax, but when she did, she noticed a little black notebook on the dashboard with a piece of paper sticking out of it. It looked out of place, so she furrowed her eyebrows, looked at him, then back at the notebook.

"Open it," he said with a wink in his voice. She did so, and in the notebook was a $20,000 check addressed to "the prettiest woman in the world." She opened her eyes and her mouth in shock, and the shock soon turned into a smile as she unbuckled her seatbelt, got out of her seat, and gave him the biggest hug she had ever given him! Thankfully, they weren't going very fast, and she very quickly caught herself and returned to her seat. She couldn’t believe it, and she gasped in absolute delight.

"Hey, I know now isn't the best time to be asking these kinds of questions," she said, "but can you tell me a little about your previous relationship? I want to know who she was and why she left an amazing man like you."

He smiled as she said this. He had prepared for this by asking himself mock questions in private, then answering them to the best of his ability. He did this because he was very methodical by nature and because being taken off-guard wasn't something he was used to. It also wasn’t on his agenda. He responded with unshakable confidence.

"When I was younger I always struggled with confidence, mostly because I had a less-than-ideal childhood. When I met her I was also working to be where we are now, and those two problems combined made me emotionally drained and unavailable for her. I left her after we had a huge argument about the whole thing."

She was impressed!

"Wow! It's so big of you to admit something like that! So, you stayed single while you worked on making all of this money?"

"I had other women approach me, and I turned them down because I wanted to work on myself and build my affiliate empire! I've always loved providing, so I always figured I would search for a girlfriend after I became financially stable and living the life of my dreams" he said with a smile.

"Oh my God, that must have been so difficult… I guess while you were busy working I was with this one guy who talked a big talk but didn't follow through on anything… We were always anxious because we weren't making enough money, and we got into a big fight about that… We broke up and I just felt so lost, like what do I do?"

She looked at him and saw his smile. She began to smile too.

"But then I found you…" She let her hand crawl its way up to his and she gave it a healthy squeeze. She bit her lip and gave him a certain look that wouldn't have been mistaken for anything else!

They continued in conversation as they drove themselves down the road. When they stopped for the night they embraced each other with their lips and created a night they would never forget. After a few more days they arrived, and they stood right next to the roaring water as it topped over the edge.

"I feel… Almost scared!" She said as she drew herself closer to his body.

"I didn't expect it to be this loud!" He half-shouted so that she could hear her. They both laughed together and watched the waterfall for a while longer.

Many more destinations were to come, and all of them brought them some laughs and memories. They especially loved Yosemite since it was more beautiful than they imagined!

She thought the trip back wasn't going to be fun, but she was pleasantly surprised! He decided to save Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, and Austin, TX without telling her anything about it! She was so surprised and overwhelmed with joy that she ended up crying when he told her.

Their trip was nothing short of magical. When they arrived at home he took it upon himself to unpack everything. He even folded her clothes and put them in the places she liked to have them.

"You are officially the best boyfriend in the entire world," she said when everything was said and done. They were laying in their bed together, with her head on his chest, and his only response was to move his hand down her cheek. She sighed in delight, and they fell asleep knowing they were forever meant for each other.