The Long Road Home
by Terry

Chapter 13

Johnny was just finishing setting the table for his first date with Joy who was quickly finishing up with Alexis' dinner. Hearing a knock at the door he groaned inwardly at the interruption then hurriedly finished his preparations of what he was hoping would be a very special evening.

Opening the door he starred in astonishment. "What... How... ?"

Joy stood there leaning up against the doorjamb dressed in a beautiful royal blue silk blouse with a black skirt smiling at the look on his face.

"I thought we should start this date off in a more proper way. So, I settled Alexis then used her room to change. Hope you don't mind?"

"Nnnno. Joy... you look stunning. You didn't have to go to all that trouble it wasn't necessary. But... I'm... uh... kinda glad you did. You look wonderful."

Johnny was amazed and eager... delighted and falling hard. Standing there taking in every aspect of her... memorizing her, he realized she was calling him.

"Johnny. Johnny. Wake up... it's just me. Aren't you going to invite me in?"

"Oh, uh... sorry Joy. I was... you... you took me by surprise. Please, come in. Give me a minute and I'll try to find my manners again."

Joy was ecstatic at the response she drew from Johnny. She wanted to make an impression. Wanted to leave the persona of trusted nurse outside the door and be a woman tonight; just one woman meeting one man hoping for a connection. She enjoyed being around Johnny. Johnny made her feel things she never felt before and she wanted more. Reaching her hand toward him she lay it on his arm in a reassuring manner.

"You're doing just fine, Johnny. And you gave me the exact response I was hoping for. Completely surprising you. So, what have you planned for the evening?"

"Well, I guess we're even now. You surprised me and now I get to surprise you. Come to the kitchen with me. I've never done this before, but once I started everything just kinda fell into place."

"I've never seen you so excited before, Johnny. I can't wait."

"I've had fun. It was quite challenging to put it all together in that little kitchen, but I did it."

"I know the aroma coming out of that little kitchen have been driving me wild for the past hour and a half. And the fact that you have absolutely forbidden me to go anywhere near the kitchen all day has me very curious as to what you've been up to. So, Mr. Secrets, show me."

Grabbing hold of her hand in little boy excitement, Johnny pulled her with him toward the kitchen. He stopped just as he got to the door of the kitchen and gently guided her to stand in front of him just inside the threshold.

Joy gasped at what lay before her. Looking back in wonder at Johnny she took a hesitant step forward and again viewed redecorated room. The little kitchenette was transformed into a little hideaway. There were black sheets hung on the walls to provide the illusion of nighttime and candles were placed around the room to offer more than enough light to move around in. The table was set elegantly with two candles placed just to the side to allow eye contact without hindrance. Red and white rose petals littered the black tablecloth and in the center of the table a bowl filled halfway with water held six perfect red and white roses floating gently as the light from the candles touched the edges of each petal. There were two covered plates waiting to be attended to and wine goblets filled with chilled white wine. Joy reached back to Johnny and caught his hand and breathlessly spoke to him.

"Johnny, look at this. Did you do all of this? I don't know what to say. This is just... too much. I mean I love it. But, Johnny... "

Concerned that it was a bit too much Johnny moved to stand in front of Joy.

"Joy, is it too much for a first date? I don't want to offend you or make you uncomfortable."

Looking up into his face, a look of fear and self-doubt met her gaze. Reaching up she lay a hand on his cheek and smiled comfortingly.

"No, Johnny. I have never been so surprised and honored in my life. Thank you, Johnny. This is just perfect."

Watching her, searching her face, Johnny reached up and took her hand from his face and held it for a moment before releasing it and turned to pull out a chair for her.

"Joy, I wanted it to be special for a lot of reasons. But, mostly because you deserve to be treated special. Hey, would you like to know what's on the menu tonight?"

"I'm dying to know, Johnny."

Smiling shyly with a hint of expectation, Johnny lifted the covers from their plates. Lying there as if prepared by a master chef was a succulent piece of braised tenderloin surrounded by a variety of grilled vegetables lying on a bed of red wine sauce.

Starting to feel like she resembled a guppy with the amount of times her jaw dropped in the last few minutes, Joy raised her eyes to meet Johnny's who was now sitting down across from her.

"How?"

"My old boss taught me most of it, but my grandmother taught me a lot too. She would sit me down and tell me, Johnny, women need to know how special they are and it is your job as a man to see to it that they do. You're special, Joy. I want you to know it."

Seeing a tear slide down her cheek, Johnny stood quickly and went to kneel beside her afraid he hurt her in some way without knowing it. Taking both of her hands in his he raised them to lay a gentle kiss on each of them.

"Joy? What did I do wrong? I swear I didn't mean to make you cry."

Joy looked down at the man who knelt beside her and her heart filled with him. Never again would she look at another man without comparing him to this man.

"Johnny, these are the tears of contentment... of happiness. Please sit down and I'll tell you where the tears come from. Then you can tell me more about your wonderful grandmother."

Standing slowly Johnny kissed her on the forehead then went back to his chair to wait patiently for Joy to tell him what she seemed to need to.

"All of my life, I have been judged by the way I look. I've been told every day of my life how beautiful I am, how attractive and so forth. No one ever really looked at me though. All they saw was the outside. It's been a sort of prison that I have been sentenced to. There is another me that the world doesn't see, chooses not to see. Johnny, you looked into my eyes and saw me. The way I look was an afterthought to you. Do you know how much that means to me? When I look at you, when I am with you I feel free to be myself; the person I like being. Does that make any sense?"

"It makes perfect sense. No one knows who I am either. I spent a great deal of my life as a bodyguard. Bodyguards are not supposed to be seen or heard. Then when they are supposed to be seen, it's for the wrong reason. Because of the type of job I held I refused to pull anyone into my life who could get hurt. So, I don't have a lot of experience when it comes to small talk or anything like that. Since committing my life to caring for Alexis until she is well, things have been different. I feel like I'm free now to be me too."

Realizing it had been awhile since he checked on Alexis, Johnny stood quickly and looked apologetically at Joy.

"I need to check on her. Do you mind, Joy?"

"No, Johnny. I don't mind. Want me to come with you?"

"No, that's ok. I won't be long. We need to get to this meal before it gets totally cold. Be right back."

Joy watched Johnny walk quickly out of the room and smiled. Thinking to herself, she spoke the words that had been swirling around in her mind ever since Johnny opened the door for her. 'You and I, Mr. Johnny are going to have a long and wonderful life together. You just don't know it yet.'

Sitting down next to Alexis, Johnny picked up her hand to begin caressing what he now referred to on a regular basis as the 'little peanut'.

"Hey partner, how's it going? Would you believe I think I finally found the woman my grandmother told me would be waiting for me? Sure do wish you would come on back and talk to me about it. I could sure use your input right about now. Would you mind if I go ahead and finish my date now? I'll check in with you every once in a while. See ya later, peanut. Uncle Johnny's got a date to get back to."

Touching Alexis once on the cheek and patting the child once more, Johnny eagerly returned to Joy.