It had been a long and stressful week at the office for her. It was her first week back working in person and her boss had been hounding her to complete a big project which had finally wrapped up around 2 AM on Saturday morning. That night, after she had enjoyed a well deserved nap, I invited her over for homemade pasta and wine to celebrate. A celebration of a hard week accomplished. No pretense of any extracurricular activities.
As I dropped the penne into boiling water I looked around for something to set the mood before she knocked on my door. I flipped on some instrumental jazz and popped open the nearby cabinet that usually contained my candles. Not a candle in sight and no time to go to the store. Guess we will have to go without.
My attention swung back to the stove as the water boiled over causing steam to push out into the kitchen. I reached over and turned down the temperature and the steam subsided. As I emptied the red sauce into the sauce pan and set it to simmer I remembered that I had a second stash of candles. Well…they were recently purchased massage candles that I kept in my secret stash, but they should work all the same. I quickly retreated to my bedroom closet and emerged with two vanilla scented “candles”. As I taste tested the now ready pasta I heard a knock at the door.