"To Hawaii with Love" ( short story- romance)

Joy held the paper bag packed with groceries in one arm as she inserted her key into the car door of her old 1977 Celica. Jiggling the key slightly, she tried to turn it while protecting the bags contents that were dangerously near overflowing.

The key began to turn and she jerked her hand to the right to complete the process but that motion was just enough movement to send the egg carton, balanced at the top, to tip out and fall down to the ground. The carton opened on impact and broken eggs splattered her shoes and her car door with a sticky yellow mess.

“What a wonderful day,” she grumbled opening the car door with an angry jerk of the handle when a bright light suddenly flashed on her face.

Joy froze, blinded by the light and squinted at the outline of a man beyond the brightness. It appeared to be a cameraman and next to him was the grocery store manager holding a microphone. 

Joy shifted the bag and moved out of the bright light worried they'd caught her embarrassment on camera?

“Congratulations, Ms…?” the young store manager waited for her to insert a name.

Joy hesitated; if they didn’t know her then she could remain anonymous if this somehow made the whimsical portion of tonight’s news.

“Why?” she asked suspiciously, turning her face completely away from the camera.

“Well, it’s customary to make the airline tickets out in a name and we can’t send you and a companion to Hawaii without tickets.”

Joy did drop her grocery bag completely then but the swift store manager saved it from hitting the ground.

“Hawaii? Me? How?” she sounded like an idiot and the camera was rolling but she couldn’t help it, she was stunned.

“Yes, You. Ms…?” 

He waited again for her name and this time she gave it.

“Joy…Joycelyn Miller.”

“You, Ms. Miller, are our ‘one millionth customer’ here at ‘The Value Grocers’ and to thank you for your patronage we’re sending you and a companion to Hawaii. What do you say to that?”

“Is this a joke? I’m on of those prank shows, right?”

She looked around noticing the crowd that had gathered and was sure the emcee of a popular ‘catch the people looking like fools’ show must be out there.

The manager laughed at her skeptical expression. “No, Ms Miller. This is not a joke. And to prove it… here is the letter authorizing an all expense week in Hawaii.”

She took a step back and then slipped on the petrified eggy mess under her feet. She fell bottom first into the slime. She looked up a the camera focused fully on her and wondered what the caption on the news might read now, ‘Idiot woman falls into dropped eggs after winning trip to Hawaii.’

She covered her face as the cameraman zoomed in on her. “Can we cut this last part out?” she whispered hopefully as her cheeks flamed red with mortification.

 

Later, when Joy was finally home, showered and sitting on her bed the realization hit her. She had just won an all expenses paid vacation to Hawaii. That was the great part, barring the embarrassing fall, which they had consoled her would be edited out of tonight’s six o’clock news tape. 

Her only problem now was trying to decide whom to take with her.

The manager said the local news channel would be at the airport to interview them before their take off and again on their return, and that was why she wasn’t as happy as she should be.

She, a healthy soon to be thirty-year-old woman, could not be seen taking her mother or her sister to Hawaii.  She’d broken up with her last boyfriend three months ago and he’d been no Mr. Right when she’d dated him so she certainly wouldn’t take him to Hawaii just to save face.

In the midst of her worrying, her bedside phone rang. She grabbed up the receiver automatically saying “Hello”.

“Congratulations J.M.! I just saw the news. Wow! Hawaii, that’s fantastic!”

“Hi Doug,” she smiled as her mood brightened. He was the only one who called her JM and she really liked it. Douglas McCallum had been her best friend since fourth grade and he lived just a few miles from her. They'd occasionally share a dinner or a movie and always consoled each other after failed relationships.

Joy smiled brightly as a plan began to form that might make this trip very special after all.

“Yeah it’s just great Doug…only trouble is I don’t know who to take with me.”

“What about that guy you were seeing, Drexler? No, it was Dexter, wasn’t it?”

“He preferred Dex,” she giggled.

“Yeah, I guess I would too, so what about him?”

“We broke up a couple of months back.”

“You could always take your sis-”

“No way!” she cut him off, “A news reporter will be at the departure gate for an interview. I’ll look like a sad case on national television.”

