Picnic in the Park

It was a perfect afternoon, a nice crisp fall day and a lovely day for a picnic. Paul insisted that she meet him for lunch and so Deanna gave in and agreed to meet him at the park. Deanna arrived early, because, it gave her such a thrill to see her handsome man strolling down the sidewalk with an air of confidence that made her go ga-ga over. She sat on the other side of the park and watched him as he arrived. He had his backpack, full of goodies for their picnic, and she watched as he confidently unfurled his white cane and made his way down the sidewalk to a picnic bench he had obviously scouted out before. She found it mesmerizing to watch him walk down the sidewalk, using the edge to his right as his shoreline, gliding his cane back and forth across the sidewalk until he found his destination. She watched as he set the table, using his hands to map the distance between each item he set down. She watched as he poured the drinks, his finger at the top to tell him when to stop. She silently watched him continue to set up the table, knowing that even if he were sighted the idea of being able to watch him set up the table would be equally as fantastic because there is just something about being able to see the love that went into the setup that made her heart go pitter-patter. There was a part of her that was a bit sad to see that he was nearly done setting things up because she knew she couldn’t leave him hanging forever. However, that tiny bit of sadness was overtaken by feelings of delight that she was going to have lunch with her beloved. She watched as he set the silverware and took his place at the table. She saw that he was getting on his phone, which she presumed meant he was about to text her. Deanna looked down expectantly at her phone, and sure enough, he had texted her. “Dee, your prince charming is ready and waiting, see you soon!”

“See you soon, indeed.” she thought. “I’m just across the way, I’ll be there in a bit!” she texted back.

She picked up her bag, which included a fresh key lime pie for dessert, and walked over. She took delight when she noticed that he picked up on her footsteps and began to smile. She quickened her pace, and met him on his side of the table, exclaiming “Hello, sweetie!” and planted a kiss on his forehead. He laughed, returned the kiss and began to explain the setup.

“I kept it simple today, cranberry chicken salad sandwiches on croissants, black pepper potato chips, and a sparkling berry sangria, unfortunately, non-alcoholic because we both have to get back to work,” he said with a smile.

“That sounds, simply perfect! I brought dessert, key lime pie, but not homemade like your delicious chicken salad, but still quite delicious, nonetheless.”

“Fantastic!” said Paul. They ate as they took in the afternoon, just enjoying the weather and each other’s company. They spoke of nothing and everything until the time came when they had both finished and it was time to clean up. Deanna began to clean up when Paul stopped her. “I got this.” He said as he placed his hand on hers.

Deanna objected “But you did so much! It is the least I can do to help. I don’t mind.”

“I know you don’t mind Dee, but I wanted to do this for you, please, let me clean this up. I will let you get take the trash though since the trash can seems to elude me at the moment.”

Deanna sighed, but she knew that when he made up his mind, his mind was made up.

“Okay Paul, I’ll just stand here holding the bag and I’ll be your beeping trash can, for easy locating,” she said with a smirk. “Beep. Beep. Beep.” she added, for good measure.

Paul laughed at her cheekiness, but actually, kind of appreciated the modification. Who was he to make it harder on himself? He was lucky she didn’t decide to be the silent running trash bag because he didn’t let her help, and he wouldn’t put it past her to do something like that.

Deanna, even though she wouldn’t have minded cleaning up, actually kind of enjoyed being the beeping trash can. It allowed her to watch Paul at work and she still did get to help some, offering him direction when he needed a bit of help locating something. It still was a bit of teamwork, which was something she enjoyed about their relationship because it was nice to be a part of a team where both people really appreciated the role they had in each other’s life.