“I’m not sure it’s national network news J.M.” Doug laughed.

“It doesn’t matter, even on local news it’s embarrassing. They’d know I couldn’t find a date even with Hawaii as incentive.”

“You’re wrong, J.M,” his voice softened, “one look at you and they’d all envy whoever went with you, and after that televised exposure I’m sure hundreds of guys will be calling the station for your number when they find out that such a golden hair goddess is still single,” his voice deepened with meaning.

The soft caress in his words carried through the wires and raised goose bumps on her arms.

Doug was gorgeous. Dark haired, strong chinned, green-eyed gorgeous, and he was unattached too at the moment. In sixth grade, she’d had the biggest crush on him but he was her friend and confidant, and sadly never anything more came from her feelings. She’d long gotten over her teenage crush and just because he had the deepest sensual voice she’d ever heard, she’d refused to let those old feelings surface again but…an idea had taken hold.

“Doug? Do you think…I mean… you aren’t seeing anyone right now?”

“No, I told you Kristin left, she went back to California two months ago. Why?” His voice vibrated with peaked interest.

“Would you like to go with me?”

Joy waited holding her breath but after a half a minute passed in silence she wondered if he’d hung up. “Doug? Are you there?”

Doug closed his eyes at her words, his heart nearly jumped out of his chest. He’d had strong feelings for Joy that had grown to love over the last couple of years. She never seemed to reciprocate these feelings so he never acted on it. He didn't want to destroy their friendship but the thought of being with her on a tropical island for a whole week sent his senses into overdrive. He didn’t trust his voice not to betray those feelings. He knew she was only asking as a friend so he checked his feelings before he responded.

“When do you need to book it? I’ll have to clear my calendar.”

“The voucher can be redeemed anytime in the next six months. So when's good for you?”

“I have some time coming up. I can take a couple of weeks next month.”

“Great then June it is!”

“June it is,” he repeated softly.

Had his voice sounded like a caress or was that her imagination? Surely it was her imagination, Doug always sounded like he was interested in her but it was only a close friendship they shared and she needed to remember that.

Doug cleared his throat knowing he was about to do something stupid. He should end the call but something made him throw caution out of the equation.

He held the phone closer and whispered, “J.M.? Are you asking me to go with you as a friend or a potential boyfriend?”

His voice, if possible, became even deeper and Joy’s heart raced with hope.

“Which would you prefer?” her own voice low and husky and she cupped the phone closer waiting for his answer, her heart beating in her throat.

Doug’s deep laugh came through the line and should have melted the wires for the way it warmed her.

“You want the truth?” he asked softly.

“Yes, ” she whispered.

“I want nothing less than to go as your best friend, your boyfriend, and possibly your future husband and not necessarily in that order.” The words were out and now Doug held his breath but there wasn’t a sound on the other end. Silence. He had overstepped.

“Joy?” he said softly into the phone but she didn’t respond. Then he heard a loud thud and the phone rattled against something.

Joy?” he said louder into the reciever but no response came from her. He froze in fear.

What had happened to her? His heart racing he ran from his house and jumped into his car.

In less than fifteen minutes he was at her door pounding on it, his fear riding high until he heard footsteps approaching the door.

The sight of her beautiful face relieved him to no end. She was all right but what had happenedd and why hadn’t she answered him?

His heart sank as he asked, “You had me worried. What happened that you didn't answer me?”

Having him stadning right in front of her, Joy nearly swooned again but at least this last time, it wouldn't be into a mess of eggs and she wasn’t embarrassed at all by her reaction.

She smiled as she told him, “I would have answered you but when I came to, you weren’t on the phone anymore.”

“Came to? You passed out? Are you o.k?”

There was true concern in his eyes as he tilted her face up to his.

“I’m fine now that I know you love me too,” she said with her eyes sparkling with that love.

“Too?” his green eyes sharpened with interest and his hand tightened on her chin.

"Do you really love me?" She him asked shyly.

He nodded.

"I love you too, " she whispered.

Doug pulled her into his arms and kissed her and Joy gave her heart to him in that kiss. She knew she’d won something very special today and it wasn’t the trip to Hawaii.